Fate/stay night

Good Anime, Good Story but in my opinion something is missing that makes the anime better.

When I started watching the show I said "Oh, no! It's as corny as Elfen Lied and not even that bloody!". And indeed, the setup is almost identical, with the single young boy living in a big house all by himself, then suddenly getting involved into a fantastic adventure while sexy young girls come live with him.

But this is where the resemblance stops. The love story is almost as subtle and intense as the one in Inuiyasha, while the childish remarks and behaviors are very few. The magical setup is a bit corny, because it's about seven people, with seven servants, fighting for the Holy Grail, all servants being someone famous, half of all masters being from the same school, rules of engagement, etc. However, this soon dims and fades from the beauty of the drawing and of the script.

I actually watched all 24 episodes in one day and, without comparing it with animes that I liked more, but were from other genres, I have to say that I was very pleased.

In the beginning of the series, the main character Shirou Emiya was enjoying his normal school life. But soon against his wish, he had to enter the Fifth Holy Grail War, where combatants fight with magic to have their desires or wishes granted. Shirou soon faced attacks by his competitors but was saved by Saber, who Shirou summoned accidentally. Saber would then resolve to be his servant and would fight beside him in the Holy Grail War. Shirou soon was determined to join the war as he realizes that if he wins the war, he could avoid many disasters.

The storyline looks simple for this kind of a theme. However, the kind of the characters that we see in the anime really suit to this theme. Whether we talk about Saber's kuudere personality or Rin's tsundere personality, they all fit very well in the story. There are multiple and various types of villains in this show. You would really enjoy the things they have to offer, whether we talk about their cool abilities or the overall action scene or their backstories. The action scenes and the animation both are mesmerizing. Perhaps, among the villains, the one that stands out is Gilgamesh. His powers, arrogance, cruelty and mad obsession for Saber would make sure that you despise this person from the core of your heart. Saber is also one of the best female characters I have ever come across. Some new Otaku may find it surprising that such female character existed even during Pre-Attack on Titan time period.

The anime also has a good soundtrack. It's been more than a decade since I have watched this and the opening and the ending songs used to be my favorite back then. I totally recommend this anime.

It holds visually well for almost 14 years. There has been great development in the main character and some light hearted comedy for the first half of the season. Saber was probably the best part of this show. It does fall abit in terms of power creeping as the main characters are at a tug of war. It should have been more of a free for all. Certain character routes didn't make sense and some felt underultilized in certain roles.

It has its flaws with keeping consistency with majority of the characters present but it does a well done job beong consistent in the atmospheric and emotional impact department, If you care so much I would recommend you watch this first then watch the remake show Fate: Unlimited Blade Works, the tone is completely different and characters are behaving differently as well, I'm almost halfway through the remake and it tries so hard to fix the mistakes the original did and I appreciate it so far even though they made it feel more anime and cheesy the original is more grim compared to it, so it's your call if you want to watch both or whatever.