There are many things that can lead to one anime downfall but even with certain weaknesses in area a anime can shine through. Berserk 1997 showed that a strong story can make up for a powerpoint level of animation. Tatami Galaxy showed that even with lacking art a compelling story can be told.(I am sorry but despite it’s creativity I find Masaaki Yuasa’s artstyle to be ugly.) However I believe there is one thing which no amount of quality in animation, story and art can make up for. That thing is pacing and there are two shows this season which prove that. One being the Vatican Examiners anime and as of the last two episodes, Fate/Apocrypha. Yes, no amount of quilty could make a difference when you rush through the story like a speeding train. It kills emotional impact and makes it hard to truly connect with the events on screen. Fate/Apocrypha isn’t Shakespeare(Despite it well…featuring Shakespeare.) but this episode truly felt to me like actors soullessly reenacting the events of the novels. With the gravitas of reading a wikipedia article, the events of the novel are places on screen but without any of the significance that make them meaningful. It’s a true pity as from what I hear these novels start strong but grow weaker as they continue. So we are essentially fast fowarding what could be the best parts of the story.
Art and animation have certainly taken a hit with the berserker scenes featuring some truly cringeworthy examples of poor quality. Still frames and crude artwork really killed the scene along with a pacing that robbed it of it’s meaning. This episode should have been a big confrontation from the big players on the scene but it just felt so lackluster. For an example of missed connotation and am certain anime only watchers would be confused over just what Darica was so mad at Gordes for. To clarify this has to do with Siegfried’s legend where it is well known that he was bathed in dragon’s blood which provided him with a level of invincibility. The blood covered all of him except for one patch on his back which was covered by the leaf of a maple tree. What this means is that Siegfried has a massive weak point on his back which is why Grodes refused to reveal his name in the second episode. However in that battle Grodes was forcing Seigfried to use his noble Phantasm which would announce his identity to his enemies. In fact this makes the slip up last episode all the stranger when he announced himself to Karna and Gordes didn’t make a sound. Point is that informing an enemy that you have a critical weak point is generally a bad move. Hence why Achilles kept his identity to himself as his his very name has become synonymous with a metaphor for a fatal weakness.
Speaking of Achilles he certainly got shafted here along with Atalanta. Unless you know the history the significance of these events will likely puzzle the regular viewer. Thing is that Chiron is Achilles teacher and he taught quite a number of heroes. He also outranks Atalanta as a Archer as he is the basis of the star sign of Sagittarius and possibly one of the best heroic archers.(That well…are actually Archers) Might as well note that it’s nice to see some genuine archers in the Archer class for once. Both Zero and Stay nights archers only qualify as an Archer on a technicality. Though one thing that is odd is that the servants of this war all seem to have independent action which is a trait generally only given to the Archer class. Servants should have to stick close by their masters but because the Archer class is primarily a long range fighter they are given the ability to be able to last without a master and move a significant distance away from them. Here that rule seems to have been thrown out completely but somewhere in the massive bunch of tangled wires called Nasuverse lore there bound to be a technicality of sorts.
So we have the first casualty of the Great Holy Grail war and by Suicide of all things. As mentioned before it’s hard to truly feel for Siegfried’s sacrifice when we barely knew him and the pacing is so fast that all you can really feel is mild surprise. Even in the novel I didn’t quite care for him though his nature of acting as a hollow automaton which carries out people’s wishes is a similar demeanor of that of Shirou. He said he had no wish for the grail but it appears his real wish was simply to do something for himself rather than someone else. Such a shame that this act would be to save the life of what seems to be the most agreed upon weakest element of this story, the Homunculus character. I didn’t see a lot of him as I only read the first two volumes but I do remember the parts that featured him dragged horribly. I truly don’t look forward to seeing this fellow more in the future. Still there is something rather odd here, the opening of this series featured Siegfried facing Mordred and yet here shows he committed suicide before he could face her in battle. How very strange.
