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R2 DVD Reviews
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Monday, 08 March 2010 00:00 |
 The Holy Grail War is turning out to be something more like the occasional Holy Grail Skirmish, as this volume of Fate/stay night focusses more on building alliances and trust than on open confrontation. Nothing wrong with a good bit of political manoeuvring, though...
5 - Two Magi (Part I)
Unsure how Sakura or Taiga will take to having Saber around the house - never mind trying to explain why she's there - Emiya has asked her to keep a low profile, and as a result she's been staying in her room. It doesn't take long for him to start feeling guilty about hiding her away, though, and he decides to introduce her, under the guise of her being a 'distant relative'. When Saber's a little too honest about her reasons for being there, though, Taiga decides to test how good she'll be at defending Emiya - which soon turns out to be a bad idea. Rin, meanwhile, has growing concerns about the actions of a Magi in the city - one that has been laying traps around the city but that she's so far been unable to trace. She's also noticed Emiya's habit of leaving himself undefended, and decides that it's time she took advantage of that...
6 - Two Magi (Part II)
Trapped inside a barrier that Rin has raised around them, Emiya finds himself cornered and in a position that he can't seem to fight his way out of. What she wants is his Command Seal, the proof of his mastery of Saber - something that he's not about to hand over. Their confrontation is interrupted, though, when Emiya hears a scream from elsewhere in the school - when they go to investigate, they find a dead student, and soon come under attack themselves - and their assailant is another Servant...
7 - Despicable Act
Emiya's well and truly in the doghouse with Saber - not only did he not call her when he was under attack, but he's entered into an alliance, however informal, with another Magi without consulting here. As a result, when he leaves the house next morning to go to school, not only is Rin waiting at the door to escort him, but Rin insists on following their example. Once at school, it's clear that his new-found 'friendship' with Rin hasn't gone unnoticed, and there's soon a queue of his friends trying to warn him away from her. Rin, meanwhile, has been trying to work out who the Master of the Servant that had attack Emiya was - so far she's drawing a blanks, but Emiya has a gut feeling about who was involved...
8 - Discordant Melody
Shinji claims to Emiya that he's been reluctantly made a Master, just like Emiya was, and would rather find a way to avoid the fighting that the Holy Grail War requires of the Magi - if Emiya agrees to work with him, then all that unpleasantness can be avoided, at least between them. While Emiya knows Shinji well enough not to want to fight him, though, he also doesn't trust him, and turns down his offer. Later, Emiya, Rin and Saber go over the information they have and work out a possible location for another of the Magi, while in decides they'll be able work together much better if she moves in with Emiya...
I have to say, in some way Fate/stay night has the sort of pacing that I'd expect more from a .hack series - although TYPEMOON have their own past history with slow pacing, as well. The main issue here is that if you build something up to be a war, then it's not unreasonable to expect a good deal of large-scale confrontation - but that's something that's noticeably absent for the majority of this disc. What you get is Rin trying to get the gravity of the situation through Emiya's thick skull, Saber trying to remind him just what she's there for - and no, hiding in her bedroom doesn't count. You do get the distinct impression that, initially at least, Emiya really doesn't realise what he's let himself in for, but as the disc progresses, it slowly begins to dawn on him.
We also get the emergence of one more of the seven Magi that will fight the War, and it's another of the students at Emiya's school: Sakura's brother, Shinji. The first time Shinji was introduced, it was clear you weren't supposed to like him - his general attitude, and the way he took advantage of Emiya, pointed him out as untrustworthy. Thankfully, with his eyes opened to what's going on, Emiya realises how untrustworthy Shinji can be and declines to join forces with him - and with the pair certain to come to blows at some stage, it'll be interesting to see how that affects Emiya's friendship with Sakura.
At the end of four episodes, though, conflict-the-alliance with Rin and a conversion with Shinji is about all that the volume distills down to - a pointer, were it needed, that we're not talking fast-paced action here. It's definitely more aimed at those who prefer thoughtful drama scenes - which in theory puts me firmly in the camp that should like this. As with Tsukihime before it, though, I did find myself wishing at points through this disc that they'd just get on with it: I'd been promised a war, dammit, and I wanted to see it. Without an explosive confrontation somewhere along the line the show simply isn't living up to its own promise, and while there are some confrontations here, the lack the 'oomph' that you'd expect from something claiming to be a war (and, as we saw in the prologue to episode one, the Holy Grail War can level cities when the need arises).
This is a 24-episode series, though, so there's plenty of time for the threat level to be ramped up yet, and the series is at least giving you a chance to get to know its characters well in the meantime. You also can't complain about the look and feel, with some simply beautiful visuals and an atmosphere to the series that adds nicely to the appeal. The show needs to get down to business and start fulfilling its early promise, but I'm not ready to give up on it just yet.
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