Reviews Literature / Fate Zero

Now I will admit, I do not like Fate/zero. I don't like Urobuchi's unique, deeply-ugly brand of nihilistic anti-humanism that saturates all his work, and I don't think he really understood some of the themes of the work he was writing a prequel to and in the process did violence to them.

I also don't think it makes a particularly good entry point, since its nature as a prequel necessarily spoils great chunks of plot twist from the story it's a prequel to, results in a dour and emotionally-depressing ending where life sucks and nothing, or at least very little, is actually fixed (so there are problems to be solved in the original story, after all). And if it's to be an entry point to the series, it creates the impression that the rest of the franchise will be a lot more like this than it is, scaring off those like me who don't like edgy, emotionally-empty nihilism and creating an audience that likes those things disappointed by the themes and tones of other entries.

And on that note, I will admit, perhaps the biggest factor is that I really don't like Fate/zero's snobbish and condescending fanbase who've told me for a decade now that this is the only good Fate story, and that I'm obviously a tasteless otaku/weeb/whatever the current trendy term is if I like any of the others. That those are childish stories for kids and that this is an adult story for men.

All of that said... well, whatever. I've seen official surveys that state in plain, hard data that this was apparently plenty of other people's entry drug, and those people stuck around. I've heard stories of people who like this show getting shit for it and that's not suddenly magically any more okay than people giving me shit for preferring the others. And while I disagree that being edgy and nihilistic with guns and bombs and serial killers is somehow less juvenile than an action love story, at the end of the day it's not like that much of the edgy horseshit in the story was added in by Urobuchi himself. Honestly, on that front, the biggest problem is just that he doesn't "get" the character of Saber at all, and commits the cardinal sin of having her sit speechless and slack-jawed while his mouthpieces smugly lecture her about how much she sucks, and enough people don't like her character that that's clearly a plus rather than a minus for them.

So, I guess what I'm trying to say is... fuck it. If you liked something I didn't like because you enjoyed the spectacular action and complicated intrigue, and weren't as annoyed by the overcooked nihilism, good for you. I'll still disagree that it represents "as good an entry point as any," since its drastic differences in tone, theme, and mood from the rest of the franchise could very, very easily convince a new reader that the rest of the franchise is something it's not, but if it's working for a lot of other people then I guess who'm I to judge?

To start with, Fate Zero is a prequel, and as a prequel, it mostly functions to introduce the problems that the heroes of the present are going to contend with. I find that more interesting then prequels that resolve problems within their own respective series as it makes the heroes of the present installment less heroic and makes the world-building less involved. I like dark series when they have consistent tone and message.

Dark scenes can define certain perspectives and ideals through influence or defiance of said influence, challenging the characters to survive extremes. However, many series don't no where they going with dark events when they introduce them. That's why Shield Hero comes off as shallow when it suddenly has a rape accusation. The rest of the series glorifies punishing her, and that punishment rises to excesses of actual rape and torture. Similarly, Hunter x Hunter has its villains the Phantom Troupe commit mass murder on two occasions, yet they are so uninvolved with the plot, it just comes off as gratuitous violence. In Fate Zero the dark plot points influence the storyline and characters and it causes appropriate reactions of sadness, depression, and anger (in the non-glorified way) as well affects the outcomes of several of the battles.

In other words, this series is a crash course on how not to fight in a Holy Grail War. Several characters are utterly obsessed with pragmatic approaches they end up sabotaging relationships closest to them. Relationships between Servants and masters sometimes evolve in dysfunctional ways more then positive ones. Characters often lose track of their long term goals in the pursuit of short-term and sometimes petty objectives. Its not a series where characters are to be seen as role models but rather a tragedy of how losing empathy to follow ambition is self-destructive. It has a message that's tragic, not nihilistic.

Oddly enough, I think we are of the same mind in terms of Urobuchi deserving credit, even though I think that he deserves less credit for a good story rather then a bad one. I hated his series, Puella Magi Madoka Magia because the characters were undeveloped and relationships slipped past the effort of developing onscreen with a lame plot twist involving time travel. The main character is little more than a Maguffin and the show coasts on shock value. I'm the only one in this site that actually wrote an entirely negative review of the show. In contrast, while a lot of characters die on Fate Zero, they are developed as characters and you can see the good sides as well as the bad of most of them. I like shows with a significant amount of character development even if that development is negative, though I want it to be well executed which Fate Zero does.

I'm sorry you have issues with some of the more vocal members of the fanbase on this series, but I can assure you plenty of fans like this series as well as UBW and more light-hearted Fate series, myself included. Its important to take criticism toward Saber with a grain of salt, Rider has an outdated values in his honor code, Gilgamesh is deeply twisted and Kiritsugu has a massive ego that makes him unaware of his own flaws. What they are right about is that Saber clings to era she can no longer save, which is consistent with Fate/Stay Night, although Shirou is nicer and offers much more constructive advice then they do. In contrast to Fate Zero's protagonists, Shirou is much more of a victor, as he manages to rise above his adoptive father's flaws and displays courage where the Token Good character Waver showed cowardice, and this is what allows him succeed where many of Fate Zero's protagonists failed. In terms of evaluating idealism and cyncism, these series compliment each other rather then clash against each other.

I like series where there is romance and action as well. But sometimes I am in the mood for suspense and tragedy. What's important is that a series does these elements well and while Fate Zero may not be everyone's cup of tea, its still a good series, and it uses the plot twists that would be spoiled in other Fate series better due to the tone and nature of the show, which is why I recommend it as a good starting point.

I guess that\'s the conclusion I tried to come to. That even if I don\'t like it, I don\'t have the right to try to scold those who do so long as they ain\'t scoldin\' me for preferring other things.

Well-said.