Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works Review

An amazing anime that still doesn't disappoint after watching it a second time. Ufotable did a wonderful job adapting this, and clearly knows how spectacular they want their final product to be.

Short synopsis:
Fate/Stay Night's story is about a Holy Grail war in which 7 mages (also known as masters) paired with a summoned servant (hero's essentially) battle one another for the prize of the Holy Grail which could grant them any wish they want fulfilled.

Story
The story was told very well. Ufotable made sure that the characters got enough screen time to explain the various motivations and backstories if you will. All the episodes blend together into a wholesome story, and no episode that I can remember was a filler episode, each one added some value to the anime be it an action sequence or better understanding of the story/character.

The story itself is easy to follow and has plentiful characters that are developed (most of them anyway). The story in itself was generally simple, the rules of the whole system, however, may get confusing if you are not paying attention in my opinion, but considering it's my second time watching it, I wouldn't be able to say for sure how complex it is to understand. I wouldn't say that the story in itself is considered 'unique' as there are quite a few out there featuring all-out 'battle-royale' style story, but this one definitely sets itself apart because of its unique rules and character build-ups (at least at the time).

There is however, an aspect which I did not particular enjoy (be warned, it is a spoiler), but thankfully doesn't affect the main plot-line all that much.

Click to reveal spoiler:

I did not like how forced Tohsaka and Shirou's relationship seemed. How their relationship progressed throughout felt very unnatural, and dialogue seemed to be forced in there just to let the viewers know that 'at this point both of them like each other' made very obvious by the excessive blushing and random comments for example, when Shirou just randomly says "oh this is why I fell for you" out of the blue, or when he warns Lancer to not get too close to Tohsaka, like what? Sorry, but this isn't how romance progresses. Plus, both of them aren't protrayed to be close enough to be in a relationship together in my opinion.

The ending was mostly satisfying, even though I personally would do some tweaks here and there to have it sit better with me. The last episode labelled "Epilogue" didn't seem necessary to me, but I can understand why it is there, probably because the visual novel had it (I don't know whether its true, someone correct me?), and even if it wasn't, I guess it really puts a nice end to the whole story.

Overall, story is great, not perfect but definitely not difficult to follow and not too simple that a rock would understand.

Art
Well the art is fantastic, just look at the gif above (not the best representation but you can somewhat see it). Fight scenes are fluid, and you get a decent dose of them before cuts and shots of other things.

Quality of the entire series have also been consistent and there weren't really any drops in quality for any of the scenes.

Character designs are also unique, you can tell each character apart from each other and they are also designed well with unique features e.g. hair colour.

Sound
Also fantastic. Voice acting is great, they sound convincing. The best part is that if you play close attention, sometimes in closed environments, the voices have a slight echo, which if its intentional, then wow good work there, but if unintentional, then well, still great nonetheless.

Background music is fitting for all of the situations. They helped enhanced the mood of the scene. The music used isn't super extensive, but still enough to create a good impression. The two OP and ED are also really nice to listen to, both are memorable songs.

The sound effects are also really good, just watch the prologue episode and be amazed.

Character
This section is unfortunately the more variable section. The main characters are fortunately given enough screen-time, and are developed well in the sense that by the end of the series you know who they are as a person and their motivations.

However, what I didn't like was how the characters react in certain situations. Some decisions that not only the main characters, but side characters make do not make any sense and definitely isn't something a normal person in that situation would do (click spoiler if you want to know what I'm annoyed about but be warned, spoiler alert!).

Click to reveal spoiler:

Why in the world do characters always let each other go during fights when they are practically defeated. It is merely a way to keep characters alive for them to be used later. But this doesn't make any sense realistically, just end it now and problem solved...

The characters also had some form of character development, but in ways that are somewhat cliché, such as getting stronger because of certain motivations and thus "growing" as a person.

No character was particularly unlikable aside from the intended unlikable characters. All the characters can be empathised with to some extent, and none had personalities you wouldn't see in the real world.

Enjoyment
I enjoyed Fate/Stay Night: UBW. It is a series I would recommend anyone to watch, and definitely works as the first anime for first time viewers of the Fate series to enter the Fate universe and its different arcs.

I am unsure how visual novel fans feel about this, but as someone who was drawn into the Fate series because of this anime, it is amazing.

A small issue is also that certain episodes seem to spend a long time explaining something which I feel could be done in a more concise manner, but other than that, I think the balance between explanation and 'stuff happening' is generally acceptable.

Conclusion
All in all, not perfect but still great, definitely recommend, go watch it if you haven't already.


- SomDude