First minute of the first episode of Fate/Stay Night has two people, one woman and one man, fighting with swords in the middle of a big fire. As they fight, they both do some screaming.

And you know what's scary? Just from the screams, I recognize both seiyuu, which from the credits means that I'm watching Saber fighting against Gilgamesh.

There's absolutely no doubt about it. The woman seiyuu is Kawasumi Ayako. Her screams of rage in this part sound exactly like Mahoro. And the man seiyuu is Seki Tomokazu, who I've heard screaming in many shows (e.g. Vandread.

They're two of my favorite seiyuu. Basically they're both in my top 5, along with Mizuki Nana, Kaneda Tomoko, and Chiba Saeko.

UPDATE: Then we have a girl, one I recognize but do not know the name of, standing in the middle of a magical circle. She casts a summoning spell, and finds that she's got Archer -- another character whose voice I recognize, and thus can identify from the credits. It's Oyamada-sensei, and it's Friagne. Oyamada is as good as a good guy can get. Friagne is as evil as a bad guy can be. Archer sounds, at least from his first few words, like he may be about half way in between.

And that's all before the OP runs in the first ep.

The OP is a good one. I don't think the music is very inspiring, but the visuals do a good job of presenting what the show is about -- or at least, what I hope the show will be about. Please, oh please, oh please, don't do a Shana on me! Don't descend into high school angst! (Yeah, I know there's gonna be some. Unavoidable.)

This show seems to have a superb cast. Looking over the credits, I see that Koyasu is in it, too.

UPDATE: OK, I'm rapidly becoming oriented here. The girl who summoned Archer is Rin, right? I didn't recognize her voice, but that's because I haven't seen a lot of things she's been in.

UPDATE: The voice of Issei seemed unreasonably restrained. I expected that voice to be coming from a wild man. So I looked him up, and it's no wonder I have that expectation. The same voice was Seiryo in Tenchi Muyo: GXP. I sure hope Issei isn't as nutso as that.

UPDATE: End of episode 1, and so far I really like what I'm seeing. Lots of potential here for good story telling.

Also lots of potential here for going completely off the rails, but I'm hopeful it won't happen. I really do hope this doesn't end up like Shakugan no Shana, with excellent potential terrifically wasted.

But since this isn't an open ended series, and since every non-spoiler review I can see is positive about it, it should be fine.

The main character, Shirou, doesn't push me away. He's been through a lot of hard times in his life, and yet he's also had some good things happen to him. And in general he's upbeat and pleasant; he doesn't dwell in the realm of self-pity. He has friends and he has a life.

He also has a magical ability which can be useful, but which also troubles him. He's clairvoyant, and he sometimes sees images of things that have happened elsewhere -- things that are not nice. Murders, fires, explosions, battle.

His friend Issei is an interesting one. I wonder how much he knows. From, the dialogue he's the son of a priest, and in a show like that that probably means he's got power, too.

And there's a mysterious blonde girl.

She creates a chance meeting on the street. As she walks by Shirou, she says, "You better summon yours soon, or you're gonna get killed, oniichan."

I'm intrigued. I'm interested. I hope I won't be disappointed.

UPDATE: End of ep 2, and I'm still hooked. Rin is interesting and complex. In principle she and Shirou are competitors, yet she seems to know him, and care about him. And she has a conscience.

I sense trouble coming. Eventually Shirou is going to learn that the battle that destroyed his town and left him an orphan included Saber. How will he respond when that time comes?

UPDATE: OK, end of ep 3. That one was kind of talky, but they had a lot of back story to fill in.

Shirou is still admirable. But the guy in the church? I hope he dies a horrible death before it's all over. What a creep.

Saber's summoning wasn't complete, and she's not at full power. She can't dematerialize the way the others can. I wonder if it's going to turn out to be an advantage? Somehow I have a feeling that they'll find a way to use it to their advantage.

Rin continues to be interesting. She's trying to be hard, but somehow I don't believe she's succeeding, deep inside. She has the power and skill to do this, but it seems as if she's not ruthless enough.

UPDATE: Half way through ep 4, and it's speculation time.

We have learned the true identity of the lancer, and the true identity of the berserker. We don't know Saber's true identity but I have a guess:

She's Joan d'Arc.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste in General Anime at 08:55 PM | Comments (11) | Add Comment
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