Many visual novel adaptations either fail to live up to the promise of the source material or end up make sacrifices for the sake of maintaining some sense of the visual novel experience. Many in the former camp, of which the first Fate/Stay night adaptation was apparently part of, are swiftly forgotten unless they turn out to be catastrophic wrecks. Several in the later camp divide the plot into multiple segments, particularly evident in harem or pseudo-harem visual novels, and end up lessening the impact for the sake of pleasing the fans of the original work.
While there are examples that break the mold, or fit into it so snugly that they end up strong enough to stand on their own, it’s a safe bet that pretty much any adaptation you’ll watch will end up in one of those two camps, and just not be much good as a result. Lo and behold, here comes the Fate/zero anime. A prequel to the three Fate/Stay night arcs, Fate/zero perfectly encompasses the feel of a Type-Moon visual novel. Many of you know what this means: Minutes upon minutes of dreary exposition, with subtitles adding an extra touch in translating the entire experience to an anime format, and a lot of psychobabble rattled off like the audience wants to know every single detail that goes on. (more…)
Shinde Iie Anime Blog 