Tag Archives: Fate

The Fate Franchise is Confusing, But That Does Not Matter Too Much

October 31, 2018 Jack Scheibelein 3 Comments

Welcome, weebs and authors alike, to The Aniwriter

Watching one of the recent iterations of the Fate series Fate/Apocrypha has made me realize something: The franchise is kind of a mess. Between multiple spinoffs that have little to nothing to do with the main story, and aspects of the main story that seems to have only been added in as a weird gimmick, like King Arthur being a woman, the franchise feels peppered with a lot of nonsense. However, that does not mean that the franchise as a whole has not been entertaining.

Do not get me wrong. In no way am I excusing a lot of the franchises bad writing elements. Its always important to criticize bad writing so that it can be made more logically consistent, and therefore better. As someone who wants to write for a living, I try and look for ways to improve my own stories every day. But, semi-bad writing and nonsensical story elements can be overlooked in many cases if what is being shown on screen is entertaining, and with the Fate/ franchise it certainly is.

A lot of the stories in Fate have, at least to me, always come off as more style over substance, fan-fic-esk brawls than shows that were attempting to say something revolutionary, and in that way they succeed greatly. Whether it be the original Fate/stay night by Studio Deen, and much more so the recent adaptations of Unlimited Blade Works and Heaven’s Feel done by Ufotable, the show’s action has been top notch. Each of the character’s powers, with a few exceptions, seem unique to them as a historical figure, and much of their motivations for fighting makes sense within the fairly imperfect story that is being told.

The same is true for the prequel story, Fate/Zero, in which Saber, one of the franchise’s flagship characters, looks her coolest ever. It is always entertaining watching her fight with Excalibur, and her power to make the sword invisible adds to the suspense of any given fight she is in.

The Command Seals are also an interesting mechanic in the show’s world. While fighting for the Holy Grail with their servants, Masters are given three command seals. When used, each of the seals gives a master the power to force his or her servant to perform one action. The action is performed near-instantaneously, which means there is no lag from communication.

Even the nonsensical spin-offs in the Fate Franchise like Fate-Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya, despite having not actually seen them, look like enjoyable enough watches. And while Fate/Apocrypha does not seem to fare much better in the writing department overall, its fourteen main character cast certainly does bring a lot to the table when brought together.

Let me reiterate: the point in writing all of this is not to say that the Fate/ franchise is bad, quite the opposite actually. Despite its often times lackluster writing, the franchise as a whole is thoroughly enjoyable, and if you have not actually seen any of Fate/, then just ignore everyone and start with the original by Studio Deen. #noregrets

But seriously though, how do you guys feel about the Fate/ franchise as a whole? Let me know in the comments below. Also, if you want to support the Aniwriter through donations or are just feeling generous, consider buying me a coffee on Ko-Fi. Otherwise, thanks for reading and bye for now, Friendos!

30 Day Anime Challenge, Anime/Manga

30 Day Anime Challenge – Day 18: My Favorite Female Supporting Character

May 10, 2018 Jack Scheibelein Leave a comment

Hello, Anifriends

Yesterday for the 30 Day Anime Challenge, I talked about my favorite male supporting character, so for today, I will be talking about my favorite female counterpart.

There are definitely a lot of good characters that come to mind when talking about this category, but one character stands out as being interesting no matter where she appears, and that would be Illya from the Fate series.

And no, I am not talking about the magical girl show in which she is the main character, because I honestly have not seen it.

Even within the main series, though, it is always exciting to have Illya on screen. Her and Berserker both make the show that much more interesting, with Illya appearing innocent on the outside but harboring insane bloodlust for all of the other people in the Grail War, and Berserker appearing almost as a physical manifestation of that.

Especially in the most recent entry Unlimited Blade Works, she really developed as a character, and her story ended up being really compelling, in a dark, twisted sort of way. Mainly, though, she’s just entertaining.

Who is your favorite female anime supporting character? Let me know in the comments below. Also, if you want to support the Aniwriter through donations or are just feeling generous, consider buying me a coffee on Ko-Fi. Otherwise, thanks for reading and bye for now, Friendos!

30 Day Anime Challenge, Anime/Manga

30 Day Anime Challenge – Day 7: My Anime Crush

April 29, 2018 Jack Scheibelein 3 Comments

Hello, Anifriends

For the 7th 30 Day Anime Challenge, I’ll be talking about my anime crush.

This one is a category I really had to think about, mostly because I usually just enjoy the relationships between the characters in the show. But there is one character that sticks out in my mind:

Saber from the Fate Series

I’ll be honest, I do not really have a reason as to why Saber is my anime crush. She just kind of is. Through all of the iterations of the Fate franchise, she has always been my favorite part of the show.

One of the reasons might be her fighting. At least for me. the action scenes with her are always the coolest because of Excalibur. Using magic as a way to keep her sword invisible and thereby reducing the ability of her enemies to counter it is one of the things that I feel like is not explored enough by any of the iterations. I assume this is because it was originally a visual novel, and there was not a lot of action scenes to begin with.

Either way, I really enjoy her character. Is she best girl of the Fate series?

eh…

But she is certainly one of the more interesting characters, and that’s why I like her.

What anime character do you have a crush on? Let me know in the comments below. Also, if you want to support the Aniwriter through donations or are just feeling generous, consider buying me a coffee on Ko-Fi. Otherwise, thanks for reading and bye for now, Friendos!

Anime/Manga, This Week in Anime

This Week in Anime: Studio Ghibli, Anime Films Head to U.S. Theaters and More…

April 26, 2018 Jack Scheibelein 1 Comment

Well, after being on another week-long Hiatus, sorry about that by the way, I am back and ready to talk about the news for this week, and addressing some of the stories I missed from last week. Believe me, there are some things that need addressing. With that being said, let’s get started.

Studio Ghibli Theme Park will Fully Open in 2022

Originally announced back in June of 2017, a Studio Ghibli theme park is now set to open in 2022. The park was supposed to be open by 2020, but it now is slated for a later date to setbacks in construction.

The park, when opened, will consist of 5 different main areas. The first, called Youth Hill, will feature scenery from Howl’s Moving Castle and Whisper of the Heart. The second part of the park will be an indoor area open year round, complete with a swimming pool and screening area. The third area will be inspired by Princess Mononoke and will include statues of the films most famous characters, such as the Tatari-gami. The last two areas include one with scenery from Howl’s Moving Castle and Kiki’s Delivery Service and the other will be exclusively inspired by My Neighbor Totoro.

There really is not a lot to say about this other than that if I go to Japan after its done, I will certainly be planning a day or two around coming here. It looks like it could be a lot of fun, and I can’t wait to see pictures of it.

“Fate/Stay Night: Heaven’s Feel” and “Fireworks” Films Receive U.S. Release Date

As of this week, the latest creation from J.C. Staff “Fireworks,” as well as the first of the newest trilogy of Fate movies Heaven’s Feel, have been confirmed for a theatrical release in the United States. The company GKIDS announced that they will be collaborating with Fathom Events in order to bring the film to theatres in July on the third, fifth, and seventh of the month. As well, Fathom Events and Aniplex of America are looking to bring the newest addition to the Fate franchise to the big screen on June fifth and seventh.

I’ll be honest with you guys, I am really excited for one of these films, and only slightly interested in the other. I’ve been a fan of the Fate/ franchise for quite some time and considering how well the full-length TV anime adaption of Unlimited Blade Works was, I have every reason to believe the last of the visual novel’s storylines, Heaven’s Feel, is going to be just as good.

Fireworks, on the other hand, seems to be riding on the popularity of Your Name at this point, and, based on the setup and the fact that the guy producing it was also the head producer for Your Name, seems to be a bit of a copycat. Either way, I’ll probably end up seeing both of them because I like seeing anime in theatres whenever I can, so hopefully, Fireworks is not as bad as many have been saying it is.

Producer of “Darling in the Franxx” Receives Death Threats After the Release of Episode 14

As many of you may know already, because of the contents of episode fourteen of Darling in the Franxx, specifically events surrounding one of the more pivotal characters Ichigo, many of the members of the cast received hateful messages and even death threats. The largest target of the show’s staff is its producer, Yuichi Fukushima.

Fukushima and others received the threats after the episode aired, with some messages they received suggesting that it would be better if they killed themselves.

Honestly, I do not think I am really going to be saying anything original, but this story was so Heinous that I needed to talk about it.

Let’s just start off with a few things 1) anime is not real, 2) the person receiving the most threats for what happened in the story is not even the person they should be mad at. Fukushima is the animation producer. 3) Most importantly, a character in a show not doing what you want them to is not a reason to threaten someone’s life or suggest that they kill themselves.

Not a single bit of what happened last week was even remotely ok, and anyone who sent messages in that vain to any of the staff should be ashamed of themselves.

What do you guys think of this week’s anime related news? Let me know in the comments below. Also, if you want to support the Aniwriter through donations or are just feeling generous, consider buying me a coffee on Ko-Fi. Otherwise, thanks for reading and bye for now, Friendos!

Anime/Manga, Opinion

How American Politics is a Bit Like the Fate Series

November 29, 2017 Jack Scheibelein 12 Comments

As a now registered voter, as well as being interested in political science, I think about U.S. politics a lot. Between climate change, healthcare, and systemic poverty, there are a lot of issues facing the American public right now. One of those issues, however, takes precedence over most of those issues. That issue is Money in Politics, or as many who would consider themselves on the left call it, the issue to end all issues.

I also like to think about the politics of different anime. Whether that be the macro-relationships between characters, or especially the different governing bodies of certain societies and how they operate, and the rules that govern the Fate universe are one of the more interesting things that I’ve seen come out of anime. In fact, I see a lot of fate as a metaphor for how money operates in U.S. politics.

The basic setup for Fate is that seven masters summon seven servants using magic in order to assist them in fighting for the holy grail, an all-powerful magic item that will grant the winner of the Holy Grail War. In this case of the U.S., its more like a battle for political control between the rich and the poor.

In a lot of ways, the U.S. is already controlled by the elite of American society. A recent study from 2014 found that based on the policy that gets passed by Congress the U.S. operates as an effective oligarchy, meaning that the rich control most of what gets passed.

In this metaphor, the masters are the political interests groups as well as the people themselves. Whether it be Tax Reform, Campaign Finance Reform, Initiatives to deal with Climate Change, everybody wants something. They have wishes that they want to be fulfilled, and that’s why they fight.

Politicians, therefore, are their servants, performing whatever task their master asks of them. The politicians also have their own wishes. Some want to help lift their constituents out of poverty and end racism, while others only seek to enrich themselves by working for another master while in Congress and then eventually leave and become a master themselves, in the never-ending revolving door.

Lastly, there’s the magic, and by that I mean money. Masters supply their servants with magic in order to help them fight. They continue to fight until they both achieve the holy grail and get what it is they want. Their wish could be good for the world, or it could be bad. It doesn’t really matter to them though, just so long as they get what they desire.

And then, a few years later, that same holy grail war starts over again. A new contest for the holy grail begins.