Fate/Zero Collection 2 (Blu-ray) (2011)

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General		Extras
Category	Anime	More…-Textless Opening Song More…-Textless Closing Song Trailer-x ? for other anime releases
Rating
Year Of Production	2011
Running Time	288:46 (Case: 300)
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered Dual Disc Set	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Ei Aoki
Studio Distributor	Madman Entertainment	Starring	Rikiya Koyama Matthew Mercer Ayako Kawasumi Kari Wahlgren Jouji Nakata Crispin Freeman Akio Ohtuka Jameson Price Tomokazu Seki David Earnest
Case	?
RPI	?	Music	Yuki Kajiura

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	Japanese Linear PCM 48/16 2.0 (1536Kb/s) English Linear PCM 48/16 2.0 (1536Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	1080p
Original Aspect Ratio	1.78:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

"Justice and righteousness cannot save the world"

     Fate/Zero is the prequel to the anime series Fate/Stay Night which aired on Japanese TV for 24 episodes in 2005-2006 and was released on DVD in Australia by Madman in 2008. Every sixty years the Holy Grail appears in the city of Fuyuki and selects seven masters / mages who are given the opportunity to fight each other to gain possession of the Grail, which will then grant any wish. The mages can summon a servant from history or legend to fight as familiars. There are seven types of servant, Archer, Saber, Lancer, Rider, Assassin, Caster and Berserker and each master summons one. The participants then do battle against each other until only one mage remains who gains the Grail. Fate/Zero Collection 2 contains episodes 14-25, which commenced aired on Japanese TV in April 2012.

     While some of the episodes in season 1 were quite dark, season 2 becomes very bleak. With the elimination of the first masters and servants the stakes increase; so do the betrayals and murders. These episodes continue to be dialogue heavy and as well as discussions about ambition, the meaning of the soul, God, good and evil, joy and sin from the first season, discussions about honour, justice, what is right, and whether evil deeds in a good cause are justified are added. None of this is particularly new, of course, but in the context of a fight for survival involving legendary heroes such as Alexander the Great, Gilgamesh, Diarmuid and King Arthur, the discussion acquires an epic standing. Yet, amid this ambition the series is still able to focus upon the “little” people caught up in the conflict, such as Aio, wife of Tokiomi, or Kiritsugu’s companion Maiya, so that we are still moved by their fates. This is a neat balancing trick, one that the series does very well.

     The episodes in Fate/Zero Collection 2 tend to concentrate more on the manipulations of Kirei Kotomine (Jouji Nakata/Crispin Freeman) and the deeds of Kiritsugu (Rikiya Koyama/Matthew Mercer) and Saber / King Arthur (Ayako Kawasumi/Kari Wahlgren), and there are a couple of episodes which outline the backstory of Kiritsugu and how and why he became a mage hunter. As well, his relationship with his wife Irisviel (Sayaka Ohara/Bridget Hoffman), who is also not what she seems, is nicely outlined. Happily, this season still finds time for the development of the very entertaining relationship between Alexander / Rider (Akio Ohtuka/Jameson Price), who still gets all the best lines, and his wimpy master Waver Velvet (Daisuke Namikawa/Lucien Dodge). And while some of the early eliminations are somewhat unexpected, the participants in the final battles are no surprise, given what has gone before. Yet, in a final twist, it seems that the true cost of winning the Grail can be heart-breaking.

     This second series of Fate/Zero increases the ferocity and variety of the combat. The fights are varied, imaginative, well animated, loud and colourful. The conclusion of Fate/Zero does lead into Fate/Stay Night but this is one example where I believe that the prequel outdoes its predecessor. In its own right Fate/Zero is ambitious, complex, and colourful, providing far more than action for those who like an anime that challenges as well as entertains.

     The DVD release of Fate/Zero Collection 1 containing episodes 1-13 is reviewed on this site here.

Video

     Fate/Zero Collection 2 is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, the original broadcast ratio, in 1080p using the MPEG-4 AVC code.

     I thought the DVD of Fate/Zero Collection 1 looked spectacular but this Blu-ray is simply awesome with sharp lines that are almost 3D and deep vibrant colours. The colours are wide range of golds, blues, reds and yellows, especially during combat, while backgrounds have that beautiful muted pastel watercolour look. Blacks and shadow detail are fine.

     I did not notice any marks or issues.

     It is anime so lip synchronisation is very approximate in either audio track.

     The English subtitles are in American English in a white font which is easy to read. I did not see any obvious spelling or grammatical errors.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     Audio is a choice of Japanese or English LPCM 2.0 surround encoded, at 1536 Kbps. The English dub is not too bad but although I did listen to a few episodes in English I still preferred the Japanese.

     The audio track is much more active than the DVD in the surrounds. Both the Japanese and English dialogue is clear and centred with the rears constantly action with the music, battle noises and vehicle movement. The subwoofer did have occasional rumbles directed its way by my system. The score by Yuki Kajiura is epic and orchestral. It is an integral part of the show and was clear in the mix.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

     The limited extras are on disc 2.

Textless Opening Song (1:31)

     Opening song from season 2 without the credits.

Textless Closing Song (1:31)

     Closing song from season 2 without the credits.

     Our local release of Fate/Zero Collection 2 is identical to the Region B UK version. The Region A US special edition release is similar to ours, including only the textless songs as extras on the Blu-ray, but includes a DVD of US voice cast interviews which are reported to be better than usual. The Region A Japanese release includes extended versions of the series, a production notebook, animation material and a music CD; this release is listed as having English subtitles, but I cannot say if this is both the series and the extra materials.

     One has to love any series that includes Alexander the Great, Gilgamesh, the Irish hero Diarmuid, King Arthur, the cult of Assassins and Gilles de Rais. Fate/Zero is ambitious, complex, and colourful, providing far more than action for those who like an anime that challenges as well as entertains. Simply put Fate/Zero is fabulous, epic anime, a must for fans of Fate/Stay Night or fans of anime in general.

     The video is spectacular, the audio good, the extras only textless opening and closing songs.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall