Fate/Stay Night Review

Fate/Stay Night Anime Review

Fate/Stay Night is a very hard anime to get into once you have seen Fate/Zero. This is a continuous story of the War of the Holy Grail. Most characters are the same from the original but obviously older. The story revolves around Emiya Shirou, the adopted son of Emiya Kiritsugu. He battles with Saber as Kiritsugu did in Fate/Zero. At first Saber makes no mention of working with Kiritsugu in the last Holy Grail War until the story is nearly completed.

The Story

Shiro and Saber

There are many reasons why I did not really care for Fate/Stay Night as a sequel to Fate/Zero. I feel as though this was the child’s version. The Masters consist of a bunch of high school kids that go to the same high school, unlike Fate/Zero which consisted of a much more adult based Master and they gathered from different parts of the world. It was a disappointment due to the fact that the story really was not consistent to the prequel. I was not truly interested in Fate/Stay Night until Gilgamesh made an appearance. From then the anime had the same feeling as prequel. It was more destructive in nature and as heart wrenching as the prequel. The fact that Shirou allowed Saber to finish her duties and did order her to stay was a very noble thing of him. He let her go even though they loved each other so much.

The Art

The art in Fate/Stay Night is the exact same as Fate/Zero. The only issue I had was episode 15. The CG dragon was not impressive at all. I felt as though the CG graphic was too similar to Reboot, which is a 90s American made cartoon. That is just sad really to have to compare a 2006 anime to a 90s cartoon.

The Characters

Like I said the majority of characters in Fate/Stay Night are ones once previously met in Fate/Zero Really the only character that remains the same is Tohsaka. She is still the strong headed child (now teen) from the prequel. At first there was no mention of the fact that Sakura was her sister in Fate/Stay Night, but eventually that story came along. Sakura’s character should not have been the way it was though. I feel as though her character would have been more messed up in the head from what occurred in Fate/Zero. Plus she was being trained to be the replacement of the Mato’s Master, but it was Shinji instead. There was no mention of Shinji’s character in the prequel so I am unsure of where he came from. Shirou’s character is only mentioned in the last episode of Fate/Zero so his character was allowed to be played around with at the time.

Kotomine’s character is pretty much the same as well. Ilya, though, was also another problem. There is never any mention what-so-ever about the fact that Kiritsugu was her biological father and that Shirou is her adopted brother in Fate/Stay Night. I am sure there is a reason for that, but still at least a mention of it at the end would’ve been nice. Gilgamesh’s character remains the same as well. He is still the over cocky king from Fate/Zero.

Overall Grade 5/10

MTAC 2013

 

MTAC

Middle Tennessee Anime Convention

March 29-31, 2013

Nashville Convention Center / Renaissance Nashville Hotel

Nashville, TN

 

This year at MTAC is the Devil's Dozen. Supernatural anime will be celebrated this year as the Devil's Dozen's theme. The theme name is a play on words of the 'baker's dozen' (number 13). This will be the 13th Anime Convention for Middle Tennessee. MTAC revolves around anime and Japanese culture. Many people go to dress up as their favorite anime/video game characters. Having fun and conversing with other anime enthusiast is another reason people go to MTAC. MTAC is volunteer based, having over two hundred volunteers every year. There is also a year-round staff of over a hundred people. MTAC will give out donations to local charities that are at the convention.

Events:
Cosplay Contest, Ramen Eating Contest, Rave, Bebop Bar Crawl, Lolita Tea Party, Risque Cosplay Contest, J-Fashion Show, MTAC's Got Talent.

Rates (Door):
$50 weekend or $25 per day (Fri, Sat, Sun)

Known Guests:
• Chris Cason (Voice Actor / Director / Writer, FUNimation Entertainment)
• Jennifer Cihi (Actress)
• Todd Haberkorn (Voice Actor, Out of the Office Productions)
• Brittney Karbowski (Voice Actress)
• Jamie Marchi (Voice Actress)
• Pinn Panelle (Band)
• Monica Rial (Voice Actress)
• The Slants (Band)
• Symphonic Anime Orchestra (Musical Performers)
• Nao Yazawa (Artist)

For more information on MTAC please visit:
http://www.mtac.net

Cowboy Bebop Review

Cowboy Bebop Set

Doing an unbiased review on Cowboy Bebop would be difficult to me. Cowboy Bebop is everything an anime should be; after all it is my favorite anime. Along with Akira, Ghost in the Shell, Rurouni Kenshin, and some others, Cowboy Bebop is a very iconic anime name. Not only was it the first anime to run on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim back in 2001, but it ran for four years straight continuously. Cowboy Bebop took a break from Adult Swim for a while and reran in 2007-2012. Needless to say, this is an amazing anime!

The Plot of Cowboy Bebop

Cowboy Bebop is definitely a Sci-fi-Western anime. The story follows Spike Spiegel and his crew Jet, Faye, Ed, and Ein. Every episode has a sort of stand-alone story. Some of the main plot will come out in certain episodes, but may not show up in others. The Bebop crew hunts down bounties for a living. Each member has his or her own special “ability” when it comes to catching them. The main story arc though is really based around Spike and why he joined Jet to hunt bounties. Being a former member of the Red Dragon Syndicate, he basically uses the cowboy routine to stay in hiding. The main arc is about Spike’s past life catching up with him and him having to finally face the outcome.

The Characters of Cowboy Bebop

Spike is the main character of Cowboy Bebop. He is a very calm and collective guy training in Jeet Kun Do. Jet owns the Bebop and was a former detective. He lost his arm in a shootout at one time, thus he has a fake arm. Spike and Jet eventually come across Faye, another bounty hunter and bounty herself. Faye seems to bring them a lot of trouble as well as some good money at times. Ed is the genius of the crew. She helps by hacking and using her computer abilities to catch bounties. Ein is a very intelligent dog and really stays around Ed a lot and helps her with computer things.

The Bebop crew was put together so well and really makes the show. Each character that you come across in Cowboy Bebop has a lingering affect no longer how short their role was in the series. For instance the episode “Waltz for Venus” the character Rocco becomes a very interesting character to get to know and really lingers on even though he dies at the end of the episode.

The Setting of Cowboy Bebop

Cowboy Bebop is based in the year 2071. By this time the Solar System has been open up to the public for living. Most of the series takes place in the Bebop ship but occasionally they visit planets (or moons). Even though it is the year 2071 and humankind has embarked into space, there is still some very ‘old’ technology still around and in use. Ground vehicles from the 1990s are still being used in the anime. The space technology has come a long way but it left the ground technology behind.

Grade 10/10
Watch an Anime Music Video of Cowboy Bebop: