A Stylistic and Thematic Analysis of Fate/Zero

Another element of greek tregedy that Fate/Zero shares is that audiences typically already knew the end going in. They knew Oedipus' fate before the play started, just as we knew who the winner (and therefore losers) of this Holy Grail War would be.

I just finished Fate Zero last night. Absolutely incredible.

I'm really getting tired of people saying Saber displayed "poor leadership". The Arthurian legend is a far more complicated story of betrayal and the likes, and King Arthur was supposedly a near-perfect king aside from some flaws of carelessness like the whole deal with Lancelot. The point of Gilgamesh's critisism (rather than Rider's) was that you can't be a perfect ruler just because you follow the path of righteousness. Humans simply don't work thay way and they will always have 'evil' inside of them.

I guess I understood the message a little differently , the way I see it isn't that you should balance your ideology with realisim and rider is an excelent example of the a character who is fully defined by his ideals and isn't in fact a realist , but the reason of rider dying happy is that he never expected to actually fulfill his goal , he was more interested in the journey rather than the objective , and in fact we shouldn't strive to accomplish our goals because a dream loses all of it's value when it becomes reality rather the dream should something too big and impossible to achieve , it is this dream that never loses it's value that will always remain so important because it is unobtainable , in this case it isn't achieving the dream that matters but the progress that you make towards that dream , and since progress is a continuous process then you will always remain happy until the moment of your death , what I got from fate zero is that if we are to strive for something , then we have to only strive for the impossible while fully realising that it is impossible , otherwise if achieved the dream will lose it's value , and if it isn't achieved then the weight of disappointment will crush you

I wouldn't necessarily tie Nihilism to Kotomine. I think it's an overarching theme of the show but not one specific to him. Kotomine more specifically embodies nature vs nurture which isn't really an ideal but rather a social concept. Nihilism is the idea that life has no intrinsic meaning, however Kotomine spent his entire life desperately trying to understand himself and why he didn't fit in the world around him. His journey, while existential in nature had less to do with finding meaning in life in a general sense but rather asking why God created a creature such as he, cursed by his own twisted desires. This was until Fate/Zero where he fully embraced his wickedness. Anyways that aside great video my man. I am always down for giving Fate/Zero some love.

Glory lies beyond the horizon. Challenge it because it is unreachable. Speak of conquest and demonstrate it. Favorite quote of the whole series

To be honest, at one moment Caster's master had a conversation about god and the meaning of life... and, while I don't say what they've done is right or anything, I could totally understand the logic behind his reasoning and even sympathize briefly with them. ..So yeah, for me all the cast was morally attachable and amibiguous.

I watched Fate/Zero at an all time low. I was on the track team and wanted more than anything to redeem myself after a painful first term.I watched Naruto as a kid and thought that as long as I tried hard enough I could make it all work. I can still remember the nights working until 6 AM, and the look of disappointment from my coaches after I had missed a week of practice for academics. Eventually, I had to drop out for the season. I think that's why I found so much solace in Fate/Zero. It was the reminder that sometimes the world doesn't bend to our ideals and ambitions, that sometimes we are just specks of dust in the universe. Watching the characters that I so revere like Saber, Rider, and even Kiritsugu come to that realization, in a way, gave me hope. I think it reminded me that I was not alone in the struggle with reality and that sometimes we have to accept what has happened and move on. Great video man, helped me rationalize these thoughts. Keep up the good work.

This video healed my broken heart after the berserk hiatus announcement. Please dont hesitate to make more Fate/Zero content and Thank you for your hard Work!

I love hearing your viewpoints into shows which I care about, its really interesting. I have never taken the time to go back and reflect on a show or what it meant to me. Keep up the good work I love hearing your thoughts.

I’d like to add that kiritsugu was only happy when he saved someone without killing another at the end. By expanding his idealism, he was given a semi-happy ending.

I love Fate/Zero. I love watching stuff that is depressing... The Road is a good example.

I also see it as a story that isn't so much about promoting nihilism as it is about warning the overly idealistic. It is true that the nihilists and hedonists smile while the idealists inevitably fail, but Rider showed a perfect, happy balance, and Saber showed the beauty of idealism when she first used Excalibur. Good job on this one.

What I took was "Don't get too focused on the results" Which also goes in line with why Rider died with a smile despite being true to his ideal, Kiritsugu was too focused on the results, too much that when he found out the true nature of the grail he was devastated by the weight of his actions

I love Fate/Zero. In my eyes, it is one of the perfect anime out there. The clashings of ideals and the characters interactions are just amazing.

This is why I love Fate/Zero. And it made me love Unlimited Blade Works all the more. Unlike Kiritsugu, Shirou does not abandon his dream, nor does he turn it into the hope for a miracle that makes him justify atrocities. Instead, he sets out to try and make that miracle himself, even when acknowledging it is impossible, yet refusing to fall for such horrors. Why does he do it? Because he thinks it's beautiful. Because even if he knows that ideal is bullshit, to pursue it is a worthy cause to him.

Within half a year I've watched Fate/Zero 8 times. It is the most complex and tragically beautiful anime I've seen, it's my favourite so far and nothing's seems like it's going to change. I can't move on from it. And I don't know with whom I can discuss it, since I'm so deep into it. I loved Gilgamesh and Kiritsugu, I'm going to make a Irisviel cosplay. Thank you for your videos, they are brilliant.

sees notification of new upload drops literally everything to watch

As a matter of fact, the more I think about it the more amazed I am: I'm not sure if the writer intended it or not, but the character Kotomine Kirei shares the most parallels with isn't Kiritsugu, it's Waver. Both enter the war out of a desire to fulfill what they believe others want of them, more than any true desire. Both are mentored by servants they initially dislike, and both end the series setting out to fulfill goals related to what would truly make them happy for the first time in their lives. ... I need to overthink this show. How else will I justify the 300 Bucks I spent on the blu Ray collections. XD

My favourite scene of the entire series was the conversation between rider, Saber and archer. It made me think a lot about different things. I think it was called 'banquet of kings'.