mjk280 One day I was just looking for a highly rated anime on Netflix and came across this so I gave it a shot and watched the whole way through.First of all I love the premise: It's an excuse to have a bunch of interesting characters from history fight to the death, all controlled by human handlers. All the masters and servants have their own interesting personalities and motivations. Okay, there are a few humans who are mostly stoic low talkers but overall the characters are really diverse. The animation also seems really good and up to date. I love how well-drawn, colorful anime looks on an HD TV.My only thing is the storytelling could've been much better here I think. You've got a great cast of characters and a cool concept right off the bat, but I'm not sure it was executed as well as it could've been. There's just not enough screen time for all those interesting characters. Many of them don't get fleshed out nearly enough and a handful could even be considered flat characters because we only learn as much about them as the plot demands.Not necessarily a big negative, but I thought the pacing was strange as well. There is a one on one fight pretty early on, so you assume things are going to move fast, but after that it's mostly the human masters scheming or servants talking a lot but never actually getting to the point where they throw down with each other. On the flip side this results in the show being deeper than just a bunch of fight scenes.Another complaint would be some plot devices introduced out of nowhere. There are two or three times where you'll be thinking "Wait, what's this now? No one mentioned it before." Somewhat related is the fact that they're not really clear on how this all works. Of course magic isn't real so it's hard to quantify it, but I had absolutely no idea why certain characters were more feared than others, and definitely no idea how strong their "super moves" actually were. Some rules of the contest that are established eventually end up being ignored, forgotten about, or are violated with no repercussions. It's almost like the rules are a gentleman's agreement, but you don't REALLY have to follow them. That's fine if that's the case but they never really say that.Overall it's a fun show though, and over the course of 26 episodes none of these complaints crop up too consistently. There's a lot of meat here and getting into some more back stories for the characters could have definitely resulted in at least one more season or even two. The show could've used more actual fighting too in my opinion but regardless you're still intrigued the whole time about who will emerge victorious. I hate to say I think it's a bit overrated, but you should check it out anyways. Just expect to be in it for the long haul to get the most out of it, and for some episodes to be far better than others.

JDreviews This is a good example of how great anime can be. The plot is very well done and only gets better as the show progresses, showing development in the characters as the conflict continues. Each character is given a good deal of screen time and development, and there is a lack of a main character, which makes it all the more interesting. The show also questions many things noted as honorable and questions them, such as what it truly means to be a hero and if honor is truly selfless. Fate/Zero also spared no expense on the animation, each movement flows beautifully, and the action is truly something to behold, with a fantastic musical score as well. In short, this show is very well done and has an excellent story, with amazing action sequences and beautiful music. I cannot praise Fate/Zero enough, you're doing yourself a a big disservice by not watching this, however, it does contain some very bloody scenes and gas very dark subjects and disturbing characters, if you do not enjoy dark stories, you may not be able to enjoy this show, if you can look past this, you are sure to enjoy.

pulkitbhardwaj64 My first ever anime mini series, start to watch at 11 pm, 5 episodes into the series, I stop and hibernate my laptop!Why?? Such an awesome series, and only 25 episodes! That's not fair!! I was struck by the shear force of the characters. The serial is a visual treat for the lover of fantasy as well as a perpetual emotional journey for the affectionate of art. The characters are very strong, and the story line is fairly good. The animation is okay, it certainly could have been better! The only thing that sucks about this anime, is it's sequels!. Fate/stay night, Fate/stay unlimited blade works, they all are worthless. But this is a piece of art, which should be appreciated.

Anthony Horwood I love anime. Fate/Zero is rapidly becoming part of my 'must have' collection. It's strongly designed and scripted, the characterisation is excellent (though why do so many of the men look alike?) and the plot thickens nicely.Its strongest point though is the animation. I have seen lots of really good animation, some of the Studio Ghibli output is fabulous, but so far nothing can touch Fate/Zero. Of course, it's new and using newer techniques, which give it an edge, but the design is crisp, clear and original anyway. Even it it had been made 10 years ago I would give it 10/10 for style and quality, but it wasn't. The techniques that went into the production have given Fate/Zero a unique appearance. The characters look like anime characters, but some of the effects and even some of the heroic characters look like someone spent a million dollars a second getting them perfect.The character of Berserker is a bit hard to flesh out, for example, almost by definition as he was a knight driven insane by the horrors of battle, but his appearance!! He is gorgeous, so far as a frightening, black revenant can be. At one point he fights another of the heroes having taken possession of a fighter plane, and the whole section is beyond anything I had ever previously seen.One could quibble that King Arthur was in fact, a bloke, not a girl or that Alexander the Great was both short and gay, but it's anime, not the History Channel.All round, this was a huge surprise, and a total delight to me. I love it.