[D'rek]

Inou-Battle wa Nichijou-kei no Naka de (7) - Holy shit. And this was such a happy show. I anticipated something bad was coming after Andou was being so dim throughout the first 10 minutes, but that was way beyond my expectations.

I re-watched it and the _______ {{spoiler but you'll know when you see it}} was over 3 minutes long. Very well done by the voice actress.

The whole thing had me feeling emotionally conflicted, too, because...

Spoiler

Andou and Tomoyo are so awesome together. I really like how much Andou is tuned into Tomoyo's thoughts/emotions, and how Tomoyo is so comfortable with letting her hidden self out around Andou but no one else. The two of them really "get" each other and seeing them be all chuuni together is adorable.

But Hatoko's been trying to catch Andou's attention for a decade, only to see him so easily pick Tomoyo instead just because of the chuuni thing, the one thing Hatoko and Andou don't share? Not only would that hurt so much just by itself, but the way Andou was dismissive of her was atrocious. No wonder she snapped. Clearly Hatoko cared enough and tried hard enough to remember three minutes' worth of chuuni terminology... but it wasn't enough.

So, I get to watch Andou and Tomoyo together in the club room and be so happy seeing them together, only to almost immediately after have the cost of that happiness thrown in my face. Well played, show. And ouch. D'rek is sad.

Fate/Stay Night/UBW (5-6) - Wow, Rin needs some aim-assisting magic to go with her crazy lasers (hereafter known as "Crazers").

And hey, there's Assassin, and there's Caster, we're meeting the whole gang! Look, there's Ri- huh? Assassin again? That's weird. I don't think there's anyone unaccounted for in the OP, either. Maybe Rider will stay a big mystery for a while, or maybe there really is 2 Assassins. It's not like any of the "rules" of this series ever mean anything

But seriously, don't Shiro and Sabre ever talk? Like, after he gets attacked by a Servant in the forest, he doesn't tell her about it later that day, so when she runs into another Assassin Servant she might think it is odd? She might get some advantage out of it? Nah, tactics are for wussies!

Oh well, I'm sure it'll be a fun fight.

You can really feel the pain of this sticking to the high school anime cliches though. Ooooh, what a surprise, the creepy bully kid in Shiro's class turns out to be a boss fight, what a shocker





Log Horizon s2 (6-7) - Episode 6 was interesting. I won't say much for spoilers' sake, but we've been waiting a long time to learn more about what happens... there.

Episode 7 was pretty boring though. Just more setup for the fight with evil Santa and a lot of vague mutterings about the Teachings that were ultimately pointless.

Things in the game changing to follow the rules of the real world more is an interesting idea, but after all the pseudo-mysteries from last season that weren't followed up on I'm not getting my hopes up that this will get much depth.



Shingeki no Bahamut (6.5) - A recap episode? After 6 episodes? Wuuuuuh?



Sword Art Online II (19) - Yay, Rosario arc. Kirito was getting a bit too "everything's coming up Milhouse" after GGO wrapped up - shifting main charactership to Asuna is already a lot more interesting than if they pulled out some new not-previously-mentioned drama on the Kirito side. Asuna's mom really is a nasty woman, isn't she?


It also needs to be said that SAO is absolutely nailing it with the OPs this season (though I really liked their season 1 OPs, too). The synchronized music and visual shift in the GGO OP with Kirito stepping out into the battle scenery in the latter part was really well done. I love the new song for the second OP of the season, and the visuals for the Caliber version were especially great - they made some really smart choices mixing the real life and VRMMO elements, showing the actual VRMMO bits like health bars and whatnot, and adding the Aincraid flashbacks as well. I think I actually prefer the Caliber to the Rosario one, but the Rosario one is still very, very good and I'm sure Rosario will grow on me once we get farther into it.

In contrast, I don't know why some people in comment sections are raving about the Shingeki no Bahamut OP. It is too screamo for my tastes, but even personal tastes aside it doesn't blend with the show or match any of the music in the show itself. Maybe those people are just really big Existenz fans.

[LinearPhilosopher]

D, on 18 November 2014 - 03:59 PM, said:

Inou-Battle wa Nichijou-kei no Naka de (7) - Holy shit. And this was such a happy show. I anticipated something bad was coming after Andou was being so dim throughout the first 10 minutes, but that was way beyond my expectations.

I re-watched it and the _______ {{spoiler but you'll know when you see it}} was over 3 minutes long. Very well done by the voice actress.

The whole thing had me feeling emotionally conflicted, too, because...

Spoiler

Andou and Tomoyo are so awesome together. I really like how much Andou is tuned into Tomoyo's thoughts/emotions, and how Tomoyo is so comfortable with letting her hidden self out around Andou but no one else. The two of them really "get" each other and seeing them be all chuuni together is adorable.

But Hatoko's been trying to catch Andou's attention for a decade, only to see him so easily pick Tomoyo instead just because of the chuuni thing, the one thing Hatoko and Andou don't share? Not only would that hurt so much just by itself, but the way Andou was dismissive of her was atrocious. No wonder she snapped. Clearly Hatoko cared enough and tried hard enough to remember three minutes' worth of chuuni terminology... but it wasn't enough.

So, I get to watch Andou and Tomoyo together in the club room and be so happy seeing them together, only to almost immediately after have the cost of that happiness thrown in my face. Well played, show. And ouch. D'rek is sad.

Fate/Stay Night/UBW (5-6) - Wow, Rin needs some aim-assisting magic to go with her crazy lasers (hereafter known as "Crazers").

And hey, there's Assassin, and there's Caster, we're meeting the whole gang! Look, there's Ri- huh? Assassin again? That's weird. I don't think there's anyone unaccounted for in the OP, either. Maybe Rider will stay a big mystery for a while, or maybe there really is 2 Assassins. It's not like any of the "rules" of this series ever mean anything

But seriously, don't Shiro and Sabre ever talk? Like, after he gets attacked by a Servant in the forest, he doesn't tell her about it later that day, so when she runs into another Assassin Servant she might think it is odd? She might get some advantage out of it? Nah, tactics are for wussies!

Oh well, I'm sure it'll be a fun fight.

You can really feel the pain of this sticking to the high school anime cliches though. Ooooh, what a surprise, the creepy bully kid in Shiro's class turns out to be a boss fight, what a shocker





Log Horizon s2 (6-7) - Episode 6 was interesting. I won't say much for spoilers' sake, but we've been waiting a long time to learn more about what happens... there.

Episode 7 was pretty boring though. Just more setup for the fight with evil Santa and a lot of vague mutterings about the Teachings that were ultimately pointless.

Things in the game changing to follow the rules of the real world more is an interesting idea, but after all the pseudo-mysteries from last season that weren't followed up on I'm not getting my hopes up that this will get much depth.



Shingeki no Bahamut (6.5) - A recap episode? After 6 episodes? Wuuuuuh?



Sword Art Online II (19) - Yay, Rosario arc. Kirito was getting a bit too "everything's coming up Milhouse" after GGO wrapped up - shifting main charactership to Asuna is already a lot more interesting than if they pulled out some new not-previously-mentioned drama on the Kirito side. Asuna's mom really is a nasty woman, isn't she?


It also needs to be said that SAO is absolutely nailing it with the OPs this season (though I really liked their season 1 OPs, too). The synchronized music and visual shift in the GGO OP with Kirito stepping out into the battle scenery in the latter part was really well done. I love the new song for the second OP of the season, and the visuals for the Caliber version were especially great - they made some really smart choices mixing the real life and VRMMO elements, showing the actual VRMMO bits like health bars and whatnot, and adding the Aincraid flashbacks as well. I think I actually prefer the Caliber to the Rosario one, but the Rosario one is still very, very good and I'm sure Rosario will grow on me once we get farther into it.

In contrast, I don't know why some people in comment sections are raving about the Shingeki no Bahamut OP. It is too screamo for my tastes, but even personal tastes aside it doesn't blend with the show or match any of the music in the show itself. Maybe those people are just really big Existenz fans.

the woman in the op for GGO can't even sing... I couldn't stand it.

Anyhow watched ep 4 of shingeki no bahamut. Was solid, definetly looking forward to catching up on the rest of the show. Im also enjoying the addition of that necromancer from ep 3 to the main cast. Im also glad there's a recap episode. Means i can catchup now! (just finished my temp contract so i have free time now)
Im really dissapointed with log horizon, i basically fast forward through all the akatsuki scenes. I really could not care less about her. I can appreaciate them trying to give her a little more depth as she was one dimensional before but still...
Psychopass continues to be awesome and it's a lot more graphic this season, which i don't think is a bad thing.
Im still enjoying fate, im just going to re iterate how less annoying shirou is in this show.


I still need to get around to watching twintails... why is there so much good anime all at once? I prefer my shows spaced out over the year.

I've also given up on hitsugi no chaika, too much to watch and that show wasn't really doing it for me anymore.

This post has been edited by BalrogLord: 18 November 2014 - 04:31 PM

[D'rek]

BalrogLord, on 18 November 2014 - 04:29 PM, said:

Anyhow watched ep 4 of shingeki no bahamut. Was solid, definetly looking forward to catching up on the rest of the show. Im also enjoying the addition of that necromancer from ep 3 to the main cast. Im also glad there's a recap episode. Means i can catchup now! (just finished my temp contract so i have free time now)

Yeah, Rita is great. And she gets even better!

(ep 5 spoiler)

Spoiler

Severed zombie slap!
Reanimated wyvern escape!
Undeadpan humour!

BalrogLord, on 18 November 2014 - 04:29 PM, said:

Im really dissapointed with log horizon, i basically fast forward through all the akatsuki scenes. I really could not care less about her. I can appreaciate them trying to give her a little more depth as she was one dimensional before but still...

Yeah, I don't think they understand that showing more of a one-dimensional character being one-dimensional doesn't make her two-dimensional. It's just more of her being headstrong and pointlessly/inexplicably dependent on Shiro, not anything new.

I could almost be like "But at least her storyline is about to lead to an awesome battle probably so it's all good", but we're getting more Akatsuki in lieu of seeing any of the colossal raid battles that Shiro and Naotsugu are fighting off-screen, so that doesn't fly.

[LinearPhilosopher]

D, on 18 November 2014 - 05:10 PM, said:

BalrogLord, on 18 November 2014 - 04:29 PM, said:

Anyhow watched ep 4 of shingeki no bahamut. Was solid, definetly looking forward to catching up on the rest of the show. Im also enjoying the addition of that necromancer from ep 3 to the main cast. Im also glad there's a recap episode. Means i can catchup now! (just finished my temp contract so i have free time now)

Yeah, Rita is great. And she gets even better!

(ep 5 spoiler)

Spoiler

Severed zombie slap!
Reanimated wyvern escape!
Undeadpan humour!

BalrogLord, on 18 November 2014 - 04:29 PM, said:

Im really dissapointed with log horizon, i basically fast forward through all the akatsuki scenes. I really could not care less about her. I can appreaciate them trying to give her a little more depth as she was one dimensional before but still...

Yeah, I don't think they understand that showing more of a one-dimensional character being one-dimensional doesn't make her two-dimensional. It's just more of her being headstrong and pointlessly/inexplicably dependent on Shiro, not anything new.

I could almost be like "But at least her storyline is about to lead to an awesome battle probably so it's all good", but we're getting more Akatsuki in lieu of seeing any of the colossal raid battles that Shiro and Naotsugu are fighting off-screen, so that doesn't fly.

exactly, all this delving into her character isn't making her anymore interesting, it's done the opposite. Going in depth into a character should be done to increase an audience's liking of a character. If it's having the opposite effect, you've failed as a writer.

[LinearPhilosopher]

New episode of psycho-pass...

Dayum this just keeps on getting better and better.

[D'rek]

Inou-Battle wa Nichijou-kei no Naka de (8) - I am not sure what to think of this episode. It was still very funny*, but I'm not sure how I feel about this show actually having plot. I guess they had to do an explanation at some point, and if they are not planning to really focus on it at all then doing at the very end of the show would have been annoying. Doing it now and then going back to the usual SoL comedy would be a humourous subversion of magic school battle animes, and this *is* studio Trigger after all...

OTOH, if this just goes into hyper-plot-mode from here on out that could be somewhat disappointing. I don't think they'd do something as obvious as that, though. Lots of commenters seem to think that will happen, and want that. I think they are watching the wrong show and the whole point is that we'll never see this again. We'll see!

*

Spoiler

the whole Hatoko kidnapping was a mistake, they really wanted Sayumi and all just so Hajime could get his eyes healed from wearing coloured contacts? That is awesome

Fate/Stay Night/UBW (7) - Geez, the creator of the VNs this show is based on really had a thing for Irish and British mythology, huh?

(spoilers for all of Fate/Zero and up to epi 7 of Stay Night)

Spoiler

Zero Lancer
Stay Night Lancer
same Sabre both times
Zero Berserker
and now Stay Night Archer

That's basically half of the heroes I know so far, with 3 still unaccounted for. Weird.

Anyways, fun episode. Archer is such a jerk, but he's a fun-to-watch jerk!

I don't know how long I can stand this we're-in-a-death-match-but-we'll-just-do-little-skirmishes-and-retreat-no-biggie thing. These people do not understand how to fight a magic deathmatch.



Log Horizon s2 (8) - Better than the last two Akatsuki episodes, but a lot of it was rehash from the previous episode (hey let's have the strategist who came up with the plan repeat it three times as if the other characters don't already know it... it's like bad fantasy books with their "as you know, orphan farmboy, here's a concise history of the world"). The plan is still really dumb too...

Spoiler

Let's turn off the entire magic circle because of this one guy so that any crazy person or western spy can start killing anyone without any royal guard intervention. And in the end it was Akatsuki breaking the dude's sword that was imporant... with her magic sword she could have just kept attacking him and broken the sword without undoing the magic circle.

Definitely this show has become a turn-off-my-brain-and-enjoy-it-with-popcorn show, because thinking things through is not helping. Oh well, Shiro plot next week will hopefully be entertaining!



Shingeki no Bahamut (7) - Not much to talk about on this episode but it was good. Love these giant diverse battles.



Sword Art Online II (20) - Great episode. They setup the main plot of the arc quickly and effectively, tied it into Asuna's own problems and presented the challenges of accomplishing their goal. Good structure, I almost worried what they were going to do for the rest of the season since it looked like the arc would wrap up so quickly! But then that ending!

[LinearPhilosopher]

D, on 26 November 2014 - 05:13 AM, said:

Fate/Stay Night/UBW (7) - Geez, the creator of the VNs this show is based on really had a thing for Irish and British mythology, huh?

(spoilers for all of Fate/Zero and up to epi 7 of Stay Night)

Spoiler

Zero Lancer
Stay Night Lancer
same Sabre both times
Zero Berserker
and now Stay Night Archer

That's basically half of the heroes I know so far, with 3 still unaccounted for. Weird.

Anyways, fun episode. Archer is such a jerk, but he's a fun-to-watch jerk!

I don't know how long I can stand this we're-in-a-death-match-but-we'll-just-do-little-skirmishes-and-retreat-no-biggie thing. These people do not understand how to fight a magic deathmatch.

theres a difference between a caged death match and a death match. Also many of these servants have their own personalities (to say nothing of tohsaka).

Quote

Log Horizon s2 (8) - Better than the last two Akatsuki episodes, but a lot of it was rehash from the previous episode (hey let's have the strategist who came up with the plan repeat it three times as if the other characters don't already know it... it's like bad fantasy books with their "as you know, orphan farmboy, here's a concise history of the world"). The plan is still really dumb too...

Spoiler

Let's turn off the entire magic circle because of this one guy so that any crazy person or western spy can start killing anyone without any royal guard intervention. And in the end it was Akatsuki breaking the dude's sword that was imporant... with her magic sword she could have just kept attacking him and broken the sword without undoing the magic circle.

Definitely this show has become a turn-off-my-brain-and-enjoy-it-with-popcorn show, because thinking things through is not helping. Oh well, Shiro plot next week will hopefully be entertaining!

He still had that armor that made him OP as heck. Were that armour not disabled they wouldn't have been able to use that freezing spell. Yes there will be long term repurcussions to this, however you have to deal with short term problems first. Also now that you mention it, wouldn't it be convenient for the other faction to have akihabaras defenses down now ? Espcially how they keep talking about spies being everywhere...

Quote

Shingeki no Bahamut (7) - Not much to talk about on this episode but it was good. Love these giant diverse battles.



Sword Art Online II (20) - Great episode. They setup the main plot of the arc quickly and effectively, tied it into Asuna's own problems and presented the challenges of accomplishing their goal. Good structure, I almost worried what they were going to do for the rest of the season since it looked like the arc would wrap up so quickly! But then that ending!

im liking shingeki no bahamut, thhough ami the only one who thinks the angels are a bunch of pretentious asshats? they say guard this precious thing yet don't help the humans in any way shape or form...

This post has been edited by BalrogLord: 26 November 2014 - 02:56 PM

[D'rek]

BalrogLord, on 26 November 2014 - 02:55 PM, said:

D, on 26 November 2014 - 05:13 AM, said:

Fate/Stay Night/UBW (7) - Geez, the creator of the VNs this show is based on really had a thing for Irish and British mythology, huh?

(spoilers for all of Fate/Zero and up to epi 7 of Stay Night)

Spoiler

Zero Lancer
Stay Night Lancer
same Sabre both times
Zero Berserker
and now Stay Night Archer

That's basically half of the heroes I know so far, with 3 still unaccounted for. Weird.

Anyways, fun episode. Archer is such a jerk, but he's a fun-to-watch jerk!

I don't know how long I can stand this we're-in-a-death-match-but-we'll-just-do-little-skirmishes-and-retreat-no-biggie thing. These people do not understand how to fight a magic deathmatch.

theres a difference between a caged death match and a death match. Also many of these servants have their own personalities (to say nothing of tohsaka).

Granted, but some things don't line up much. They say they should hold their super-secret-identity-revealing noble phantasms in reserve so they don't give themselves away and so the enemy won't have a counter ready, then they go ahead and use them anyways on a battle they are intending not to finish off the enemy in. Rin and Shirou basically haven't accomplished anything so far except reveal to every other master and servant who they are, plus reveal what Sabre and Archer's identities/capabilities are to most of them. Meanwhile, they've failed to learn anything about anyone else except what was given to them freely.

Spoiler

Like Issei just outright revealing himself to Shirou or Castsassin giving his name away to Sabre. They don't know who Issei's servant is, who Caster is or who her master is, they don't even know who mini-Iris is but she knows them now, etc.

Sure, personalities and all that, but Archer giving away his fighting style and his secret move when he supposedly intended to let Caster live all along is a pretty dumb strategy - he could've just jumped in, grabbed Shirou, and hopped out. And hey, they know that Issei is a master now, why not kidnap him/kill him/spy on him for info? Nah, let's just go home.

But don't worry everyone! Shirou's going to become a legendary swordmaster after three days of training, that'll solve all our problems!

Kind of the same boat as Log Horizon - this show is beautiful and the fights are lots of fun but for now it is more popcorn-flick than intellectually stimulating.

BalrogLord, on 26 November 2014 - 02:55 PM, said:

D, on 26 November 2014 - 05:13 AM, said:

Log Horizon s2 (8) - Better than the last two Akatsuki episodes, but a lot of it was rehash from the previous episode (hey let's have the strategist who came up with the plan repeat it three times as if the other characters don't already know it... it's like bad fantasy books with their "as you know, orphan farmboy, here's a concise history of the world"). The plan is still really dumb too...

Spoiler

Let's turn off the entire magic circle because of this one guy so that any crazy person or western spy can start killing anyone without any royal guard intervention. And in the end it was Akatsuki breaking the dude's sword that was imporant... with her magic sword she could have just kept attacking him and broken the sword without undoing the magic circle.

Definitely this show has become a turn-off-my-brain-and-enjoy-it-with-popcorn show, because thinking things through is not helping. Oh well, Shiro plot next week will hopefully be entertaining!

He still had that armor that made him OP as heck. Were that armour not disabled they wouldn't have been able to use that freezing spell. Yes there will be long term repurcussions to this, however you have to deal with short term problems first. Also now that you mention it, wouldn't it be convenient for the other faction to have akihabaras defenses down now ? Espcially how they keep talking about spies being everywhere...

Spoiler

The armour made him near-impossible to kill, but the plan wasn't about killing him anyways. Reiza says the important thing is to break his sword, because that is what is making him a raid boss and insane. Akatsuki could just keep fighting him with her sword-that-ruins-other-weapons until his legendary sword breaks, and that would be most of their problem solved.

I'm assuming they needed some reason to disable the magic circle anyways for precisely that reason - so that later in the season the western spies can stir up trouble. It's a pretty flimsy excuse to set that up (and likewise the Kunnie clan being so powerful they can *make* these magic circles and royal guard armour, but can't temporarily disable the armour or give any other assistance is really plot-convenient, too)

BalrogLord, on 26 November 2014 - 02:55 PM, said:

D, on 26 November 2014 - 05:13 AM, said:

Shingeki no Bahamut (7) - Not much to talk about on this episode but it was good. Love these giant diverse battles.

im liking shingeki no bahamut, thhough ami the only one who thinks the angels are a bunch of pretentious asshats? they say guard this precious thing yet don't help the humans in any way shape or form...

Definitely! Though Michael did come through Jeanne's spear as usual (it looks like s/he literally manifests from it - you can see him/her in the light stream) {seriously, I cannot tell if Michael is supposed to be a male or female angel... maybe there isn't any distinction for angels!}. But who needs angels when you have giant golems that come out of the walls, dragon knights and mages that turn your catapult and arrow projectiles into holy lances?!

But yeah, the angels are still pretty dickish. Maybe they only interfere when the 'real' evil demigods interfere, and the demons we've seen are on the same 'plane' as humans so they don't warrant angel intervention? The angels are definitely working to keep the containment spells on Bahamut going, so they're not totally sitting around doing nothing.

Azazel's medusa-esque powers are neat, too, but it seems he could have used them better - ten snakes vs two swords and a tail should still have won easily and quickly. I guess he was just toying with them.

[Maark Abbott]

I'm semicurious as to the Bayonetta movie. Any thoughts?

Essentially if it's as ridiculously OTT camp as the game I think I'll take a gander.

[Silencer]

D, on 26 November 2014 - 05:13 AM, said:

Fate/Stay Night/UBW (7) - Geez, the creator of the VNs this show is based on really had a thing for Irish and British mythology, huh?

(spoilers for all of Fate/Zero and up to epi 7 of Stay Night)

Spoiler

Zero Lancer
Stay Night Lancer
same Sabre both times
Zero Berserker
and now Stay Night Archer

That's basically half of the heroes I know so far, with 3 still unaccounted for. Weird.

Hehe. Hahahaha. HEHAHAHAHEHEHEHAHAHAHA.

I'll say no more. Just wait.

Quote

Anyways, fun episode. Archer is such a jerk, but he's a fun-to-watch jerk!

I don't know how long I can stand this we're-in-a-death-match-but-we'll-just-do-little-skirmishes-and-retreat-no-biggie thing. These people do not understand how to fight a magic deathmatch.

They really don't, and as I said earlier (I think) that's kind of the point. Normally a Master-candidate spends their LIFE preparing for these battles. Training, and just being mentally subjected to the mentality of the ENTIRE mage-world via their parents (see the Tohsakas, Matous, and Archibald in Zero).

None of which any of the named characters revealed thus far have received. At all. Tohsaka is the closest to it and even she really didn't get much more than a start into the whole world. That's why she keeps holding back - she KNOWS what she is theoretically supposed to do, how she's supposed to act but...she hasn't been isolated, trained to be that arrogant, better-than-thou Mage type we know so well. Ilya has, but...well...spoilers. She's also got the arrogance thing TOO MUCH, which is why she keeps letting people live. To be fair, Berserker is UNBELIEVABLY overpowered.

Like, in the most recent episode (mild spoiler for what WON'T happen in the future):

Spoiler

Archer's "plan" to let Caster power up and defeat Berserker? Won't work. Not just for 'plot' reasons, but because of how Berserker's power works. It just fundamentally won't work.

So at least Ilya has a reason to be haughty as fuck. But she'd be a lot better of being arrogant as all get-out and just CRUSHING her enemies, so yeah.


This show is also waaaaaaaaaaay more idealistic than Zero. Zero was real. Zero was how this shit would go down IRL. Even then, annoying honour-code stuff got in the way, but that's kind of the point of the Command Seals and the toss-up between using them to override a Servant's wishes or not.


Heaven's Feel route really rams home how destructive and stupid Shirou's ideals can be, though. It's way darker than UBW (which is, in turn, pretty much two shades darker than the Fate route, which is practically My Little Pony-levels of happy when compared to Zero or, to put things out of reach, Heaven's Feel XD).

D, on 26 November 2014 - 04:43 PM, said:

Granted, but some things don't line up much. They say they should hold their super-secret-identity-revealing noble phantasms in reserve so they don't give themselves away and so the enemy won't have a counter ready, then they go ahead and use them anyways on a battle they are intending not to finish off the enemy in. Rin and Shirou basically haven't accomplished anything so far except reveal to every other master and servant who they are, plus reveal what Sabre and Archer's identities/capabilities are to most of them. Meanwhile, they've failed to learn anything about anyone else except what was given to them freely.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH.

Sorry, but as someone privy to some ridiculous spoilers on certain information related to this, I'm rolling in my seat laughing about this.

As much as Sabre is MEGA guilty of giving away her identity (it's practically her honour code, she can't help it), and yes, they've accomplished nothing so far, they were already kind of up shit creek in that regard anyway (given, you know, people who know things, Caster's remote-viewing, and the fact that Rin is a Tohsaka, etc, all kind of ruin most of those details anyway).

The only servants they're really truly in the dark about are Caster and Rider. Berserker they know as much about as they've given away, Lancer is in a similar boat (sans Master identity), CasAssassin is outed and we know he's controlled by Caster, we've also seen his equivalent to a Noble Phantasm. Archer/Saber are again on fairly even footing, all things considered.

Rider is comparatively weak, and Caster just got her ass kicked by Archer, even if he couldn't really beat her on her home turf with her mana supply intact. So at least everyone is playing on the same level of stupid (just about).

But don't worry, this will be addressed.

Quote

Spoiler

Like Issei just outright revealing himself to Shirou or Castsassin giving his name away to Sabre. They don't know who Issei's servant is, who Caster is or who her master is, they don't even know who mini-Iris is but she knows them now, etc.

Sure, personalities and all that, but Archer giving away his fighting style and his secret move when he supposedly intended to let Caster live all along is a pretty dumb strategy - he could've just jumped in, grabbed Shirou, and hopped out. And hey, they know that Issei is a master now, why not kidnap him/kill him/spy on him for info? Nah, let's just go home.

But don't worry everyone! Shirou's going to become a legendary swordmaster after three days of training, that'll solve all our problems!

Spoileeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeersssssss is all I will say to this.

[Silencer]

Oh, and the Mother Rosario arc is awesome. Loving the Asuna development, it's been handled really well, considering she has been the primary female character since the start but had less backstory than even Sugu.

If I recall correctly this plot line is where the author realised she'd been sidelined since Aincrad and hadn't been given any depth. XD


....also, trust a certain protagonist to make the most badass entry on the planet (plus a nice shout-out to the ALO days, even if he is kind of temporarily hogging the spotlight after two episodes of passivity). Also also: dat grin he was wearing while watching Asuna fight. XD He's still the best overpowered protagonist in anime. Don't know why, but where other stories really make their Mary/Gary Stu characters into a massive singularity of annoying, SAO manages to avoid that beautifully.

That being said, man I can relate to Asuna in this. Her mother is like the stereotypical "the internet isn't real" parent. Throw in a side of "what do you mean my daughter went through hell...twice?" denial and dayum...that girl got problems.

[D'rek]

Good timing, Silencer! Latest F/SN episode shows just novice Rin is at deathmatch tactics, IMO.

(just F/SN epi 8 spoilers)

Spoiler

Wait, so the servant who dresses all in black, uses knives and ninjas about with chain-daggers is a Rider while the Assassin class goes to some samurai who doesn't conceal themself and gives their name away right away, and only fights with a sword? That's some hefty bullshit right there!

Assuming of course there isn't an original unseen Assassin out there... but then if there are 7 + Caster's sub-Servant, why wouldn't Caster just summon Sasaki Kojiro as a Sabre sub-Servant? Weird.

Anyways, nice to see one Servant down, though they really shouldn't have just let Shinji run away like that.

And yeah, Berserker's special powers does seem pretty insanely powerful from what we've heard of it so far... but if he's who I think they've been hinting at then he should be stronger than just about everyone, especially random obscure Gaelic and Japanese swordsmen (assuming being world-reknowned makes you a stronger Servant).


(Fate/Zero spoilers)

Spoiler

So 4 confirmed Masters, 7 known Servants but there could be another Assassin.

Rin - Archer (Fergus mac Roich)
Shirou - Sabre (Arthuria)
Ilya - Berserker (Hercules / Achilles ?)
Shinji - Rider (?)
??? - Lancer (Cu Chulainn)
??? - Caster (no evidence of any particular identity, but given all the irish/british mythology I'd guess Morgan Le Fay)
^Caster - Assassin (Sasaki Kojiro)


Of course we (and non-Zero viewers who noticed her hand bruises) know Sakura will be the real Matou Master. Given that Lancer stabbed Shiro and Sakura is (supposedly) all lovey dovey for him, seems doubtful that she would be Lancer's Master, making her Caster's master instead. That makes sense for why Caster was hanging around the school, even if Sakura was knocked out.

On the other hand, Gilgamesh hasn't made much appearance yet but is bound to be involved. Kirei too, perhaps. Lancer needs a good reason to have been hanging around the school - would make sense if Kirei was his Master, plus Kirei would get some pleasure out of killing Emiya's son, no? Or not, who knows. Maybe Sakura is indeed Lancer's Master and Lancer wasn't doing what she wanted.

I still think the weird teacher at the school they've shown a couple times is going to turn out to be either {a} a Master, and/or {b} Gilgamesh in disguise, and that it was him who Shinji was all "you can't be walking around" to. So I'll go with either Teacher-Caster and Sakura-Lancer or vice versa, and if Kirei is cheating his way into being a Master again he'll have the real Assassin.

[Silencer]

D, on 30 November 2014 - 08:56 PM, said:

Good timing, Silencer! Latest F/SN episode shows just novice Rin is at deathmatch tactics, IMO.

(just F/SN epi 8 spoilers)

Spoiler

Wait, so the servant who dresses all in black, uses knives and ninjas about with chain-daggers is a Rider while the Assassin class goes to some samurai who doesn't conceal themself and gives their name away right away, and only fights with a sword? That's some hefty bullshit right there!

Assuming of course there isn't an original unseen Assassin out there... but then if there are 7 + Caster's sub-Servant, why wouldn't Caster just summon Sasaki Kojiro as a Sabre sub-Servant? Weird.

Anyways, nice to see one Servant down, though they really shouldn't have just let Shinji run away like that.

Ehehe. Fate/Zero spoilers RE: hefty BS:

Spoiler

Remember how messed up the Grail was? Yeah.

Fate/Stay Night Spoilers RE: Rider's identity and such:

Spoiler

So, Rider was...MEDUSA. Weird, I know. Honestly, she's actually one of the most powerful Servants, as she verges more on the category of Divine Spirit than Heroic. Her "Rider" designation comes from the fact that one of her sort-of-Noble-Phantasms is actually to ride Pegasus. Not "a" Pegasus, but a special Divine-class Pegasus verging on the power level of Dragons in this universe. It's really imba powerful. But that's why she's Rider.
Also, she's not really a Heroic Spirit, as she's technically the product of Belief/legends more than someone who existed as a mortal. Take from that what you will. (And yes; there is an ENTIRE rewrite of her history to work it into the Nasuverse - the setting is nothing if not infinitely detailed...)

Quote

And yeah, Berserker's special powers does seem pretty insanely powerful from what we've heard of it so far... but if he's who I think they've been hinting at then he should be stronger than just about everyone, especially random obscure Gaelic and Japanese swordsmen (assuming being world-reknowned makes you a stronger Servant).

Only sort of? Technically, a stronger legend *does* enhance your chances of being a powerful Servant, but it's not guaranteed. Age is the most important thing in the whole Nasuverse in terms of power (thus: Gilgamesh), basically the older you are the more powerful you are due to the fact that Magic has been on the wane since the Age of Gods and suchlike. This is why Rider in Fate/Zero and Gilgamesh are basically on another tier compared to most of the Servants in either Grail War - they're OLD. Especially Gil. Within the same relative category of time, then, a stronger legend will probably mean you are the stronger Servant, though depending on what that legend was, it isn't always the case. You can also get outliers who are a step-above normal (like Saber) with regards to capability, as when you're talking Servant power levels, the gap isn't always that wide/obvious.

However, it's not guaranteed (remember Berserker in Zero?) as there are various stats which have more or less impact in different situations, and then you can apply modifiers like "Berserk" property to change the game up completely, though they usually come with trade-offs. Plus, your base Class is also an important factor in determining how high certain stats can be...

Quote

(Fate/Zero spoilers)

Spoiler

So 4 confirmed Masters, 7 known Servants but there could be another Assassin.

Rin - Archer (Fergus mac Roich)
Shirou - Sabre (Arthuria)
Ilya - Berserker (Hercules / Achilles ?)
Shinji - Rider (?)
??? - Lancer (Cu Chulainn)
??? - Caster (no evidence of any particular identity, but given all the irish/british mythology I'd guess Morgan Le Fay)
^Caster - Assassin (Sasaki Kojiro)

Hehehehe.

Quote

Spoiler

Of course we (and non-Zero viewers who noticed her hand bruises) know Sakura will be the real Matou Master. Given that Lancer stabbed Shiro and Sakura is (supposedly) all lovey dovey for him, seems doubtful that she would be Lancer's Master, making her Caster's master instead. That makes sense for why Caster was hanging around the school, even if Sakura was knocked out.

Glad you picked up on that, but (specific spoilers for UBW/Master status and appearances on the whole...read at your own discretion, but it will rule out some possibilities for speculation)

Spoiler

Assuming they're not mixing the routes up excessively (given they're doing the HF movie...), we're not going to see much more of Sakura in this one. In UBW she gives up her Master status to Shinji as she doesn't want to participate/he pressures her, and so basically just acts as an anchor - she doesn't even supply Mana at this point and is basically a non-entity in this route. She was, of course, Rider's original Master until Shinji took over.

Quote

Spoiler

On the other hand, Gilgamesh hasn't made much appearance yet but is bound to be involved. Kirei too, perhaps. Lancer needs a good reason to have been hanging around the school - would make sense if Kirei was his Master, plus Kirei would get some pleasure out of killing Emiya's son, no? Or not, who knows. Maybe Sakura is indeed Lancer's Master and Lancer wasn't doing what she wanted.

I still think the weird teacher at the school they've shown a couple times is going to turn out to be either {a} a Master, and/or {b} Gilgamesh in disguise, and that it was him who Shinji was all "you can't be walking around" to. So I'll go with either Teacher-Caster and Sakura-Lancer or vice versa, and if Kirei is cheating his way into being a Master again he'll have the real Assassin.

And not touching any of THAT speculation with a ten-foot pole, because it's just spoilers all the way down.

[D'rek]

Oh, interesting. I guess in the other routes Rider doesn't die so fast? I didn't realize there were such big differences between the routes.


Hmm, oldest is better, huh? Then it would seem the Matous and Einzbergs took that idea to heart with the Servants they picked this time around, then. Perhaps trying to learn after they saw how powerful Rider and Archer were in the Fourth war?

Can I be a character? I summon Iry-Hor! Or Enmebaragesi!

[Silencer]

D, on 01 December 2014 - 05:10 AM, said:

Oh, interesting. I guess in the other routes Rider doesn't die so fast? I didn't realize there were such big differences between the routes.


Hmm, oldest is better, huh? Then it would seem the Matous and Einzbergs took that idea to heart with the Servants they picked this time around, then. Perhaps trying to learn after they saw how powerful Rider and Archer were in the Fourth war?

Can I be a character? I summon Iry-Hor! Or Enmebaragesi!

Oddly enough, Rider bites it early on in most every route. XD (If I recall correctly, there's a scene where more stuff goes down in the original anime with regard to Rider, but seeing as that anime was a bit of a pick'n'mix of routes and scenes, I can't recall where it technically comes in the grand scheme of things.

Bearing in mind that each of the routes of the VN have mutliple endings (at least three, Good, Bad, and True/Neutral), and there are three routes, there's quite a lot of leeway.

Then there are the alternate stories, sequels, spin-offs, etc. Heck, the Nasuverse is massive. Most of it is single-universe per Word of God, but at least some of it is explicitly in OTHER universes/parallel existences. So yeah. And the whole lot comes with EXTENSIVE character info too - so much of what is known comes from what are basically character sheets and such, not all of which are in the original material, but most of it is at least partially canon.




...and believe it or not, some fan has gone to the length to create a dice-based tabletop RPG for this stuff. XD So technically you can be a character, and have a Servant of your own.

[LinearPhilosopher]

D, on 30 November 2014 - 08:56 PM, said:

(just F/SN epi 8 spoilers)

Spoiler

Wait, so the servant who dresses all in black, uses knives and ninjas about with chain-daggers is a Rider while the Assassin class goes to some samurai who doesn't conceal themself and gives their name away right away, and only fights with a sword? That's some hefty bullshit right there!

Assuming of course there isn't an original unseen Assassin out there... but then if there are 7 + Caster's sub-Servant, why wouldn't Caster just summon Sasaki Kojiro as a Sabre sub-Servant? Weird.

Anyways, nice to see one Servant down, though they really shouldn't have just let Shinji run away like that.

Likely summoning someone as one of the three warrior classes would take more mana. There's likely a limit as to how strong a class a servant could summon.

And as per silencer, in the very terrible fsn series, rider and saber ended up having a fight.

This post has been edited by BalrogLord: 01 December 2014 - 04:15 PM

[D'rek]

Silencer, on 29 November 2014 - 11:34 AM, said:

Oh, and the Mother Rosario arc is awesome.

Yes, yes it is.

They handled the Kirito bit perfectly, too - show just a little of him helping out but keep the focus on Asuna and move with her, letting Kirito (and Klein!)'s fight be off-screen and unimportant.

I kept waiting for Asuna to get yanked out of the VRMMO by her mom, but I'm glad it didn't.

Totally getting vibes that things are going to turn really sad, though... I'm guessing the Sleeping Knights will turn out to be terminally ill kids or something horrible like that. Bracing myself...

(and with the whole 'sis' thing, if we take it at face value, potentially a sister Asuna never knew she had that her parents abandoned or something? I don't really see that happening yet, but they've got to tie the RL family issues in more, too)

[Silencer]

BalrogLord, on 01 December 2014 - 04:14 PM, said:

D, on 30 November 2014 - 08:56 PM, said:

(just F/SN epi 8 spoilers)

Spoiler

Wait, so the servant who dresses all in black, uses knives and ninjas about with chain-daggers is a Rider while the Assassin class goes to some samurai who doesn't conceal themself and gives their name away right away, and only fights with a sword? That's some hefty bullshit right there!

Assuming of course there isn't an original unseen Assassin out there... but then if there are 7 + Caster's sub-Servant, why wouldn't Caster just summon Sasaki Kojiro as a Sabre sub-Servant? Weird.

Anyways, nice to see one Servant down, though they really shouldn't have just let Shinji run away like that.

Likely summoning someone as one of the three warrior classes would take more mana. There's likely a limit as to how strong a class a servant could summon.

And as per silencer, in the very terrible fsn series, rider and saber ended up having a fight.

Oh, there are so many factors at work with CastAssassin. For a start, being summoned by another Servant. But, then there's the spoilers (spoilers with general discourse on Grail War rules/etc, nothing truly plot-specific just a bit about CastAssassin):

Spoiler

I mean, we've got the fact that technically, the only "Heroic Spirit" even ABLE to be summoned as an Assassin-class Servant is Hassan-i-Sabbah, as he's the only person(people) with enough of a legend to qualify as a Heroic Spirit. So technically, Sasaki Koujirou isn't even capable of being summoned as an Assassin-class - that rule got fucked up by the fact that Caster summoned him, but even then, he's not really a Heroic Spirit as he has no real legend - he's effectively nameless, after all, and his existence is doubted (and in fact, never did exist). He's a total aberration in that sense.
The reason he falls into that class is due to his low stats, though. He doesn't even get the default Assassin ability of Presence Concealment, except for the fact that it's also something he can do himself! He can't leave the mountain, as it's what sustains his presence, and he relies solely on mana from Caster. He has no Noble Phantasms, all his skills are ranked below what they should (except Agility, iirc, which is really high), and yet he can stand against someone like Saber.

But technically, any summoning of an Assassin should have led to one of the nineteen different people who called themselves "Hassan-i-Sabbah" being summoned. Never any other Heroic Spirit.

And then we have Big SPOILERS for Heaven's Feel route:

Spoiler

The fact that Zouken Matou actually summons "True Assassin" AS WELL in this route, which is obviously a Hassan-i-Sabbah variation and is the more-legitimate version of Assassin in this Holy Grail War. I say "more legitimate" considering it's the correct Heroic Spirit and actually properly fills the class container, but it's still dodgy given Zouken wasn't originally in the Grail War and uses the body of Sasaki to act as his catalyst for summoning True Assassin. Fucking Matous....

So yeah. CastAssassin is weird.

D, on 01 December 2014 - 05:33 PM, said:

Silencer, on 29 November 2014 - 11:34 AM, said:

Oh, and the Mother Rosario arc is awesome.

Yes, yes it is.

They handled the Kirito bit perfectly, too - show just a little of him helping out but keep the focus on Asuna and move with her, letting Kirito (and Klein!)'s fight be off-screen and unimportant.

I kept waiting for Asuna to get yanked out of the VRMMO by her mom, but I'm glad it didn't.

Totally getting vibes that things are going to turn really sad, though... I'm guessing the Sleeping Knights will turn out to be terminally ill kids or something horrible like that. Bracing myself...

(and with the whole 'sis' thing, if we take it at face value, potentially a sister Asuna never knew she had that her parents abandoned or something? I don't really see that happening yet, but they've got to tie the RL family issues in more, too)

Yeah, I'm preparing for massive FEELS on this front. I'm amazed that Asuna managed to not get yanked (I thought maybe at the party/just before the party? Or at least she'd note the time or something and have to go?). I think Onee-Chan is more likely to be on Yuuki's side. Think she's unconsciously dropping it into conversation due to an older sister she lost/is estranged from, with maybe a bit of wish fulfillment/projection onto Asuna. They definitely need to tie in/tie up Asuna's home situation, too, though; not sure how (though maybe the still-not-seen brother she apparently has might come into play somehow there?).

And agreed; that Kirito bit was perfectly done. You KNOW it's an epic battle in the background, but the focus stays nicely with Asuna. Makes for a nice Noodle Incident too, as I'm really curious to see how it went, but it's better not knowing. XD

[Silencer]

Though, frustratingly enough, as much as ufotable has probably tripled the production values and pushed my enjoyment of the route through the roof by comparison with its previous adaptation, watching Fate/Zero just reminds me of how. Much. Better. that story is. The characters, the Servants, the plotting and planning and machinations....all just so much better handled. Sure, it was a light novel, so only a single plotline, no need to account for different routes, but that doesn't really account for the difference, IMO.


...and I still think Shirou is the main problem here. Yes, Rin has her problems, but if it was JUST her, you could let it slide, I think. But Shirou is just so infuriatingly naive and unprepared, and basically powerless that he just shouldn't exist. Rin could be a really interesting character with some nice flaws that prevent her from always doing what's needed in the death-match, but Shirous...I just don't even. And he hasn't even been that bad so far! I'm really in need of more action scenes, I think, to take my mind off the lack of plot actually progressing so far. XD

[D'rek]

What do you mean Sasaki Kojiro didn't actually exist?

Not that that should need to be required, based on many other Servants...

Spoiler

Cú Chulainn
Diarmuid
Medusa
Hercules/Achilles, assuming I'm right

^^none of those were real people! And Gilgamesh's legends are pretty sparse... everything we know of him is from a grand legend where he's a demi-god, probably 99% of which is fiction!

...so he seems like a legitimate choice to me!

Silencer, on 02 December 2014 - 03:01 AM, said:

...and I still think Shirou is the main problem here. Yes, Rin has her problems, but if it was JUST her, you could let it slide, I think. But Shirou is just so infuriatingly naive and unprepared, and basically powerless that he just shouldn't exist. Rin could be a really interesting character with some nice flaws that prevent her from always doing what's needed in the death-match, but Shirous...I just don't even. And he hasn't even been that bad so far! I'm really in need of more action scenes, I think, to take my mind off the lack of plot actually progressing so far. XD

Yeah, I don't think Rin or Shirou are exactly a problem, themselves, but we haven't really learned much about their deeper personalities. We know they have deeper hidden motivations and personalities that we haven't seen much of them yet, and we haven't seen them actually making plans much, nothing like that. It has so far been a lot more of Rin and Shirou going to school, expecting nothing will happen and then being taken by surprise. Which is okay, but a lot of animes do that (especially super-high-school ones) and it's not as engaging as the more exposed lead up from Zero.

(Well, and also the characters don't act particularly human sometimes... like Rin standing in the hall tapping her finger then grabbing Shirou, then awkwardly sitting on the roof not saying anything? Uh, I don't think that's how people normally act, especially when they're trying to conceal themselves in a deathmatch. Why wouldn't she just wait for Shirou to step out and talk to him normally, it's not like she never has before!)