Fate/Apocrypha / First Impressions

OP Sequence

OP: 「英雄 運命の詩」 (Eiyuu Unmei no Uta) by EGOIST

「聖女の出立」 (Seijo no Shuttatsu)
“The Saint’s Appearance”

After last week’s awesome start, this week’s episode slowed things down a bit to acclimate us to this Fate’s world.

General Impressions

With the story flopping around between factions and characters, it wouldn’t be too difficult to call this week’s episode a little scatterbrained. From focusing on Jeanne and her tragic back story (more power to you if you learned about it through Fate GO) to reminding us that the Church and its figurehead are, in any Fate timeline, complete douchebags, following things started to get pretty difficult. Amongst all the introductions and focus on the new characters, there was also a quiet reminder that there is actually a Greater Holy Grail war occurring and that unlike all prior wars (at least ones we’ve seen on screen), this one is a giant battle royal where the reward is that the winners get to then fight amongst themselves to attain the all might Holy Grail. Something that, all things considered you’d think the story would focus more on since this is the first time it’s happened. That said, laying down the ground work for all these new characters isn’t necessarily a bad thing and I’m sure once the formalities are out of the way, we’ll hopefully be able to see some of that trademark Fate goodness (big battles, epic moments, etc).

Moving on from all the character “development”, it was a little reassuring to see the episode end on a pretty cool fight with Shishigou and Mordred kicking some ass. While it may not have had the polish and finesse of last week’s foreshadowing fight with Mordred and Siegfried, it was pretty awesome to see Mordred’s epic armor. But as much as I’d like to blush and fangirl about Mordred, there’s no denying that Shishigou is also someone you wouldn’t want to get into a fight with. With that double barreled shotgun and some crazy poison grenades, watching him roll around as he unleashed a can of whoopass against his opponents was awesome to watch as well.

Overall, not too bad of an episode when you consider it a setup for things to come. That said, seeing how the main character for Apocrypha is supposed to be Jeanne, I’m going to be awfully pissed off if we don’t get to see more Mordred later on. Not only do I want to hear more about her past and how she dealt with Artoria, but I want to see that slick sunglass wearing Shishigou create the perfect situation for her to talk about it.

Anyways, I’ll catch you guys next week where things will hopefully pick up. See you then!

 

ED Sequence

ED: 「Désir」 by GARNiDELiA

55 Comments

    2. https://randomc.net/image/Fate%20Apocrypha/Fate%20Apocrypha%20-%2002%20-%20Large%2016.jpg
      https://randomc.net/image/Fate%20Apocrypha/Fate%20Apocrypha%20-%2002%20-%20Large%2017.jpg
      Astolfo is so cute yes, no argument there, though I sometimes wonder what the hell the dude’s sexual preferences is, how can he NOT get sexual stimulation in the situation he is in? I at least wanted to see if a Servant could get his Master pregnant; not sure if this is possible in the Type-Moon world.

      The Astolfo is supposed to be a “ladies’ man,” in what way I wonder? For some reason, I always imagine Astolfo with sadist women, like Carmilla or Misaya Reiroukan.

      On the side note, I sort of laughed when I saw Astolfo’s history. Once upon time Astolfo’s friend, Roland, went mad, throwing off all his clothes and rampaging around while nude. During his rampage, Astolfo and the other Paladins worked hard to capture him. IF Roland was summoned as a Berserker, then I can expect what sort of Mad Enhancement can occur.

      I am surprised about Frankenstein’s Noble Phantasm, that was D rank? Then what rank was Thor’s hammer?

      L002
      Reply

      1. As I recall from the part of the LN covering that scene, Astolfo’s disinterest comes from two things:

        1: Celenike reeks of blood and such. Understandably, that sort of thing is a turn-off to him.
        2: Whether or not his partner is a boy or a girl, Astolfo prefers to be the one pursuing, not the one being pursued.

        Tsuzurao
        Reply

  8. https://randomc.net/image/Fate%20Apocrypha/Fate%20Apocrypha%20-%2002%20-%20Large%2032.jpg

    My favorite servant design-wise. Semiramis is just plain hot.

    https://randomc.net/image/Fate%20Apocrypha/Fate%20Apocrypha%20-%2002%20-%20Large%2028.jpg

    Loli serial killer is best serial killer

    https://randomc.net/image/Fate%20Apocrypha/Fate%20Apocrypha%20-%2002%20-%20Large%2010.jpg

    Mordred may be lacking in the breast department, but she sure hell makes up for it in personality. IMO I rather have her as a servant than Arthuria

    https://randomc.net/image/Fate%20Apocrypha/Fate%20Apocrypha%20-%2002%20-%20Large%2021.jpg

    ITS A TRAP!

    Ginobi47
    Reply

    1. I don’t know anything about Apocrypha yet, but judging by the fact that he is called Siegfried, the legendary dragon slayer, he probably doesn’t have ties with EMIYA.

      Crook
      Reply

  12. Is it strange that my first thought, when I heard the name Shirou Kotomine was that my KiritsuguXKirei doujins came true?

    Well it will be funny to see how Mordred will react to Jeanne, who is basically his “father” in personality and looks only with bigger breasts. So far it looks like that the black faction is the more benevolent one and at least master-wise the black faction will get more focus. The red masters seem to be non-entities so far and also design-wise inferior to the black faction. Sisigo and Shirou being the exceptions of course.

    dean
    Reply

    2. I’ll agree that Jeanne looks like Arthur, but personality?

      One is a saint with no earthly desires, and the other is a strict king with a deep hunger and a hidden girly side.

      Blue
      Reply

  13. How much does Ai Nonaka get paid for voicing Frankenstein’s Monster’s grunts and growls? XD Also, Astolfo’s master have a lovely yet dangerous voice. Glad they picked Nikumi’s (from Shokugeki no Souma) seiyuu to do voice her.

    Okabe_Rintarou
    Reply

  14. I know that the concept of a “hero” can be fairly subjective and there have been a few odd but rationalized choices in the rest of the series, but… Shakespeare? Frankenstein’s Monster? Jack the Ripper???

    qwert
    Reply

    1. The difference between Hero and Monster can vary depending on your point of view.

      Dracul is a hero to his hometown, having defended it from invaders. But to the rest of the world, he is the Impaler.

      That being said, I think Heroic Spirit has really come to just mean: those who became famous through some deed(s) of theirs.

      How “heroic” do you think Sasaki Kojirou is? He did two things, as far as I know: invented a cool move and died from an oar to the head.

      Blue
      Reply

  15. Hmmm. I have my theories on why Mordred hates being a woman, but I think I’ll just wait for the anime to reveal the reason. And I want to see more of her and Jeanne, but especially Jeanne for me as this episode didn’t give me enough of her. Next episode is bound to do that since Karna is out to kill her. I wanna see what Gilles de Rais loved about her so much.

    yoloalchemist
    Reply

    1. The next episode, it’s about Jeanne, you must enjoy it well, after that, Jeanne falls quickly in love with MC’s dick, Jeanne being jealous of him talking to Astolfo (Astolfo becomes MC’s servant, yeah, the light novel is full of fujobait moments between Astolfo and MC) or acting like a schoolgirl and the has very little character development as the plot progresses.
      But look on the bright side, Fate/Apocrypha becomes awesome once Sieg becomes the real main protagonist, which is at the last third of the first volume from light novel.

      Semiramis
      Reply

  16. Overall, I guess A1 has come to love Fate. (Maybe all that work on FGO has brought them a sense of belonging)

    That being said, why did they give Lancer of Black panda eyes?

    Blue
    Reply

    2. Magi shun technology for the most part (Tohsaka Rin can’t operate a DVD/Blu Ray Recorder even after reading the manual) – because they think that their magecraft can (and does trump) modern military weapons by applying the correct spells/artifacts, etc. Waver Velvet (he turned into a videogame Otaku in later life) and Emiya Kiritsugu (uses guns, explosives, stinger missiles, etc) are notable exceptions.

      Okabe_Rintarou
      Reply

      1. I see, thanks. Honestly, Darnic was retarded. He was part of the Nazis, commanded his own team of soldiers armed with rifles during World War II, and Darnic STILL didn’t think of applying both magic and modern technology together; at the least, it was painful to see those homunculus use bow and arrows when they could have used more dangerous modern weapons.

        Even someone like Kairi Sisigou was smart enough to think of the idea of “magic” bullets.

        L002
        Reply

  22. I always liked guessing the identities of the servants. It’s a bit unfortunate that they just revealed them all rapid fire exposition style. Even for the obvious ones it would have been better to reveal them indirectly through dialogue, instead of having someone awkwardly namedrop each of their identities. The show is still looking promising, though.

    Fractal plankton
    Reply

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