Anime Brigade: We all have 8th grade syndrome~

[Ganyu]

@Noblejanobii

Idk the action doesn't match up to FZ for me. Granted that could be attributed to how young half of the Masters were. Rin and Ilyasviel are the only competent ones and I was sad that they didn't have more battles. The action reached its low in #9 IMO, and the whole lecture by Archer and Saber's occasional quip was somewhat boring. So far, UBW hasn't achieved a good cogent balance of heroic spirit conflict both physically and ideologically that FZ had. Plus the character dynamics aren't as strong. I don't feel for Shirou the same way I felt for Waver in FZ (and they share several similarities, both being underestimated as a person and a mage, and having larger-than-life Servants). Assassin seems forgotten in the whole Caster saga. Archer's identity wasn't much a riddle for me, but maybe that's why I'm left not as impressed XD;

...now I feel like maybe my gripes are with how the story was written and not the actual anime itself XD I have to praise Ufotable though because the anime is 100x more enjoyable with God-tier animation ^3^. When I can smell the money peeling off the screen, I can sit through any show.

[Noblejanobii]

@Ghostwriter

The lacking of action could be attributed to the soundtrack as well. I don't think they did as well with the soundtrack in UBW than in FZ. I mean they pulled the same trick with the gospel choir, but besides the intro and ending themes, none of the songs from this one really stuck with me. That could just be me though.

[Dragon Master Mike]

@Noblejanobii Shinji is my most hated character from any anime I've ever watched. Like, legit. I had another character I really hated, but can't remember who it was, so at least until I do, Shinji is the worst.

@Ghostwriter Caster's master was competent too right? And I know what you mean about Assassin. F/SN Spoilers Ahead.

Spoiler:

He literally just kinda disappeared. I wish they would have given him more of an ending, even if it was just a brief explanation of what happened to him. I assume he disappeared after Caster died?

[Noblejanobii]

@Dragon Master Mike
Kirei tops my list by several miles.

Also, if I remember correctly…

Spoiler:

Assassin was given a set amount of mana by Castor so in the original FSN anime he disappeared before she died. I don't think he appeared after his initial appearance in the UBW but it's been a while since I saw it. However, it depends. As they explained, servants can live without a supply of mana for a certain set of time. That means it's possible that he's still there guarding the temple, but like I said, I'm unsure. Plus I'm not caught up with the anime right now (I'm an episode or two behind) so I'm just making guesses.

[Homura]

Speaking of anime, anybody go to Anime conventions?

I'm actually going to one in New Jersey this weekend. Decided on 2 cosplays: Naoto from Persona 4, and Makoto/Nagisa (wig swap) from FREE. :3
Otherwise will probably just carry my giant dark orb plushie around, and give it to like every homura I see. On the other hand, this is like the Xth or so anime conventions in a row that I didn't cosplay Homura. ;)

[Noblejanobii]

So, after finally finished the sacred blacksmith, I switched back to FSNUB. I finished it mere seconds ago and I'm sobbing so hard. Ufotable did so well, but the reason I am crying is not because I didn't expect the ending. I did, what I didn't expect was the 25th episode.

Spoiler:

In short, it does a two year time skip, with Shirou and Rin now in London attending the Clock Tower academy. It's really funny at first but you can tell it gradually becomes more serious. They go and visit Saber's grave, which struck me right through the heart. That made me tear up, but that's not what got me. Shortly after visiting the grave, there is a flashback to two years prior, shortly after the war, telling us the fates of all the other characters that showed up in FSNUB that we did not see how they ended up. Then, when we switch back to present day, we return to Shirou's attending the academy. He is approached by a teacher. I started crying immediately, because there was no mistaking who that teacher was. It was Waver, from Fate/Zero. As if to reinforce who he was, his words assured of his identity. Everything with Iskander came flooding back in that instant and I just started sobbing. The ending is sweet, and you have to skip the credits of the last episode to see the whole thing. But, it is a really good ending. I can assure, the Fate series is the only series that can draw tears from me.

[Lord Celebi]

I found a rare video of Kenny today.

@Homura

[Homura]

I'm a true magical girl

[Dragon Master Mike]

I've been watching Gakkou Gurashi and absolutely loving it. I love the characters, I love the concept, it's got... Actually, I better not say any more outside of a spoiler because it's very easy to spoil. Anyone who might watch this anime who hasn't yet, watch it without reading anything about it beforehand, but based on what I've seen so far, I'd recommend giving it a try.

Spoilers ahead.

Spoiler:

I totally didn't see the ending of EP 1 coming. Selkie told me to start watching it without knowing anything about it and at the end of EP 1 I was just like "WOAH WTF JUST HAPPENED." I just thought it was going to be some cute slice of life anime that I probably wasn't going to like but figured I'd actually give a chance.

I guessed that Megunee wasn't real like, episode two, but hearing them actually say she was dead around EP 5 still made my eyes a little watery.

[Noblejanobii]

So I have two notes on my agenda:

1. There's an anime club at my college and I'm so excited because we take Tuesday nights and watch four episodes of anime. Two of them are for an ongoing anime and two are for a completed one. We vote on what we watch on Sunday's through Facebook. First meeting is next week and I'm so excited!

2. I just finished Divine Gate. It took me a little bit because I've been busy. Overall it was a really good anime but it can be really confusing at times because they just kind of throw you in at the middle of the story and you can kind of gather the basics by the end but there are a lot of details that are not covered well in my opinion. And the ending is somewhat of a cliffhanger as like these characters you thought had been dead for like five episodes now turn out to not be dead and there's other stuff. If I wasn't aware the anime was based on a mobile game, I might have been much angrier. I think my favorite part of the anime was the different references to things like Scandinavian mythology, Shakespeare, Santa Claus, Arthurian legend, and more. It was quite interesting how well they blended all of that together and the graphics were overall fabulous. Plus the intro song is really catchy.