Fate/Stay Night: Volume 2 (Review)
Monday, 8th February 2010, 16:34

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Extras
It’s your usual anime disc treatment, with animated menus and a jacket picture for when the disc isn’t spinning. The extras on disc are limited to the textless closing and trailers for Gunparade March and Aquarion.

Conclusion
Fate/Stay Night is definitely turning out to be a difficult series to review. I’m sure this review is going to turn out to be a half-baked whinge, or a wishy-washy hastily assembled comparison, and I won’t be surprised if the rest of the series received the same treatment. All of which is wholly unfair on Fate/Stay Night, as the truth is that it’s an enjoyable show, full of entertainment, comedy, action, supernatural stuff, and even a little romance, albeit of the harem variety. You can sit down, switch off and enjoy, and afterwards come away with the satisfaction that it was money well spent, as there’s no doubt that you will return to it again in the future, for that same fix of comedy, action, supernatural stuff, and romance (harem). It’s just that it’s like so many other shows out there. It’s middle of the road, fun anime, and there is nothing at all wrong with that. It doesn’t challenge, it doesn’t excel, it doesn’t innovate, and once again there is nothing wrong with that. It also doesn’t get the brain cells in gear, it doesn’t hit you with any major surprises or anything unexpected from its genre. Again, nothing wrong with that. Sometimes all you need is something average and middle of the road, a familiar story well told, and you can come away entertained and enlivened. It’s just hard to review something that is in this way nondescript, beyond a trite comparison. I could tell you that if you liked Shakugan no Shana, then you will enjoy this, and it would be true, and also probably helpful, but it still feels like a surrender.

On the other hand, Fate/Stay Night doesn’t stink, which is an odd thing for a reviewer to say. But if there was something truly odious about a show, if it were dire beyond belief, then a reviewer could be inspired to convey his or her disgust with enthusiasm and gusto. It wouldn’t hurt if there were minor niggles, little character annoyances, or story flubs, just some little nit to pick, some little flaw to exploit. Even something as simple as ‘this show would be great, if only…’ is enough of a hook for a reviewer to hang a hat on. Fate/Stay Night does nothing wrong, or at least anything it does that causes me to scratch my head, is so insignificant that if I mention it, it wouldn’t be a critique of the show, rather a symptom of obsessive-compulsive disorder. This second volume doesn’t even have that odd story development issue that provoked me into writing a whole sentence of criticism for volume 1.

Fate/Stay Night carries on its merry way in this second volume, evenly dividing up the episodes into harem antics for comedy value, and supernatural grail hunting combat for the drama. It still goes together surprisingly well, with no significant discontinuities between the two moods. The characters still fit into the neat little pigeonholes, which means that the dinner table clash of personalities has all the dynamics that you would expect from your harem comedy. Shirou is still the hapless teen male, Sakura the shy softie who nurses a crush, Taiga the brazen and uninhibited older sister type, and Rin develops a playful and sadistic streak that throws the well-established pattern for a loop when she invites herself to move in. Of course Saber is the aloof strong and silent type, who’s confused about her feelings, and is trying to stop herself from warming to Shirou.

When the harem doesn’t threaten to explode, the mage wars do, and we meet more of the Masters and Servants in this volume. Most unexpected of all is Shinji, Shirou’s friend from school, and his servant Rider is also an interesting and complicated warrior who is to Shinji much as Saber is to Shirou. As the disc ends, we learn of yet another Master in the area, and meet a Samurai looking Servant who gets all dangerous and anticipatory of Saber just prior to a cliffhanger. It’s very much a case of introducing the pieces and setting them on the board at this stage. We still have no idea who Lancer’s Master is, and there are still a couple of pieces yet to be introduced. It will still be a good few episodes yet before the battle for the Grail can begin in earnest.

I had a thoroughly enjoyable time watching volume 2 of Fate/Stay Night. It’s entertaining, it’s by turns funny and dramatic, but never excessively so. It doesn’t stand out, but it doesn’t disappoint either. It’s the sort of fun that you appreciate when you don’t need your brain cells exercised. Ah hell! If you like Shakugan no Shana, you’ll like this. There, satisfied? I said it. Expect the review for volume 3 to be just one sentence long.

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