So is UBW worth watching? I saw the first 3 from the first season but stopped until it was done. Getting a lot of mixed opinions, especially here in GAF.
It's a very mixed bag, is how I felt. It's visually very nice looking and has some very cool looking and impressive fights, but there are times where the visual direction seemed off and could've been tighter. The story and premise are interesting and the servants for the most part are really fun and cool interpretation on those legendary/historical figures. But at the same time, the plot drags in places (in part because the shows run time makes it something like a 30+ episode series) and some plot points are just not strong enough episode by episode. I also felt the masters were largely uninteresting or just unlikeable (especially when compared to Fate/Zero, the effective prequel to the show) and the singular focus on Shirou's story didn't help things. The central conflict as an idea is genuinely intriguing as a question of how realistic or attainable truly altruistic goals are, but the way it was presented was incredibly convoluted on Archer's end. The visual parallels were nice though.
I guess if you had a lot of time to kill (and I mean a lot, since this a longer show than most nowadays) and you have an interest in Fate, give it a watch. Though I'd recommend watching Fate/Zero instead.
I know there's a lot of people in GAF who watch things for that reason, and I certainly understand the importance of cinematography, but it's one of a few things in the fandom that I've always felt somewhat alienated from. It's not that I don't want to understand these things, it's that it's never super factored into how I personally view them. Just a different set of biases. (And not some "Type A"/"Type B" nonsense.)
Hm, I think I need to clarify. When I say the main draw, I don't mean it's the only one. Obviously there was more to the show, and I felt ufotable did a great job with what they had, but I think that the one aspect that stood out was the visual element for the most part. There's other stuff to like as well.
I do get what you mean though, and it's something I always try and be attentive to in my writing. Fixating on a single aspect on a show and ignoring everything else doesn't cover the full experience.
This was a better end than what the visual novel did.
Yeah, though it wasn't all that hard to do since the VN end was bare bones lol
Still glad for all of the cameos and references at the end. Seeing Rin actually in a wrestling match after hearing about it was fun, and seeing Archers past from Extra as well.
