Title:  Fate/Stay Night volume 1 UK Distributor:  MVM BBFC Certificate:  12 Suggested Retail Price (SRP):  £15.99 Episodes:  1-4 (of 24) Audio Options:  English 2.0, Japanese 2.0 Subtitles:  English Release Date:  4th January 2010 Reviewer:  Amichan

Yet again MVM snaps up another long overdue title for the UK, which is Fate/Stay Night.  It certainly starts with a bang, with a flash back to 10 years into the past were two servants are fighting against a fire backdrop.  One of the features of this series, which is positive, is that it does not try to confuse you with its plot.  After this first engaging scene it explains the basic principles of the Holy Grail War.  Seven mages and seven servants fight each other for the Holy Grail. Each of the servants represents a different class, for example, saber or archer.  As this is the case each servant has different abilities to help their masters to achieve their goal.
 

  The main character of the series is Shiiro Emiya who is unaware, at first, of the unusual circumstances in which he lives in.  He is aware of magic, in fact he can practice some basic reinforcement, however, he is completely unaware on how the Holy Grail war has ravaged his life.  He was a victim of the last war when he was caught up in a deadly blast which destroyed the city.  He was found by a magician who brought him up as a son as Shiiro's family had died in the disaster.  When his adoptive father had died, he inherited his family estate.

At the beginning of this new war, the city has been hit by a set of unusual incidents such as murders and gas leaks.  It is in a later episode that you discover that this is being caused by mages, who make their servants feed on human souls in order to increase their power.  One of the most fascinating elements of the series so far is the relationship between the servants and their masters.  The masters want the Holy Grail to obtain their wish, but it’s not solely them that receive this.  The winning servant also receives their wish and this is why they fight along side their masters.  Another interesting element of the series is that each servant is an important figure of history or mythology.  Each servant conceals their identity as this would reveal both their strengths and their weaknesses.  This is so much the case that there is a rule that if a servant or a mage works out the identity of the enemies’ servant; they must fight to the death.
 

There are many rules to the war that Shiiro must learn when he becomes involved after by chance he summons Saber; one of the seven servants.  These though are explained in greater detail in episode three, when he meets Kirei Kotomine.  He explains that each mage has a stigma, which represents three command seals, which he can use to force his servant to do his biddings.  However, if he looses all three of these seals, he loses the power to control Saber and is no longer able to obtain the Grail himself.  He also learns about the tactics that

mages employ in order to win as it is often the mages who become the target instead of the servant.  This is because they are often weaker than their servant counterparts, not only that but their servants will disappear if their master is destroyed.

Overall, these first four episodes are a good introduction to the series, clearly explaining the basic principles of the story.  As these episodes are only introductory, the pace of the story is slow going, but this is necessary in order to explain the story foundations.  The artwork of the series is of a particular high standard as each of the character designs are beautifully done.  Also, the way that the numerous fight scenes were animated in the first four episodes was of a high standard.  It will be interesting to see how the pace of the series changes in the future disks to come.

Extras:

Trailers and text less opening. 

Ratings

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