Fate/Zero: Please! Einzbern Counseling Room

This anime is for those who have played the Fate/stay night VN, as it is very reminiscent of the Tiger Dojo. To be clear, the Tiger Dojo is the room that the FSN player ends up in when he chooses a bad ending in the VN. The Einzbern Soudanshitsu plays much the same role for F/Z. Story: The consultation room carries very little of its own story, instead relying on the parent work of F/Z for the story. It does help to fill in some missing information for the new-to-Fate series watcher, at least in the first 2 episodes, and even VN readers will discover anew thing or two. Having watched this after watching F/Z, I might suggest that this show can or even should be watched in line with certain of the Fate/zero episodes so that the watcher can create (partially) the same tone that FSN VN has when when the FSN reader hits a bad ending. While there may be some references which the watcher won't understand without having read the FSN VN or without having seen at least the FSN Fate and UBW paths in their entirety, I didn't see anything in particular which might spoil F/Z in particular episodes. Episode 1 can be watched any time after F/Z episode 1. Episode 2 can be watched after F/Z episode 4. Episode 3 is a little weird from a timeline perspective but should probably be watched after F/Z episode 4 or later. Episode 4 can be watched after F/Z episode 15. Episode 5 can be watched after F/Z episode 16. Episode 6 can be watched after F/Z episode 24. Art: The art resembles the "cheaper" art that one would find in the Tiger Dojo of the FSN VN, which when compared to F/Z is still nothing to scoff at. Animation wise, there is much less movement than in F/Z. Sound: The sound was merely good (I didn't notice it in particular). Character: I think this actually adds to the character of the involved parties. While it might not be canon, episodes 3 to 6 carry an interesting tone for each of the characters and aid in understanding what that character was thinking or feeling given the corresponding time period in F/Z. Enjoyment: I enjoyed it, given my general enjoyment of the Tiger Dojo. The consultation room is not however what many will expect tone-wise compared to F/Z, given that it does create a more similar atmosphere to Tiger Dojo. The tone in general is much lighter and may even cause laughter (shock) compared to F/Z.

At first, sorry for my bad english. This is my first review. First off, I expected cute little descriptions and facts about what is going on in Fate/Zero for people that are new to the franchise but I got so much more than that and the ending was outstanding and made me love the whole thing even more. I already really loved the Tiger Dojo in the VN, so to see this reminded to this wonderful time. I am not the best critic because I love this franchise just so much but anyway, I recommend everyone who is at least a bit interested in the franchiseto watch this. I guarantee that you won't regret watching this if you have already seen Fate/Zero.

This is Fate/Zeros version of the Tiger-Dojo from Fate/Stay Night. As such it explains quite a bit of background-information, both on the war in general and on certain servants. While this is mostly lighthearted fun (“you snuck in all proud of yourself just because a cool-sounding Kajiura theme was playing”), there soon starts to be an increasing amount of weirdly dark scenes. And while Irisviel seems to be quite nice for the most part, some of her decisions become questionable... All of this would already be quite nice, but the thing that really turns this into more than just an explanatory series is the absolutely magnificantsecond halve of the last episode which takes a sudden turn into a MUCH darker direction.

Honestly, I started this purely for completions sake expecting nothing more than laughs and cuteness, but by the end this brought home the core themes of Fate and left me with a full heart. It's genuinely informative and will give you a greater understanding of the characters in Zero and the confusing world of the Holy Grail War while making you laugh. I'd say it definitely set the bar way higher than I'd expect for a box set special and I'd recommend it wholeheartedly for any Fate fan. Also that twist at the end blew my mind.... don't spoil it for yourself, just watch it.