Lord El-Melloi II's Case Files: Rail Zeppelin Grace Note - A Grave Keeper, a Cat, and a Mage

The Case Files of Lord El-Melloi II, Episode 0: A Grave Keeper, a Cat, and a Mage. Let's just call it the Case Files Special. This is an introduction to the upcoming Case Files anime, which is scheduled to premiere in July of this year. The story itself is relatively self-contained, and there is not much to comment on. It is a singular special episode meant to introduce the series, after all. Which it does exceptionally well. TROYCA have knocked this animation out of the park. Ufotable are the long-standing vanguard of Fate adaptations (just check out the latest Heavens' Feel movie), but Troyca hasdone a fantastic job replicating the atmosphere both of London as a city and the Clock Tower/Mages' Association as a chaotic organization of nobles tugging and pulling and not much actual stuff getting done. Also, glorious animation of Waver getting (repeatedly) pissed off. An angry, overworked professor is something to behold. Trust me, I know all too well. Sorry, Prof. Mitchell. This special has several main characters, and several side characters that people may recognize depending on how far they've fallen down the Fate well. Rocco Belfeban, for one. For the purposes of this review, I'll just focus on the main Dynamic Duo and their (upcoming) superior. Ah, Lord El-Melloi II. Don't drop the II, it's grating. Or Waver Velvet. Or 'that one support who never, ever gets a damn break' from Fate/Grand Order. It doesn't matter where you saw him; Waver's the same everywhere. An irritable scholar with absolutely no tolerances and the worst luck this side of an FGO player or a Lancer-class Servant- I'm getting sidetracked. Gray is Waver's apprentice/secretary/assistant. She's cute, and later events will shine a light on why she might look a little familiar. Stop bullying Gray, Waver. Reines El-Melloi Archibald is Kayneth's daughter. Yes, Fate/zero's Kayneth. The one who was too prideful to realize that Kiritsugu was a man who took the term 'playing dirty' and dragged it through the mud then shot it in the head for good measure. Therefore, Reines is just as prideful and arrogant as her father. They grow up so fast. Overall, this special serves as a very good introduction to what I expect (and hope) will be an excellent series. The El-Melloi Case Files are one of the most entertaining Fate spinoffs, and not just because it's not another variation on the Grail Wars, but rather because explores one of the most important factions within the Type-Moon universe that also happens to be rather under-represented. Don't bully Waver. He's a good boy who does his best to try to give a shit.

Fate/Zero is my all-time favorite anime and Iskandar (Rider) is one of my most favorite characters. He greatly influenced his weak-willed master Waver Velvet and taught him how to live freely with head held high. This anime features the adult version of Velvet in a kind of detective setting. So I was naturally intrigued and gave it a try. Pros: Artwork is mind-blowing. Both character design and the background art are awesome. The action sequences are well-animated. Cons: As a prologue of the upcoming TV series, it didn't do that well to pique my interest. So far, I am not sure what to expect from the following TV series.Story: 6 Art: 9 Sound: 8 Character: 6 Enjoyment: 6 Overall: 7 All in all, if you are a Fate/Zero fan, then go ahead and give this a try.

So, here's my review, before writing this, i've watched Fate/Zero, i've played fate grand order(here i'm talking reading his servant profile and playing through Fate/accel zero order) so i know additional background story about MC and his relations to referenced characters so you know- i can give a pretty decent evaluation of the story. Story: 6 i'm giving it a 6 because although Fate tends to be pretty well set with story and lore etc, this show seems to not show that much continuity yet, as a standalone episode it had a pretty nice plot and it's nice to see our boi Waver do his thing inthe clock tower for once, but i fear it'll become repetitive later on. Art: 7 it's alright, i wouldn't call it foolproof but i liked how gray looked a lot and Waver, well he looks like waver... the people doesn't look completely dead inside and specifically the shadow shown later in the episode looked believable enough. the cars looked acceptable. Sound: 8 nothing wrong here tbh, i would rate it higher if there was anything completely outstanding in regards to the sound, in fact it was just what i expected and i'm completely fine with that. Character: 9 the characters really require you to have watched at least enough of fate/zero to know who Lord El-Melloi or Waver is because most of their backstory comes from there. but if you have watched that and knows how great a character he is you will understand how much i love waver as a character. I personally was a little disappointed that we didn't see more of him than we did back then. gray is cool as hell imo i really look forward to seeing her character pan out, and why she is there etc. those two kids, i really hated them during the first half of the episode but later on, when i saw their determination i grew to look past that as well. Enjoyment: 10 this is a little biased like the other ratings actually but then again as a fate fan i really always loves to get a laugh out of an anime, and i got a laugh every time i saw waver be his usual "trying to be good at his thing but still fails" self. overall: 8 it's decent, i'll say this now, the story doesn't seem so compelling as of now which i fear might actually be this series downfall because as my animu knowledge goes this has the potential to end in a repetitive format towards the middle of the series. but i think just because of the characters i'll end up seeing past that and enjoying the characters instead.

Reviewer's note: This is my 19th entry into the Fate franchise. ✪ Genre: action, contemporary fantasy, magic (spellcasting), seinen, superpower ◧ Animation: the series roughly follows the character design standards set by the previous studios, a combination of colors of moderate to low saturation/moderate illumination with the internal and external environments being more muted comparison. Even though the characters seem distinct enough, the series' entire 'atmosphere' feels a little more muted than usual. ◧ Character development: one episode cannot suffice in order for me to make an assessment, but the protagonist's character traits, temperament, self-image are roughly outlined through his interactions with some of the deuteragonists and throughthe use of biographical flashbacks. ◧ Soundtrack: seems to be comprised of orchestral music (violins, violas, percussion, flute, piano, etc.) with some of it being slower in tempo, while other pieces are more upbeat. ◧ Plot: it seems to pick up a decade after Fate/Zero in London, but there's nothing else to speak of besides the sense that a new antagonist may be lurking in the shadows ◧ Action sequences: besides 45" worth of a car chase, there's nothing much to speak off but it was choreographed well enough to warrant further engagement with the series. Overall: A decent introductory special episode that does not really give me much of an idea as to what will transpire moving forward. 5.4/10