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Oct 31 2011

Categories: ben-to, episodic review, fate/zero
Tagged: ben-to, fate/zero

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“Believe in your Master.”

Loved this scene with Saber staring down both Berserker and Lancer with Emiya scrambling to snipe someone (which he should have done like ten minutes ago)… palatable tension. Though I did expect Iskandar (only dude I am referring to name currently, as the King of Conquerors has earned it) to intervene. I just didn’t expect that he was going to plow over Berserker like how Jigglypuff plows over your raggedy-ass Pokemon team.

“I want to strength our bonds.”

Best kind of Master/Servant teamwork. Except I’m not sure why is the Master and who is the Servant here.

(Ume makes Ben-to so much more fun. Even though she’s completely non-integral to the bento-plot thus far. She is, how should I put it, a good sidedish. As for the newly introduced Shaga, she needs to get rid of those glasses. Her normal wild animal sex hair doesn’t jive well with the glasses on. They should be either off or tossed clear across the room.)

(Andohbytheway, after watching this scene, we don’t need any more explanation why Shaga is nicknamed, “Beauty by the Lake.”)

Also might be good time to mention that Shaga sexually harasses Oshiroi… and then Shaga gets sexually harassed by Ume. It’s like a circle of life or something except with high school girls fondling and feeling each other. And you wonder how David Productions planned on keeping our interest with a show about bento combat: yuri. Always works!

How can you not love Iskandar after this episode? He’s awesome. Not only is he someone who seems to be fun to be around, he has a sense of honor. For the most part, Fate/zero is doing a great job in making the Servants likeable and putting the focus on them rather than their Masters. Both Iskandar and Lancer have a strong sense of justice, and they both want to win– but fairly. Very noble. Saber has this too, but she’s hawt and everyone involved with Fate/zero have some serious explaining to do if we don’t get a Saber x Irisviel scene. Or two. Or five.

(Archer? Always pompous fun. Caster is crazy fun, especially if he goes crazy around Saber. Only Berserker and Assassin seem like no-funs.)

If Caster becomes the Yuno to Saber’s Yuki, Fate/zero might surpass Madoka. There’s just so many open threads and plot points going on right now, it’s like a meta game inside of a game. It’s StarCraft! You can either be an idiot and just look at the roach vs. stalker battle, or be a bit more insightful at how Caster is hiding his spire from Saber’s observers.

(The difficulty of juggling numerous interesting characters over a full season is much tougher than telling a compact 12 episode story with only 4 memorable characters– Kyubey, Madoka, Homura, and Mami’s mammies. I fully expect the Saber x Archer battle to shatter Homura doing her finest Endless Eight impersonation.)

Waver is comedic relief. I liked how it almost turned into a high school drama when Archibald accused him of stealing his relic… and how Iskandar stood up for Waver by accusing Archibald of being a wuss (correctly). Definitely, Iskandar is Stiffler and Waver is the poor guy with his dick in a pie.

The whole “re-imagining Ben-to as an eroge” subplot with Oshiroi is quite fun too. Especially when Sen is narrating the sexxxy events. Sen is turning into a more assertive Yuki Nagato, you know, the one we all wish Yuki was in Nagato Yuki-chan no Shoushitsu: she’s quiet but effective. She also understands the emotions of others, despite her “Ice Queen” nickname.

(I do like how Ben-to has life lessons built-in each episode. It’s almost like an afterschool anime in that respect. It’s what the first season of Downton Abbey was with a morality play involving a major and minor plot per episode. It was great. I even enjoyed silly plots like a flower contest. With the second season, everything became more exxxtreme. There’s like fifty plots going on at once, and it’s turning into Melrose Place. Which I guess isn’t bad, but instead of a period slice-of-life piece with meido– kinda like 90210 in 1910 Britain– the show has turned into a poor man’s Melrose Place.)

“Who gave you permission to gaze upon me, rabid dog?”

Archer is so delightfully full of himself, though I do enjoy this golden armor and all the gold from his unlimited blade works.

So boss. Everyone in the Holy Grail War is overpowered, which makes it so enjoyable. Kinda sad that the supposed most powerful Servant– Saber– hasn’t done much so far besides being schooled by everyone. She doesn’t do anything cool except keep Excalibur secret.

Shaga is Satou’s cousin, which makes things as interesting as the dynamics behind the Holy Grail War. I like how Shaga and Satou have been bonding since childhood playing Sega Saturn games bra-less. I feel like it’s unbelievable that they haven’t broken that forbidden barrier yet, unless Satou is the second-coming of Lulu (which he might be since he’s surrounded by all these hawt girls yet focuses only on the frickin’ bentos… they better be one hell of a good bento).

(Still waiting for the Panzer Dragoon, Phantasy Star, Shining Force, or Guardian Heroes reference.)

“We’re on a battlefield for half-priced bentos.”

Wow. Just wow. Ice Queen vs. Beauty by the Lake (both awesome class ideas for Fate/zero) is more awesome than Archer vs. Berserker. You had some great girl on girl trash talking (“You will lose.” “Gimme some meat.”), some ridiculous bento prize, and a battle royale going on in the background. (Unlike Saber, Rider, and Lancer having a tea party while Berserker was fighting Archer.) You can actually feel the back-and-forth flow of the fight with the final blow Sen landing really feeling like it had some impact. Just awesome. The occasional panty flashing fanservice didn’t hurt either.

(And, see, wild animal sex hair requires either no glasses or disheveled glasses.)

Honor amongst men.

(I’m not digging the BGM for this episode. I didn’t feel like the music fit the whole Archer vs. Berserker fight, and the music never really added to the atmosphere. I guess BGM is treated like the middle reliever, but great BGM can really push a series into the next level– Gurren Lagann, anyone?)

tl;dr

1. Iskandar is the King of Conquerors.

2. Saber is the King of Kings.

3. Ume is the King of Yuri.