Fate/kaleid liner Prisma☆Illya

Fate/Kaleid is something that happens when you take a seemingly stupid idea and turn it into something that's close to spectacular. Now, before I get started, I just want to point something out; A lot of people disliked this series, or dropped it in the first few episodes because it's a Fate/ series... turned Magical Girl. I did the same. When it was first airing, I dropped it, not because I didn't think it was interesting, I just didn't feel like watching it at the time. I, too, think that turning the Fate/ series into a Magical Girl series is a, well, stupid idea. Iwas wrong. Also, this series is a lot darker than it seems, so do not judge a book by it's cover, including a fair amount of blood and suggestive themes. It's like Madoka Magica's rating, though I find that this series is more mature in terms of content than that series is. I love the Fate/ series, I love Fate/Zero and I love Fate/Stay Night. Now note that I have JUST finished this series, as in, I watched it after the announcements for a Fate/Stay Night remake by ufotable and a season 2 for Fate/Kaleid were made. Due to the Fate/Stay Night remake being announced, I saw this series more as an awesome bonus. It takes the Fate/ story line and looks at it through a different light; although a fairly obnoxious and/or ridiculous one, it has a lot more to offer than it seems. Also note that this series has NOTHING to do with the main Fate/ storyline, character relationships are different, the Holy Grail War doesn't exist as far as we know, and characters who are supposed to be dead, are now alive. Now I'll start my actual review, and it may seem like I'm over-praising the series... if it does, I apologize because that was not my intention. This is my actual opinion. I watched this series with a perspective as it being a bonus series to add onto the already-amazing Fate/ universe, thus I won't judge it just because it's a "dumb" magical girl adaption of the Fate/ series like most people have. Story: 8 The story is simple. Illyasviel Einsbern lives a normal Elementary-School life with her friends, and her "older brother" Shirou Emiya. Rin Tohsaka and a woman named Luvia were given the job of finding the remaining Class Cards, as they already own the Lancer and the Archer. The class cards reflect the 7 servant classes in the Fate/ series; Archer, Lancer, Saber, Rider, Assassin, Caster and Berserker. These cards are obtainable by entering a mirrored version of certain areas, (As in, another dimension) and fighting the "Alter", or the Dark versions of each servant. They use weapons that look like Magical Girl wands, each with a name, Ruby and Sapphire. They both talk and have personalities, too. These two wands believe they're abused by Rin and Luvia, so they decide to find new masters. Ruby flies off while Illya is taking a bath and happens to meet her. She then tricks Illya into a "contract" with her to become her new master. (Note: This is NOT a contract similar to Madoka Magica whereas she's forced to fight or else she'll die or something horrible will happen. It's just a contract to give her the title of master and to be able to use the wand's powers, that's all. She doesn't HAVE to fight and Ruby fully understands that.) Rin finds Illya, and tells her that since she stole her wand, she'll have to help her collect the class cards. Luvia does the same with a girl named Miyu. Thus begins their story. Since the story is simple, it's portrayed/paced perfectly fine. There isn't much to explain, so it doesn't waste any time. Although, there are some fanservice-ish moments included, but that's to be expected of Silver Link's animations. They don't last long enough to really be a bother. The story becomes dark around episode 6 of the series, as Illya and Miyu go to collect the Caster card, an unexpected servant arrives causing trouble. The series delves into the horror and grief involved with being an elementary school girl and having to fight dark, demonic entities with a magic wand dressed as a magical girl. Illya shows true signs of terror, she realizes that, after she's cut and begins to bleed, that all of this is real, that she can actually be killed within these dimensions. Thus, she's psychologically unstable for certain amounts of time, and even refuses to talk to her friends when the time comes. The impact of her fighting really shows in her character development. Guilt from accidental attacks that could have injured her own friends is also an element, that you'd have to see to know what I mean. It does an alright job emotionally, and the dimensions are portrayed spectacularly. To be honest, one of my favorite aspects of the story was the Dark versions of the servants. I have to say, Dark/Alter Saber is one of the most badass characters I have ever seen. She is brutal. There is one thing that isn't really explained, unless you're a fan of the Fate/ series and you know the background behind Illya, and that's the source of her powers. That may or may not be explained in season 2, which I heard from someone that the story will only get darker. Art: 10 What can I say? This is Silver Link, their animations have always been fantastic. Look at shows like Dusk Maiden, who's visuals are gorgeous. Also, compared to other anime these days, the fight scenes were top-grade. Actually, one of my new favorite anime fights of all time come directly from this series, and that's the fight with Alter Saber. You'll see what I mean. It's a stunning sight to see, and certainly came as a surprise. The art keeps the show suspenseful and intense. I'm hoping season 2 will be even better, I expect no less from Silver Link. Sound: 10 The music is phenomenal. It keeps fight scenes and other emotional scenes intense or it causes them to leave more of an impact. The soundtrack actually sounds like Fate/ music as well, which is a huge plus. I believe it even kept close to the original main theme of Fate/... but it's been so long since I've seen Fate/Stay Night I can't say for sure. The opening, too, is amazing. Great song, and great visuals to go along with it. The ending I didn't really care for because it was somewhat light-hearted and I wanted to see more, so I skipped the credits. Character: 8 The characters are... they're alright. Nothing really worth mentioning. Ruby and Sapphire, the wands, have their own personalities which keep the show a little more lively considering their attitudes. Illya is, well, different. Nothing really worth describing. One of her friends at school, though, was entertaining even though she didn't have a lot of screentime. She was obnoxious and clueless but in a good, funny way. Other than that, the characters are fairly average but you can get attached if you weren't already from the previous Fate/ series. Enjoyment: 10 This series was interesting. An extension to the Fate/ universe, and a very satisfying one at that. Especially considering there's going to be more, I'm even more pumped and happy that I saw this. It's underrated and misunderstood. Don't take it as an extension to the Fate/ story directly but an additional bonus to the universe. That way, it'll be more enjoyable. Watch it for what it is, don't watch it as a Fate/ series, in terms of the Holy Grail War. Overall: 9 I can't wait for the second season. Give the show a try, I promise it'll be a lot better than what it seems to be, especially if you don't compare it to anything and just watch it as it is.

Do you like loli? Do you like spin-off anime of excellent series that have nothing to do with said excellent series? Do you like a show that can’t decide what the hell it wants to be? Then sit down and watch Fate/Kaleid, a ten episode anime that is full of everything you love about Fate/Zero and Fate/Stay Night, such as hilarious comedy, underaged lesbians, and magical girls. You know, the kind of things fans asked for after watching the main series. If you are a fan of the series, I’m sure you’re going to pass Kaleid up based upon the fact it is a cutesy magical girl anime. Iwent into it thinking such, which is why I was so scared after the first episode. I was already debating how a show based on a series that’s pretty adult in tone could appeal to little girls. I went into the series assuming I was going to see a little girl anime. Twenty-seven minutes later, I walked away wondering just who the hell Kaleid was made for. And after ten episodes and the five DVD specials, I’m still scratching my head. Kaleid is about Illyasviel, a young girl who lives in Japan with some adopted family while her mother and father are out doing…whatever. She watches magical girl anime and dreams of becoming one. Luckily, a magical wand/stick/what-have-you hears her and takes her as its master, making her dream come true. But the wand used to belong to Rin Tohsaka, a tsundere who, along with her partner, lost their wands because all they did was fight with each other. The teenaged girls were tasked with collecting seven cards by the Mage’s Guild if they wanted to be taken under the wing of a master magus. So, through the series, the duo of teenagers use a duo of ten year olds to attain their goals. Sounds like it could a kids show, right? Nope! One episode and there’s a gag about penis’s! A few episodes in and the violence is a little more intense than a kids show usually is. And then the realization: Oh God…this show is supposed to appeal to people my age. Okay, loli porn aside, I can’t fault the series for having Rin Tohsaka. Because seriously, I watched this for Rin. She’s one of the best damn tsundere’s in anime. Her companion, Luvia, whom she always fights with, is less exciting. Exceptionally less exciting. She’s the rich bitch stereotype. She has that “OH HO HO HO HO” laugh and makes fun of Rin for being poor. Illya is a decent character but her development can be filed under “Basic Hero”. Wishful thinking to “No, I don’t want this” to acceptance to throwing aside her weapons after something bad happens to taking them back when she realizes she’s the hero the city deserves. Miyu is another stereotype. Quiet and badass entrance to nothing-to-do-with-hero attitude to learning friendship and working together is a good thing to hurting the hero to finally realizing friendship is magic. Another gripe, the biggest gripe. What the hell is it? Magical girl, fan service, comedy? It does all three pretty decently, but the problem with the series becomes tonal shifts so fast you’ll get whiplash. One episode will spend half the time making tit jokes and focusing on side characters that have absolutely nothing to do with anything, while the other half will be an intense fight. It has Sword Art Online syndrome. It’s juggling way too many genres and tropes at once and because of that, it’s failing to carve itself a distinctive identity. What we get is a muddled mess. One overarching theme seems to be exploiting the female characters. This is an anime for lolicons a la Kodomo no Jikan. It’s pretty shameless in how over-sexualized the characters are. The worst offenses come with the DVD extras that includes a whole portion where Illya is dressed up like a cat and being forced into poses that are…not appropriate for a girl her age. And the magic wand (these things talk by the way) tells us that she’s responding to the desires of the audience. Oh come on! The writer, director, and animators want to blame the viewers for this? We all know it’s a joint venture! The studio’s getting off just as much. And the DVD extras are bad. Except for Rin in a maid outfit. But otherwise, they’re all useless and more excuses for nudity and sexuality. There’s one where they play strip-Life. The board game. Turned into a stripping game. Eh? And also, there’s a pervasive sense of lesbianism between Illya and Miyu, just to help that image of underaged fap-bait. I’m bitching a lot about this show, but I did find some decent aspects to it. It’s watchable and less painful than a lot of shows I’ve seen, but that doesn’t change the fact it’s got so many faults. There are a couple awesome fights within, good animation, and great music. It’s begging for fans of the Fate series to watch it but it’s begging for a lot more besides. It’s…to put it bluntly, fap-bait. If you’re into loli, here you go. If you’re not, well, I wouldn’t even touch this series with a stick. Even if you’re a hardcore fan of the franchise, just don’t. You’ll be a lot happier that way.

STORY On the outside, Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya just seems to be a magical girl parody of the Fate series, and in many ways it is. Though, it manages to stand on its own with a story I can take seriously. The story starts off as a monster of the week show, but like any good magical girl show, it deviates from the formula. With focus on the internal conflict with Illya and external conflict with a new character Miyu. Though, I found the two conflicts to be cliche and predictable (Rehash of MGLN). The whole conflicts between rival magical girls and personalmotivation, has been done else where and done better. Although, thanks to the direction of Shin Oonuma, the drama and conflicts were actually enjoyable. With Oonuma directing many drama series before, he knows how to make the viewer care for what's actually happening on screen. I felt emotion for what was happening, whenever the show was being heartwarming, chilling, etc. And I have to give credit for that. Also, the throw backs to Fate lore was very much enjoyed and appreciated. Overall, while nothing new, the story was highly enjoyable. CHARACTERS *This section contains spoilers* The cast consists of mostly alternative versions of their Fate/ counterparts, with there only being two new characters. The magical stick sapphire, and its master Miyu. With Miyu being the only new character worth talking about. Miyu is that typical cold isolated girl you see in a lot of magical girl shows. And, she also goes through the typical development that comes with the cliche. Not saying that's a bad thing, it's just predictable. She grows from a cold person to our main character, then to a nice one. It's that simple. Speaking of our main character, we have Illya. Illya is a character from the original series, and is the only one that has a dramatic personality change. In Fate/Stay Night, she's a cold killer, but is somewhat mischievous to the people she trusts. In this show however, she's a normal girl. Illya a normal magical girl protagonist, but what also comes with this is the typical development. Like Miyu, Illya also goes through a typical magical girl character's development. She's been given a duty she knows nothing of, then she begins to doubt her position in that duty, but in the end she grows to be stronger to protect what she loves. Although, unlike Miyu, Illya's development was refreshing. Illya's internal conflict takes up a lot more time than the average magical girl protagonist. The show made an effort to give her internal conflict real meaning. Illya actually gets inner monologues on her how she really feels about the duty she has been given. And, while I've seen better magical girl protagonists, seeing things done this way was refreshing. *End of spoilers* As for the rest of the cast, none of them really get any development, but are just throw backs at the Type-Moon universe. They're most there for comedy relief, and they do their job. While the comedy isn't Carnival Phantasm funny, it got a few laughs out of me. All in all, with there only being 2 stand out characters, and both only having slightly above average development, the overall characters are passable. ANIMATION Animated by Silver Link, the animation is pretty good. With decent use of lighting, the tone the art gives off is a fun lighthearted feeling, with dark undertones. The character designs of the original characters, stay faithful, but they have a bit more cartoon style than their original's. I also like Miyu's out of costume design, for some reason. Though, I notice the character designs aren't always consistent. There's a few times a character would go off model, although that can be forgiven. As for the actually animation, the regular scenes are standard fare. Though, the action scenes are particularly impressive. The movements are fluid, and combined with the really good directing, makes the action look even more impressive than Fate/Zero's. (Fate/Zero had crappy fight direction, in the first season at least.) Overall, while there were some small dips, the animation is well above average. SOUND Composed by Tatsuya Katou, the music isn't standard magical girl music. The style is more of a mix between F/SN's and magical girl OSTs. This results in some calm slice of life music, and epic battle music. While the slice of life ones aren't anything special, the epic battle ones, are pretty good. I particularly like the Illya version of the EMIYA theme. It's probably my favorite version of it. (Maybe) As, for the OP and ED, I liked them, but I admit they weren't that special. Catchy and that's it. As for the dub.... It was a a big meh. It's one of sentai's better dubs, but it's not that hard to be one of the "better" sentai dubs. While the acting is okay, the a few of the voices don't match the characters. Illya sounds too old in my opinion and Rin doesn't really have that charm to her voice. I kind of wish they went to bang zoom for this dub, but I understand that they wouldn't make as much of a profit on this show, compared to the F/SN UBW movie. OVERALL I've always liked Type-moon, particularly the Fate/ series. With Fate/Zero being my favorite anime. So, when Fate/kaleid liner Prisma☆Illya got announced, I was a bit "ehh" about it. I mean, Fate and magical girls? One part of me was expecting for it to be bad, and another was being optimistic. So, when it actually turned out to not half bad, I was honestly pleased. I seriously enjoyed Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya, and I'm looking forward to where ever this sub-series will go in the future

(This has been adapted from my reddit thread) When people think of magic in relation to the fantastical, people think of wizards, spells, and all-powerful incantations. It's something that doesn't exist in the real world, as much as we would like it to be. "Magical girls" take it one step forward. On top of the magic, they also include transformations, cute girls, and life lessons. In Fate/kaleid liner Prisma☆Illya (what a name!), these common tropes are found once more. STORY F/k (I need to shorten the name at this point!) starts by having our main character, Illya, one day encountering Ruby, a magical stick that gives Illya thepower to transform into a mighty magical girl. Right off the bat, it's important to understand that the world behind F/k is not original. That is, F/k is a spin-off of the ever popular Fate/Stay Night and Fate/Zero setting. F/k can essentially be viewed as this alternate timeline in which F/SN and F/Z's characters never participated in the Holy Grail War. Already this alienates people from the series. If you don't know the characters, the original world, or the lore behind everything, it makes the show harder to watch. This isn't to say that someone should refrain from watching F/k if they have yet to see the other two, but you are not getting the full experience otherwise. F/k mainly explores two separate themes: facing your fears and "the power of friendship." Talking about the first one, both Illya and Miyu face these issues but for different reasons. Illya is a girl who is thrust into these scenarios despite not fully investing herself into what is happening. She's more outgoing and emotion-driven. Contrarily, Miyu joins the fights not because she wants to but because she has to. She's reserved and quiet. F/k did a nice job of creating this dichotomy between the two to represent where they were coming from and what makes them face these incredibly dangerous situations. The second part, "the power of friendship," is quite common in anime. It's prevalent here as well. While the story itself contains many battles, its real focus is on the development of the relationship that Illya and Miyu have. Again, this goes back to their backgrounds and motivations, and through these they learn to accept one another for the different people that they are. This idea isn't the most perfectly executed version of this trope, but for the most part, the show does an okay job of having the girls go through the ups and downs of a budding relationship. ANIMATION Fate/Zero is highly lauded due in part to its animation and art quality. F/k, surprisingly, is of no exception. While watching the show, I could have sworn that ufotable (the team behind F/Z) had also worked on F/k. Beginning with the art style, the show does a great job of varying up the locations. They stick to the more famous ones, and as someone who knows about the world, it was nice seeing the same landmarks again. The lighting in the show is also very well done. The nighttime scenes and general lighting on the characters always seemed rather high in quality. F/k's greatest feature is definitely its animation. It is rather spectacular at times. One of the things that surprised me while watching was the heavy amount of detail that went into the fight scenes. They were very, very good right up until the end. The sparkling shots, the dense mana shields, and the amount of movement and choreography included in the show was quite pleasing to watch. I did not expect such detail when watching a "Fate-universe spin-off," so what I got to see was rather amazing. The character designs are "original" yet true to those of the characters from the Fate universe. Everyone's most striking characteristic were their eyes. They have these nice mix of colors and "punch" to them that makes them stand out. This is especially true for Illya and Miyu. When they are looking at you on-screen, you can't help but fixate your eyes on their's. CHARACTERS F/k has roughly four main characters that are looked at: Illya, Miyu, Rin, and Luvia. I'll start with the weakest. Rin and Luvia are introduced quite early and display their personality and rather violent relationship with one another from the get-go. Afterwards, they become more like guides than actual characters. You don't learn much about them other than what purpose their mission serves. I would have liked to have seen more background on them, and more specifically Luvia, but since they weren't the main focus, I was left with what I got. Illya is the star of the show. She's optimistic, cute, funny, and caring. She dreams of being a magical girl and this wish gets granted. However, she learns that there is more to it than just having fun and using magic. It's something that helps to test her ability to move forward despite the hardships that she encounters. She takes for granted the abilities she earns but eventually understands and accepts that her position is special, that it is not something that should be taken lightly. This revelation is thanks to Miyu. Miyu is stalwart, smart, and athletic. She's very determined and focused on her objectives. So much so that her behavior often causes others to misjudge her as being standoffish when she is actually quite lonely. It's this loneliness that has compelled her to always try and do things her own way. But much like she did for Illya, Illya allows Miyu to see that being together is going to be much more powerful than being alone any day of the week. The characterization here for both of the magical girls is somewhat plain. It's nothing out of the ordinary. Instead, it is probably quite cliche. But as I mentioned previously, the show does a good job of creating this dynamic between the two that allows them to go from simple partners to extremely close friends. Beyond Illya and Miyu, the rest of the cast is rather weak. We get to see some cameos from big names, but they don't do much other than provide comedic relief or proper advice. SOUND The OP, like the girls, is quite magical in the way it sounds. Unfortunately, it isn't that good. It's too generic in its rhythm to be anything worth really listening to. The ED is rather upbeat and mirrors the happy nature that is Illya's and Miyu's relationship. However, again thanks to a rather generic beat, it's not that good. In fact, after listening to the two, it sounds as if both use the same percussion piece. The soundtrack is harder to talk about. It contains pieces that are both quite fitting for the situations at hand and somewhat absurd/silly in the way they sound. Meaning, it's a mixed bag of both good and bad. Voice acting is average in the show. However, they do use the same actors/actresses from the Fate anime universes in here as well. This was a nice touch, and I thank the creators behind F/k for doing this. As a final note, one of my favorite sounds in the show was Miyu's "flying." I found her technique not only cool but with the added sound effect it made it pretty awesome. ENJOYMENT Magical girl shows almost always end up the same way. The girls become magical, they have fun, they experience hardship, then they unite to conquer evil. F/k pretty much follows this same pattern. It's never really funny or dramatic, so I never found myself laughing or being invested in the characters. Above all, what F/k does best is its battles. They are quite a feast for the eyes with their multitude of colors, the actual movements involved, and the interesting abilities used throughout. But when the show is not having the girls battle, it's rather boring. The story itself isn't captivating and the characters are not good enough to make me care for them. Plus, I found Ruby and Sapphire to be kind of annoying during the show. Fate/kaleid liner Prisma☆Illya is a common magical girl show that has great battles hidden beneath its surface. I think that without the Fate universe backing F/k, it would not be as well-known as it is today. This may be an obvious statement, but if that is its main draw, that is an unfortunate and sad fact. SUMMARY Story: Fine, magical girls with the "Fate" world as its setting Animation: Great, great art with stunning animation Characters: Fine, Illya and Miyu fit their magical girl roles Sound: Bad, nothing notable except for returning VAs and sound effects Enjoyment: Fine, good battles but not much else Final Score: 5/10

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