Fate/Zero S2 TV #011: Be Careful What You Wish For

This is about nine-tenths of the climax of Fate/Zero. I was wondering if that was the case and it indeed was what happened. That did mean that at least one major battle and its aftermath looks like it has been cut down to the bare bones to fit within the episode. But we get the nitty-gritty on the showdown between the main protagonist and antagonist (hero and villain is stretching it quite a bit.) This is the episode where one pure dream dies and another horrible dream springs up in its place. You can’t always get what you want but if you try sometimes you just might find you get a twisted mockery of what you want instead.

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Fate/Zero S2 TV #010: What Dreams May Come

Anyone who has experienced Fate/Stay Night will know that certain people just have to die. Their destiny is written in stone. As I mentioned in a previous article this makes fights for people who played the original story a way of finding out what was only hinted at in the past. But for people who never saw any of that this might seem more like a race anyone could win. That said I felt like the battle in this episode had a certain gravity that could not be escaped. I also felt that conclusion was equally set in stone.

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A Season of Friendship

I don’t know if I can pin down other season of anime as having a theme. And it probably isn’t intentional, but nevertheless this season has a lot of shows that seems to fit together in a special way. This season celebrates friendship in so many different ways that it heightened my awareness to it in each show. From new friendship (Tsuritama) to teammates (Kuroko’s Basketball), from unexpected connections (Kids on the Slope) to brothers (Space Brothers).

The Internet keeps telling me that friendship is magic and so it seems that this season of anime is here to reenforce that notion. It is not as if anime is unfamiliar with the power of friendship. Most of  modern Japanese society is almost obsessed with the harmony of the group and working together so shows emphasizing solidarity among peers is not unheard of. But I think Narutaki was inspired by this season because even the common place can seem extraordinary if done correctly. This seasons shows have been very good and the bonds of comradery have been shown superbly as well. This article will look at relationships beyond the standard shonen “I beat you up so now we are blood brothers” but at people who form real bonds.

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