FATE/GRAND ORDER: SHINSEI ENTAKU RYOUIKI CAMELOT - PALADIN; AGATERAM

DESCRIPTION

CAST

MOVIE ActionFate/Grand Order: Shinsei Entaku Ryouiki Camelot - Wandering; Agateram
ANIME ActionFate/Grand Order: Zettai Majuu Sensen Babylonia
OVA ComedyFate/Grand Carnival

REVIEWS

• 

  AVD2438

  85/100
  The ending act of the tale of the Wandering Knight.

  First of all, this review will contain, although a slight amount, spoilers for the 2nd FGO Camelot movie.

  ---

  After a first movie that leans on the weaker side, we finally got the second and final movie of the 6th Singularity of Fate/Grand Order, Divine Realm of the Round Table: Camelot. As I said at the very beginning, coming after a rather disappointing first movie my expectations weren't at an all-time high, even with this Singularity being a personal favorite of mine regarding the Fate/Grand Order main story.

  Regarding the technical aspects of the movie, I've to say that this is definitely a big upgrade comparing it to its predecessor in almost every aspect: the animation during fights might be among the top Fate as a franchise has ever seen, the soundtrack does its job fairly well, and the art and character design look better compared to previously in Wandering; Agateram. In my honest opinion, this movie is pleasant to look at, for both Sakuga appreciators or casual fans.

  A big controversy regarding these 2 movies are the changes compared to the main game, Fate/Grand Order. As a quick summary, the game has more servants involved that are cut from the movies (like Tawara Touta or Hassan of the Hundred Personas), some of the characters that appear in the movie have different roles or purposes (for example, Sanzang's role in the game is to only break the main gate to the Holy City with her Noble Phantasm, and then disappear, rather than her having a fight against Mordred like we see in this movie). Are these changes a big demerit for these 2 movies? Apart that these movies are a movie adaptation of the theatrical release, FGO The Stage, and not the game per se, as I stand right now, I see them in an opposite light: I actually like some of the changes this movie specifically provides, not only because some of these changes make the movie's pace more dynamic without changing the overall story too much, but because it puts the focus (for better and for worse) on the really important characters of this entire movie: the Knights of the Round Table.

  This movie, as I see it, revolves around the knights who were alongside Artoria Pendragon in her quest to bring peace to Britain, characters that we have already seen in other Fate-related works, like Lancelot in Fate/Zero; Gawain in Fate/Extra or Mordred in Fate/Apocrypha, or have been mentioned in the main source of arthurian legend in the Fate universe, Garden of Avalon, like Tristan or Agravain. As a curious fact, this movie provides the brief cameo of 2 other Knights of the Round Table that have been released recently in the gacha game, being Gareth and Percival. These characters will face their sins and regrets in a second attempt to reunite with their king and fulfill their duty, this time facing one of their own on the other side, Bedivere. And myself, a person who not only enjoys Fate's interpretation of the Arthurian myth, but enjoys the real myth as well, I can not be more pleased with this direction.

  Obviously, this movie has its drawbacks. As I said previously, I did like some of the changes this movie provides, but I never said all of them. The first and most important in my honest opinion is that, even talking about it in a positive light before, putting too much focus on the KotRT makes the other characters have less of it and, as it suggests in the title of the movie, this is the story of Ritsuka Fujimaru and Mash Kyrielight going from Singularity to Singularity, in a quest to save Humanity from its ultimate doom, that is, this is only a chapter of a bigger story. I would have appreciated more at least some connection to the overall FGO Story (like the bomb that Sherlock Holmes (in the game) drops in the Atlas Institute regarding the Chaldea staff and most importantly Romani), especially in the same year when the Final Singularity: Solomon, will have its movie released as well. Also, I felt underwhelmed with the reveal of Mash's Heroic Spirit, Galahad, and the first time she can use her proper Noble Phantasm, Lord Camelot. I didn't even felt satisfied how the Hassans were handled in this movie, specially Cursed Arm, having his character arc cut short. Not saying that these things make the movie automatically bad, just stating like in this entire review, the humble opinion of a spectator.

  Finally, this movie brings the end of the quest Bedivere has been for hundreds of years in an emotional conclusion: a final confrontation with his king, revealing to everyone that his arm is basically the Holy Sword Excalibur, as well as the truth that in reality, rather than a servant, he is a human just like Ritsuka. Bedivere is definetly the highlight of this entire movie, not only thanks to this conclusion and the great fight he has against Gawain, but also to what he represents: the humanity in the Round Table. Bedivere is, in contrast with his peers, a person who doesn't have the blessing of spirits like Lancelot, the blessing of the Sun like Gawain, mixed blood from other species like Artoria or Merlin, or even a demonic/holy weapon like Percival. He is just a normal human, struggling to fulfill his promise to his king. Indirectly, he represents humanity as a whole, enduring the hardships to arrive to his goal, fighting against unmovable walls in order to reach to his destination.

  His final words, thanking Artoria for what she did in order to bring peace to Britain, mirrors those from Lancelot's in Fate/Zero: even with how it ended at the battle of Camlaan, the fact that peace could be even dreamed of during her reign was possible thanks to her. Her reign was not a mistake, but one full of hope. Bedivere after those emotional words, says farewell with the return of the Lion King's "humanity", stopping her plan and admitting defeat. The Singularity is solved thanks to the humanity of the most loyal of knights.

  As a conclusion, I enjoyed this movie a lot, even with its flaws. I do encourage to both casual fans and even hardcore Fate fans that disliked the first movie to give this one a try.

  Better than Babylonia as an adaptation? Obviously not.
  A bad Fate/Grand Order movie? No.
  Fate/Grand Order Paladin; Agateram is, in this spectator's humble opinion, a really enjoyable movie that is worth its time, and makes the Camelot adaptation worth watching only thanks to this second movie.

  I'm sorry for the length of this review, and thank you for reaching the end of it. I will try to improve if I do more reviews in the future.

  Continue on AniList
• 

  Kaito67

  80/100
  The most experimental Fate has gotten, it’s pure insanity.

  THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS

  ---

  ABBREVIATIONS/TERMS
  KA: Key Animation

  ---

  While I already enjoyed the first movie, given what I briefly heard about this sequel, I was ready for it to step up its game and become something greater. I’m not sure if it’s exactly “greater”, because this movie, in more ways than one, was extremely experimental, chaotic and wild in its nature. It’s like Mob Psycho II Episode 5, where it’s just a pure spectacle to behold, but not only Hakuyu Go is holding the strings here; Be it the abysmal schedule, or just the need to push a Fate/Grand Order adaption to a new level of experimentation, director Kazuto Arai decided to turn the second Fate/Grand Order Camelot movie into a playground for some of the biggest animators out there.

  KA: Hisashi Mori

  This is not simply recruiting a bunch of animators through contacts and having each of them animating one cut, no: Arai decided to give certain animators selected by him entire segments of the movie, not only allowing them to animate large portions but also storyboard and direct their sequences entirely. Ryota Furukawa entirely storyboarded and key animated Mash against Lancelot, Takumi Sunakohara was in charge for Tristan against the assassins, Itsuki Tsuchigami handled the battles against Gawain, and Hakuyu Go, mastermind behind Mob Psycho II Episode 5 and Fate/Apocrypha Episode 22, dealt with the content centered around Agravain. Hakuyu Go in fact went the extra mile and also heavily assisted in the climax, drawing the rough layouts for roughly +130 cuts giving it the visual flair Arai wasn’t able to create himself. Add to the mix a bunch of other animators filling the gaps these monsters couldn’t handle, and as a result you have something which can be called a true sakuga spectacle.

  KA: Weilin Zhang (Hakuyu Go's part)

  KA: Bahi JD (Hakuyu Go's part)

  KA: Hakuyu Go

  The experimentation and the range of different styles in each fight is insane, either with strong background animation, emphasis on scale, or just unique direction with very aggressive sound direction in some parts. Sometimes it was decided to take an occasional breather, in other parts we got a breathless two minutes sequence like the fight between Bedivere and Gawain, completely animated by Itsuki Tsuchigami.

  KA: Itsuki Tsuchigami

  Background, line thickness, texture, character art couldn’t care less with consistency, changing at whim depending on the artist, although it kinda got away with it, because each artist is just that good, successfully establishing his own style aggressively. There was no overarching presence above, limiting each person working here, this is individual artistic freedom in its strongest form. The legend of Arthur in the end of the movie was also depicted by a Danish studio, Sun Creature, as if the movie doesn’t have enough artists on board already.

  However, it’s difficult to say that this movie, even as grandiose as it is, is necessarily good. With every artist making his own short movie within a grander story, it certainly can bite itself in the ass, as none of the individual segments are willing to compromise. In fact, with so many breathless moments, the movie is equipped with, it was certainly difficult to attribute special meaning to each of them, especially if you are an anime-only like me. I got the gist of the story, I also got the general idea of most of the Knights of the Table Round, but I can’t help but feel like I miss some background information and emotional attachment to each of them. The movie doesn’t really give you time to breathe, let the characters breathe, if anything, it continued to deliver one spectacle after another, and while I certainly was amazed by how good it looked, it didn’t feel truly special. Especially as a whole, this movie is a big mess, a chaotic product born out of insanity. It disrupts how normally animation productions take place, endorsing individual madness.

  KA: Kai Ikarashi

  But even if it’s a mess overall, and pretty much a giant sakuga MAD if you want to put it bluntly, it doesn’t change that in this movie, we saw some of the best works ever of some of the greatest artists in this industry here - this movie was a spectacle to behold, and I did like the final conclusion a lot. Bedivere’s journey came to an end, and he was finally able to atone for his sin in front of Artoria. This movie is not a masterpiece, not the greatest, but it still is for me, a very good movie, some of the craziest experimentation I saw in anime movies so far, and I’m glad to have watched it.

  KA: Fei Hung, Satoshi Hattori, Vincent Chansard

  I also recommend reading this article from Kvin about the production of this movie, I also got a lot information for this review from that article!

  Continue on AniList

SIMILAR ANIMES YOU MAY LIKE

• ANIME

  DramaLord El-Melloi II-sei no Jikenbo: "Rail Zeppelin" Grace note
• SPECIAL

  ActionFate/Grand Order CMs
• SPECIAL

  ActionFate/Grand Order: First Order
• ANIME

  ActionFate/Apocrypha
• OVA

  ActionFate/Prototype