Recently there seems to be a lot of manga coming out on the newer Fate series from Typemoon, and I decided to pick them up and they all completely suck. Looking back, when Fate Stay Night came out it seems like it was going to become a major powerhouse in the years to come despite Typemoon's origin as a porn game company. Now, about all that you can say about Fate is that they got a flash game where you can play doctor with the latest incarnation of Saber while she screams or something like that. Honestly that flash game is probably better than whatever they're actually selling now because Typemoon apparently decided to go legit.
The basis of Fate is surprisingly similar to Dragonball. Every X years there's this Holy Grail War where 7 Magis each summon a powerful legendary hero and the winner gets a wish. The basis of the story is that a hero's strength is directly proportional to his fame, so King Arthur would be able to wipe the floor with guys who allegedly solo Gods because it's hard to find a more famous hero than King Arthur. Well, Saber is King Arthur (who is female, which is understandable due to the game's origins, though Fate Prototype that never made it past design stage featuring King Arthur and his harem would've made an interesting game too). There should never have been any doubt that Shirou Emiya, the main character, was going to win the tournament, but rather than having an orgy with his harem every day like Ilya suggested while Saber goes out and bulldozes everything she runs into, Fate always tried to make it sound like the guy with King Arthur is supposed to be the underdog. In the later series, it's clear that fame literally has nothing to do with a hero's power. We see Nero apparently is a very strong hero in Fate Extra (which is what I picked up and promptly discarded). Well if you want to base character's strength based on what they're have said to do, then you should summon Son Goku, who will definitely wipe the floor with any normal legendary hero I can think of.
Throughout the story, there's this shameless abandonment to its core concept: heroes are only as strong as their fame, in order to bring tension or maybe for Japanese pride. I mean Sasaki Kojiro can fight Saber to a standstill, and I bet most of you have never heard of this guy. And again, if you want to talk about Japanese home court advantage, then we should bring in Son Goku. I'd argue Son Goku is likely more well-known than Sasaki Kojiro even in Japan.
The whole point of the Fate world is that it is supposed to be totally unfair. If you draw King Arthur or Hercules you can start thinking about what to do with your wish. If you draw Sasaki Kojiro or Medea as your hero, you'd be lucky if you survive past the first day. The only exception is The Hero Emiya, which is the protagonist from the future. He's obviously just another fodder hero in terms of strength, but armed with the knowledge of exactly how the event will unfold, he manages to stay one step ahead against heroes that are far more famous than he. Really, the struggle of this series isn't about Shirou Emiya who is effectively immortal (he has the sheath of the Excalibur, which means he basically cannot die, and that's also why he was able to summon Saber) overcome impossible odds, or why Saber who should be able to wipe out any hero that isn't Hercules in one hit have these pointlessly epic battle. It's how the ordinary Hero Emiya tries to prevent the events of the game happening (The Hero Emiya was born after the events of the game and The Hero Emiya eventually realizes being a hero means you're shackled to the Seat of Heroes forever and thus wants to prevent his ascendance), and ultimately he will always fail because he can never defeat Hercules or King Arthur despite already knowing how exactly all the events will unfold. The draw of the Fate series is that the whole story is all about the shackles of destiny. The heroes are all forever shackled to the Seat of Heroes where they must answer summon (except for Saber, who can quit anytime she wanted to), and the hierarchy of the heroes means you usually already know who is going to win a fight by just putting their name in Google and see which one has more hits. The later you go in the series, though, the less relevent this concept is. By the time Fate Aprocrya comes around, half of the alleged 'heroes' are guys I have never heard of. In Fate Extra apparently Nero is a formidable hero even though I only know of him for screwing up the Roman Empire. In the magical girl spinoff people are now summoning Odin (who I don't think can be considered a Hero), never mind that in a strict fame based system, Odin would still get completely owned by King Arthur.
Fate is a living example of the author literally has no idea what makes his story good. While most shonen manga stresses over friendship, courage, and whatnot. In Fate, what makes someone strong is, as the namesake suggests, fate. If you're supposed to be strong you're always strong. If you're supposed to be a nobody you stay as a nobody. Pretty much every major character besides Shirou Emiya and Rin Tohsaka is totally screwed by fate. If you're lucky you'd just die, and the more unfortunate members generally are stuck with an eternity of service to the Seat of Hero. But the point is that even though their fate is totally screwed, all the guys still do their best even if it's ultimately futile. Even Saber, who can quit anytime she wants, will never be able to get the guy she really likes, though it's a mystery why someone who has access to all the heroes of the Seat of Heroes and an endless line of suitors would have an interest in a completely ordinary guy.
The basis of Fate is surprisingly similar to Dragonball. Every X years there's this Holy Grail War where 7 Magis each summon a powerful legendary hero and the winner gets a wish. The basis of the story is that a hero's strength is directly proportional to his fame, so King Arthur would be able to wipe the floor with guys who allegedly solo Gods because it's hard to find a more famous hero than King Arthur. Well, Saber is King Arthur (who is female, which is understandable due to the game's origins, though Fate Prototype that never made it past design stage featuring King Arthur and his harem would've made an interesting game too). There should never have been any doubt that Shirou Emiya, the main character, was going to win the tournament, but rather than having an orgy with his harem every day like Ilya suggested while Saber goes out and bulldozes everything she runs into, Fate always tried to make it sound like the guy with King Arthur is supposed to be the underdog. In the later series, it's clear that fame literally has nothing to do with a hero's power. We see Nero apparently is a very strong hero in Fate Extra (which is what I picked up and promptly discarded). Well if you want to base character's strength based on what they're have said to do, then you should summon Son Goku, who will definitely wipe the floor with any normal legendary hero I can think of.
Throughout the story, there's this shameless abandonment to its core concept: heroes are only as strong as their fame, in order to bring tension or maybe for Japanese pride. I mean Sasaki Kojiro can fight Saber to a standstill, and I bet most of you have never heard of this guy. And again, if you want to talk about Japanese home court advantage, then we should bring in Son Goku. I'd argue Son Goku is likely more well-known than Sasaki Kojiro even in Japan.
The whole point of the Fate world is that it is supposed to be totally unfair. If you draw King Arthur or Hercules you can start thinking about what to do with your wish. If you draw Sasaki Kojiro or Medea as your hero, you'd be lucky if you survive past the first day. The only exception is The Hero Emiya, which is the protagonist from the future. He's obviously just another fodder hero in terms of strength, but armed with the knowledge of exactly how the event will unfold, he manages to stay one step ahead against heroes that are far more famous than he. Really, the struggle of this series isn't about Shirou Emiya who is effectively immortal (he has the sheath of the Excalibur, which means he basically cannot die, and that's also why he was able to summon Saber) overcome impossible odds, or why Saber who should be able to wipe out any hero that isn't Hercules in one hit have these pointlessly epic battle. It's how the ordinary Hero Emiya tries to prevent the events of the game happening (The Hero Emiya was born after the events of the game and The Hero Emiya eventually realizes being a hero means you're shackled to the Seat of Heroes forever and thus wants to prevent his ascendance), and ultimately he will always fail because he can never defeat Hercules or King Arthur despite already knowing how exactly all the events will unfold. The draw of the Fate series is that the whole story is all about the shackles of destiny. The heroes are all forever shackled to the Seat of Heroes where they must answer summon (except for Saber, who can quit anytime she wanted to), and the hierarchy of the heroes means you usually already know who is going to win a fight by just putting their name in Google and see which one has more hits. The later you go in the series, though, the less relevent this concept is. By the time Fate Aprocrya comes around, half of the alleged 'heroes' are guys I have never heard of. In Fate Extra apparently Nero is a formidable hero even though I only know of him for screwing up the Roman Empire. In the magical girl spinoff people are now summoning Odin (who I don't think can be considered a Hero), never mind that in a strict fame based system, Odin would still get completely owned by King Arthur.
Fate is a living example of the author literally has no idea what makes his story good. While most shonen manga stresses over friendship, courage, and whatnot. In Fate, what makes someone strong is, as the namesake suggests, fate. If you're supposed to be strong you're always strong. If you're supposed to be a nobody you stay as a nobody. Pretty much every major character besides Shirou Emiya and Rin Tohsaka is totally screwed by fate. If you're lucky you'd just die, and the more unfortunate members generally are stuck with an eternity of service to the Seat of Hero. But the point is that even though their fate is totally screwed, all the guys still do their best even if it's ultimately futile. Even Saber, who can quit anytime she wants, will never be able to get the guy she really likes, though it's a mystery why someone who has access to all the heroes of the Seat of Heroes and an endless line of suitors would have an interest in a completely ordinary guy.
