One of the big titles that graced the anime world last year was Fate/Zero, the prequel to the popular Fate/Stay Night series. Originally created by Nitro+ and produced by ufotable and Aniplex, the anime is split into a 13-episode season which ended in December, and a 12-episode season which will continue this April.

Set 10 years before Fate/Stay Night, Fate/Zero details the events which took place during the 4th Holy Grail War, a battle between 7 magi and their summoned hero servants for possession of the Holy Grail. A magi is defeated if his summoned hero is killed or if he is killed, and the last one standing gets a wish granted by the Grail. Magi from various walks of life, including assassins, priests, teachers, scholars, and serial killers are all a part of the war and their servants represent the greatest legends in human history.

Unlike Fate/Stay Night, which was mostly focused on action, Fate/Zero exchanges a lot of action scenes for more character development and an in-depth story. That’s not to say that there is no action though. While there isn’t a battle every other episode, when there is one, you can be sure that it’ll have some jaw-dropping moves with brilliant animation and special effects. I would not recommend showing it to a young audience due to extreme violence and sounds that suggest mutilation.

Most of the season is spent introducing the characters and exploring their background. Since there are 7 magi, each with a servant, participating in the war, that makes at least 14 characters with backstories to fill. Some may say that it’s a waste of time and that the series should just get to the good parts, but I think knowing each character’s desires and purpose for seeking the Holy Grail makes it all the more exciting when they’re forced to fight to the death.

One of the plot points that is presented early on is the battle of wits between two of the magi: Kiritsugu Emiya and Kirei Kotomine. Even before any fighting begins, these two characters identify each other as the greatest threat to their success without having ever met. Kiritsugu is a magi assassin hired to win the Holy Grail War for the Einzbern family, but it torn between completing his job and protecting his family. Kirei is a Christian priest who questions his purpose in life. While seemingly devout to God, he shows no remorse when it comes to murder and sacrifice. The skirmishes between these two show that battles do not have to be fought with guns and swords to be good. Other characters have similarly intriguing backgrounds that give each a purpose and puts much more on the line when a battle between servants occurs.

A true war is fought with brains and not just brawn, and Fate/Zero manages to portray that perfectly. It might bore an audience looking for senseless bloodshed, but it will certainly captivate anyone who enjoys the finer aspects of a battle royale.

Dog Days is a 13 episode anime produced by Aniplex and Seven Arcs, and aired during the Spring 2011 season. As you can probably guess from the title, Dog Days is an anime that involves dogs, but they’re not your ordinary dogs. The story is about a boy named Cinque who is dragged into the kingdom of Biscotti in the magical world of Fronyaldo. He was summoned by Princess Millhiore in order to act as the kingdom’s saviour in a war against the neighbouring kingdom of Galette. After his arrival, however, Cinque notices something strange: all of the citizens of Biscotti have dog ears and tails.

Indeed, the main selling point of this anime is that all of the characters (minus Cinque) are anthropomorphic. While the Biscotti people are all dogs, the Galette people are all cats. There are also a few other animals thrown into the mix such as a fox and rabbit. Anyone who loves human-animal hybrids in anime will certainly love the characters in Dog Days.

The plot is rather simple. Cinque turns from a normal school kid into a hero by appearing in another world. There, he fights the kingdom’s enemies and rescues damsels in distress; regular hero stuff. What’s interesting about this story is that no one actually dies during a war. According to the rules of engagement, killing is prohibited and medical attention must be provided to those who need it. A war in Fronyaldo is essentially a big competition rather than a war, which takes out some of the excitement from the anime.

In addition to lacking any bloodshed, there is also a lack of a real antagonist, a basic element to any story. Enemies regularly speak with each other as if they were old friends, and even play jokes every now and then. Just as much time was spent on Cinque getting close with the ladies as going off to fight in wars, making the anime seem more like a part of the harem genre rather than action.

None of the characters, except perhaps Leo, the princess of Galette, has any sort of depth to them. Cinque is a happy-go-lucky guy that fights because it’s fun, Millhiore is the stereotypical mother hen that worries about everyone, Eclair of the imperial knights is a run of the mill tsundere, and Rico of the research academy is just there to churn out new inventions. At least in Leo’s case, she has to worry about saving Millhiore without her finding out the truth, win a war, and keep her kingdom running smoothly.

The animation style is vibrant with the use of bright colours during magical attacks and for the characters themselves. The quality of the animation was also a step above average. Battle scenes presented some wonderful action poses, and Millhiore’s concerts were a visual treat. In the end, the only thing Dog Days has going for it are cute anthropomorphic girls that have some canine and feline tendencies, and good animation. The story is weak and the characters fail to leave a strong impression. Unless you really like dog and cat girls, then I would not recommend this anime.

While Key’s past works (such as Kanon, AIR, and Clannad) were a huge success due to their originality and unique characters, many have pointed out that Angel Beats just seems to be a rip-off of one thing or another. Here, I’d thought I’d go through what people say Angel Beats has apparently copied:

The Haruhi Factor

This was pointed out by the anime community long before the first trailer came out, when Key released the first sketches of the main female protagonist, Yuri. Everyone who knows anything about anime should know about The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past 5 years. Take one look at the character design for Yuri, and it’s hard not to see where the similarities between her and Haruhi lie. Someone has even taken the liberty of colouring Yuri in with Haruhi’s colours to make it even more obvious.

The similarities don’t just end with Yuri’s character design though. While Haruhi leads a group called the SOS Brigade, Yuri leads a group called the SSS. Although these two groups do have similar abbreviations, they have completely different objectives. The SOS is meant to spread fun across the world, but the purpose of the SSS is to rebel against God in the afterlife. Personally, I think anime fans were just scrambling to find more similarities between Angel Beats and Haruhi after seeing Yuri for the first time.

The K-ON Factor

I don’t think anyone can deny that it was K-ON that brought all-female music bands to the forefront of anime. Several anime series have tried to duplicate K-ON’s success with their own bands, but none have really been able to achieve the same level of popularity that K-ON did. That doesn’t seem to be stopping the creators of Angel Beats from trying though. Their answer to K-ON’s Houkago Tea Time is a rock band called Girls Dead Monster, often shortened to GirlsDeMo. The main difference between the two bands is that GirlsDeMo plays rock music, while Houkago Tea Time plays light music. I think having their band play a different type of music was a good decision by Key as they aren’t directly competing with K-ON when it comes to CD sales.

The Videogame Factor

Other anime series aren’t the only things that Angel Beats has similarities with. It has been pointed out that watching Angel Beats is sort of like watching a video game. This is really obvious in episode 2 when the SSS have to make their way through a dungeon and face off with the final boss, the main antagonist, Tenshi. The dungeon and the boss fight actually reminded me more of the old Final Fantasy games more than anything else. Usually someone ends up being sacrificed to help the group move forward, and when the boss is defeated there’s some big explosion or something collapses. In the next episode, they even show a glimpse of Tenshi’s stats and attributes that’s similar to how enemy stats are displayed in videogames.

The Key Factor

I admit that Angel Beats does seem like it’s trying to appeal to a wider audience by drawing on the success of other titles, but it still manages to keep the elements that made Kanon, AIR, and Clannad distinctly Key works. First of all, Otonashi, the main male lead isn’t some annoying kid like in a lot of anime. He might not be as witty as Yukito from AIR, but gives off a similar feel. The side characters also have crazy and unique personalities that you normally don’t find in other anime, but are very common when it comes to Key.

The major element that Angel Beats seems to take from its predecessors is the theme of life, death, and dreams. Kanon had the whole ending with Ayu, AIR had the summer arc, and Clannad had Nagisa’s imagined death. There has been some speculation that the “afterlife” in Angel Beats is actually all Otonashi’s imagination and that he’s actually in a coma. This is a very plausible scenario when you look at Key’s previous works. It also helps to explain why there’s the pattern from a heart monitor streaking across the screen during the opening song.

When you take these aspects of the anime into consideration, Angel Beats isn’t really much of a copy of other anime as it might seem at first. With at least another 9 episodes to be aired, it might even turn out to be better than titles like Haruhi and K-ON.

Although anime adapted from Key’s games have been rather successful, it remains to be seen if an anime not based on a visual novel will do as well. There’s also the matter of Key already working on a visual novel, Rewrite, meaning they will have to split their resources between the two. Many fans have already pointed out that Yuri, one of the main characters of Angel Beats (shown on the left) bears a striking resemblance to Haruhi Suzumiya, with the only major difference between the two being the colours used. An intentional attempt at parody, or perhaps the first signs of laziness? Only way to find out is to wait for the anime to be released.

For anyone interested, there are some promotional clips of the anime on youtube (in Japanese):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAtsdGFTbHQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ifu99LvL_Vo