['Fate/Zero' Season 1: Episode 12 — [Ionioi Hetairoi]]
[Views: 2.597 million — Danmaku: 151,000 — Comments: 59,225 — Coins: 52,000 — 182,763 users currently watching.]
Half an hour had passed, and the overall popularity figures displayed on BIUBIUBIU's page for Episode 12 of 'Fate/zero' had risen dramatically again. The overall numbers were already no worse than when 'Fate/zero' had aired in his previous world.
However, back when 'Fate/zero' aired in his previous world, the BIUBIUBIU danmaku video platform had not yet fully developed. Even after several years of accumulated traffic, the popularity figures for the 'Fate/zero' anime on BIUBIUBIU were still far below those of 'Fate/stay night [Unlimited Blade Works]'.
At the time, the overall quality ranking of the Type-Moon anime adaptations was roughly 'Fate/zero', 'Fate/stay night [Heaven's Feel]', 'Fate/stay night [Unlimited Blade Works]', and finally the original main-series anime, 'Fate/stay night'.
FSN had been adapted into anime first, followed by FZ, UBW, and HF.
As the first anime adaptation in the Type-Moon series, FSN's animation quality had actually been fairly decent for its era. The problem was that the anime had chosen the most ordinary route from the game to adapt, making it something of a mistaken decision.
Or perhaps the planners at the time had predicted that the Type-Moon universe would inevitably grow in popularity.
After all, although 'Fate/stay night' was rather conventional, its progression was relatively friendly to ordinary viewers. It provided fairly clear explanations of the characters, plot, and setting, essentially serving as an introduction to prepare audiences for later Type-Moon anime.
Originally, if UBW and HF had been adapted after FSN, the overall pacing of the Type-Moon trilogy would have been perfect.
Unfortunately, FZ suddenly appeared in between.
To achieve the best possible animated effect, FZ once again introduced the rules of the Holy Grail War from the beginning. As a result, for anyone wanting to enter the Type-Moon universe, starting with FZ was generally the best option.
Throughout the airing of Episode 12 of 'Fate/zero', the danmaku pool remained in a constant state of overflow, filled almost entirely with praise from viewers reacting to the unfolding episode.
Once the episode ended, the first thing Kamiyā Yuu wanted to check was the comments section.
Similar works in different worlds.
What level of evaluation would 'Fate/zero' receive from audiences in this world?
Praise was guaranteed, of course, but could it reach the point of igniting an ACG craze throughout China?
...
'Fate/zero' Comments Section
[All right, we've finally figured out the Heroic Spirit combat-power scale. 1 Zhao Yun = 1.1 King of Conquerors Iskandar = more than 100,000 Assassins. — I'll Just Watch From Here. (Liked by 6,276 users)]
Kamiyā Yuu could not help laughing at that statement.
In a certain sense, it was actually correct.
Assassin was an existence even more miserable than Lucky E. The pronunciation of the word Assassin itself was essentially "Hashashin," meaning the Assassin class was practically synonymous with the Hashashin themselves. In the orthodox timeline's Holy Grail Wars, every Assassin had been summoned from among the Hashashin.
Kamiyā Yuu moved the cursor on his laptop and continued scrolling down to read the viewers' amusing comments.
[Cheaters fighting cheaters. Assassin is crying unconscious in the bathroom. But isn't the calculation on Floor 450 a little off? Zhao Yun only barely broke through [Ionioi Hetairoi] after being strengthened by two Command Spells. Whether he'd actually win against the King of Conquerors is still unknown. Waver still has three Command Spells. Maybe if he used one, Iskandar's MP would skyrocket, and he could fire off [Ionioi Hetairoi] several more times. — Hyūga Kanako. (Liked by 4,276 users)]
[This completely changed my opinion of Japanese anime. I used to think Japanese animation was far inferior to Western animation, but the animation in Episode 12 of FZ is genuinely incredible! Zhao Yun's movements were extremely smooth, and the fighting was intense and exciting. I feel like the author of this anime must have studied spear techniques. — C-Daya. (Liked by 416 users)]
[After watching all this, I only have one question: has Yosuganosora Animation Studio announced bankruptcy yet? Why does it feel like the budget for this one episode could have made several ordinary anime!? — Black Flame. (Liked by 152 users)]
How much had Episode 12 cost again?
Kamiyā Yuu quickly recalled the budget sheet Morishita Aoi had submitted to him.
Episode 12 had cost approximately forty million yen.
That truly was comparable to the production budget of an ordinary anime series.
However, everyone in the industry knew that an anime production budget could never be spent entirely on the animation itself. Out of a forty-million-yen investment, at most around ten million might actually go toward producing the animation.
The original 'Fate/zero' anime had publicly claimed a production cost of twenty million yen per episode, but the amount actually used directly on the animation might not even have reached ten million.
And that was without even mentioning ordinary commercial productions.
The production budget for Episode 12 of the revised 'Fate/zero' would have been more than enough to produce two ordinary one-cour anime series.
[Absolutely amazing! I feel addicted now. It's just a shame the fight got stopped at the end, when Zhao Yun was clearly about to win. — Kaname Madoka. (Liked by 27 users)]
Kamiyā Yuu merely chuckled without saying anything.
That conclusion would only be true if Waver refused to use his Command Spells.
On impulse, he gave the user's ID a like.
[Holy shit! Since when did anime get this insane!? This is even more exaggerated than a Hollywood blockbuster! — Gray Cat, Red Eyes. (Liked by 12 users)]
[Zhao Yun is still the strongest! Victory for the animation director! — Adviser Dong. (Liked by 103 users)]
[I wonder which is stronger, our king's [Knights of the Round Table] or [Ionioi Hetairoi]. — Wind in Disarray. (Liked by 67 users)]
Kamiyā Yuu left a reply beneath that comment.
[Probably [Knights of the Round Table].]
The moment he replied, quite a few other viewers immediately responded to argue with him.
[Saber is just an unqualified king! How could she possibly compete with the King of Conquerors' [Ionioi Hetairoi]? — Anli Qianmo.]
[Exactly. Didn't you see Saber herself waver when she saw [Ionioi Hetairoi] in the anime? — I Love Gilgamesh.]
Kamiyā Yuu favored [Knights of the Round Table].
Lancelot alone, piloting a fighter jet into [Ionioi Hetairoi], would be enough to pin the King of Conquerors Iskandar to the ground and grind him into the dirt.
[Ionioi Hetairoi] was an anti-army Noble Phantasm. The fact that it could only trap the [Deep-Sea Monster] showed that it lacked sufficient offensive power against that kind of thick-skinned, extremely durable monster.
Never mind trying to kill Lancelot while he was flying a fighter jet.
If Goldie had not appeared in 'Fate/zero', Kamiyā Yuu believed Lancelot would have had the highest chance of obtaining the Holy Grail.
Lancelot's combat power was already above Saber's to begin with. Once he used [Knight of Owner] to control modern weapons, his fighting ability became a bug-level existence approaching Goldie's.
[The effects are way too exaggerated! They completely overturned my understanding of animation! Episode 11 already felt like its scale had exceeded normal anime, but Episode 12 felt like I was watching a Western 3D animated blockbuster. It was clearly different from ordinary anime, but I couldn't explain exactly how. I watched the entire thing with my eyes wide open!]
[It's probably the difference between full animation and limited animation.]
Kamiyā Yuu continued typing his reply.
Ordinary viewers generally would not know the difference between full animation and limited animation unless they deliberately researched the subject.
There was actually one anime that provided a very clear comparison between the two.
Around the sixteen-minute mark of Episode 1 of the original 'Magical Girl Nanoha', the animation in that section had been hand-drawn frame by frame by Yoshinari Kō.
It was not completely full animation, nor was it entirely limited animation. It fell somewhere between the two definitions, barely achieving the effect of full animation while saving a considerable amount of drawing work.
Even though it was only a compromise version of full animation, the sequence animated by Yoshinari Kō was still worlds apart from the footage that came before it.