Fate/Zero 9-10

So with the end of exams comes more anime. I decided i will pick up phi brain. not sure if im picking up anything else new as of now. The next on the list would be guilty crown. also, the let's play will have to wait until i can figure out how to capture my screen, as well as get a decent mic.

Anyways onto Fate/Zero

Episode 9 recap:

We get conformation that Lancer's master is alive and stable. however hes severely wounded and cannot continue on in the battle. Sola-Ui wishes to take his place as lancers master, due to her falling in love with Lancer because of his love spot. Lancer's master reveals that Lancer has told him Lancer had no reason to seek the grail, and as such the grail should not have summoned him. Also he doesn't trust Sola-Ui correctly because he fears she's fallen in love with him. Sola-Ui however starts breaking his fingers and threatens to cut his arm off if he refuses to hand over the command seals any more. we see that Sola-Ui now has the seals and convinces Lancer to keep fighting with her to honor his master's wishes. Lancer agrees, but is distressed over how much this resembled his old life.

Meanwhile while all of this is going on, Kiritsugu tells Iri to look after Miya while she recovers, while he goes to finish Lancer's master. Iri and Saber both want to stop Caster first, but Kiritsugu is more worred about who is the bigger threat and that the trade off for a few kid's lives is not worth waiting. Iri asks him if he is mad at saber for not stopping Lancer, but he doesn't respond, merely saying Saber doesnt need to know where he is going.

And meanwhile while all of that is going on (yup this was a packed ep), Rider and Waver find that Caster is operating out of a old storm pipe and go to kill him. They find that is isnt there, but the revelation of seeing the horrors hes been committing hits Waver hard. However they have no time to worry about that as the assassins have shown up. Rider holds them off, but the dark tunnels favor the assassins so he destroys the base and they leave. With their trump card revealed, Tokiyomi and Kirei plan another strategy.

Episode 10 recap:
Episode 10 was BORING. If your a big fan of Rin, you'll love this ep. it goes into her past, with her learning magic and how she feels isolated due to her path set for her. The story ends with her saving her friend, and a few other kids, from Caster's master. Overall nothing exciting and more importantly takes time away from the plot.

Review:
Episode 9 was packed, but it honestly didn't feel like it. The story was smooth and parts (like kiritsugu) while having a large impact and showing a great deal about their characters, happened in minutes. things are moving now after the last big engagement with Lancer getting his new master and the rifts between Kiritsugu and Saber showing up. We also start to see the distrust and scheming of Kirei and how he is not loving his position as Tokiyomi's lackey.
Overall a lot of plot and dialog, no action.

episode 10 was PAINFUL. It's boring, its distracting, and it drags on. with all the plot and talking last episode it wasnt like we needed a filler breather episode, and given the pacing i'd rather them show off more of the great art and wonderful action sequences. It simply felt like fanservice for Rin fans who were promised she would appear as a little kid, but never had anything substantial for her to do. Anyways episode 11 looks to jump right back into the action so we shall see where it goes from here.