UlasanAnime.com – My initial impressions of Fate Zero are somewhat compromised because I had already read the fan translation of the novels. It’s perhaps unsurprising that I had some difficulty keeping track of characters, even in a series like Hourou Musuko, which I dropped mid-way through its manga adaptation. This leads me to question if a prequel adaptation like Fate Zero might also pose challenges for viewers new to the series, especially those unfamiliar with the works of the light novel author, who is quite well-known within the anime otaku community.
I can imagine that newcomers to Fate Zero might struggle to follow the narrative and maintain their focus during the initial parts of the first episode. Even when I was reading the novels, I recall having a bit of trouble keeping everything straight. Ultimately, it’s often easiest to blame Urobuchi for such complexities.
Instead of critiquing Ei Aoki’s approach to new viewers, I’d prefer to discuss Aniplex’s distribution of information regarding their excellent simulcast. Based on what I’ve gathered, here’s the situation:
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1. The first episode of Fate Zero was a double-length episode, approximately an hour long including commercials. This meant that the simulcast’s 11 PM JST broadcast time coincided with the end of its initial airing in Japan. The episode became available at 9 AM PDT or 12 noon EDT, which aligns perfectly with Niconico’s English Fate Zero portal. It’s important to note that this is a nicovideo.jp site and not related to the nicovideo.com site.
2. Aniplex USA’s website states an 8:30 AM Pacific time. Due to daylight saving, this translates to 10:30 PM JST currently. This time will soon shift to 9:30 AM Pacific, meaning those on the West Coast won’t have to wake up quite so early for the simulcast. This suggests that future episodes will be simulcast immediately after their initial Japanese broadcast ends, advancing the time by 30 minutes compared to today’s broadcast.
3. I observed on Twitter that some international viewers experienced load issues. I’m not sure of the exact cause, but refreshing around 11:59 AM Eastern worked flawlessly for me.
I hope someone from AWA can communicate with the Aniplex representatives or perhaps they could respond to my emails. :3
As for the show itself, it’s fantastic. The magi-stereo segment, in particular, is almost as good as Phantasmoon.
Edit: Aniplex USA replied to my email (on a Saturday night!) and confirmed the 8:30 PDT time for next week. All is well in the world.
