It's needless to say, but the text below may spoil.
Hop Step Jump is evaluative:
The show definitely gets things right in the production department. The animation is extremely detailed, and the character designs are easy on the eyes. On the other hand, the action sequences (which are no small part of the show) aren’t particularly flashy. [...]
Kenji Kawai’s score is really something, though, and perhaps my favorite element of the show thus far. I especially enjoy his take on the OP, which gets the old school fan within me crying tears of joy. And, thankfully, the voice acting thus far is superb. [...]
As for the story? Well, it’s Type-Moon. In other words, it’s ten times more complicated than it needs to be. And, unfortunately, the pacing is clunky to match. It’s nowhere near as dull as Tsukihime, that’s for sure, but it’s still a chore to watch in spots. I’m not expecting wall-to-wall action, mind you (that would probably be worse, actually), but when the story is so dense that the first few episodes are half exposition, you’ve got a problem. [...]
Still, it’s all good. Rin is hot, after all.
I saw the pacing complaints all over blogs, but for some reason it was a smooth sailing for me. I only thought the setup artificial, as often happens when creators aim for a kind of long-term struggle with elimination.
First, the real star of the show so far, Rin, is an absolute triumph in character design, much as Arcueid was in Tsukihime.
You know, I should probably be more disappointed with the pacing in Fate/Stay Night, but I just don't care. The lead characters could just sit around all day talking and I would probably be satisfied, just so long as Saber got to ask for another bowl of rice every once in a while in between bitching Emiya out.
Overall, not a bad series, but not especially good. It didn't keep my attention, anyway. It needed more Rin/Stay Night, to tell you the truth.
I don't know how one can say "Foo didn't keep my attention" while actually finishing the series, but he's right. I was sad to see Rin fading by the end. Her character struggled valiantly against the power inflation and the grand finale looming, but it was no use.
Kurogane has some choice words, I have to quote:
The past few episodes built up nicely to allow Fate/Stay Night to have it’s glorious ending (not really all to glorious actually, but meh) and the ending is a very nice closure to the anime, even with it’s flaws. But I am still troubled over the Bedivere character (voiced by Noto Mamiko!), who seems to look like the spoofs in 4chan. That is some ugly character design. Thank god it only appeared in the last 5 mins.
Oh come on. The ending was totally glorious, with appropriate sacriface to vanquish the evil. I'd make a comparison to Nia, only I haven't seen Gurren-Lagann, so I don't know if that's appropriate.
Sea Slugs deliver the laugh:
I was reading through some of my older FSN posts as well as the spoilerific Wikipedia entry for Emiya Shirou, and I became intrigued about Shirou’s eventual mastery of his Tracing ability. So I thought I’d consult the readers: Shouldn’t Future-GAR-Shirou be able to Trace out multiple copies of Rin and Saber?
I mean, he’s seen them both, amirite? I am the bone of my sword, baby.
Personally I suspect that Trace does not work on living things by its nature. It is imprecise, so at best you can obtain a Rin with birth defects, if she lives at all. But a funny thought.