Audience reviews
20 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
Ayan2007
I was excited to watch this certain show as I enjoyed Waver/Iskandar content from Fate Zero.
Let's get the main thing out of the way, This show in particular has nothing to do with the Grail War. Secondly It didn't feel like a fate series, it was more like a detective/mystery show. The start was good but after a while its alright but nothing interesting was happening anyways. I would recommend watching the first episode if you are a fan of Waver or want more Waver content but anything after that is not worth it.
Lets talk about the other things about the show
- Character: 3/10
Design of most characters were amazing, making them feel like an actual worth/likeable character was not.
- Story: 3/10
The train arcs probably the only good part of the story which is episode 7 and later
- S…
Read at the sourcekierowca_ubera
Like a diamond with one, big, deep scratch going through the middle - 8/10.
In short:
What is this anime?
It's a show with a really weak, boring, flawed start, which later - after getting to the point, the titular Rail Zeppelin - evolves into something epic. The pleasure I got from the finale was just out of this world.
What this anime could've been?
A great series which would lock into your memory for months. A series which wouldn't require you to read lore explanations. A series that you just wouldn't want to drop at any point.
Lord El-Melloi II Sei no Jikenbo: Rail Zeppelin Grace Note is a TV anime series produced by Troyca (IDOLiSH7) and directed by Makoto Katou (Re:Creators, Yagate Kimi ni Naru) based off a light novel "Lord El-Melloi II-sei no Jikenbo" written by Makoto Sanda…
Read at the sourceMr_Yaz
Reviewer's note: This is my 20th entry into the Fate franchise.
✪ Genre: drama, contemporary fantasy, detective, magic (magic school, spellcasting), seinen, superpower, with elements of comedy and action (swordplay, gunfights)
✔Positive Aspects✔
◧ Animation: the series roughly follows the character design standards set by the previous studios, a combination of colors of moderate to low saturation/moderate illumination with the internal and external environments being more muted comparison. Even though the characters seem distinct enough, the series' entire 'atmosphere' feels a little more muted than usual.
◧ Soundtrack: seems to be, mostly, comprised of orchestral music (violins, violas, percussion, flute, piano, etc.) with some of it being lower in tempo, while other pieces are more…
Read at the sourceotaku_J-san
Another installment in the Fate universe and from someone who enjoys the fate series, I really liked what they had to offer, it's an all rounder 8 for me, but for those who aren't versed in the fate universe I don't recommend this cuz the world, characters and the plot will feel unappealing and you'll find yourself not knowing what's going on most of the time, but for those interested let's get a bit into details:
Story:
The plot takes a bit of an episodic form, every episode or 2 centers around a case related to magic and mages,(except for last case which is 6 episodes) and Waver (now Lord El Melloi II) takes on these cases, by orders of his adoptive younger sister.
now the magic aspect for me is still complicated so I'm not sure I understood all the deductions, but it's interesting to…
Read at the sourceKarsten_Warholm
[SPOILERS]
Lord El Melloi II Case Files: Rail Zeppelin is a 7/10 in my book which is ok
PROS
Lots of good references to the Type-moon series (Olga Marie, Mystic eyes of death perception, Caules, Kairi, etc)
I like the OST and especially Waver's theme, The op too was stuck in my head for some reason too.
Other than the final battle the fight in episode 1 was cool
I like Karabo he seems like a nice guy
The art is pretty and reminds me of violet evergarden
Waver's character arc was good Also, the same studio that did beautiful bones Sakurako's investigation
CONS
After the entire series, we still don't know a lot about Gray
They don't take enough time to develop the cast so they're all really forgettable. Outside characters from other series and FGO I don't know them at all. Like Svin and…
Read at the sourceSevendusk
Rail Zeppelin is a show that requires prior knowledge from Fate/Zero, as it is the continuation of one of its original protagonists. Unfortunately, as a show it doesn't work strongly on its own as the gravity of Waver's situation is only felt through having experienced Fate/Zero. Despite it, the show does still feed the audience bits and explanations for Waver and Gray's backstory and intentionally shows us the meaning behind their struggles.
In its own conception, Waver Velvet aka Lord El Melloi II, has his own baggage and potential for growth. It is without a doubt one of Type-Moon's better written characters as he has his weaknesses, his goals and self-awareness. There are many themes that are thrown around Waver's characterization. He struggles to become a better Magus due to his own…
Read at the sourceAgent_Redacted
Remember that one retarded kid from Fate/Zero? Waver Velvet? I do. He was probably the reason why I enjoyed Fate/Zero less. I don’t like his character. I don’t like it at all. So what is he up to now? Well...
He became a Lord of the clock tower. He turned more mature, grew, and now he looks even better than his old self.
This show is pretty much about the after story of Waver Velvet. “The Conan of The Fate Series, Lord El-Melloi II Sei no Jikenbo : Rail Zeppelin Grace Note.”
Honestly, this show wouldn’t be as fun as is if Gray wasn’t there. Gray - the descendant of Saber, Lord El-Melloi II’s assistant and student. She pretty much carries about ⅓ of the show by simply just showing off her Noble Phantasm.
The “mystery” thingies aren’t too bad but they’re also quite bland. The last inv…
Read at the sourcetpv0rtex
The thing I loved most about this anime is the art: the rich colors, the deep detail, the hyper-realism sometimes. It is set in present day, yet the visuals & attire feel Victorian - suitable to a Sherlock Holmes feel.
I was also captured by the idea of Sherlock Holmes operating in the world of magic. I am a big Holmes fan. And the adult Waver character captured many Holmes-isms (tall, dark, slender, brooding but given to sudden intense outbursts, a lot going on under the surface, more concerned about the case than his personal safety), but was still obviously its own character, not a mere copy.
I felt the plot was interesting enough. I was distracted enough learning about the magical world to not notice/care about any leaps or weaknesses.
The second thing I most loved was the character…
Read at the sourceTraxdize
Story: 10
What a great story, none less expected from a series of the Fate Franchise. The story revolves around Waver Velvet. The first half of the season acts as a build-up until the eventual climax on the train. The ending scene really touched me.
Art: 8
TROYCA really did a great job with this series. The battle scenes are well polished. The character design is perfect, especially with Gray. The animation is smooth other than some stiff movements on certain parts.
Sound: 8
The seiyuu did a great job on this series. Waver's seiyuu did a really great job on his voice. I wouldn't say I dislike it, but the only thing I like less is Gray's engrish. The SFX and BGM sounds amazing! Props to the composer.
Character: 9
What do you expect of a Fate Series? Waver is a well designed character. Th…
Read at the sourceKiddishBambino
Characters :10/10 Characters characters characters characters... yes yes yes yes!!!!!! It has been such a long and terrible time since I have come a across an anime with so many lovable characters. From Waver (Lord El-Melloi II) to Gray, to Karabo and everyone else. Every single character at least to me was absolutely amazing. Their motive their actions decision to choices all seemed so real and in character. I have seen hundreds of anime where characters do stupid shit or annoying or out of character garbage that makes no sense. I really wish I could write it down to explain it but I would much rather have a conversation or even go through scene by scene of the whole show and individually explain why I love each character and why I love their actions. Each character has a certain charm th…
Read at the sourceSennorPing
-Spoiler free review, because I couldn't spoil this even if I wanted to-
With a title that slips out of ones mouth as smoothly as corroded razor blades, Lord El-Melloi II Case Files: Rail Zeppelin Grace Note is a mystery thriller attempting to follow in the foot steps of it's much more successful and smarter step brother, Fate/Zero. Lord El-Melloi (I respect your time so I'm not going to use the full name) only fails to be smart, successful, and entertaining.
It is blindingly obvious that the people behind this project wanted to work on any of TROYCA's other upcoming shows, or do accounting work, or do anything else. Although I think this show is bad, I believe that it is not the worst in the Fate franchise, that award rests firmly in the greasy, grimy hands of Fate/Extra: Last Encore, as…
Read at the sourceCrusaderElly
Awww! What a shame! I was so hyped by the idea of a miniseries that was cannon and followed Waver Velvet from Fate/Zero.
A nice little detective show with more background on the clock tower and characterization; no need for much fighting, just cool deductions and Waver being Waver and squeeaaa! ^_^
And y'know Waver was real cool. Glad to have his original voice actor back. It's amazing to hear him do the old-Waver (very fitting), but also still be able to do the young version every now and then where needed. I also love Waver as a character. He's bitter, filled with regret and guilt, hard to make friends with, calculating - but when you do get close, he's a real nice guy who's trying to do the right thing. So much so, he takes on debts that aren't even his'! And I love how he solves his…
Read at the sourceAmericanSomnium
El-Melloi as a series has a lot of things going for it considering it's a spinoff of a massive franchise. I mean that half sarcastically, everyone knows Fate at this point however that's only what draws people in. What keeps them are well developed characters and/or amazing visuals and battles. El-Melloi does both of these well, with a lot of visual and lighting effects that come off pretty well in most fights(a noticeable lack of CGI which I always love), and I genuinely want to see the development of the cast of characters. Waver returns from Fate/Zero in a strong upfront drive: to make his king proud. The giant arc of his development is him trying to find what his liege from Fate/Zero would want him to do to further their goals. It's honest in the simplicity of what Waver needs, yet sti…
Read at the sourceAnimeprophet951
Let's start by pretending that this show isn't trying to be a mystery show, a task which itself is pretty difficult as "Lord El-Melloi II Sei no Jikenbo: Rail Zeppelin Grace Note" is 50% mystery and 50% fate sequel/spin-off. What's left of it?
Well, the art's great and polished like one would come to expect from the fate franchise at this point. The sound is eh...I don't think any insert theme stuck out, though the voice acting was definitely not bad (Waver's last line is so well voice-acted that it almost got me to bump the sound a little higher) and the intro was decently catchy. Nothing atrocious there. Character-wise, there's variety and expression, and while basically none of them had development, one did have some: Waver himself. Still, the way every character is portrayed is certai…
Read at the sourcejimfaindel
With each new entry, it becomes clearer to me that the Fate series has grown aware of its own shadow. Back when Apocrypha came out, I described it as a love letter to the entirety of the Fate canon. In contrast, I believe that Lord El Melloi II and his case notes are its shadow. And a shadow aware of its existence as such.
A war survivor following after the shadow of a king long gone, not one, but two different shadows of kings, dreaming with the shadow of a love they assume unattainable, yet worth fighting for. Lingering shadows from time past, and the looming shadows of the fights yet to come. Its no surprise that little Waver became a detective, living his entire life looking for a light amidst such shadows.
Even the production of this show seemed aware of the legacy they had been gr…
Read at the sourceSCUBAST3V3N
This story, follows Waver Velvet, and his assistant Gray, as they engage in solving mysteries, the main one being Rail Zeppelin Grace Note. I was super excited for this anime after watching Fate/Zero, because Waver and Iskandar were my favorite duo in that- so, a story revolving around Waver was a pleasing sight.
Story: The story felt a little spontaneous to start, they kinda attempted to warm you up to the cast and paint an initial picture with some less relevant cases to start, and eventually it transitions into the main case, Rail Zeppelin Grace Note. It does a relatively good job of keeping things interesting with a minor plot twist here and there, but nothing too crazy.
Art: The art gets the job done. For a story from the Fate universe, there isn't a ton of combat, so in that regard…
Read at the sourceLegendAqua
For Want of a Nail...
Lord El-Melloi II Sei no Jikenbo: Rail Zeppelin Grace Note is really a who's who of Fate characters especially if you'd seen OR played from the Fate franchise but for the most part it focuses on Waver Velvet or Lord El-Melloi II taking on supernatural cases while still being a teacher in the Clock Tower. It's not until halfway that the "Rail Zeppelin" comes into play and gives us an entire arc which focuses on Waver's main focus and goal come into play.
So for the first half of the anime, we see Lord El-Melloi (can we just call him Waver from this point?) takes on isolated supernatural cases. The only thing these separate cases does is to introduce characters, be it cameos from previous Fate installments or show off what the "Waver team" can do while tackling the su…
Read at the sourceCorkMars
"You've really done it this time Waver! What in the world is going on here?" My thoughts exactly Melvin. What in the world is going on in this series????
Ah, Lord El-Melloi II Sei no Jikenbo: Rail Zeppelin Grace Note, this is I think the first time ever I have given an episode 0 a higher score than the actual series!! I have long awaited this anime as a big fan of Fate anime series, and summer 2019 seemed like it was going to be an incredible season!! For nearly a year I looked forward to Lord El- Melloi, Vinland Saga, and Mo dao zu shi season 2! You can imagine how heartbroken I was when all 3 of them were total busts. Fortunately the season did feature a couple sleeper hits in Given and O maidens in your savage season, but that's not what I'm here to talk about.
Who would I recommend t…
Read at the sourceAnimeBW
...are we done here?
No, seriously, are we done here? Have we, at last, reached the limit of how fucking ridiculous light novel names can get? Was it not enough to inquire after the morality of picking up girls in a dungeon? Were the rascals not satisfied by dreaming of bunny girl senpais? Didn’t we all suffer enough on the death march to the parallel world rhapsody? Must we now be tormented by this ungodly amalgamation of letters and symbols arranged loosely into some perverted fascimile of a descriptive title? What’s next? Are we going to start throwing in parentheses now? Percent signs? @ symbols, dare I ask? How deep does this rabbit hole go? When does this nightmare end? When do we wake up? WHEN DO WE WAKE UP?!?!?!?!
*sigh*
Anyway, let’s talk about the latest Fate spinoff, hencefor…
Read at the sourceStark700
Like the sands of an hourglass, the Fate franchise almost seems to be timeless since it started. It’s 2019 and we now live in an age where another one of its light novel series gets an anime adaptation from the Nasuverse. Taking place years after the events of Fate/Zero, you have to wonder how the show will be able to keep up its hype. This is especially true with a protagonist like Waver Velvet, a professor from the Mage’s Association. But with a sigh of regret, I am rather flabbergasted at how this Nasuverse anime ended up being no more than mediocrity.
Watching Lord El-Melloi II Sei no Jikenbo Rail Zepplin Grace Note feels like you are thrown into a world where you need at least some prior experience with Nasuverse. If you have no experience with Fate/Zero, then I would highly suggest…
Read at the source