What a perfect way to end a series!
Everything in here wraps the story excellently, and though some are anime-original scenes, it even enhanced the ending further. The farewell scene with Quetzalcoatl and Jaguar Warrior are both sweet and sad, but at least we get to see them one last time before they go.
The reunion scene with Merlin and Ishtar offers another insight to the characters involve, especially Merlin’s decision to physically help Fujimaru. More than that, it brings the story in a full circle by having them spend their final moments together inside a ruIned Chaldea Embassy.
The exchange between Merlin and Romani is a major tease for what is to come in Solomon Singularity, while also hinting at the real identity of Romani. To anime-only viewers, this scene might just be a normal banter between them two. But for people like me who played the game, this scene is bittersweet because of everything it entails for Romani.
But of course, the main and final highlight of this finale is the farewell scene with Gilgamesh and his memories of Enkidu. In the flashback scene, we finally understood the King of Heroes: an arrogant and tyrant king who, despite everything he did that some may consider cruel, genuinely loves his people and will do everything he can for them. And much like the story itself, Gilgamesh’s farewell scene with Ritsuka and the gang wraps up his character arc (while also showing his humorous side).
The anime ended with a monologue from both Ritsuka and Mash, and a brief montage of some of the characters who we’ve come to love throughout this 21-episode series: Ishtar, First Hassan, Ushiwakamaru, Benkei, Leonidas, Ana, and lastly, a smiling Siduri.
Now for my final impressions of the series as a whole.
The entire Fate/Grand Order anime adaptation is quite odd. They began with the Fuyuki Singularity(First Order OVA movie), which is the prologue chapter in the game. But instead of going through the story in a chronological order, they jumped straight to this chapter, Babylonia, which is the 7th chapter in the game.
But despite that, I didn’t see any problems with this. Each chapter is quite standalone with its own self-contained story, except for the fifth chapter in which the main antagonist is finally revealed. Babylonia took its time to include flashbacks in order to explain the important plot elements from previous chapters, which is a nice way of showing them even without a proper adaptation.
For the series itself, Fate/Grand Order Babylonia may not be a perfect adaptation due to a few creative liberties taken with the story, especially the 11th episode involving the fight with Quetzalcoatl. However, this is probably one of the best anime adaptations in the last five years. The voice acting, the fight choreography, the fight scenes. Everything in this department is just perfect.
Admittedly, the animation quality and pacing are inconsistent. Some episodes have average animation quality, like episode 20, while some are weirdly paced like the aforementioned episode 11.
The story and characters are phenomenal and definitely better than what the game showed. Many of the cheesy and comedic scenes were removed in favor of more character interactions and backstories, which is a great improvement. Each one gets to shine in their own moments, especially during fight scenes. The characterizations have been expanded, most notably for Gilgamesh and Ana.
Overall, this is the best adaptation of any Fate series, regardless of its inconsistent pacing and animation quality. A must-watch for all, Fate fans or not!
This ends my weekly review for Fate/Grand Order: Absolute Demonic Front – Babylonia. See you guys again when Solomon Singularity is aired!