Lord El-Melloi II’s Case Files {Rail Zeppelin} Grace note Review
Lord El-Melloi II’s Case Files Review
ロード・エルメロイⅡ世の事件簿 -魔眼蒐集列車 Grace note- Review

As long time readers of my blog know, I’m a huge fan of the Fate franchise, starting from when I watched the original Fate/stay night anime adaptation. And I play the Fate/Grand Order game, which if we are honest, isn’t a very good game when you remove the Fate aspect. But the fact that I keep playing shows how much I like the Fate franchise.

As such, Lord El-Melloi II’s Case Files {Rail Zeppelin} Grace note was long on my radar to watch, after its creation was announced. Although I was unable to watch the series when it originally aired, eventually I did get to watch it. And man, was it better than I expected.

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The Story, in Brief

Waver Velvet is a surviving Master of the 4th Holy Grail War (Fate/Zero). He wishes to somehow contact his former Servant, Rider Iskandar, to resolve his issues at having lost the war, but survived just the same. However, Waver’s actions before, during, and after the Holy Grail War cause his mentor’s adopted little sister, Reines El-Melloi Archisorte, to capture him. On one hand, she knows his actions caused the death of Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald. On the other, she knows Waver has continued Kayneth’s legacy.

As such, Reines has Waver assume her family’s debts. Second, he has to repair the Magic Crest from Kayneth. Next, he’s to become her tutor. And finally, she demands he assume Kayneth’s title, Lord El-Melloi. He agrees, providing the title given to him is Lord El-Melloi II. And he has to give Reines his Magic Crest as collateral.

Waver teaches Magecraft Theories at the Clock Tower. He has a teenage apprentice named Gray, who’s apparently descended from Artoria (Saber in Fate/stay night). Waver gets enlisted to solve various cases involving mages. He does this with Gray’s assistance. Sometimes Reines or some of his students also assist in cases.

Canon Bridge Story

One of the great things about Lord El-Melloi II’s Case Files is that it bridges the story between Fate/Zero and Fate/stay night. On the Fate/Zero front, we have Waver dealing with his survivor’s guilt. The 4th Holy Grail War was one he entered in a cocky manner, needing to prove himself. By the war’s end, he’d learned a lot from his Servant, Rider Iskandar. Yet in the end, his Servant was defeated and the enemy Servant allowed Waver to live out of respect for Iskandar.

I liked how after Reines captured him, he accepted responsibility for what he’d done to her adopted, older brother prior to the 4th Holy Grail War. He took on her family’s debts. He became Lord El-Melloi II with all of the responsibilities that entailed. And he became well respected as a teacher and as an investigator. And yet the events of Fate/Zero still weighed heavily over half of this series.

For the Fate/stay night side of things, as soon as Waver learned the 5th Holy Grail War was ramping up, he attempted to be the Mage Association’s official representative. It was interesting seeing the Clock Tower’s disdain for the Holy Grail War system. And I enjoyed the references to Lancer’s and Caster’s original Masters from Fate/stay night. And though the 5th Holy Grail War wasn’t the central focus of Lord El-Melloi II’s Case Files, it weighed over the other half of the series.

Fate Franchise Tie-ins

One thing that really surprised me about Lord El-Melloi II’s Case Files is how it tied into other Fate franchise titles. We’ve already mentioned Fate/Zero and Fate/stay night. Luviagelita Edelfelt technically originates from Fate/stay night, but she’s best known as one of the main characters in Fate/kaleid liner PRISMA☆ILLYA. And she plays an important role in helping Waver and Reines for Rail Zeppelin case depicted in Lord El-Melloi II’s Case Files.

Kairi Sisigou (as his Western name form goes) was Red Saber’s Master in Fate/Apocrypha. He plays important parts in two of Waver’s cases. So it was nice seeing him.

Speaking of Fate/Apocrypha, Black Berserker’s Master, Caules Forvedge, also shows up in this series. He’s only a student of Waver’s at the Clock Tower, but he does have an integral part in the Rail Zeppelin case.

Finally, there’s Olga Marie Animusphere from Fate/Grand Order. It was really nice seeing Olga again, more so since she’s playing a different role here that she did in Fate/Grand Order‘s universe.

There may have been other minor cameos, so feel free to let me know if I missed anything.

Good Character Work, But…

I really enjoyed Waver’s character arc in Lord El-Melloi II’s Case Files. I don’t think this story will have as much impact if you have not watched (or read) Fate/Zero. But even without that, I think that one can get a sense of how Waver has grown within the confines of Lord El-Melloi II’s Case Files. But if you know Fate/Zero, the overall growth is quite nice to see.

Waver’s assistant, Gray, gets some character work too. However, the problem here is that the Lord El-Melloi II’s Case Files {Rail Zeppelin} Grace note story skips earlier stories depicting how Gray and Waver met. The series barely touches it. I gathered that Gray is connected to Saber Artoria (Altria) from Fate/stay night and Fate/Zero. But I don’t know why Waver chose her.

Waver’s hatred of Gray’s appearance was told to me by a blog reader. I’m not sure I understood her own self-loathing. So while Waver and Gray have a stronger association by the end of Lord El-Melloi II’s Case Files, their story would have been MUCH stronger if we’d been shown the stories where the met and such. I kinda hope that if this series gets a sequel, they go back and explore this part of their character story.

Final Thoughts and Conclusion

Let me wrap up my thoughts on Lord El-Melloi II’s Case Files {Rail Zeppelin} Grace note with some final thoughts.

• The Crunchyroll adaptation is kinda “meh” when it comes to subtitles. I won’t go into the whole non-usage of Japanese honorifics. You guys already know my beef there. However, I was annoyed at how “Sir” was used en lieu of “Sensei” or “Shishou.” Why? Because “Sir” was being used as a direct replacement for “Sensei” or “Shishou”, and it just made the English awkward. But hey, at least we didn’t have filthy Japanese-speak, eh? 😅
• I mentioned liking the character work and crossover characters in this series. I also liked the case stories in this series. Waver comes off like Sherlock Holmes from the modern Sherlock series, which was fun.
• There wasn’t a ton of action in this series, but the Rail Zeppelin case did have a lot of interesting action. However, some of this was abbreviated, which was a bummer. That said, the action shown was done pretty well, in my opinion.

In the end, Lord El-Melloi II’s Case Files {Rail Zeppelin} Grace note was a much more interesting series than I had thought. I loved the fact that the series bridges Fate/Zero and Fate/stay night. As such, I really hope we get sequels to this series.

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