Pre-release stills for Fate/Zero’s 18th episode show it to be a completely different affair than anything offered prior – Kiritsugu is a kid, and it looks to take place on an island setting, a flashback from his past.
Having not been shown even a sliver of Kiritsugu’s past save for a short and rare scene many episodes ago, one can hardly speculate what Kiritsugu’s past contains. And not simply is it difficult to figure what this episode of an island childhood will entitle, yet also the scope of it is a mystery – for example, will this setting prove to be where Kiritsugu comes to face a darker side of reality? Or perhaps could that be something which follows later?
More than likely, seeing as Kiritsugu is portrayed quite young here, one can presume that his childhood will be exhibited as it develops for a while, and then it will take a sudden rough turn as darkness comes to light. If everything were to simply start from a negative point in Kiritsugu’s life, there’d be nothing to contrast or compare – and logically, he’d have ultimately ended up akin to Ryuunosuke as he’d not have experienced a humane living at all.
While the island itself isn’t giving many recognizable clues – do notice the woman in the last image below however. Of course, this female is a key element, whoever and whatever she may be – and it’s worth mentioning, observe how she stares off into the distance with Kiritsugu, yet a distance extends between them. This is a peaceful scene shared amongst two, although they don’t appear intimate enough to be family – she could however be a mother figure to him, and if that’s the not the case, one can only go wild wondering what sort of strange relation is it they share.
Whatever may occur however, the aspect which is certain is that Kiritsugu will eventually meet a more brutal side of the world which will lead him to how he is now – a man willing to take on any sin for sake of stopping them all.
May 2, 2012 @ 6:24 CDT
It does look a bit odd, how Kiritsugu and the mystery girl are seperate in that snowy scene. Wonder what happened? :)
May 2, 2012 @ 12:15 CDT
Notice in the scene above, with the truck, there’s also some distance.
May 2, 2012 @ 8:48 CDT
Seriously man, there should be a limit to how correct one can be just for analyzing a few screenshots. Your visual interpretation skills continue to amaze me^^
Anyway, I imagined her hair to be of a different color when I read this part. Really looking forward to this episode.
May 2, 2012 @ 14:39 CDT
The feedback is much appreciated.
May 2, 2012 @ 10:30 CDT
A bit difficult to believe that such a young boy – one who could smile like that no less – would want to be a superhero. I wonder how that young woman will phase into Kiritsugu’s future self…
Whether or not she’ll serve as a driving force behind his heartfelt wish, I’m curious to find out. Though even if this does turn out to be the case, I’m still more interested in seeing the hellish despair that would turn Kiritsugu away from all that.
May 2, 2012 @ 13:48 CDT
A man who once wanted to be a hero… but decided to go down the path of being evil for the greater good. Something tells me that while this may be a flashback, as guess in the write up, we’ll find out just what’s ticking at the back of Kiritsugu’s mind hopefully, which means killing and stuff, yay!
Damn it Type-Moon, don’t make us feel sorry for this guy!
Not faaaiir, make us hate him more :D
(fuck it… I’m a sucker for a character with a depressed past >_>)
May 2, 2012 @ 14:07 CDT
As a side-note, water is a common symbol of something unfortunate to occur in theatrics.
May 2, 2012 @ 15:03 CDT
And on that day, Ika Musume was deemed an extremely depressing anime, full of misfortune and a depresseing loli-squid protagonist. Quite possibly the most depressing anime ever.