- Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
- Video Codec: AVC/MPEG-4
- Resolution: 1080i/60 (29.970Hz)
- Audio Codec: Japanese & English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (48kHz/24-bit)
- Subtitles: English
- Subtitles Color: Yellow/White
- Region: A (Region-Locked)
- Rating: TV-14 (V)
- Run Time: 300 Mins.
- Discs: 2 (2 x Blu-ray)
- Studio: Sentai Filmworks
- Blu-ray Release Date: March 19, 2013
- List Price: $69.98
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Overall
[Rating:3.5/5]
The Series
[Rating:3.5/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:3.5/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:0/5]
Click thumbnails for high-resolution 1920X1080p screen captures
(The below TheaterByte screen captures are lightly compressed with lossy JPEG at 100% quality setting and are meant as a general representation of the content. They do not fully reveal the capabilities of the Blu-ray format)
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The Series
[Rating:3.5/5]
The Fate/Stay Night anime series, based on the “Fate” thread of the visual novels, concludes in this second collection from Sentai Filmworks. Whereas I found Collection 1 to be rather stagnant, hardly progressing at all with its storyline or character development, this second half is a different matter. Encompassing episodes 13-24, this second half of the story deepens, and becomes must more involving. I refer you to the review of Collection 1 for a broader synopsis of the series on the whole and to avoid any spoilers, if you haven’t seen this already.
Collection 2 picks up with Shiro and his Servant Saber still engulfed in the Holy Grail wars, but Saber’s life is in jeopardy since she cannot replenish her mana. It is Rin who must intervene to help save Saber, so she can continue with the battle. Eventually, Shiro comes to a not wholly unexpected realization – he is in love with Saber. This causes a dilemma, he does not want her to obtain the Holy Grail, because it means she will disappear, but he also does not want to keep her from obtaining her goal. As the battle for the holy relic grows ever more intense and more dangerous, shocking twists and revelations keep viewers on their toes in these twelve episodes, all leading up to the climactic battle for the grail. What decision will Shiro make in the end?
Not having had much faith after watching the first collection that Fate Stay/Night would be worth sitting through in its entirety after such a slow start, I was pleasantly surprised by the handling of the story arc in the remainder of its episodes. The pace quickens, the story tightens, and the writers throw in enough unexpected twists that it stays interesting to the end.
Video Quality
[Rating:3.5/5]
Fate/Stay Night: Collection 2 arrives with no better a transfer to Blu-ray than the first collection. The 1080i/60 AVC/MPEG-4 encodement is rife with motion artifacts, some motion judder, banding, and video noise. Colors never really pop and the animation never quite looks as crisp as it should.
Audio Quality
[Rating:4/5]
The typical DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (48kHz/24-bit) stereo tracks are included for both the original Japanese and the English dub. The sound is the same as it was on Collection 1, with clean dialogue and reasonable dynamics. The typos typically found in Sentai’s English subtitles are at a minimum here.
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:0/5]
There are no supplements pertinent to this release contained on the discs, only additional Sentai Filmworks trailers and the usual English disc credits.
The Definitive Word
Overall:
[Rating:3.5/5]
A fine wrap up to the Fate/Stay Night saga, this second collection rescued what was a mediocre first half and ended it with a better than expected conclusion. Too bad the HD transfer isn’t an improvement from one collection to the next.
Additional Screen Captures
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Purchase Fate/Stay Night: Collection 2 on Blu-ray at CD Universe
Shop for more Blu-ray titles on Amazon.com
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[amazon-product]B00AO05AHO[/amazon-product]
Purchase Fate/Stay Night: Collection 2 on Blu-ray at CD Universe
Shop for more Blu-ray titles on Amazon.com
Overall
[Rating:3.5/5]
The Series
[Rating:3.5/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:3.5/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:0/5]
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