Review for Lord El-Melloi II's Case Files [Rail Zeppelin] Grace note Collection

Introduction

When it comes to marketing, I was always under the impression that short was sweet, that uncomplicated was memorable, and that catchy stuck in the mind. Titles need to be just a few syllables in length to make an impression, and also stick on the spines of books, CDs, DVDs and Blu-rays. But then along came the light novel authors and turned that logic upside down, although fans turned it right side up again in many cases by creating abbreviations and acronyms for those titles. There is nothing short, elegant or even memorable about the title of MVM’s new release, Lord El-Melloi II’s Case Files {Rail Zeppelin} Grace Note. Skips right off the tongue, doesn’t it?


Even though I knew, from reading around it, that it is a Fate tie in, I certainly wasn’t enthused until I started watching it last night. It turns out that Lord El-Melloi II’s Case Files {Rail Zeppelin} Grace Note spins off from the Fate Zero prequel series, telling the further adventures of Waver Velvet, the unassuming teenaged Mage that partnered with Iskander in that show’s Grail War. Waver Velvet is Lord El-Melloi II in this show, having inherited the title and position of his late mentor Kayneth El-Melloi (who died in that Grail War). Apparently he’s some sort of detective as well. We’ve explained the Lord El-Melloi II’s Case Files bit. Hopefully by the end of this review, I’ll be able to explain what the {Rail Zeppelin} Grace Note means as well.


Ten years previously, Waver Velvet stole an artefact and journeyed East, looking for glory in the Grail War, a war which claimed the life of his mentor and teacher, Lord Kayneth El-Melloi. He didn’t get glory, but he got an education that he could never get in the Clock Tower, his school. He came back chastened and intent on making amends. This was to the advantage of Reines El-Melloi, heir to her family, but yet to come of age. Waver Velvet had already got the funds to buy and take over Kayneth El-Melloi’s Modern Magical Techniques class at the Clock Tower, but Reines also got him to take the El-Melloi name, and the burden of the family debt, to keep the El-Melloi clan safe from predatory rivals until she can come of age.


Ten years later, Waver Velvet, a.k.a. Lord El-Melloi II has established a reputation as a teacher at the Clock Tower, and even more so as an investigator of the magical mysteries that Reines sends his way, mysteries that he solves with his enigmatic apprentice Gray.


14 episodes of the show are presented across two Blu-rays from MVM.

Disc 1
0. A Grave Keeper, A Cat, and a Mage
1. Babylon, the Condemned, and the Memories of the King
2. The Seven Stars and the Eternal Cage
3. Thunder and the Underground Labyrinth
4. A Workshop, a Grave, and a Necromancer
5. The Lance that Shines to the End of the World and the Fairy Eyes
6. A Girl, a Department Store, and a Gift

Disc 2
7. Rail Zeppelin 1/6 A Train Whistle of Departure and the First Murder
8. Rail Zeppelin 2/6 Gordius Wheel and the Memory of the King of Conquerors
9. Rail Zeppelin 3/6 A Sibyl, Decision, and Child of Einnashe
10. Rail Zeppelin 4/6 Mystic Eyes of Transience and an Awakening Detective
11. Rail Zeppelin 5/6 The Residual Image and Auctions
12. Rail Zeppelin 6/6 Lightning and Shooting Star
13. The Clock Tower, Usual Days, and the First Step Forward to the Future

Picture

The show gets a 1.78:1 widescreen 1080p transfer across these two discs. Studio Troyka do the honours, but it’s clear that they are aiming for the standard set by ufotable when it comes to the quality of the animation, maintaining the same style when it comes to character designs. They even nudge things up a tad when it comes to the backgrounds, and I’ve seen theatrical presentations that don’t look as good as this series. Having said all that, it’s not the most animated of shows, with the balance between the static dialogue scenes to dynamic action scenes heavily favouring the former. The transfer is pretty good, clear and sharp, with strong colours, but given the quality of the animation, and prevalence of darker scenes, banding is a more prominent issue than with most anime.

Sound

You have the choice between PCM 2.0 Stereo English and Japanese, with optional English subtitles and signs. I was happy with the Japanese audio, with the actors suited well to their roles, giving great performances. The action comes across with enough impact to impress, the music drives the story with pace and energy, and I really love the theme songs for the show. The subtitles are accurately timed and are free of typos.

Extras

The discs boot to static menus, and note that there is no pop-up menu during playback.

The extras are on disc 2, and comprise the Textless Credits, 3:48 of PV Collection, and 13 Web Previews running to 9:11.

Conclusion

“Two out of three isn’t bad” is a cliché that I want to use here, but I don’t know how appropriate it is in a medium where just one flaw can wreck a project. I wanted to love Lord El-Melloi II’s Case Files {Rail Zeppelin} Grace Note, and it did so much that was right that I can’t help but be positive about the experience. Yet it does one thing wrong that ultimately dooms it to an also-ran, an enjoyable yet forgettable and even disposable experience.


The first thing that this show does right is in the production values. The show lives up to the quality set by Fate Zero, matching the character design ethic, and even exceeding the quality of the settings and the world designs. It’s a little lacking when it comes to the action sequences, but this is mostly a cerebral, talky show, and has fewer opportunities to match its progenitor in terms of dynamism. It really does look the part and impresses with its aesthetic qualities.


Lord El-Melloi II’s Case Files {Rail Zeppelin} Grace Note also delivers in terms of the characterisations and the overall story arc. The most memorable character dynamic in Fate Zero was that of student Waver Velvet, and the heroic spirit that he summoned, Iskander, a.k.a. Alexander the Great. This show builds on that, adding a little background as to how and why Waver Velvet took part in the Holy Grail War to begin with. More importantly it catches up to the character years later, now known as Lord El-Melloi II, a teacher at the Clock Tower, and we learn just how he has been shaped by his experience in Japan, and how much his life now is still being driven by Iskander and the Holy Grail War, to the point that it seems that he wants to take part in the next war and be reunited with his exuberant mentor, however unlikely that possibility is.


The show also does great things in filling in the background of the Clock Tower, the world of magic, and the hierarchy of Lords and Ladies that vie for power. It’s a nice exercise in world building that adds much to the Fate universe. El-Melloi has been shaped by his experiences in the Grail War into an atypical Mage. He certainly isn’t profligate or showy with his talents, and instead has established a reputation for clear thinking and logic, and an ability to turn out students that excel in the Clock Tower. But it’s his aptitude for logic that sees him in demand for solving magical mysteries, which is the raison d’être of this show. A series of murders are just the start of the mystery that leads him and his apprentice, Gray, and his students to the Rail Zeppelin, a magical train which is the site of a special auction in the magical world (I still don’t know what the “grace note” bit means).


The characters are well drawn, interesting and have engaging arcs in the story, but the show actually fails at its heart, with its basic premise. It is a mystery show, El-Melloi is a magical detective, but the construction of the mysteries, the ways in which the solutions are uncovered just doesn’t work. I’ve seen mystery stories set in genre universes, both magical and sci-fi, and usually those stories work because they take pains to establish the rules of their respective universes before they get to the meat of the mystery. The detective’s solutions have to work within those rules, which makes it easy for the audience to buy into and understand what happens.


Lord El-Melloi II’s Case Files {Rail Zeppelin} Grace Note doesn’t do this. It gives every impression of making it all up as it goes along, so with each reveal in the mystery, each twist in the story feels unearned. It’s like make-believe in infant school playgrounds, where the rules shift according to the imaginations of the participants, and the ‘winner’ is the one that can imagine the hardest. That works at age 5, but it’s not a viable strategy in more grown up entertainment. The characters make a big deal about the three big questions of detection, the ‘whodunit’, the ‘howdunit’, and the ‘whydunit’, making the statement that the motive, the ‘whydunit’ is the most important. That’s just as valid for the creators of the show, as only the motivations of the characters really matter in the storyline, the who and the how feels as if they are just pulled out of the narrative fundament.


The show looks fantastic, and it really succeeds in tying into Fate Zero. You care about the characters and their journey, and you don’t even mind too much that it leaves with the typical hint/hope at a second season. It generates enough goodwill with all this that you might be able to forgive that the central premise, the magical detective show falls completely flat. It’s enough to make you just go with the flow when it’s patently clear that the writers have no idea what they’re doing.