So basically this Type-Moon Magical Girl show takes the existing Fate/Zero and Fate/Stay Night characters and re-imagines a lot of the female cast as stereotypical Anime "magical girls", while the ancient heroes like Lancer, Archer, Saber, et. al. are re-imagined as the embodiment of magical cards, sort of Cardcaptor Sakura style. It's sort of a "meta" show that's very self-aware and pokes fun at the Magical Girl genre as it goes.
Unforunately, since this is a Sentai Filmworks property, it does mean that none of the original English dub cast from BangZoom! were called back to reprise their roles. However, since this show is not really canonical and is a creative re-interpretation, the new voice cast is a concession I can accept. Hell, the fact that if it means I can pay Sentai Filmworks prices for this release instead of goddamn ANIPLEX pricing, it's a concession I'm glad to make as a fan. And I definitely feel as though I will be picking up this title, since, as I stated before, I'm a big fan of both the original Fate/Stay Night and (a bit grudgingly) the relatively new prequel Fate/Zero. I don't actually own either Fate/Stay Night or Fate/Zero on physical media. The former I watched on rental DVD, while the latter I managed to watch the entirety of on Neon Alley. I do own Fate/Stay Night Unlimited Bladeworks which is also a Sentai Filmworks release (though it utilizes much of the original BangZoom! cast). I like it because it's a highly condensed retelling of the Fate/Stay Night series. It's very action packed and gets straight to the point. The original Fate/Stay Night is long out of print and would be expensive to acquire, and the Fate/Zero release from Aniplex was way out of my budget.
It is therefore my hope that FATE/KALEID LINER PRISMA ILLYAwill also be within my budget for anime as well. I thoroughly enjoyed the first four episodes and look forward to seeing how the story continues from there. It has a lot of nice call backs to the original series...I don't know how enjoyable it would be to someone not already familiar with the Fate/whatever products of Type-Moon, but as someone already a fan, I heartily approve and really enjoy it.
The Sentai voice cast does justice to these characters and I have no complaints. Cynthia Martinez makes Ilya just as adorable as Stephanie Sheh did.
The show is kind of insular otaku-bait, I guess, insofar as it's very inside jokey and those who are new to anime might not get all the references or jokes or visual gags. But I'm still glad it was dubbed. Definitely check this series out if you're a fan. If you're not yet a fan, maybe go watch Fate/Zero and Fate/Stay Night Unlimited Bladeworks at a bare minimum before you try to watch this show. My concern is the uninitiated fan would miss too much to fully appreciate this show.
