Topic: Fate Stay/Night: Unlimited Blade Works Review
While mom didn’t watch all of it, she actually kind of wants
to now, just to see where the story goes.This isn’t a bad thing, if anything, another person who will finally
understand my undying love for Saber.Okay maybe not undying love, but atleast sees these complicated
characters and world for what they are.
To help people follow along, here’s a list of the various
characters that are seen throughout the series, to better allow you to follow
along.
Masters:
Shirou Emiya
A lead protagonist, and Master of Saber.He has a strong sense of justice and wants to
be a hero, despite little to no aptitude for magic. While unfamiliar
with the rules and true nature of events, he fights in an effort to stop all
the fighting and end the war as soon as possible.
Rin Tohsaka
Daughter of a prestigious mage family, she is the Master of
Archer, and tends to act as a Tsudere type character. (IE, acts very brash and
brutish to the main character, before becoming friendly and loving with them
later.)Rin continues to pursue
the Holy Grail due to her family’s strong desire to reach the Root, and joins
only out of obligation.
Illyasviel von Einzbern
She is from a prestigious Mage family and is the Master of
Berserker.While she appears to be the youngest participant in the war,
she is actually 18 years old, but takes the form of a ten to twelve year old
child.She is actually a homunculi and
Shirou’s step sister, for whom she has a conflicted relationship. She believes
she was abandoned for Shirou, but in reality, her father was unable to return
to the castle to retrieve Illya, leaving her to be lonely and pressured to
perfect her magical skills.
Shinji Matou
Sakura’s older brother and Master of Rider.A chauvinistic and
a narcissist, he openly treats Shirou with hostility and derision. He is has no
real magical skill, as the Matou family’s magical bloodline has been diluted
over the decades.This is what prompts
the head of the Matou family to adopt Sakura, previously of the Tohsaka Family,
and raise her to be the Matou’s next heir instead of Shinji. This prompts
Shinji to take his anger and frustrations out on Sakura.
Souichirou KuzukiA strict teacher of Rin’s Class, he is the Master of
Caster.While he does not desire the
Grail, he becomes the master of Caster due to Caster killing her previous
master and him wanting to help her.It’s
implied that Him and Caster are potentially involved romantically.
Servants:
Saber
Artoria Pendragon(King Arthur), the King of Knights, who was
actually a girl.She a stoic and knightly figure, but brushes up against
Shirou, who tries to save her and sees her more as a girl than a knightly
figure.She is in the fight due
to her desire to rewind history and stop herself from drawing the sword in the
stone.
Archer
A mysterious individual who is capable of summoning sword
and turning them in to Arrows to fire from his bow.He doesn’t remember
what Heroic Spirit he is suppose to be, and often acts fickle and teasingly
with Rin, and hostile with Shirou, who he dislikes.Despite being a long range class, Archer
regularly uses swords he creates from his magic.
Lancer
Cu Chulainn(Child of Light), a Hero from the Ulster Cycle of
Irish Mythology.His master is unknown,
but primarily acts as a watchdog and assassin during the course of the war.
Berserker
Hercules, one of the greatest heroes in Greek
mythology.He is deeply loyal to
Illyasviel, but lacks emotions due to his Berserker class.His Noble Phantasm is known as his Twelve
Labors, which represent his immortality; upon receiving enough damage that
would otherwise kill him, he regenerates and loses one of his
Labors(Lives).
Caster
Medea, an unfortunate priestess from the tales of Jason and
the Argonauts.She is renown for her
magical prowess, which surpasses most masters and magus of this age.Due to her killing her original master, and
leaving only six known masters, she uses her magical prowess to obtain fake
command seals and summon Assassin, thus becoming the seventh Master.
Assassin
Sasaki Kojirou, a mythical swordsman said to have faced
Miyamoto Musashi in combat.Assassin is
actually a false servant, as servants summoned by the Assassin class are all former
owners of the name Hassan-i-Sabbah(Old Man of the Mountain).Because he was summoned under false pretenses
by Caster, herself a Servant, he is bound to the Ryuudou Temple where both
Caster and Souichirou reside, unable to leave the grounds.
Rider
Medusa, the Gorgon of Greek Mythology.Initially she is the servant to Sakura Matou,
but due to Shinji Matou insistence, Sakura transferred her rights as Master to
him.She still seeks to protect Sakura
but act Loyal to Shinji’s orders and commands.Her Noble Phantasm is a Pegasus that she rides, hence of the Rider
Class.
Other:
Sakura Matou
A part of a rival Mage Family, she is a friend to Shirou and
often takes care of him.She does this as her Brother is mean and cruel to Shirou, and
she does it as penance for her brother’s actions.She primarily serves as a support character
during the Fate and Unlimited Blade Works routes, but becomes a primary
protagonist during the Heaven’s Feel route, where we find out how poorly she
was treated and routinely tortured by the Matou’s magical training, and by
Shinji.
Kirei Kotomine
An Observer from the Holy Church, he was a former master in
the 4th Holy Grail War and acts as an impartial judge and moderator for the 5th
Holy Grail War.He is described as a
defective person: finding pleasure in the misfortune and suffering of others,
but never openly seeking it for them.He
acts as Rin’s legal guardian, and convinces Shirou to participate in the Holy
Grail War.
Gilgamesh
The King of Heroes, ruler of Mesopotamia, and considered the
first hero due to his record being amongst the first ever recorded.He was of the Archer Class during the 4th
Holy Grail War, but survived to take on a mortal body following its
conclusion.He acts as a 8th Servant
during the 5th Holy Grail War.Gilgamesh
is known for believing everything of value belongs to him, including the Holy
Grail.His Noble Phantasm is known as
the Gate of Babylon, a massive vault that holds all the treasures he collected
during his life time, including all the prototypes of Noble Phantasms, which he
launches like bullets and rockets at his enemies.
Taiga Fujimura
Shirou’s legal guardian and English teacher at the school
Rin, Sakura, Shinji, and Shirou all attend.While she a comedic character, she is unaware of the magical nature of
the events happening around her, and is oblivious to the events of the
series.She plays limited parts in the
various routes, and is primarily a background character.
Today, we dive deep in to one of my favorite Anime
Franchise, the Fate series, specifically Fate Stay/Night and its prequel Fate
Zero.I know that the series is very
dense and large, especially when you consider all the spin offs and media that
exists out there for it.And that’s
before you get to ALL of the Sabers out there…. Let dive in!
What is it?
Fate / Stay Night, or the Fate Franchise, is a part of a
large universe of characters and stories in the Nasu-verse, a fictional
universe created by Kinoko Nasu of Type-Moon. Created initially as a Visual Novel in 2004,
and the third major work of Type-Moon, the series was an immediate success and
quickly spawned a massive franchise that dwarfs many of Type-Moon previous and
future works.
While the Fate Franchise is the most popular work, the
Nasu-verse comprises of several series, including:
Kara no Kyoukai (jp: Boundary of Emptiness / eng: Garden of
Sinners)
A series revolving around Shiki Ryogi, a paranormal
investigator with the ability to see and cut the mystical lines of mortality in
anything, and her friend, Mikiya Kokutō, a fellow assistant investigator who
works alongside the powerful Sorceress Tōko Aozaki in her agency.
Tsukihime (eng: Lunar Princess)
Tells the story of Shiki Tohno, who like Shiki Ryogi, can
see the mystical lines of mortality of anything and cut them, thus ending the
their existence.The story progress as
he faces vampires and changes depending on which heroine he chooses follow
throughout the story.
What is a Visual Novel?
A Visual Novel is like a Choose your own adventure in book,
though typically takes the form of visuals with characters standing up against
a back drop/setting and a serious of dialog boxes express what the characters
are saying or doing.Most games follow
branching story lines which lead to various endings depending on the actions
taken by the player.In most games, the
Player takes on the role of the lead character and is given a limited pool of
options to react or respond to when presented by events or situations in the
game.An example could be a character
asking if they look good, with the player being given the choice between
various options to respond; and depending on the answer, will trigger a
reaction from the character.
Visual novels are popular within Japanese media as they are
relatively cheap to produce and create, as most Visual Novels rely on beautiful
still art of characters, their reactions, backgrounds, and occasional splash
pages, along with minimal background music, and focus more on stories.Few visual novels rely on motion graphics or
voice acting, and if they do, it is limited to an opening scene or trailer for
the game.Most games tend to lead toward
a particular demographic, and offer fan service for those demographic in an
effort to get them to buy the game.
Most Visual novels are of the Eroge, or Erotic, variety;
which primarily focus on stories that have sexually explicit scenes and
graphics depicting those scenes.Eroge
games can range from Teen to Adult rating, with some game being straight Hentai,
while others are more titillating and offer fan service.A popular theme among Visual novels tends to
be Harem based games with a single character with multiple love interests of
the opposite sex.
History / Lore
Fate / Stay Night, at heart, is a story revolving around
Shirou Emiya, who unwittingly joins a secret Battle Royal involving six other
mages and each of their servants in the Holy Grail War.As the name suggests, the ultimate prize is
the Holy Grail, a creation of magic that can grants any wish from the winner of
the War.During the time of Fate / Stay
Night, this is the fifth incarnation of the Holy Grail War within the fictional
city of Fuyuki City, on the south tip of Japan.The city was chosen for its strong ley lines, but also due to no magus
or holy church involvement in the area during the First War in 1790s.
Within the Fate / Stay Night, there are three different
routes/stories that exist within the game, each of which change the nature of
the story dramatically once they split off from one another.These include:
·Fate Route – Primarily Focusing on Saber and
building the world/lore of the game.
·Unlimited Blade Works Route – Primarily Focuses
on Rin Tohsaka and her servant Archer, and places more development of the
various cast of character than the other routes.
·Heavens Feel Route - Primarily Focuses on Sakura
Matou and her servant Rider, and focus more on the background behind the Holy
Grail War, along with the darker aspects of the world that led up to the
current events.
One must complete
each individual route in order to progress on the next route.While each route tells a different story and
aspect of the world and events, they all use the same characters, who each have
the same feelings and emotions, but differing motives as the story
progresses.
Each Holy Grail War consists of seven Mages and their
Servants.Servants are summoned
individuals known as Heroic Spirits, which take on the form of famous
historical figures.These historical
figures can be real life individuals or fictional individuals that actually did
exist within Nasu-verse. Most characters range from various myths and stories,
but most range from stories originating within Europe primarily.Examples of historical figures include:
King Arthur
Gilgamesh
Alexander the Great
Hercules
Medea
Medusa
Gilles de Rais
Lancelot
Each Servant being summoned may be one of seven available
classes of Heroic Spirits being summoned, with only one class per War, in order
to make the war fair. Each servant is referred to by their class, in order for
other servants and mages to not realize who the Heroic Spirit is and thus gain
a tactical advantage.IE, might be known
as Gilgamesh, but is referred to as Archer.Each class has benefits and weakness, some are based on strength, while
others are based on tactical or strategic advantages or weakness.These classes include:
Saber – A knight who uses Swords in combat, considered very
desire-able class.
Archer – A knight who uses ranged weapons, ie Bow and
Arrows, guns, or any other kind of projectile.
Lancer – A knight who uses a Lance, Spear, or Medium range
weapons in combat
Berserker – A strength based hero who dominates with
overwhelming force
Assassin – An rogue typically who is known for killing their
opponents from the shadows or in a secretive manner
Rider – An individual known for riding or driving a vehicle
or creature
Caster – A Magical Type of individual
Each Mage has three Command Seals upon their right or left
hand, which symbolize their pact with their servants, and are laid out artfully
in accordance with the Mage’s style of magic.Each Command Seal can compel the servant to act or do as the Mage commands,
with the more concrete and forward commands being the most beneficial to the
Mage over more broad ranged commands.
Mages and Servants may or may not work well together, as
some Servant or Mage classes out right hating each other, while others are distrustful,
and others are best bonds in the world.Most servants act in accordance with their Mages, as Mages supply the
very mana necessary for the Heroic Spirit to exist within the physical world.A Mage is considered disqualified from the
War if they lose their Servant and do not make a pact with a new Servant(One
that has already been summoned), or dies during the war.
As eluded to earlier, the true purpose of the Holy Grail War
is not to grant wishes, but intended to harvest mana and magic from the
servants that participate within the Holy Grail War, and then use it to
activate the Greater Grail and reach a mythical origin (Root) of magic.The system however is fundamentally flawed,
as the Greater Grail can only be held by a servant, thus limiting it to only
granting wishes.However, during the 3rd
Holy Grail War, the Holy Grail itself was corrupted by a rogue servant, thus
causing the Holy Grail to be tampered and would not work properly regardless of
the magic absorbed in to it.
With the Main Story, includes a few notable characters:
·Shirou Emiya – Lead protagonist and Master for
Saber.He has a strong sense of justice
and wants to be a hero, despite little to no aptitude for magic.
·Saber – Artoria Pendragon(King Arthur), the King
of Knights, who was actually a girl.She
a stoic and knightly figure, but brushes up against Shirou, who tries to save
her and sees her more as a girl than a knightly figure.
·Rin Tohsaka – Daughter of a prestigious mage
family, she is the Master of Archer, and tends to act as a Tsudere type
character. (IE, acts very brash and brutish to the main character, before
becoming friendly and gentle with them later.)
·Archer – A mysterious individual who is capable
of summoning sword and turning them in to Arrows to fire from his bow.He doesn’t remember what Heroic Spirit he is
suppose to be, and often act fickle and teasingly with Rin, and hostile with
Shirou, who he dislikes.
·Sakura Matou – A part of a rival Mage Family,
she is a friend to Shirou and often takes care of him.She does this as her Brother is mean and
cruel to Shirou, and she does it as penance for her brother’s actions.
·Shinji Matou – Sakura’s older brother and Master
of Rider.A chauvinistic and a
narcissist, he openly treats Shirou harsh and coldly, and often takes out
frustrations on his sister.
·Illyasviel von Einzbern – She is from a
prestigious Mage family and is the Master of Berserker.She is the youngest participant in the war,
at only 12 years old.She is actually a
half- homunculi and Shirou’s step sister.She is intended to become the Holy Grail upon the completion of the Holy
Grail War, using her body as the catalyst for its creation.
To Date, there have been animated version of all three
routes.
Fate / Stay Night (2006) – Studio Deen
While the original Fate Route is fully realized, many fans
considered it an inferior interpretation due to its animation issues and the
later releases.
Fate / Stay Night – Unlimited Blade Works Movie (2010)
Studio Deen
A singular Movie version of the Unlimited Blade Works Route,
however, much like the previous work, it is considered inferior interpretation,
as it glosses over a lot of the events and details from the game.
Fate / Stay Night – Unlimited Blade Works (2014-2015)
ufotable
After the success of Fate/Zero, this is considered the
superior version of the Unlimited Blade Works Route, as it more closely follows
the route’s events, along with the superior arts and animation from ufotable.
Released as a series of three films, ufotable returned to
animate the Heaven’s Feel route and knocked it out of the park.
Spin Offs
The fate series to date has had a number of spin offs from
the original game, some which are better documents in novels, video games,
manga, anime, and/or other visual novels.
Fate Zero
The Prequel to Fate/ Stay Night, it tells the story of Kiritsugu
Emiya, Shirou’s adopted father, along with his servant Saber, as they
participate in the Fourth Holy Grail War, just 10 years prior to the events of
Fate / Stay Night.The prequel is
considered a better place to start the Fate series, as it outlines the events
of the Battle Royal and sets up the various Fate routes better when viewed
later.It was initially started as a
light novel series before being animated by ufotable in 2011.
Fate/Hollow Ataraxia
A continuation of the Fate Story 6 months later, however,
from the vantage point of Bazett Fraga McRemitz, a mage sent by the Magus
Association to participate in the 5th Holy Grail War.She is the original master of Lancer before
he is stolen from her.The story takes
place in the dream of Bazett and follows her and her servant, Avenger, as they
replay through the events of Fate / Stay Night’s various routes.While it is a continuation of the story, it’s
not the direct continuation of any particular route, and is left to open
interpretation as to the true events that actually did happen during Fate /
Stay Night.
Fate/Prototype
Considered the original Version of the Fate / Stay Night
Story, it was the initial draft and documents for the series.It’s notable as it re-contextualizes a lot of
characters, including making King Arthur a man and Shirou as a female with
magical aptitude.It has only a short
animation included after Carnival Phantasm, but sparked a lot of interest from
the fan community.
Fate/Apocrypha
A true Spin Off, it re-imagines the Holy Grail War having
been stolen during the Third Holy Grail War, and pits two warring factions (Red
and Black) who each summon seven servants to battle against the opposing
side.The Story primarily It’s notable
as it introduces Mordred as the Saber of Red and the Son of King Arthur
(despite Mordred being a girl too), but also introduces an 8th Class
of Servant known as Ruler (Joan of Arc), a neutral party that acts as a
mediator and official for the Holy Grail War.Originally a Light Novel Series, it was later animated by A-1 Pictures
in 2017.
Fate/EXTRA (Extella, CCC)
Another true Spin Off, it re-imagines the Holy Grail War as
a tournament with where the final victor will grant a wish.This started off as a dungeon crawling video
game series in 2010-2011, with Sequels including Fate / Extella, and Fate /
Extra CCC.It’s notable for having Red
Saber, the first non-Arthurian variation on Saber, despite looking similar to
Artoria Saber.She is actually Nero
Claudius Caesar, the 5th Roman Emperor.It was animated in to a single series: Fate/EXTRA: Last Encore directly
to Netflix in 2018.
Carnival Phantasm
Existing within the Nasu-verse, this is a light hearted,
comedy affair.Carnival Phantasm
re-imagines most of the characters with their personalities and faults dialed
up for comedic effect, and includes various other character outside of the Fate
Franchise, most notable Tsukihime.It
initially started as a manga in 2004-2005 before being animated in 2011-2012 by
studio Lerche.
Fate/kaleid liner PRISMA☆ILLYA
A magical girl variation on the Fate
Franchise, this variation re-imagines Illya as a human girl who gains the
powers of a Magical Girl.The universe
takes influences from the Nasu-verse, but instead of summoning heroics spirits,
people equip class cards and summon heroic spirits in to themselves and fight
in the war.Illya uses her magic
wand/stick to activate weapons and merge with various heroic spirits available
to that class.The series is known for
being very cute looking, but heavy on fan service and heavily implied sexual
harassment of various characters.It
started as a manga, and has been adapted to various seasons in anime from 2013
– 2016, with various movies after that.
Emiya-san Chi no Kyou no Gohan (Today's Menu for Emiya
Family)
A light hearted affair, it imagines the Holy Grail War as
not happening and instead various Masters and Servants living together
peacefully.Each episode focuses on
preparing a meal for dinner in the Emiya house, which often includes other
characters in the Fate / Stay Night story coming to visit for dinner.Most episodes show someone cooking and going
through the process to make the dinner or meal, with Saber as a self insert
character having never seen most of the meals cooked.The light hearted and warm feeling shows a
different side of the characters that more homely and healing.
We’re back again to talk about the tiny little critters that
kill your feet in the wee hours of the dark filled morning, especially when you’re
least suspecting it.We dive in to the
Lego Movie, some of our purchasing experiences, and what we built this last
week. Personally, I'm a bit upset with how much I passed up the Lego Movie
before this, it's SOOO Good!
This week, we look at the tiniest building material ever,
and the rather huge empire it’s spawned as a result.Both myself and mom have fond memories of
this toy, and so what better discussion than Legos!
History of Legos
History starts in 1916, when Ole Kirk Christiansen purchased
a woodworking shop that had been in business for 30 years prior, primarily
building furniture and aiding building houses.By the time of the Great Depression, he was working smaller projects,
but in working on those projects, he was inspired to create toys.Christiansen held an internal contest to name
his company, and Lego was chosen.
Lego, a contraction of Leg
Godt, or ‘Play well’ in Danish.It
was later learned that in Latin, it’s loose translated to ‘I assemble’ or ‘I
put together’.
After World War 2, with Plastics becoming available in
Denmark, Christiansen purchased a plastic injecting molding machine, and set
about creating toys with it.While the
idea of an ‘interlocking building cube’ wasn’t a new concept, Christiansen
improved it by making it hollow and locking.They weren’t initially well received, as many preferred wooden or metal
toys, and those that did sell well were not well received because the locking
mechanical element wasn’t ideal.Christiansen later added cylinders inside the hollow space to increase
the friction with the studs on top, creating the modern 2x4 Lego Brick.Christiansen would die that 1958, but his
son, Godtfert, took over the company in his stride.
Years earlier, Godtfert had developed the idea of a toy that
was based off a system rather than a standalone toy.This meant that any prior or new toys would
continue to work with one another.Seeking to gain market share in the US during the early 60s, they
partnered with Samsonite to produce and sell Legos in the US.
1966 saw one of the most popular toy sets come out, the Lego
Train, which included tracks and a 4.5v motor for the train.By 1969, Duplo were introduced for a much
younger children. ‘Duplus’ in Latin
meaning double, as it was double the size of a normal Lego brick.
By the 1970s, Lego expanded drastically until the early
90s.Human figures were added, followed
by the standard Mini-figure we know today.The ‘Expert Builder’ series, later known as ‘Technic’ was added as well,
featuring gears, differentials, cogs, levers, axles, etc, which allowed for
more realistic models, and aimed toward an older audience.Various themed sets were also begin to be
introduced as well, including Space, Medieval Castle, Pirate, along with their
Town Series.
However, by 1992, profits began to decline.A change in designers in the mid 90s saw the
retirement of many senior Lego Designers and new talent brought in, but this
new talent didn’t under toy design, and even less about Lego.This led to longer development time for sets,
and less challenging sets to put together, something that fans were
disappointed in.1999 was also the first
time Legos sets themed around licensed properties were being seen; but they too
were a double edged sword, as the sets were more expensive due to the licensing
agreements, and once the franchises died down, the sets were forgotten as
well.
Lego rationalized that they continued to operate the company
as though it were growing, rather than looking toward trends in the market, such
as: declining child birth in the west, less play time for kids, and not
sufficiently interesting toys.By 2004,
the company was almost in bankruptcy.
Lego refocused their efforts on their core brands and began
looking for ways to expand their brands.One way was to venture in to video games, where Lego in North America
saw licensed Legos as a big seller over other markets.They also began moving their production to
other countries to minimize the cost of production.
2014 saw the release of the Lego Movie, which was a huge
success, receiving unanimous praise for it’s quality and storytelling.2017 saw a spinoff in Lego Batman Movie,
which was also well received as a parody of Batman itself.2019 also saw the sequel to the Lego Movie,
but it was not as well received.
2019 was also the year that Lego purchased the Bricklink, a
website devoted to Lego Fans.Bricklink
offers an amazingly detailed parts list of ever known brick created by Lego,
along with all the various sets ever created by Lego, internet forums, and a
hub for e-commerce as it sells individual bricks.A person can design or purchase plans for a
set, and order the individual parts from Bricklink and make it themselves.
What Are Legos?
Legos as we commonly know them, are plastic, interlocking
bricks and pieces that are designed to be connected with one another.Typically, one buys a package that contains
enough bricks to build something out of it, which could be anything from a
vehicle, dwelling, creature, or even a setting.These packages are often called Sets.Each Set comes with a set of instructions and all the pieces, including
a few extras, intended to make the thing displayed in the packaging.
The pieces can be used by themselves to make other creations
as well, and are often suggested for alternative creations to make from the
instructions or packaging.The real
beauty is that Lego pieces from one set can be combined with any other Lego Set
ever created, so the possibilities to make things are relatively endless.Lego sets from the 70s and 80s will still
work with sets from the modern sets.
Most Lego Pieces come in a variety of colors and shapes,
with the standard, most well known, piece being the standard 2x4 brick.Further square bricks include 2x2, 2x1, 1x1,
4x1, and many more.Some sets include
specialty pieces that are only available with that set or its theme.There have been various themes over the
years, from Medieval and Pirates, to space and underwater exploration, along
with traditional towns and city construction.These sets also include the classis Mini-figure, a type of yellow
skinned figure meant to represent people in the toys.Early versions only include a simple smiling
face, but as sets have gotten more complex over the years, the mini-figures
have gone on to reflect and represent various people as well.
In 1977, saw introduction of the Technic Series of Lego,
then known as Expert Builder.These
pieces were less brick like and featured rods and tube shaped connectors, along
with various gears and other mechanical parts intended to build more advanced
items.These often build more advanced
models that featured more complex technical functions intended for an older
Audience.On the flip side were Duplo, a
pre-school aged version of Legos that was meant to bridge the gap for younger
children.Both Duplo and Technic Legos
can be used with original Legos.
Using the knowledge of Legos and their endless
possibilities, one can create just about anything out of Legos, and many
have.Some use traditional bricks to
make pixilated sculptures and/or art of people, places, or things.Some use the Legos to recreate various
vehicle and items, especially from Tv, Film, Video Games, Comics, and
Books.Some use Lego sets to recreate
whole scenes or locations, such as a lego set meant to recreate an amusement
park.
Themed Sets
Legos primarily took off during the early 60s as part of a
system of toys, meant to include various toys together in to a play set.Since this development, various themed lego
sets have been released over the years, with different generic themes being
introduced.By 1999, sets based off
licensed properties were also introduced to Lego’s catalog of sets.
Traditional Lego Theme Sets:
Town – Modern Suburban Life
Castle – Medieval Castles, Knights, Dragons
Space – Featuring space exploration and bases
Technic – Expert/Older mechanic sets
Train – Focused on train sets
Pirates – ARRRRR, Pirates…
Aquazone – Underwater Exploration
Mindstorm – Technic + Robotics
Ninja – Ninjas….
Architecture – Building real life buildings / landmarks
Duplo – For Children under 5.
Licensed Theme Sets:
Star Wars
Harry Potter
Toy Story
Marvel
DC
MineCraft
Disney Princess
Jurassic World
Batman
Spiderman
Overwatch
Frozen
Super Mario
Stranger Things
Mickey Mouse
Thomas the Train
LegoLand
Built originally in 1968 near the Lego Factory in Billund,
Denmark, the original Legoland was intended to be a park that visitors could
visit to see new and upcoming Lego products.The original genesis of the idea was due in part to the Lego Factory
getting nearly 20k visitors a day, each wanting to see the new sets that would
be coming out soon.The park was
intended to celebrate Lego’s toy history, but also showcase Lego’s various sets
and creations, including human size sets and creatures.The park was an instant success, and over the
years, has expanded and added rides and water parks to the original park, but also
opened other theme parks around the world, including the US, England, Malaysia,
Dubai, and Japan.
Spin Off Media/Games
Lego is not just a simple company anymore, and has branched
off in a number of directions.
Lego Video Games
Lego games have been available since the mid 90s, with a number
of games taking advantage of the building aspect available to computers, and
creating various stand alone games.Many
games were released for the Game Boy and other Nintendo handhelds, along with
some titles for major consoles.
What changed Lego games was Lego Star Wars, which instead of
building stuff, you were actually playing through the Star Wars stories as Lego
Versions of the characters and world.It
was unique in that it tended to joke around with the Lego nature of the world,
with you collecting Lego bits to eventually build bridges or remove obstacles
in your way.Other games were eventually
released in a similar format, all based off licensed properties, including
Batman, Indiana Jones, Harry Potter, Pirates of the Caribbean, Lord of the
Rings, Marvel, and more.
Movies
In the 2000s, Lego released various Bionicle movies, based
off the same toy franchise, but ramped up development in the 2010s, when Warner
Animation Group was created.Warner
Animation Group was taking up the mantle of Warner Bros previous 2d Feature
Film division, with their first movie being the Lego Movie.Much like the Lego Video Games, Warner
Animation Group uses the Lego worlds themselves as stand alone worlds where the
people know they are legos, but exist within it.
The Lego movie tells the story of one Mini-figure that is
intended to be the chosen one to save all Lego people from being divided and
segregated from other sets.The Movie
was a major success and spawned other Lego movies, including Lego batman, which
also received wide spread acclaim.
Spin Off Brands
Ker-o
Close in quality to Lego, with outstanding sets like
Transformers and Star Trek
Mega Contrux
More closely focuses on Licensed Sets, like Pokemon,
Call-of-Duty and Halo
Mega Blocks
More similar to Duplo, but intended for Preschool age
children.
K’Nex
Rather than Lego-ish bricks, it’s more closer related to
Erector Sets perhaps, using various rods, connectors, gears, wheels and other
components to build various models.
Shirou Emiya
