Fate / Grand Order: Absolute Demonic Front Babylonia - Several Thoughts.

I came across Fate / Grand Order in the most roundabout way.  A few months back, I was on Amazon looking for T-shirts bearing the Star of Ishtar as a symbol for my wardrobe.  A pesky algorithm directed me to an action figure of Ishtar bearing an oversized bow and arrow array.   My perception immediately recognized Ishtar’s face as the kind you’d find in an anime series.  As an otaku and amateur mythographer, I tracked down the series in which Ishtar is featured in the TV & Movies section.

When Christmas drew close, Susan and I gave each other gifts we knew we’d enjoy.  I gave Susan the DVD of Cop Rock, which I will discuss in the next entry.  Presently, I will discuss her gift to me on BluRay:  Fate / Grand Order - Absolute Demon Front Babylonia (Vols. I and II).

You’ll notice that the title of this anime series runs longer than Cop Rock.  I believe that’s because the Japanese still have better long term memories than we do.  For the benefit of my fellow Westerners, I will refer to this series as Grand Order.

So why an anime with such a long name?  Anyone who knows me can tell you that I am a big fan of Babylonian mythology.  “Babylonia” is in the title of Grand Order.  Many of my favorite goddesses and heroes appear in this series and make it easy to follow its rather labyrinthine plot, which I shall share with you now.

In the year 2016 (our old future), we are two years away from the absolute destruction of Earth in 2018.  Two time travelers - the young scientist Ritsuka Fujimaru and his assistant / guardian Mash Kyrielight are dispatched to seven points in history where time and space are being torn apart.  The only way Fujimaru and Mash can seal these tears in the world’s fabric are by retrieving seven Holy Grails.  Each Grail is in the possession of some guardian or monster that they must confront and defeat.  Our heroes find allies with many figures of myth, history and folklore that range from Joan of Arc and Sir Francis Drake, to William Tell and Mordred.

In the final quest for the Seventh Grail, Fujimaru and Mash find themselves in the ancient city  of Uruk.  Uruk is ruled by the wise but haughty king Gilgamesh.  Gilgamesh has built a great wall (which actually exists, unlike Trump’s) to keep a never-ending army of bloodthirsty leonine beasts from slaying the people under his rule.  This “demon front” is led by an alliance of three goddesses:  The fickle Ishtar, the dour Ereshkigal, and the primeval Gorgon.

Gilgamesh informs Fujimaru and Mash that he holds the Holy Grail among his vast treasures and will not part with it unless the duo swear loyalty to Gilgamesh and combat the Triple Goddess Alliance.  Fujimaru and Mash find themselves allied with various figures of myth, history, and folklore:  The Arthurian wizard Merlin, the Spartan King Leonidas, the Japanese general Ushiwakamaru, the enigmatic Ana, and the belligerent Aztec goddess Quetzalcoatl.

Accompanying the band of warriors is a mysterious small, white haired creature known only as Fou.

At the heart of this war of gods and kings are the good people of Uruk, who follow their daily routines and prosper amid the chaos.  Our heroes have interactions with the merchants, artisans and housekeepers of the city.  In a way, Uruk resembles the civilians of our world, who work, live, and play even in the face of natural and man made disasters.

A perceptive student of myth and history may notice that some characters have swapped sexes.  Ushiwakamaru appears as a warrior maiden in the series.  In history however, he was a Japanese General known to his people as Minamoto No Yoshitsune.  Quetzalcoatl is originally a male Mesoamerican sun god.   As if that wasn’t mind (and gender) bending enough, Leonardo DaVinci makes the occasional appearance in the guise of a Florentine noblewoman with a face like the Mona Lisa.

The character I find the most entertaining is the capricious Ishtar.  She is obnoxious and selfish one moment, then friendly and generous in the next.  She is also easily bought by the heroes’ faction when they bribe her with a large percentage of Gilgamesh’s treasury.  Her sister and rival Ereshkigal presents a fierce exterior which conceals a soul in the guise of a lonely young woman.  Ereshkigal was placed in charge of the underworld by the elder gods without even considering how she felt about it.  Ishtar and Ereshkigal are each other’s opposite and complement:  Light and dark; bounty and blight.

Comic relief comes in the form of Jaguar Man, who looks like a teenage girl in a jungle cat pajama coverall.  When she meets the heroes she loudly proclaims her presence even as they walk past her discussing their plans to find her.  Seriously, pajamas?  Wouldn’t a god have more dignity?

Of all the goddesses, Gorgon is the most fearsome and humorless.  She uses the reanimated body of Enkidu as a means of taunting Gilgamesh, who held Enkidu as a beloved friend and comrade in arms.  In her nest, she breeds a “new race” of monsters who are molded from the bodies of her thousands of prisoners.

Suze and I agreed to watch Grand Order one night and Cop Rock the next night, episode for episode.  What my poor wife did not count on was the high pitched, girly voices of many of the female characters in Grand Order.  What she also didn’t count on was my mimicry of said voices, which makes Minnie Mouse sound contralto in comparison.

Would I recommend Grand Order to whomever reads this?  Yes, if you have a curiosity about anime and a fascination with the many gods, kings and cultures of the world.  It is a pop adventure series with a world building scope equivalent to many modern fantasy stories.  I welcomed it with opened arms, though I am aware that some viewers would look a this convoluted odyssey and ask themselves, “What in the HELL am I looking at?”

Oh, and there’s an online game of the same name that you can play on your phone.  Whichever came first  - the anime or the game - is unknown to me.  I’m a guy who loves fantasy adventures in whatever form they take.

So far, I have worked my way through 75% of the story.  I have eight episodes to watch remaining.  When I am done, I will relate my final impressions of the series… and dive into it again with its original Japanese dialogue plus English subtitles.

I won’t be done with this series for a while.  In the meantime, Susan must content herself with the single eleven episode season of Cop Rock.

- JJB

Images from Fate Grand Order Game Press and Fate Grand Order Fandom Wiki