Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya / First Impressions

「ここで終わらせる」 (Koko de Owaraseru)
“I’ll End It Here”

Miyu’s desperate battle juxtaposed with Illya’s conflicted decision. If only Berserker would just die!

Mama Iri the Wise

Irisviel (Oohara Sayaka) is back! It’s hard to know exactly how much Iri knows about Illya’s whole situation, and at first blush it seems convenient that her advice just happens to fit Illya’s situation so perfectly (& her arrival comes at just the right time), when a normal parent would be going “My daughter sounds like she’s doing something dangerous? Forbid it immediately! PROTEEECT!!”

Then you remember that Iri is not a normal parent. Long-time Fate fans (or anyone who has watched Fate/Zero) will know why, but even new fans can see that Illya’s massive latent magical potential hints that she’s more than a normal girl, and everything Iri does so reeks of “I know what’s going on” that it actually stops feeling convenient and makes her just seem very wise and knowing. I think that avoids making her arrival annoyingly convenient, so it works well.

Then again, maybe I’m just happy to see her again. Seeing these characters who once were so mired in death and tragedy all alive and happy again…well, it feels good. It feels damn good.

Berserker: Finally the Badass End Boss

In most of the routes of the original Fate/stay night, Berserker seemed to get a bad rap. He suffered badly from the Worf effect (trope!), in that his main role was to be super strong, but get the shit kicked out of him to show that the other, less obviously strong characters (i.e. the ones that weren’t rippling with muscles) were badasses too.

No longer. Berserker is finally getting to be the super powerful, dangerous, and badass end boss he deserves to be. So strong Miyu can’t afford to get hit, dies three times during this episode and keeps on trucking, begins resisting Miyu’s attacks…he’s a terror, and I’ve always been glad that he was the end boss rather than Saber…not the least because that gives rise to Saber Miyu.

Yes, the needlessly skimpy chest area of the outfit is completely unnecessary, and isn’t as stylish as Archer Illya. If that’s the only mistake they make, I’ll let it pass. Largely that has been the case.

When In Doubt, Do What You Will Regret Least

As I’ve said in previous posts, Illya’s fear is totally understandable. She could absolutely die for the benefit of some jackass mages off in London, and where is the fun in that? The problem is that Miyu is still fighting. If it was experienced people like then Illya could probably leave them alone – perhaps assuming that Ruby had left her alone and gone with them – but not Miyu.

Then thing I took away from Iri’s advice to Illya is that she should do what she’ll end up regretting the least. Here I’ll invoke Jeff Bezos’ Regret Minimization Framework, which (stated loosely) is as follows: Imagine you’re at the end of your life looking back. Ask yourself, which choice minimizes the amount of regret I have? Take that option, even if you fail.

To me, Iri put the choice in stark relief for Illya. Yes, she was scared, but what would be worse: to go and be scared, or to not go and let Miyu shoulder it all alone? The choice was obvious once she thought about it.

Looking Ahead – The Finale

First of all, let me just say that I loved the partial cliffhanger they left us on. They could have cut it off right as Miyu was getting maybe-hit, but they didn’t do that, instead giving us the heartwarming moment of Illya coming to the rescue, while still leaving the whole what-we-gunna-do-about-Berserker thing up in the air. Which means that next time is–the finale!? Yes, this is only a ten episode series, so the next one is the last one. Expect amazing happenings then, as well as my final impressions. Until then!

tl;dr: @StiltsOutLoud – Iri reminds Illya of what’s important as Miyu fights for her life & friend. Berserker, you’re going down! #prismaillya 09

Random thoughts:

  • I liked Ruby’s little bath, but I didn’t find it cute exactly. Probably because I know she’s trolling everyone. Trolls get the water!
  • Yeah, I don’t know either, Shirou.
  • An Excalibur yell worthy of the real Saber, that.
  • Never has a magical girl been more badass. It’s at least in the Top 10, that’s for sure.
  • They changed the ED sequence (if not the song) to fit the mood! Glad to hear they’re finally listening to me. Keep up the good work, Silver Link.

I just reached a pretty big milestone in the book I’ve been writing! You can read more on my blog at stiltsoutloud.com.

 

ED Sequence

ED: 「Prisma Sympathy」by StylipS

Preview

End Card

47 Comments

  3. I think it’s less of the skimpy chest area and more of the midriff area being forced to be exposed is what’s the issue with Saber Miyu’s outfit. Saber’s outfit without the armor is like that, minus the exposed belly button.
    No matter, delicious midriff is delicious. Though they need to at least be consistent with Miyu’s chest size.

    belatkuro
    Reply

  4. You know I really appreciate how they connect this series to the more serious Fate Stay Night by having similar things happen under similar circumstances, it’s a nostalgic throwback, like Miyu turning into Saber to fight Berserker which like the original Saber vs Berserker fight went wrong and ended with Miyu kneeling onto her sword exhausted. Rin getting shocked to find out Berserker doesn’t die just once, And just as Miyu is about to die Illya came to her rescue just as Shirou did Saber though this time Berserker was the one who got sliced in half instead. Looking forward to seeing how they’ll manage to kill Berserker 9 more times.

    gawrshness
    Reply

  5. They changed a bit of the Irisviel conversation in this adaptation. Just like how they took out the scene earlier with Sella and Lysritt discussing Illya’s powers, this time they did not hint that Irisviel knows more about what is happening than she is letting on. Also, they did not show what Irisviel and Kiritsugu are doing behind the scenes regarding the Holy Grail War.

    Instead of the original “Are you afraid of your own power?”, the topic was changed to “Do you want to help your friend?”

    Not a bad scene, mind you, but without those scenes the origin of Illya’s power will be very confusing to those who have not scene other Fate series.

    MasterDragonKnight
    Reply

    2. Yeah, I don’t see it. Like I said in my post, everything Iri did so reeked of “I know what’s going on” that I think it was easy to see. Though then again, I’m not exactly a typical viewer, so I could be wrong.

      Stilts
      Reply

      1. Here are the original scenes from the manga.

        1, 2, 3

        It is a lot more explicitly stated that Irisviel knows the inner workings of Illya’s power.

        Not sure why the anime decided to remove the scenes that reference Illya’s power or past.

        MasterDragonKnight
        Reply

      2. it’s probably just so that they can finish off the anime adaptation of the first season without leaving a big plot hole of people discussing Ilya’s powers uncovered, just in case season 2 and 3 don’t come.

        Nitro
        Reply

    3. Hmmm…

      I agree “are you afraid of your own power” would have been a much better struggle
      and I wish the story followed that original course. It does seem like the “help
      your friend” has been played before in other series.

      Still, very sad that only 10 episodes. Hope they’ll do a second season…

      mac65
      Reply

  6. Well, this Final has is good ways. So there is only Miyu and Iilya. And Miyu is run dry on Mana. If you can guard her, then Iilya can go all out with her Mana Blast or something, not afraid to kill Allys with her Power. If they someone secure Miyu of course

    Mu guess. It is the Gear that Berseker is wearing that grant him this Resurrection

    Germanguy
    Reply

    1. and btw, Iliya is Stronger then Miyu. Because we dont saw a Lock get open, when she turn into this Hero Spirit. in Ilyas case, they took the time to animate that. Why her not too? So… there must be a reason to it

      Germanguy
      Reply

      1. say, is here a Way to “install” one of these Cards on both of them, so they somehow end in One Body Hero Spirit? How to make that? Well, both holds the Cards and enchant the spell in Synchrony. Double Power?

        Germanguy
        Reply

      2. dunno if stronger … but Illya got more mana reserves than Miyu (Miyu went OOM: “Out Of Mana” after a few hits .. and a excaliblast)

        … then again Illya got a seal (lock) on her mana reserves.. if this Illya was supposed to be used as the “grail container” of the “fate” timelines … then she had mana storing for about 10 years? .. wonder how much mana she got left from the release of her lock.

        inanis
        Reply

  9. Then you remember that Iri is not a normal parent. Long-time Fate fans (or anyone who has watched Fate/Zero) will know why, but even new fans can see that Illya’s massive latent magical potential hints that she’s more than a normal girl

    you don’t have to have parents with involvements in magic to have magic potential.

    Example: Nanoha, then again, her parents were ninjas.

    Mightnare
    Reply

  11. Yay at Irisviel making her appearance, but bit disappointed at Kiritsugu’s no-show. Your daughter needs you, man!

    W00t at Miyu-Saber. What’s with the girls showing off their midriff when installing their Heroic Spirit forms?

    (And installing Berserker won’t be just baring their midriff, I suppose? 🙂 )

    echykr
    Reply

  12. From the changes in the conversation, I’m guessing that they’re still undecided on making the second season. All these “left out” scenes seems to lead me to that conclusion.

    That aside, Miyu-saber is amazing. Waiting to watch that final episode tonight 😀

    Seorori
    Reply

    1. Well they aren’t likely to have a major reveal before this series is over. But there are two sequel mangas coming after this so maybe.

      For now I’d say their purpose is for the story to exist. No cards, no Rin and Luvia visiting Japan, no series.

      FlareKnight
      Reply

  16. Will say Miyu’s struggle against Berserker was pretty awesome. That was a pretty dangerous fight and a difficult one. Berserker just has a lot balanced against her in that fight. Unbelievable durability means her normal attacks are useless, and even if you kill him he can revive a certain number of times and it’s hard to kill him the same way twice. Definitely good last boss material.

    Illya’s save was pretty sweet though.

    FlareKnight
    Reply

  18. Watching this episode again, two things come to mind.

    1. Irisviel, squeeeeeeeeeeeee!
    2. Given that Ruby & Saphire are basically Kohaku & Hisui, you’d figure they can just summon Shiki to deal with Berserker.

    flap
    Reply

  19. I was under the impression that Irisviel is “dead” after Fate/Zero.

    I guess this show is somewhere between Fate/Zero (4th Holy Grail) Fight) and Fate/Stay (5th Holy Grail).

    so who is this Irisviel?

    Cecil Alcott
    Reply

    2. Remember in Fate Zero how there was a point where Kiritsugu talked about wanting to ditch the whole grail war and run away with Iri and Ilya?

      Prisma Ilya is an AU where basically Kiritsugu and Iri both decided to ditch the war (and the Enizbern family) MUCH earlier, and they basically wrecked things, and got the hell out of there. Apparently things went down with the Enizberns, and the end result is that the 4th grail war never happened, and these “class cards” are the leftovers of that system.

      From what we know, Kiritsugu and Iri took Ilya, Sella and Lyserit and hid them in Japan. Somehow, despite the 4th war not happening, Shirou was still adopted by Kiritsugu and so they left the kids with Sella and Lys while they have been traveling and dealing with mage stuff.

      So basically its a different world where Fate Zero didnt happen and this current battle is happening instead of the grail war that would have been Fate Stay Night.

      takashid
      Reply

  20. Wait…didn’t the ending song change? I heard the second track from the Prism Sympathy release.

    My thoughts exactly on Irisviel’s appearance and wisdom. They slyly hinted at the fact that she knew exactly what was going on, but made it vague enough to make us think they were trolling.

    Also, if only Illya knew how Shirou wanted to cheer her up with a grand dinner. She would have passed out from blood loss. Luckily she has meido Miyu to keep her spirits up.

    Annyms
    Reply

  21. Episode 10 is out:

    And to be honest…

    the Part, after the Fight…. Well i got Lost somehow. i could not follow it. Feel like unpolished. As if they where forced to press stuff into these Minutes

    And the Important thing…

    We get a 2nd Season!!!!!!!! Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya 2wei

    Germanguy
    Reply

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