Random Curiosity

「sunny day」

And here we have it, the Good End of Unlimited Blade Works, covered on RandomC by popular(?) demand. I wasn’t actually planning to write anything about it at first because 1) it’s short and entirely lacking in substance so I didn’t really have anything to write about, and 2) I’ve stated in the past that True Ends > Good Ends and, no sir, I am not going to back down from that indisputable opinion. For those of you who insist on standing against the order of the universe by still liking Good Ends, here’s why you are wrong both factually and morally:

Good Ends are happy.

Yes, happiness. How very crass. Even the ancient Greeks, who thought that health was governed by humours, knew that Comedy was second-rate faff best left for the unwashed masses. The high art was Tragedy, not this happy-ending nonsense. Who’s going to win an Oscar for being happy? What, did you think Schindler’s List ended with nothing bad happening to the Jews ever again? Spoilers: the sequel ain’t Springtime for Hitler. Suffering and death—that’s where it’s at. What if the Little Mermaid doesn’t turn into foam at the end? Or if everybody survives in the Hunchback of Notre Dame? They’ll just become beloved children’s classics, and nobody wants that.

‘But Passerby,’ I hear someone saying, ‘the True End of Unlimited Blade Works was happy too!’. Firstly, don’t interrupt me and secondly, shut up. The point is that in the True End, Saber dies like a good heroine. Now what is she? The star of some soap opera, apparently, where she’s adopted by Rin, who needs Shirou to provide, er, ‘child support’. Which in this setting means… alien space dolphins! That’s where babies come from, kids; the space dolphins bring them. And then something something hydrogen bombs something Thetans.

(Memo to self: quit RandomC and start a religion. It’ll pay better.)

Instead of sticking around and killing the Emiya household food budget, Saber could have died with dignity instead. It’s not even about tragic catharsis or finding fulfillment or meaningful narrative resolution anymore; it’s about leaving on a high note. Get out while the going is good. Death is a respite, where nobody can hurt you anymore. But now, instead, Type-Moon will milk your character for all eternity. How many flavours of Saber are there now? Blue Saber, Red Saber, Saber of Red, Saber Alter, Saber Lily… and now there’s Fate/Grand Order which means ALL OF THE SABERS ALL OF THE TIME. How long must this farce continue? Just let the poor girl rest in peace.

But no, you plebs wanted a Good End. Have it your way. Back in my day, we earned our catharsis. Barefoot in the snow, uphill both ways, not even a good end in Saber’s own Fate route. The heroine is dead? Well, we were fine just being bitter about it, thank you very much. Now there’s this newfangled Realta Nua nonsense, everyone lives, even Illya gets to be a magical girl. I don’t care anymore. Good End it is then! Here’s more Saber! Here’s more Rin! Here’s more teeth-rotting sugar! Bread and circus for everyone! ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?!

Bah, humbug.

Full-length images: 08.

「エピローグ」 (Epirōgu)
“Epilogue”

Ah, the London epilogue! This was exactly the kind of thing I was hoping for when I talk about Unlimited Blade Works being ‘thorough’ last week. The original visual novel ended with Rin and Shirou accepting an invitation to the Clock Tower (the high seat of the Mage Association), but doesn’t dwell on what happens after. Their adventures in London has thus far remained predominantly in the realm of fan fiction, but has now received a coat of official paint. I approve of this addition. More Rin x Shirou is, of course, nothing to complain about, and London is to this day a remarkable place (did you know that the City of London remains its own corporate entity to this day? Fascinating). I do admit to holding a bias though; I seem to have a bit of an architecture fetish and I can be bribed to favour with a sufficient amount of old bricks. I can’t be the only person for whom medieval ruins rivaled Ponytail Rin for welcome visuals. No? Just me?

(Pretty though London was, it’s alas a reminder that Fate/stay night is still fantasy. I can’t imagine it getting this much sun in reality. And why the bagpipes? Probably to appease them rebellious Scots again (don’t hurt me Samu bagpipes are lovely).)

Even in epilogues, ufotable has an action quota

Aside from the somewhat out of place fight between Rin and her comic relief rival Luviagelita Edelfelt (Itou Shizuka), whom you’ll see more of in Prisma Illya next season, this epilogue served as a good way to wind down the rather messy conclusion to last’s week’s action (how did Archer come back? Don’t ask me). Almost obligatory is the where are they now segment, which at least assures us of who is still alive (yes, Shinji is too. If it makes you feel better, he’s mellowed out now). And as has been routine in UBW, Fate/Zero also gets mention, though I must say that this version of manly-but-long-haired Waver will never not be weird.

These kinds of loose ends need to be wrapped up before we can have a ‘happily ever after’. Which is why even Saber, the once and future king, needs a special appearance. Hopefully she sleeps content on the isle of Avalon. That said, the connection between Glastonbury and Avalon is likely the result of fraud meant to attract more pilgrims to the abbey, but that’s a different piece of cynicism for another day. Just enjoy the mood, okay?

Answer

The main question that pervades this epilogue and, indeed, most of UBW is still whether Shirou, as he is now, will still end up as bitter as twisted as Archer was. The conclusion that is reached in the end seems to be, quite confidently, no. Yes, Shirou will keep living by his ideals. Yes, those same ideals led Archer to a Bad End. But Shirou has more perspective now (fighting your future self would tend to do that, I suppose) and knows fully what he’s getting into. More importantly, he’s got a Tohsaka Rin now. Aw, that’s heartwarming. They’re a cute couple.

And hopefully, a happy ending for them means a happy ending for Archer too.

Full-length images: 11, 17.

Epilogue (of the Epilogue):

Final Impressions

I may have mentioned before that of the three routes of the Fate/stay night visual novel, Unlimited Blade Works is often considered the ‘action route’, and is quite popular as such. It is in many ways the ‘height’ of the general F/SN arc and Shirou’s coming-of-age story. Fate was about Shirou searching for his ideal and had to spend a lot of time setting things up, so it’s UBW, about Shirou living his ideal, that really gets the ball rolling. As you shall see when the movie comes out, Heaven’s Feel will be about Shirou abandoning his ideal, and will take a darker turn. It’s still plenty epic in its own right, though, and arguably writer Nasu Kinoko’s true form, so look forward to it.

Coming back to UBW, I would say that I am generally satisfied with this adaptation. Having read UBW before the anime is obviously not going to have as much of an impact on me. The first time, with all the twists and turns of the plot still unknown, leaves the strongest impression. All the ufotable-anime-only viewers are welcome to express their own unvarnished visions in the comments. I, on the other hand, will be focusing less on the substance of the story and more on the mechanics of how ufotable adapted it. I do this rant on adaptations often, and those who’ve read some variation of it before will have to forgive me. So much of anime is adaptation these days that it’s hard not to have to address this topic regularly.

Too often anime fans, or rather fans of anything at all, confuse an adaptation with a transliteration. What do I mean by that? Well, one hears horror stories about light novel aficionados following an anime adaptation of their favoured book of the month with the text in their hand, comparing each and every line, and throwing virtual fits if the anime deviates in any way. That’s a bit of an extreme example, but the idea is that there are some fervent purists out there. Some think that an anime adaptation of a text is simply taking the words and putting them to sound and picture. That the original novel or manga or whatever is a script to be dutifully followed in animation.

Any half-decent screenwriter tell you that’s 1) bad 2) impossible.

I don’t remember how many words of text Fate/stay night is weighed in, but even if a picture is worth a thousand words (a loose equivalence) one is going to go broke just buying canvas. Nasu gets very wordy at times, everybody gets a monologue, and the complex mechanics of his world were bought with sacrifices on the altar of exposition. An episode of anime, on the other hand, is merely 23 or so minutes. How much can you even read in 23 minutes, let alone say on screen? Fate/stay night is already a visual novel, already having pictures and music, but some extra compression is still going to be required.

As such, I consider episode 20, in particular the second half with the insert song, to be the strongest of the series. It reinterprets the visual novel into the anime medium, taking a very abstract concept, about the beauty of the ideal and blah, and really running with it. I wish they did more of that. There are still several points in the adaptation where it feels like people are talking a bit too much, and maybe some trimming was in order. Perhaps the staff as well as they could, given the material. This is still, by far, the superior anime adaptation of UBW, though when the competition is really just the movie and snippets of the Deen anime that’s not the highest praise. Ufotable got 25 full episodes to play with, after all, and time is a tremendous resources for any story. So it’s no wonder this version tells it the best. But it also manages to be very shiny in action scenes, and is confident enough to add relevant anime-original material (extra backstory for some characters, this very epilogue). That is, one can certainly see the effort (and money) that was put into this production, which is to its credit.

I think ufotable’s adaptation will stand as the definitive Fate/stay night anime for some time. I’ll even call it a suitable substitute for reading the visual novel, if pressed. Sure, it’s not going to be the same but that should never be the purpose of an adaptation. As Shirou might say, it’s about the idea. And I think ufotable’s version is as close to Unlimited Blade Works‘s ideal animated form as we’re going to get. They might not have always been successful, but they sure did try, and the result was beautiful in the end.

「無限の剣製」 (Mugen no Kensei)
“Unlimited Blade Works”

Mmm, Sword of Promised Victory and Emiya in the same episode. That’s what good anime is made from.

Lots of climaxes this week, which is appropriate since our story is drawing to a close. Our heroes seemed on the cusp of defeat, but of course there’s no way they were going to die here. Shirou’s already overcome his internal conflict, and as is standard for stories like these, that is much more important than the physical conflict. In Jungian fashion, once you’ve conquered yourself, defeating the villain is but a formality. That’s what Reality Marbles are all about, really; finding power within yourself. It’s the shounen protagonist schtick given form.

Also, dying with Shinji being your last sight before you go is just a bit too sad. No, regret not being able to uphold Shirou’s ideal all you want, Rin, but at least try to save yourself instead of dying like a chump. You’ve got three Command Seals! Crystallised miracles or whatever etched onto your hand! Instead of wasting them impulsively, can’t you, say, teleport Saber to your side, cut you out, and teleport away? Anything? Bah. I’m always a bit miffed when characters fail to be creative with their incredible superpowers (which is perhaps why one shouldn’t give them many in the first place). Well, at least we now know why Rin didn’t use her Seals when captured at the Einzbern castle. She had read ahead in the script and knew she had to save them for this episode. She got one cool pose out of it, I suppose, but 33% effectiveness is low efficiency, if you ask me.

I guess Saber kinda has it worse. She flies to Shirou’s rescue, manages to perform a hadoken, but is then barred from being useful until she is called on to make things explode as a glorified artillery piece. Yeah, she’s pretty cool while she’s doing it, but if you look back on Unlimited Blade Works as a whole, she sure does do a lot of standing and watching helplessly. And then she goes. I suppose her end was telegraphed with many death flags; it was specifically mentioned she would disappear after one shot previously, Rin’s burnt all her Command Seals and her last scene with Shirou together with ‘we will continue this discussion later’ more or lass mandated death. I guess this really wasn’t the Saber route (and for the record: True Ends > Good Ends).

So, who’s getting all the love if not our heroines? It’s not even Shirou. Bizarrely, it’s red Archer here to steal the show again, who is somehow alive/not dead for Reasons. Shirou’s Reality Marble was, weird causality mechanisms aside, Archer’s first, of course (with Shirou’s being cleaner, and also Japanese instead of Archer’s distractingly English chant), Shirou’s toys were Archer’s (with Shirou’s being less mature; note five petals on Rho Aias instead of seven), Archer gets to save Rin, Archer gets to deliver the final blow on Gilgamesh. And nobody seems surprised at all. Gilgamesh getting devoured by the remnants of the Grail was better set up that the VN, but Archer’s resurrection is still a bit of a deus ex machina from off stage. Hopefully next week’s epilogue clears things up.

Looking ahead

For all I ribbed it, this was a good episode. Good fight, pretty light show, the two musical numbers I’ve been looking forward to most since Unlimited Blade Works began (which, while not being the best arrangements I’ve heard of them, carried their scenes sufficiently). It’s what people look for in Fate/stay night, I suppose. The episode started a bit long winded, but Nasu is long winded, and I can’t really blame them for trying to hammer some salient points vigorously.

There seems to be little left for next week, and indeed it calls itself an ‘Epilogue’, which is what I’d expect. There doesn’t seem like much need for a full episode just to wrap things up, and perhaps there isn’t, but if we’re being thorough there certainly can be enough material to fill the space. Many characters, both main and supporting, can do with some more resolution, including Archer, who gets a good scene this week for it but could certainly use an ‘epilogue’ of his own. I’ll save my final thoughts on the series for then.

Preview

「顕現」 (Kengen)
“Incarnation”

Let’s talk about Shinji.

Now, I don’t particularly like Shinji, because nobody does. But I don’t hate him either, because 1. Hate is too strong of an emotion for my withered soul to feel 2. he’s a bit too unlikeable. At least Gilgamesh has power and charisma and the the voice of the ever brilliant Tomokazu Seki behind him. Shinji has nothing, and Kamiya Hiroshi‘s brilliance is channelled into making him sound as whiny as possible. Shinji is just a pathetic sack of meat, and he’s designed to pretty much be as unlikeable as humanly possible. So Shinji feels more like a victim of the plot, while Gilgamesh is comparatively more culpable for his actions. Not that I particularly hate Gilgamesh either (ref: 1.) but he feels like much more of a real villain than Shinji, relatively speaking.

Shinji, as the embodiment of human failing, serves an important purpose. With the Grail overflowing with human, and being used as a justification for Gilgamesh’s Final Solution to the human problem, we need a character to represent all our foibles. So, here’s Shinji, as a the worst possible sample of our race. The stronger point is that Rin and Shirou strive to save him anyway. Yes, Shinji has done despicable things. Yes, he has no redeeming qualities whatsoever. But such is the culmination of Shirou’s ideal: he should save him anyway. As Gandalf would say, many that live deserve death, and some that die deserve life. Shirou’s idea of heroism is that one should strive to save them all, perhaps in pursuit of that small hope of redemption. Shinji must be saved. To do otherwise would be to abandon all that character developed we set up with Shirou vs Archer. Although, it’s a bit convenient that he could be so easily plucked out of that writhing heap of creepy flesh.

My little rant aside, the rest of the episode was not actually too eventful. Gilgamesh has gotten onto his villain soapbox again, so he’s not going to do much except monologue and slap Shirou around. He does get to show off Ea, though, which is still extremely hax for no good reason. That scene entire scene was not in the original visual novel, though I can see why they did it and I approve. It’s for the sake of setting up some future developments that UBW would not appreciate as much otherwise.

If you wanted actual fighting, no just Shirou turning into a Gundam, narrating his attacks, and exchanging sword volleys, you’ll have to look to Assassin vs Saber, which was sadly short, but still good. Assassin doesn’t get as much love compared to some of the other Servants of UBW, and getting to be cool one last time before the finale is about as much as he can expect. It’s also an appropriate time to get his backstory, such as it is. With Gilgamesh continuously deriding Shirou for being a fake, here’s Assassin who’s more fake than he is. But being a fake doesn’t stop Assassin from finding a purpose and, more importantly, being badass. Of course, his actual purpose is to let Saber defeat someone this Holy Grail war. Japanese swords are inferior. Yeah, I said it.

Looking ahead

Normally I like to be a bit reflective going towards the finale, but perhaps because we’ve been at it for two cours (not including the movie), or because I’m familiar for the source, I only really wish to see all this end. Really, what else is there to cover at this point? We’re at a fairly routine juncture right now. The hero needs to stop the villain. That’s it. Rin needs to get herself un-stranded. Shirou needs to get back up with Heroic Resolve. Saber needs to arrive at some point. This has been the first act of the final battle, and of course Shirou is going to take a beating. Standard, standard. Next week shall be act 2: Mugen no Kensei!

Preview

「冬の日、遠い家路」 (Fuyu no Hi, Tooi Ieji)
“Winter Days, a Long Way Home”

Even though we’ve had plenty of dialogue heavy episodes in the past, this is the first time the tension has eased up in a while. Even when characters got to talking before, they still did so in the context of conflict. So our protagonists get to rest a while, patch themselves up, and start setting up for what may well be the final battle. So it’s a slow episode without much event, and the most action we really get is Gil shooting once, but I made do by taking screencaps of Rin judiciously.

What does happen this week is the long awaited(?) mana-link-thingy scene and—my God, it’s full of stars! This is the Realta Nua (aka family-friendly) version, which means weird CGI constructs. In the 2010 movie they were dolphins but… are these dolphins? Alien dolphins? A bad metaphor?. Well, it’s not like the original scene was all that much better. I refuse to believe that after millennia of magecraft nobody has come up with an easier way to do all this. Even for the piece of Magic Crest Shirou receives (What Would Jesus Do, Shirou?), surely someone would have invented a copy + paste feature by now. Well, more than half of it was innuendo anyway, so I suppose we aren’t supposed to take it all too seriously. We do get, though, some flashbacks from Rin’s past (the kind that seem to pop up whenever anybody gets linked in any way in this setting), and in particular the first encounter between a young Rin and a young Shirou. Aw, don’t get embarrassed, Rin. It’s kind of sweet. You lonely stalker, you.

All this stripping down and getting cozy is not (just) for fanservice, though. With Gilgamesh setting himself up as the last boss, there is certainly a sense of finality in the air. Our party is making its preparation, Saber’s going around being wistful and raising death flags, while Shinji’s having the time of his life. Enough talking, guys, get to fighting. Yes, I know a good portion of this episode was actually silent. You know what I mean.

Looking ahead

We’re definitely in the calm before the storm right now, one final transitional episode before we, hopefully, make a mad dash towards the finish. Though Shirou may have already resolved his internal issues in his fight with Archer, this is the part where he has to demonstrate what that is worth. With Gilgamesh’s giant eugenics project hanging over the city like a doom omen, the stakes are at an all-time high. The stage is set, the pieces are in place. Saber rushes the front, Shirou and Rin sneak in from the back, they destroy the writhing flesh monstrosity, happily ever after.

And now that the plan has been explained in detail, nothing can possibly go wrong. Of course.

Preview

「answer」

Episode 20 would have been hard to top, and I suppose 21 doesn’t necessarily try. Sure, there’s still some measure of ridiculous sword-slinging, and a longer snippet of the Emiya remix (a more pensive piece this time, it seems) but for the most part the pendulum has swung back to exposition and introspection. With Shirou having found his determination last week, this week’s ‘answer’ is for Archer‘s benefit (and by extension, Saber, who has comparable circumstances and has been standing around doing nothing but reflect for three episodes). Hence, internal monologue. And because Archer is Shirou’s archetype and Shirou is Archer’s prototype, Shirou finds determination from Archer and Archer finds resolution from Shirou. Archer had forgotten his roots. Yes, trying to save everyone is unrealistic, but the ideal is beautiful. For too long has Archer obsessed about results, which is why his inner world is filled with gears, while Shirou’s is a purer vision, one that may eventually redeem Archer’s.

So often is the case that redemption equals death, and Archer, having just found satisfaction, must immediately step aside. Because enter Gilgamesh (who really deserves to get shot in the face at least once, but alas) to be the Archer-replacement to antagonise Shirou. Since Shirou wants to essentially be a superhero, he needs a supervillain to fight. In true supervillain style, Gilgamesh explains his evil plan, along with what he had been doing since Fate/Zero (while… providing fanservice, I guess). Apparently, the world is too idyllic, the Grail is corrupt, and Gil wants to kill everyone. Standard megalomania, and there is none to stop him but our hero, Shirou! But sure, while Shirou and Gilgamesh are natural foils—one was the king of ancient Mesopotamia and owns an endless vault of treasures, and the other is a nobody who must project all his weapons from nothing—why did Archer entrust Shirou with Gil’s defeat? Even Saber failed to defeat him in the previous Grail War. Who can stand up to the King of Heroes?

Looking ahead

For now, what does stand up to the King of Heroes is soot. Gil leaves our protagonists be for now rather than let his clothes get dirty. Even from beyond the grave, Lancer (or at least the fire he started, which has spread out plenty since episode twenty) manages to score another point by soiling Gil’s outfit and saving the day. What a man.

Shinji, however, is not so fortunate. Even though he’s hardly a magus at all, even though he’s completely clueless, even though he’s a pathetic spot of slime, he’s been chosen for the dubious honour of being the faulty vessel of the grail. No matter how much one disliked Shinji, one must admit that his fate is most horrific. I wouldn’t wish it upon anyone.

We needn’t worry about it too much for now, though, because next week there will presumably be dolphins. Look forward(?) to it.

Full-length images: 34.

Preview

「Unlimited Blade Works」

Big episode this week—so big that they had to cut the OP just to fit all of it. Perhaps it’s a given, since the Emiya vs Emiya fight is arguably the most important one of the entire story. Notice how Archer already debuted his Reality Marble in episode 18, yet it is 20 that is titled ‘Unlimited Blade Works’. Well, he does cast it in this episode as well (while being allegedly low on mana; whatever you say, Fate/ stay night), and really, what better backdrop can there be to the defining conflict of Unlimited Blade Works? Shirou’s fighting his superpowered future archetype, his own insecurities, and the image of the bleak future that awaits him. It better be epic, and epic it was, much more so than I remember the visual novel being. The original source was a tense clash of wills, to be sure, but anime is a visual medium, and ufotable sure does bring the visuals. Imagery! Imagery! Imagery! I just couldn’t help myself with the screencaps this episode. Together with the new insert song (LAST STARDUST by Aimer, going by the credits), it certainly was a incredible audiovisual experience (or, at least, really shiny). Even though we only had half a minute of the Emiya theme before it faded out (stop getting me worked up for nothing), the last third of the episode was executed well enough for me to forgive that hiccup in the tension. This is how you bring value to an adaptation, by reinterpreting it in your medium. It’s quite different to the original, yes, but the soul is plain to see.

UBW has a prequel, and it’s not Fate/Zero

Speaking of adaptation issues, here’s another one that crops its ugly head: the existence of the Fate route prior. For those of you who started on the Fate franchise with this adaptation of Unlimited Blade Works, then firstly, welcome, and secondly, you probably have no idea what this thing was all of a sudden. The issue of Excalibur’s scabbard being grafted to Shirou was dealt with in more detail in the Fate route (it being about Saber and all), and without that knowledge this detail may seem to have come out of left field. Is it a deus ex machina? Certainly. But it’s not just an in-universe explanation for Shirou’s plot armour (which, you will note, he has donned before, after the fight against Berserker). If King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table is the archetypal chivalric myth, then when Kiritsugu implanted the scabbard in Shirou when he lay dying one can say he also implanted the heroic ideal in him. The symbolism and parallels with Arthurian myth are a bit more overt in the Fate route, obviously, but it’s not exactly subtle here either. Saber is insistent on watching Shirou and Archer’s fight because it mirrors her own situation; she thinks her run as the king of Britain ended poorly, and wishes the sword did not choose her. Well, here Shirou knows how it’s going to end, refuses to be deterred. That’s what having principles is about. You stick with them, even if it hurts.

They love Lancer so much, they killed him twice

Back with the damsel in distress, it seems all the villains are lining up to cop a feel, which is quite unseemly, so she needs rescuing fast. Neither her Servant, her ex-Servant, nor her love interest seem very keen on doing it, though so I guess it’s up to poor old Lancer. Wait, wasn’t Lancer supposed to be dead? Yes, but apparently he can still keep chugging without a heart by sheer badassery. For those who are still amused by old memes, people don’t die when they are killed (not that Shirou is one to talk; just a flesh wound, right?). To be fair, in Cú Chulainn’s myth, in his last moments he tied himself to a standing stone so that he may die facing his enemies, and so feared was he that his foes dared not approach him until ravens started roosting on his corpse. Even then he manages to lop some sap’s hand off (it’s weird). So, one last hurrah, sticking it to the man in his post-final moments. Dead now? Nope. Can’t go before mortifying Shinji (*applause*). Kirei, though, has most-definitely-probably-in-all-likelihood pushed off. I may have mentioned before that the anime rule is to never assume anyone was dead until they cremate the body on-screen, and here it is (aside: the fire rune is not the same as the one Touka uses in Kara no Kyoukai, but meh, details). Lancer doesn’t exactly get the girl, but he does go out with style (or with pyromania; still not sure why he has to torch the place). You’ll have the play the PSP game Fate/Extra if you want to see him paired with Tohsaka, but of course that’s not exactly the same Lancer or the same Tohsaka so itscomplicateddon’task.

Don’t like your future? Beat him up ~ looking ahead

Even after Shirou’s defiant comeback, it’s still sort of a genuine question whether or not he’ll win. After all, consider what he said:

‘Just because you’re correct doesn’t mean you’re right.’

That may be meme-worthy all over again, but the context gives it sense. It’s not about rationality. It’s not about results. Even if Shirou is completely beaten, even if he ultimately fails, what’s important is that his moral core never wavers. That’s what heroism is about—beyond utilitarianism, against all odds. That said, if Archer is supposed to symbolise Shirou’s doubts and regrets, and Shirou cannot allow himself lose to them, then… well, we’ll see how it unfolds. Fittingly, the title of the coming episode is simply ‘answer‘. To which question? Same time next week, folks.

Full-length images: 06.

Preview

「理想の末路(こたえ)」 (Risou no Kotae)
“Idealism’s End (The Answer)”

I warned you there would be philosophising. Here it is, raw and uncut. In a series with its fair share of dialogue heavy episodes, this one may well be its most talk-ey to date. Saber had to talk about her regrets (and for the two of you who didn’t know who Saber was, here it is), Archer had to talk about his regrets, and Kotomine had to talk about his evilness. I wasn’t expecting the anime to get fully into the exposition, or I wouldn’t have gone on about it last week and saved on my word count. Needless to say, the episode goes slowly, as the fight telegraphed from the previous episode only barely manages to begin at the end of this one. Well, at least there’s still Shinji.

*applause*

While our characters all suddenly extolling their motivations may seem a bit droll, especially if you’re familiar with Unlimited Blade Works and have heard it all before, the showdown between Archer and Shirou, both physical and philosophical, is the most important one in the entire story. If the Fate route was about Shirou finding his ideal, then Unlimited Blade Works is about him having to live it, and as such Archer, being Future!Shirou or somesuch, is arguably the main villain. Fate/stay night is more or less Shirou’s coming of age story, and as such the obstacles he face should be reflections of himself (in the same way Darth Vader was Dark Side Luke. Also his father. Spoilers). Shirou the unabashed idealist is having his world view challenged in a test of will, and his fight is not just against Archer, but also doubt. To hammer the point home, Shirou’s magecraft, projection, is about creating swords based on nothing but the idea of a weapon, brought into form by will alone. As you will see later, there too doubt is not allowed. To put it generically, the greatest enemy of the hero is himself, just that in Unlimited Blade Works it’s more literal than usual.

Unfortunately nobody except Saber is going to just wait around while the Emiyas have their little aside. Meanwhile, Rin’s thighs are in danger, having been saved and then rapidly unsaved. Since the Archer = Emiya reveal was so exhaustively telegraphed, here’s another one: Lancer’s master. I suppose we don’t really have many named characters left standing and there’s not enough time to introduce someone new, so here’s Kotomine. For those who have not caught on by now, he’s still alive, and definitely not a good person, though those who have watched Fate/Zero no doubt already know that. Poor Lancer, being stuck with a guy like that. Now you know why there’s so many jokes about his misfortune; he just never catches a break. He gets to be really manly, gets to show off his magical abilities, and he still, pardon the expression, dies like a dog. Not even death in glorious battle. Come on Lancer, this is too sad, even for you.

Looking ahead

So Archer resents his posthumous career of visiting exotic locales, killing people of sensitive ethnicity, and posing scenically and wants to commit complicated causal suicide, but Shirou has the power of incredible stubbornness on his side. Meanwhile, Rin’s still a damsel in distress (but not without defiance) because she’s forgotten she still has a command spell to summon Saber with. And where was Gilgamesh supposed to be? A lot has been set up this episode, so next episode will definitely get the ball rolling again. Especially if we’re doing it to the sound of Archer and Shirou’s theme, Emiya, the only battle music of Fate/stay night capable of rivaling Excalibur. Look forward to it.

Preview

「その縁は始まりに」 (Sono en wa hajimari ni)
“A Destiny Forged in the Beginning”

For those who still haven’t figured Shirou‘s relationship with Archer, I’ll give it one more episode. All the clues are as clearly laid out as they’re ever going to be, and I’m sure that they’ll blurt it out directly in the near future.

The story of Archer is that he is a Counter Guardian, which are like humanity’s immune system. It’s a position he assumed after death, having made a sort of Faustian bargain in life for the power to save more people. Being a Counter Guardian is an unpleasant job, for they don’t prevent disasters so much as clean them up, usually by killing enough people for things to calm down.

So Archer has his regrets and Saber’s has hers and that’s pretty much a sub-theme right there. Saber’s regrets were dealt with in the Fate route already though, so we aren’t going to see more of that. This is why I usually recommend people experience Fate/stay night in route order, or else they’d miss out on the little juxtapositions like we have here. It’s no big loss though, because the philosophising is, of course, secondary to the Saber finally getting to fight again (while keeping the ponytail. Good job, Caster). With Saber so frequently getting beaten on in both Fate/stay night and Fate/Zero, one may wonder why she and her class has the reputation of being the strongest Servant. Well, this is why. Saber, perhaps more so than other Servants, is essentially battery powered, and her new contract with Rin is like hooking up to a nuclear reactor compared to the useless flat that was Shirou. Of course, no matter how badass she gets to be now, Archer is contractually obliged to upstage everybody in this route, so he’s got something better.

(For a fuller Saber vs Archer fight, Prisma Illya has one of those as well. Hurrah for spin-offs.)

I’ve always considered Reality Marbles one of the cleverer devices that original author Kinoku Nasu made up. As a magical reflection of the soul, they are made entirely of symbolism. You can’t get much more over than that. Archer’s desolate hill of swords, the Unlimited Blade Works (there, title drop), handily summarises his lifelong struggle, where he fights and fights and ends up with nothing. Wasn’t that simple? Archer’s story is essentially a deconstruction of the triumphant hero, something that Shirou is going to have to come to terms with if he insists on continuing with his whole, ‘I will be a hero of justice’ schtick. But that’s something for next week, of course.

Looking ahead

It feels we have come full circle now, with Shirou pairing up with Saber once more (and Lancer tagging along, because he’s cool). Poor Rin, once the undisputed leader of our protagonists, and now suddenly whisked away to be a damsel in distress. Actually when did the nabbing actually happen? What was Saber doing while Shirou was unconscious? Was she just standing there the whole time? Confound it Saber, I’ve just finished trumping up how awesome you’re supposed to be now. You have to stop being disappointing.

I guess Rin is just attached to Archer, no matter how badly she treats her. And just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse, here’s Shinji!

*applause*

Well the stakes are even higher now. Shirou, Saber and Lancer need to rescue Rin fast, or else Shinji is going to get morally irredeemable on her. Gilgamesh’s plotting can wait. Step it up, peoples.

Full-length images: 10.

Preview

「暗剣、牙を剥く」 (Anken, Kiba o Muku)
“The Dark Sword Bares Its Fangs”

Unlimited Blade Works, compared to its sister stories Fate and Heaven’s Feel, is often considered the ‘action route‘. The advantage it has in this area is, I feel, in how it juggles its tension rather than the amount of action, which all routes have. Unlimited Blade Works is a constant roller-coaster of highs and lows, alternating swiftly between good times and bad for our heroes. Contrast this with, say, Heaven’s Feel which is relatively longer stretches of low and longer stretches of bad. Incidentally, it works for a movie format, where everything is compressed.

To demonstrate the point, this week of Unlimited Blade Works is quite packed, especially compared to the lull of last week’s episode. The highlight was, of course, the big Servant fight; it’s Lancer’s turn to just be cool. This is Lancer, though, who apparently exists in the Fate universe to be slighted, so even his big moment is upstaged. Sorry, Archer needs to be cooler, though he does struggle more in this adaptation that he did in the movie (which probably just makes him more badass). Rho Aias, by the way, is supposed to be the shield of Aias (more commonly spelt as Ajax), and he had little claim to fame compared to the other heroes of the Illiad other than a big shield and throwing rocks at Hector (and later, getting shown up by Odysseus), so I guess the shield better be damn good. I feel for Lancer; for Archer to pull something like that out of his hat is akin to cheating, and indeed, one will get the feeling throughout UBW that Archer really is a cheater (in more ways than one; watch him break Rin’s heart again). Still, it was a nominal victory for Lancer so… hurray Lancer!

Of course, the fight was not just a matter of spear vs shield; as always Fate makes the fight personal. Lancer is perhaps the only Servant summoned in the Fifth Holy Grail War to fight as an honest-to-goodness Heroic Spirit (Saber has circumstances, Berserker is insane), which puts him at odds with Archer, who scorns the very notion of heroism. What the outcome of the fight says about their individual philosophies I’ll leave up to interpretation, especially since Archer will probably get more opportunities to rant next episode. For that same reason, I’ll leave the brief dissection of Souichirou’s past aside as well, because his ‘fighting without purpose’ thing makes him a nice foil to Shirou, and that will become clearer later on. Also, nobody wants to sit around and discuss vague character motivations. This was the action episode! Let’s reserve our words, bask in the shiny effects, and feel sorry for Caster. Caster, who finally shows for face and looks better for it, gets it worse than Lancer, sucker punched and then multi-stabbed without much dignity. The difference is, in spin-offs like Carnival Phantasm she is always allowed her happy ending, so we don’t have to feel too bad for that tragic character. So… ding dong, the witch is dead! Woo.

Looking ahead

Oh hey, it’s Saber! I had kinda forgotten that she was still supposed to be around. Well, she’s not in much of a state right now, so forgive her if she can’t even afford to get changed before the next round. Maybe the action will slow down again next week, as we’ll probably have to suffer Archer monologue about why he wants to kill Shirou and explain the purpose to his scheming and all the usual villainous stuff. It depends on how long they intend to drag out the preliminaries, I suppose.

The alternative is that next week is another high-strung episode, in which we’ll find out exactly why this route is named Unlimited Blade Works. It’s still going to sound a bit dumb even with explanation, but the title drop should make for something appropriately climatic. Either way, our heroes are definitely not out of the fire yet, so stay tuned.

Full-length images: 13, 14, 19.

Preview

「冬の日、願いの形」 (Fuyu no Hi, Negai no Katachi)
“Winter Days, the Form Wishes Take”

It was good to see interesting discussion in last week’s comments section, with both detractors and apologists coming out to speak their mind about Gilgamesh, the world’s oldest bully. How much you end up liking him is, I suppose, mostly a matter of taste and personal moral compass, but in this episode Gilgamesh attempts to appeal again by brutalising Illya’s corpse (to extract her heart, which I didn’t remember as being so blinged out). I’ll leave the assignment of points for that trick as an exercise for the reader.

On a scale of 1 to Shinji, Gilgamesh would be a π

Of course, no matter what Gilgamesh does this week, he’s never going to look all that bad. Because, in case you forgot he was still supposed to be around, here’s Shinji!

*applause*

Really, Shinji is a class act. Why else would Gil keep him around? Not even Gil’s wealth can buy a better PR manager. Shinji’s like the inverse of the Tzadikim Nistarim of Jewish mysticism—36 righteous individuals who justify the world’s continued existence. Shinji makes the rest of the human race look good simply by being. Sure, he’s got all sorts of Freudian excuses for why he got the way he is and is ultimately a pitiable wretch, but deep down we’re all thinking: ‘I am glad I am not Shinji’.

Throw the dog a bone

Also appearing after a hiatus this episode is Lancer, who proves to be both comparatively more amicable and decidedly cooler. Lancer really does need more love in the Fate franchise, with story Cú Chulainn being the definitive Celtic myth, but alas he doesn’t seem to get a lot of respect in Fuyuki, Japan. The projected fight with Archer, though, should give Lancer a proper chance to show off, and every Servant in Fate needs to get at least one of those. At this point in the visual novel I was really hoping for Lancer to wipe Archer’s smirk off his face, because he was getting just a bit too smarmy for his own good. Since their initial duel in the prologue was never concluded, this should be the opportunity to settle the score. Something to look forward to next week.

All talk

The Lancer vs Archer matchup is delayed for next week because we needed to spend the rest of the episode talking. Whether it be pleasantly talking in the twilight, talking against pretty backdrops, or talking in the rain, Unlimited Blade Works has it all! To be fair, they were all about fairly important topics. In particular, Rin was taking issue with Shirou’s lack of self again. In a way, her rant, and Fate/stay night in general, is a deconstruction of the entire ‘hero complex’ we see often in fantasy fiction, in particular the popular shounen fare from which FSN is derived. Sure, the will to survive is not always the highest calling, but it would be odd, in a realistic context, for a person to have no self-preservation reflex in the slightest, like Shirou. One of the complaints I hear about Shirou’s character is that he goes beyond being brave to being daft, and Unlimited Blade Works explains how he came to be that way. It’s more than a simple clash of values, or even traumatic survivor’s guilt. Shirou, as a personality, is comprised almost entirely of a set of principles, a Superman that does not have much of a Clark Kent. Unlimited Blade Works will go further to explore how healthy that is, in the future.

If I was Rin, though, I would have blasted Shirou all the same. There’s only so many times you can try bail your man from certain death manufactured by his own stubbornness before you’re excused for getting pissed off. Not even the Protagonist Smile would have saved him.

Looking ahead

Next week, not only do Lancer and Archer have to get to fighting, we’re also going to go back to Caster, who managed no appearance this week other than in another sympathetic flashback (and an interesting reading of the Medea story). Is she still the main antagonist these days? Hard to tell. But Rin apparently has a trump card for defeating Caster. But of course, she can’t tell us what it is because any plan once explained is doomed to fail. It’s a rule.

Speaking of Rin, trump cards, and things unexplained, here’s a poser: the pendant left for Rin by her father was supposed to be unique. Yet Archer had one, and Shirou had one. On that note, the story moves into full spoiler territory, so again a gentle reminder to all readers: Please mark all spoilers, as usual. Thanks in advance. Also, leave the preview alone. Don’t click on that image link. Don’t look at it. Don’t draw attention to it. It really can mean anything.

(Don’t think about pink elephants.)

Full-length images: 30.

Preview

「神話の対決」 (Shinwa no Taiketsu)
“A Battle of Legend”

There’s only one thing to talk about this week: Illya. I knew what was coming and it still got me. Damn.

Illya’s story, and subsequent death, were to me some of the most powerful scenes in the entirety of the original Fate/stay night. To this day, no single image from the visual novel—not swords on hills, not Excaliburs—haunts me quite as much as the simple composition of Illya and Berserker, having a quiet moment in a beautiful white forest stained with blood. It is appropriate that, in a tale of tragic heroes like Fate/stay night, Illya’s story is, too, a tragedy. For a good deal of Unlimited Blade Works and Fate she had nominally been a villain, and a whimsically cruel one at that, but she had the advantage of being a cute child and retained a measure of her innocence. So the reader was always invited to look for excuses for her rather than vilify her, especially since (minor spoiler alert) she turned out relatively well in the Fate route and one had a hope that she and Berserker would join the party in UBW. Not only does she not, but she’s also brutally murdered, all set to some rather touching flashbacks. It’s altogether an unhappy story, and one of the undercurrents of UBW, the wish granting Holy Grail, and Shirou’s philosophy is wanting to save everybody, make them all happy. Illya represents the girl that Shirou could not save.

Although we do get longer to know Illya in the visual novel, and she did have more opportunities for character development, one advantage that they’ve offered her in the anime is an expanded back-story. We see more of the Einzberns (yet another terrible magus family), this old coot, failed homunculi, the painful contract with Heracles, and whatever the hell this is (it’s from Carnival Phantasm. Seriously). One issue I’ve always had with the Fate franchise, though, is that it tends to get overly technical. I don’t feel that there’s much need to know exactly what Illya is and how she got to be a bleeding martyr. All of Nasu’s jargon, all the finicky details about recreating the Third Magic, etc etc, are secondary. The essence of Illya’s story is that of a neglected child who misses her absentee father. What I valued were subtle things, like brief glimpses of lucidity from Berserker, because it kept things layered but simple. Simple stories are elegant, and elegance is beautiful.

Looking ahead

There are many reasons to revile Gilgamesh as a villain, but killing Illya probably clinches it. Although I already knew that Gil could not be defeated here, I still relished his look of shock, and rooting for Berserker to get there. But alas, like last week with Shinji, so close, yet so far. What a shame. There’s nobody left but our protagonists to deliver justice and retribution and all that cathartic stuff. As I mentioned before, Illya’s death, and Shirou’s inability to do anything but stand and watch, is a defining moment for him. Again, note the difference between Rin and Shirou. Rin is ultimately practical about their powerlessness, while Shirou still could not help himself. Honour before reason, perhaps, but it could also be that he simply has a different value system.

Rin’s pragmatism may mean little, though, as even if they bided they time, what are they to do? Their last saving throw, an alliance with Illya, is now obviously untenable, and they have no means to even challenge Caster, let alone Gilgamesh who has fast emerged as an even Bigger Bad. Shirou, certainly, has nothing but sticks and harsh language, while Gil has, apparently, everything. Thrilling as betting on the underdog is, at some point Team Rin (let’s not confuse who leads this operation) is going to need some more cards in their hand or else their misery won’t even be interesting anymore. Thankfully, next week it seems we’re turning the camera back to Caster, which I’m sad to say is the relatively more hopeful match-up for our protagonists. Who needed Berserker, anyway? A single magus and a chump will have to be enough.

Full-length images: 08.

I almost forgot: regular warning on spoilers. Please mark all your spoilers in the comments in spoiler tags. Thanks in advance.

ED3 Sequence

ED3: 「ring your bell (in the silence)」 by Kalafina

Preview

「コルキスの王女」 (Korukisu no Oujo)
“Princess of Colchis”

Exciting episode this week, because much of its contents did not exist in the original visual novel. There were broad outlines and some implications, but the details as seen here are anime original. They fill in some holes here and there, but also tie Unlimited Blade Works more closely to the greater Fate franchise, which has ballooned since its 2004 debut. References to Fate/Zero! References to hollow ataraxia! Retcons? Maybe. But new fans will appreciate the greater detail, and old fans will take pride in recognising how all the Fate universe is being tied together. It should be a win/win.

The only downside is that the plot does not advance far this week (though Saber has been allowed to sit down, at least). We’re taking a detour from your regularly scheduled programming to provide some back-story for Caster. She’s been a bit of an evil witch so far (yes, I know she doesn’t like being called that), so some insight into her past and her motivations is probably required to elevate her from just a 2D villain. She’s still a Bad Guy who does Bad Things, but her evil has to be understandable.

Hell hath no fury

For those of you who don’t recognise Medea just from her name being casually dropped in an anime, allow me to give a heavily abridged version. Her story varies greatly by the telling, much like all Greek myth, but she is generally associated with Jason, of Argonauts fame. Medea was the niece of Circe, whom you may remember as that one woman who turned men into swine in the Odyssey. Her father, the King of Colchis, sets Jason on a series of tasks before he would give him the Golden Fleece. Medea aids Jason on the promise that he would take her with him and marry her. It all goes well, Jason and Medea are happily married for some years, but eventually Jason runs off with some princess of Corinth, setting Medea on a campaign of revenge during which she did nasty things like poisoning her rival and murdering her own children. Great stuff. Very Greek.

In the Fate universe the legend of Medea differs somewhat—I don’t think she teleported around and shot laserbeams in the original Greek, for starters—but the general theme is: Medea has poor luck with men and ends up killing a lot of people. In the Holy Grail War, Caster’s first master was apparently some pimp who manages to be even more pathetic than his Fourth Grail War predecessor. He goes out of his way to make himself very unlikeable, doing the virgin sacrifices thing, doing the Fullmetal Alchemist thing (spoilers, spoilers), and getting all insecure when Caster’s was bigger than his (as men often do). So Caster kills him with fire, and we don’t feel too bad about it because he was a jerk for every second of his limited screen-time, but one must remember that Caster is still doing basically what he’s doing except more efficiently. The entire murderous spat was essentially over magus pride. Well, at least we know that at least one of the people Caster has killed was not a nice person. Hurray, sympathetic villain!

(Minor nitpick: how did Caster sever her contract with El-Melloi Junior without him noticing? When she stabbed Archer last week, Rin’s hand erupted in painful fireworks.)

Gilgamesh is the reason why we can’t have nice things

Meanwhile, back in the present, Rin and Shirou have a plan (or at least a map to stare at in lieu of a plan) and Illya seems to be feeling less homicidal today because she misses Fate/Zero, so it looks like our heroes may have a chance to get their Servants back with the help of a powerful ally. But guess who literally drops out of the sky? If there’s any indication that one is not going to have a good day in the Fate universe, it would be the appearance of Gilgamesh, the other rich blonde jackass who solves all his problems with money. For those of you wondering about the maids he pincushioned, they’re more or less a creation of Fate/hollow ataraxia, though if you watch the magical girl spinoff you’ll see them there too. I was hoping they’d get to be badass before they go (they’re anime maids! They’re all elite warror-assassins!) but, alas, Gilgamesh and his automatic sword dispenser is no less hax after 10 years of downtime. One small victory: they managed to get some of their litres of artistically-pooling homunculus blood on Gil’s shoes. Now he’ll need new shoes. Ha, take that!

Looking ahead

It’s seems like we’re going to have that big fight between Gilgamesh and Heracles shown off in the OP already. At least, Illya is now mad, Berserker is always mad, and a fight looks ready to go. It should be a good one next episode, because while Gilgamesh is stupid broken, Heracles was still nominally the first big boss of the Unlimited Blade Works route and the previous, and he’s bloody Heracles. Don’t worry about the preview. I’m sure those don’t hurt as bad as they look.

Full-length images: 04, 35.

Preview

OP2 Sequence

OP2: 「Brave Shine」 by Aimer

「決別の刻」 (Ketsubetsu no Toki)
“Moment of Farewell”

Greetings, Fate fans! As some of you may have noticed, I’m not Takaii (as far as modern science can tell); you’ll have to suffer Passerby hosting coverage of Unlimited Blade Works this season. Considering how the first 12 episodes went, we’re probably going to have a good show no matter what I say, so don’t let it bother you too much. A bit about my relationship with the Fate franchise, though: I’ve read the visual novel(s) and watched the anime adaptations, including the 2010 Unlimited Blade Works movie, and I generally consider myself a big fan. The downside is that I already generally know what’s going to happen, so I’m not open to being wowed by any plot twists. Instead I’ll be spending most of my time ogling at pretty lights. Just like everybody else, really.

So, after a good break, Unlimited Blade Works has resumed at last, and what better way to welcome back the fans than with fanservice? Here, have some Saber in a suggestive pose. A flushed and panting King of Knights is probably also useful for distracting us from the exposition. In this episode, Shirou talks about his trauma, Caster talks about her plans, and Rin talks about Archer’s backstory (in a dream, no less). A bit of exposition is probably necessary to both reinforce the core philosophies running through UBW (got to wax lyrical at least occasionally or else all our symbolism isn’t going to work) and also refresh the audience on what happened all those months ago. Not only was Saber taken last we left off, but apparently Kirei (the phoney priest, if you recall) also didn’t come out well from his own trial. So now Kirei is literally a taint, but the anime rule is: until they cremate the body on screen, you can’t assume they’re dead. Not even Rin believes it—that’s how you know she’s the smart one.

All of this exposition and recap was ostensibly to set up our first big fight of our second half of UBW: the long telegraphed final showdown between Rin and Caster. Except, barring some pyrotechnics, it doesn’t happen, because apparently Archer doesn’t feel like it. In the context of our story, Archer’s turning traitor is a genuinely surprising development, because while Archer has shown himself to be quite the cynic before, and implied to be shady, he hasn’t really been scum, and betraying Rin in the middle of the crucial battle was definitely a scum move. More personally, Rin held great trust in him and until now her confidence has largely been unshakeable. To have that confidence so suddenly undermined and so coldly is bound to be shocking. Why did Archer do it? Was Rin really doomed to fail, as he insinuated?

Whatever the answers may truly be, this shock is also a good opportunity for character development for Rin. She, who before held herself out as being invincible, has been left vulnerable. Rin internalises Archer’s betrayal as her own failure, like she did with the botched summoning in the prologue (which, at the risk of minor spoilers, wasn’t really her fault either), and such doubts makes her question the way she’s lived her life. This is one of the emotional climaxes of UBW, with Shirou and Rin getting a ‘soft’ moment together, with Shirou being able to play the big damn hero for a split second before fizzling opening up the attraction the two have for each other. Not that there was ever any doubt that Shirou would fall for Rin in the Rin route, but hurray, relationship upgrade!

Of equal importance, though, is how the conversation between Rin and Shirou mirrors the one she had with Archer earlier in the episode. Archer, Rin and Shirou make for good contrasts with each other. Shirou adamantly believes that just because one fails doesn’t mean one is wrong (and makes questionable decisions because he believes it the right thing to do), while Archer, his foil, believes that only results matter, and ideals are useless (and betrays Rin to maximise success). Rin straddles the middle, wanting to proudly live by her ideals and therefore takes great pains to never fail. Interestingly, they are all moral objectivists—each with an internal compass they will not compromise—but with varying approaches. Thus is the way of Fate/stay night, where relationships between characters are based not just on chemistry, but also largely on philosophy. We’ll probably be have a lot more philosophising before we’re done—bear with me here.

Looking ahead

So Caster’s feeling pretty good with all her shiny new Command Seals (though having them on her gloves instead of bloodily etched into her skin is a lot less impressive), and this could well be our heroes’ darkest hour. They’ll need to stage a counter-assault at some point, but it seems that they don’t have a single card in their hand. That said, the villain at her highest also gives the most satisfaction when she falls. To note, though: next week’s episode is titled ‘Princess of Colchis‘, just in case anyone had doubts left about Caster. It calls back to the age of chthonic myth, and that’s not a literary era traditionally associated with happy endings for anyone.

Full-length images: 01, 04, 26.

ED2 Sequence

ED2: 「ring your bell」 by Kalafina

Preview

「最後の選択」 (Saigo no Sentaku)
“Last Choice”

If only every show could have the budget that Unlimited Budget Blade works has. Then again, even as amazing as the episode was, I still don’t enjoy this one season hiatus they’re springing on us!

Slice-Of-Life

Something that I would have never saw coming in a million years, who would’ve thought we’d get to see more than just a few minutes dedicated to building up the relationship between Rin and Shirou in a somewhat normal fashion? I mean, this show is known for its amazing fighting sequences as well as the ideology battles that all the characters face, am I right?

While I’m sure some people will have issues with the show taking a slight detour, I loved every moment of the two’s little date. Besides reminding us who the true heroine of this route really is, I thought it was interesting to see how the pair’s chemistry work together. Because as shy as Shirou seems when Rin’s toying with those precious emotions of his, how can you not love his manly responses that chime in just at the right moment?

The Rules have Changed

Wow oh wow did a lot happen in the span of only 30 minutes. From Caster unleashing her Noble Phantasm and literally breaking all the rules that were made in one fell swoop, isn’t it a bit surprising that she didn’t try unleashing her plans even earlier? Anyways, as overpowered as her power and Noble Phantasm may seem, I’m sure there’s something hiding in that complex character of hers that’ll eventually lead to her downfall — Too bad we’ll have to wait until the spring to find out :/

Show Spoiler ▼

Looking Ahead Before the Break

Twelve episodes in and I think ufotable has done a fantastic job with this adaptation of Fate/stay night Unlimited Blade Works. They’ve stayed true to the source material while adding their own flare to make even the most unordinary things stand out, they’ve made this adaptation easy for both newbies and veterans to enter, and with buckets and buckets of money they’ve made one of the best looking shows I’ve ever seen. So yeah, good job ufotable!

P.S. Thanks for keeping up with the posts everyone! Sorry this one’s a little late — I’m still on vacation and am working on top of cardboard boxes. I’ll see you around the bend when spring rolls around!

P.P.S. Stay classy ufotable — that rendition of Disillusion was pretty freaking awesome.