Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya / Final Impressions / First Impressions

「Kaleidoscope」

Friendships were rekindled, the final enemy was defeated, and much hilarity was had. Best of all–sequel confirmed! 2wei is on the way, booyah!

Strength In Emotions

Its been said before – a magical girl’s strength comes more from emotions (and belief) than hard work or magical ability. That’s why Illya has always been able to do things that Miyu can’t, because she doesn’t let logic, reality, or good sense get in the way. Fortunately, Miyu finally jumped on board the proper magical girl train, with explosive results.

I like the parallels between Illya and Miyu’s struggles. While Illya ran away, Miyu was trying to do everything herself, which was the perfect storm of misunderstandings that was liable to end with a dead Miyu. It was only by getting over both of these – Illya coming to help, and Miyu not only accepting her help, but realizing that it’s necessary and valuable – that they were finally able to come together as a team, and more importantly, as friends. The battle this episode didn’t have the luster of Archer Illya, but it built to a good crescendo and went out with one helluva bang. I enjoyed it heartily.

Shipping Illya x Miyu

I’m sure a few people will complain about the kiss scene, not to mention all the deredere Miyu, because it seems like they’re going the Illya x Miyu yuri route. May I introduce you to the ship tease? (trope!) Honestly, if you needed any confirmation then remember that Illya was dreaming about kissing Shirou, so whatever Miyu’s feelings – and they’re not that! – Illya is still all about her onii-chan. So just sit back and enjoy the hilarity, that’s my advice.

Speaking of, how hilarious was all that?? “But if that’s what you want Illya, I’ll do the best I can.” Miiiiyuuuu!! Better yet was dere Miyu, who doesn’t quite understand how friendship works. I’ll tell you what, Tatsuko in particular is really benefiting from this adaptation, because I didn’t remember her from the manga, but she’s hilarious now!

Hey, Is That Baze–

Woohoo, sequel confirmed! 2wei is on the way, baby! As a few of you mentioned in the comments before, the first manga (of three – the one animated here + 2wei + 3wei) was only the tip of the iceberg, and there are some really awesome things coming in 2wei. Probably more than I know – I haven’t finished it, so if I can hold out then later parts of the coming season will be new to me too, woohoo!

Needless to say, I’m pumped about season 2, but more about that below. Onto the final impressions!

tl;dr: @StiltsOutLoud – Illya & Miyu come together, Berserker falls apart, & all is well…because 2wei is on the way! Sequel coming, woohoo! #prismaillya 10

Random thoughts:

  • Full power, full open? More like full Nanoha. Fire!
  • Never before has Lancer’s Gae Bolg been so useful so many times. Being Lancer[‘s weapon] isn’t suffering for once.
  • I have to admit, I’m kinda sad Illya didn’t actually go for a kiss with Shirou. A Miyu is fine too though :3
  • Meido Rin, banzai! Luvia is collecting quite the stellar meido corps, nyahaha!
  • Manga readers: please do not spoil anything that happens in 2wei or 3wei. I haven’t read them all myself, so I’ll be pissed if I end up getting spoiled now. Please be considerate, and use the spoiler tags if you want to talk about something further ahead in the source material. Also, make sure to label your spoilers so people don’t accidentally click on something they wouldn’t have wanted to read. Thank you.

For more from yours truly, check out my blog on writing, art, and the book I’m working on at stiltsoutloud.com.

Full-length images: 18, 30, 33, 34, 35, 36.

 

ED3 Sequence

Epilogue:

Final Impressions

I always prefer to blog shows when I haven’t read the source material, since reactions and impressions are necessarily dulled when you know what’s going to happen. I had to make an exception for this series though. Magical action-fantasy stories (with comedy and a little romance) are by far and away my favorite, and from having read the manga I already knew this was a good one. Add on top of that being animated by Silver Link, a studio that does consistently good work, and I was all on board!

I’m glad I blogged this one. As I expected, Silver Link did a great job. The animation was consistently good (and often great), the casting and acting were both great, and I simply enjoyed watching every episode. The one thing I was most worried about going in – the fact that they were only getting ten episodes – turned out to be a non-issue. In fact, I suspect that the director and the rest of the staff asked for ten episodes, or rather told the suits that they only needed that many to tell the story. Yes, it resulted in a few pacing issues, because it can be awkward to pile two manga chapters into one episode – or even more difficult, three chapters into two episodes – but they did well overall. Save for the select few manga that seem tailor made for anime, there are always going to be a few hiccups when you translate a story into a different media, and the fact that Silver Link kept them to a minimum speaks to how well they did.

As for the story itself, Illya and Miyu’s character arcs were natural and compelling. I especially appreciate how Illya only became reluctant to fight when she had a damn good reason, showing that she’s not a coward, just a suitably frightened young girl who would prefer not to die quite yet. Miyu’s arc was more of a gradual defrosting that ended in a deredere Miyu – Tatsuko’s joke about Illya “conquering” Miyu wasn’t far from the mark, save without the romantic connotations – but I suspect we’ll see more of her next season. All of the other characters were well-established and frequently funny, with special props going to Tatsuko, Taiga, Sella, and Prisma Illya’s eternal butt monkeys (trope!), Luvia and Rin. Also, getting to hear Kawasumi Ayako (and the other Servant seiyuu) show up just to growl and grunt was hilarious! My one complaint: I actually could have gone with more Shirou, if only because he brings about deredere Illya. Never a bad thing.

Really though, I only need to point to one thing to show how much I enjoyed this series, and that’s episode six. Even though I knew that Archer Illya was coming, I still got chills seeing it on the screen. That’s how you know a story is told well, when it isn’t diminished by spoilers. Not that I want them! I can still vaguely remember how flabbergasted I was when I read that scene the first time. Getting to be floored twice isn’t too shabby, though. I’m not sure many manga or anime could pull that off.

In the end, Prisma Illya does exactly what a spin-off should do – uses the existing universe, characters, and/or story and takes them in a new direction. Prisma Illya takes the grimdark Fate universe and turns it into a lighter magical girl story, all without losing the essential Fate DNA that made the original so popular. That’s the story that Silver Link took, and they adapted it well, even making it sing on occasion. This was a great season of a fun series, and I’m totally pumped for the coming adaptation of 2wei. I hope you all enjoyed my posts, and I’ll see you in Season 2!

End Card

64 Comments

      1. I am sorry. But who is this Kayneth you speak of? Ah! Do you mean Fast-Wheels? I love me some Fast-Wheels!!

        But seriously, in a issue of Comptiq, a question was asked if Zero!Lancer and Cu!Lancer fought, who would’ve won. The answer was that Zero!Lancer would’ve won due to him receiving more backup (aka prana supply!) from Kayneth, thus giving him more firepower. But Zero!Lancer and Biscuit Fraggle McRemix combo is awesome!

        Ko-Gil
        Reply

      2. In terms of stats, Bazett+Diarmuid would probably be way worse than Kayneth+Diarmuid. It’s easy to miss because he’s such a dope, but Kayneth is actually really high-tier, as evidenced by the fact that Lancer-4 could slighly-win against a strong Saber while Lancer-5 was slighly-losing to a weak Saber, even though Diarmuid himself would normally be weaker than Cu Chulainn (who is both more famous and a demigod). He’s the strongest Master out of everyone in the 4th and 5th wars who isn’t literally a limitless font of mana like Illya, and possibly the strongest magus who isn’t an evil witch from the Age of Myths.

        That said, his personal compatibility with Diarmuid is unreasonably awful. Bazett+Diarmuid would be less powerful, but they’d also be more likely to actually win.

        Axe Armor
        Reply

    3. Bazett Fraga McRemitz. She was supposed to be Lancer’s original master in F/SN before Kotomine betrayed her, cut her arm off to steal her Command Spells and her servant and left her for dead. She gets better. Sort off. That Nasuverse is weird like that.

      fragb85
      Reply

  5. What can I say, pick your poison-ship; yuri or (non-related) siblings? Defrosted Ice Queen (T) Miyu is great, though, regardless of ship you board if any. My take is both Ilya and Miyu are in the “innocent childhood crushes” phase so entire thing might be long forgotten before they are adults – of course this also means chance for a victorious return of the ship we have seen in so many animes where “childhood promises” get home to roost…
    Other than that, finishing off Berserker was suitably spectacular, and the Epilogue with new player stalking the night-lit city has made me giddy with anticipation of 2wei!

    ewok40k
    Reply

  6. Ah yet another nostalgic throwback; Berserker was defeated when he reached his seventh life and went down with a barrage of Caliburns. The ship? I care not what others say! Cause I’m all up for it! Miyu almost went Yandere there lol going “I only need Illya and none of you.”
    All is good, just hope they had actually gone for an extra episode where everything would be light hearted and comedy filled rather than wrapping everything up here. Oh well, a good watch in the end and a job well done and appreciated Stilts as usual.

    gawrshness
    Reply

    1. Ahaha, alas they’re keeping pretty close to the source material, and Miyu-denying-Tatsuko-and-the-others + Rin-&-Luvia-crying-by-the-crashed-helicopter is where it ended. I’m sure they’ll hit us with the other stuff later on, during next season (and beyond!) : )

      Stilts
      Reply

  10. so whatever Miyu’s feelings – and they’re not that!

    Aren’t they? :p

    I think it is most accurate to say that Miyu is both young enough and innocent enough that she does not actually understand the concepts of liking people, loving people, and romantically loving people. Right now what she knows is that she cares about Illya more than anyone else in existance. I don’t think she knows if she romantically loves Illya, or knows how to know, or even knows that such a thing is in any way different from the way friends feel about each other.

    Illya is Miyu’s “most important person.” From Miyu’s perspective, that is all that matters.

    Wanderer
    Reply

    2. Pretty much the case. Whatever the case, they’re not a couple, and Illya isn’t acting like she’s into girls much atm…other than that whole meido incident, so maybe they’re hope for your ship yet, lol. I wouldn’t bet on it myself though.

      Stilts
      Reply

  13. If only this was a 12 episode season then maybe Gilgamesh/card would have made an appearance.
    I love how the opening song was inserted for that final battle scene. Very cute when they girls smiled at each other.
    And in the end of the last episode, that is leaving me to feel hyped up, means another anime to keep as a favorite in my books.

    random viewer
    Reply

  14. Miyu’s transition from socially awkward to clingy towards Illya is adorable as it is hilarious. It should be noted that kiss actually happened at the beginning of Zwei. They pushed it here to the epilogue probably to give us a good laugh for the end and to establish Miyu and Illya’s newfound relationship.

    Honestly, if you needed any confirmation then remember that Illya was dreaming about kissing Shirou, so whatever Miyu’s feelings – and they’re not that! – Illya is still all about her onii-chan. So just sit back and enjoy the hilarity, that’s my advice.

    What’s really hilarious is that the Prisma-verse does its hardest to make sure that Illya does not go through the *cough* straight path if you get my drift. That’s right everyone, following season will have MORE yuri subtext . Can’t wait for Zwei, I’ve been looking forward to that moment they introduce Show Spoiler ▼

    fragb85
    Reply

  15. Now, let us speculate why they didn’t decide to give good ol’ Zelretch a voice!? (I think Zel appeared in Fate/Stay Night-Realta Nua’s Heaven’s Feel True ending. And he was voiced too!) I really wanted to see Zel animated. >.<

    And can we assume that if we get 2wei animated then perhaps Dr3i in the near future? Show Spoiler ▼

    Ko-Gil
    Reply

    1. As for Zelretch, I’m sure they didn’t give him a voice because there was no need. It made sense that an important person would have someone else (Waver, in this case) call them, and since they were already paying one seiyuu, why pay two for no additional benefit?

      Stilts
      Reply

  18. The scene when Bazette came out… I was like “Hell, yeah !!” because I was worried earlier that they wouldn’t do a second season.
    I really enjoyed this series. It was light and a little dark (well, it’s Fate after all) at the same time. Thank you for your posts, Stilts. 🙂

    Seorori
    Reply

  27. what annoys me about this “magical girl yuri” trend nowadays isn’t t the fact that the two girls get together but the fact that the Japanese mind set seems to be the only way male fans can enjoy a magical girl show is if the two main girls enter into a relationship. look at Mai-hime and princess tutu those shows were dark yet both of them had straight couples in them and I’m sure no male otaku complained

    Oma
    Reply

    1. Hate the fans, not the stories. Unless they’re overly pandering, which this one is not. Yeah, so maybe it throws them a few bones, but I maintain those are ship teases more than anything else, and I’m totally okay with tweaking the fanbase.

      Stilts
      Reply

  28. I didn’t think about it when I originally read the manga, but the scene with Illya kissing Miyu while dreaming about kissing Shirou might have been foreshadowing for Show Spoiler ▼

    If that’s the case, I have to heartily applaud the mangaka for sneaking it in that early and avoiding jumping the gun with the bombshell…

    Toto
    Reply

  30. The end of the episode definitely was a “booya!” kind of moment. I’d really been worrying about a second season when they kept removing hints of it at various points. But now I can relax and look forward to the epic fun that 2wei should be. Hopefully they give it the 20ish episode treatment since there is more to cover.

    Of course I loved how Miyu got completely obsessed with Illya. Her idea of friendship is certainly warped. Going to be tough for Illya since despite the maid obsession she is definitely still interested in Shirou.

    Anyways I’d say this series was just fun. I had read the manga at some point but it was so long ago that frankly I forgot most of what happened XD. Episode 6 was definitely the highlight and just an outstanding episode. I mean Archer Illya will remain my high point for this season.

    I can’t wait for 2wei since again I can’t recall much of what happened and it should be a great ride.

    FlareKnight
    Reply

  31. I’m going to make a bold prediction and say that Fan Service of the year will come from a scene from Illya Prisma (with Stilts the main driving force behind the campaign).

    Illya-Prisma should be a lesson in how to adapt source material properly into an anime (I’m looking at you, Lerche, and your work with Danganronpa…). This was by far and away my favorite anime of the season, and that’s a hard thing to say given the surprising amount of very good anime this season. I’m more lenient than other critiques, but I have to say if there were flaws, I couldn’t find them. Pacing was spot on. Story was supurb. Comedy was perfectly executed. Music was brilliant. Action was amazing. Animation, beautiful.

    J_the_Man
    Reply

  37. Gah in the end i couldn’t stand this anime. It just feels like a waste of a spinoff to me. If it wasn’t for the fact it had Fate in it’s name it would just be considered another generic magical girl anime. Not saying it was COMPLETE crap or anything but it overall it was completely cliche and doesn’t do anything to make care much for the characters or story. Absolutely nothing felt compelling or interesting at all about their development either. It ultimately boils down to “FRIENDSHIP BEATS ALL!”. Illya’s hesitation to fight is understandable but we all knew she was going to fight again anyway so it felt rather pointless. Did it help her grow as a person? Sure. But the whole time i couldn’t help but think “Ok stop wasting my time we already know how this is going to turn out.” If i was a fate fan i might be more enticed by it but as a neutral watcher it was mostly a waste of my time.

    leatherhead333
    Reply

  38. lol, parts of the Parallel Include sequence made me think of those Digimon evolution scenes 😛

    Quite an enjoyable series.
    Though the art feels a little inconsistent, sometimes the face looks right and sometimes not.
    Also the rules of the kaleid liner doesn’t seem consistent, before Miyu said she can’t use the Gae Bolg again but in the battle against Berseker she used it 2 times. Or are they not bound by rules?

    iron2000
    Reply

  39. Honestly . this anime will be much more successful without shirou appearing in this anime, i just don’t like him to make another harem .i didn’t watch other Fate anime title and only watch this because of illya x miyu .i will keep purchasing this anime IF there’s less shirou on 2wei. .drei is wonderful btw 🙂

    Say NO to ShirNOu
    Reply

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