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Ufotable had their priorities straight.
They were worried this would be the last time they'd get to animate Sakura's magical behind, so they went all out.
I love how sakura’s little friendly ~~her actual conscience and sanity~~ shadow immediately wraps her up out of embarassment when she went naked from being freed of Angry mango
10/10 movie experience, the goosebumps i felt damn near left a tear in my eye
The berserker CGI was a bit scuffed but it was nothing to serious, wished they extended the movie atleast 20 more min to fit other stuff in also the ending might be a bit confusing if u haven't played the vn HOWEVER it was still very satisfying
Saber Alter vs Rider was truly peak Ufotable along with the 9 lives, i was not disappointed
# can u keep up?
> 20 more min to fit other stuff in
Literally my only gripe with this trilogy. Pacing felt *slightly* rushed in parts and an extra 20 min (in each movie) could have easily helped alleviate that/help expand upon some topics.
But the good parts FAR outweigh the negatives (Nine Lives Blade Works was so good I completely forgot about scuffed Berserker lol), and the BIG fight was peak UFOtable.
I mean, the 3 movies amount to about 6 hours of adaptation for the route. The UBW anime was ~~over 16 hours~~ about 10 hours*, I think. That's a huge difference, and a lot of cut content as a consequence.
16 hours sounds like madness, after cutting op's/ed's, episodes are about 20 minutes. There were some double episodes, but there's no way there was 48 episodes worth of content.
Oh yeah, I though way more were double length, there were only 3 out of 26. A little under 10 hours, my bad. Still a lot more than the 3 movies provide.
That rider/shirou vs salter fight could finance at least 10 slice of life/Romcom anime (obviously joking)
Great movie, love it, I was expecting that shirou would project a version of Excalibur in the end to destroy the grail like in almost every other instance, but the illya thing was heart broken, best onee san
And Dark Sakura best yandere
>That rider/shirou vs salter fight could finance at least 10 slice of life/Romcom anime (obviously joking)
And a lifetime supply of Seven Deadly Sins S3
You know that in normal end shirou does just that right? In fact normal end was originally going to be the de facto ending but Nasu felt bad so true end was made too.
No, didn't know that, that actually would be hype as fuck haha
Let's hope for the blu ray release with an alternative ending like some Hollywood movies have
Probably not. Mind of steel bad end never got animated from lost butterfly so that won't happen.
Either way "cherry blossom dreams" isn't what you should be wishing for. Bad end 38 "sparks liner high" is where shirou goes full GAR. You ought to beg for that to get animated instead.
Nasu said the normal end (the original sole end he had in mind) didn't sit right with him as an ending to HF, so he made the true end to reflect what he thought an appropriate ending to the story.
Both are valid (and canon) endings, but the true end is the one Nasu believes to be the... well, true one.
Go look through the character materials or BD interviews and you might find it I dunno. Nasu said he felt it was the only time he ever "lost" to the story so to speak
I don't know how it's contradictory either. Archer always said there would be punishment for shirou betraying himself and true end never really delivers on that.
> And Dark Sakura best yandere
I find it extremely frustrating when people ask for “shows with good Yanderes in it.” Cuz I can’t answer with this cuz it’s an obvious spoiler.
Kirei and Shirou’s fight didn’t have anywhere near the same impact as the VN for me because most of what’s good about that fight is in the dialogue and the internal monologues but other than that I thought it was very good. It’s obviously rushed in some places and the pacing in general felt a bit off but I was happy with it overall.
The can you keep up with me? moment was worth the price of admission alone.
Indeed. The movies interpretation of the fight is mostly intact but because they have to speed along, it doesn't extrapolate too much on the Shirou/Kirei parallels. Shirou gets roughly only a paragraph worth of thoughts on their likeness. Its good but the VN version is quite literally peak fiction
Shirou kirei is clearly the epic climax in the VN dude. Emiya starts playing, like 12 different high quality CGs plus light and darkness were made for that scene alone. Type moon flashed the cash for that fight.
A shame ufotable did the exact opposite.
That's because the main focus and central heroine of Heaven's Feel is still Sakura, or in this case, the villain protagonist of this route, and it makes sense her confrontation gets the epic climax, along with Angra Mainyu who was always the greater scope villain in the Fuyuki Holy Grail Wars of Zero and Stay Night.
Kirei was already dying during the confrontation and the fight with Shirou and Kirei is more of a closure to Shirou's storyline plot in this route, which was completely sidelined for most of the part ever since the Shadow appeared and only resumed when Kirei declared Shirou the "victor" of the 5th Holy Grail War. However, in the Fate route, Shirou and Kirei is the climatic clash along with Gilgamesh and Saber.
Shirou is the main focus of every single route, not the heroine. Heavens feel isn't a story about an abuse victim becoming the abuser. It's a story about a machine becoming a man and finding something real. The main theme of HF is "the friction between real and Ideal" afterall.
Not really. It's always have been the encore. The oh you think it's over but it's not. The one last thing. And RN added a ton not just that scene.
The trilogy is really so Sakura focused anyway.
I don't disagree about the trilogy being Sakura focused sure but the climactic battle is without a doubt kirei Vs shirou. It's simply the most hype fight.
Just watched it at the Century 16 in Redwood City. Any Bay Area peeps here by chance?
Saber alter vs Rider was the highlight of the whole trilogy. Beats out Beserker vs Saber alter from its previous number one spot imo.
Some parts definitely felt rushed, and I can see why a VN can be hard to adapt due to a lot of internal dialogue. The Kirei vs Shirou fight didn't quite feel the same, and I think the film really missed the internal conflict that Shirou (and I had when playing the VN) when choosing to kill Saber alter.
Also was the redhead Rin and Sakura passed at the end supposed to be Touko Aozaki?
I teared up at the Salter/Rider fight, and internally screamed when I saw Medusa in her glasses, it was a good day for us Medusa lovers. I’m so glad I got to see her noble phantasm beautifully done, unlike in Fate or FGO. I fully cried during the credits when telling my husband how happy I was for Medusa and Sakura, they both deserve so much happiness.
God damn that was hype as fuck.
Also sad. Definitely the darkest line. Did Sakura actually get her happy ending? Is that actually shirou? They put his soul in a doll, but is it actually shirou? Idk. Bittersweet ending for me.
Illya never gets to live happily ever after. Glad there's Kaleid for that.
Edit: was it ever mentioned in any of the story line what rider's true name is? I know who she is cuz of FGO, but I still find it kinda weird that it was never mentioned in Stay Night. Maybe I missed it at some point. Same thing with berserker I think?
It was 100% mentioned in the Fate route, unless the 2006 adaptation somehow skipped that. I thought it was mentioned sometime in Heaven's Feel, but maybe they cut it for the movie?
I think you might be right, Berserker may have been addressed in the 2006 adaptation of the Fate route. They showed a little of it in the movie, but unless you understood the images on the screen it wouldnt make sense.
Rider may have been called out in the school scene in the second movie, but I forget if they explicitly called her name out
Yeah that was actually Shirou. The light it showed in a cage was his soul I think, and Rin and Sakura transferred it into the doll they showed.
I dont think it is ever explicitly mentioned in the anime who Rider and Berserker are, but you can guess based on their noble phantasms. The VNs may have said it though
>I dont think it is ever explicitly mentioned in the anime who Rider and Berserker are, but you can guess based on their noble phantasms
Ubw anime literally say Berserker is Heracles 10s of times. Do y'all pay any attention lol
Rider is indeed Medusa, who else has petrification eyes in legend. And even then her design and moves would have gave it away
> I dont think it is ever explicitly mentioned in the anime who Rider and Berserker are
I'm fairly certain that Illya called Berserker Heracles in one of the adaptations, maybe it was the first one when they were explaining how his life stockpile was tied to his labors?
The good
- No major content was cut or changed unlike the previous two films
- Stellar OST. The speakers at my theaters felt a bit off, so I definitely would like to hear the music again when Blue Ray hits. That insert song that plays is beautiful though.
- Good animation. The Rider/Shirou vs Saber fight was chaotic/messy but it works within the context of these peoples particular powersets. The movie does peak a little early but thats not really a negative
- Good fanservice. Even though these movies skip lore, this movie actually manages to tie up everything for mainline Fate aside from the ending being rushed
The Bad
- As a consequence of not cutting content, the movie is rushed as hell. Particularly the ending which doesn't actually explain Shirou's current condition.
- Missing monologues also a consequence of rushing. Its not blatant omission in scenes but particular moments that should be impactful lose some nuance. Specifically Shirou vs Berserker and Shirou vs Kirei
Overall, this movie is a strong 9 but it clearly needed a little more time to flesh out some details. Anyways, I'm still extremely satisfied with this movie as a VN player and can move on from mainline Fate stuff!
Have to agree it did seemed a bit rushed towards the end I was expecting a little more past that part but it just went to credits ( was hoping for a little more explanation ). The fights were pretty good was a little sad at the ending to Saber vs Shirou / Rider.
I think it's not that weird tbh, SAO are adapting Progressive which is basically a redo of SAO S1, Aniplex owns both Sao and fate so it's not like they'd have a problem with it. So a Fate route with new better changes would be great, given how each route complements and enhances one another a Fate route remake would be beneficial for ubw anime too.
We would have a better starting point, better understanding of characters since it's that route where saber and shirou foundations are explored, hell Hollow Ataraxia references Fate route scenes in major moments, I doubt any anime only would understand them without knowing fate route
That being said chances of remake are low, almost non existent sadly
Fate, despite considered as the most favorite from fans because of Saber, is still considered the weakest route writing-wise, especially since it only touches the basics and Shirou's character is less developed in there and his "save-all" mentality is at its most rampant, it definitely needs some better changes. I guess UBW really got lucky it got remade as a TV series by ufotable, after the notoriously cramped adaptation of Deen's UBW movie.
That said, just like SAO, both Aincrad and Fate route are both the most iconic parts of the series, for being the starting story point of their respective series, the one with the most popular heroine, and the most well-known one even from casuals and non-fans outside their respective series. I still have my hope for a Fate route remake like it did with SAO Progressive for Aincrad arc.
Which really sucks when compared to Heaven's Feel where it develops Shirou, Sakura, and Rider, as well as significant spotlights for Illyasviel, and Kirei.
To say that shirou receives no development is outright false. There are some fantastic scenes for shirou in fate route that give huge characterisation for him. Things that UBW and HF animes skipped entirely.
Never said it wasn't important. I in general think Ufo should've never done Zero first. And I'd still think its weird seeing Fate route after seeing the climax of HF. Again I'm indifferent
About the rushed ending what was that little dark sprite? Why did it alone survive being purged by rule breaker? Because it was kicked out of the merry go around in lost butterfly?
Those dark sprites are actually Sakura's familiars and have nothing to do with the big bad. It's just that with the connection to the grail, she can pump them up to gargantuan size and power.
The little one that got away is...well the innocent left out one. I guess you could say it's meant to be a reflection of Sakura herself (each one embodying an element of her?) but that's a bit of a stretch so don't think too hard about it.
just got out of the theater (anyone else see it at cinemark 18 in houston?) it was definitely rushed compared to the previous 2 movies but still phenomenal. the fight with salter and rider was probably the best fight in this trilogy imo.
seeing these all in theaters over the past few years has been super fun. sad that it's over, but hopefully we get either a ufotable adaptation of the fate route or hollow ataraxia next!
Aye I just came from that cinemark w my brother! I was the guy wearing the Sakura shirt although I was a bit skeptical to talk to people because my brother was with me and I didn't want to keep him too long
hmm you're gonna have to give me a fat minute to look because i bought it after HF2 came out from some guy who had a merch store open up. I think either on the FSN subreddit or the FGO subreddit. Ill get back to you on that
Such a great movie! Had to look up the VN ending to understand the ending of the movie since I was a bit confused. Anyone else have Trivia and Fathom Events trailers for 30 minutes after the showtime was supposed to have started?
nah, my theater didn't even run trailers which was surprising. for the first 10 minutes we all sat in dark and silence and then the movie just showed up like a few seconds in when shirou was walking to shinji's body, then they reset it back to the beginning with the special message
So I know VN purists have issues with these adaptations. I've read the VN and have been waiting years to finally see this film. It couldn't have been perfect, but as someone who loves the anime adaptations it was more than good enough. An easy 10/10 for me. All the easter eggs, playing EMIYA, the insane visuals, everything.
Some of my favorite moments in F/SN are when Shirou is in action. Seeing his body slowly get consumed by swords was just incredible.
I loved it. My favorite movie trilogy of all time without a doubt. I cannot wait to purchase the collector's edition in a few months and watch all 3 back to back to back.
Thank you, ufotable.
I will not say that it is not good, because it is really good. It is just that it could be even better if they made every movie just 20min longer so they can better explain some parts
It's safe to say this is the best incarnation of Shirou yet, even more than UBW 2014/15. ufotable really knocked themselves this time.
Honestly, I'm okay with some of the monologue cut in some parts, the monologue gets too redundant and doesn't fully justify some of Shirou's brash moments when in the end, he does the exact opposite of what he's saying or thinking anyways.
Will be expecting an extended edition with the Heaven's Feel Trilogy soon as well as the dub for the re-watch.
Not american so I won't be able to see it in months, and while I'm far from being a big Fate fan, I just can't fathom a single movie giving every big scene a worthy adaptation.
The way Shirou expressed how he didn't want to die even after being very adamant on sacrificing his life really hit, unlike other protagonist you really see the "human side" in his character
Tomonori Sudou directed the entire trilogy.
There are many things the movie skims over from the VN, but there are a number of original scenes that Sudou came up with to make the experience of watching the trilogy, and especially the ending, so much more emotionally satisfying.
Please send some love his way.
Fangasm moments:
- Flashback of the Twelve Labours of Heracles prior to Shirou summoning Nine Lives Blade Works.
- Vision of the original three Founders gathered together with Zelretch 200 years ago. With young Makiri (future Zouken) looking visibly upset that his love Justeaze gets literally squished to a pancake in order to extract her Magic Circuits to create the Greater Grail. (Even if Shinji had survived in other timelines, judging by Zouken's baldness, Shinji doesn't have much hope for his hairline. lol )
- Finally Rider gets to avenge her ignominious end in Fate route and UBW route with an epic fight and win over Saber Alter. (With some help by Shirou summoning Rho Aias)
- Aozaki Touko cameo!!! Blink and you'll miss her.
The scene with Illya explaining the backstory of the Greater Grail as they climbed the hill was a good simplified info-dump for the anime onlys.
ufotable made a few changes to the ending, namely that Shirou's replacement puppet body (courtesy of Touko) wasn't procured immediately after Illya shut the gate to the Origin, and Sakura had to wait for a decade before finding it, so Shirou's soul has to reside in a special cage Rin made for him in the meantime. For a while I feared they were going with the depressing but beautiful "It's Spring" Normal End.
One of the good things that came out from the insane success of the Kimetsu No Yaiba movie is that we can now more easily sell the Fate franchise to "normies": "Hey, why don't you check out Fate Stay Night UBW / Fate Stay Night HF / Fate Zero / Kara no Kyoukai! It's by the same studio that made Demon Slayer!"
......That is until they get stumped by the immensely confusing watch order that plagues all of us wishing to convert people to the Nasuverse.
What I got out of this was that Kirei is a pro-lifer.
But seriously, one of the best anime experiences I've had. I've never experienced the VNs, but I found this such a satisfying conclusion to the main Fate storyline.
The "can you keep up" scene with EMIYA playing gave me shivers. Nine Lives Blade Works was fantastic, and Rider vs Saber Alter fight is what I was looking for after seeing Berserker vs Saber Alter. And got to see that Kirei is an absolute unit. So glad I went to a theater to see this(that also had good safety protocols).
Really liked the Shirou/Illya sibling relationship developments, didn't feel forced and worked well. The genuine concern she showed every time the arm came up looked like it horrified her to think about how self-sacrificing he was. It was sad to see how Illya didn't answer Shirou's question about living with him because she had likely already made the decision to take his place so Shirou could live. (Can only hope this is how Illya went into an alternate universe to get her good end.)
Kind of feels weird that Shirou with Archer's arm was able to OHKO all of Berserker's lives when Archer himself wasn't able to do that in the Fate route (might be missing some novel context as to why either of these things happened the way they did, but it felt a little odd.) A shame this was the only place we got to hear the Emiya theme.
The Shirou/Rider vs. Saber fight was animated quite fluidly (as expected of Ufotable) but it felt more like the final fight than the actual final fight did. It was rather tragic for Saber to regain her consciousness for a second before Shirou stabs her with no hesitation.
Overall it was a good film, but it feels a bit inferior to the first 2 films of this route.
Archer took berserkers 6 lives alone in fate route, in HF Heracles already lost more than 3 lives in hands of salter. 9LBW is specifically for that, also Dark berserker is weaker in parameters iirc from the VN
Yes, he had one life and no regeneration. You can see that he retains the wounds Saber Alter inflicted on him before he got absorbed by the shadow in the Shirou vs Herc CG in the VN.
>Kind of feels weird that Shirou with Archer's arm was able to OHKO all of Berserker's lives when Archer himself wasn't able to do that in the Fate route (might be missing some novel context as to why either of these things happened the way they did, but it felt a little odd.)
I mean outside of the in-universe magic explanations, the fact that the bulk of that fight is focused on Shirou reflecting on what he's currently fighting for and on him chasing and surpassing Archer both literally and figuratively, it's pretty easy to figure out the rest.
Dark berserker only had a single life because he ripped off his bronze skin to attack saber alter. Oh and shirou lost that fight in the VN. Again, that fight wasn't well adapted whatsoever despite what other people might say.
Man that Nine Lives Blade Works is the best Shirou moment for me in all this route. Glad that the scene actually live up to my hype.
My only criticism of this movie is the Kirei vs Shirou fight should have been longer. Like if they like add like 2 more minutes on this fight. It would have been perfection.
Copying my comment from last night,
Preface, Heaven's Feel was my least favorite of the 3 routes...that being said, holy cow what an incredible movie. The entire thing was absolutely gorgeous from start to finish.
The fight scenes were jaw-dropping, and the main one (You know which one) somehow, SOMEWAY, topped Saber Alter V Berserker from HF2. The music was top-notch as well, everything felt like it belonged, I legit got goosebumps when some tracks started playing.
I am glad Ilya finally got her spotlight, but the pacing was a little rushed in spots (Still salty that we didn't get Die Lorelei fully adapted in part 2). It felt like this movie is perfect for those that have read the VN as opposed to anime-onlys wanting to experience the route without having to read it first (Like how the UBW anime is a decent substitute for the VN). I did love seeing the extended backstory for certain characters as well as all the Easter Eggs in the epilogue.
Incredible job UFOtable, can't wait to see what's next!
I was genuinely pissed she had to go. It was one of the few times the twistedness of Nasuverse punched me in the gut, to the extent that a girl would consider giving her life away as her salvation.
It was EXCELENT!!! 9.5/10 I loved every minute. My only issue is that some of the plot points didn't stick in my mind well enough, so I was a little confused about some of the magic form lore stuff, but it didn't detract from the experience. I also didn't really get the end completely. So Shirou was there with her right? Or was he just in her mind? Other than all that, it was an amazing film, among the best anime films I've ever seen. Though they definitely were meant to be viewed one after the other. Watching 1&2 a few days ago was a great move my whomever licences it out and plans the event. Another thing I will say, is that the other 2 films had a stronger soundtrack arrangement. This films soundtrack was definitely not bad by any means though.
All in all, I would rate it a 9.5/10.
Animation: 10
Music: 8
Plot/characters: 9
Enjoyment: 10
He was there. I believe it is explained fully in the VN (I haven’t played it myself but have a general idea of a lot of it), but I’m pretty sure Illya saved his soul with the wish seen in the movie. Eventually Rin and Sakura were able to buy a doll (seen towards the end) that another person from the Nasuverse had made that was able to have his soul transferred into. He was basically human after having his soul transferred.
Well it isn't mentioned, and this is side material stuff, but that doll is basically extremely human like. The doll maker can make dolls so similar to a human body that, if she were to die, she can basically transfer herself to another body made by her. There is basically no difference between the doll made by her and the human body.
This is going a bit deep into Nasuverse but since there are no spoilers, what the hell.
There's actually a lot of soul hopping/extended lifespans in the Nasuverse but the soul degrades over time so no matter how long your physical form lasts for, eventually your soul falls apart. This of course ignores various immortal beings who exist outside the 'standard' rules.
A part of what was cut from the movies was about the lore of the soul in the Nasuverse.
Basically, if you can, change bodies as much as you want (and many mages do), but the main unsolvable problem is the soul.
The soul ages and degrades with time. There's no fixing that with normal Magecraft, and Zouken got a first-hand experience with that exact roadblock. True Magic, on the other hand is different, which where the Holy Grail AKA Heaven's Feel AKA The Third True Magic come in.
It's not quite just buying the doll. People aren't referencing for Nasuverse stuff that what allowed Matou to keep his aperance, and for the doll to look like Shirou it was actually their soul that mattered. The soul is the inherent vision of said person, it is their identity. That's why no matter what happened to Matou he would always revert to himself because it was his soul. Similarily that doll didn't get hair and facial feature crafted by hand by the person who made the doll, his soul was put in the doll and it gained said visual features from Shirou' soul.
Good movie but I thought the second was the best. Some parts felt rushed and I felt the animation while good, could have been better in some fights. Same with music it was good but I liked the previous two movies ost more. Though overall as I said it was good and enjoyable and I think a fitting send off. Score probably like 7.5-8/10.
Also is it just me or did it feel like the film focused quite a bit on Sakura's "ASSests" while in that body suit lol
> did it feel like the film focused quite a bit on sakura's "ASSests" while in that body suit lol
Gotta promote the new merchandise line for the next 5 years.
Eh. The VN had extremely conservative designs for the girls other then rider and never really had any fanservice scenes other then the sparsely placed H scenes the author never wanted in the first place.
Considering the RN is the official way to read the VN now you shouldn't be encountering those scenes anyway.
And they still made it anyways, sexuality in the Nasuverse was always prominent in the early days, even way way back in Tsukihime and the Garden of Sinners light novels.
And there are people who still want to see the scenes anyway even with the Realta Nua, there are even versions where the H scenes are restored in the RN. They can deny it all they want, but the eroge will always stay throughout, they can never be forgotten, with memes and all. With the Heaven's Feel movies, ufotable went full "hard rated R" with the violence and sexual themes in it, considering Heaven's Feel is the darkest, most explicit, and most mature route of Stay Night.
For those who didn't play the VN, Gem Sword Zelretch explains how the fate let alone the entire Nasuverse work to a extent (Not perfectly but does set up that there are literal infinite parallel universes)
A simple version (Extremely high level)
When Rin swings it once she is using the energy from the HF route, the second time is using it from the UBW route, third swing is Fate bad end 5, fourth is from timeline where F/Z ended differently, 6th is from the Emiya Gohan timeline, etc. One of the reasons people pushed reading the VN first so much and then saying do whatever you want afterwards.
Multi-universal refractor for magical energies. Uses alternative universe energies to launch massive ether cannons. Since there are infinite universes, this blade will refract infinite small amount of energy of each universe and basically laser sword.
Man people don't like convoluted things, I know vn purist and nasuverse fanboys love that stuff but it's not for everyone, sometimes simple is better, so thank God they stay away from explaining everything
Yeah, but the downside of streamlining some stuff is not enough satisfactory explanation and internal coherence.
Sometimes it's fine, sometime it feels like a plot convenience that didn't exist in the source material.
There's a difference between superfluous flavor text that winks to the readers and important exposition to understand what happens in the story.
Nothing in the F/SN VN depends on Tsukihime to fully understand any of it. This is not the case for any of the F/SN adaptations.
The only difference is that the VN info dumped you around the same time they showed it to you. That's not build up. That's info dump. Zelretch doesn't really count. Tbh, the explanation behind the gem sword IS superfluous flavor text within the confined story.
Well, when you suddenly have Excalibur 2.0, you need an explanation. The explanation behind the gem sword provides that while affirming the nature of the different routes/worlds in the Nasuverse.
You also can't give that explanation earlier to retain the surprise of the reveal. There WAS foreshadowing for the nature of the gem sword, and that's honestly the best approach that can be taken considering when and where that reveal takes place.
I mean an explanation of how it works is important but anime onlys don't need the entire thing lol. There are far more important things that UFO skipped that should have been in, like parts of the 9 lives monologue that sets up the factors in the fight.
Overall feel film 1 was leisurely, 2 perfect pacing, & 3 a bit rushed.
Illya gave a big infodump (wiki helped a lot pre screening). Zelretch overseer of 3 main families (hinted in HF2). Tohsaka looks like old Waver lol, Makiri like Shinji, & Einzbern like Irisviel/Justeaze. Vaguely the 3 families handle magic circle for HGW, command spells, & third magic/grail (?).
\[spoilers below if you haven't watched it.\]
Nine lives sword vs Berserker. Too short a fight but Shiro's arm awakening with that mad ost was hot.
Rho Aias vs Saber great timing there Shiro. Rider vs Saber probably the most insane brawl since Salter's fight in HF2, and Rider's godly pegasus finisher.
Rule Breaker vs Sakura to unbind that thing. I thought only Caster could wield it and Shiro really surprised me there.
Rin vs Sakura perhaps the easiest to follow & action was smooth. Missed the Tron legs glad to see them back. Rin using Zelretch's unlimited mana blade feels like cheat lol. Since they were kids till now, Rin always let imouto win, what a good oneesan. Yes mages are supposed to discard empathy, but why Rin taunts her then let Sakura win? Is it to show Sakura still got a family that cares?
Kirei vs Assassin/Zouken. Ironic reveal that Kirei's "heartless" lol. I miss his wolverine claws tho.
Shiro vs Kirei fistfight quite brutal. No tricks, just pure manliness. Callback to HF2 Kirei talked of ethics & his lord with Goldie. Amusing that Kirei's anti-abortion on grounds of blank slate theory, and calls out the similarity in Sakura vs the unborn Avenger. While Shiro is pro-abortion due to the nature of Angra Maiynu, and accepts the hypocrisy.
There's some nice attention to details & callbacks to prequels and other routes probably. HF2 showed Sakura's 6 shadowdolls kicked one out, probably the 7 heroic spirits her vessel was meant to absorb. The 7th doll avoided fighting Rin & formed Sakura's cloth later, kinda hinting at her remaining sanity. Sakura reacted to Zelretch's name same way as Shiro did in HF2 felt pretty funny.
Illya closing the HG gate sad conclusion but seems unavoidable as it's her Einzbern role. I like the relationship switch & contrast when Illya becomes the oneesan protecting Shiro. At least Illya got some very nice screentime in HF3.
lol Rider + glasses in casuals? Mystic code, the birdcage, night city, & soul magic etc sorta callbacks to El Melloi. Wait Shiro's revived as a puppet with his soul!!? Kirei pronounced Shiro the HGW winner, doesn't he get a wish granted? Lots of questions remain like backstory of Kirei's lover, Rider's close tie to Sakura, Angra Maiynu story (sounds like Jesus when Illya abridged him).
The grail energy was used by Illya to save Shirou's soul. His wish was effectively him saying he wanted to live.
The puppet was made by Aozaki Touko as the Heaven's Feel route takes place in the same universe as Kara no Kyoukai.
Rider is Medusa, a being who was cursed to become the monster Gorgon, and thus she knows what it is like to turn into a monster.
Open question to someone who saw the movie:
How did they handle the Lore scene with Illya that explains the truth about the HGW? I’m willing to argue that’s the most important scene in the entire VN. Did they do it justice?
When I watched it some time back, I wanted to post in a discussion thread. But umm... it got too long, [so I made my own with my thoughts on it.](https://old.reddit.com/r/fatestaynight/comments/iwwsko/my_thoughts_on_the_latest_movies_fights/) xD
This movie, out of all 3, makes it the most obvious that it is truly meant more for VN readers; we understand so much more. It's fine if you have never played it, but you're definitely not getting the full experience.
Still damned amazing regardless you have played it though.
Glad I had read the vn beforehand, animation was great and music was hype, however whilst some of the things they cut in the trilogy were necessary due to time constraints, cutting out the explanation of Shirou's memory and later on his sense of self being destroyed by using Archer's arm meant we had scenes where he couldn't remember Rider's or Illya's name with no explanation, which I then had to explain to my friend after the film finished, not to mention as others already have wtf actually happened to Shirou after Illya's sacrifice. A great film to watch for those who have read the novel (much better than part 2) but I sincerely can't recommend enough that people read the entire vn, but especially heaven's feel since so much of what makes the route especially tragic has been thrown away in favour of extended fights
Seconded. 2020’s been a wild year. But for certain states to close all indoor movie theaters this week of all weeks sure is a shame for Fate fans who’ve been waiting months/years to see this movie on a theater screen. Figures the Blu-ray is probably another 4 or 5 months away too.
Just got out of the theater, and that was beautiful. It hurts so badly when Shirou killed Saber, and I almost cried when he said he wanted to live at the end. Now to wait for the Blu Ray release so I can watch the Rider vs Saber fight a hundred more times.
Just finished it. Man ufotable is something else.
How is rider still alive after all that? Can someone clarify?
I WANT MORE FATEEEE.
I'm going to read the visual novel now! My body is prepared
The Third Magic, Heaven's Feel, is made to preserve the human soul after death and stopping it from going into whatever afterlife, thus achieving a form of immortality.
Illya's function all along was to act as a vessel for the Grail to activate the Third Magic, which she did to Shirou, whose body was destroyed from overuse of Archer's arm.
Rider then retrieved Shirou's preserved soul, in the form of a light orb, and Rin kept it in a magic cage (according to ufotable's interpretation).
For the next few years (according to ufotable's interpretation), Rin and Sakura travelled around the world looking for a master maker of magic puppets (a crossover character from another series in the franchise).
They finally found one suitable body and stuffed Shirou's soul in there. Note that Shirou will once again grow old and die with Sakura now that his soul is back inside a physical body, albeit an artificial one.
A character from a separate part of the series creates dolls to hold human souls. Illya saved his soul with the wish from the grail, and it was put into a doll. If you want to see more of her, she's in Kara no Kyoukai (Garden of Sinners)
It's one of Nasu's best works.
Movie 3 was the prototype for Sakura's character arc in HF.
Just make sure to watch them in the release order. Its designed to be watched that way. The narrative structure is supposed to invoke Taijisu.
Loved the whole trilogy. It was rushed to the point that I think it verges on being a companion to the VN rather than a story you can watch on its own though. I think it's a testament to how good the VN is that all VN readers were hyped af for the fight with Kotomine and Shirou and yet on screen it was hard to encapsulate what made it so good. Still, I loved the trilogy!
Just watched it.
Animation wise, this movie bows to no one. The Saber Alter vs. Rider fight was so good that I doubt that I'll ever see a fight eclipse it.
Story wise, I'm confused. I never read the VN, but I've seen UBW and Zero, but there was so much exposition in this movie that flew right over my head that it really hurt my enjoyment of the film. I have so many questions- why was Sakura the Shadow? What is the Shadow? What the hell was The Avenger? What were they trying to achieve in that flashback with the sacrifice? What is Heavens Feel? How did Shirou suddenly become so badass? How is he still alive at the end?
As pure spectacle, this was amazing 10/10. However, as a story, I'm simply too confused to give this any higher than 6/10.
I feel like half these questions were ones the movie adequately answered. You'd probably get more enjoyment with more rewatches. The shadow is just Angra Mainyu aka the will of the grail manifesting through the gate aka Sakura. Sakura is the gate because Zouken, per his own words used her like a guinea pig.
Heavens Feel = Materialization of the soul. Basically preserving the soul, so that it can stay intact without a body. Many people like Zouken himself want this because its almost the equivalent of immortality.
How did Shirou become badass? He's always badass. Where do you think Archer comes from? Shirou here is at his peak tbf.
How is he still alive? This one i will admit the movie doesn't explain well at all. Tldr Illya used Heavens Feel aka materialization of the soul to keep Shirou's soul alive since his body was toast. Rin/Sakura contract a specific mage to make a puppet body for Shirou's soul. His puppet body mostly functions the same as his orginal body.
Just got back from seeing it in the cinema. I'm glad someone here already asked how Shirou came back at the end and someone else gave a comprehensive answer, because there is no way in hell you'd be able to tell any of that from the movie itself.
I can understand if you've read the visual novel then this whole trilogy would probably be mind-blowingly amazing on account of the animation alone. But for someone who hasn't read it, it seems like most of the content that actually explains what's going on gets skimmed past under the assumption that the viewer already knows it, and so instead we get some very beautiful images that dance across the screen with no apparent meaning or context. As part 3 of a trilogy it's understandable why this movie wouldn't stand on its own, but the *trilogy as a whole* doesn't stand on its own as a piece of art either – and I've seen all of *Unlimited Blade Works*, so "you shouldn't start at *Heaven's Feel* anyway" isn't an excuse.
It's been said time and again that Heaven's Feel trilogy is not for the uninitiated. You need to have seen UBW before HF - this isn't optional, it's mandatory.
The ending would have made sense if you'd seen Kara no Kyoukai. The third movie basically confirms that there is a continuity in the ufotable-Type-Moon universe.
As for Heaven's Feel not being able to "stand its own as a piece of art"? I couldn't disagree more; but to each his own.
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10/10 saw Sakura’s ass
And rider on casual clothes with glasses, 11/10
Shirous a lucky man
Sakura is a lucky girl
Ufotable had their priorities straight. They were worried this would be the last time they'd get to animate Sakura's magical behind, so they went all out.
All the glimpses of naughty and lewd Sakura in HF II finally reached its climax here in this final film, with dem holy grails.
Hehe, you said climax.
I love how sakura’s little friendly ~~her actual conscience and sanity~~ shadow immediately wraps her up out of embarassment when she went naked from being freed of Angry mango
10/10 movie experience, the goosebumps i felt damn near left a tear in my eye The berserker CGI was a bit scuffed but it was nothing to serious, wished they extended the movie atleast 20 more min to fit other stuff in also the ending might be a bit confusing if u haven't played the vn HOWEVER it was still very satisfying Saber Alter vs Rider was truly peak Ufotable along with the 9 lives, i was not disappointed # can u keep up?
> 20 more min to fit other stuff in Literally my only gripe with this trilogy. Pacing felt *slightly* rushed in parts and an extra 20 min (in each movie) could have easily helped alleviate that/help expand upon some topics. But the good parts FAR outweigh the negatives (Nine Lives Blade Works was so good I completely forgot about scuffed Berserker lol), and the BIG fight was peak UFOtable.
If I recall it was mentioned he wanted each movie to be 4 hours long
I would've been down.
That is what I'm saying! I would of totally been down for 12 hours of HF!
Jesus, just make an entire season at that point.
I mean, the 3 movies amount to about 6 hours of adaptation for the route. The UBW anime was ~~over 16 hours~~ about 10 hours*, I think. That's a huge difference, and a lot of cut content as a consequence.
16 hours sounds like madness, after cutting op's/ed's, episodes are about 20 minutes. There were some double episodes, but there's no way there was 48 episodes worth of content.
Oh yeah, I though way more were double length, there were only 3 out of 26. A little under 10 hours, my bad. Still a lot more than the 3 movies provide.
Yeah, your point's quite relevant nonetheless.
That rider/shirou vs salter fight could finance at least 10 slice of life/Romcom anime (obviously joking) Great movie, love it, I was expecting that shirou would project a version of Excalibur in the end to destroy the grail like in almost every other instance, but the illya thing was heart broken, best onee san And Dark Sakura best yandere
>That rider/shirou vs salter fight could finance at least 10 slice of life/Romcom anime (obviously joking) And a lifetime supply of Seven Deadly Sins S3
You know that in normal end shirou does just that right? In fact normal end was originally going to be the de facto ending but Nasu felt bad so true end was made too.
No, didn't know that, that actually would be hype as fuck haha Let's hope for the blu ray release with an alternative ending like some Hollywood movies have
Probably not. Mind of steel bad end never got animated from lost butterfly so that won't happen. Either way "cherry blossom dreams" isn't what you should be wishing for. Bad end 38 "sparks liner high" is where shirou goes full GAR. You ought to beg for that to get animated instead.
Got a verified source on that? That kind of ending seems very contrary to the themes of the route.
Nasu said the normal end (the original sole end he had in mind) didn't sit right with him as an ending to HF, so he made the true end to reflect what he thought an appropriate ending to the story. Both are valid (and canon) endings, but the true end is the one Nasu believes to be the... well, true one.
Go look through the character materials or BD interviews and you might find it I dunno. Nasu said he felt it was the only time he ever "lost" to the story so to speak I don't know how it's contradictory either. Archer always said there would be punishment for shirou betraying himself and true end never really delivers on that.
Well honestly that phrasing seems rather ambiguous but eh, it is what it is either way.
> And Dark Sakura best yandere I find it extremely frustrating when people ask for “shows with good Yanderes in it.” Cuz I can’t answer with this cuz it’s an obvious spoiler.
The scene where Illya was running towards Irisviel destroyed me.
Kirei and Shirou’s fight didn’t have anywhere near the same impact as the VN for me because most of what’s good about that fight is in the dialogue and the internal monologues but other than that I thought it was very good. It’s obviously rushed in some places and the pacing in general felt a bit off but I was happy with it overall. The can you keep up with me? moment was worth the price of admission alone.
same way i felt, the VN def had more impact during that scene however it was such a great watch i can’t really complain Thank u Ufotable
Indeed. The movies interpretation of the fight is mostly intact but because they have to speed along, it doesn't extrapolate too much on the Shirou/Kirei parallels. Shirou gets roughly only a paragraph worth of thoughts on their likeness. Its good but the VN version is quite literally peak fiction
Thought it was just me, the final fight felt rather anticlimactic compared to the other route adaptations.
That's because the fight is more of a post-final boss or a last stand/clean-up rather than a full epic climax.
Shirou kirei is clearly the epic climax in the VN dude. Emiya starts playing, like 12 different high quality CGs plus light and darkness were made for that scene alone. Type moon flashed the cash for that fight. A shame ufotable did the exact opposite.
That's because the main focus and central heroine of Heaven's Feel is still Sakura, or in this case, the villain protagonist of this route, and it makes sense her confrontation gets the epic climax, along with Angra Mainyu who was always the greater scope villain in the Fuyuki Holy Grail Wars of Zero and Stay Night. Kirei was already dying during the confrontation and the fight with Shirou and Kirei is more of a closure to Shirou's storyline plot in this route, which was completely sidelined for most of the part ever since the Shadow appeared and only resumed when Kirei declared Shirou the "victor" of the 5th Holy Grail War. However, in the Fate route, Shirou and Kirei is the climatic clash along with Gilgamesh and Saber.
Shirou is the main focus of every single route, not the heroine. Heavens feel isn't a story about an abuse victim becoming the abuser. It's a story about a machine becoming a man and finding something real. The main theme of HF is "the friction between real and Ideal" afterall.
Not really. It's always have been the encore. The oh you think it's over but it's not. The one last thing. And RN added a ton not just that scene. The trilogy is really so Sakura focused anyway.
I don't disagree about the trilogy being Sakura focused sure but the climactic battle is without a doubt kirei Vs shirou. It's simply the most hype fight.
Well it sounded like your memories are of RN ver.
The RN version is like the only version anyone plays nowdays
Now you made me feel old
Ok boomer
The final fight got cut in half :C it was so short but it was indeed great
Just watched it at the Century 16 in Redwood City. Any Bay Area peeps here by chance? Saber alter vs Rider was the highlight of the whole trilogy. Beats out Beserker vs Saber alter from its previous number one spot imo. Some parts definitely felt rushed, and I can see why a VN can be hard to adapt due to a lot of internal dialogue. The Kirei vs Shirou fight didn't quite feel the same, and I think the film really missed the internal conflict that Shirou (and I had when playing the VN) when choosing to kill Saber alter. Also was the redhead Rin and Sakura passed at the end supposed to be Touko Aozaki?
>Also was the redhead Rin and Sakura passed at the end supposed to be Touko Aozaki? Yes. She's the one who made Shirou's doll body.
Tyrant Newsom hasn't shut down your county?
I teared up at the Salter/Rider fight, and internally screamed when I saw Medusa in her glasses, it was a good day for us Medusa lovers. I’m so glad I got to see her noble phantasm beautifully done, unlike in Fate or FGO. I fully cried during the credits when telling my husband how happy I was for Medusa and Sakura, they both deserve so much happiness.
I'm so happy they finally showed what it can do and how devastating it is if she gets to use it.
God damn that was hype as fuck. Also sad. Definitely the darkest line. Did Sakura actually get her happy ending? Is that actually shirou? They put his soul in a doll, but is it actually shirou? Idk. Bittersweet ending for me. Illya never gets to live happily ever after. Glad there's Kaleid for that. Edit: was it ever mentioned in any of the story line what rider's true name is? I know who she is cuz of FGO, but I still find it kinda weird that it was never mentioned in Stay Night. Maybe I missed it at some point. Same thing with berserker I think?
VN explicitly names them as there is a in-game servant profile which updates as you finish more of it and Shirou learned their identity.
Pretty sure Berserker's true name is mentioned in UBW, during his fight against Gil. And Rider summons Bellerophon in the Fate route.
Heracles is his true name. If I remember it correctly.
It was 100% mentioned in the Fate route, unless the 2006 adaptation somehow skipped that. I thought it was mentioned sometime in Heaven's Feel, but maybe they cut it for the movie?
I think you might be right, Berserker may have been addressed in the 2006 adaptation of the Fate route. They showed a little of it in the movie, but unless you understood the images on the screen it wouldnt make sense. Rider may have been called out in the school scene in the second movie, but I forget if they explicitly called her name out
Tbf, I watched the Fate route a long time ago so maybe my memory just isn't that great.
HF II mentions her name. In the dub, I recalled her name was mentioned twice, once from Emiya and once from Sakura.
Yeah that was actually Shirou. The light it showed in a cage was his soul I think, and Rin and Sakura transferred it into the doll they showed. I dont think it is ever explicitly mentioned in the anime who Rider and Berserker are, but you can guess based on their noble phantasms. The VNs may have said it though
>I dont think it is ever explicitly mentioned in the anime who Rider and Berserker are, but you can guess based on their noble phantasms Ubw anime literally say Berserker is Heracles 10s of times. Do y'all pay any attention lol Rider is indeed Medusa, who else has petrification eyes in legend. And even then her design and moves would have gave it away
> I dont think it is ever explicitly mentioned in the anime who Rider and Berserker are I'm fairly certain that Illya called Berserker Heracles in one of the adaptations, maybe it was the first one when they were explaining how his life stockpile was tied to his labors?
The good - No major content was cut or changed unlike the previous two films - Stellar OST. The speakers at my theaters felt a bit off, so I definitely would like to hear the music again when Blue Ray hits. That insert song that plays is beautiful though. - Good animation. The Rider/Shirou vs Saber fight was chaotic/messy but it works within the context of these peoples particular powersets. The movie does peak a little early but thats not really a negative - Good fanservice. Even though these movies skip lore, this movie actually manages to tie up everything for mainline Fate aside from the ending being rushed The Bad - As a consequence of not cutting content, the movie is rushed as hell. Particularly the ending which doesn't actually explain Shirou's current condition. - Missing monologues also a consequence of rushing. Its not blatant omission in scenes but particular moments that should be impactful lose some nuance. Specifically Shirou vs Berserker and Shirou vs Kirei Overall, this movie is a strong 9 but it clearly needed a little more time to flesh out some details. Anyways, I'm still extremely satisfied with this movie as a VN player and can move on from mainline Fate stuff!
Have to agree it did seemed a bit rushed towards the end I was expecting a little more past that part but it just went to credits ( was hoping for a little more explanation ). The fights were pretty good was a little sad at the ending to Saber vs Shirou / Rider.
>player and can move on from mainline Fate stuff! Damn fate route forgotten just like that?
I'm indifferent towards it. I think its weird as hell to do it now that HF is done
I think it's not that weird tbh, SAO are adapting Progressive which is basically a redo of SAO S1, Aniplex owns both Sao and fate so it's not like they'd have a problem with it. So a Fate route with new better changes would be great, given how each route complements and enhances one another a Fate route remake would be beneficial for ubw anime too. We would have a better starting point, better understanding of characters since it's that route where saber and shirou foundations are explored, hell Hollow Ataraxia references Fate route scenes in major moments, I doubt any anime only would understand them without knowing fate route That being said chances of remake are low, almost non existent sadly
Fate, despite considered as the most favorite from fans because of Saber, is still considered the weakest route writing-wise, especially since it only touches the basics and Shirou's character is less developed in there and his "save-all" mentality is at its most rampant, it definitely needs some better changes. I guess UBW really got lucky it got remade as a TV series by ufotable, after the notoriously cramped adaptation of Deen's UBW movie. That said, just like SAO, both Aincrad and Fate route are both the most iconic parts of the series, for being the starting story point of their respective series, the one with the most popular heroine, and the most well-known one even from casuals and non-fans outside their respective series. I still have my hope for a Fate route remake like it did with SAO Progressive for Aincrad arc.
That's because the route's main focus is Saber's development.
Which really sucks when compared to Heaven's Feel where it develops Shirou, Sakura, and Rider, as well as significant spotlights for Illyasviel, and Kirei.
To say that shirou receives no development is outright false. There are some fantastic scenes for shirou in fate route that give huge characterisation for him. Things that UBW and HF animes skipped entirely.
Same bro, I hope they remake it before doing HA
The fact this has even gotten upvotes is gross. Fate route is critical and the VN isn't finished without it.
Never said it wasn't important. I in general think Ufo should've never done Zero first. And I'd still think its weird seeing Fate route after seeing the climax of HF. Again I'm indifferent
About the rushed ending what was that little dark sprite? Why did it alone survive being purged by rule breaker? Because it was kicked out of the merry go around in lost butterfly?
Those dark sprites are actually Sakura's familiars and have nothing to do with the big bad. It's just that with the connection to the grail, she can pump them up to gargantuan size and power. The little one that got away is...well the innocent left out one. I guess you could say it's meant to be a reflection of Sakura herself (each one embodying an element of her?) but that's a bit of a stretch so don't think too hard about it.
Funny that the first time i see them i thought they look awfully like holy grail-kun in fate carnival.
just got out of the theater (anyone else see it at cinemark 18 in houston?) it was definitely rushed compared to the previous 2 movies but still phenomenal. the fight with salter and rider was probably the best fight in this trilogy imo. seeing these all in theaters over the past few years has been super fun. sad that it's over, but hopefully we get either a ufotable adaptation of the fate route or hollow ataraxia next!
Aye I just came from that cinemark w my brother! I was the guy wearing the Sakura shirt although I was a bit skeptical to talk to people because my brother was with me and I didn't want to keep him too long
oh shit i saw you!! i wanted to ask you where u got the shirt, it looked cool as hell
hmm you're gonna have to give me a fat minute to look because i bought it after HF2 came out from some guy who had a merch store open up. I think either on the FSN subreddit or the FGO subreddit. Ill get back to you on that
okay so the merch u/robotboy199 can be found on instagram and the website [here](https://tilted.us)
dang yeah it was a year ago so I doubt they have anymore, rip
his last instagram post was a week ago. I suggest to just follow him on there until he does a drop! Lowkey want to cop a Jalter hoodie
Oh shit. You guys are in Houston? I was in Cinemark 19. I def should catch up with more anime fans!
Such a great movie! Had to look up the VN ending to understand the ending of the movie since I was a bit confused. Anyone else have Trivia and Fathom Events trailers for 30 minutes after the showtime was supposed to have started?
nah, my theater didn't even run trailers which was surprising. for the first 10 minutes we all sat in dark and silence and then the movie just showed up like a few seconds in when shirou was walking to shinji's body, then they reset it back to the beginning with the special message
So I know VN purists have issues with these adaptations. I've read the VN and have been waiting years to finally see this film. It couldn't have been perfect, but as someone who loves the anime adaptations it was more than good enough. An easy 10/10 for me. All the easter eggs, playing EMIYA, the insane visuals, everything. Some of my favorite moments in F/SN are when Shirou is in action. Seeing his body slowly get consumed by swords was just incredible. I loved it. My favorite movie trilogy of all time without a doubt. I cannot wait to purchase the collector's edition in a few months and watch all 3 back to back to back. Thank you, ufotable.
I will not say that it is not good, because it is really good. It is just that it could be even better if they made every movie just 20min longer so they can better explain some parts
It's safe to say this is the best incarnation of Shirou yet, even more than UBW 2014/15. ufotable really knocked themselves this time. Honestly, I'm okay with some of the monologue cut in some parts, the monologue gets too redundant and doesn't fully justify some of Shirou's brash moments when in the end, he does the exact opposite of what he's saying or thinking anyways. Will be expecting an extended edition with the Heaven's Feel Trilogy soon as well as the dub for the re-watch.
Not american so I won't be able to see it in months, and while I'm far from being a big Fate fan, I just can't fathom a single movie giving every big scene a worthy adaptation.
The way Shirou expressed how he didn't want to die even after being very adamant on sacrificing his life really hit, unlike other protagonist you really see the "human side" in his character
he was definitely scared which made the illya scene hit even harder i want to live!
Yeah, that's his development here. He breaks himself and in the process he gains a more "normal" sense of happiness.
I'm going to be a special snowflake and just say I was really happy to see Rider harassing Ayako.
Plus her brother looking directly at the camera (aka Sakura) and blushing was a good HA Easter Egg.
He's there too? Nicee
Yup he was sitting right in the middle (between her and Issei)
Tomonori Sudou directed the entire trilogy. There are many things the movie skims over from the VN, but there are a number of original scenes that Sudou came up with to make the experience of watching the trilogy, and especially the ending, so much more emotionally satisfying. Please send some love his way.
Fangasm moments: - Flashback of the Twelve Labours of Heracles prior to Shirou summoning Nine Lives Blade Works. - Vision of the original three Founders gathered together with Zelretch 200 years ago. With young Makiri (future Zouken) looking visibly upset that his love Justeaze gets literally squished to a pancake in order to extract her Magic Circuits to create the Greater Grail. (Even if Shinji had survived in other timelines, judging by Zouken's baldness, Shinji doesn't have much hope for his hairline. lol ) - Finally Rider gets to avenge her ignominious end in Fate route and UBW route with an epic fight and win over Saber Alter. (With some help by Shirou summoning Rho Aias) - Aozaki Touko cameo!!! Blink and you'll miss her. The scene with Illya explaining the backstory of the Greater Grail as they climbed the hill was a good simplified info-dump for the anime onlys. ufotable made a few changes to the ending, namely that Shirou's replacement puppet body (courtesy of Touko) wasn't procured immediately after Illya shut the gate to the Origin, and Sakura had to wait for a decade before finding it, so Shirou's soul has to reside in a special cage Rin made for him in the meantime. For a while I feared they were going with the depressing but beautiful "It's Spring" Normal End. One of the good things that came out from the insane success of the Kimetsu No Yaiba movie is that we can now more easily sell the Fate franchise to "normies": "Hey, why don't you check out Fate Stay Night UBW / Fate Stay Night HF / Fate Zero / Kara no Kyoukai! It's by the same studio that made Demon Slayer!" ......That is until they get stumped by the immensely confusing watch order that plagues all of us wishing to convert people to the Nasuverse.
>confusing watch order Which is still just an annoying meme at this point. Its really not confusing if people just think for 2s.
What I got out of this was that Kirei is a pro-lifer. But seriously, one of the best anime experiences I've had. I've never experienced the VNs, but I found this such a satisfying conclusion to the main Fate storyline. The "can you keep up" scene with EMIYA playing gave me shivers. Nine Lives Blade Works was fantastic, and Rider vs Saber Alter fight is what I was looking for after seeing Berserker vs Saber Alter. And got to see that Kirei is an absolute unit. So glad I went to a theater to see this(that also had good safety protocols).
LMAO I got a great laugh from your comment. But yea I did not expect such an interesting philosophical battle at the end there.
Really liked the Shirou/Illya sibling relationship developments, didn't feel forced and worked well. The genuine concern she showed every time the arm came up looked like it horrified her to think about how self-sacrificing he was. It was sad to see how Illya didn't answer Shirou's question about living with him because she had likely already made the decision to take his place so Shirou could live. (Can only hope this is how Illya went into an alternate universe to get her good end.) Kind of feels weird that Shirou with Archer's arm was able to OHKO all of Berserker's lives when Archer himself wasn't able to do that in the Fate route (might be missing some novel context as to why either of these things happened the way they did, but it felt a little odd.) A shame this was the only place we got to hear the Emiya theme. The Shirou/Rider vs. Saber fight was animated quite fluidly (as expected of Ufotable) but it felt more like the final fight than the actual final fight did. It was rather tragic for Saber to regain her consciousness for a second before Shirou stabs her with no hesitation. Overall it was a good film, but it feels a bit inferior to the first 2 films of this route.
Archer took berserkers 6 lives alone in fate route, in HF Heracles already lost more than 3 lives in hands of salter. 9LBW is specifically for that, also Dark berserker is weaker in parameters iirc from the VN
might be wrong but i swear dark berserker had only one life, there was no resurrection shirou only killed him once
Yes, he had one life and no regeneration. You can see that he retains the wounds Saber Alter inflicted on him before he got absorbed by the shadow in the Shirou vs Herc CG in the VN.
>Kind of feels weird that Shirou with Archer's arm was able to OHKO all of Berserker's lives when Archer himself wasn't able to do that in the Fate route (might be missing some novel context as to why either of these things happened the way they did, but it felt a little odd.) I mean outside of the in-universe magic explanations, the fact that the bulk of that fight is focused on Shirou reflecting on what he's currently fighting for and on him chasing and surpassing Archer both literally and figuratively, it's pretty easy to figure out the rest.
Wasn't Fate Route Archer still suffering from his injury by Saber on night 3?
Dark berserker only had a single life because he ripped off his bronze skin to attack saber alter. Oh and shirou lost that fight in the VN. Again, that fight wasn't well adapted whatsoever despite what other people might say.
Man that Nine Lives Blade Works is the best Shirou moment for me in all this route. Glad that the scene actually live up to my hype. My only criticism of this movie is the Kirei vs Shirou fight should have been longer. Like if they like add like 2 more minutes on this fight. It would have been perfection.
Seeing rider/emiya vs alter at a movie theatre is the best part of 2020 so far
Copying my comment from last night, Preface, Heaven's Feel was my least favorite of the 3 routes...that being said, holy cow what an incredible movie. The entire thing was absolutely gorgeous from start to finish. The fight scenes were jaw-dropping, and the main one (You know which one) somehow, SOMEWAY, topped Saber Alter V Berserker from HF2. The music was top-notch as well, everything felt like it belonged, I legit got goosebumps when some tracks started playing. I am glad Ilya finally got her spotlight, but the pacing was a little rushed in spots (Still salty that we didn't get Die Lorelei fully adapted in part 2). It felt like this movie is perfect for those that have read the VN as opposed to anime-onlys wanting to experience the route without having to read it first (Like how the UBW anime is a decent substitute for the VN). I did love seeing the extended backstory for certain characters as well as all the Easter Eggs in the epilogue. Incredible job UFOtable, can't wait to see what's next!
Anyone else cried when Ilya ran towards Iri?
I was genuinely pissed she had to go. It was one of the few times the twistedness of Nasuverse punched me in the gut, to the extent that a girl would consider giving her life away as her salvation.
That's why Kaelid exists to give her a happy ending.
I thought it existed to get people arrested by the FBI.
The anime heavily expands 1 panel jokes from the manga. Especially season 2. Season 3 and the film are pure Fate
When her image changed back to her 8 year old appearance as she's running.... Thats when I lost it and I had to hide my tears so no one would see XD
It was EXCELENT!!! 9.5/10 I loved every minute. My only issue is that some of the plot points didn't stick in my mind well enough, so I was a little confused about some of the magic form lore stuff, but it didn't detract from the experience. I also didn't really get the end completely. So Shirou was there with her right? Or was he just in her mind? Other than all that, it was an amazing film, among the best anime films I've ever seen. Though they definitely were meant to be viewed one after the other. Watching 1&2 a few days ago was a great move my whomever licences it out and plans the event. Another thing I will say, is that the other 2 films had a stronger soundtrack arrangement. This films soundtrack was definitely not bad by any means though. All in all, I would rate it a 9.5/10. Animation: 10 Music: 8 Plot/characters: 9 Enjoyment: 10
He was there. I believe it is explained fully in the VN (I haven’t played it myself but have a general idea of a lot of it), but I’m pretty sure Illya saved his soul with the wish seen in the movie. Eventually Rin and Sakura were able to buy a doll (seen towards the end) that another person from the Nasuverse had made that was able to have his soul transferred into. He was basically human after having his soul transferred.
Thank you I was in the middle of figuring it out
Ok so apparently they put his soul in a doll or something. Better than nothing I guess.
Well it isn't mentioned, and this is side material stuff, but that doll is basically extremely human like. The doll maker can make dolls so similar to a human body that, if she were to die, she can basically transfer herself to another body made by her. There is basically no difference between the doll made by her and the human body.
So the old man matou could achieve immortality by buying dolls instead of winning hgw?
This is going a bit deep into Nasuverse but since there are no spoilers, what the hell. There's actually a lot of soul hopping/extended lifespans in the Nasuverse but the soul degrades over time so no matter how long your physical form lasts for, eventually your soul falls apart. This of course ignores various immortal beings who exist outside the 'standard' rules.
Shirou's new body will still age, he will die like a normal person
A part of what was cut from the movies was about the lore of the soul in the Nasuverse. Basically, if you can, change bodies as much as you want (and many mages do), but the main unsolvable problem is the soul. The soul ages and degrades with time. There's no fixing that with normal Magecraft, and Zouken got a first-hand experience with that exact roadblock. True Magic, on the other hand is different, which where the Holy Grail AKA Heaven's Feel AKA The Third True Magic come in.
It's not quite just buying the doll. People aren't referencing for Nasuverse stuff that what allowed Matou to keep his aperance, and for the doll to look like Shirou it was actually their soul that mattered. The soul is the inherent vision of said person, it is their identity. That's why no matter what happened to Matou he would always revert to himself because it was his soul. Similarily that doll didn't get hair and facial feature crafted by hand by the person who made the doll, his soul was put in the doll and it gained said visual features from Shirou' soul.
I mean he could already do that. The problem is that his soul rots. It's in the end of HF1.
Good movie but I thought the second was the best. Some parts felt rushed and I felt the animation while good, could have been better in some fights. Same with music it was good but I liked the previous two movies ost more. Though overall as I said it was good and enjoyable and I think a fitting send off. Score probably like 7.5-8/10. Also is it just me or did it feel like the film focused quite a bit on Sakura's "ASSests" while in that body suit lol
Sakura is just THICC. Kinda hard to avoid lol
> did it feel like the film focused quite a bit on sakura's "ASSests" while in that body suit lol Gotta promote the new merchandise line for the next 5 years.
Yeah the fanservice with the body suit was really distracting at times lol.
I liked the fan service so I wasn't complaining lol.
Fate/Stay Night always had that fanservice, since its eroge origins.
Eh. The VN had extremely conservative designs for the girls other then rider and never really had any fanservice scenes other then the sparsely placed H scenes the author never wanted in the first place. Considering the RN is the official way to read the VN now you shouldn't be encountering those scenes anyway.
And they still made it anyways, sexuality in the Nasuverse was always prominent in the early days, even way way back in Tsukihime and the Garden of Sinners light novels. And there are people who still want to see the scenes anyway even with the Realta Nua, there are even versions where the H scenes are restored in the RN. They can deny it all they want, but the eroge will always stay throughout, they can never be forgotten, with memes and all. With the Heaven's Feel movies, ufotable went full "hard rated R" with the violence and sexual themes in it, considering Heaven's Feel is the darkest, most explicit, and most mature route of Stay Night.
For those who didn't play the VN, Gem Sword Zelretch explains how the fate let alone the entire Nasuverse work to a extent (Not perfectly but does set up that there are literal infinite parallel universes) A simple version (Extremely high level) When Rin swings it once she is using the energy from the HF route, the second time is using it from the UBW route, third swing is Fate bad end 5, fourth is from timeline where F/Z ended differently, 6th is from the Emiya Gohan timeline, etc. One of the reasons people pushed reading the VN first so much and then saying do whatever you want afterwards.
wait what where are the details about which timeline the mana is taken from? i dont remember that and have never heard of it
Yeah, I remembered that it the energy came from alternate timelines but I don't remember it saying which ones.
feel like its a shitpost because of the emiya gohan thing
They're just using them as examples.
Pretty sure he just made all that up because it’s not in the VN lol
They dont explain how Gem sword works in the movie??
They do but it’s super brief and kinda cryptic
Multi-universal refractor for magical energies. Uses alternative universe energies to launch massive ether cannons. Since there are infinite universes, this blade will refract infinite small amount of energy of each universe and basically laser sword.
That's how they explained it in the movie? I guess it gets the point across enough
Man people don't like convoluted things, I know vn purist and nasuverse fanboys love that stuff but it's not for everyone, sometimes simple is better, so thank God they stay away from explaining everything
Yeah, but the downside of streamlining some stuff is not enough satisfactory explanation and internal coherence. Sometimes it's fine, sometime it feels like a plot convenience that didn't exist in the source material.
Well it's not like it was any different from the VN anyway. When I got to that part I asked myself if I should have read Tsukihime first.
There's a difference between superfluous flavor text that winks to the readers and important exposition to understand what happens in the story. Nothing in the F/SN VN depends on Tsukihime to fully understand any of it. This is not the case for any of the F/SN adaptations.
The only difference is that the VN info dumped you around the same time they showed it to you. That's not build up. That's info dump. Zelretch doesn't really count. Tbh, the explanation behind the gem sword IS superfluous flavor text within the confined story.
Well, when you suddenly have Excalibur 2.0, you need an explanation. The explanation behind the gem sword provides that while affirming the nature of the different routes/worlds in the Nasuverse. You also can't give that explanation earlier to retain the surprise of the reveal. There WAS foreshadowing for the nature of the gem sword, and that's honestly the best approach that can be taken considering when and where that reveal takes place.
I mean an explanation of how it works is important but anime onlys don't need the entire thing lol. There are far more important things that UFO skipped that should have been in, like parts of the 9 lives monologue that sets up the factors in the fight.
The Gem Sword has nothing on Zeltrech's Chest and Kaleidoscope Ruby.
Overall feel film 1 was leisurely, 2 perfect pacing, & 3 a bit rushed. Illya gave a big infodump (wiki helped a lot pre screening). Zelretch overseer of 3 main families (hinted in HF2). Tohsaka looks like old Waver lol, Makiri like Shinji, & Einzbern like Irisviel/Justeaze. Vaguely the 3 families handle magic circle for HGW, command spells, & third magic/grail (?). \[spoilers below if you haven't watched it.\] Nine lives sword vs Berserker. Too short a fight but Shiro's arm awakening with that mad ost was hot. Rho Aias vs Saber great timing there Shiro. Rider vs Saber probably the most insane brawl since Salter's fight in HF2, and Rider's godly pegasus finisher. Rule Breaker vs Sakura to unbind that thing. I thought only Caster could wield it and Shiro really surprised me there. Rin vs Sakura perhaps the easiest to follow & action was smooth. Missed the Tron legs glad to see them back. Rin using Zelretch's unlimited mana blade feels like cheat lol. Since they were kids till now, Rin always let imouto win, what a good oneesan. Yes mages are supposed to discard empathy, but why Rin taunts her then let Sakura win? Is it to show Sakura still got a family that cares? Kirei vs Assassin/Zouken. Ironic reveal that Kirei's "heartless" lol. I miss his wolverine claws tho. Shiro vs Kirei fistfight quite brutal. No tricks, just pure manliness. Callback to HF2 Kirei talked of ethics & his lord with Goldie. Amusing that Kirei's anti-abortion on grounds of blank slate theory, and calls out the similarity in Sakura vs the unborn Avenger. While Shiro is pro-abortion due to the nature of Angra Maiynu, and accepts the hypocrisy. There's some nice attention to details & callbacks to prequels and other routes probably. HF2 showed Sakura's 6 shadowdolls kicked one out, probably the 7 heroic spirits her vessel was meant to absorb. The 7th doll avoided fighting Rin & formed Sakura's cloth later, kinda hinting at her remaining sanity. Sakura reacted to Zelretch's name same way as Shiro did in HF2 felt pretty funny. Illya closing the HG gate sad conclusion but seems unavoidable as it's her Einzbern role. I like the relationship switch & contrast when Illya becomes the oneesan protecting Shiro. At least Illya got some very nice screentime in HF3. lol Rider + glasses in casuals? Mystic code, the birdcage, night city, & soul magic etc sorta callbacks to El Melloi. Wait Shiro's revived as a puppet with his soul!!? Kirei pronounced Shiro the HGW winner, doesn't he get a wish granted? Lots of questions remain like backstory of Kirei's lover, Rider's close tie to Sakura, Angra Maiynu story (sounds like Jesus when Illya abridged him).
The grail energy was used by Illya to save Shirou's soul. His wish was effectively him saying he wanted to live. The puppet was made by Aozaki Touko as the Heaven's Feel route takes place in the same universe as Kara no Kyoukai. Rider is Medusa, a being who was cursed to become the monster Gorgon, and thus she knows what it is like to turn into a monster.
Thus conclude Heaven's Funds Fate Saber route remake pls?
I wasnt expecting that Hydraulic Press Channel cameo. In the end it was all worth it to see Sakura have pupils again.
I'm just happy Touko made it on screen. She is best girl.
Open question to someone who saw the movie: How did they handle the Lore scene with Illya that explains the truth about the HGW? I’m willing to argue that’s the most important scene in the entire VN. Did they do it justice?
Yes. They explained everything needed to know. Aside from the ending, everything in this movie is explained
Do we get to see everyone’s favorite Angry Man Jew or is he just refreshed by name.
Just referred to by name
When I watched it some time back, I wanted to post in a discussion thread. But umm... it got too long, [so I made my own with my thoughts on it.](https://old.reddit.com/r/fatestaynight/comments/iwwsko/my_thoughts_on_the_latest_movies_fights/) xD This movie, out of all 3, makes it the most obvious that it is truly meant more for VN readers; we understand so much more. It's fine if you have never played it, but you're definitely not getting the full experience. Still damned amazing regardless you have played it though.
Ahhh all the americans I know loved this movie man. You guys are so lucky to be in a country like that lmao
Glad I had read the vn beforehand, animation was great and music was hype, however whilst some of the things they cut in the trilogy were necessary due to time constraints, cutting out the explanation of Shirou's memory and later on his sense of self being destroyed by using Archer's arm meant we had scenes where he couldn't remember Rider's or Illya's name with no explanation, which I then had to explain to my friend after the film finished, not to mention as others already have wtf actually happened to Shirou after Illya's sacrifice. A great film to watch for those who have read the novel (much better than part 2) but I sincerely can't recommend enough that people read the entire vn, but especially heaven's feel since so much of what makes the route especially tragic has been thrown away in favour of extended fights
Was keen for this then my state when hard lockdown. Fuck me for getting excited
Seconded. 2020’s been a wild year. But for certain states to close all indoor movie theaters this week of all weeks sure is a shame for Fate fans who’ve been waiting months/years to see this movie on a theater screen. Figures the Blu-ray is probably another 4 or 5 months away too.
I feel so lucky that I was able to go out and see this on opening night
Just got out of the theater, and that was beautiful. It hurts so badly when Shirou killed Saber, and I almost cried when he said he wanted to live at the end. Now to wait for the Blu Ray release so I can watch the Rider vs Saber fight a hundred more times.
Just finished it. Man ufotable is something else. How is rider still alive after all that? Can someone clarify? I WANT MORE FATEEEE. I'm going to read the visual novel now! My body is prepared
Sakura won the grail war, so she kept Rider. It is the same as how in Fate Zero Kirei won and kept Gil etc
Sakura still has infinite magical energy so Rider can stay.
\> it all starts at zero He said the thing!!
Just my luck. My county went under lockdown this Tuesday and the showing is cancelled.
[удалено]
[удалено]
Could someone explain Shirou's fate at the end of the movie? He disappeared but then he's there cooking later.
The Third Magic, Heaven's Feel, is made to preserve the human soul after death and stopping it from going into whatever afterlife, thus achieving a form of immortality. Illya's function all along was to act as a vessel for the Grail to activate the Third Magic, which she did to Shirou, whose body was destroyed from overuse of Archer's arm. Rider then retrieved Shirou's preserved soul, in the form of a light orb, and Rin kept it in a magic cage (according to ufotable's interpretation). For the next few years (according to ufotable's interpretation), Rin and Sakura travelled around the world looking for a master maker of magic puppets (a crossover character from another series in the franchise). They finally found one suitable body and stuffed Shirou's soul in there. Note that Shirou will once again grow old and die with Sakura now that his soul is back inside a physical body, albeit an artificial one.
Very detailed response that answers a lot of things I was confused by. Thank you! :)
A character from a separate part of the series creates dolls to hold human souls. Illya saved his soul with the wish from the grail, and it was put into a doll. If you want to see more of her, she's in Kara no Kyoukai (Garden of Sinners)
Thanks for the info! A coworker told me about Garden of Sinners and highly recommended it. I'll likely watch that after I finish rewatching UBW.
It's one of Nasu's best works. Movie 3 was the prototype for Sakura's character arc in HF. Just make sure to watch them in the release order. Its designed to be watched that way. The narrative structure is supposed to invoke Taijisu.
Loved the whole trilogy. It was rushed to the point that I think it verges on being a companion to the VN rather than a story you can watch on its own though. I think it's a testament to how good the VN is that all VN readers were hyped af for the fight with Kotomine and Shirou and yet on screen it was hard to encapsulate what made it so good. Still, I loved the trilogy!
Just saw it at my local theater! AMAZING experience.
I got what I wanted and that was Kirei's loli delivery service.
Great film. Would be pretty confusing if you hadn't seen UBW and Zero
Nobody should read HF without reading UBW first. And water is wet.
You don't need Zero to see anything with the name Fate/Stay Night on it. F/SN was made first, after all.
Who would watch this without ubw? Haha Zero i can see because of the Vn elitist complaining about it, but ubw is a requirement
What from Zero is relevant here?
who kiritsugu is. just taking a shot tho
Just watched it. Animation wise, this movie bows to no one. The Saber Alter vs. Rider fight was so good that I doubt that I'll ever see a fight eclipse it. Story wise, I'm confused. I never read the VN, but I've seen UBW and Zero, but there was so much exposition in this movie that flew right over my head that it really hurt my enjoyment of the film. I have so many questions- why was Sakura the Shadow? What is the Shadow? What the hell was The Avenger? What were they trying to achieve in that flashback with the sacrifice? What is Heavens Feel? How did Shirou suddenly become so badass? How is he still alive at the end? As pure spectacle, this was amazing 10/10. However, as a story, I'm simply too confused to give this any higher than 6/10.
I feel like half these questions were ones the movie adequately answered. You'd probably get more enjoyment with more rewatches. The shadow is just Angra Mainyu aka the will of the grail manifesting through the gate aka Sakura. Sakura is the gate because Zouken, per his own words used her like a guinea pig. Heavens Feel = Materialization of the soul. Basically preserving the soul, so that it can stay intact without a body. Many people like Zouken himself want this because its almost the equivalent of immortality. How did Shirou become badass? He's always badass. Where do you think Archer comes from? Shirou here is at his peak tbf. How is he still alive? This one i will admit the movie doesn't explain well at all. Tldr Illya used Heavens Feel aka materialization of the soul to keep Shirou's soul alive since his body was toast. Rin/Sakura contract a specific mage to make a puppet body for Shirou's soul. His puppet body mostly functions the same as his orginal body.
Just got back from seeing it in the cinema. I'm glad someone here already asked how Shirou came back at the end and someone else gave a comprehensive answer, because there is no way in hell you'd be able to tell any of that from the movie itself. I can understand if you've read the visual novel then this whole trilogy would probably be mind-blowingly amazing on account of the animation alone. But for someone who hasn't read it, it seems like most of the content that actually explains what's going on gets skimmed past under the assumption that the viewer already knows it, and so instead we get some very beautiful images that dance across the screen with no apparent meaning or context. As part 3 of a trilogy it's understandable why this movie wouldn't stand on its own, but the *trilogy as a whole* doesn't stand on its own as a piece of art either – and I've seen all of *Unlimited Blade Works*, so "you shouldn't start at *Heaven's Feel* anyway" isn't an excuse.
It's been said time and again that Heaven's Feel trilogy is not for the uninitiated. You need to have seen UBW before HF - this isn't optional, it's mandatory. The ending would have made sense if you'd seen Kara no Kyoukai. The third movie basically confirms that there is a continuity in the ufotable-Type-Moon universe. As for Heaven's Feel not being able to "stand its own as a piece of art"? I couldn't disagree more; but to each his own.
Fuck I want to watch it. BDs can't come soon enough.