First Impression – Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works

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キタ━━━(゜∀゜)━━━!!!!!

spring14-kyo

Haven’t we waited long enough for this? As a Type-Moon fan, 2014 has been GREAT. Things started off with Kara no Kyoukai: Mirai Fukuin movie and then moved to Prisma Illya 2wei (even when it’s really not a hardcore Nasuverse offering rather a spinoff), but STILL it counts because life of a TM-tard is suffering with long waits and anything is welcome. Do you kow how long we had to wait for Mahoyo release?! More than 7 years and it’s still not fully translated so you get my point? Anyways, the last offering of this year was the wondrous Fate/stay night: UBW reboot and even if Ufotable didn’t start things with the first Fate route, I’m fine with Unlimited Blade Works because really, err… Let me keep that information until a few more episodes.

Note to the readers, as I have played the VN, expect some comparison with adaptation for plot points and better understanding in all my reviews. I’ll try my best to keep you abreast with the series and you are welcome to comment for any confusion/queries.

Background: Let me borrow some world-building information from my Fate/Zero FI post:

The Holy Grail war started 200 years ago by three families: Einzbern, Tohsaka and Makiri (Matou). Their ultimate goal was to open a gate to Akasha (Akashik record is a recurring term in nasuverse), and gain miracles. However, this seeking of the Grail ended up making only one of them victorious. This started discord between these old magi families, not to mention when the Church and Mage’s Association heard of this miracle-making machine, they wanted in as well. So, now every 60 years at Fuyuki city, seven mages gather with their summoned servants (heroes from every age and nation), to battle it out for the opportunity to power. The last one standing takes it all.

Fate stay night servant classes

During any Holy Grail War, the Grail itself provides the major magical assistance; however, it’s the duty of a master to provide sufficient mana to keep servants materialized and ready for battle. The servants can save a lot of mana by reverting to their spirit form like Archer did (which is their energy saving mode). There are seven classes of servants as in:

  • Saber: Best all round class with outstanding power and agility. One of the three Knight classes (Knight of the Sword), including Archer and Lancer. That armoured shoujo at the end was Saber indeed.
  • Archer: Agile and skilled in long-range melee weapons. One of the three Knight classes (Knight of the Bow), including Saber and Lancer. This is the smart-mouth, Rin’s servant.
  • Lancer: Experts of projectile weapons and pretty agile themselves. One of the three Knight classes (Knight of the Lance), including Archer and Saber. This is that blue leotard dude.
  • Caster: Magus servants, who are very proficient in reality marble (space manipulation).
  • Rider: Noble warrior who can use special phantasms. Specialty of the Mounted Soldier is riding of course. They can become experts of any kind of mount.
  • Assassin: They are known for stealth and concealment. Silent killer if you will.
  • Berserker: A powerful hero that has gone berserk during their lifetime. A mad warrior. This gives them the powerful phantasm of Mad Enhancement but that pretty much ends up badly every time it’s activated.

Fifth Holy Grail War: If you are a new viewer, the premise above gives you enough idea about the world you are getting into. Fate/Zero was the fourth Holy Grail war, where the three mentioned families again battled heads: Einzbern representative was Emiya Kiritsugu, Emiya Shiro’s adoptive father; Tohsaka representative was Rin’s father Tohsaka Tokiomi; and Matou representative was Kiriya Matou, Zouken’s grandson (Zouken is miraculously alive since the first holy grail war). From the names alone, you do sense some inter-related connections and as the verse is quite rich, you will be hearing a lot about them and their social links for a better word. As this is adapted by ufotable, expect proper information dissemination and nods to the long-time fans.

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Loli bait

The fifth Holy Grail war started prematurely in just 10 years after the fourth because usually, it happens with 60 years of gap. The reason being the excessive leftover mana from the previous Grail war as the wish of the victor was not properly realized. We’ll move to the reasoning later in story but a lot of things went down as you can already guess.

The only other thing that you need to know is that Rin and Sakura are sisters. It might not seem that way but Matou Zouken did a pact with Tokiomi to let them adopt Sakura into the Matou family because he already had an heir in Rin. Sakura was excess baggage for Tohsaka family so she was shifted to Matous, where she would become their heir due to her lineage and magical genes. Yes, these old magical families are all srs bsns with their heirs. You can compare them to the old aristocratic families, where everyone has a specific role and they are supposed to strictly abide by it and behave accordingly. There is a lot of sacrifice and hard work that is not seen from the surface. But magical families have many dark secrets and many skeletons in the closet as well.

The Tohsaka Heir:

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Glareception

Let’s move on to our heroine and her idiosyncratic characteristics. She was cool when the concept of tsundere just picking up in the fandom. Add twintails and zetta ryouiki to it and you have a winner best girl. Really, she is almost perfect and the visage of ice-queen to boot. But there are very few people who know that beneath all that untouchable countenance, there lurks a normal girl who can huff and puff in no time; that is, your perfect dere-chan. The huffing and puffing though, usually doesn’t occur at public places and only her family and probably Kirei only knows that her boiling point is always close. Archer faces it quite head-on and poor him but that’s how she rolls and we love her for it.

We also witness her loli days in a nostalgic moment, when she received the precious spellbook from her father, a pivotal point of the 17th episode of Fate/Zero. It became a last goodbye because Tokiomi was killed during the fourth Grail war. After which Kotomine Kirei, the current Holy Grail supervisor became her guardian. In a few years, her mother Aoi also passed away, leaving her the only Tohsaka survivor. You would wonder why there is not a single maid or butler in the sprawling Tohsaka state. Because, well, things went downhill in terms of finances or you could say Kirei wanted to put her on a tight leash so there are people on contract who take care of the state as per need but no permanent staff.

Summoning of Archer:

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Tsun-tsun-dere-tsun-tsun-dere-tsun

Since the day Tokiomi patted her head and instructed her to be ready for the next Grail war, Rin has continuously worked hard to do just that. She worshipped her father and his dark basement room was always a wondrous sanctuary to her. She imbibed all the family knowledge and excelled in gem-based magecraft as per family tradition. Thus, it was one of the most important moments in her life to decode her father’s will and discover the chest containing a gem-locket, which had 10 years worth of mana that Tokiomi saved for her and the first snake’s skin (catalyst to summon Gilgamesh, her father’s servant in fourth Grail war). Now, there are different theories on why the clock fast-forwarded one hour. It’s either a Tokiomi prank, who wanted to test his daughter’s intelligence in coping with time-shift or simple magic discharge from the locket that made the clocks go out-of-whack after hibernating for 10 years. Whatever the case, that one-hour cost Rin in a faulty summoning even after using a big chunk of family gems.

Whenever a servant is summoned, they appear before the master rather than one floor above. Not to mention, their memories are not foggy, so Archer did have some room to complain. However, his high and mighty attitude was a premature judgment. The exchange between them was hilarious and much longer in the VN but the cut down version did cover all the important aspects of the chemistry between them. Picture her, who has been a know-it-all her entire life so when a supposed familiar challenged her, it went way beyond her reasoning and compelled her to use a command spell. Literally the last resort for any master to use in emergencies and their power is almost miraculous was used in something vague. Absolute obedience is not something you can gain in any normal sense and though, magic in itself is miraculous but the magus needs to possess enough power to do so. Compare this to FMA-verse’s equivalent exchange, so if a magus can perform a reality marble, they need to possess enough mana/lineage/catalyst to do so. However, due to Rin’s innate skills, she did make a nice butler out of Archer to his chagrin. But do remember Archer’s warning of Rin eating her own words later of complaining about his power and not being a Saber-class servant.

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This was the best servant summoning moment of FSN-verse and saberfags can go sue me.

Rin Tohsaka as a Master: Knowledge is her key. In most of the fate routes, she comes out as the teacher with the Grail war information, which came from walking on her father’s footsteps, who she idolized. Being a Tohsaka means you eat, drink and sleep magic and prepare yourself for the ultimate Grail war. The most interesting thing however is her purpose. Tokiomi wanted the Grail for power to his family but Rin wants to win for the sake of winning rather than an ultimate wish. It’s curious to note that a servant agrees with her because an innate urge of all heroes, who travel through different time planes to participate in the Grail war is some personal wish grant and the ambition to win. So, him agreeing to her is actually strange.

As well, Masters know the identity of their heroic spirit so not knowing Archer’s puts Rin in a disadvantage. But how he faced off against Lancer, even a novice can judge that this guy is very talented. Lancer’s identity would be revealed soon but it’s always fun to zero down on servants under history’s who’s-who list. Thus, Archer is not your ordinary bowman, because that double-sword is quite unique along with their reappearance. Imagine him with an onion personality and every episode will peal away some part of it.

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However high-handed Rin is with her school-life, she is a nice soul and actually cares about others; Sakura being one of them even if she doesn’t show it. Some people might brand her as a cold-hearted bitch for ignoring her sister and not being a very good senpai. But do note, she helped her pick up all those fallen printouts and is worried of her well-being from the shadows. She not only hates Matou Shinji for his personality but because he’s her adoptive-brother and doesn’t treat her well. Though, he definitely can get on anybody’s nerves.

Besides, niisama problems, she knows about Sakura’s sanctuary in Shiro’s home, the same guy who was slashed and pierced by Lancer. She didn’t really have to use her father’s gem to save his life but she did, out of her obligation as a magus. This is more of an upbringing thing because any other master would have simply left that dude to die. Though, in the end, she did it for her sister. This is who Rin Tohsaka really is, making quick decisions but most of the times, quite wise ones.

Extra Unlimited Works:

Fate stay nigh - UBW - Archer before and now

Visual Novel to anime adaptation.

Full version for GARcher fans. You are welcome.

Click for more Show ▼

This was an amazing episode. Nothing short of expectation and then some. Ufotable needs to be applauded for their Type-Moon adaptations because they know now perfectly what to keep and what excess baggage to cut. So what if Rin and Archer didn’t visit the Shinto park or there were less dialogues exchanged between Rin and Sakura? Nothing of big importance, except for the foreshadowing on the foreigner that she talked to on the way back to her house.

I’m really happy that Prologue of the VN started the anime rather than the usual fate route introduction. I presume, it was done so because Rin and Archer both are quite important to the entire storyline. There are even fans who would have liked Rin to be the main protagonist rather than Shiro but well, we have to take whatever we get. Similar to the first episode of Fate/Zero, this Prologue gave enough world-building information to the magical contract of summoning servants and the grail war. Even if it didn’t, hopefully the above write-up did.

It was nice seeing a redesigned Taiga-sensei and the ever-serious Student council president, Ryuudou Issei. I didn’t much care about the three girls inviting Rin for lunch but they were there in VN and similarly forgettable. For a fan though, there were lots of subtle elements that were highly appreciable. Archer’s introduction pan, the entire exchange between Rin and him, Sakura talking to a blonde guy, the inaudible words Archer uttered during his fight with Lancer, his reaction when he first saw Saber and finally not showing Shiro’s face in the entire run of the episode. These were all just so well done.

The action scenes were brilliant and even though they added the VN sound effects, they enhanced the entire experience by quick pacing. This is exactly how heroic spirits should fight rather than what we have seen before. I don’t blame DEEN here but as always I’d suggest not watching their version of fate/stay night. This is just the beginning so I’ll leave the cartwheeling to a future pivotal episode. Overall, everything fit well with enough information dump. My services are available if there was anything that annoyed/piqued your interest.

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Preview: We have a faceoff with Saber-class already and we will be switching to Shiro’s POV from next episode so nice voyage everyone! Now let’s begin the discussions!

About

The Boss lady of Metanorn, who makes it all happen. An animanga enthusiast, who watches/reads almost anything that strikes her fancy. Just beware of her Death Perception and always keep her happy. Regularly found at @KyokaiTM & #[email protected].
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142 Responses to “First Impression – Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works”

  1. Ansatsushi says:

    No one’s gonna blame me for watching this episode everyday for the whole week right? O_O
    I mean… dat fight scene tho!
    Plus, ya that mitsuzuri really reminded me of Ryougi Shiki (thought that was actaully him/her for a second too).

    • BlackBriar says:

      No one’s gonna blame me for watching this episode everyday for the whole week right?

      I wouldn’t blame you. But can you? You might explode from an excess of awesomeness.

      • Kyokai says:

        I think you’ll be quite fine. I’ve watched it 4 times already for this post and I’m surviving. 😉

        Takeuchi has a thing for reusing character designs so it was bound to happen. I mean, Enjou Tomoe from Kara no Kyoukai was Shiro prototype after all.

  2. Irenesharda says:

    Well, thank you Mme. Kyokai, that was a rather detailed explanation of a lot of things. Many of the people you mentioned I still have no idea who they are, and I don’t think I have to watch Fate/Zero anymore since you pretty much explained everything that happened in it, BUT….it does give a foundation to this world. A world that sounds complicated and convoluted as all heck. 😛

    From watching the animation, it is quite gorgeous, I really like Rin and Lancer, though I have since found out that she isn’t going to be our main character and that things are actually going to shift to the ginger-head boy, who strangely enough, on the forum I was talking about this with, everyone wanted to pretend the guy didn’t even exist! (e.g. Shirou? I didn’t see any person called that name here. Nope. Not a one. 😀 )

    I like the idea of the spirit warriors. Are these supposed to be once real people? That would be a fun guessing game if I knew more of my warriors. The only guess I can give is that Saber was once Jeanne d’Arc since the East seems to have a thing with her as a female warrior.

    The animation is nice and the story is good so far. The fights are cool. I really could have done without the school setting and such, but other than that, I’m liking this. This is tied for second place as my favorite premiere so far, with Gundam: G-Reco. (My first place, I have to say, has to go to Shingeki no Bahamut: Genesis, by surprising me for how truly epic it was and it had animation and a story that gave it a slight edge over F/SN).

    I’m interested in the next episode and in what type of person Shirou is. I’m guessing he’s probably going to be our everyman audience avatar that has no idea about all this Grail War stuff and got Saber by accident and is just trying to figure all this stuff out like us? Did Rin really give him 10 years of life force magic to heal him? But shouldn’t he then be older now? Or is this just help points like in a video game? Well, anyway, this looks fascinating so far.

    • Di Gi Kazune says:

      Some of your questions can be answered by this phrase:

      The original VN was an Eroge; therefore Eroge tropes will apply to the main male character.

      The rest of the answers are spoilers unless you’ve already watched Fate/Zero.

    • skylion says:

      Well, to me, from a historical perspective, and even more, from the Nasuverse, “real people” isn’t all that. The Classes are drawn from ideas and ideals of persons. The stronger the ideas, the stronger the Servant. And everything goes with that, both power and weakness.

      So with King Arthur you get Excalibur…but you also get the Fisher King…Drama is on full parade in the Fate Universe.

      • Irenesharda says:

        So, they’re the embodiment of ideas? O..kay…

        Suddenly quotes from V for Vendetta and Inception are popping into my head. O_o

        • skylion says:

          Ideas and other things. Many of our ur-legendary characters in history are mish-mashes of many many different people from an era and places oral history. Nasu trades rather heavily on that fact, and I rather love him for it.

          • Irenesharda says:

            Who’s Nasu and what is the Nasuverse? Are you talking about the Fate/ world?

            • skylion says:

              Well, to put it simply. And with the Nasuverse that is not taking anything lightly.

              I look at it like all the works of Neil Gaiman share the same universe.

            • belatkuro says:

              Kinoko Nasu, or just Nasu, is the original creator of Type-Moon and Fate/stay night.
              Nasuverse is what the fandom calls the collection of all his works that consists of multiple universes and timelines. It includes works such as F/SN, Fate/Zero, Tsukihime, Kara no Kyoukai and Mahou Tsukai no Yoru, to name a few. That’s the basic stuff as it’s pretty convoluted and would require a lot of immersion to understand.

            • Di Gi Kazune says:

              The Nasuverse is a big place and all are connected by two things:

              Kischur Zelretch Schwinorg

              and

              Ahnernebe. (George the owner makes good pies… and can channel the fury of 3 particular characters.)

        • BlackBriar says:

          So, they’re the embodiment of ideas? O..kay…

          Suddenly quotes from V for Vendetta and Inception are popping into my head. O_o

          Ideas are bulletproof.

      • Di Gi Kazune says:

        Ionian Hetairoi embodies it best. Even the dreams and wishes of his army can create a Noble Phantasm.

    • Kyokai says:

      @ Irene, why, you are most welcome, my dear! My reviews turn into editorials whenever Nasuverse comes in range. It’s a habit that I have developed from Fate/Zero days. You can say the world is sprawling and sometimes without an end but this is one of the reasons why there are so many fate arcs and spinoffs.

      Shiro DOES face the eroge MC tropes but the UBW route Shiro is much better than the first arc one (original fate/stay night anime). His conclusion is exemplary so even when I do have problems with him in his nascent stages, I do not hate his character. When you do see growth, you have to appreciate it but the fandom loves to put him down. It’s something that we love, along with telling off everyone to never watch DEEN’s version of FSN. It’s literally become a trope.

      As our knowledgeable commenters have already said, the servants are actually ideas. This is one of the best things about Nasuverse because even when he does take ideas from different historical and mythical figures, he adds his own spin on things so even if you read the entire history of a heroic spirit, there will be few facts added that would make them Nasu’s own. That’s the fun part of discovering their identity and enhanced backstories that add a lot to the entire battle.

      The magical power in Nasuverse is called mana. This is the energy that every magus has within themselves but is in limited supply. There are even magus, who have the magical circuits in their body but either due to lack of training or personal wish, could never produce mana. If they ever want to become a magus, they will have to depend on external elements (there are too many to count), for a headstart but then again, thaumaturgy is complex and depends on many factors and training for proper usage. Tohsaka family tradition is that they store mana within gems or even use rare gems for performing different magic. So, what Rin used is a huge ball of stored mana, compare it to a healing spell. It just healed his wounds and added nothing extra to his lifespan.

      • Irenesharda says:

        I guess I shouldn’t tell you that I almost watched F/SN back in about 2007, when my best friend told me that it was really good and gave me the episodes on a data disc. However, I think I was wrapped up in OHSHC, Bleach, and FMA at the time and I thought the girl I now know as Saber, was a magical girl like Sailor Moon but with a sword, so I never got to it.

        I think the disc is still in my room somewhere too… 🙂

  3. CarVac says:

    Is it just me who is always bothered by the wide eye spacing in Ufotable Fate adaptations?

    Aside from that perennial problem, it was pretty much an ideal first episode. I liked it better than the Fate/Zero one.

    • Kyokai says:

      I think you are one of the few and it must be something to do with adapting Takeuchi designs well.

      I liked this better from the first episode of Fate/Zero as well. Though, I missed all the walking in circles. :3

  4. Di Gi Kazune says:

    YAY! Shirou already died! Hopefully they write him out in this revision!

    -IN MY DREAMS ONLY-

    To Sakura, he’s not a stranger. He’s her big ~onii-chan~ *heart* Also his Charisma is ranked A+ so lolis(and also shotas) are naturally attracted to him.

    As for GARcher, “it’s… it’s… not as if I wanted to summon you” *tsuntsun and deredere look*

    Everytime someone mentions Sakura (Matou, not Kinomoto), I always get the vision of a loli in a dungeon (possibly skylion’s) with crest worms… doing… -bleepR-18-bleep-

    • Irenesharda says:

      What is wrong with Shirou? Every site I go to and everybody wants to either pretend he doesn’t exist or that he was permanently killed this episode. Is he really that bad of a character? Lol 😀

      • Foshizzel says:

        My memory of Shirou was always mehhh he becomes quite annoying later especially when Saber has to fight, but maybe that will get fixed? I just remember that he was SUPER protective over Saber and didn’t like her fighting at all…

        • Irenesharda says:

          Oh no…wait…is THIS the guy who did that famous quote, “People die when they are killed!”?

          *begins shaking and stepping away slowly*

          M-m-maybe this really isn’t for me….maybe you guys can just tell me how it goes okay?

          *turns around and runs away screaming in comedic fashion*

          😛

          • skylion says:

            We-el……

            • Irenesharda says:

              *begins to silently sob*

              I don’t know if I can take another idealistic, pacifist MC… 🙁

              You’ve suddenly greatly lowered by expectations and took all the wind out of my sails in one fell swoop.

              We already look as if we’ve got the return of Kira Yamato 2.0 in Cross Ange. How am I supposed to take this too? T_T

            • skylion says:

              UBW will be from Rin’s side of the story. If you really want what you are lamenting….go back and watch the DEEN production. Rin is made from much different stuff from Shidou…

            • Irenesharda says:

              *ears perk up*

              So…I won’t have to sit through episodes of pacifist spiel and how the MC doesn’t want his fighter to kill simply because it would be “wrong” and other such nonsense and so he doesn’t allow her to fight?

              We get to hang out with the cool mage girl and her awesome archer warrior instead?

              *sniffle, sniffle*

              That doesn’t sound so bad…. 🙂

            • skylion says:

              GAR!cher will surprise you….

            • Di Gi Kazune says:

              @skylion UBW is the Rin/GARcher route. Where Show ▼

              -bleep-

              FYI, GARcher, Gilgamesh and Iskandar are not the top 3 Male Typemoon characters for nothing. Shirou is somewhere in the top 10 but I have to check against the Typemoon Festa book. Kotomine Kirei is so smexy that he takes 2 spots. 😛

              Top 3 Female are Saber, Ryougi Shiki and Rin IIRC.

            • Di Gi Kazune says:

              *takes out Phantasm*

              Rankings from the 10th Anniversary Poll.
              #1 SEIBA (duh – the cash cow, this is specifically the Fate/Stay Night – The FZ one is ranked seperately at #119)
              #2 Kyokai… I meant Ryougi Shiki
              #3 GARcher
              #4 Tohsaka Rin
              #5 Aruceid Brunsted
              #6 WAGA ISKANGAR!!! (I got him and Kinpika’s spots reversed ^^;;)
              #7 Aozaki Aoko
              #8 Matou Sakura (FSN ver. Not the dungeon loli)
              #9 A-U-O! Kinpika. (Add his 434 from FZ will put him in #8.)
              #10 Kuonji Alice.

              Other noteworthy ones:
              Papa Kerry is #11
              Mr. People Die when they are killed is #12
              Mr. Chin/Magical Amber is #13 (Mr. Chin is listed seperately at #247)
              Waver is #15
              Illya is at #17
              Kirei is so smexy that is is at #21 (FZ) and #27 (FSN) and if you total his votes, he would move to (add, carry, integrate, differentiate…) #11, beating Kiritsugu his nemesis.

              NekoArc is at #63.

              Take out the Guys/Gals and you have the gender specific ratings.

            • Kyokai says:

              On the GARcher story, along with being gay for Archer, his role in UBW route is very GAR indeed, so that explanation works too.

              #2 Kyokai… I meant Ryougi Shiki

              ^Lol!

              On the TM-rating, I’m just happy that Kinpika is within top 10 and fake Enjou Tomoe is not. And Nakata Jouji should win most of the male votes just because of the breadth of his TM-work.

          • Foshizzel says:

            @Irensharda: Go for team Rin/GARcher <3

            • Di Gi Kazune says:

              No. Team Kirei/Kinpika. Wait that was F/Z. 🙁

            • Irenesharda says:

              Why do people keep saying “GARcher”? Is that a spoiler too? Or just a fan thing?

            • Di Gi Kazune says:

              Short story:

              Even guys found Archer to be sexy so someone one day said he was Gay for Archer but mistyped it as Gar for Archer.

              Contract Gar and Archer together and you have the epitome of manliness: GARcher.

            • Irenesharda says:

              Well, that’s a very strange way to get a nickname. Archer nice looking I guess, not really my type but I admire his spirit. However, I will have to see all the other male characters to see how he really ranks.

            • Di Gi Kazune says:

              Your choices here are very limited:

              Shiro
              Lancer (being lancer is suffering)
              Shinji
              Assassin
              Kuzuki (only professes love for -bleep-)
              Issei

              and Team Kirei.

              Apart from Team Kirei, there isn’t much competition. Hmm… Team Kirei is a good cover name for spoilers. Henceforth, any spoilers will be labelled as Team Kirei.

            • Irenesharda says:

              I think I’ve seen Kirei before, he’s the guy with the brown hair right that is Rin’s guardian that Kyokai mentioned above? Nope, not my type either.

              Lancer looked okay, but not my personality type. Shiro is not my type on any level. Is Shinji that class president guy? I’m not quite sure there. I haven’t seen any of the others yet. I’ll have to see Assassin, Kuzuki, and Issei in action and what they look like to get an idea.

              Any of these guys have long hair? 😀

            • Di Gi Kazune says:

              Assassin is the only one with rongu hair.

              *whispers* Team Kirei!

              FSN is sorely lacking in the men department, not surprisingly as it was developed as a galge/eroge concept. If you want more GAR, you’re better off looking at Fate/Zero.

            • Irenesharda says:

              I can see what you mean there. Googling all the men of the F/SN universe, there’s really not that much to choose from. And none of them are that hot. Assassin is a good candidate depending on his skill and personality. The only other one that might be cool is some guy with gold hair and gold armor. He’s kinda hot.

              If, neither of those two work out, I might just have to join the Archer bandwagon. He’s cool enough.

            • BlackBriar says:

              Oh, god. We already have battle lines being drawn. This is going to get messy.

            • Di Gi Kazune says:

              @Irenesharda

              Assassin does not get much development. He is basically for lack of better word, a grunt.

              Mr. Kinpika with his golden armour is -Team Kirei-. Only because -Team Kirei- is actually a -Team Kirei-. There all spoilers removed by use of -Team Kirei- though boss lady will understand. FYI, Goldie is actually -Team Kirei-

            • Irenesharda says:

              So, I can’t have the gold guy either? 🙁

              I guess I will just have to be stuck with Archer…

              What sort of anime doesn’t have several hot guy archetypes for me to choose from? Even HxH had Hisoka and Illumi for me to admire(Killua will be hot when he’s older too :D).
              😛

            • Kyokai says:

              @Irene, I have a feeling you will warm up to GARcher with time and yes, you can definitely sign up for Goldie-kun, even if he’s part of Team Kirei.

              Good naming there, DGK. 😉

          • Di Gi Kazune says:

            Yes, people indeed die when they are killed.

            The summary:
            Shirou is a one tracked mind character and Mr. Golden Pikachu was right when he said the 5th War was full of women and children. If you ever watched Carnival Phantasm, it basically takes his personality and cranks it up to 11. (Minna wa shiawase ni!!!)

            I have mentioned this before somewhere on the site (fall preview me thinks), and his “SEEIIIIBAAAA!!!” catchphrase gets grating after a while (much like ughuu… god, I HATE that phrase… Cannot believe I withstood that to edit Kanon…)

            • Kyokai says:

              SEIIBAAAH and EXCALIBAAAAH are my pet peeves now…

            • Di Gi Kazune says:

              I believe saber screams excallyburr only 3 times in the show and only as the prerequisite ‘scream the name of your attack’. She can be forgiven.

              Shirou OTOH, screams SEIIIBAAAA~~ everytime he thinks Saber is doing something not needed/needed/whatever.

            • Kyokai says:

              Did I ever tell you my hate for no. 2 not being no. 1 in TM ratings? Yeah, one of the big reasons hatin’ on EXCCALIBAAH. But that’s another discussion entirely.

            • Di Gi Kazune says:

              Now you’re just being jellie like supes as batman would put it. 😛

            • Kyokai says:

              Collect fandom booooooooo.

        • Di Gi Kazune says:

          Except you’re lucky here. Shiro is “less protective here” of SEIBA here since it’s the Rin/GARcher route (due to emphasis) and without spoiling it further, this is the Rin Route in the Eroge.

    • skylion says:

      …that image, Sakura and the Crest Worms, was something I managed to bleach out. Thanks….

      • skylion says:

        Yeah…no dungeon around here, don’t need it for one, and for two…I would not be a member of that awful house. If anything I would be closer to the McRemitz/Fraga house given my roots. Hmmmm…I could summon a Brigantia version of Sabre…

        Or go with my handle’s Sumerian/Levant roots and go for Gilgamesh…

      • skylion says:

        …lovely spam wonderful spam….

      • Kyokai says:

        @skylion, one of the reasons I’m almost afraid to complete the HF route but oh I shalllll!

        • belatkuro says:

          Wait, you haven’t finished HF route yet? What part did you stop?

          • Kyokai says:

            It’s been on-hold for a while now (mostly due to lack of time), but I’ve decided to finish before the HF movie releases. I’m around the part where Show ▼

  5. Foshizzel says:

    FSN UBW = RINS SEXY LEGS THE ANIMATION

    Great first “episode” it was great seeing Archer’s side comments about Rin making her blush and smile! Those were some great reactions.

    So next week is Shirou’s story on him summoning Saber! Awesome I can’t wait to see that re-animated <3

    • Di Gi Kazune says:

      Great first “episode” it was great seeing Archer’s side comments about Rin making her blush and smile! Those were some great reactions.

      Unlimited Broom Works.

      • Kyokai says:

        ^ That and I can’t wait to see ufotable’s take on SAIBAAH and SHIROU reunion. Should be pretty solid.

  6. BlackBriar says:

    Fall has officially begun… Unlimited Blade Works is here and time to see why Type-Moon fans are so rabid about this series.

    The prologue performed well. The pacing was good and nothing felt rushed with Rin’s exposition. One difference I noticed is she’s a lot more moody than her Prisma Illya counterpart. Winning the Grail War for the sake of winning… What that’s telling me is she a big love for battles (She could be friends with WIXOSS’ Ruuko and Iona). The way she and Archer formed a mutual bond was admirable. For two strangers, they clicked together quickly. What’s my highlight? That would be the fight between Archer and Lancer.

    So Shiro’s side will be next. Curiosity has me on what kind of person he is and why he is so infamous among Type-Moon… uh, as a matter of fact, will anime fans in general.

    • Di Gi Kazune says:

      We TypeMoonies have a variety of weapons at our disposal to convert heretics. The best example would be…

      The Church.

      How ironically suitable. 😛

      Shirou’s infamy is examplified in the Fate route. Again, without spoiling it too much, Carnival Phantasm examplifies his infamy and takes it up to 11. Especially the two DOKI DOKI dating segments.

      “Minna wa shiawase ni!!!”

    • Irenesharda says:

      So, you didn’t see F/SN either? I was beginning to feel like the only newbie here. I liked Archer and Rin’s relationship as well. I like him a little more than I like her since Rin seems a little stuck-up to me, but I guess they complement each other.

      • Highway says:

        I’ve never seen any of it, except for 4 episodes of Fate/Zero. We’ll see how long I stick with this.

        • Irenesharda says:

          Yeah, another newbie! I’m not alone! ^_^

          • Highway says:

            You might be eventually. If the whole point of this show is battles, meh.

            • BlackBriar says:

              Frankly, I think that’s the main focus of the series. They are beginning a war, after all. Last one standing, wins the prize. Though I’m sure there’ll some moral dilemmas attached as well.

            • Di Gi Kazune says:

              Frankly, the main focus of the series is the magibabble. The Gate of Babylon is just extra eyecandy. Might I remind everyone that even before any fight scenes were animated, the Moonies still flocked to the staticness that is the VN. Yes, Rider’s epic battle vs Kinpika was absurdly awesome but its their clash of ideologies and respect that makes it even more epic.

          • BlackBriar says:

            Yeah, newbies surrounded by hordes of die-hard, borderline cult fans bent on converting us to their cause. I’m quaking in my boots. 😀

            • Irenesharda says:

              Hey, if we stick together, they won’t be able to get to us so easily. Quick! We need to form a strategy against their overwhelming wave of hype!

            • fragb85 says:

              No need to be afraid of us. You are just stepping into a fandom of a highly detailed setting with fans obsessed with explaining the minutia of how the world works. At worst you’ll just be jammed by the walls of text that will spring up every episode. Nothing to be afraid of! 🙂

            • Kyokai says:

              I’m with fragb85 here. I seriously thought I’d finish this post under 1500 words but it went up to 2400+… It’s the TM-fan in me that just wouldn’t shut up. Apologies everyone. ;;

      • Di Gi Kazune says:

        I hope that the reply was to BB… ‘coz boss lady would send the Inquisition after me if I didn’t know the ins and outs of the Nasuverse.

        Rin is just Tsundere. IIRC, she’s the reason why Grade S Zettai Ryouiki exists. (Grade A + Twintails + Tsundere)

        • Irenesharda says:

          Well, yes, YOU seem to know everything about it. Rest assured, Mme. Kyokai, your disciple knows his stuff. I was just feeling a bit lonely everywhere since everyone else seem to also know everything that’s going to happen in this series. They’re all just happy to get a new prettier version, I just want to know the story.

          • Di Gi Kazune says:

            Pretty baubbles are nice but the true Typemoonie follows for the story. Either read the Typemoon wiki or play the VN or read the entire VN dump in English. I am pretty sure there is an english patch out there.

            Remember that they are 3 routes and they are equally important in developing and understanding the characters’ personalities. UBW is just one of 3 and concentrates development on Rin/Archer. The Fate Route is Saber. Heaven’s Feel is Matou Sakura and sorta Illya. (Word among the fans is that Illya’s Route was dropped and merged with HF.)

          • Kyokai says:

            @ Irene, rest assured that I’ll not be, ‘this is beautiful and that is awesome’. Rather I’ll drive new and old watchers together and hopefully we all would learn to coexist in between spoilers! xD

        • BlackBriar says:

          I hope that the reply was to BB… ‘coz boss lady would send the Inquisition after me if I didn’t know the ins and outs of the Nasuverse.

          I’d say I wasn’t converted just for the pleasure of having you chopped to pieces by Kyokai for failure due to being ill-prepared. 😀 But I’m not that heartless.

      • BlackBriar says:

        No, I haven’t. My first taste of the Type-Moon universe, though I wasn’t aware of it at the time, was the dubbed version of Shingetsutan Tsukihime. Then Fate/Zero, courtesy of Boss Lady Kyokai, followed by the first and second seasons of Fate/kaleid liner Prisma☆Illya.

        There was some consideration on looking into the 2006 DEEN version of Fate/Stay Night but I was heavily persuaded by Kyokai and other Type-Moon fans to abandon the thought as though doing so would be an act of blasphemy. 😉 Apparently it was a very terrible adaptation.

        Still, it took 8 years for a reboot. Hopefully that same treatment will go to other series whose adaptations have been horribly botched.

        • Di Gi Kazune says:

          There is no Tsukihime anime until the day Kinoko gets off his butt and does the Tsukihime game remake.

        • fragb85 says:

          If you want a taste of the 2006 DEEN anime. Here is the Archer vs.Lancer fight as interpreted by DEEN. No, that is not a fanmade creation with Adobe Flash, that really did air in Japanese TV.

          For reference, here is the same fight as done by UFOTABLE. Still thinking of watching the DEEN version yet?

          • Irenesharda says:

            Well, it wasn’t TOO bad, just a product of its time. I mean…I’ve seen worse. And…why is Lancer talking through his teeth?

            And why does Archer looks so young? And I though Shirou would be like this universe’s version of Ichigo from the rude way he talked to Rin earlier in the episode, why does he look like a scared rabbit there?

            • fragb85 says:

              Your right. Its not bad. Its just hilarious. I especially love the last seconds where DEEN resorted to moving stills.

              I’m not sure how you got that impression with Shirou. He is nothing like Ichigo and his greeting to Rin was just a standard courteous greeting. Rin only reacted because she didn’t expect him to greet her at all.

              As for the battle, Shirou is terrified because he has never witnessed a battle between two powerful Servants destroying the floor around them and moving faster than the human eye can see. At least that’s what its supposed to be, since DEEN failed to portray that.

            • Irenesharda says:

              I think it was the shadowy way she walked down a deserted street with his hands in his pockets, and beginning a ginger, it just reminded me of Ichigo a lot.

              Also, she was right in that he was a little rude in that the first thing he says to her is not “hello” but “aren’t you late” or something. I don’t know, as I said, Ichigo was the first thing that popped into my mind when I saw him.

          • BlackBriar says:

            The consideration to watch the 2006 version was small. There wasn’t enough motivation to make me follow through on it and now that there’s a new version, there’s no reason for me to look back at it again.

  7. T.K. says:

    A great start as always. The fight scene was amazing but what really got me was the insert of Point Zero during Archer’s acknowledgement of Rin as a master-class Magus, I would give it a standing ovation right then and there.

    • Kyokai says:

      Yep, Prologue was amazing and a great point to start this route. Good point on BGM, which was great throughout and I especially loved all of the Rin and Archer moments.

  8. fragb85 says:

    Caster: Magus servants, who are very proficient in reality marble (space manipulation).

    …That’s not a reality marble. At all. I think the term you are looking for is a Bounded Field (though Reality Marble is a type of a bounded field). Reality marble are much more complex, incredibly rare and unique. So much that its actually a taboo to the mage world because even they can’t figure it out. It is not something the Caster class throws around. In fact of all the Casters Servants in the Nasuverse, there is only one who I can recall that has a Reality Marble and that was from the Fate/Extra video game.

    Sorry if I just went Nasuvese geek there, i’m not one to overly nitpick facts like this. I just think this little factoid is very important to correct because the concept of a Reality Marble is a very important plot point in UBW.

    • Di Gi Kazune says:

      Correct. Casters are supposed to be proficient in Magecraft and Item construction. Reality marbles are more of ideas/concept put into form.

      RM are spread amongst the classes. One each from Caster, Archer, Rider and Saber.

      • fragb85 says:

        I’m not sure what you’re talking about. Reality Marbles have nothing to do with the Servants or their classes and is not even exclusive to them. Its all about the individual and as mentioned are unique to said individual. Several powerful individuals in Tsukihime for example, have a Reality Marble.

    • Kyokai says:

      Don’t worry, we are all Nasuverse/TM-geeks here. 😉

      Now, my definitions above are not for UBW route alone, rather for the entire fate franchise (to-date). For definition: RM concept is having one’s inner world materialize and/or projected onto reality. This magecraft however is a taboo among taboos and mystery among mysteries (as commented by Rin to Archer in UBW route). Whoever has done it, possesses immense mana/power/lineage to do so.

      In the servant category, the only class able to perform this is Caster because of its high thaumaturgy in theory (this was even discussed in a Q&A session with Nasu, where he said that FSN Caster didn’t have the ability to do so but it is someone with similar skills, who can precisely construct small to large scale “another world(s)”. Like, Fate/Extra Caster can.

      However, we have learned of exceptions like Rider from Fate/Zero (where his own army’s wish helped him create Ionian Hetairoi) and of course, UBW spoilers.

      • fragb85 says:

        That’s the thing though. Reality Marble is not a “Caster” quality. Its a rare, unique ability that very few people can do. Its only other consistent fact is that it requires a lot of Mana to manifest. That is not exclusive to Casters.

        In the case, of F/SN Caster she most definitely does not have one, just the ability to make Bounded Fields like most powerful mages can . At best, it can have properties of an RM but is not actually one. Another example of a Pseudo Reality Marble is Fate/Extra’s Saber Aestus Domus Aurea which specifically says is not a RM but Thamaturgy.

        Caster from Fate/Extra very specifically does say that Queen’s Glass Game is a Reality Marble. Broskander’s Ionian Heteroi is also Reality Marble. And of course, what’s actually relevant to this anime is own is also an RM.

  9. shure says:

    So what if Rin and Archer didn’t visit the Shinto park or there were less dialogues exchanged between Rin and Sakura?

    Actually, the talk in the park happened and was shown in the early screening. ufotable just cut it, because they reserved a one hour timespot and… well, besides the 47 minutes, there had to be room for commercials, too.

    • Kyokai says:

      Glad to know I have some extra scenes to look forward to in the BD-release then.

      Also, welcome to Metanorn, shure! 🙂

  10. AllenAndArth says:

    I can only say one thing…FINALLY!
    fate needed the Unlimited route so much! i’m crying of happiness…it’s my favorite route @x@

    • Kyokai says:

      Rin is the best girl. ’nuff said.

      • Di Gi Kazune says:

        skylion and I belong to Team Illya and beg to differ. >_>

      • AllenAndArth says:

        Yes, with Illyasviel(i’m pretty sure i messed up my name) following right behind…what! i didn’t put her in second because she has long silver hair and colorful eyes, i definitely didn’t…just a little bit, maybe…okay i did put her there because of it…don’t judge me! i can’t control it!

  11. thorgriim says:

    welp Late to the party and all that.. but im here and i made it at last. Well not much to say but im excited to see how they do things this round, Who wouldn’t want to miss this series? So anyways better late then never hehe, lets enjoy this one, but ill miss magical girl Illya! but im sure this will do good.. I hope…

    • Kyokai says:

      Welcome, thorgriim! This is THE party of Fall so there’s definitely lots of perks in joining. So, is Illya your favourite girl or there are others you like as well? Your top 3 from fate would be?

      • thorgriim says:

        Top 3 eh well lets see..
        Fate/kaleid universe
        Illya
        Chloe
        Mama-san

        For Fate Stay Night, its a tough one but If i had to do a list it would be this.
        Fate/SN/Zero
        Rin
        Kiritsugu(because voice)
        Gilgamesh

        Its rare for me to like male characters, but there are a few that really stand out to me and kiritsugu is one awesome dude i’d have to admit.. plus hes Illya’s dad!so win. and Gilgamesh, hes just fun to watch and hear how he acts hehe

        • Kyokai says:

          I see your favourite being the Kaleidoscope spinoff world. ^^

          Kiritsugu(because voice)

          Oh yes! Rikiya Koyama gives all other seiyuu a run for their money. Jouji Nakata is already widespread in Type-Moon franchise but even he can’t match the awesomeness of Kerrytugu. This guy is formidable and I have a soft spot for Gilgamesh alright.

          If you have watched the previous fate anime or movie, I’d say, be ready for some changes and hopefully ufotable will do justice.

          • Di Gi Kazune says:

            Kiritsugu is none other than…

            JACK BAUER!

            JACK BAUER! He’s so cool!
            JACK BAUER! He’s so sexy!
            JACK BAUER! (etc2 etc2 etc2)

          • thorgriim says:

            Haha, yeah, like skylion i have a soft spot for the loli’s. Yeah I’ve seen the movie and the first FSN so I’m looking forward to what changes and how awesome the visuals will be this time around, very awesome so far and I’m sure its going to get better..

      • Di Gi Kazune says:

        I would pick and specifically exclude the Prismaverse because that would hog everything:
        1. Illyasviel von Einzbern
        2. Castko (Extra)
        3. Caster (FSN) – Jason, you are a F***ing asswhore. She loved you and you dumped her. Literally a Greek Tragedy.

        Hmm… It seems I am partial to Casters and Purple. #4 would have been Jeanne and she is even related to a Caster. Hmm…

        • Kyokai says:

          Purple? Is Sakura in your list then?

          • Di Gi Kazune says:

            No. She is technically black/red. Since I cannot use Team Kirei here:
            Show ▼

  12. Kyokai says:

    Btw guys, did I photoshop this in vain? :c

    • AllenAndArth says:

      why???!!!

      • Kyokai says:

        I think oldies will understand my hate for anything CGI in fate/stay night. So, I tried to blot out whatever underhanded ploy they had. >>;

    • thorgriim says:

      the water is nice.. yeah… the water..its so blue and stuff..

    • Irenesharda says:

      What is this supposed to be? Why do you have Haru here? Am I missing something? 🙁

      • Kyokai says:

        In the original FSN and even in movie, the process of transferring mana was shown by CG dragons and dolphins. This is one thing unacceptable by fans and thus parodied a lot. When I saw the swimming mana in the Prologue, I just knew I had to make fun of it somehow and Free! Haru was the best choice in suiting the colour. xD

  13. Irenesharda says:

    Well, after seeing the second episode, I like Shirou. At first, I even liked him better than Rin…but then, he started monologuing and then decided to stay all night at a school, cleaning on his hands and knees for a jerk, because the boy for some reason has yet to be taught how to say the word, “no”. So, he lost some major points, but I like the techno look of his powers. He’s naive, idealistic, and a doormat, but he’s not bad for a main character so far. Sakura though…it’s only been one episode and she’s already beginning to grate on my nerves. -_-

    • Di Gi Kazune says:

      Wait… You do not know Shirou as well as we do…

      • Irenesharda says:

        Are you saying that as a bad or good thing?

        • Kyokai says:

          Oi, DGK, stop spoiling Irene! 😛

          Shiro in a word is a ‘good boy’. He’s too good to be true and thus faces the usual trope of being too perfect. Though, I do see his flaws so I’m not much bothered by it.

          • Di Gi Kazune says:

            Honestly speaking, he does get an improvement in each successive route. I will have to admit that in the last fight scene in HF, he is priestly awesome.

            • Kyokai says:

              See, that’s why I can’t hate him because he does learn from his mistakes.

  14. […] on Seigi no Mikata: I touched upon the fourth Grail war in my previous post and we finally got to see its horrific repercussions. I can go on and on about Emiya Kiritsugu, […]

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