Fate/Kaleid Liner Prisma✫Illya 2wei Herz! – 10ehntel [ENDE]
Illya: “I Magic Girl’d the $#!+ out of him!”
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Enuma Elis. That’s some pretty good use of ancient Akkadian right there. But, as well all now know, Quintet Fire reigns supreme. Go home Shouta!Gil, your toys are useless. But I’m getting ahead of myself, I can’t help it. I do love how Hiroyama frames these stories. |
When On High
For all intents, this was far from the “typical” Fate showdown. Oh, the set up is always quite simple: immovable object that is also an irresistible force + an equal but opposing party made of the same flaptrap= fighting and talking that lasts for roughly three episodes. But we aren’t having any of that here, at least that last part. This is Prisma Illya after all, the True Route to end all True Routes. Short, sharp, shock in comparison to Fate, all wrapped up in a bow as pretty as Illya’s Zweiform. It might be skating a bit to close to meta, but ultimately all the games are rigged when it comes to writing. If you want the Mahou Shoujo Power of Friendship to win over a Type-Moon creation event level weapon, then that is the way you write the thing. Kudos mangaka!
But The Power of Friendship is nothing without the value of teamwork, as Kuro, Rin, Luvia, and even Bazzet get on the same page as Illya; as if not rescuing Miyu from a monster was ever in the cards. I do love that it took the four of them to set up the one hit that provided the downfall. Shouta!Gil was distracted by the Big Girl when that Archer arrow came calling. On the surface it’s looked like an epic fight, but for me it feels like Hiroyama is just slapping some of the “oh so serious” moments right out of the Type-Moon canon. Magical Girls trump all, folks. Illya has officially come into her own in regards to how she address gaining and using power. She will tear you down to save a friend, tearing at herself in the process if necessary. Pretension simply cannot beat that!
In the heart of this friendship we have the beating emotional resonance of Something about Miyu. “I am a vessel whose role is to bestow light. I need no light myself”. This is what she’s been running from all this time. A greater purpose for others, but with nothing to call her own. Now how all of that fits into the larger story being told will have to wait for another time. But, we can safely say, that it’s something worth running from. If the after ED scene is any indication, then it’s something that other’s deem worthy of chasing. It may be over for now, but there is more to come.
“I pray that you meet kind people” is what we clearly hear a voice not-unlike Shirou tell Miyu in her moments of resignation. What she wanted, and what she gained in just three short months. In terms of animation quality, I thought Silver Link knocked this sequence out of the park. It’s one thing to see the static images lifted from the page and brought to kinetic life with the full range of color and motion. But, Miyu’s existential moments in the darkness are something else entirely. They did the manga page many many times better in that regard. Which is what they are supposed to be doing.
For the record, I actually thought the page was better than the screen in terms of the combat scenes preceding Miyu’s rescue. Hiroyama’s pen, on it’s own, created a great deal more impact than Silver Link’s full motion camera work was capable of evoking. I was looking forward to Kuro’s arrow making that mark in animation, but it came off a bit…well off in terms of blocking and composition. The end result was the same, Shouta!Gil’s surprise at being pierced. But I found the sequence didn’t quite do the addition right. But…speaking of what people were looking forward to…
It’s not the Elephant in the Room. Not at all. Everyone is talking about it. Yep, they borked the cliffhanger in favor of a Slice of Life ending. There are many reasons why Silver Link choose to go this route, and I’m sure many of them are legitimate if given a proper day in court. But I won’t kid myself that the court of public opinion doesn’t exist. I won’t kid you, in saying that I couldn’t care. I won’t list the reasons point by point underlining Silver Links reasoning, but I will say that this was a great way to end the series, and I don’t think it jeopardizes what they have in store for 3rei at all.
That’s a big story, and it’s going to happen. The most they’ve done is add a few hoops here and there. The overall story doesn’t change in the least bit. Miyu can run, she can even hide for awhile; but she can’t do it forever. Sure, I would have liked to have seen the ending that was delivered in the manga, but I’m fine with this one. I live with Crone’s disease, I have plenty of real life butthurt without getting bent out of shape by an anime original ending. RE: Ruined! Go back and read the manga, it’s still there…or in best case scenario: get over yourself….
…or you can wait a year…I’ll be here…
2wei Katzen sind in Ordnung, auch (NSFW)
Switches at the Ready!
Eye-watering Detail (NSFW is over 9000!)
…and lastly ED2 before I wrap things up…
Wow. I can’t believe you let me go this long without mentioning the change in ED. For one, I love it so much more than the first one. Which isn’t to say that one is bad, not at all. It’s perfect for the first half of the show. Just like the new one is perfect for this final act. For second, I love how the camera move evokes Eir Aoi, Fate/Zero‘s original ED, and then does it one better cause Magical Girls rock! Plus, Wishing Diary’s music is quite gorgeous.
Well, I loved this show, as I’ve said many times in final thoughts over the past ten weeks. I thought it was the perfect blend of light comedy, school girl antics, and some of it’s own serious business. Silver Link did a fine job writing and directing the anime original content, with only a few marks against. I didn’t find them a waste of time, nor did I want to rush past them to get to the “good stuff”. All of it was the good stuff, and I was happy to spend my time with some quality entertainment. They provided a lovely, and subtle set of character arcs underneath, and played them off very well at the end. Color me happy.
And that folks, is pretty much the wrap. I loved covering this series for the second time, and look forward to covering it again once 3rei comes knocking on our doors.
9/10! Knocking a point off for some overuse of static images.
We’ll see you next Summer!
Thanks for Watching!
About skylion
All around nerd that enjoys just about any anime genre. I love history, politics, public policy, the sciences, literature, arts...pretty much anything can make me geeky...except sports. Follow me @theskylion
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Ack! I forgot to include a pic in that post!
Thanks to Tatsuko for keeping with the fine Fate-speak tradition…
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
3rei!! :3
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
…soon…
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
OH! Sweet NekoLOLiS!
*waits for the incoming BDs!*
/me hears skylion furiously clicking and preordering those two figures…
I think The Ending Is Fine Too… rather than leave things on a huge cliffhanger for a whole year. It’s not as if Silver Link didn’t modify the endings before. The original season’s was tweaked to bring forward the “Morning Kiss”. Instead we get a slightly less but equally as good foreshadowing of… Show ▼
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I see this is going to end up badly… peppered with spoiler tags…
To paraquote Kane: Show ▼
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Also, I hope to see Show ▼
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It was glorious watching how they converted 7 pages worth of action into full animation. Shota Gil laughing maniacally and enjoying it was brillant – as aspected of the King of Heroes! Though he should have used a NP that is more suited against young virgin girls: AUO! Castoff!
*furiously taps keyboard to order BDs 2,3 and 4* Accidentally ordered 5 already while trying to order 1… ^^;;;
I expect Show ▼
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I do hope that they are going for the full 20 episode season worth in one go… otherwise it WILL be a bloody cliffhanger halfway for a year.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
I’ll address the non-spoilery things first: Yeah, we got’s a Cliffhanger Problem coming when they do 3rei. I haven’t re-read that far into the manga, so I haven’t tried to suss out when they would have a natural break. At least not with the sort of original content they use to provide such break.
But for the record, I would love a 20, or so, episode thunder-road explosion of a 3rei slate. I’ll keep in mind my reasoning behind why they split up 2wei to begin with: Mo’ discs=Mo’ Money! So if they gots the money, they can deliver a bigger, and longer, show.
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As for the rest. Well, I’ll happily take any extra discs or figs off your hands. It’s the least I could do.
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
Spammy defiantly used Spamuma Elish! :\
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
“I am the Bone of my Spam”
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
That Aria does exist somewhere on this site… Cannot remember which Fate post it was in though.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Have an Endcard as a booby prize instead…
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
Is that a foreboding for 3rei… or is that Shota Gil just pointing to where the LOLis might be found… or both?
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Gil has been demoted to street sign. He’s there to point out where the cool party is. The one everyone else is invited to but him.
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
To paraphrase Carnival Phantasm:
He doesn’t need an invitation – He IS the Party.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
To quote me exactly: “I Magic Girl’d the $#!+ out of him!”
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
He IS the original Mahou Shouta. 😛
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
That is why I prefer the F/Z first ED. Which is the best amongst the OP/ED of F/Z.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1692 comments
The study party–Lolis, Lolis everywhere, but are there enough for Skylion to share?
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
…there might be enough, if you want to wager a finger or two…
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1692 comments
Actually, I’d be more interested in Mama, so no competition from me.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Goooood….
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
*Throws in a Golden Shota*
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
What the hell were those 10 minutes after the fight and before Rin, Luvia and Bazett’s contemplations on how to report to their superiors? Was that necessary? Oh hell, I’ll show some leniency since this is the season’s curtain call.
That aside, does Kuro see Illya as anything beyond a recharging outlet? The girl sapped her in her sleep and had the nerve to tell her to the face she was exhausted. In light of the fight, which was the night before, Illya should be more drained than her. That’s like leeching off a dead battery.
Well, as a whole, 2wei Herz managed to save itself by being decent. I’ll say that much since it was a step down from last season in my opinion with the laborious, uninteresting “slice of life” themed episodes that took more than half the entire run (Word is not even the LN readers were pleased) but redeemed itself somewhat with what little, actual plot progression there was to offer and generated some anticipation thanks to the ominous epilogue.
3rei, eh? I’ve been hearing some good things about that entry. Hopefully it won’t disappoint and muck up by razing the plot progression and diluting the action for mundane SoL like this outing. Safe to assume it will be here Summer 2016. So, until then.
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
Nope.
The advantages of being a superbattery with a Kaleidostick to multiple dimensions.
Need moar LOLi Prillya Slice Of Life.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
From what I’ve been able to gather the manga readers (it’s not based on a light novel) were pretty much OK with both 2wei series, and that first time viewers,that don’t bother with the manga, enjoyed the show. As for the most hardcore fans, the small but vocal minority seem to be butthurt over just about anything/everything, and there really is no use catering to them, and if that makes them leave, then good riddance to bad rubbish. The show did well in it’s broadcasting slots across the country, and it looks like Silver Link will make back production cost plus. But then if you just cherry pick the hate mail, it all looks bad.
As for Kuro kissing Illya? Well, she says it’s too recharge her mana. Illya doesn’t look all that diminished afterword As is mentioned in another comment, she’s still supercharged with mana, so there’s that. Plus, maybe Kuro just likes surprising Illya like that. They do have this ongoing battle for Elder Sister status. Or maybe Kuro just enjoys stealing a kiss? She’s Kuro like that.
If you’re invested in the storyline, then the meeting between Rin, et. al payed off pretty well. If you only have a tangential investment in the show, then I guess everything becomes a nitpick….There is a much larger story being shaped after all.
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
I R butthURz by this lamez adpatationz! /end sarcasm.
The disc sales are pretty weak though but then again, pretty much most series that are not idol shows have been showing pretty weak sales compared to the past.
Re: Kuro kissing Illya.
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Enough said of diverging logic…
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Oh, no need for pretzel logic Show ▼
…any production committee worth their salt has probably already accounted for the current disc sales metric, and adjusted accordingly. Merch can pick up some slack, for the short order. Long term? Who knows. But I’m sure Silver Link made the money they wanted.
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
Wait until I show you that deliciously pure clear poster I got… With the birthday booklet that came with BD1. Pure innocent and non-sexualized LOLis. :3
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
I’m hearing an awful lot of talk here…. 😎
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
Patience my padawan. Have I ever disappointed you with LOLicious treats?
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
Here is your treat. I forgot all about the birthday booklet but this will suffice for now.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Well, I have read the manga, don’t know why you had to call me out on that when you know it’s not true. Unless you’re using the ridiculous chain to be…well…I really don’t know what crap your on half the time. So, thanks for keeping the promise, I guess…
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
It’s not you. Definitely. It’s the other site *coughanncough* that always has a beef with anything Fatey. Do not want to advertise crappy reviews.