So back in September I wrote about the anime series Fate/Stay Night, so if you aren't familiar with the series please read my first blog so that you get a better idea of what Fate/Stay Night is about.
Anyways, they released a movie focusing on another part of the story from Fate/Stay Night. Remember that Fate/Stay Night is originally a visual novel that changes according to the decisions that the reader makes along the way. A visual novel is set in a way so that the reader is not bound to one ending, the reader can make certain decisions that can affect the outcome of the story and in the case of Fate/Stay Night has three main endings.
The three story lines are: Fate, Unlimited Blade Works, and Heaven's Feel. The first anime series was centered around the Fate story line with some parts from the other story lines mixed in. But overall, it's considered the Fate story line. This time around, they wanted to make a movie about Fate/Stay Night but instead decided to focus on the Unlimited Blade Works story line.
The same characters appear in the movie, the only thing that chances are the main set of events that move the story forward. I'm going to go into some detail right now, so this might have some spoilers in the next section, but I'll still try to keep it to a minimum.
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| Poster for the movie. |
Last time the main characters were Shiro and Saber for the most part, even if other characters did help them along the way. In the Unlimited Blade Works story line focus on Rin and Archer (and Shiro, but you don't really get that up until the end). I don't know if you remember watching the anime series, but Archer was trying to kill Shiro through out the series. They never really tell you why, but Rin uses a command seal to stop him from attacking Shiro permanently.
Well, this time Archer is also trying to kill Shiro but he puts much more effort into it. In the first battle between Saber and Berserker, Archer tries to kill Berserker and Shiro at the same time. Nothing happens to Shiro, but it still doesn't change the fact that Shiro almost died.
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| Archer |
Archer doesn't do much fighting in the series, mostly because he is injured pretty much from the beginning. This time he is able to fight and we see how good archer is in action and we get to see the full power of his Nobel Phantasm called: Unlimited Blade Works.
Basically, Archer creates an alternate reality which basically represents the soul of Archer and is like the ideal battle field for the caster. In this alternate reality, Archer is able to replicate any weapon just by seeing them and becomes automatically proficient at that weapon even if he hasn't used it before.
But in order to be able to use this power, Archer has to cast a spell while he is fighting. Here is the incantation.
I am the bone of my sword.
体は剣で出来ている。
Steel is my body, and fire is my blood.
血潮は鉄で 心は硝子。
I have created over a thousand blades.
幾たびの戦場を越えて腐敗。
Unknown to death.
ただの一度も敗走はなく、
Nor known to life.
ただの一度も理解されない。
Have withstood pain to create many weapons.
彼の者は常に独り 剣の丘で勝利に酔う。
Yet, these hands will never hold anything.
故に、生涯に意味はなく。
So as I pray, Unlimited Blade Works.
その体は、きっと剣で出来ていた。
The Japanese version of the chant is a little different than the english version, FYI.
Archer also has the power to use a shield called: Rho Aias. This shield is able to block almost any attack. When it comes out, it projects kind of like a flower petals and each has the protective strength of a fortress.
We learn a great more deal about Archer in this movie, and I actually feel bad about Archer once you find out his true identity and why is trying to kill Shiro. But the ending did catch me a little by surprise, so if any of you have seen the movie, please explain how Archer saves the day.
The animation on the movie was really good, way better than the series. There is a fight seen with in 10 minutes of the start of the movie that really keeps you entertained. The only thing is that this movie expects that you have read the visual novel and that you know the story really well because they don't pause to explain things and skip a lot of stuff in the story line. They basically only show you the main and coolest parts of the movie.
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| Rin |
So if you decide to watch this movie, I recommend that you watch it with someone that knows the story and is able to explain things really well. That's what I did, and for a bit of the movie, we had to pause every few minutes because I didn't really get what was going on.
Or you can also read wikipedia article about Fate/Stay Night because it explains things really well. Just know that if you do decided to read wikipedia, then be prepared for a lot of spoilers in the movie. Or you can read the visual novel. You can only get it in Japanse, but then you can download a patch from Mirror-Moon that translates the story into English. I've never actually read the visual novel, but I hear that some of the translations are a little weird but you should be able to understand.
Also, be aware that the visual novel has adult content. This is because visual novels are usually geared towards older audiences. The series and the movie don't show any of that stuff, so don't worry about it.
I really enjoyed this movie, and I want to watch this movie again because I usually understand things better on a second viewing. If your looking to watch the movie before it gets released in the US, you can get it from Unlimited Translation Works fansubs.
Here is the trailer for the movie, but it's in Japanse.
That's all, thanks for reading.
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