November 2nd, 2014 
AstroNerdBoy Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works – 04 review
フェイト/ステイナイト [Unlimited Blade Works] – 04
SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:
Ilya is scolded by her maid Sella (assisted by fellow maid Leysritt) for revealing Berserker’s Noble Phantasm and not killing Rin and especially Shirou. However, Ilya wants to enjoy the kill.
At Shirou’s home, he wakes from a dream where he’s in a field of swords. After a chat with Rin, where he accidentally insults her, she reminds him that they are enemies. After Rin leaves, she tells Archer that they are going to do some investigating. Meanwhile, Shirou goes to see Saber, who’s resting at the home’s dojo. After they chat and have breakfast, where Saber explains Heroic Spirits and why she can’t tel him her real name.
When Taiga calls him to deliver a bento to the school’s archery dojo, Shirou makes it, but Saber insists on accompanying him to the school for safety’s sake. When Saber sees Kuzuki-sensei, she has an initial reaction, but says there’s no trace of mana or blood on the man. When Shirou leads Saber to the dojo, Sakura has a reaction to seeing her. Shirou explains that Saber came to see Kiritsugu and that she’ll be staying with him. Sakura is horrified by this and Taiga is shocked, but Taiga decides that she will move in as guardian. She then asks Sakura if she’d like to move in as well, for which Sakura is extremely grateful. Meanwhile, Rin and Archer discover that Caster is behind recent deaths and is hiding in a temple in a nearby mountain.
Thoughts/Review:
Very little action in this week’s episode, but that’s not a bad thing. There was a lot of eating through. ^_~
Oh, Ilya. Figures that ufotable would fanservice her with a bath scene. That being said, I couldn’t help but be amused at seeing Sella and Liz in their “normal” forms as Ilya’s maids, verses how they are in Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya. They address her as “ojousama” in Fate/stay night, but did they do that in Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya.
Sella was correct in her assessment that Ilya should have killed her opponents. Ilya comes off quite chilling with her analogy about chasing the rabbit and making it fear. It is going to take me some time to get used to the Ilya in Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya when the next series comes out.
Rin’s look at Shirou after his thoughtless remark had me laughing out loud. He’s not good around women. It is amazing that she even likes him at all.
I rather enjoyed Rin and Archer playing detective and sniffing out Caster. I’m looking forward to seeing that progress. Rin and Archer are such a great team.
Also, we got to see Rin showing why she’s a kickarse mage.
As to Shirou’s and Saber’s trip to school, there were two items of interest. First was Saber’s encounter with Kuzuki-sensei.
Not knowing the differences between the Fate route and the UBW route, I don’t what all will and won’t happen. So when Saber reacted to Kuzuki-sensei, I half expected Caster to show up and defend him, or at the very least, send faux Assassin to do the job.
Next was Sakura’s reaction to Saber. Man, Sakura perfectly embodies the “notice me, Senpai” meme. I felt so badly for her on the romantic front at the idea of a girl living with the boy she so deeply loves. On the other hand…
Of course, knowing that Sakura is actually Rider’s true Master, her reaction to seeing Saber carries the additional weight of knowing that Shirou could be hurt or even killed.
Of course, having Taiga and Sakura move in with Shirou is going to be fun. I seem to recall some comedic hijinks during this arrangement.
I’m probably forgetting stuff, but I’m already so far behind, it isn’t even funny. Regardless, it was an enjoyable episode.
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I did not know we get to see some fanservice à la Prisma Illya, when they said, they would give Ilya more scenes… 😉 Anyway, Sella calls Ilya “Ilya-san” in Prisma Illya, though when she gets back into serious maid mode, she calls her ojou-sama.
It was already known that Berserker could regenerate the life he lost, but now we know how long it would take, so that’s some interesting new info. Still, now that they made Saber kill Berserker, he’s immune to her weapon. What now…?
There were again infodumps in this episode as expected, though again of course they were necessary for the newcomers. Saber actually explained the Servants’ status a Master can see (with all the Dungeons & Dragons sheets and stuff), which understandably wasn’t brought up. Saber looks more relaxed and cute in this episode though (http://i.imgur.com/UhCMrtg.gif). ufotable covers her relationship with Shirou very well.
It seems like the inner monologue with Rin thinking about Archer’s shot is missing. Well, perhaps they will bring it up in the next episodes (or it was cut). But hey, cool new design for the dragon teeth soldiers. The same old model from the VN kinda got boring.
Fate spoilers:
[spoiler]Kuzuki doesn’t appear in Fate at all. Any involvement of his that you saw in DEEN’s anime is from UBW. This scene with Saber noticing him and admiring him for his breathing technique served as foreshadowing.[/spoiler]
In the VN you had several options on that day and it seems like ufotable combined them all. So Saber gets to meet Kuzuki and Shirou has his longer talk with Ayako. This was the most interesting scene for me. Ayako also reveals some nice info about Shirou’s past in the club:
Shirou never missed his target. Except for one time Ayako notes, but he did it on purpose. In the novel, Shirou also provides some info that one needs to become one with nature and empty inside to excel in archery and Shirou can naturally do it. He did archery because it’s basically like training his magic. Ayako also very early already points out some issues Shirou has. He doesn’t really laugh. He doesn’t know what fun means and ufotable makes it obvious it has to do with his past.
Trivia/Fun notes:
1. This episode in general felt very Kara no Kyoukai like if you ask me. The details, the colors, camera angles and soundtrack… Ayako is basically a brown-haired Ryougi Shiki and Shirou (especially with his new winter jacket) looks like Enjou Tomoe (those two were probably the prototype designs):
http://i.imgur.com/NT2ns4U.png
http://i.imgur.com/2Obc3cF.jpg
2. While I do appreciate the scene at the end with Ayako, this was still very amusing:
http://i.imgur.com/0uwbFsM.png
http://i.imgur.com/ixXIH5i.png
http://i.imgur.com/uJT5LKE.gif
“You know why, Emiya. It’s because you don’t laugh.”
*cue shocked Shirou face and flashback to make it obvious why*
Like this dog: http://i1.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/030/111/a4oihl.gif
3. I wish there was an Ayako route. She really looked gorgeous in this episode. This frame was the best looking one: http://i.imgur.com/fgQhwDR.jpg
“Hey, Emiya, I’m going to the faculty room.”
If this wasn’t Shirou but Tohno Shiki from Tsukihime, he would have tapped that, haha. 😉
4.
http://i.imgur.com/r3kTYVl.jpg
Poor Sakura. No one wants her? 🙁
5. http://i.imgur.com/bAdlYqR.jpg?1
Kirei is surely popular for someone who didn’t appear that much. Well, it’s Jouji Nakata voicing him, that’s gotta be it. Too bad, Ilya and Berserker. :-/ Doesn’t matter. You got your own anime, Ilya! ^_^
6. I swear, the food porn again. Japanese TV is full of cooking shows and Nasu seriously had to talk so often about food in the novel. And now I’m seeing more food in the anime.
http://i.imgur.com/b10nyz0.gif
7. No comment.
http://i.imgur.com/hBRpJXw.jpg
Another note about the food:
No actual spoiler:
[spoiler]That’s from the novel, Nasu Shirou talking about food:
かつおのたたきサラダ風から始まって、ピリリと辛いねぎソースをかけた鶏肉揚げ、定番といわんばかりの肉 じゃがと、トドメとばかりにえび天を筆頭に天ぷら各種を用意する。
奮発したというか、もはや節操のない献立となった夕食は、しかし。
かつおのたたきサラダ (salad garnished with seared skipjack tuna slices):
https://i.imgur.com/vCkdZdl.jpg
ピリリと辛いねぎソースをかけた鶏肉揚げ (fried chicken with a hot and spicy leek sauce):
https://i.imgur.com/HIT52Cw.jpg
定番といわんばかりの肉じゃが (Shirou’s trademark nikujaga):
https://i.imgur.com/Yc1hmAt.jpg
トドメとばかりにえび天を筆頭に天ぷら各種 (tempura platter, featuring shrimp):
https://i.imgur.com/2uV9W5K.jpg
I’m starting to believe ufotable is a bit too faithful to the novel, lol. Ha! But the soup was anime original!
To be honest though, mirror-moon made the food porn unbearable with their dry VN translation. [/spoiler]
Food porn! All that glorious food porn! I had lunch a couple hours ago and I’m feeling hungry again already…
Just for you, my friend: http://i.imgur.com/yycsyic.gif
Man, that looks so good… Now I just want to order some Japanese food for dinner…
*LOL* Yes, the hunger grows.
That’s how I am, every time I see these images. I REALLY want some tempura chicken.
As to the food porn…*lol* And I LOVE tempura, so seeing that, I’m going, “YOU BASTARDS!” I’m too busy to fry up my own, but maybe a few weeks from now.
Thanks for the info, identifying the various dishes.
8. Almost forgot, this will be the first BD box cover: http://i.imgur.com/Fu25EV9.jpg
[spoiler]Okay, I lied. :p [/spoiler]
9. Since this is basically the Ayako episode (script cover: http://i.imgur.com/k2AGt5Bl.jpg), here’s another gif to celebrate it: http://i.imgur.com/ZdFSMq5.gif
10. Someone from BL got bored: http://i.imgur.com/faQDTaj.gif
11. As I’ve mentioned before, the chess pieces in the preview represent certain people. Shirou is the white pawn, Rin is the red/black queen with blue magic circuit lines, Kirei the black bishop, Kuzuki a green pawn and Sakura a violet pawn.
*LOL* too funny. ^_^
She certainly was flirty with Shirou, now that I think back about it.
*lol*
Thanks for the reminder of the chess pieces. ^_^
So this info didn’t come out in the original VN?
I’m liking Saber even more in this outing than before.
That’s cool that ufotable pulled stuff from different options to give a complete picture without making it seem awkward.
For a character I didn’t remember from the first anime (assuming she was there), she certainly has a bigger impression with this series.
It kind of did in the VN.
[spoiler=”for Fate”]After Archer killed Berserker six times and died, it was noted that it takes three days until all his non-fatal wounds are restored (so that would rather imply that he regenerates all his lives after three days and I guess the anime says the same), but that was just a marginal note and left ambiguous.
The more detailed explanation was from a material book. To be honest, Liz is, due to her not talking in complete sentences, not really much clearer.[/spoiler]
I barely remember the DEEN anime, but I do know that she was there, too.
There are some hints that she might like Shirou (although Nasu jokes around that she would develop a crush on KnK’s male protagonist, since she looks like the female protagonist). hollow ataraxia has some more scenes with her. Most side characters get a lot more screentime in FHA.
In the novel, the talk with Ayako focused more on the philosophical and mental aspects of Japanese archery and compare it with mental preparation for magic, to point out the issues Shirou has. It’s a follow-up to that conversation he had with Archer in Fate and Archer talking about the “follow-through” concept, the last of the eight stages of shooting, zanshin.
[spoiler=”for Fate”]Archer: “There is a concept called ‘follow-through’. The time you have after you take your shot. I believe that is the only thing common to your archery and mine.”
Shirou: “…What? You don’t have to tell me about the eight stages of shooting.”
Archer: “Just listen. They say the body stays there naturally after you shoot a bow. […] I am talking about your mental preparation. Follow through is not intended to ascertain if the arrow has hit the target.
An arrow has hit the target even before it is released. The archer lets the arrow go according to that image. So there is no need to check if the arrow has hit or not. Because if you think the arrow will hit, it will hit the target, and if you do not, the arrow will not hit.”
Shirou: “That’s not true. There are shots that won’t hit no matter how much you think they will. Everyone would hit the target every time if all you have to do is to think about hitting it.”
Archer: “Is that so? Well, you hit the target every time.”[/spoiler]
To compare:
[spoiler=”longer quote from UBW”]Ayako: “You were freaking good ever since I joined the archery club. Your form was really beautiful and you looked like you didn’t know how to miss. I thought you weren’t happy about hitting the target because you’re so good. You can get into the mentality without the bow, so I was annoyed that the bow might just be hindering you.
… Oh, did I guess right? I bet I did. Shooting is the mentality of shooting your mind, right? The arrow is not shot at the target, but shot at the mind of the shooter trying to hit the target. So you won’t understand the mentality if you can’t face yourself.
[…]
First of all, the bow and arrow are unnecessary for you. You missed a target once before, right? I went to see how surprised you’d look, but you were acting normally. I asked you why, and you said ‘I missed because I imagined for it to miss’. It didn’t miss as a result, but you made it miss with your own will. That’s when I thought that you’re always imagining the arrow striking the target before you release it.
[…]
People try different things wishing for a good result. But it’s only in our imagination. We can’t ‘see’ it like you do, Emiya. It means you’re one with nature. You’ve reached nothingness, to put it in martial arts terms.”
Shirou: “That’s difficult. So, what did you want to tell me?”
Ayako: “It’s just that it’s easy for you to turn transparent because you’re unselfish. You should be more selfish and greedy. It’s boring to become a master at such a young age, right? I won’t tell you to be like Shinji, but why don’t you have some fun once in a while?”
Shirou: “,,,”
I’m at a loss for words.
I think that’s not true, but I can’t think of anything that’s fun for me.
Ayako: “See. That’s why you’re troubling Sakura so much. You have to know how to have fun now, or you won’t be able to when you get old. People call those kinds of people good-for-nothings, you know?”[/spoiler]
[spoiler=”for Archer”]Well, if one knows it already, it’s obvious these conversations are also hints at Archer’s identity. He doesn’t just fit the Archer-class because he is really good with a bow, he fits the mentality of a bowman. If he ever misses his target, it’s only because he imagined it to miss. [/spoiler]
Btw, what do you think about Kuzuki’s new VA? I guess they wanted to pick someone who sounds similar to his old actor. Unfortunately, due to health issues, Kuzuki’s old VA is taking a break for now.
I didn’t even realize there’d been a change. ^_^; The Japanese are pretty good about trying to get new seiyuu who are very similar to the original seiyuu for a series. I’ve noticed this in Lupin III and Ai Tenchi Muyo (Aeka’s character).
Final note (probably): The potion Caster used, that kills love and made the men in the room impotent, was hemlock (http://www.alchemy-works.com/info_poison_hemlock.html). That’s why Rin wanted to open a window, since the smell was nauseating.
Her lip that she bit in the building, to suppress the nausea and her anger at Caster for involving innocents, was the only wound Rin suffered that night.
Poison, not potion goddammit. ^_^
Poision, potion…pretty similar. ^_~
No mention of Sella mentioning that Berserker is able to regenerate his lives in three days due to Ilya’s gigantic mana reserves? I don’t believe that was ever alluded to in the VN proper, but apparently it was stated in one of the Complete Materials books (one that I don’t have so I can’t check at the moment).
Nasu dropping a bunch of extras into this adaptation, and it makes it all the better.
In my mind, that’s how it should be — add stuff to make what was good even better.
There’s actually a lot more to Sakura than meets the eye, but unfortunately it won’t be revealed in this arc. Same for Kotomine, who’s actually quite likeable in the one arc where he’s sort of not an antagonist I’ve heard there’s going to be a movie featuring Sakura’s Lovecraftian route though.
Yeah, ufotable is supposed to do the movie next.
Very glad you switched over to the new optional spoiler window! I was really annoyed by the ROT13, or whatever it was called. So, cheers for that! 😉
*lol* Yeah, the ROT13 was a pain. I got lucky with it as this is an older plugin that hasn’t been updated in ages, but works like a charm.
I still have to find a comment edit solution.