Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works – 12 (Cuteness and a shocking cliffhanger.)

Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works – 12 review
フェイト/ステイナイト [Unlimited Blade Works] – 12

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works - 12Shirou checks on a sleepy Rin, whom upon getting up, informs Shirou that she and he are going on a date to the next town, accompanied by Saber as bodyguard. Taiga comes by after hearing about this and wishes them well as they leave. Shirou, Saber, and Rin do some shopping, go to a cafe, and even spend time in the batting cages, where things get a little too competitive. They have the lunch that Rin made in a park, where Rin can’t help but continue to tease Shirou. Meanwhile, Taiga visits Kiritsugu’s grave, where she’s observed by Caster, who’s wearing civilian clothing.

Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works - 12With the rain falling, Shirou, Saber, and Rin get on a bus where Rin scolds Shirou for allowing whatever happened to him in the past negatively affect him. Saber notices something wrong as they cross a bridge, where they discover they no longer have a bus driver as the bus crashes on the now wrecked bridge. Water-based dragon tooth warriors emerge, but Saber’s and Rin’s attacks only cause them to multiply. Caster reveals herself. She also reveals that she has the unconscious Taiga as a hostage, wrapping her throat in magic threads.

Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works - 12Caster proposes an alliance with Shirou and Saber. Despite his claims that he doesn’t want the Holy Grail, Caster reveals she knows his past as an orphan from the last Holy Grail War, found by Kiritsugu. Rin is shocked to learn this as she is to learn that Caster has the ability to summon the Grail without the death of the other Servants. Shirou rejects her offer, but he also stops Saber from attacking. Realizing he’s going to offer up his magic circuits and Command Spells, Saber attacks anyway, causing Shirou to apparently use his last Command Spell to stop her. Caster takes advantage and uses her Rule Breaker weapon to stab Saber. This causes Caster to gain a full set of Command Spells and makes Saber her Servant.

Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works - 12Caster frees Taiga and uses a Command Spell to force Saber to attack Rin. Shirou takes the blow instead. To Caster’s surprise Saber resists enough to tell Rin and Shirou to get away. Before Caster can stop them, Archer breaks through the bounded field and attacks. With this, they are able to escape with Taiga to Rin’s house. Shirou’s wounds are bound, but he’s not healing, apparently because Saber is no longer his Servant. After Rin and Archer chat, the head out to find Caster. Shirou wakes up and decides to go after them despite his wound once he learned that Rin had saved his life that first night.

Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works - 12Meanwhile, Caster tells Assassin to guard the temple, punishing him for his insolence. She no longer has need of the temple and heads to the Church, where she reveals herself as Master of Saber to a surprised Kirei. Caster then has her dragon tooth warriors fight him as Lancer observes nearby, his orders apparently to take no action. Elsewhere, Shirou manages to track Rin and Archer to a rooftop where Rin coldly reminds him he’s no longer a Master and cannot save Saber as he is. With that she jumps off the building where Archer catches her. Rin tells him to stay out of this or he’s dead and they are gone. Shirou takes out Rin’s pendant and clutches it with a determined look on his face.

Thoughts/Review:

Wow. Just wow. Ufotable gets the massive win here for an anime season by having not one, not two, but three double-length episodes. Just incredible work, save for Ilya’s laying down moment, but I’ll let that pass.

Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works - 12

In the Deen anime adaption, there had been a date between Saber and Shirou. I had begun to wonder if there would be a date between Rin and Shirou, and low and behold, there was, complete with Saber along for the ride.

Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works - 12

The date part of the episode was rather cute and sweet. Rin was looking especially cute and such as she put so much effort into this date with Shirou. Her words about him growing taller suggests she knows a great deal about him.

Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works - 12

It was almost odd that Rin had no problem with Saber being on the date. Indeed, Saber was part of Rin’s plans, even though Saber had mentioned that they should pretend she wasn’t there as she was only to be bodyguard. Saber enjoyed this date as much as Rin and Shirou did.

Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works - 12

Speaking of which, that moment when Saber opened up a bag with taiyaki. Talk about some devastating cuteness.

Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works - 12

Saber is a batting helmet is also fine. ^_^

Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works - 12

While on the subject of cuteness, it is a shame we didn’t get to see Caster’s face when she was in civilian clothing.

Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works - 12

One more fun moment from the date — Harry Potter Shirou.

Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works - 12

I liked the scene of Taiga paying a visit to Kiritsugu’s grave. Clearly, she cared a great deal about him. I don’t really know much of how Taiga came to know Kiritsugu. However, it seems he promised to take her places overseas. I wonder if she loved him romantically.

Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works - 12

It boggles the mind at what an idiot Shirou is. He stops Saber, who has Caster backing off. Taiga already had some threads cut and could have been freed has Saber defeated Caster. But Shirou wants to be the hero sacrificing himself in a stupid fashion. There was no guarantee that Caster wouldn’t slaughter them all after he gave up his arm, just to get the mana.

Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works - 12

Even though it looked like Shirou used his last Command Spell, Caster’s Rule Breaker appeared to give her three fresh Command Spells over Saber.

Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works - 12

Saber being Saber forced Caster to use a Command Spell on her and is strong enough to resist it to a degree. Man, I felt so badly for Saber as Archer opened a path for Shirou and company to escape. She’s trapped, thanks to Shirou’s stupidity.

Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works - 12

I was rather surprised to see Caster go after Kirei. She knows there’s a Greater Grail and a Lesser Grail and she wants him to summon it.

Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works - 12

Here’s the thing that confuses me.

Lancer

I know that Kirei is Lancer’s Master, based on having watched the Deen adaptation. However, what I can’t figure out is what game Kirei is playing at. For him to have Lancer just sit and make sure no one interferes doesn’t make any sense unless Kirei has a plan of some sort.

[collapse]

 

Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works - 12

With Shirou’s actions and his removal as Master, Rin did what she had to do to try to protect Shirou. She binds his wounds and puts him into her bed. However, when Archer suggests that their partnership with Shirou is over, she finds a way to not sever ties with Shirou, thus protecting him from Archer trying to kill him again.

Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works - 12

Of course at the end, Rin had to be cold to Shirou because she’s right — he can’t do anything to save Saber, nor can he help her, more so since he’s still losing blood. Not that this will matter, of course. Shirou has that look of determination and will no doubt track Rin down again.

Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works - 12

Well, we’ve got to wait until April to pick this series back up. Man oh man, but it has been a good ride so far.

Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works - 12

 

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37 Responses to “Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works – 12 (Cuteness and a shocking cliffhanger.)”

  1. Aki says:

    [spoiler]@Astro basically Kirei was not Lancer true master. The subject wasn’t touch upon in the 5th war until the sequel spin offs like Hollow Ataraxia. Lancer is the server of Bazett who we saw in 2wei.

    Statistically Kirei and Bazett are fairly even in terms of abilities and strength but he stole her command seals and her rights as master and poses as a ‘Neutral’ force whilst hiding his status as the Master of both Lancer and Gilgamesh (He loans Gil to Shinji) Tbh he just continuing the whole pretending he isn’t a master Act which Tokiomi taught him during the 4th war. Lancer is on standby to A) hide their relationship and B) this guy isnt at his peak but he is on par with the previous victor of the Holy Grail War.[/spoiler]

    I think Rin gets to gist to the whole Shirou/Archer history now.

  2. Farray says:

    In the Deen anime adaption, there had been a date between Saber and Shirou. I had begun to wonder if there would be a date between Rin and Shirou, and low and behold, there was, complete with Saber along for the ride.

    Ah, the date scene. Good times.

    [spoiler]Of course Rin wanted to go because she wanted to let Shirou have fun, since she found out last episode that he apparently doesn’t know what that means. It’s the same in Fate, only Shirou wants to do that with Saber. Oh, the irony. ^_^

    Both failed in the respective route though.[/spoiler]

    [spoiler]

    Her words about him growing taller suggests she knows a great deal about him.

    Yup, Rin already concluded Shirou is Archer, lol. [/spoiler]

    It was almost odd that Rin had no problem with Saber being on the date. Indeed, Saber was part of Rin’s plans, even though Saber had mentioned that they should pretend she wasn’t there as she was only to be bodyguard. Saber enjoyed this date as much as Rin and Shirou did.

    Oh, that was Shirou’s idea more or less. He objected that they couldn’t leave Saber alone, so Rin told him: “No big deal, bring her along.”

    I liked the scene of Taiga paying a visit to Kiritsugu’s grave. Clearly, she cared a great deal about him. I don’t really know much of how Taiga came to know Kiritsugu. However, it seems he promised to take her places overseas. I wonder if she loved him romantically.

    That’s an anime-original scene. There are some scenes in hollow ataraxia where Taiga visits Kiritsugu’s grave (behind the Ryuudou Temple) though. It’s probably based on this.

    And yes, she had a crush on Kiritsugu. It was love at first sight, which is why she frequently visited the Emiyas’ house. He was also her English tutor.

    It boggles the mind at what an idiot Shirou is. He stops Saber, who has Caster backing off. Taiga already had some threads cut and could have been freed has Saber defeated Caster. But Shirou wants to be the hero sacrificing himself in a stupid fashion.

    As far as I can see it, the threads were still around Taiga. They weren’t cut off. Taiga’s neck could have snapped or Caster simply could have blown off the head (like in the novel), if Saber had further tried to attack Caster.

    Anyway, the location was also changed compared to the novel. In the novel, Caster was holding Taiga hostage inside Shirou’s house and kept her close. Archer didn’t appear either. I don’t find Shirou’s moves stupid. If Saber hadn’t been stopped, Taiga would have died and that was out of question for Shirou. Perhaps it’s easier to understand in the VN, I don’t know. If anything, Saber acted reckless. Caster’s plan was getting Saber from the beginning anyway. Shirou couldn’t make it any worse.

    [spoiler]If Shirou had cooperated with Caster, Caster would have put his soul into a container and it’s pretty hazy what exactly happened, but Rin eventually appears and mercy-kills him.[/spoiler]

    Oh, and the CG bus and the water really looked… weird. Too much CG for me.

    Even though it looked like Shirou used his last Command Spell, Caster’s Rule Breaker appeared to give her three fresh Command Spells over Saber.

    Because Caster is from the Age of Gods and breaks rules. There aren’t supposed to be more than 21 Command Spells in every new War. Only Caster does that.

    To make clear what Rule Breaker does, its attack power isn’t better than any other dagger. However, it returns any strengthened objects, contract-connections and familiar life forms to their original state. Rule Breaker merely broke Saber’s contract with Shirou. It was Caster who forced a contract on Saber without the latter’s consent. She can do it, because she’s an awesome magus.

    Btw, Caster knew about Shirou’s past and him being a victim of the last war, probably because she saw his memories when she took control of him, just as Shirou saw memories of her life when he went to the Ryuudou Temple. That’s what actually shocks Rin, because she didn’t know that.

    Speaking of Caster’s past, Kirei confirms her identity as the witch, Princess Medea of Colchis. The dragon tooth warriors and the small flashbacks (I think I saw a Golden Fleece) already gave away some hints, also her strengthening, which really happened in her legend, only she strengthened and protected Jason.

    [spoiler]The Argon Coin is something made from the Golden Fleece and is an EX Rank Noble Phantasm Caster possesses as a personal skill. It allows the user to summon a dragon apparently. Unfortunately, Caster can’t summon a Phantasmal Beast, so she cannot use it. [/spoiler]

    She no longer has need of the temple and heads to the Church, where she reveals herself as Master of Saber to a surprised Kirei. Caster then has her dragon tooth warriors fight him as Lancer observes nearby, his orders apparently to take no action.

    The scene with her attack on the church is also original content, it was not shown in the novel and happened offscreen.

    [spoiler]

    I know that Kirei is Lancer’s Master, based on having watched the Deen adaptation. However, what I can’t figure out is what game Kirei is playing at. For him to have Lancer just sit and make sure no one interferes doesn’t make any sense unless Kirei has a plan of some sort.

    Well, being Lancer’s Master of course is a big secret that he does not wish to reveal for now. He also could have called Gil (Kirei still possesses his many Command Spells), but he didn’t do it, so he definitely wants to remain inconspicuous. He’s obviously not dead, otherwise Lancer would have disappeared.[/spoiler]

    Now about that scene with Rin and Archer. Rin saw he was acting normal again. Archer is not an unemotional person. He has to stay composed and speak cynically, otherwise Rin wouldn’t trust him.

    [spoiler]As Rin probably already figured out Archer’s identity, she was testing him again, by bringing up Saber. And again, that scene showed Archer’s true character. Archer showed concern towards both Taiga and Saber, both important people in his life. And he acts clumsy when it’s about him. [/spoiler]

    Now the ending. Oh my God, the ending. You know, I anticipated before the anime started airing, where the season would end, but I still almost cried and felt so nostalgic when I saw Rin jump and then heard the ED song. The song is this illusion, this time sung by LiSA. It’s the main theme of Fate/stay night.

    this illusion is a song composed by TYPE-MOON’s music team, it was the OP song of the Visual Novel (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYgRlZce78Y), there is a piano arrangement of the song that plays during very emotional moments (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bX7lgNVMII) and it was also remixed several times by Sachi Tainaka, where it’s called disillusion. disillusion was the first OP song of the 2006 anime of FSN. The lyrics absolutely fit.

    Additional notes:

    1. Nasu tweeted again! My favorite one:

    http://i.imgur.com/KfQvui1.png

    “Rin is the heroine of the ass, not the chest.”

    2. Rin and Saber with glasses? HNNNNNNGG…

    Rin’s glasses look like her glasses in Prisma Illya:

    http://i.imgur.com/k54sPNr.jpg

    [spoiler]Or, as Nasu said in one of tweets, like the ones Heroic Spirit TOSAKA wears:

    http://i.imgur.com/PphJBNc.jpg

    Whose design must clearly have been influenced by Bayonetta, lol. She’s a character in the mini-game Capsule Servant. [/spoiler]

    3.

    One more fun moment from the date — Harry Potter Shirou.

    http://i.imgur.com/UcjrrDn.jpg

    But do you really want to know how Shirou looks like with glasses? Like this:

    http://i.imgur.com/cTwQnpZ.jpg

    [spoiler]It’s photoshopped. Takeuchi actually drew Archer, but since they basically look the same…[/spoiler]

    4. LOL at Saber’s ahoge sticking out of her baseball helmet. That’s so cute:

    http://i.imgur.com/yJFaSJX.jpg

    Btw, this is how Shirou imagined Rin would look like in the novel:

    http://i.imgur.com/cWTQrjQ.jpg

    5. What Blondie thought about Saber getting abducted:

    http://i.imgur.com/bhpKlDK.jpg

    6. Gifs:

    [spoiler]

    Rin asleep:

    http://i.imgur.com/r7R0jwh.gif

    Embarassed/Shocked Shirou:

    http://i.imgur.com/LP9JDUo.gif
    http://i.imgur.com/qtdOiLC.gif

    Glasses:

    http://i.imgur.com/yNdEIpn.gif

    Batting Cage and sulking Saber:

    http://i.imgur.com/pgHmE71.gif
    http://i.imgur.com/SGJGKKR.gif
    http://i.imgur.com/F1LSyhk.gif
    http://i.imgur.com/UXJBBho.gif

    Saber and food:

    http://i.imgur.com/PEscM9W.gif
    http://i.imgur.com/RhXhpAB.gif
    http://i.imgur.com/29K4Ejh.gif
    http://i.imgur.com/BLeZJyL.gif

    Embarassed Rin:

    http://i.imgur.com/GumJo2i.gif

    Caster on the bridge scene:

    http://i.imgur.com/vYC2Fsf.gif
    http://i.imgur.com/xU4IGrM.gif
    http://i.imgur.com/ZL2287Y.gif

    http://i.imgur.com/jNVGK2W.gif
    http://i.imgur.com/zbyOLve.gif
    http://i.imgur.com/qxA2xjH.gif

    Church scene:

    http://i.imgur.com/45ShZ4y.gif
    http://i.imgur.com/aY0qfl7.gif
    http://i.imgur.com/wYAgkwH.gif
    http://i.imgur.com/dKmmF5q.gif

    Rooftop scene:

    http://i.imgur.com/hpdF6lD.gif [/spoiler]

    7. Videos:

    Matou the Liberator (Valvrave gag):

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrChMqFPHts

    Fan-made FSN trailer:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhf0tXB8kOg

    8. The first FSN BD box can be preordered! It will come out on March 25, 2015:

    https://www.aniplexplus.com/itemAgGoMzFs

    The US import for now costs $398.98:

    http://www.fatestaynightusa.com/bdbox/

    There is also a wallscroll, that you will get, drawn by Takeuchi:

    http://i.imgur.com/IWxLhoQ.jpg

    A little edit (cute Gandr fan-edit):

    http://i.imgur.com/OAU0Tlr.png

    9. You are a true Fate fan? (Or have too much money?) Buy a life-sized FSN character cardboard cutout!

    https://www.aniplexplus.com/JCqknIPa

    10. Comiket 87 has begun. And Fate/strange fake, the LN I believe (Or was it the manga? Both are coming out…) will be available soon.

    11. But not only strange fake. There is also…

    The Lord El-Melloi II Case Files!!

    http://www.typemoon.com/products/tmbooks/elmelloi/index.html

    [spoiler]

    Lord El-Melloi II Case Files

    “In a way, you could say that the modern magus is in the business of gathering angels.”

    The detached castle Adra. [India? Syria? Ethiopia? Spain? none of the above?]
    Like a lone living being, it is a demon castle created by magi who were fascinated with angels.

    The ruler (Lord) of modern thaumaturgy at the Clock Tower, El-Melloi II, gets caught up in a battle for succession over the detached castle. The interior of the castle is adorned with many angels.

    Only those who have unraveled the mysteries of the Angel Names granted them are invited to inherit the detached castle.

    However, it was no simple solution to a riddle. To the high-ranking magi of the Clock Tower, it was the beginning of an excessively fantastic tragedy–.

    Now, the curtain rises on the “Lord El-Melloi II Case Files”, which blends riddles and illusions, thaumaturgy and mysteries. [shinpi!]

    Sanda Makoto (Red Dragon, Rental Magica) x Sakamoto Mineji (The Arms Dealer in a Dress and the Country of War Flowers, Lord of Knights)

    Lord El-Melloi II Case Files 1: case. Detached Castle Adra
    The curtain goes up on
    Comic Market 87 [/spoiler]

    The girl in the background suspiciously looks like Luvia, if you ask me. If it turns out to be like The Dresden Files, only with Waver being Harry Dresden, I’m gonna lol.

    One last thing:

    Did you watch the PV at the end of the episode? Definitely looking forward to the second half! ^_^

    Then all that is left to say is:

    http://i.imgur.com/ZmZSKJZ.gif

    • Farray says:

      It’s in the links already, but if the info is correct, the BDs will have 90 minutes additional extra scenes. Dear God.

      • AstroNerdBoy says:

        That is awesome news, but still not worth $400. ^_^;;;; I know the people that run Aniplex think we Western fans should be grateful to them and beg them to let us pay a mere $400 for half of an anime series, but that’s just not going to happen unless I win a big lottery.

    • Farray says:

      More Saber food gifs:

      http://i.imgur.com/vIPxlhU.gif
      http://i.imgur.com/7BA2vFj.gif

      Saber x food confirmed.

      Btw, please compare:

      http://okaishi.tumblr.com/post/106453302062/a-kings-suffering-fate-zero-fate-stay-night

      Man, Saber’s crying face (http://i.imgur.com/1kDVYaZ.gif). T_T

      And I imagine this was intentional:

      http://i.imgur.com/93DgML7.jpg

      It was even a similar situation. In both cases Shirou woke up after being stabbed by a Servant and patched up by Rin.

    • AstroNerdBoy says:

      That’s an anime-original scene. There are some scenes in hollow ataraxia where Taiga visits Kiritsugu’s grave (behind the Ryuudou Temple) though. It’s probably based on this.

      I’d love to see ufotable animate Hollow Ataraxia.

      And yes, she had a crush on Kiritsugu. It was love at first sight, which is why she frequently visited the Emiyas’ house. He was also her English tutor.

      That makes sense, considering how fondly she spoke to him at the grave.

      As far as I can see it, the threads were still around Taiga. They weren’t cut off.

      I thought that some of the threads were cut since Taiga’s neck rotated a bit.

      Anyway, the location was also changed compared to the novel. In the novel, Caster was holding Taiga hostage inside Shirou’s house and kept her close. Archer didn’t appear either.

      I wonder why ufotable made that change.

      If Saber hadn’t been stopped, Taiga would have died and that was out of question for Shirou.

      To me, if Caster was going to kill Taiga, it would have happened the instant Saber made her move. The fact that it didn’t happen suggests to me that Caster was too busy trying to stay alive to kill Taiga.

      [spoiler title="Lancer"]

      Well, being Lancer’s Master of course is a big secret that he does not wish to reveal for now. He also could have called Gil (Kirei still possesses his many Command Spells), but he didn’t do it, so he definitely wants to remain inconspicuous. He’s obviously not dead, otherwise Lancer would have disappeared.

      That’s what makes me wonder what Kirei’s end game is.[/spoiler]

      “Rin is the heroine of the ass, not the chest.”

      *lol*

      Rin’s glasses look like her glasses in Prisma Illya:

      Was the glasses scene in the original VN?

      Btw, this is how Shirou imagined Rin would look like in the novel:

      http://i.imgur.com/cWTQrjQ.jpg

      During the batting practice?

      . What Blondie thought about Saber getting abducted:

      http://i.imgur.com/bhpKlDK.jpg

      *lol* So true.

      Awesome gifs, as usual. ^_^

      Matou the Liberator (Valvrave gag):

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrChMqFPHts

      *lol* I liked how they slipped in another Shinji during the Shinji montage. This also made me wish Rider had a greater role. I know there’s one Fate series where she’s with Sakura as a good guy.

      The first FSN BD box can be preordered! It will come out on March 25, 2015:

      https://www.aniplexplus.com/itemAgGoMzFs

      The US import for now costs $398.98:

      http://www.fatestaynightusa.com/bdbox/

      There is also a wallscroll, that you will get, drawn by Takeuchi:

      http://i.imgur.com/IWxLhoQ.jpg

      Totally NOT worth it. I love this series, but $400 plus shipping and such for half an anime series, poster or not, isn’t happening. I won’t even have purchased the entire Star Trek: The Next Generation series (all seven seasons) on Blu-ray for $400. *_*

      You are a true Fate fan? (Or have too much money?) Buy a life-sized FSN character cardboard cutout!

      https://www.aniplexplus.com/JCqknIPa

      If I won the lottery, maybe I’d get a few (Saber, Rin, Sakura, Ilya, and Rider). That’s $2000 just for five cutouts. ^_^; I’m about to spend $2000 (or as much as $3000) on a new office furniture suite, but I couldn’t spend that on cutouts that are easily damaged.

      Comiket 87 has begun. And Fate/strange fake, the LN I believe (Or was it the manga? Both are coming out…) will be available soon.

      What is Fate/strange fake?

      Lord El-Melloi II Case Files

      Thanks! ^_^

      Did you watch the PV at the end of the episode? Definitely looking forward to the second half! ^_^

      Yes I did. Spring 2015 is going to be awesome just for the rest of this anime. ^_^

      Then all that is left to say is:

      http://i.imgur.com/ZmZSKJZ.gif

      *lol* Yep. ^_^

      As always, thanks for the great stuff. ^_^

      • Farray says:

        To me, if Caster was going to kill Taiga, it would have happened the instant Saber made her move. The fact that it didn’t happen suggests to me that Caster was too busy trying to stay alive to kill Taiga.

        This is what Caster did in the novel: She kept Taiga very close (http://i.imgur.com/vGyNHwr.jpg), and already told Shirou that her reactions are better than any move he could try to pull off to surprise her.

        When Saber charged, Caster backed away for a bit, her dagger was repelled, but Shirou saw an energy blast appearing in Caster’s other hand (right next to Taiga’s head), so he immediately stopped Saber. Caster had that planned out very well. She couldn’t die in the novel either, because that was just her shadow.

        In the anime, they are inside Caster’s territory, meaning she can pseudo-teleport. Her plan B was to get Saber to come to her anyway, if Shirou doesn’t cooperate, so she can steal her with Rule Breaker. It turned out exactly as she anticipated.

        There simply was no easy way out of this. Shirou would have lost Saber one way or another. Whether he’d lose Taiga too is a different question. He couldn’t take the risk and it seemed to be far more dangerous for Taiga in the novel.

        Was the glasses scene in the original VN?

        Yup. No CGs though. Rin does wear glasses occasionally. If there is a scene that is anime original, I’ll usually mention it.

        During the batting practice?

        Uh… I think when they arrived at the batting cage.

        Totally NOT worth it. I love this series, but $400 plus shipping and such for half an anime series, poster or not, isn’t happening. I won’t even have purchased the entire Star Trek: The Next Generation series (all seven seasons) on Blu-ray for $400. *_*

        Well… inelastic demand and price to get maximum profit. The price is pretty normal in Japan. Those who have the money will surely pay. I’m certain there will be a US dub release, which will cost half the price, like with FZ, so maybe that’s worth it for you.

        What is Fate/strange fake?

        It used to be an April Fool’s joke. In an alternate universe, some people from the US tried to copy the Third Grail War of Fuyuki. Two of the Servants are Gilgamesh as Archer and his friend Enkidu as Lancer. It’s a Light Novel and manga series.

        The closeup scene I had no problem with. When the camera shot is backed off, she doesn’t look like Ilya. It looks like someone just quickly drew something the vaguely resembles Ilya as she falls over on the bed to relax. If I were home, I’d do a screenshot of it.

        Huh, rewatched that. But that’s such a minor detail, I honestly found the CG water more jarring. ^_^

        • Farray says:

          To add about the situation with Taiga in the novel, ufotable conveniently leaves out one line:

          ufotable: http://i.imgur.com/kw67Pf2.jpg
          VN: http://i.imgur.com/FFJQ8Kq.jpg

          Saber has already given up on Taiga. She didn’t try to save Taiga in the novel, her priorities were Shirou and eliminating Caster. Shirou’s of course was Taiga, so stopping Saber was the only thing he could do, so that the chance for her to survive, however low it may be, was still there.

          He knew there was always the possibility that Caster wouldn’t honor their deal and just kill Shirou, Rin and Taiga anyway after handing out the Command Spells, but personally there was no other choice for him.

          • AstroNerdBoy says:

            Did Shirou use a Command Spell, as it appeared he did in the anime?

          • Farray says:

            You mean accidentally activating it again? Depends on how you interpret the scene. He clearly saw Caster was about to kill Taiga and then told Saber to stop.

            Caster retreats and Saber follows her. She must have figured out that she can’t get away.

            (Caster) “I see… then…”

            Smiling happily, Caster puts power into her right hand and

            “No, stop, Saber…!!!!”

            I pray from the bottom of my heart and reach out with my left arm.

            The novel is better at showing that Caster was about to kill Taiga. That’s why I interpreted the scene, when the threads looked like they loosened, differently. ufotable might not have shown it very well in that scene, but Shirou saved Taiga with his Command Spell. (Well, only because Caster is not really into meaningless slaughter and is rather honorable, as she keeps her promises, but he couldn’t know that, so whatever.)

            Shirou sees Saber charging in and Caster willing to kill the hostage, so he makes Saber stop to indirectly stop Caster. That was what ufotable needed to show. If people misinterpret that, then they didn’t show it well enough.

        • NullApostle says:

          It needs mentioning that Strange Fake was written by the godly Ryōgo Narita, writer of gems like Baccano, Durarara, and Vamp! (also Etsusa Bridge, and some loosely connected short stories.)

          Check him out. Narita’s strength are his characters. Seriously, he’s written some of the best characters in any media I know.

          • AstroNerdBoy says:

            I’ll have to check into all that. ^_^

          • NullApostle says:

            Those are all light novels, just FYI.

            Durarara has a few manga adaptations you can check out on Batoto. Baccano and Durarara also have anime adaptations (Durarara got a 2nd season for the coming Winter cour).

            Concerning the light novels: AFAIK none of them have been licensed. Check Baka-Tsuki for Baccano and Durarara. For the Etsusa Bridge and Vamp!, go here:
            http://untuned-strings.blogspot.de/

            The Strange Fake LN English (fan) translation is also available for download somewhere. Best check the Type/Moon wikia for it.

            [The Durarara anime has some pacing issues, but the Baccano one is pretty much perfect – it’s also short, with 13 episodes and 3 OVAs.]

          • AstroNerdBoy says:

            Thanks for the info. ^_^

          • NullApostle says:

            Here’s the OPs for both series for your perusal.

            Baccano: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=–tfb6Cv7eY

            Durarara OP1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_O9hRcIAza0

            Durarara OP2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQOc_07raNE

            (I put OP2 here because it has the character names translated.)

            See what I’m trying to do? I’m working on gaining another convert, lol. 😉

          • NullApostle says:

            Something I forgot: Yen Press has the Durarara! manga licensed for the US (7 or 8 volumes have been released AFAIK) and has recently acquired the rights to the light novels.

          • AstroNerdBoy says:

            I’ll have to look into that.

            As an aside, I’m rather disappointed with how publishers are handling light novels. They seem to use Japanese honorifics for the manga, but when it comes to the light novels, those things have to be removed, and in some cases, the artwork from the original light novel has to been removed.

        • AstroNerdBoy says:

          He couldn’t take the risk and it seemed to be far more dangerous for Taiga in the novel.

          The novel version, I can more easily understand the decision. Oh well.

          The price is pretty normal in Japan. Those who have the money will surely pay.

          Yeah, I know that. A while back, a Japanese guy in the business and I exchanged a few tweets back and forth on the subject. It was his opinion that Americans should be more than willing to fork over massive amounts of money like Japanese fans do and that anime prices in America are way too low.

          Huh, rewatched that. But that’s such a minor detail, I honestly found the CG water more jarring. ^_^

          It just made Ilya look like crap for that one little moment. The CG water didn’t bother me, but I think that mostly comes from being desensitized by Babylon 5. 😉

      • Farray says:

        *lol* I liked how they slipped in another Shinji during the Shinji montage. This also made me wish Rider had a greater role. I know there’s one Fate series where she’s with Sakura as a good guy.

        Yeah, it’s too bad UBW is the route where she immediately dies. She is always the first Servant that gets defeated. T_T

        Speaking of Shinji, they released promo art and info in a magazine recently (http://i.imgur.com/UfFobpv.jpg). The text about Shinji is unreal, it describes him in the most sympathetic way possible, lol.

        Translation:

        [spoiler]

        “The boy cut off from magi joined the battle to compensate for his lack of self-respect—- Though he was descended from the Matou family of magi, he was an unfortunate boy who did not inherit magic circuits. Deficiency and despair gradually ate into his heart. He looked down on others, and avoided the people he disliked.

        His behaviour towards his talented sister was also cold… He took his sister’s kindness as pity, which was an unbearable disgrace for one with pride as high as him. On the surface he behaved as the vice-captain of the archery club, but distortion and jealousy swirled within him.

        He too had someone he could call a friend, that was Emiya Shirou. Though he made him quit the archery club and was disagreeable every time he saw him, Shirou alone accepted him. He may have been warped. He may have been twisted. But there truly was friendship there.

        The wish-granting device, the Holy Grail, brought his desires into the open. Facing Shirou on the battlefield of the Holy Grail War shook him deeply. Shirou had become that which he could not, a magus. Was the emotion he felt upon seeing him this way jealousy, or uncontrollable impatience, or was it——-?”

        ——-love, it was love, I’ll fill in that blank for you.

        And then the part on Shirou is like, blah blah he doesn’t want to fight his childhood friend (does Shinji count as a childhood friend… they were like 12 I guess…), but he must because justice.

        Note: The translator, who btw also worked on the FSN Realta Nua VN patch, is a huge Shinji fangirl, lol.[/spoiler]

    • Farray says:

      Oh and, obviously you’re not just getting a wallscroll and the episodes (+trailers, EDs and OPs) for $400. There will also be interviews, OST, Animation Material, an exclusive novel written by Nasu, and other stuff that I can’t remember off the top of my head. At least Aniplex is making sure one gets a nice package full of stuff hardcore fans care about for that price.

      That reminds me of the time when Kara no Kyoukai’s Limited Edition BD box came out. It was limited to XX thousand. If you didn’t get one the LEs, you were forced to buy the DVDs (the normal BDs came out much later). They were instantly sold out.

      To not spend so much money on this, I bought more than one box and sold what I didn’t need, later for a higher price, so in the end I basically didn’t pay anything. Yeah, that’s kind of a dick move and that won’t work this time, I believe, but there were easy ways to get around the money issue, without having to use one’s hard-earned savings.

      • AstroNerdBoy says:

        I’m a hardcore canon Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-ohki fan, and when the LE BD set came out in Japan (which I believe included GXP, I couldn’t spring for it. Too much $$$. ^_^;;;

  3. Farray says:

    Oh, I just noticed, today (December 28) is Kirei’s birthday. Even Kirei’s seiyuu, Jouji Nakata, showed up in the ufotable Café, to congratulate, lol. ^_^

    http://i.imgur.com/oqX0eqb.jpg
    http://i.imgur.com/gBJGXMz.jpg

  4. cold_menthol says:

    Your talk about Taiga and Kiritsugu makes me want to play F/HA. I heard that Taiga visiting Kiritsugu’s grave is a scene from that VN.

    • Farray says:

      Yup, as I’ve written above, Taiga regularly visits Kiritsugu’s grave behind the Ryuudou Temple. Shirou… does not.

      [spoiler]Taiga even asks Shirou to take Ilya to Kiritsugu’s grave sometime.[/spoiler]

      Speaking of Ilya and FHA, she is wearing the same pajama she wore in FHA.

      Oh, and:

      Just incredible work, save for Ilya’s laying down moment, but I’ll let that pass.

      What was your issue with that scene, Astro?

      • Farray says:

        I might have misunderstood something. I assume you are referring to that scene in episode 4, Astro? Then never mind, I understand.

      • AstroNerdBoy says:

        The closeup scene I had no problem with. When the camera shot is backed off, she doesn’t look like Ilya. It looks like someone just quickly drew something the vaguely resembles Ilya as she falls over on the bed to relax. If I were home, I’d do a screenshot of it.

  5. moekou@gmail.com says:

    By the way, Kiritsugu also bonded fast with Taiga and was really kind to her (which is why she describes him as the nicest guy ever to Saber) because she reminds him a lot of his childhood (girl)friend Shirley. I think that had Kiritsugu not died from the grail curse, Taiga may have even officially become Shirou’s mom one day…

    • Farray says:

      Unlikely. Kiritsugu may have been fond of Taiga and treated her well, but he had no romantic feelings for her. She was 14 years younger than Kiritsugu, when they met. The family he left was what he wanted.

  6. Awesome episode/season ender. Also, just finished watching Hayate OVA Vol. C and I just noticed that Rin and Aizawa Sakuya have the same voice actress. I kept expecting her to add a “ya” at the end of each phrase while watching this ep.

    Also… I wonder if this adaptation will go into any more detail as to why Archer wants to kill Shirou?

    Looks like Kiritsugu just wanted to look awesome. Even Caster is impressed with his skills. Gonna be great seeing him in action from a different perspective if Heaven’s Feel ever gets animated as a series.

    • AstroNerdBoy says:

      I just noticed that Rin and Aizawa Sakuya have the same voice actress.

      When I finally get around to watching those, I’ll have to pay attention to that.

      Gonna be great seeing him in action from a different perspective if Heaven’s Feel ever gets animated as a series.

      Hopefully, it will be a movie series.

  7. Whoops… guessing there’s no edit button? I meant Kirei and not Kiritsugu there, of course.

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