The next Holy Grail War has only just begun and yet it is
a far different battle than any before it.
As a dark shadow intervenes and tears apart Servant and Master alike, the
remaining players are desperate for answers.
As new alliances form and new revelations are discovered, the fate of everything
rests in the hearts of two young mages: Shiro Emiya, who wishes to become a
hero of justice; and Sakura Matou, the girl who longs to be Shiros one and only
love. As a new wave of death and despair
tears its way through Fuyuki City, Shiro and Sakura will have to accept their
destinies: who will save the world and who will destroy it?
The premiere chapter of the Heaven’s Feel Trilogy,
Presage Flower, still stands as my absolute favorite entry in the Fate/Stay
Night franchise. It took chances I hadn’t
seen yet in any other route and had enough shock and wow factor to keep me
invested. Plus, it did some serious
amendmants to many characters I found irritable and troublesome in the
past. Needless to say, the hype level
was raised and Lost Butterfly had a lot to prove, especially that Presage
Flower wasn’t a fluke. Well, it wasn’t a
fluke at all. Lost Butterfly capitalizes
on Presage Flower’s triumphs and adds a few more of its own. The end result is me cheerfully saying: This
is Fate/Stay Night done right.
I don’t even know where I should begin with this one
after that much praise in the intro. Let’s
start with Sakura. For ages id hoped we’d
finally see the story laid out for her in Fate/Zero play itself out
properly. Heaven’s Feel has fulfilled
those wishes…and partly makes me wish I didn’t know the full extent because to
say Sakura’s had it rough is a serious understatement. No one child in the Fate franchise has had
the perfect childhood but Sakura takes the cake when it comes to darkest
upbringings and Lost Butterfly dives deeper into that than ever before. If there are some sensitive subjects that
make you uncomfortable, be warned, Lost Butterfly tackles them all. The silver lining is Sakura continues to grow
and her story remains the beating heart of this dark tale. She is the victim of fate and a girl you want
to see the best happen too, and by best I mean all possible good. We see both Sakura’s agony in her life
situation and the darkness brimming within her…cause of course the hell she’s
been through would do that. The end
result is a hard watch but a rewarding one if only to see one of Fate/Stay
Night’s most underutilized leads given her proper due.
Sakura’s story also benefits a few characters I’ve had
problems with in other Fate stories, namely Shiro and Illya. Well actually, for
the Illya part the improvements come from the fact that Heaven’s Feel actually
acknowledges and doesn’t just skim or ignore Fate/Zero. Everyone true lineage is revealed and we get
time to see people, especially Shiro, take in these reveals and let them sink
in. In the 2006 Fate/Stay Night, Fate/Zero’s
events are acknowledged but brushed over instantly. Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works should
have done more but didn’t. So Illya does
get a beefed up role and is so far removed from the spoiled, vengeful brat she’s
been in the past. And Shiro, wow I never
thought the day would come when I’d be alright with Shiro Emiya from the get go
and still be in his corner 2/3s of the way through this new story. Sure he still wants to be a hero but has a
much more narrowed focus scope for that dream: protect Sakura. There’s always the risk that his desire might
try to extend higher but for now, the woman he loves is first and foremost on
his list of people to protect. It makes
Shiro stronger than ever and actively makes me root for him and Sakura all the
way (sadly putting the kabosh on any Shiro/Rin romances, though they do address
that too).
The characters are always the central focus of any Fate
story. However, if you know the franchise
for its stellar action scenes, holy crap you’ve seen nothing yet. It’s like every bit of swordplay and mage
warfare Ufotable has done since Fate/Zero has been building to Heaven’s Feel. And the studio tops itself once again with
what’s probably the big action centerpiece of the film: Saber Alter vs. Berserker. If you saw this in a movie theater with the
right sound system, everything is thundering, everything is shaking and
everything is going BUDABUDABOOOOOOM!!!!.
This battle is easily one of the most brutal and intense, Dark Saber is definitely
not holding back cutting up Berserker and there’s plenty of shots of mutilated
Berserker corpses to prove it. That’s
not to say the other battles aren’t as impressive. Archer’s battle with both The Shadow and
Rider are both exceptional as well.
There’s also a smaller battle involving a character who is usually
reserved for more grand scale fight scenes.
In a way, it was kind of disappointing to see a character who’s bitten
the dust in other entries go out so quietly…but the circumstances only make the
stakes of the entire tale more dire, so I give it a pass. While there is actually only a handful of
fight scenes, Ufotable has already made Heaven’s Feel stand at the top of the
Fate/Stay Night Action Hill Top with two movies alone.
My miniscule nitpicks around a certain characters fate
(pun intended) aside, my only other nitpick for Lost Butterfly is that it doesn’t
exactly know when it wants to end. There
were at least five different spots that would’ve made for a good “to be
continued” save point. But each time I was
fooled and the movie carried on. Im of
two minds here. It does sound annoying
but I was so invested in the film, it didn’t matter when it cut off (it had too
eventually cause we’ve still got Part 3 to watch). And when the movie did end, it ended on the
best “holy s***” moment that will definitely keep viewers hanging on to see the
conclusion of the trilogy in 2020. And
again, subject matter involving sexual violations and self worth are heavy and
not for the faint of heart. Heaven’s
Feel should be approached with caution in that regard, this is hardly the “feel
good” saga of the Fate/Stay Night franchise.
Fate/Stay Night: Heaven’s Feel II-Lost Butterfly took the
spark ignited by Presage Flower and set off an inferno of excellence. The characters continue to grow and become
the best versions of themselves in Anime yet.
The action is legendary, more legendary than anything we’ve seen yet. The story is darker, riskier (and more risqué),
and unrelenting when tackling the toughest subject matters in life. In short: like Presage Flower, this is the
Fate/Stay Night I wanted to see when Fate/Zero concluded. Legacy is acknowledged, everyones got an important
part to play and the twists and turns make take hold of the eyes and keep them
glued to the screen more than the beauty of Rin, Sakura and Alter Saber
combined. If you’re a Fate fan, this trilogy
is a dream come true…or hopefully it is if Part 3 can end this saga with a
bang. For now, Lost Butterfly stands on
equal ground with its predecessor…and it is gonna be a really long and unbearable
wait for Spring Song in Spring 2020.
9/10
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