Friday, March 15, 2019

Fate/Stay Night: Heaven’s Feel II-Lost Butterfly


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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