I want them to flex some creative muscles. Stick to the source material, but don't be a slave to it.

They didn't need to have Shirou talking to himself to tell me that he wants to be a hero. The scene where Taiga spills the beans was great, as were the flashbacks. Shirou expositioning to himself was a waste time.

 

I didn't mind it at all really. Like I said I found it more engrossing watching it than "playing" it.

Also no one told me the FSN visual novel was so focused on relationship stuff.

Spoiler

That sex scene in the ruins came out of nowhere.

(I don't think that's going to be in the Unlimited Blade Works route but I spoilered it anyway.)

 

Completely fair point.

The rest of the episode was solid. I really liked Shirou's dismissive attitude towards Shinji; so much derision packed in one sentence.

I also want someone to splice episodes zero and one together.

 

F/SN is, at least in part, an eroge/h-game, so it's got some relationship stuff and sex. Nasu does a terrible job of writing it though imo, and you can just skip through the sex. The Realta Nua version for PS2 got rid of those scenes entirely and it didn't really change much.

 

I hated the sex scenes in the FSN VN. They felt like they had been tacked on as an afterthought, and weren't consistent with the characters at all.

It was the one thing that ruined it for me, I really wish I had skipped them in the first place.

 

Finally got around to watching episode 1.

I have no idea how a lot of you guys found it slow/dull/boring, I freaking loved the episode. Was expecting to be bored (part of the reason I only got around to wathcing it now) since I remember how dull the VN was at the start, but was absolutely blown away at how they could take that dull content and manage to somehow make it really interesting to me, while staying completely true to it.

I think it was the pacing, which felt a lot more natural than the VN. The focus in the anime was very much on character interaction instead of just going through Shirou's daily activities, which made it considerably more interesting. In comparison to getting all the details of what Shirou was cooking, we just got shown the interaction with Sakura for instance.

They also did a good job of making Shirou appear to be a genuinely kind and compassionate person, instead of the irritating, chauvinistic guy we all remember (though we still have the rest of the War for that to happen).

Think I actually enjoyed this episode more than the Rin prologue.

But yeah, if you guys wanted UBW to skip all the slow parts and just skip straight to the exciting bits, go watch the Studio DEEN movie adaption...

Pretty much. It almost felt like he wrote the story, but was later told (despite being a doujin and not published by a major producer) he needed it to be an eroge, and so added in the sex scenes as a technicality. Perhaps in that period he felt he was going to struggle getting readers unless it was an eroge?

Either way, it completely cheapens the whole thing and is better without. They're not even particularly fappable either...>_>


Edit: Also, is it just me or does Saber look super cute in the clothes she's wearing in the OP? Way better than all the other ridiculous looking stuff she gets stuck with. If there was one change I'd be happy with them making from the VN, she'd be wearing that as her "disguise" outfit for the rest of the anime instead. =P

 

Perhaps that's also why they made King Arthur a woman... or rather a teenage girl. Fucking Japan. :facepalm

Seeing them bring up Joan of Arc in Fate/Zero kind of irked me because if they really wanted to have a female in history to function as Saber, they could've chosen her in the first place. I mean yeah you would've had to embellish a bit to make Joan of Arc that good with a sword and such, but that's less embellishment than genderbending King Arthur.

EDIT: Beat the Fate route. The ending was kind of nice, but I think it was lacking overall. There was a lot of stuff that just seemed to be dropped and forgotten along the way. I guess too much focus was put on Saber at the cost of everything else.

I'm not far into Unlimited Blade Works but I think I like it better already. Archer not getting gimped early is a plus.

 

The fate route is the most generic of the bunch. There's nothing really special about it in any way. The second two routes are the ones where interesting ideas start to come into play.

 

Kirei walking in circles and raincoat!Saber are confirmed for the next two episodes. Looking forward to it.

 

Just heads up.

He is only talking in this thread just for people to see his avatar and signature. He has much salt over not Heavens Feel.

 

SO, great episode. Loved it. That said, you know what most struck out at me about it?

Those boxes in the beginning. They were so fucking well designed. Who hell puts that much effort into animating CGI boxes. Just how big is this remake's budget?

 

Yeah, the visuals are absolutely breathtaking.

Everything is so detailed, the lighting effects and dynamic range is one of the best I've seen in an anime series (not quite 5cm per Second level, but then what is...). They use to great effect, making night scenes very dark and the majority of colors dull/subdued, then making certain objects (like Gae Bolg or city lights) extremely vibrant.

And the mix of 2D hand-drawn animation and 3D CGI doesn't feel jarring at all, as it often can in anime. There was just that one 2 second shot at 07:43 where there are some distant students walking into the school gates that looked a bit weird, but everything else was amazing.

Still gonna be a Heaven's Feels movie(s?) after UBW is done isn't there?

They actually released an OVA episode (which I haven't actually seen yet) of the original concept of Fate Stay Night called Fate Prototype, which actually involved a female protagonist summoning a male King Arthur. And he looks absolutely badass. Really wish female Saber got that armour rather than her ridiculous, quasi-Victorian dress which seems to be at odds with her trying to hide her gender.

Still, Arturia being female kind of worked. While Fate cheapened her character with a poorly done love story with Shirou, and her being female didn't really play a role in UBW/HF, she had a decent character in Fate Zero.

Better than all the new Servant additions to the Fate franchise, where historical figures are all gender bent just for the fan service, moe and boobies...

 

That design is fucking epic. I have only watched Fate/Zero so far and don't want to spoiler myself too much for F/SN UB. Can I still watch the prototype, or should I avoid it for now?

 

Prototype is completely different to FSN and has no real bearing on anything in FSN, as far as I recall.

 

Yeah, it is rather short, and isn't really connected to this plot at all. Three Servants are the same but they have completely different masters. I admit, I am really fond of Rin, Saber and Kirei but the designs for every character of Prototype look amazing

 

I spy Gilgamesh. Me likey. That guy was one hell of a badass in F/Z.

Also, with my haircut from two months ago, and in-ears dangling around my ears like rings, I look somewhat like him when I look into a mirror. I had a lot of fun with that in the last month. Sadly, my hair is too long now.

 

Yeah, in terms of character designs the Prototype ones look fantastic. It kind of works that they're all complete bishounen types, given they're meant to be legendary heroes and all. Really prefer the Lancer in Prototype - always thought the FSN version looked just a bit lame.

The Masters look awesome too, especially Lancer's master.

 

That's got me interested. I'll try that later.

EDIT: Okay, well, it wasn't even fifteen minutes long... and it was very weird. Lol, did that weirdo priest with the bad haircut really become Kirei? The main character seemed interesting though.

If she has to be a woman, at least give her something more like this. It's still blue and everything. And preferably with the helmet too, since she's hiding her identity.

Really I think almost all the Heroic Spirits need a visual overhaul. How the fuck do you go from this to this.

I liked her better in Fate/Zero. I think since I watched that before finishing the Fate route I could tolerate her despite the lovey-dovey stuff. Also her out-of-battle clothes in Fate/Zero were cooler than Fate/Stay Night's.

It seems there's a lot more to the franchise than just Fate/Zero and Fate/Stay Night, but what I've heard about all the rest hasn't sounded very good at all. I think I'll stick with those two.