Fate- An impact of a franchise
So my journey with Fate has come to a close. And after one year of being in Fuyuki I think I want do this series justice and write about why I think it works and why I love it.

The first thing I think is worth touching upon is definetely its premise. A magical battle royal of historical figures for a miracle known as the Holy Grail. The quality of this premise can speak for itself, considering the many spin offs, alt universes and other things-

it's safe to say the hook of Fate is not only appealing to the readers but also inspirational to the authors, but why is that? Well there is a lot of room for writing interesting things within this plot thread.

To tactics of masters, their ideals, how about the lore of the Holy Grail War, what about the Grail itself, maybe touch upon the servants, or other historical figures and how would they be as servants. What about the interesting character drama? Expand on this backstory-

-this piece of lore, give perspective to more characters.
It's a very interesting to see how from such a seemingly simple plot many stories have been created, and it's even more interesting to see how they build on top of one another-

and how different iterations of Fate resonate with different people. I mean from Fate Go to one of the most beloved anime directors have take their try at writing their contribution to the franchise-

and what they wanted to expand upon. Fate/Zero is built upon all the information from Heaven's Feel we get to know about the previous Holy Grail War, and Gen took that and made it it's own tale.

And what a tale it was, though I would always recommend to start with the visual novel in my personal experience (which was strange cause Fate really clicked with me even with anime alone) it was a great introduction to the franchise.

I found myself enamored with and interested in everything presented on my rewatch and continuation of second season. My thoughts on Fate/Zero are (I at least hope) well known given that I did write and extensive thread explaining why I like it and think it's great.

I can't say much changed since then. It's a brilliant story about ideals, fallen dreams, a lesson of not betting your happiness on a miracle that won't come. I have grown to appriciate Kirei's arc a lot more now that I have seen more of him in Fate Stay Night and -

-of course characters like Waver still personally resonate with me.
Gilgameash is probably the best in here and Irisviel and Illya also added a lot to my enjoyment and escpecially now looking back with context of Stay Night.

I’m afraid there is nothing new to add to Fate/Zero but there is a lot of things I want to say regarding what I ventured into next.

Fate Stay Night, the first and root of it all. The Fate route itself I’m going to be completely honest didn’t impress me that much. All the enjoyable aspects such as art direction, character designs and voice acting were there but the story lacked some heart for me to-

-consider it great.
The exposition was necessary but even though I was fascinated with the amount of detail Nasu put into making this world, it wasn’t delivered in an interesting way. The pacing was definitely slower as well.

But this route was an absolute amazing introduction to the face of this franchise. That’s right none other than Arturia Pendragon herself aka Saber. I absolutely enjoyed seeing more of this character and reaching her conclusion in her route.

The ending with her finally resting peacefully always hits me and makes me think of a girl who carried the weight of a nation, was rejected but still stood proud in spite of it all.

I also consider her design one of the most iconic ones when it comes to Japanese pop media heroines and the timelessness and appeal of it shows through all the inclusions she has, her immense popularity, and how she is still considered the face of Fate despite all the characters-

-who’ve been written in this story. Her fight with Gilgamesh was great and despite being of the opinion that he is better in Zero than in Stay Night I really enjoyed his character here.

Her conclusion with Shirou was a heartfelt way to wrap this route neatly before moving on to something much more complicated.

I wrote at length about Unlimited Blade Works and its themes as well as its adaptation. Safe to say nothing has changed if I had to pick my favorite stand alone story in Fate it would probably be this one.

This was touching story about a boy who wanted make his biggest trauma into something meaningful, and a story of a man who was crushed by the cruelty of what that path entailed.

But the massage is, that things humans wish for are irrational most of the time, that's why we desire something like the grail. But does that make something less beautiful, less noble, less right?

No. There is no grail at the end, that's where Kiritsugu is wrong. There is only a beautiful wish, a wish worth fighting for, something worth protecting, something unattainable but right.

And the big boy, the Heaven’s Feel the end. Ever since I’ve finished Lost Butterfly last year I’ve been wanting to see the end of Heaven’s Feel. When I saw Sakura in that pit of worms I rooted for Kariya to save her.

I’ve been wanting to see this girl happy for so long. And man it was cathartic. But I’m jumping ahead here. Heaven’s Feel definitely got the most “Nasu-tone” atmosphere out of all the routes.

What I mean by this the horror elements really remind me of Kara No Kyoukai and both the music and voice acting helped reinforce that. Aside from the horror like tone this route definitely feels like a finale of the Fate Stay Night visual novel.

Tt’s a culmination of all the lore and little details and nods to characterization in previous routes. And the character writing is amazing.

I’ll start with Illya cause she gets so many sweet moments and you get so attached to her, that her death in the end really hits you hard. Also I love all the lore she delivers, it really made the Fate lore explode and so many interesting-

-things were discovered some very important set up for Hollow Ataraxia.
Rin was amazing, I was always invested in her relationship with Sakura, and seeing her thought process and how much she cares for her sister.

It was heartbreaking, as well as learning no matter how brilliant Rin is her life was no walk in the park and that no matter how devoted to duty she is, she could never kill her little sister.

Her embracing Sakura really touched me, it was a very powerful moment where Rin breaks her “mage” shell and her own way of dealing with life to embrace someone weaker and tell her that she always wanted Sakura to be happy-

-to let her know that she wanted her hardships to empower her. And the reaction this provokes in Sakura was amazing. Sakura completely broken has to face the object of her own admiration and jealousy and realize that Rin isn’t an object she -

-can project her feelings on, but her sister who was for years bound by loneliness. Sakura in general was splendid in this route. Her twisted love for Shirou, how she doesn’t want him to taint his ideal, but his sacrifice makes her happy.

How she fears losing her goodness, but enjoys the power shadow gives her. Sakura doesn’t want to hurt people, but she herself can’t take the pain of being hurt and after being broken for so many years anything can hurt so she vents that by completely losing control.

And the way she laments her feelings to her sister was very tragic. By all means the two of them never deserved to go through so much, but their father planted the seeds for their downfall.

Her conclusion of repenting through living with her sins and her pain was very impactful as well finally seeing a smile on her face, the smile she deserves to have and one that will lead her out of all the pain she and others caused.

Of course she won’t be alone. Someone will hold her hand through it all, her hero, Shirou Emiya. Now I like Unlimited Blade Works Shirou the most but I can’t deny how much Heaven’s Feel Shirou builds up on top of him.

Something that Archer said in Unlimited Blade Works is that heroes don’t save people who actually need saving but kill them to preserve the peace. Which was tied in nicely with what Heaven’s Feel is about. Sakura is the one who needs saving, everyone tells Shirou to kill her but-

-she is the one who needs a helping hand the most. Thus offering that help Shirou surpasses Archer who has killed people like Sakura through out his life. Another thing I liked about HF Shirou is him telling Illya he wants to live and given his extreme survivors guilt-

-this is a development that only hits you after you realize how broken Shirou is. As well as how Shirou and Sakura needed each other in order to heal the pain of their past. But what is a story of a hero and his love without a villain to defeat.

And what an iconic line that is, one that has so much meaning. Kirei Kotomine, my favorite character from Zero and my second favorite from Fate Stay Night, is someone worth talking about.

A man who for the first half of his life tried to fix himself. Someone who desperately tried to fit in. To live a life that a sacred text he preached prescribed. Only to indulge in his twisted nature in second half of his life.

Which results in existential crisis we see in HF. Kirei only wants one thing, an answer. Was there a reason for someone like him to exist. If God only favors and creates the good, then why does a man like Kirei exist.

And it’s kinda brilliant how both parts of his journey act as perfect foils to Kiritsugu and Shirou. Kirei is jealous that Kiritsugu even had something to sacrifice. The two of them are polar opposites in that Kiritsugu is a man with one desire and full of love for this world.

Kirei is man with absolutely nothing driven only by what he and those around him consider his duty. After his development, his thematic clash is different with Shirou. Shirou after surviving the fire and Kirei only look for one thing, a way to justify their existence.

But they find that justification through different means. Shirou through seeing people happy and Kotomine through seeing people suffer. When Heaven’s Feel was coming to a close -

-it was really amazing to see how one character can draw out so much of both leads and be fascinating on his own.

I don’t have much to say about these two but I’ll mention. I do detest the actions of Zouken and Shinji but I understand Shinji lived in messed up circumstances and I pity him for that. As for Zouken, he is a selfish person-

-but Nasu dwelled into his psyche enough for me to sympathize with how much this man fears dying.
Overall the route was amazing and perfect conclusion that build upon all the other previous routes.

The pacing is definitely slower but it makes up for all the amazing material you get constantly.

Now the movies. Yes I re-watched them and saw Spring Song the day it arrived. It is no secret to anyone that I love Heaven’s Feel movies. Upon a re-watch I found myself appreciating Presage Flower a lot more. I love how briskly paced this movie is and how it builds up at the end.

Lancer vs Assassin is also a great showcase of how animation can improve upon already existing material. Ofc great animation, direction, character models…

Lost Butterfly is same as last year, I love this film. I love how much content it has, and how impactful it is. It’s great aesthetically and it does a good job at making Sakura a much more sympathetic and nuanced character.

I love how they animate the shadow in this one and especially at the last scene as it descends upon Sakura.

Spring Song is the only thing here I watched for the first time. AND BOY! I loved it. It’s my favorite one in the trilogy. The music is ethereal, the usage of shadow aesthetic is amazing, religious imagery too, Rider vs Salter was phenomenal.

And the way they used “In the early spring” at the Sakura and Rin confrontation was beautiful. And yes I unashamedly sang “Haru Wa Yuku” through my tears at the end.

As an adaptation these movies definitely leave a lot of Kirei and Illya out, but they succeed in making a great Sakura story and I’m satisfied with all that they added. They are a great product and -

-I would always recommend anyone who is reading Heaven’s Feel to watch them along the way. (Also a thanks to Shadow for that argument on movies being a great Sakura story). I will only bitch about the lack of Kariya like COME ONE!!! IT WAS A PERFECT OPPORTUNITY!!!

Last Episode: I can’t say much about Last Episode, aside that I consider it the True End of Fate and that direction and music was beautiful. Seriously it’s a stunning scene and I think it’s a appropriate for this tale to end with the heroine of the franchise smiling happily.

As a visual novel I think it was a great journey. I enjoyed every second of it and I truly see why this story got so popular. Everything I’ve said should make it clear why, but I still have so much to say.

And Fate still isn’t over…

Not until I see his story…