×
  • remind me tomorrow
  • remind me next week
  • never remind me
Subscribe to the ANN Newsletter • Wake up every Sunday to a curated list of ANN's most interesting posts of the week. read more

Forum - View topic
REVIEW: Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works Blu-Ray


Goto page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5  Next

Note: this is the discussion thread for this article

Anime News Network Forum Index -> Site-related -> Talkback
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
barrelroller



Joined: 27 Jul 2010
Posts: 104
Location: Maryland
PostPosted: Wed Jun 06, 2012 11:59 pm Reply with quote
I've been holding out on this movie for years and I'm glad it's been worth the wait. It's only $17 (Blu only, the DVD is more expensive, go figure) so I can't wait to watch it.

While I loved the action scenes of F/SN (TV), I absolutely hated Shirou because he was an extremely gullible and stupid protagonist. spoiler[Sure, he mans up near the end thankfully] but it sort of made the show from "good" to "ok" for me thanks to him.

I felt Rin was basically one of the best characters in the original anime, and I'm glad this will follow her more because Archer was a total badass.

Great review! Made me look forward to it even more. Cool
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
RyanSaotome



Joined: 29 Mar 2011
Posts: 4210
Location: Towson, Maryland
PostPosted: Thu Jun 07, 2012 12:10 am Reply with quote
Unlimited Blade Works is kind of a mixed bag to me. You NEED to of read the visual novel to fully enjoy it, since it glosses over many of the story parts, leaving a pretty disjointed narrative to fit the story into 2 hours. So if you haven't read the novel, I wouldn't really recommend the movie. But if you HAVE read the novel, this is a great fanservice movie just to see all the biggest battles of my favorite route animated.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message AIM Address
Fletcher1991



Joined: 14 Apr 2009
Posts: 514
Location: Long Island, NY
PostPosted: Thu Jun 07, 2012 12:43 am Reply with quote
I disagree, I feel like if you didn't play Unlimited Blade Works route you would be missing a lot for this movie. It basically just jumps from scene to scene without explaining more than the very basics and expects people to follow along. I mean I don't even really blame the movie, its just way too much information to fit into one movie. UBW is longer than Fate was, and that took up a whole 24 episode series.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime My Manga
Fencedude5609



Joined: 09 Nov 2006
Posts: 5088
PostPosted: Thu Jun 07, 2012 12:49 am Reply with quote
Quote:
The level of graphic violence has been very distinctly upgraded, though, with a scene where one character's still-beating heart is literally torn out of his/her chest, and the aftermath of that on the character's body, being the highlight moment. Even with a near-total absence of prurient fan service this time around, the TV-14 rating is still well-justified and perhaps even on the light side.


Holy shit are these some [expletive] skewed priorities.

And yes, I know who it happens to.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Etrien



Joined: 27 Mar 2009
Posts: 525
Location: Tokyo, Japan
PostPosted: Thu Jun 07, 2012 1:37 am Reply with quote
Quote:
Rider is never clearly revealed in the TV series, either

She wasn't? Guess I forgot about that. I remember thinking it was completely established, but maybe that's because I thought it was obvious from her abilities. Then again, I suppose things like spoiler[her connection to Pegasus] might not be common knowledge unless you're already pretty into mythology.

Quote:
Rin is still every bit the hottie that she was in the TV series, though, Archer looks even more studly than before, and Saber is still every bit the knightly-looking woman. Shiro, unfortunately, is still Shiro

Fate/Summary


As an aside, I always thought it was pretty sad that the F/SN anime never explained Archer's backstory. After reading about it on the wiki post-anime, I thought it was one of the more interesting parts of the overall story. Including it probably would've bumped up my opinion of F/SN's story a whole letter grade.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Alunimus



Joined: 08 Jan 2012
Posts: 117
PostPosted: Thu Jun 07, 2012 3:52 am Reply with quote
Well, I see that Sentai's release is rather good. But it's a pity that there's no any Limited or Collector's Edition. My Type-moon faggotry is tingling. I really want at least some big box and an art-book. Eh...

And I hope that Heaven's Feel gonna have a TV-format anime adaptation from ufoTable. 'Cause Studio Deen... you know... is Studio Deen.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
LBoogie



Joined: 15 Oct 2010
Posts: 15
PostPosted: Thu Jun 07, 2012 4:04 am Reply with quote
No Kate Higgins as Saber?

...This makes me sad. I thought it was probably her best role.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
JohnnySake



Joined: 22 May 2008
Posts: 582
Location: Auburn Hills, MI
PostPosted: Thu Jun 07, 2012 5:29 am Reply with quote
I agree with the other posters here and mention how psyched I was when it was finally picked up by Sentai. However, when I started watching it (thank you TRSI for sending it out early!) I was shocked as to how quickly it seemed to go through the storyline. At least in comparison to the tv series that was released by Geneon, my only other exposure to the story and the characters. Now I want to go back and watch the original show to more fully remember everything that happened in that version. In any case, props to Sentai for bringing this over!!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
neocloud9



Joined: 06 Oct 2008
Posts: 1178
Location: Atlanta, GA
PostPosted: Thu Jun 07, 2012 6:42 am Reply with quote
I finally got to watch my copy the other night and I was really impressed. I was a big fan of the original series and this movie was even bigger and better! (I have to agree, it was awesome finding out who Archer really was.) I did miss the love story between Shiro and Saber, but also understood why it wasn't meant to be the real focus of this arc.

P.S. I didn't have any trouble following the action, even though I've never played the video game...

P.P.S. And wow, how awesome was Lancer in this film, right?! He shot up to being one of my favorite characters.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Chagen46



Joined: 27 Jun 2010
Posts: 4377
PostPosted: Thu Jun 07, 2012 9:07 am Reply with quote
Quote:
Ms. Ruff has never been known for voicing fiery, fiercely proud characters


So I guess Gurren Lagann and Yoko don't exist anymore?
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Dessa



Joined: 14 Jul 2004
Posts: 4438
PostPosted: Thu Jun 07, 2012 10:27 am Reply with quote
You know, I have to disagree with the assertion that Archer's identity wasn't revealed in F/sn (anime). It wasn't blatantly stated like in UBW, but I felt it was pretty well hinted at, for many people to go "hey wait...!" spoiler[The non-standard ending of episode 14, supposedly highlighting Archer, had a high number of shots of Shirou without Archer anywhere in sight].

I haven't yet watched the dub, but can anyone confirm if the subtitles match the dub dialogue? I noticed a few spots where, while not actually wrong, the subs weren't as accurate as they could have been, and shortening lines to match lip flaps could have been the reason. ([statement] as opposed to "I should have known [statement]", for example).

I also noticed a blatant error in the credits. Again, I haven't watched the dub, but I'm fairly certain that Tomokazu Seki didn't voice Gilgamesh in the English version like the credits claim.

Since I watched the DVD, were there any extras on the BD? The DVD simply has other Sentai trailers on it, and I've noticed a trend in anime releases lately to put trailers only on the DVD, and real extras on the BD.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime
Animegomaniac



Joined: 16 Feb 2012
Posts: 4070
PostPosted: Thu Jun 07, 2012 10:30 am Reply with quote
I am not a fan of the original series but I love the movie as it removes the whole "Why is this character still here?" plotting necessary to please fans of the 3 route game {Harem? In the TV show, Rin lost her role early in the story but stuck around Shiro because ... because, because, because of the wonderful things he does...? Maybe she's a masochist.} but since I'm a fan of, let's say, linear story telling with foreshadowing and themes and all that good stuff, Fate/Stay Night left me confused and irritated.

Not Unlimited Blade Works. What are the stakes, who are the heores/protagonists and, most importantly, what can they do about their situation, it's in there. I wasn't annoyed by Shiro because here he was right {In his philosophy? Who cares about that, I'm talking about his actions or at least compared to what he tried to achieve in the TV show. And tried and tried and tried...} I wasn't annoyed by Rin because Sakura wasn't here. I wasn't annoyed by Saber because spoiler[King Arthur wasn't a love interest.]

I'm amazed what they could accomplish when the creators decided just to tell a single story. Does it have the depth of the original novel-game? I never even played the game and I can answer "no." to that one.

It's a movie.
It's a good movie.
It's exciting, intriguing and, here's an important part, it doesn't overstay its welcome. I guess it could best be described as a collection of set pieces but
"...I am the bone of my sword..."

They work.

Quote:

Shiro, unfortunately, is still every bit the nondescript redhead


I always thought his eyebrows were interestingly freaky and they give his eyes {his outlook?} a properly zealous cast. But is that just me?
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
The American Average



Joined: 17 Sep 2010
Posts: 644
Location: Jehuty
PostPosted: Thu Jun 07, 2012 1:06 pm Reply with quote
LBoogie wrote:
No Kate Higgins as Saber?

...This makes me sad. I thought it was probably her best role.

this

I do wonder why they changed it? Higgins could make it or something?


Last edited by The American Average on Thu Jun 07, 2012 1:31 pm; edited 1 time in total
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
neocloud9



Joined: 06 Oct 2008
Posts: 1178
Location: Atlanta, GA
PostPosted: Thu Jun 07, 2012 1:12 pm Reply with quote
Animegomaniac wrote:
Quote:
Shiro, unfortunately, is still every bit the nondescript redhead


I always thought his eyebrows were interestingly freaky and they give his eyes {his outlook?} a properly zealous cast. But is that just me?


Plus the eyebrows were also the only clue we got as to Archer's true identity in the TV series. Wink

Assassin also had cool 'brows, if I recall correctly.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Key
Moderator


Joined: 03 Nov 2003
Posts: 18137
Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley)
PostPosted: Thu Jun 07, 2012 2:15 pm Reply with quote
Chagen46 wrote:
Quote:
Ms. Ruff has never been known for voicing fiery, fiercely proud characters


So I guess Gurren Lagann and Yoko don't exist anymore?


I did consider that before making that comment, but even if one accepts the comparison, I wasn't terribly impressed with Ms. Ruff's rendition of Yoko, either. She seems to do better when playing characters that aren't so straight-laced; I've always liked her rendition of Rukia in Bleach, for instance, but not her take on Yuki in MoHS.

Dessa wrote:
I haven't yet watched the dub, but can anyone confirm if the subtitles match the dub dialogue? I noticed a few spots where, while not actually wrong, the subs weren't as accurate as they could have been, and shortening lines to match lip flaps could have been the reason. ([statement] as opposed to "I should have known [statement]", for example).

I watched the dub with the subtitles on and can attest that they aren't using dubtitles.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website My Anime My Manga
Display posts from previous:   
Reply to topic    Anime News Network Forum Index -> Site-related -> Talkback All times are GMT - 5 Hours
Goto page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5  Next
Page 1 of 5

 


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group