Unlimited Blade Works

Yes this is yet another review that should have been done ages ago had I the chance to watch it ages ago. So along with Summer Wars, which was the last review I did, I finally had the chance to watch Unlimited Blade Works another animated movie for an all time favourite anime of mine Fate/Stay Night.

Unlimited Blade Works is a series of alternative events that occur during Fate/Stay Night, or for those who have played the visual novel, is an adaptation for the second route of the game. For those who have seen it you may understand what I mean. To gain a better understanding of what I'm about to say, explaining Fate/Stay Night must be done first. Fate/Stay Night revovles around Emiya Shirou, a mediocre magician, who suddenly gains a "Servant" and a forced invitation into the holy grail war. His servant is named Saber and true to her name she wields a hidden sword where its true identity is revealed later in the series. The pair are forced into various fights as there are six other magicians fighting to gain control of the holy grail, for rumour has it that it will be able to grant their wishes. Along the way the pair gain a mutual friendship and potent enemies.
Compared to Fate/Stay Night which was based around Shirou Emiya and his Servant Saber's developments throughout the anime, Unlimited Blade Works revolves around Shirou Emiya and Tohsaka Rin and her Servant Archer, who was formerly just a side character in the Fate/Stay Night series. The story revovles in the same way as Fate/Stay Night does, but the plot is much more intricate and woven than the original. Many twists are presented in the movie and it does take some thinking to figure out who is on whos side. Then there is explanation of Rin's Servant, Archer. For those who have watched the Fate/Stay Night Series and have noticed how he does not play a major role will be quite suprised to see who he really is. For those who haven't watched the original series I do recommend you to do so before watching the movie. It will get very difficult at times in comprehending whats going on, and the movie does jump a lot which is not a problem for people who have already seen the Fate/Stay Night series.

Ratings:
Visuals: 8.5/10
Music: 8/10
Plot: 9.5/10
Characters: 8.5/10

The visuals in the movie is exceptional athough not too great they certainly have touched it up since the release of Fate/Stay Night. As the movie is a lot of action and bloodshed their use of colours suited the scenes nicely. I would have liked it though if the tones of the colours varied more, I found that I kept seeing the same tones in places where it should have been a shade darker; especially night scenes.

I actually liked the music for a change, especially the ending song by Sachi Tainaka. The music fit so well and it played an important role in getting you into the mood. At times it was used to build up heaps of suspense, and it really kept you entertained. It deserved a ranking of 8 because of how good the producers effectively used it, but with their achievements does come a downfall and thats the timing of the piece. At times it was either too late or too quick and it threw me off quite a bit.

The plot is the best part of the movie, intricate, woven and delicately made. It does get extremely confusing at times and you will definitely have a hard time following all the different factions and the constant move of alliances and enemies. The plot does skip a whole lot and the story is then made to look like it was compacted, which in essence it was. Again to those who have watched Fate/Stay Night or played the game they most likely would not find any problems in understanding. Honestly I liked this storyline much more than the Fat/Stay Night storyline. I felt as if the ending of the Fate/Stay Night storyline did not do Saber any justice, whereas Unlimited Blade Works' ending was much more sweeter and more to my liking; I guess it's all up to preference.

I love Type-moon and its characters. I find that they make extremely deep characters that have much more meaning than intended. I found all characters to be extremely unique and having their own sense of pride and in moral values. The character designs were exceptionally good, and all characters were given justice. Although I find Clamp to still be (in my books) one of the top designers type-moon is definitely up there.