Unlimited Blade Works Movie Review
Unlimited blade works
xARTURIAx’s Anime Reviews
-Gekijouban Fate/Stay Night Unlimited Blade Works-
In 2004, Type-Moon released their second 18+ Visual Novel for the PC, titled Fate/Stay Night. Soon after it’s release, Fate/Stay Night took the Japanese gaming world by storm. With its in-depth character bases and action packed plotlines, Fate/Stay Night erupted into more than just a computer-based dating-sim. Increasing popularity of the 3-route game nearly forced the Type-Moon team to expand its horizon. In 2006, a 13+ anime was released, and only a few years later the anime was scooped up by Funimation and released in the States. Thanks to the English adaption of the series its popularity spread like wildfire. The anime centered mainly on the Fate scenario of the PC game (the first of three scenarios represented by the game). Although centered on Fate, the anime allowed a quick look into the other two scenarios as well; the Unlimited Blade Works route and the Heaven’s Feel route. After years of contemplation, Type-Moon finally decided to give their second scenario, Unlimited Blade Works, an animated title of their own. On January 23rd, 2010, Gekijouban Fate/Stay Night Unlimited Blade Works was released in Japanese theaters. After 8 months of anticipation, the movie has FINALLY been released onto BluRay and DvD, nabbing a number one sales spot in the process.
Being an overly obsessed Fate/Stay fan myself, I HAD to grab a copy of this movie; not only to satisfy my own needs, but to prove to myself that a long ass scenario like Unlimited Blade Works could be worked into a 1hr 50min movie. I have to say, this movie did not disappoint. Type-Moon was able to include every detail about the UBW scenario that actually meant something to the initial plotline. Of course, if I had never played the PC game myself then I would have been hopelessly confused throughout the entire film. This would have mattered little to me, because the fight scenes were so damn cool, but some of you may be more interested in the actual plotline of the film…so in other words, don’t bother seeing this movie if you have not played the game (unless you just want to witness some great 2010 animated fight scenes)! Like stated before, I HAVE played the Fate/Stay Night 18+ PC game, so the movie was just that more enjoyable to watch. Anyway, on with the review!
Animation: 9/10
Even when Fate/Stay Night was originally released as an anime series, the animation style did not disappoint. This movie only ups the beauty of the Fate/Stay Night universe. Although relatively basic, the animation style used in this movie was very vivid, and detail was obviously key. The colors were bright, vibrant, and like eye candy to those who already drool over the appearance of Saber on a bigger screen…
The special effects were a bit odd at points throughout the movie, but they still made the scenes look frikin’ awesome. Of course Lancer’s Gea’ Bolg has to light up every time he uses it, and of course the image has to be inverted when Shirou senses something amiss…but that’s just Fate/Stay Night for you. The effects are not terribly distracting, but a bit unneeded at points.
Music: 7/10
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