Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works 2nd Season

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The 2nd season of ufotable's adaptation of the Unlimited Blade Works route of Fate/stay night. Set to air in April 2015.

The first season of this was done quite well, and I really look forward to seeing the rest of the anime. It also seems that Shirou will actually develop as a character far more in this route compared to the Fate route.

Pretty good first episode, the only thing that I was disappointed about was that it was only 20 min, and not the 40 min the last season got for a first episode.

Top quality animation from ufotable. I agree it would've been nice to have an extended episode but thinking back to Fate/Zero I think they did the same thing for Season 2.

That last scene with Rin and Emiya was so touching. Those tears. :'(

[spoiler=Episode 2]Although, it did get confusing with all the flashbacks Caster had as I'm pretty sure they weren't even in order. Even so, I did enjoy this week's episode, and wonder if Illyasviel will actually be able to pair up with Shirou and Rin. I highly doubt it, as it would kinda ruin any romance. However, I don't really think Gilgamesh actually has the ability to take out both her and Berserker.

[spoiler=Episode 3]While it was a bit nice learning her backstory, I really much rather see the fight between Shiro and Gilgamesh. I have a feeling that Shiro is going to unlock a whole new level of potential soon.

[spoiler=Episode 4]Really was looking for more action in the show. Also, they slightly hinted a spoiler in this episode about Archer at the very end, but I won't say. Anyway, it looks like the next episode will be action packed at least.

[spoiler=Episode 5]Wow, those were some really good fight scenes. I was really surprised that Tosaka beat caster by herself and lancer beat archer. Also, the speed of which archer beat that teacher was really fast too. Really look forward to the next episode, and to see how they will fit in episodes when it feels like its going to end soon.

Definitely my favourite show this season. Ufotable doing a great job as usual. I'm just absolutely waiting for Saber to make a comeback already.

[spoiler=Episode 6]Wow, such a great episode. Was really surprised to see Saber as Rin's servant now, but I feel that indicates a death flag for her. I really want to see the fight between Archer and Shirou next episode, that should be amazing. I wonder how Gilgamesh vs Saber and Lacer will play out though.

[spoiler=Episode 7]Way too much talking this episode. I really wish we actually got to see the fight between Archer and Shirou though, but we will next episode. Also, I was completely taken aback by how quickly Lancer died.

[spoiler=Episode 8]

Oh Lancer, what a badass comeback - if not for a moment.

Its been awhile but thinking back to Fate/Zero, Lancer was also forced to suicide too by the same method via a command seal back then. Hence his reference to having bad masters using him for personal gain. When I watched Fate/Zero on my Blu-rays it was on the English dub (which was well done) but it would be worth watching it again for the original Japanese audio.

Now Emiya, overcome and defeat your future self!

Its been awhile but thinking back to Fate/Zero, Lancer was also forced to suicide too by the same method via a command seal back then. Hence his reference to having bad masters using him for personal gain. When I watched Fate/Zero on my Blu-rays it was on the English dub (which was well done) but it would be worth watching it again for the original Japanese audio.

[spoiler=Episode 8]Except for the fact that Lancer of F/SN is a different person than F/Z, so he was probably referencing something else. Anyway, I agree that it was cool to see him make a comeback like that though, and was really funny to see Shinji run like crazy. I'm really looking forward to Shirou beating his future self as well.

[spoiler=Episode 10]With Shirou's new power, it should be really interesting to see his fight with Gilgamesh. This show is ending well, but could have been so much better if Tohsaka could actually warm up to Shirou.

[spoiler=Episode 11]Based on the previews, the next episode with the fight between Shirou and Gilgamesh should be rather fun to watch. I really hope Shirou is able to use his noble phantasm soon.

I'm wondering whether to pick up from were drill left off, and review the last two episodes or not, that said, there's the Sunny Day OVA too, which I've yet to watch!

After some consideration, I've decided not to, not sure what I'd say really, however here are some of my views on this series, after finally getting round to watching it (except for Sunny Day)!

Looking through this thread and the thread for Part 1 of the series -yeah, I'm calling it Part 1, not Series 1-, it seems I'm alone in the belief that the original series back in early 2000s is better; something that annoys me about this series is how it's split in two, but I can't blame Type-Moon for that, that's just how anime is these days, it kinda follows a similar format to the US, where they take a mid-series break!

I feel like this series has tried to differentiate itself from all other animated versions of Fate/Stay Night before it; re-watching the Unlimited Blade Works movie and TV Reproduction OVAs after watching this series, I felt that all versions except this one, were quite similar!

This series had different:

• Music - it featured three tracks from the original series (two of the three were of Disillusion), however it was mostly an original score;
  
• Action - even though shared scenes were same or similar in original series and UBW movie, the same scenes are different in this series;
   
  
• Servant Introduction - instead of cards falling down the screen, the servants were represented as statues;
  
• Strengthening Effect - no longer do things turn metallic when strengthened, they now have a magic circuit running through them;
  
• Materialising Effect - they now materialise and de-materialise in a sort of pixie dust effect;
  
• Command Seal Effect - whilst before they would disappear entirely after use, now they faintly linger;
  
• Happiness Quota - everyone smiles more, it really unnerved me;
   
  
• Taiga Fashion - she wears a dress in the other versions, but now she wears trousers!?
  

With these differences, it felt to me, like they were trying too hard to make it different from the other animated versions before it, yes you could argue that's a good thing, although you could also argue, as these are routes of the same game, having the same music, action, etc., would be more in line with the feel from the visual novel, I'm guessing!

The music wasn't bad, however I didn't feel it was as iconic as the music from the original series, this could be because the original series was one of the first anime I watched, but it could just be that I felt the music was better!

I felt the music in this series did have an air of Yuki Kajiura about it, obviously she's the composer for Kalafina, who sing the endings for both parts of the series, however it appears that she did score at least two tracks!

Anyway, let's move on from the negatives (and the last two were kinda joke negatives), let's talk about positives!

I liked the extra bits of interaction with Sakura, Ayako and Yukika in this series, Kotomine with his Church-fu, the inclusion of Luvia, Leysritt and Sella, and the references to Bazett!

[spoiler=Interations, Church-fu, inclusion and references]

Interactions

Firstly for Sakura, she had new scenes with Shirou and Rin, the Shirou scenes were romance building, even though this isn't her route, and the Rin scenes shed some light on the relationship between Sakura and Rin; this scene even helped me understand why Rin said "Why did it have to be you?" when Lancer stabbed Shirou, although I feel it's pretty warped how she knows that Sakura likes Shirou, and yet enters into a relationship with him (in this version)!

Secondly for Ayako, she was given a rough deal in the original series, she disappears, and it's like she's just then forgotten about, I think there's a mention that she's been found or something, but that's about it! In this series, she features more, she even features in the flashback of the epilogue to show that she recovered!

Thirdly for Yukika, she didn't feature in the original series, but does in this series, along with Kaede and Kane, they all have minor appearances in Carnival Phantasm (parody series) and Fate/Extra, so nice to see them feature in the main anime!

Church-fu

It was cool to see this time round Kotomine had some skills on him, although I have to wonder if him wielding those daggers is an anime exclusive, or if he has always wielded daggers, and if he has, then is the church organisation in Fate/Stay Night linked to the one in Tsukihime, as Ciel also wields daggers?

Inclusion

The epilogue brought Luviagelita into the main series, rather than just the games and the magical girl series! I have to wonder though, whether the wrestling outfits are a reference to Type-Moon's 2008 April Fool's Day joke, or perhaps Fate/Apocrypha, as it appears that most of the that universe's versions of Fate/Stay Night characters, are wrestlers!

The series brought Ilya's maids, Leysritt and Sella into the main series, rather than just the game, parody series and the magical girl series, although I do have to wonder where they are on the Fate, given that they didn't feature in the original series, I don't think!

References

Although she does not feature in the series, there are a number of references made to Bazett; Caster's original master asks Kotomine to pass a kill order (on Caster) to Lancer's master, referring to the master as female (unless that was just the subs, the Japanese might have been gender neutral), whilst Lancer wishes he had a female master, unaware he should have!

A final note is that, it is always possible that this series might be more truthful to the visual novel, than the original series, I don't know, as I've not played it, but it was something that came to mind, especially as the appearance of Sakura in a leather outfit in the original series, might have been an anime original!

I could have sworn that I had found proof it wasn't, but perhaps I'm mistaken!

Another thing I will mention, is that after re-watching the TV Reproduction, I will admit that the animation from the original series is a bit dated now, in close-ups, the animation is still good, but the drawing style is "weak" in far shots; it's crazy how you don't notice until it's "brought" up!

So this series is a bit more enjoyable to the eyes!

I managed to stumble across information on some other Fate stuff recently, such as Fate/Mahjong Night, and Fate/Labyrinth, which is a prequel to Fate/Prototype, but also introduces a new character, Noma!

Looks like the full (untranslated) Fate/Mahjong Night can be found here!