Disclaimer: This review covers the 3 feature-length films of the "Fate - Stay Night - Heaven's Feel" series, "I. presage flower" (2017), "II. lost butterfly" (2019), and "III. spring song" (2020).... so we're still not done with this, huh? "Fate - Stay Night" has received multiple series now, most of them spin-offs, but somewhat frustratingly, it has received three direct adaptations within the span of a decade. And now, we have a fourth in a theatrical trilogy, titled "Fate - Stay Night - Heaven's Feel." It's frustrating because, frankly, no story deserves THIS MANY adaptations, this quickly. Even the works of Shakespeare and Charles Dickens don't get so many. And of course, each one is bound to the original 2004 visual novel, its events and characters, however boring and flawed they might be, unlike the spin-offs that had a lot more freedom to work with.Ah, but there is a reason for these new movies to exist. The original game had three separate story "routes" that occured based on player choice, with different events and outcomes. "Fate" was the most standard, and partially adapted in the 2006 anime. "Unlimited Blade Works" was the most popular, and fully adapted in the 2010 film and 2014 series, as well as partially in that original anime. But the third route, "Heaven's Feel," was largely kept out of ALL of the anime adaptations; it had a reputation for being the most drastically different, and the most violent and disturbing. And now, we see it with these films, as a sendoff for studio Ufotable after single-handedly driving the franchises popularity with modern audiences, and in feature film format in order to give it all it deserves (and reportedly, to have freedom to be faithful and not run into broadcasting censorship trouble).You might think that most of the events would be the same as what we've seen before. I thought so too, but was surprised at the state of the story by the end of the first movie. Drastic twists had indeed occurred, including some mysterious characters that didn't appear previously at all. The pieces on the board were scrambled in difference places. And a foreboding tone throughout kept me on edge, not knowing how things would end. This ain't your grandma's "Fate - Stay Night." Or rather, it was her's all along, and why she's kept saying the original was always the best, or at least the most interesting. Ufotable and director Tomonori Sudo had some trouble in directing the movies though. After all, the die-hard fans that would fill the theaters had already SEEN "Fate," proably multiple times now. So they decided to dedicate the first 30 minutes of the first movie ("I. presage flower") to how protagonist Shirou and the quiet potential love-interest Sakura first met, detailing their relationship from the year prior to present day. Only after those 30 minutes do the opening credits finally start... where the entirety of the core premise is displayed only with flashy screenshots for a minute, and virtually no explanation. If you don't know "Fate" already, you'll be absolutely lost as to what these movies are about. In a way, this is sensible: "Heaven's Feel" is like an alternate, parallel-universe director's cut of the more classic plot, best appreciated if you'd already seen the (or a) original. Even still, the requirements for entry are more difficult, and it's a shame the script couldn't spend just a couple more minutes explaning those all-important scenes they skipped over. At minimum, viewers should have played the game, or watched "Fate - Zero," with at least one of the "Stay Night" adaptations (ideally, Ufotable's prior "Unlimited Blade Works" TV series). That clumsy direction and writing, to avoid repetition and from the weight of this story's signifcance, occurs throughout the first movie, not just the opening. The movie takes time to add inside jokes exclusively known from the game (in my theater, my audience laughed knowingly the second a bowl of curry appeared on screen, even before the joke began). The entire trilogy focuses heavily on Sakura, a sweet girl that didn't really have much purpose in the other routes other than sweet friend to the protagonist. Featured exclusively in all the promotional materials, she seems to know more about the story's events than she initially lets on. She ominously warns Shirou that she might be a bad person. But by the end of the first movie, she did nothing to warrant such foreshadowing. What was the big deal? This is promptly fixed in the second film ("II. lost butterfly"), but with 1.5 years between releases, a clueless viewer had to trust in the filmmakers, or else wait for everything to release at once. Anyway, the core plot is about a mystical "Holy Grail War," repeating every generation or so, fought between human mages with the help of a heroic servant from history. The prize is the Grail, from which any single wish can be granted to the victor left standing in a battle to the death (TWO SENTENCES. WAS THAT SO HARD TO EXPLAIN, MOVIE?!). Shirou and Rin are both the protagonist mages, Shirou has King Arthur ("Saber") as his servant, etc. As to where Sakura fits in... viewers of "Fate - Zero" know that Sakura's (current) family has played heavily in these wars, and as a young girl, she was put under extreme methods to train her specifically for this war, by ruthless schemers willing to obtain the Grail at any cost. This is kind-of forgotten in the other adaptations of "Stay Night," but here we learn the full details of what occurs, and see the results. All out of Sakura's control, all while she siliently loves and yearns for Shirou.
The movies are more violent, with each hit and splat of blood having more weight. It isn't afraid of gore and organs spilling from a slash. There's also more foul language (it's pretty edgy to have a white-haired 10-year-old suggest violating a regenerating corpse after it's beheaded). "Fate" is no stranger to mature content, but this is about as adult as it's yet gotten. And yes, there's sex scenes. No nudity though; the filmmakers seemed to want to deliver a little more this time on behalf of the source material, but still remain restrained, knowing this is a mainstream anime. I do feel sorry for Sakura and how she's exploited for the viewers though. She's a tragic figure, but part of that dark history is how she's "violated," both in a figurative and literal sense, by both men and things that are not human. Even if it's for the sake of the story, it's hard to witness or hear about, and I'm certain the character could have been written without resorting to that. On the opposite end, the movies (the 2nd one in particular) perverse her yearning and hunger for Shirou in some camera shots. There might be a contextual reason for it, but realistically, it's only there to titulate the audience. The story and how it plays out is much darker, and much more interesting, than the previous adaptations. This is largely attributed to the genuine romance between Shirou and Sakura (however doomed it might be), and the sheer mystery on what was happening, especially in contrast to the previous anime. Fans exclusive to the anime will likely be lost, but compelled to keep watching in hope of answers, and out of curiosity for how such a story would end. Critically, I still think this trilogy is too self-indulgent, but it's easy to see why fans would be so excited for it. To reiterate, I did have fun watching the trilogy, despite having seen most of these characters a few too many times already. I admit the final film ("III. spring song") makes for a rousing finale, with the most ambitious action sequences, and a bold ending (I won't spoil if it's good, bad, or other). The movie even includes flashback sequences that reveal the true history and origin of the Holy Grail War, the first time it's been animated to my knowledge, and that alone makes this worth sitting through for longtime fans. There's even an important but quick cameo from a character in "The Garden of Sinners" ("Kara no Kyoukai"), bringing things full circle to Ufotable's first Type-Moon anime.The animation and visuals are good. Better than Ufotable's past works, now with a theatrical budget? No, not really. The action scenes here are the best "Fate's" ever had, and any scene using 3D cities and compositing still wow's me. But it's not all that much better than what we've seen from "Fate - Zero," released several years earlier. And that action is kinda sparse, with more attention on quieter character interactions. Those everyday scenes are more static and generic, even the characters look flatter, like I'd expect from a cheaper TV episode. I can't help but wonder if the staff got lazy during those moments, putting all their attention in the scenes everyone was excited about. Anyway, the movies look great for anime standards and plenty cinematic, but increasingly as though they came out Ufotable's factory. And after several similar looking franchise entries, I've grown a little bored of the style whenever a sword isn't swinging. I originally saw the movies in original Japanese (theater), and later again with the English dub (Bluray). For whatever reason, the dubs for "Stay Night" were never as good as the other series ("Zero" in particular), probably because of how dull the characters are in writing. Sakura sounds like the typical whispering high-pitched anime girl, Shirou sounds like a piece of white bread, and so on. The rest of the cast is decent though, and everyone pulls through as the stakes get higher, and dialogue more intense. It's nice the it's the same cast as "Unlimited Blade Works (TV)," and I can't fault it too much, but the Japanese dub is stronger and highly recommended. The biggest highlight is the music. Again by Yuki Kaijura, it sounds very familiar, but remixes some of those scores in ways to make it feel fresh again. And the ending vocal songs by Aimer, returning from "Unlimited Blade Works (TV)," are hauntingly beautiful, among the best themes in a franchise that has consistently excellent theme songs throughout. The "Heaven's Feel" film trilogy is as grand and epic as the original "Fate - Stay Night" has ever been presented. But it's also self-indulgent, self-absorbed, and decidedly obtuse, a movie event made exclusively for existing fans. Whatever the case, I still enjoyed it plenty, and it's a good bookend to the "Fate" this generation knew, particulary for Ufotable's work in the franchise and fans who have seen ALL of it leading up to this. Hopefully we can drop it now, and not adapt the same story again... unless perhaps a remake of the visual novel itself, with Ufotable's animation, were to develop. Specifically after these movies, I'd be curious for the first time to actually play through the game.