Review of Fate/stay night: Heaven's Feel - II. Lost Butterfly
Heaven's Feel: Lost Butterfly does a great deal to improve upon Presage Flower and feels like a breathe of fresh air for the Fate/Stay Night franchise. While Presage Flower had to retread some of the ground Unlimited Blade Works and Fate laid, this new film does a lot to show you what is new this time around and the much more intense and dark direction the series takes. One thing I loved about Lost Butterfly is the development of characters that have not yet been given their due in the new Ufotable series. Sakura was clearlyestablished as being the main girl of Heaven's Feel, and even outliers to the series likely know of her significance, but this film truly fleshes out and cements Sakura as the most tragic and complex of the main female characters in F/SN. Much of the main thrust of this film is fleshing out her and Shirou's relationship, as well as her (and Shirou) figuring out and dealing with her dark role in this trilogy. On top of lots of great Sakura scenes and development, Illya is finally given some love with some scenes where she's portrayed as more human than ever before in Ufotables recent adaptations. Both of these characters were highlights in this film and it was great for them to finally have some time to shine.
In Presage Flower, Lancer chasing Assassin and their subsequent battle in the swamp was easily my favourite animated sequence of 2017. I'm happy to say that the major battle in this film between Saber Alter and Berserker blows it out of the water. I watched this extended sequence with my hand over my mouth and truly thought to myself "This might be one of the greatest anime fights of all time". Even though 2019 has just begun, the music, the choreography, the effects, and yes, even the explosions....it all came together to create what I'm almost certain will be the most impressive sequence of the year. I can't wait for more fans to see it.
In addition, while I briefly mentioned it at the beginning, it can't be overstated how much darker this film is in comparison to the last and even anything to come out of Fate/Stay Night thus far. A particular scene that takes place in an alleyway involving Sakura was a real "shits hitting the fan" moment for the series. The film heavily deals in Sakura's trauma , showcased through many different scenes and even has what is likely the closest Ufotable will come to adapting any of the sex scenes found in the original visual novel (though it is really quite tame).
Overall I had a fantastic time with this film. As much as I loved Presage Flower I think this film stands above it. With where they concluded the film, they've allowed for an extreme amount of exciting moments for the final film Spring Song which is releasing in spring 2020. My expectations were met and exceeded yet again and my anticipation for the final film is extremely high.