Review of Fate/stay night: Heaven's Feel - II. Lost Butterfly

Alright, listen. I think that, maybe, this route isn't for me. I said two things in my review of the first film: that the Sakura and Shirou pairing wasn't my least favorite and that they seemed like the most natural couple from all the routes. I... don't necessarily think that anymore. Okay, let me actually review this and try to explain. First of all, the art smashes. We all know this studio is absolutely stellar when it comes to animation and graphics. The action scenes in this movie, especially the lighting effects, were otherworldly, and I'll never get bored of watching it. The sound, as well,fits the tone of the film extremely well.

I think the characters are a lot of the reason why I ended up loving this franchise to begin with. Each and everyone is written with such intense depth, so it feels like I'm watching an accurate depiction of the unpredictability of humans. That being said, this particular film didn't really meet my expectations. I sort of felt like I didn't understand why a character was acting a certain way at a certain time.

Most of that probably has to do with the jumpiness of the story. I understand it's a film and not a series, so it can't be as detailed, but it just felt skewed and disconnected. For example, the beginning and end of this film were about one thing, but somewhere in the middle it took a detour to something completely different without any notice. At least, that's what it felt like. So, it wasn't very smooth, I guess you could say. Another, for lack of a better word, negative aspect of the story was the absence of clarity. Towards the end, I found myself asking what exactly was going on and when whatever it was started happening in the first place.

Obviously, based on my score, the movie wasn't all bad. I'm only criticizing it so much because I love the franchise itself. I've said this before, but seeing the differences between the routes is always entertaining to watch, and despite it's inconsistencies, I'm still very excited and curious to know what's going to happen to Sakura. The tone of this route is very different than previous routes. It's a lot darker, and I'm not sure how I feel about it yet, but it'll be interesting to see how it all ends. Here's to the next one.