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

So I wasn't ready for that. I went to wet my neck at the end of the movie. Madness. Rape. Dismemberment. Masturbation. Cannibalism. If after seeing the anime I had been told that this would be part of a Fate/Stay Night piece, I wouldn't have believed it. Not that the two anime are cute feel good movies, there are some pretty violent scenes too, but this second Heaven's Feel movie takes it to another level. The story embraces a much more tortured realisation than before, we're clearly on an angry seinen. The first movie proposed an interesting variation of the Holy Grail War, but despite somestylish fights it remained relatively wise. It let us perceive that the continuation of this 3rd road would be darker and more mature, but I didn't expect it to be so!

The story takes a radically different path from the first two F/S routes, the servants who were at the heart of the anime and the first film are more in the background, most are quickly eliminated and the focus is on the masters, whether they are known or unexpected.

On the form of the anime I'm sorry but Ufotable are big sickos. The UBW anime (I haven't seen Fate/Zero), the Heaven's Feel movie 1, and Ufotable's Demon Slayer, had great set design art and sakuga moments. But this movie surpasses them, the night sets are even more beautiful than before, and damn that Saber alter vs Berseker fight is amazing, I wasn't ready for that :ouch: As much as the Assassin vs Lancer fight in the previous movie had put me on my ass, this one is on another level, and by far. I think it's the most virtuoso fight I've seen in animation, or at least it compares well with the fights in Made in Abyss movie or Princess Mononoke.

But the part that surprised me the most, and in a good way, was the shift into the madness of a certain character with this dreamlike world a la Alice in Wonderland but which also reminded me a lot of the alternative universe of the witches in Madoka Magica. There's a complete break with the tone of the previous scenes, it's surreal, we're almost in a Magical Girl. Then back to reality. Very dark.

But the part that surprised me the most, and in a good way, was the shift into the madness of a certain character with this dreamlike world a la Alice in Wonderland but which also reminded me a lot of the alternative universe of the witches in Madoka Magica. There's a complete break with the tone of the previous scenes, it's surreal, we're almost in a Magical Girl. Then back to reality. Very dark.

Sakura's seiyu must be mentioned, she does an incredible dubbing, she inhabits a completely tortured sakura! The title of the film is well named, she is a pretty butterfly lost in the middle of this war between hornets for the Holy Grail. She wasn't really highlighted in the anime, as Sakura was only used as a foil for the Shiro/Saber/Rin/Archer couple. In this film she is a revelation, she outshines the others. The Shiro/Sakura duo finally moves forward to offer a more adult but also more tragic relationship than the Shiro/Saber or Shiro/Rin relationships in the anime. Shinji, Sakura's brother, takes on his role as the big jerk we saw coming. The definition of an asshole.

I found Yuki Kajiura's OST a little behind on the first film, here we have sublime music that is as beautiful as Madoka Magica's (which is by far the OST I listened to the most, that's a big compliment).

I'm waiting to see the third film but at time Lost Butterfly is clearly my favourite track of Fate/Stay Night.