I'm in a bit of a Fate binge after having rewatched Zero a week or two ago and it's as good or even better than I remembered. I think I love everything about it. The characters are all interesting or used in interesting ways, the fights are some of my favorites in anime, the soundtrack sticks with you and the story is memorable enough.
I then watched UBW, but what I really want to talk about are the Heaven's Feel movies, particularly its fight scenes. For Presage Flower, Assassin vs Lancer (chase scene included) was mind-blowing to me. Like, the animation was so good that it specifically felt like ufotable were just straight up showing off with it. "Yeah, we're this good, deal with it." what the hell man.
Same thing for the big fight of the second movie, Lost Butterfly, Dark Saber vs Berserker. It got me so giddy and excited! The use of color, and the scale of the fight is so satisfying and mesmerizing. It's top notch stuff.
Generally speaking, my knowledge of the series is limited to what I've watched so far, and even though they all complement each other very well, my favorite route is Heaven's Feel for sure. It feels darker, the horny stuff is just natural considering the franchise's history and I appreciated it for what it was (and let's admit, they're teenagers, it's normal); there's a bit too much melodrama every now and then, which Zero was mostly devoid of, but I suppose that comes with the territory. Sakura is at times annoying (senpai senpai senpai senpai senpai) and at times interesting and relatable considering her life story, Zouken is the more detestable villain, and I'm glad they dialed back on the Gilgamesh boner, even if I love him myself. Fack Shinji, he got at least a bit of what he deserved, finally.
I'm not one for long posts so I'm just rambling by now, but I'm generally very impressed with ufotable's work with the franchise. Give me the third movie.
Lancer and Berserker FOREVER.
