Fate / Stay Night Unlimited Blade Works (2012)

Fate Unlimited Blade Works is alternative storyline to the visual novel Fate/Stay Night, so basically it opens exactly the same as the original anime and branches off at some point (Stay Night-original anime; Unlimited Blade Works-this movie; Heaven's Feel-final path/unanimated). Unfortunately this movie can only make perfect sense if you are at least familiar with the original story, as it merely glosses over many of the character introductions. This is both good and bad. It's good if you don't want to see some parts all over again, but bad if you are completely new to the series.

The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumia proved that an anime movie can succeed as a long epic tale (3 hours!), so I wish they took the same process and made this movie longer as well. As the beginning is rushed you might think this could be your run-of-the-mill anime movie/retelling, but it's not. Taking all the negatives into consideration, I can't rate this film any less than 4 stars, as the story and action are just that great.

This isn't some movie where the main cast are merely co-stars to the main plot (FMA, Bleach, Naruto, I'm looking at you), but a fully engrossing tale that tells you many new things about everyone in the Fate world that you may not already know. If you are wondering if you have to watch to original anime to understand this movie, then yes, somewhat, but do you have to watch it to make it enjoyable, heck no! The anime and the movie compliment each other, making the other that much more enjoyable by watching both.

I'd love nothing more than to rate this movie 5 stars, but I have to cut it down by one for it's rushed opening. Still, a solid 4 out of 5.

While Unlimited Blade Works is visually stunning, it is also lacking in areas of character development and explanation. If you are familiar with Fate/Stay Night from either the visual novels or the first anime series, then this is a worthwhile companion volume.

However, if you are not familiar with the source material, you have little reason to feel any sort of emotional investment in the characters or the story.

The dub producers were considerate enough to hire most of the cast from the anime series to reprise their roles. Mela Lee still shines with her crisp tones as Rin Tohsaka, and Stephanie Sheh (credited as Jennifer Sakiguchi) still delivers the obnoxious brattiness of Illya with delight. Liam O' Brien really stands strong as Archer. And we get a bit more of veteran Tony Oliver's reads as Lancer.

One key actress was replaced, however. Kate Higgins, who did an excellent job as Saber in the anime series, does not return, and is replaced with Michelle Ruff. Fans of Bleach will recognize the same intonations that she uses to play Rukia Kuchiki in that series. This is not, however, a terrible distraction, as Ms. Ruff has no small amount of talent, and the character of Saber is largely absent in the film as well.

Worth the effort for fans of the original material. Not a good jumping on point for those unfamiliar with the franchise.

Buy Fate / Stay Night Unlimited Blade Works (2012) Now

Fate Stay / Night is a 5 star series in my mind. It has excellent animation, voice acting, plot, action, and drama. This movie is an alternate retelling of the series. The animation is better, but that's the only thing I can think of that it has on the original show. The character introductions are rushed, many of the voice actors are different, and it's hard to sum up a detailed plot like this one in a movie. Even though it's pretty long, it needed more time. An hour and 40 minutes isn't enough. The movie is good in it's own way, but having seen the show first, it left me wanting more from it. I guess that if you want to get a feel for what the series is like this movie can give you a general idea. I think that if you're new to the show, I suggest buying the first volume of the series on DVD or Blu-ray. It's an excellent series. I highly recommend it to any anime fan. The movie is really kind of unnecessary in my opinion.

Read Best Reviews of Fate / Stay Night Unlimited Blade Works (2012) Here

I've waited for the dubbed version of Unlimited Blade Works since the October '09 issue of Megami and I wasn't disappointed. I was especially pleased to hear the original voice actors and Saber's dialog was so minimal that the change from Kate Higgins was acceptable. Oddly, Saber is not listed in the English Credits, but my first thought upon hearing her was "that's not Saber, that's Rukia"...yes Michelle Ruff. I was very pleased with this anime. The biggest drawback I could find was that it's "approximately 105 minutes", which doesn't leave much time for character (or plot) development--so, for any real understanding of the characters and story, watching the original Fate/Stay Night series is a must.

Great visual experience, wonderful plot, and good dialog...for those familiar with the original series, strap in and enjoy the ride, for those who aren't--well, I hope you don't get too lost.

Want Fate / Stay Night Unlimited Blade Works (2012) Discount?

For those wishing to dive into the Fate/ franchise, this film assumes that you at least have the basics down. So freshening up on the basic story is highly recommended. Unlimited Blade Works is a much darker take on the Fate/Stay Night storyline introducing new perspective to the Paradox that becomes "Fate/Stay Night". Within just a few minutes the film breaks into non-stop action that carries itself throughout the duration of the film.

Fate/Stay Night is the perfect story for any Super-Action hero maniac in love with the constant struggles of their favorite Superheroes. Fate/ brings to life many different personalities that reside inside the various historical "Heroes of Legend" that become the "Servants" that fight for the epic Holy Grail (apparently not the chalice from the Judeo-Christian religion, but from the Babylonian mythos... though I didn't catch this until the recent Fate/Zero TV series).

This film does not fail to deliver a gorgeous level of detailed backgrounds and colorful characters, and smooth animation (however there is one scene in the beginning after the opening title that seems to be a bit less animated than it probably needed to be. But that's just me nitpicking a little.)

I probably wouldn't recommend this film to the youngest of children. Due to its violence and excessive bloodshed (I realize it's 2D animated blood) the film most likely would earn a PG-13 if it were rated according to the American Film standards.

For those who enjoy this movie I highly recommend the latest installment of the Fate series "Fate/Zero" which does a marvelous job of explaining details about Fate/Stay Night and gives a powerful insight into how everything happened the way it did.

I hope you enjoy this film as I have.

This review is written before the English Dub releaseso = I hope this film proves to have good voice acting

Also, should this film do well, I hope Sentai Filmworks takes great consideration into licensing and dubbing Fate/Zero as that series seems to be even MORE breathtaking than this film was.

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