Fate/Stay Night Movie: Heaven's Feel - I. Presage Flower Review

Amazing movie once again made by the studio that also adapted Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works (UBW), Ufotable. 

Heaven's Feel is one of Fate/Stay Night's routes (There are 3 routes: Fate, Unlimited Blade Works and Heaven's Feel), and focuses on Sakura Matou as the main heroine and love interest for Emiya Shirou (main protagonist). This route is the "darkest" arc and contains a lot more horror than the other routes. It is also the arc which goes deep into the lore and background of the war itself. The characters that are focused on are also different than the other routes, thus shedding light on the previously unknown/undeveloped ones.

Story

The story was definitely unique in the sense that you can tell this is a different arc from UBW, the colour palette and style are a lot darker. The story is easy to follow when you know the characters and their brief backgrounds, but that being said, first-time viewers will definitely be in a state of confusion for a good part of the movie as there are some things that are skipped. For example, the extremely brief introduction of Tohsaka Rin. 

I do however, have an issue with the pacing of the show, I honestly felt that it is a bit slow at the start, but it gradually got better as the movie went along. But then again it may be because I am familiar with the general gist of the Fate story already, but then again wouldn't most people? I do, however, see how the slightly slower pacing may be necessary in setting the stage for the atmosphere of the rest of the film, so no complaints here I suppose, but something to note.

With the story being only 1/3 in, I can't say for sure how good the story is, but from this movie, I can see that the scene has been set, and we are going to be in for a magnificent ride.

Art

Beautiful. What you have seen on Fate UBW, you can except the same if not better for Heaven's Feel - I. Presage Flower, characters and scenes are wonderfully drawn with lots of attention to detail, nothing feels rushed or unpolished. Just look at how nice this looks:

Honestly, the art is just fantastic, there is nothing more I need to say.

Sound

The sound is even better than Fate UBW, especially for action scenes, you can not only hear the sounds of the fights, but you can feel the depth of them in your ears. Each hit feels impactful, and powerful strikes have distinctively different sounds than the "common" strikes. 

The music used throughout fits completely with the scene and really emphasises it. Voice acting for the characters were also good and fitting and not unnatural.

Character

The main characters Shirou and Sakura have definitely been explored quite deeply. The relationship between these two characters have been explained (or at least shown), and we understand their connection in greater depth.

Supporting characters have not been given much screen-time in this movie, this includes characters like Tohsaka Rin, Archer, Saber, Shinji Matou, Kirei Kotomine and some others. But then again, this is only an issue for first-time viewers, as the character backgrounds have been explored in previous arcs and prequels like Fate Zero.

Finally a film that doesn't try to postpone fights because of characters taking pity on each other. Fights that needed fighting are fought, and fights that can be ended are ended. 

Enjoyment

Really liked it, a story adding more depth to the Fate series is something I always welcome. I am sure fans of the series will also like it because of the characters and the story progression.

First time viewers and non-fans may not enjoy it to the fullest extent, but the action sequences and beautiful drawings will still leave an impression.

Conclusion

Great start to a trilogy, looking forward to Heaven's Feel - II. Lost Butterfly and III. Spring Song.

- SomDude