finished episode 12 and therefore season 1 of Fate Stay Night Unlimited Blade Works
compared to Fate Zero's season cliffhanger, this one was kind of a let down, but in a good way
let me explain why the ending was lackluster
here, we end with Shirou moping and being relatively powerless - never mind that a few eps ago he Traced for the first time like a boss - and his stupidity led to Caster getting Saber. having played the VN, i knew this would happen, but this adaptation actually had me going - I actually thought Shirou wouldn't be a moron. Oh, Shirou. Just oh, Shirou.
Fate Zero, we end with Saber, Lancer, Rider, Kiritsugu, and Maiya (and I guess Waver) vs Caster and Ryuunouske vs F-16s vs motorboats vs bridges vs Berserker vs Gilgamesh IN THE AIR IN JETPLANES vs Tokiomi vs Kariya vs Cthulhu. AND THEY DIDN'T EVEN START THE FIGHT WITH CTHULHU WHEN IT ENDED.
That's like "The Best of Both Worlds part I" Star Trek TNG. You fluff the audience's dick, give them a great blowjob, work the shaft, play with the sack, get them blue balled to high heaven...and then stop.
And leave them aching for more.
FSN UBW didn't do that. It felt relatively complete for the first half of a storyline. It was a good place to stop. But it didn't leave me with that desire to blow my load over Saber's cute face.
THAT BEING SAID....
The entire first half of episode 12 was awesome.
I am a HUGE Shirou x Rin x Saber fan, and the entire date shenanigans was the closest thing to animated canon that I'm gonna get with that threesome.
Things I particularly enjoyed:
-Shirou Potter and his glasses
-Saber and Rin trying out glasses and looking cute
-The infamous ultra-competitive Saber vs batting cages, with the batting cages winning
-Saber wearing a batter's helmet and her ahoge sticking through a hole in it
-Archer trolling Rin and saying she's not very womanly - if the uninitiated didn't believe he's Shirou before, being ballsy/stupid enough to say to RIN proves it
-Did Caster just explode Assasin's chest? And is he still TALKING???
-Disillusion getting a new cover. Its a shitty cover. But I like the fact that it came back for this adaptation. Nice touch.
-WHERE IS THE REST OF THE EMIYA THEME? STOP PLAYING THE FIRST FIVE NOTES WHENEVER ARCHER SHOWS UP. PLAY THE WHOLE DAMN THING ALREADY.