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

To all the people who know nothing about Fate and want to get into the series now I suggest you guys watch Unlimited Blade Works first and not Heaven's Feel because this is the anime adaptation of the third route from the original visual novel that dedicated solely to Sakura Matou a major character which mean for the beginner the introduction of the cast and the basic premise of the Holy Grail Wars gonna be very rushed to make way for the new story so for the beginners it can be a rough start even for me a fan of the series. Of all the character in the OG Fate series Sakura stick out for me as the most boring and bland character when she often just there to be a cute and loveable potential romantic partner to Emiya Shirou the main character even though in FZ and UBW I can guess what kind of life she live under the god forsaken place that is The Matou household but not until Heaven's Feel - I. Presage Flower that I finally get some answer and because there still 2 more movies so it still too soon to compared which route is the best but I can already tell that Sakura gonna win the "most tragic backstory" of the Fate series. The animation and the fight scenes that Ufotable pull out is at god tier level that worthy the title "Unlimited Budget Works" although some of my favorite character get limited screen time but I'm happy that the anime introduce me to my new favorite servant "True Assassin" because that guy (for the time being) is the true MVP of this anime.

I watched this film the first day it screened nationwide in North America. I found this film to be very entertaining, as a fan of the Fate series. The prequel to this series, Fate/ Zero has garnered a huge hype for future Fate adaptations by ufotable. When its sequal, Fate Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works came out, I was very disappointed. The entire series was a mess, pacing wise, the characters were very boring and overall the transition from VN to an animation on screen was incredibly underwhelming and executed badly. With these elements in mind, I was a bit hopeless on how this adaption would turn out.

I was wrong. This film exceeded my expectations by A LOT (they were pretty low considering UBW). Ufotable turned the scales up to an 11 with their animation. Many of the fight scenes were very fluid and well animated, and the designs were improved, as a different director took the spotlight in the trilogy. And thankfully so.

The sound designs, and the soundtrack is memorable and complemented the scenes and animation very well. It's also good to mention that the composer for "Fate/ Zero" came back to Fate to compose for this trilogy, so there are traces of Zero themes to be heard throughout the movie.

Some of the story elements were changed to fit the movie slightly better than if it were a carbon copy of the VN, and those changes I can appreciate a bit more. This allows some anime original content to be put in, and a better understanding of the characters.

This movie is NOT for people who haven't read the VN or have at least seen UBW, as this movie skip some elements already explained in UBW.

The third route of the Fate series, Heaven's Feel Presage Flower does not waste time covering those scenes that it would have shared with the other two routes, FSN and UBW. Presage Flower fast forwards through those scenes during the intro and cuts straight to the action-filled plot. (So you need to watch FSN or UBW before seeing this version). Excellently animated fight scenes and a plot that keeps you wondering about the characters' fate. Some humor too. But overall, a much darker feel to FSN and UBW. A must-watch for fans of the Fate series.

I saw this movie twice, during its release in the US, & I'm glad I did. The movie had beautiful Animation, the characters are just as memorable here if not better than the previous Fate series, it had great comedic moments, awesome action, & certainly some Dark & creepy moments. Yes, Fate/Zero was dark, this movie is just as dark if not Darker, for a movie that mostly relied on build up, it got brutal. I like changes that were added to the movie, it actually works & certainly gives us a better understanding of the characters. The only negative I can give to this movie, is that I would not recommend it any new comers of Fate, you have to watch Fate/Zero & UBW first, before you see this movie.

Story-line => 4/5 (The plot is not clear yet); Acting => 4/5 (No particular character stood out in acting but overall it was good.); Directing => 5/5 (The presentation was nice and the planning to not repeat what is already show was nicely transitioned. ); Animation => 5/5 (Treat to the eyes); Screenplay => 3/5 (The screenplay was not very deep like Fate Zero); Personal Recommendation => 5/5 (If you watched Fate Zero and UBW, you must watch this and the later 2 parts also.);

Overall Personal Rating => 8.7/10