Fate/kaleid liner Prisma☆Illya Movie: Sekka no Chikai 2e5l6e

Fate/Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya: Oath Made Under the Snow was a great watch and obligatory for any fan of the Fate/Prisma series.

The content of the film itself is quite specific however which makes it quite difficult to recommend to anyone who hasn't seen all 4 seasons of the Prisma anime. With that said, If you are a fan of the Fate/Stay Night/Zero series you may very well find this film quite enjoyable even without prior knowledge of the Prisma series. While the content of the film is a flashback arc of the third main series of Prisma, it effectively acts as a sort ... of spinoff Shirou storyline, taking place in an alternate dimension which pulls from the Fate/Stay Night series, especially Heavens Feel. This may sound very complicated, but again, this is a very specific story and is definitely only able to be penetrated by those who have seen Prisma and those with a working knowledge of the Fate series.

The main reason I am specifying this is possibly enjoyed by those with a working knowledge of the Fate series but not necessarily Prisma is that many are turned off by the loli fan-service that plays a large role in the Prisma series. The animation, art and story line are all very strong in this film and there is just about zero fan service. Therefore, it can definitely be enjoyed by a larger audience.

If you are a follower of the Prisma series, you may be disappointed by the lack of fan-service but if you've read the manga, you'll know this is a very serious arc where Shirou takes up the role of protagonist. Along with that, Illya makes only the briefest of appearances and Kuro, not at all. For a series with such a heavy reliance on fan service and the girls , this could be seen a downside but the film really plays into its respectable and serious tone, I think to its benefit. I feel like They could have done a flash forward to the bathing scene that takes place immediately after this arc for a bit of fan-service but they instead take it full circle in a much more well done and respectable way. As a big fan of the fan-service this series offers, the restraint they show in this film is actually quite commendable.

The film itself very closely follows the source material with decent animation and art all around. The animation is likely the weakest part of the film. Coming off of the already more poorly animated 3rei TV series and with film expectations, it does let down in this department. I may have expected a bit too much since it is a film and they generally have much higher budgets, but Prisma fans are generally spoiled on the art and animation front.

One interesting addition is an extended montage of Shirou collecting the class cards after his fight with Shinji. My mouth was wide open this whole time due to the sheer unexpectedness of it, the great animation and many fun Easter eggs and references to other Fate series in the identities of the installers. It also came immediately after a great battle with Shinji and featured tons of great 2D animation, as opposed to the final battle with Angelica which relied on quite a bit of CG. It's very interesting that the best animated section of the film is anime original but this is definitely the highlight.

All in all, definitely check this film out if you follow the Prisma series (I'm sure you're already frothing at the mouth to view it) and even if you are just a Fate/Stay Night or Zero fan. I didn't focus on the earlier, slice of life moments much here. The first half could be seen as quite slow but they really beautifully build up Shirou and Miyu's relationship which causes the rest of the film to be that much more tragic. I went with my girlfriend who has no knowledge of the Fate series and even she really loved the nicer slice of life moments in the first half and was really endeared to the characters.

Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya: Oath Under Snow is an excellent watch and a must-watch for Fate fans (especially those that are following the actual Prisma Illya manga/anime). Before I continue, I will disclose the fact that I have been following the series (both manga & anime) and read the manga story-line the movie adapts so have this in mind when reading my review.

Story: 10
Having read the original story prior to watching (and loved it), I had high hopes for the story's adaptation into movie format. For the most part, the movie had adapted nearly every aspect of the story save for the actual framing device ... of the story in the original source material and a few minor parts but those were not issues for me. As for the actual story, Oath Under Snow is the prequel to the events of the Prisma Illya series that tells the origins of Miyu (a main character in the aforementioned series) prior to her appearance in the actual series though the story's focus is placed on her brother, Shirou Emiya. There are some changes to certain parts of the story from the source material (with some key moments switched to other parts of the film) but I found that those changes benefited the movie in establishing certain facts (with some possibly being able to help fresh newcomers gain a grasp of the story - I can't say for certain on this point since as I've stated before, I am following the series). Overall, I give the story a 10 for how much I enjoyed this adaptation of a story I already loved.

Art: 6
Firstly, bear in mind that I am not the best judge for aesthetics so take what I say with a grain of salt: This is probably the film's only real weak point. For the most part, the art was good and the animation of an acceptable quality. While nothing compared to Ufotable's animation, I found the art of the film satisfying to watch.

EDIT: Upon retrospective, I would have to amend this part. The animation is not that great. The animation is not that great and definitely could be improved a lot. The direction of the main fights while good, are hampered by the film's animation. With that in mind, I'm changing the actual Art score to 6. It's fair, not great but not god awful either. I've seen god awful animation in other Fate anime and this film... is not that bad. Just not great for this arc.

Sound: 10
I will have to split this part into two segments, voice and music. For voice, the voice actors pulled off amazing performances all around. Noriyaki Sugiyama especially pulls off an amazing performance as Shirou Emiya, hitting all the right notes and tones for the dialogue and monologues for his character. The only gripe I can come up with is that Kiritsugu (yes he is in this movie) comes across as lacking emotion at times but this is a negligible issue at best. As for music, it is fitting and great at setting up the tone & emotions for the scenes with a recurring Leitmotif that plays in appropriate moments in the story. The editing of the music was great as well. The best of the music in the film would have to be in the final battle of the film with every beat matching up with the scene to make for an amazing viewing experience. Even now, I still want to go back to watch the film again just to watch the climax again and see that amazing blend of visuals and music. Thus, I would give the sound a 10.

Character: 10
Part of why I enjoyed the story is due to Shirou Emiya's arc in this story. I will not go into detail on Shirou here to avoid spoilers but let me just say that Shirou's arc is well-portrayed and presented in the film with stellar voice acting as mentioned before. As for the rest, they do their parts well with the Ainsworth family being antagonists with heroic goals (though being cruel enough to make Shirou sympathetic despite the implications of his success). Sakura also appears in this film too with a great performance by Noriko Shitaya, hitting the right notes and tones for her character (I wound up liking Sakura quite a bit here which is a stark contrast with my indifference to her in the original series she is from). Overall, the characters are outstanding to me at least which is why I give a score of 10.

Enjoyment: 10
As someone following the manga and having read the original source material, this film was an outstanding experience for me from start to finish. As an adaptation, the film is great with key points and moments adapted well along with fitting voice acting and music throughout. I still recall sitting at the edge of my seat in sheer glee as scenes straight out of the manga are adapted into enjoyable spectacles (and as mentioned before, the film even adds on an original montage showcasing more of Shirou's battles). In the end, I was left thoroughly satisfied and happy to have seen the film in cinemas. I'll probably watch the film again in the near future. Overall, this gets a 10.

Overall: 9
I enjoyed this film as a person following the original source material and its anime adaptation. Every element was done well enough to provide for a great experience that I want to relive through future re-watching. After the rather poor final episodes of 3rei during its original airing (though I hear the Blu-Ray versions are better), it is great to see Silver Link putting in such a good amount of effort to make such a satisfying final product.

EDIT: Now thinking about it, here's another definitive issue. Pacing. The film goes by fast.

When I read "Prisma Illya" I immediately cringe and back away. Compared to the other fate titles, the Illya series has a very different demographic. This would be true... except this movie seems to bend the rules a bit. In fact, all I know about the Prisma Illya franchise is that its about a magical girl, but this movie has sured my expectations. If you are even slightly interested, then let me fully hook you in into a Fate title that has more to do with "stay/night" and "zero" than "last encore" and "apocrypha".

Story:
For a fate spinoff, it is surprising to see Shiro ... Emiya appear as the main character. The story follows him in his struggle to take back his sister who is also the ultimate wish granting advice. His means for rescuing her is by participating in the grail war. So who is his servant? Well... he doesn't really have one. Shiro literally fights with limited power against foes that have appeared throughout the fate series. So why is this a magical girl anime? It really isn't besides from the "card install" feature. I love the direction of this movie and I guarantee that you will appreciate how, instead of having a magical girl anime sprinkled with Fate elements, the anime has a strong Fate premise overshadowing a magical girl genre. (8)

Art:
At often times, the art is symbolic. Some key pieces of clothing act as minor plot points and this is the exact kind of usage that I ire. The character designs of the master have also sold me into appreciating this movie because seeing the masters install their servants is outright interesting. Where the art fails, however, is in the action scenes in the second half of the movie. You will find the quality of animation and art to become not only more generic but also in degraded quality. Given how Silver Link, an animation studio that does not have action as its strong suit, is mainly in charge of this movie, I might be able to let it slide. I don't ignore this mistake though because the climatic action scene near the end has the worst animation overall. (6)

Sound:
The sound is wonderful as it depicts the narrative in both tone and mood. The only real flaw with the sound is in the action sequences as we hear the same sword piercing noise consistently. It does not offend me because it shows how this grail war is really like a war, yet I do not think it will hurt to add some variety. (5)

Character:
So Illya is by far the best character in this movie... Nevermind she only appears in the last minute. Our characters are actually mostly male. This is actually a great thing for the movie since I can stop searching for who the fan service character will be. I can also focus on Shiro Emiya more and see how, instead of having a small harem, accumulate an actual relationship with a female in this movie. Furthermore, our main antagonist, whose name I cannot say out of spoiler reasons, appears to be just as interesting as this new badass version of Shiro. Look forward to seeing this new character dynamic that is, in a lot of ways, similar to Fate/Zero's two main rivals. (8)

Enjoyment:
I don't count my enjoyment for the overall score, but if you are curious it is a solid 7. I found the movie to be a refreshing take on the magical girl genre and the grail war archetype. I was also throughly entertained throughout the movie and I felt like I could really root for Shiro Emiya more than I did for the Shiro Emiya in Unlimited Blade Works.

After watching the movie a second time, I've realized that you actually do not need to see Prisma Illya to understand what is going on. To have the full experience, however, you would need to watch Fate/Zero and/or Fate Stay/Night.

I felt disappointed in this film, and I fear that Prisma Illya may become tainted by Shirou. I feel this because Shirou is too serious.

I also should mention this is NOT a filler movie, it provides backstory from the original 3rei manga for Miyu and Shirou.

Story 5

Focusing on Pre-Illya Miyu and 'alternate' Shirou, this film aims to provide a decent backstory towards the two. The first half of the film focuses mainly on how Shirou meets Miyu, and the building of their relationship, despite any original intentions Shirou may of had.

The second half focuses on the 'you-know-what' events in the 3rei ... anime, showing how Shirou becomes powerful, during the 'Miyu' grail war and how Miyu manages to meet Illya, Luvia and Sapphire afterwards.

The plot of this film is much more serious than the rest of Prisma, and Shirou in this universe is very Fate/Stay Nightish, so if you enjoyed that stuff and the fighting scenes (not quite as well animated as the main series however) you'll surely appreciate this more than I did.

Art 7

I didn't really have any issues, what else can I say?

Sound 8

I really like the OST, definitely my favourite part of the film.

Character 5

Unfortunately, I do not appreciate the Shirou overtaking of Prisma Illya, but that's not the reason this gets just a 5, I honestly just find Sakura irritating, and most of the fight scenes, while referencing other characters in the Fate universe are too short to be really acknowledged. Though there are two 'major' fight scenes, of which the latter is definitely the best in this film, involving a familiar face from 3rei.

I don't appreciate Shirou as much as I would do in the Fate/Stay world, and I dislike some of the other side characters anyway like Sakura. If more screen time was given to the main '3rei' cast, including some of the side characters then I'd definitely give this a higher rating.

Enjoyment/Overall 5

I prefer the more laid back approach of magical girls the main series has, while many people seem to be loving this movie, the serious tone of it kind of bored me at times. It's like an hour and a half anyway, so you may as well watch it for Miyu's backstory, unless this review has somehow convinced you against watching a main-plot movie of an anime you're already 4 seasons into.

I wouldn't say its a bad movie, just not fitting for what I enjoyed the other seasons for, and I tend to have limiters on my enjoyment so a 5 rating is about average for someone like me.

First and foremost, this movie is technically a prequel to the whole Fate/kaleid liner storyline. Watching this before starting the other "kaleid liner" series won't create much problem, except for the fact that you won't recognize a lot of the characters and what were their motivations behind their actions. So it is suggested you complete the previous kaleid liner series before starting this film.

Story:
The story of Oath Under Snow is vastly different from other F/kl parts in both tone and style. This is an origin story of Miyu, and the story is shown from the perspective of Emiya Shirou from her world. It is a ... darker story in tone compared to the other F/kl entries, and it looks and feels a lot similar to the style of Fate/Zero and Fate/stay night.

Art:
The biggest problem with this movie is how the quality of animation decreases rapidly from the beginning of the second half. Considering this a movie, the fight sequences are some of the worst among all the Fate anime. Some moments look more dated than the 2006's Fate/stay night series done by Studio Deen. It's a shame since this story deserved at least a ufotable level of animation. As an adaptation from manga, some scenes were rushed, and the breathtaking action moments felt toned down. However, if you haven't read the manga, this movie will feel really interesting and the ending will leave you satisfied.

Sound:
The sound quality is amazing, I have to give it to the film. It's almost a given fact that any Fate anime will have fantastic background musics, and as everyone knows, any version of the track "EMIYA" is a beast! The sound effects are also done pretty good.

Character:
Since this is a story from a parallel world to those of Fate/Zero and Fate/stay night, it is quite interesting to see some of our known characters from those stories portrayed in a different scenario. For all the people who have been complaining how the character Emiya Shirou is "irritating" or "generic shounen protagonist", this movie has the chance to shut them down. The Emiya Shirou in this story is the best version out of all the depiction we have come across, and the steps he takes will improve the viewers' points of view about him. Miyu's characterization is also well done. As for every other characters, they didn't have much time onscreen, and as I've mentioned before, unless you have prior knowledge about them, their reasoning for their actions won't appeal much to you.

Enjoyment:
Now, this adaptation is not as good as its source material, and sudden decrease in the quality of animation might turn down your mood. Even considering that, the movie actually has good enjoyment values. There are some moments which will hit you emotionally. These moments combined with good background musics saved this movie for me, and took it up to a level of satisfaction.

So, if you are a Fate or Type-Moon fan, you will have good time watching it. If you are not one of the Fate fans yet love enjoying good anime, this can be worth your time only after you watch some other Fate stories before.

Reviewer's note: This movie is a prequel to the F/K Ilya series and it is my 3rd entry into the Fate/Kaled spin-off works (Ilya>Specials).


✪ Genre: action (swordplay), contemporary fantasy, drama, magic (metamorphosis, magic weapons), seinen, superpower (emotions awaken superpowers) with elements of a parallel world



✔Positive Aspects✔

◧ Animation: adequately distinct characters, based on colors of moderate to low saturation/medium to high lumination, with the urban environment and the urban landscapes being a little more muted in comparison. A good addition was the limited 'light' and 'spark' effects during the action sequences, where the main character is fighting against the various antagonists.
...
◧ Character development: the movie does a decent job building up the relationship between its protagonistic characters, explaining some of their beliefs, intentions, thought processes, and, more importantly, personal histories. This last part is conspicuously lacking in the F/K Ilya series.

◧ Plot: this movie provides very crucial information regarding the personal history, motivations, and thought processes of one of the protagonists, while also filling up some major plot holes of the main series.


✘Negative Aspects✘

◧ Action scenes: incredibly unsatisfying action sequences that are escalating and de-escalating very quickly. Not only are they very brief in runtime, but they feel very rushed, even in the grander scheme of things, where the action itself is not the point in this movie. Stylistically, instead of playing around with different levels of the third-person perspective (as it does with the 1st Ilya season), Silver Link tries to emulate Ufotable in UBW by incorporating various camera angles (first-person, second-person, third-person), different 'camera' heights and quick zoom-ins/outs. Unfortunately, it does not succeed in its goal since the end result appears quite unstylish and obscure. On a final note, most of the early fights seem to suffer from incredibly low display contrast at times, making the sequences somewhat incomprehensible.

◧ Soundtrack: various pieces of music are used, ranging from j-pop and electronic music to new age piano and orchestral works, that are virtually unimpactful and unengaging.


Overall: Even though this movie does not offer much in of enjoyment or production values, it serves its purpose as a prequel by providing necessary information that is noticeably absent from the main series.


P.S. 1) In my view, for anyone looking to get into these spin-offs, starting with this movie, instead of the main series, might be the most prudent course of action.

2) For further reviews of the Fate franchise, please take a look at my profile.

Fate/kaleid liner Prisma☆Illya Movie: Outh Under Snow (Also known "Fate/kaleid liner Prisma☆Illya Movie: Sekka no Chikai") after i watch this movie, this story is the beginning of the Fate/Kaleid Prisma☆Illya series. I'm confused that Fate/Kaleid Prisma☆Illya slightly unrelated to Fate/Stay Night series so i'm called this series as the side story of the Fate/Stay Night Series.

Story:
I'm glad that this movie has not fan-service like the series, this movie full of serious scene and i'm so like it because this movie tell about Emiya Shirou to saves Miyu Edfeld from Julian Ainsworth. This movie story is story is a story 5 years before Fate/Stay Night.

Plot:
This movie ... beginning when kid Shirou and Kiritsugu looking the black thing destroy Fuyuki City and suddenly there's a big light and that light made that black thing gone, Shiro goes to the source of the that light and he looks the little girl who sit in the house, that house is slum and suddenly that house collapse and will overwrite to that girl, Shirou quickly saves that girl from that collapse house and he saved that girl after that Shirou and Kiritsugu borrow her to their home and find th way how to save the world with that girl. The name girl who saved by Shirou is "Sakatsuki Miyu" (also known "Edfeld Miyu") she is the child of Sakatsuki family who called "son of God" who too have a power to grant people's wish, that's why Kiritsugu use her to saves the world but Kiritsugu didn't find the way how to use her and he finally ed away. Now Shirou lived with Miyu in his house until 5 years later.

Art:
Well this art is less good than Ufotable's art. I'm look the wind dust when Shirou battling with Sabe class Ainsworth, that's not looking good for me and that's not looking realistic than the Ufo's art and the fire is not looking good. The art eye of the character is very sweet and cute making mismatched with story but i'm feel happy because the art of skyline scenery city, forest, and mountain looks fresh and wonderfull to look it.

Sound:
Like in Fate/Stay Night series, Shirou's voice made me not enjoying me except when Shirou get serious, well i like Noriaki Sugiyama because he's better to fill the voice of Sasuke, and Ichiji than Shirou. Kaori Nazuka who voiced Miyu, when Shirou meets Miyu i hear Miyu's beginning voice, i hear her voice is bit weird but i'm so glad for the next voice after Fuyuki disaster. For Koyama Rikiya who voiced Kiritsugu is nothing, he is so best to voiced that character and his emotional.

Character:
The character in this movie is least. There are 7 characters that play an important role in this movie, Illya, Tohsaka, and the main characters of the Fate/Kaleid series shown in the end of the story but that 7 characters are very good inside fill story and can made the emotional for the people who watch this movie and the most part which made me boring is the character object of the story is the loli girl.

Sorry for my bad English.

first thing first, I'm not a native English speaker, so forgive me if there's some (lot) mistake here and there.

story: 8
for people who haven't watched/understand the concept of fate series, they will not understand the concept so it might be difficult to enjoy it fully. but for fate fanboys, this will be one of the better stories of fate.

I haven't watched heaven's feel yet, nor I played the original fate VN series, so it might be biased. what I did for fate series is just watched all the anime and read some manga. for me, this is the most anticipated thing in fate/kaleid series. the ... most badass Shirou I've ever seen. how the author develops Shirou from the twisted persona about a fake hero of justice to someone who truly wishes to save his sister. shirou seems to be the strongest in here compared to any of the other series. but this movie really cut down some of the important elements in the manga that i personally, from the manga reader, feel a bit disappointed with silver link.

art: 5
silverlink really fucked up in this part. i don't really understand the reason for their sudden drop in the quality after shinji's fight, and any part that wasn't used for their trailer. the drop is from 75% ufotable's art to even worse than deen. i would rather they develop it longer than it should so it has a stable art quality rather than stupid early 2000's anime art-style. come on silver link, you really fucked it up.

sound: 7
lot's of reused the new EMIYA BGM just in different tune, and lots of part that can be better if it has a BGM than nothing at all. another silver link fucked up. but the new EMIYA BGM and choucho song is great

character: 10
as i said, i really loves miyuverse character. while they take a little bit plot from the original fate/stay night here and there, it doesn't feel forced at all.

enjoyment: 7
I enjoyed it until halfway, and some part at the end. the drop of the art style, and rushed fight scenes really turned me off

overall: 7
the only bad thing about this movie is the silverlink fuckery. i say this again, after shinji's part i really disappointed with this movie. i recommend to read the manga, fate/kaleid drei from chapter 31 to 43. i hope some decent studio adapt this part again. i cant believe they used to do the fight scene in the first kaleid season

This is an origin story of Miyu, one of the main characters of Fate/Kaleid. Story-wise is a great movie, although the actions scenes are also fun to watch.

My main issue with this, however, is the horrible pacing. This movie is only 90 minutes long and yet it felt like I was watching it for 3 hours. It takes too long to introduce the real plot, the plot itself is rushed and at the end it keeps dragging itself, not knowing when to stop.


I still recommend this movie to anyone who likes Fate and has watched or plans to watch the Fate/Kaleid alternative universe. ... It's a 7/10 from me.

Miyu before Fate/kaleid liner Prisma☆Illya...

Fate/kaleid liner Prisma☆Illya Movie: Sekka no Chikai gives us a glimpse as well as a proper detail towards the actual alternate world Miyu was born in through the lens of the alternate Emiya from 3rei!.

Now having alternate Emiya as our main narrative focus maybe an odd choice since this is suppose to be you know, Miyu's backstory and how she got into Illya's world and the such, but nonetheless alternate Emiya himself ALSO has a story of his that fills in the details and is obviously linked to Miyu and everything that happened in 3rei! as well for things to to ... go "full circle" as it were.

With the main narrative clutch of Emiya and by extension Kiritsugu wanting peace any way possible even for the life of one in order to do it and using Miyu as the vessel as the sacrifice brings attention and questions Kiritsugu's ideals in the first place, with Emiya's beliefs towards it as he gradually loses everything dear to him starting from Miyu taken away by the Ainsworths and Emiya pretty much in this alternate world anyways, turning into a proto-Kiritsugu in his Fate/Zero days. On the other side, Julian Ainsworth actually wants the same thing but his methods and care for Miyu is not even close to humane and he actually embodies Kiritsugu's ideals of wanting to peace for humanity but he'll WILL DO ANYTHING TO DO IT even at the cost of one's life. Fate/kaleid liner Prisma☆Illya Movie: Sekka no Chikai's thematically questions whether Kiritsugu's ideals not only in this movie but heck Fate/Zero was the right thing to do, kill one in order to save everyone and both made manifest with Emiya still believing in that but more like save all with no deaths, while Julian will kill for humanity.

Due to Emiya taking up the majority of the spotlight as well as his development into proto-Kiritsugu, Miyu doesn't get that much screentime, but what we got at least gives us what Miyu's personality later on in Fate/kaleid liner Prisma☆Illya prosper into.

Fate/kaleid liner Prisma☆Illya Movie: Sekka no Chikai also ties up loose ends towards 3rei! and why the Holy Grail War finished already and that was because of Emiya and by the ending itself how Emiya later ended up in 3rei!.

On the animation side, done once again Silver Link, seems aesthetically if not BETTER especially during the fights towards Fate/kaleid liner Prisma☆Illya series. Same character designs as it's original seasons and beautiful backgrounds and awesome fights rivaling ufotable's works and Fate/kaleid liner Prisma☆Illya Movie: Sekka no Chikai much like 3rei! doesn't skimp out on the gore and blood either. What can LA say, LA was VERY impressed with the animation done by Silver Link to be almost on par with ufotable's Unlimited Budget Works grade of animation.

Voice acting-wise, since this movie is set in alternate world but in the Fate/stay night and some from 3rei! as well, ALOT of the voice actors reprise their roles. Noriaki Sugiyama gets most of the screentime as Emiya and that's a given but nonetheless he did a great job, Kaori Nazuka was good for the few moments Miyu is on screen though most of the time she hardly spoke but LA can give some grace with that, as she showed a bit of emotion here and there. Some other standouts are Natsuki Hanae as the psychotic yet calculating asshole Julian Ainsworth and the actual psychotic asshole Shinji Matou as Hiroshi Kamiya for their performance. Great cast what else can LA say?

Fate/kaleid liner Prisma☆Illya Movie: Sekka no Chikai is without a doubt a movie that needs to be watched by the fans of the Fate/kaleid liner Prisma☆Illya series especially if you want an in-depth perspective from Miyu before the beginning of the anime series, sure Emiya has most of the screentime but Emiya still fits anyways with how strong it's thematic cohesion of "kill one to save everyone" is put into question with Miyu at the center of it all and better yet to link to how this movie kickstarted Fate/kaleid liner Prisma☆Illya as a whole and tying loose ends in both Emiya and Miyu's end from was great in all honesty.

"Would you kill one to save everyone?"

The Prisma Illya series is the biggest mistake in the Fate franchise. It's insulting, it's boring, it utterly destroys Illya's character (and, in fact, most characters it presents).
That said, this movie, which serves as a prequel to the series, is different in every way.
Before I go into the review, I'll answer to the question "should I watch it?".

You DO NOT NEED to watch the Prisma Illya series to understand that movie. I've only watched a couple of episodes and a few scenes, and I still managed to understand everything. It's not a very complicated movie, and it stands strong on its own.
You DO NEED to ... know the Fate universe. At least watch one series of Fate/Stay Night and Fate/Zero. You only need to understand the basics of this world to get this movie.

Now, back to the review.


STORY
This movie is written as a possible FOURTH ROUTE to Fate/Stay Night. Ironically, this is the best anime adaptation of Fate/Stay Night despite it not being named that way officially.
Following his wish to save the world, Emiya Kiritsugu looks for a Child of God with his new son, Shiro. They find a town being destroyed for an unknown reason. After the disaster, they find a surviving girl, Miyu. She is the Child of God. She is supposed to have the ability to grant someone's wish.

Basically, Miyu is another type of Holy Grail. Kiritsugu dies without being able to use her ability. Shiro grows up, and Miyu gets abducted by another family, who wants to use her wish granting ability too.

Shiro, who grew to love Miyu as a big brother, trains hard to get strong enough to rescue her. He plays in the 5th Holy Grail, where the winner is able to use Miyu to grant their wish.


This is honestly the best Fate/Stay Night plot in my opinion. Shirô and Miyu's relationship is beautiful, and it's a perfect mix of light and dark. It's gruesome, but it's still wholesome.

It was a great watch, honestly. That said, this movie clearly leaves a lot of questions unanswered. Don't worry though, they don't need an answer to appreciate this movie. But it's definitely enough to make you curious about the series...


ART
This is where this movie lacks a lot. There's a lot of battles, but none of them are truly great. They're good, but not phenomenal...
But aside from the battles, the rest is beautiful. Some characters have a weird face though (Kirei, what have they done to you...?). It's mostly wonderful though!


SOUND
The version of Emiya available in this movie is great. Maybe my favourite ever aside from Kawai Kenji version.
The rest of the OST isn't very memorable though.
As for the seiyuus, the characters have their original voices, so if you loved Kiritsugu in Fate/Zero and want to hear a bit more, you'll enjoy this movie.


CHARACTER
This is the BEST SHIRO EVER. I don't think this is debatable, lol. He's got a great progression, he's badass, he's likeable, and his relationships with the other characters are nice.

Miyu is a lovable girl too. The fact that she was locked from the rest of the world was a bit weird in my opinion, but it didn't stop her character from having a bit of development too.

And of course, there's Kiritsugu. In all his glory! Great as usual, its character is faithful to his original version.


OVERALL
This isn't the greatest movie of all time. It is a bit slow, it is a bit lackluster (in of animation and sound). But it is a great story, it fits the Fate universe quite well... and more importantly, IT IS NOT LIKE THE PRISMA ILLYA SERIES!
Forget the dumb magical girl theme, forget the lolis kissing each other, forget the destruction of this world's characters. There's none of this shit in this movie.

I highly recommend if you like Fate, even if you hate the Prisma Illya series.

Great spinoff about shirou past and events that happened before first season of fate kaleid prisma. Animation and plot is on high level with typical for fate soundtrack. But whats more important this movie dont have one detail that push off most of people from fate kaleid series ... and im talking about FAN SERVICE! NO MORE LOLI HERE WOHO! Thats why it can be recomended for not only kaleid prisma series fans , but to fate stay night series fans aswell. Personally i loved how mc overcome difficulties ... on his road to sacrifice him self for person he cared most.
My rare is 9/10 ... but its my personal opinion and we can have different taste.

Well, the story is the usual solid entry in the Fate Series. I can't however give a perfect score . Especially when i was robbed of a ufotable unlimited budget works masterpiece. Wish they'd keep all the entires in the series to themselves. But i guess they have their own circumstances. But those circumstances did lead to this tragedy . I recommend it as a story, the animation ain't bad but it's clearly not ufotable. It will never be .

That being said, normally it's a illiya route, but the illya route is actually the Miyu route. Honestly im not certain myself . But that's ... what it shaped out to be for the most part.

Days and days of badass Shirou fanservice.
Seems pretty ambitious to build a new Shirou from scratch in one movie, but they totally knocked it out of the park here with a variation on the character that feels right at home with the other versions of him. His ideals (or lack thereof) shine blindingly bright in the desolate world of this movie.

The only flaw in the experience for me was that I was a little put off by how different Kiritsugu seemed compared to how he should be after saving Shirou. Though perhaps it was a necessary sacrifice in order to have Shirou learn to love ... his imouto on his own.

The big highlight other than Shirou was Shinji showing up for 5 minutes and still managing to be the most spectacularly fucked up irredeemable rat bastard in this universe. His classic line from this movie (youll know it when you see it) gave me a good out of place laugh amongst all the despair.

Its been a couple weeks since I watched this and I still cry when I listen to the Emiya theme from it and think about Shirous speech to Julian before the final battle. For that reason I can't give less than a 10/10.

Story: Impressive and even better if one has watched ubw fate stay night as one is able to resonate with the feelings of Shirou even more.

Art: If you are expecting the art to be as good as ubw, unfortunately that's not the case but it is still decent.

Sound: Ending song was nice but other than that not much varation in sound effects.

Character: For a 90min movie, I'm glad that they chose to focus character development for a few as opposed to many. A must to watch ubw before this to enjoy this spin off even more.

Enjoyment: Enjoyed the dialogue though it was nothing ... out of the ordinary but it was consistent and the story managed to leave a impact on my heart.

TLDR: Watch this after ubw and I would give this an 8/10 min 7/10 for how they maanged to fit a whole fate route into 90 minutes and still pull it off pretty well. Go give it a try I'm sure you will at least be able to gain some positives from it.

P.s. Don't watch this the day before an exam like me else you will find yourself wanting to keep fast forwarding the movie lol

I think 80 minutes probably wasn't enough time to tell this Shirou's story, but it was a good representation of Shirou if things played out much differently than any of the Stay Night routes. I gave it a 7 because while it felt like some sequences were far too short and others were far too long, this was ultimately a Prisma Illya OVA that ties into that world. The art was good, sound direction was good, character relationships felt like they progressed far too quickly. In fact, I am not entirely pleased with the way that we get to the end of this movie. If ... you don't mind spoilers, you can continue for my rationale.

PAST THIS POINT THERE ARE SPOILERS (Also Fate/Zero Spoilers)

Sakura played a very prominent role in this movie. She seems to be close with Shirou, but this isn't really the case in this world line. It's one of those plotholes that kind of bears on me the more I think about it. If Sakura were really so close with him, she would have known about Miyu and she would have been at his house as she was in the Stay night world line. I think the prevailing tone of Sakura's relationship with Shirou is that she has the same feelings as the Stay night world line, even though there is really no way those would have developed in the same fashion and nothing in the movie gives us indication as to why we should believe she feels strongly enough to not only toss a card in the Grail War away for him, but feel the need to protect him. Further, if she cares about him why does she intend to disclose the Grail War in the first place? This seemed strange at the time I watched, but it sits even weirder now. The whole involvement of Sakura in this worldline is supposed to be the straw that breaks the camel's back, but I don't think I can buy it. Honestly, Shirou just needs an easy reason to kill everyone between him and Miyu and Sakura made an easy path for the writers. This was a pretty shameful way out of genuine exposition in my opinion.

The relationship between Miyu and Shirou doesn't feel forced, it is probably the best presented out of any of them in this movie. At certain points, Kiritsugu is presented with a similar desire for an end to suffering that he pursued in Fate/Zero, albeit without any indication that he was involved in the Third Grail War. We know at a later point that the Grail Wars happen here, but Shirou is found orphaned by an apparently unrelated incident. Kiritsugu goes from a philanthropist saving Shirou to a heartless utilitarian ready to sacrifice Miyu if it means saving the world from suffering. This doesn't seem completely on the money to me for Kiritsugu as a character. As an example, even knowing Irisviel would become the Grail, he preferred not to sacrifice her in order to accomplish his task. The question I seek an answer to here is if Kiritsugu was willing to bond with the Einzbern heiress to such an extent in a different world, what compels him to deny the humanity of this younger homunculus character here? It may not be exactly the same Kiritsugu, but there are some critical differences that the movie makes no effort to rectify or rationalize.

I can't give the movie much better than a 7, and that may be lightly generous. In my opinion, the narrative integrity of the movie could use a lot more work to classify it in a similar sense to Fate/stay night or Fate/Zero.

This review is coming from the perspective of someone who is a Fate fan, who found this movie purely based on the franchise and relatively high rating. If that sounds like you, do not waste your time.

The reason that (at the time of writing) this is the sole negative review is presumably the only people that know this exists and seek to watch it know exactly what it is: a collection of nonsensical retcons with the sole purpose of setting up the lolicon anime Prisma Illya.

Impressively within the first few minutes, this movie manages to completely assassinate both Kiritsugu's and Shirou's character. I honestly can't ... much else. There is essentially nothing going on here except setup to the fanservice anime - and even that is basically unrelated until the last ~1 minute or so. (And it doesn't even need to happen since... all timelines already exist?) Additionally, the fact that this universe uses "cards" to modify the master's abilities instead of summoning heroic spirits really takes away the charm that got me into fate in the first place.

The best thing I can say about this is there was no egregious loli fanservice. That's where we're at! A pretty low bar.

Edit: Moments after posting that, I recieved a DM (longer than this review) explaining that my review is in fact wrong. However, I'd like to include a quote from the DM which I find quite revealing.

"You shouldn't expect it to be better, or even on par with the Main Story, as the rest of the franchise is merely Parodies and Spin-Offs tackling the lore to bring fans." There you have it folks! If you simply watch with the understanding that it's bad, you'll somehow find it's good. Or something.