It’s not like I want to form a truce with you or anything.
What They Say:
A student went missing after her archery club practice. The last person to talk to her was Shinji. And now Shinji is nowhere to be found either!
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
So far, this series has had a pretty clear divide between the action of the Holy Grail War and the slice of life moments in presumably peaceful settings like Shirou’s home or school. Okay, so maybe one of the first big fights did occur at Shirou’s home, but the more public setting of school has seemed fairly safe up to now, and between his experiences thus far and Saber’s initial analysis, Shirou largely expects consistency on that front despite Saber’s warning, which Rin instantly echoes with much less openly concerned delivery. In fact, it’s Rin who strikes first at school, showing little regard for the condition of school property but really not wanting to have to kill Shirou. He just doesn’t understand the situation he’s in, though, and between her frustration over his nonchalance and her reluctant duty, she starts firing shots that admittedly would be his end were he any less competent himself, only stopping to give him another option for a few seconds once she’s made her intentions and abilities clear. As with everything in this show, these sequences are entirely more animated than there’s any need for, from the realistic subtleties of character animation to the explosion of magic and violence tearing apart the tranquility of a school setting. It enriches the experience immensely at every moment, and it feels so natural.
Of course, Rin isn’t going to actually end up killing Shirou here, nor would Shirou ever even attempt to hit back in any capacity beyond self-defense, despite his unquestionable inferiority. That calls for a new enemy to enter the picture, a Master with a Servant deployed and a propensity to involve innocent bystanders. We only see the tiniest glimpse of this Master, but the foreshadowing is enough that the audience should be pretty sure of who it is by the end. Shirou continues to win Rin over with more self-sacrifice to protect her just moments after she was earnestly attempting to take his life, and again he decides to take on a Servant himself, this time without Saber even aware of the situation. While it had certainly been established prior to this that Shirou was not the helpless child he could’ve been, this is probably the first time he really gets to show off what he can accomplish when taking on a Heroic Spirit one on one, even taunting her in some ways, pointing out that she’s weaker than the four he had already encountered. He continues to prove as infuriating naïve to Rin as ever, though, and given the circumstances she decides that the best course of action is to lend a hand rather than letting him walk into the flame.
Much of this story – and I would imagine even more so as it enters more definitively “Unlimited Blade Works” territory – is constructed to create allies for Shirou from his mortal enemies, primarily Rin, and while it obviously does so, what’s important is how believably it plays out. The tsundere that she is, Rin is always making sure that Shirou knows she’s allying herself with him begrudgingly, because it’s most convenient for the situation at hand, because she doesn’t feel right taking advantage of someone so pitiful, especially as he keeps getting in the way of her trying to kill him by putting his life on the line to help or defend her. And there’s truth to some of that, but along with the pity and reciprocation of altruism, there are some genuine feelings of fascination, perhaps not in a positive context at first, and attraction. It’s written all over her bevy of fantastic facial expressions, but Shirou isn’t quite perceptive enough to put the pieces together.
In Summary:
Worlds collide and prove that nowhere is safe (and that Shirou should probably start taking the advice of Saber, which even Rin offers to him as she unloads magical attacks upon him) as school becomes a warzone on several occasions. The intrigue and intensity are terrific as ever, and the animation is masterful whether for action or simple character motion. Most importantly, as the plot moves forward it also builds on the characters of Shirou and Rin and progresses their relationship by utilizing elements of their poetically discordant pasts and the uncomfortably wonderful emotions Rin is trying her best to keep subdued in the face of the business at hand.
Grade: A
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Custom-Built PC, 27” 1080p HDTV.
“but the more public setting of school has seemed fairly safe up to now,”
Except for the part where he died there, I guess.
Haha, well school when it functions as a school, that is. Otherwise it’s just the same as any other deserted area, and Shirou felt safe in this case because of how many people would be around him, which is very different from that event.