Hedonism should be the top priority when using magic.
What They Say:
After making progress with the development of his projection magic, Shirou starts experiencing the side effects of having pushed his body to the limit.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
With the hour-long season finale sure to leave us wishing those following three months would just pass right by coming next week, the series uses its last standard-length episode of the season to give us a calm before the storm, picking up the pieces in the aftermath of a battle that revealed important truths of the war but more importantly initiated a transformation within Shirou that’s been taking its toll ever since. Ever the faithful companion, Saber tries to prioritize Shirou’s wellbeing over her own despite having taken a good beating herself and not having a mage able to instantly heal any injuries she might have. We all know Shirou well enough by this point, though, so it’s no surprise that he keep the fact that he’s missing his feeling and strength in half of his body completely to himself, even at the cost of countless innocent dishes.
As we approach the halfway point (perhaps we’re past it in terms of actual running time), Rin’s status as the female lead and love interest have been solidified more and more as the series goes on, but she’s missing one critical achievement: staying at Shirou’s house! After neglecting their de facto daily meeting, Shirou sees a face that doesn’t belong at his place of residence, resulting in possibly the most perfectly executed piece of comedy in this entire series thus far. There has been some fun here and there, mostly on the wackier side, but this understated mastery of comic timing and expression humor is exactly what the flirty contention that defines much of the relationship between Shirou and Rin needs to begin Rin’s stay.
In general Rin is more comfortable than Shirou in this environment, showing little of her tsundere tendencies but doing her best to take advantage of Shirou’s obvious reciprocation of her attraction. When Taiga shows up she adds to the dynamic in much the way she often does, but Rin knows how to mess with her in much the same way, which we haven’t really seen yet, and that feels like exactly what Taiga’s character needs; she’s fun, but it gets old if there’s nobody to keep her on her guard. Later on, Rin engages in friendly conversation with Shirou, revealing a bit more about herself and her motives, assuming he would have the same outlook. When that turns out to not quite be the case, she gets perhaps unjustifiably offended, but not so much that it stops her from having Archer fetch her clothes and further inviting herself to spend the night. Although slightly trying from Shirou’s perspective (though perhaps not so much with his limitless patience), Rin’s words and actions are very much in her character, and if you remove the context of magic, it feels about like a normal interaction between teenagers of different genders who are interested in each other but just can’t quite understand how someone could think so differently.
The final scene continues the important, subtle interplay between Shirou and Archer, with the latter actually going out of his way to help the former due to empathy revealed through more cryptic foreshadowing. As always, their worldviews clash in a different, but fascinating way.
In Summary:
With the finale now known to be the length of two episodes, the series has time to spend the penultimate episode of the season on slower character moments, and that’s just fine. Shirou’s interactions with Rin are cute and occasionally hilarious, and Archer is as interesting as ever.
Grade: A-
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Custom-Built PC, 27” 1080p HDTV.
