Before we can truly bid Fate/Stay Night farewell, there are a couple adaptations we need to cover first: the somewhat notorious 2006 anime from Studio Deen, and the three Heaven’s Feel movies from ufotable. We spend plenty of time talking about what works and what doesn’t in both of these pretty disparate adaptations.
Opening music: “Disillusion” from Fate/Stay Night (2006)
Closing music: “Anata ga Ita Mouri” from Fate/Stay Night (2006)
It’s time to finish off Fate/Stay Night. Or, at least, the visual novel version of F/SN. We excitedly talk about how Heaven’s Feel manages to stick the landing, and we revisit the “Last Episode” ending that Realta Nua added to see how we feel about it in the context of the whole VN.
Opening music: “THIS ILLUSION ~Fate Version~” from Fate/Stay Night Original OST
Closing music: “New Dawn” from Fate/Stay Night [Realta Nua] OST
Events come to a head in this section of Heaven’s Feel, with Shinji finally getting killed, Sakura going sicko mode, and Shirou unleashing Hero Emiya’s power. Prepare for a lengthy discussion of what’s actually going on with Sakura’s state of mind and a whole lot of lore.
Content warning for sexual assault
Opening music: “THIS ILLUSION ~Fate Version~” from Fate/Stay Night Original OST
Closing music: “Emiya” from Fate/Stay Night [Realta Nua] OST
With Heaven’s Feel’s thesis now firmly stated, the route really kicks into gear, scattering the pieces across the board, clarifying the stakes, and showing what will be required for Shirou to achieve a victory now that he’s rejected his previous set of ideals. It’s cool, it’s messy, and—most importantly—Nasu finally does right by Illya and turns her into a fully-fledged character.
Content warning for: suicidal ideation
Opening music: “THIS ILLUSION ~Fate Version~” from Fate/Stay Night Original OST
Closing music: “Light And Darkness” from Fate/Stay Night [Realta Nua] OST
We were skeptical about the hype, but on this episode of the podcast, we both have to admit that Heaven’s Feel is delivering on its promises. Day 9, specifically, is arguably the most important day in the entire visual novel, and we spend a whole lot of time talking about why.
Content warnings for: sexual abuse and suicidal ideation
Opening music: “THIS ILLUSION ~Fate Version~” from Fate/Stay Night Original OST
Closing music: “A Demanding Heart” from Fate/Stay Night [Realta Nua] OST
We’ve made it to the last route. The route where, hopefully, everything will come together. The route that F/SN fans have been hyping up for quite a while. Will it live up to the hype? Who knows, but the stuff we’ve seen so far gives us some reason to hope…and also a few reasons to be wary.
Content warning for references to and brief descriptions of physical and psychological abuse
Opening music: “THIS ILLUSION ~Fate Version~” from Fate/Stay Night Original OST
Closing music: “Diver - Diver 2” from Fate/Stay Night [Realta Nua] OST
Content warning for brief mentions of sexual assault
Unlimited Blade Works has limped to the finish line. Did this route justify being completely separate from the Fate route? Is Shirou really going to avoid becoming Hero Emiya? And what’s up with Sunny Day being labeled the “Good” ending and Brilliant Years is the “True” ending? Our answers to these questions are…complicated.
Opening music: “THIS ILLUSION ~Fate Version~” from Fate/Stay Night Original OST
Closing music: “Brilliant Years” from Fate/Stay Night Arrange Album [AVALON]
Hey, Illya finally gets a great scene with character development after what seems like forever! Granted, it involves her dying, but we’ll take what we can get. Also: Archer commits even more betrayal.
Opening music: “THIS ILLUSION ~Fate Version~” from Fate/Stay Night Original OST
Closing music: “Lorelei” from Fate/Stay Night [Realta Nua] OST
Today we bring you this very special episode of Saber/Metrics, recorded entirely within Sierra’s bedroom. Thankfully, the gods of timing smiled upon this face-to-face recording session, because this set of days featured some of our favorite writing in the game so far. Remember that absolutely abysmal date Shirou had with Saber back in the Fate route? Well this time Rin’s coming along, and it goes much better.
As mentioned at the end of the show, if you’ve have money to spare and enjoy the content we’re creating, please donate what you can toward my friend Melissa for her gender-affirming surgical needs. I’ve also saved the link as a pinned tweet on my Twitter profile.
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On this episode, we discuss the mixed bag of events featured in Days 6 - 8. On the one hand, Caster is a pretty cool villain, Archer makes a great foil for Shirou, and Rin and Shirou’s conversation on the roof is one of the most genuinely sweet things in the entire VN so far. On the other hand, Nasu makes Shinji even worse than in the Fate route, seemingly just to give Shirou additional motivation.
CW for sexual assault
Opening music: “THIS ILLUSION ~Fate Version~” from Fate/Stay Night Original OST
Closing music: “Spirits Collide” from Fate/Stay Night [Realta Nua] OST
With the Fate route now behind us, we can finally move onto what is perhaps the most well-known of the F/SN routes: Unlimited Blade Works. This is the first route that Sierra and I ever saw (and the only one we were familiar with from start to finish), and we’re excited to see if the new context of the Fate route will change our previous impressions of UBW. I’m getting a little ahead of myself though. On this episode, we cover days 3 - 5, which establishes how the split occurs and what the new status quo will be. We’re also relieved to find that UBW Shirou is so, so much better Fate Shirou…even if he is still a big dummy.
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We’ve finally reached the end of the first route of the game, which means it’s finally time to talk about the big picture for a bit. We discuss whether or not the Fate route accomplished what it set out to do, how the ending made us feel, and what we hope to see in the future routes.
Content Warning: During a couple parts of the story summary, one character makes threats of sexual assault against another character.
We discuss the sex scene from 1:21:42 - 1:26:44
Opening music: “THIS ILLUSION ~Fate Version~” from Fate/Stay Night Original OST
Closing music: “Sorrow” from Fate/Stay Night [Realta Nua] OST
We have arrived at the first sex scene of Fate/Stay Night. Is it as bad as we feared? Well…yes and no. It’s complicated. On this episode, we learn Saber’s identity, get kidnapped by Illya, fight Berserker, make a sacrifice, and get our final lesson from Rin.
We discuss the sex scene from 43:49 - 1:13:51
Opening music: “THIS ILLUSION ~Fate Version~” from Fate/Stay Night Original OST
Closing music: “The Legend Revived” from Fate/Stay Night [Realta Nua] OST
Last time on this podcast, we were kinda going easy on Shirou. Not so any longer. On this episode, we start getting to the section of the game where Shirou says some really whack shit about women, and he just doesn’t stop being bad. Thankfully, Archer and Rin are still here to keep him in check. This also marks the first time we really start to get to interact with Illya, which is…somewhat fraught. Our feelings on this visual novel are about to get a whole lot more complex.
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The Grail War has begun. The main cast has been introduced. The exposition has been dumped. Now it’s time to really get into the thick of it. On this episode: Shirou gets deep into GENDER, Rin defeats her opponents (except Sakura) with facts and logics, Shinji continues to be a creep, and Saber just really wants to kill something, like right now.
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It begins! Welcome to the first episode of “I Got Sucked Off [By Historic King Arthur]”, an actually-pretty-sincere critical analysis of the works of Kinoko Nasu, cofounder of Type-Moon. Although Tsukihime and its sequel were technically Nasu’s first works, we’ll be starting with his seminal (and most popular) creation: Fate/Stay Night. Are you someone who already loves the Nasuverse? Great! Hopefully you’ll discover new ways to appreciate it through our journey. Are you someone who has no idea what the fuss is about? Also great! We designed our format to be a hybrid of story summary and analysis, so you’ll be able to follow along even if you never read a single word of the visual novel.
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