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| https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d4/Fate-stay_night.jpg |
With
some free time at hand and with the Fate/Kaleid Prisma Ilya Drei anime on the
way (the serious route of Prisma Ilya), I have decided to write up this bit on
the problems associated with the Fate/Stay Night visual novel (the recent UBW
(Unlimited Blade Works) anime has its own issues but the reader may simply read
my piece on that subject: http://subjectivelybiasedrants.blogspot.com/2015/06/fate-stay-night-unlimited-blade-works.html). Some of these gripes have carried over to the
anime which may contribute to some of its failings and may be repeats of issues
I brought up but the point still stands. The points I raise may already have an
official explanation from Kinoko Nasu (writer of the visual novel) or Type-Moon
but I will not be referring to them so that I can speculate and opine more so
those fans with greater knowledge of the series will have to excuse my lack of
sage knowledge on the Nasuverse. Without further ado, go Team Fanboys!
- The excessive slice of life segments.Before proceeding, it must be acknowledged that Fate/Stay
Night was originally intended to be an eroge. While Kinoko Nasu did his best to
ensure that the eroge aspects are not frequent (though these aspects are rather
infamous), the point still stands. The first sign of Fate’s eroge origins lies
with the slice of life segments scattered throughout the visual novel. While
certain signature battles and scenes are more prominently mentioned whenever
Fate is involved, these moments only appear after what may seem to be a tedious
amount of scenes dedicated to Shirou’s student life. Tense moments in the story
are often end abruptly and are replaced by moments involving cooking. From what
I can recall, Heaven’s Feel has the most of these slice of life segments that
left me bored even if exposition is brought in. There is a reason why Shirou’s
recurring gag in the series is his role as a chef to everyone else (or to be
precise, Saber’s personal chef).
The slice of life bits however have a purpose which is to earn affection points (or raise flags with the girl of the route) to earn the True ending of each route. From what I recall, most of these segments simply exist in order to pick dialogue options that earn the most amount of affection points (Fate Route’s Bad End 13 comes to mind as a consequence for not earning enough points). As a result of needing to earn points for the true ending of a route, the game forces the reader to go through numerous slice of life segments to get a feel for the girl’s appeal like a typical eroge though unlike most eroges where the high number of points earns the best sex endings, Fate provides bittersweet, yet appropriate, endings. With the UBW anime, ufotable adapting this particular aspect of the visual novel baffles me as a viewer: Why is this rather pointless aspect of the visual novel being adapted instead of other aspects like expository monologues or proper clashing in the battles (rather than the frequent pauses to talk)? Defenders of the slice of life bits may counter my argument by saying that these bits allow for characterization or it balances out the darker aspects of the series.
https://i.imgur.com/OZOiKma.jpg and https://geekorner.wordpress.com/2014/10/13/fatestay-night-unlimited-blade-works-episode-1-heroes-versus-utilitarianism-fight/
So I counter with this: Why are there so many slice of life bits then? I will concede that some slice of life bits do make sense like the early stages of each route where the Holy Grail War is starting off and the combatants are finding their footholds. As the war goes on though, the slice of life should begin to stop as the characters start preparing for the war while characterization appears through gestures, spoken dialogue, unspoken monologues and thoughts from differing perspectives along with unconscious motions. The gags may come out through black comedy or brief instances where there is a reprieve from the war which makes the gags appropriate but brief to not overstay their welcome. If gags were needed in the Fate series, these could be added in Hollow Ataraxia (sequel to the Fate/Stay Night visual novel). While there may be an official explanation on why the Fifth Holy Grail War was rather underwhelming; from a narrative standpoint, a war should not be filled with moments where the tension is underplayed and the character’s main concerns are what they would be cooking for dinner (incidentally I know that fried rice is an economical option for cooking). The fact that there is a war should impact the protagonists more mentally than simply being an inconvenience to them.
From all that is said, a future anime or movie adaptation based on the Fate series will have to slice down the slice of life bits from the adaptation (unless the aforesaid adaptation is a comedy series like Hollow Ataraxia or Carnival Phantasm, to which I say, slice of life galore!) while emphasizing more on the impact of the war on the characters that brings out the characterization from the character’s internal monologues. Something like that may allow Shirou to showcase the strategic mind he possesses (that the UBW anime, yes I will continue harping on the anime like an angel with Parkinson’s disease, conveniently left out thanks to Miura’s ‘brilliant’ decision-making) and even show that Rin has layers beyond being a tsundere ace of all trades (nothing on Ciel or Aoko when it comes to magic though).
http://i.imgur.com/H2LgLt0.jpg and
https://www.reddit.com/r/fatestaynight/comments/2lpi93/oh_fatehollow_ataraxia_how_you_make_me_giggle/ - The sex scenes (and the attempts to censor these
scenes)
As mentioned before, Fate is an eroge which means that there are sex scenes. Nasu is skilled enough in writing to be able to create a coherent multiverse containing differing timelines yet having a set amount of rules and notions that makes said multiverse unique and perfect for setting up games in. This skill however evaporates upon reaching the sex scenes he had to describe in the visual novel which already have a flimsy excuse for engaging in them (mana transfer via bodily liquids if the reader can believe that).
My immediate thoughts on reaching these moments (in the uncensored version of the visual novel are as follows): Interesting illustrations, that is definitely an illustrated woman’s body, jam it in indeed, oh right there is text here and blank… since at that point, I was physically cringing at the writing.
http://i2.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/676/265/7ff.jpg and
http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/jam-it-in-you-lost-me/photos
The problem does not lie here but in adapting these scenes. To ensure that the Fate anime can be adapted and so that future visual novel readers do not cringe at the sex scenes, the sex scenes are replaced with Mana (or was it Prana) transfer rituals often dubbed as Dragon, Dolphin or Worms respectively (I will not bother explaining the names). The problem with these replacement scenes are the inevitable arguments on distilling an adaptation (or not adapting the source material fully), how ridiculous the transfer seems and the visuals used to illustrate these scenes. These scenes, from a narrative standpoint, hurt the tension being built during the point of time where these scenes finally appear (save for one route where the scenes only serve to badly characterize a particular character). Regardless of whether it is sex or ritual involved, these scenes hurt Fate more often than not whenever it comes time to adapt them since the rising tension or foreboding mood is often broken by sudden sex or cringe-worthy CGI representations of mana entering from one orifice to another.
http://forums.animesuki.com/archive/index.php/t-31098.html
My solution to this is simply have the sex or rituals occur more often. Now that the reader has lifted their jaw or cleaned their screen from the inevitable spit-take, I will elaborate on why. See, these rituals seem to be quick emergency methods of transferring mana to depleted Servants that only costs dignity so why not bring up the transfer method early on as a mean to fix Saber’s declining prana as a result of Shirou. For these earlier instances, sex can simply be replaced by quicker but briefer rituals at intervals to showcase applicability and highlighting the desperation of Shirou’s situation to resort to less dignified methods. This may sound goofy (and it does but so do the sex scenes in Fate) but it does justify the presence of the mana transfer methods (less for sex and more for the rituals). The main downside for this is that Saber will probably be the more prominent heroine though the reduced mana cost via sleep probably fixes the frequency of mana transfer (though I can think of a way to justify frequent mana transfer rituals for Rin’s route while the sex scenes in Sakura’s route are simply stuck at being basic sex for the sake of being ‘dark’). I have no methods of fixing the sex as a transfer method but with the ritual, I can at least suggest at least to showcase its repeated usage to show it as a plausible method. Does this fix this problem? I doubt it, my fix would only fix it superficially.
In a nutshell, the sex scenes and their methods to censor them are an additional problem from Fate’s origins as an eroge. It is highly unlikely there are any ways to fix this but it is possible that there is no need to fix them since it does keep the dirty secondary peasants from tainting the glorious Fate master race.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/70/Censored_rubber_stamp.svg/2000px-Censored_rubber_stamp.svg.png - Exposition from every route is mandatory for
enjoymentThis is something I brought up in my piece on the UBW anime
and like I said there, this is a problem from the VN. To truly experience Fate
at its fullest, it is mandatory to play through all the routes in order to
figure out plot-points, to handle characterization and to understand the ideas
explored by the visual novel.
On plot points, I draw attention to the Holy Grail, Avalon and Servants. Playing through the Heaven’s Feel route is necessary to understand precisely why the so-called Holy Grail spills the mud capable of setting cities aflame and as Gil puts it in the UBW route, able to wipe out most of humanity. Without this understanding from the third route, one could misconstrue the Grail as being a “portal to Hell” or the Grail being an inherently evil thing since Angra Mainyu and the Grail ritual’s details are only revealed in the Heaven’s Feel route. Similarly, the significance of Avalon being inside Shirou appears initially in the Fate route explaining his endurance and unique magecraft in all the routes but not knowing about this will make people wonder how Shirou can take so much damage and re-create weapons with degraded quality (Avalon changing Shirou’s element to Blade, Avalon knits his wounds with a layer of blades (a double-edged method though) and the Unlimited Blade Works). On Servants, playing through each route winds up being the only way to fill in the database to provide details on their true identities, their fighting styles and their flaws. When it comes to Servants, their motivations and drives only becomes clear when playing the route that reveals their identities. For instance, one would not actually care about Caster (in the Fate route, she is simply killed off to showcase how powerful Gilgamesh is) or Assassin (who does not directly appear in the Fate route and simply dies in the Heaven’s Feel route) had they not played through the UBW route that reveals their motivations. Similarly, Lancer’s inability to fight in the prologue is not properly explained unless the reader goes through the UBW route. This highlights a problem in the visual novel which is that it requires cumulative knowledge from each route to comprehend plot points. A good story should not require a glossary to understand plot points and necessary exposition should not be left out simply because said exposition was already present in the previous route.
http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/typemoon/images/4/41/Evilgrail.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20100730225215
As for characterization, I will once again rely on Ilya while including Shirou and Kotomine. Just from the UBW route alone, all that is known about Ilya is that: she looks like a little girl, owns an uber-masculine powerhouse of a Servant (Berserker), seems to pander to people with specific tastes, psychotically homicidal at times and dies gruesomely. From Fate route alone, more of the child aspect is portrayed to the reader and a more lovable impression of Ilya emerges once she is properly disciplined. As for Heaven’s Feel, Ilya gains the most amount of characterisation as she is able to act her age (or rather biological age) as she shows more wisdom on her part, more concern for her sibling through adoption and ultimately (in the True Ending) gets to fulfil her true role as an older sister to said sibling. As a result of this, Ilya will feel underdeveloped if only one route is adapted as several aspects of her character will be left out leaving her story to end in an unsatisfactory manner especially without knowing these traits. Her death in the UBW route only has greater impact as a result of going through the Fate route and seeing her human side while the impact of her sacrifice in the Heaven’s Feel route would be lessened without the accumulated amount of characterisation she gets from the prior two route (though credit where it is due, there are a lot of Ilya scenes in Heaven’s Feel to create an attachment to her which made it easier to “Save Ilya” when the time came).
http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/typemoon/images/3/3f/Ilya.png/revision/latest?cb=20141022200313 
http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/typemoon/images/c/c0/Emiya_shiro.png/revision/latest?cb=20151103200553
In Shirou’s case, I will not go on as long since I already wrote a piece on him
(http://subjectivelybiasedrants.blogspot.com/2015/06/an-opinion-on-shirou-emiya.html). His abnormality as a person however only gains real emphasis in UBW while it is understated in the Fate route (and its resolution is rather subtle which I have no issues with). Only in Heaven’s Feel however does the reader see the extent of his abnormality and the dangers of such an abnormality on a person with another character with a similar abnormality being portrayed as a contrast. The only way for the reader to see any of this characterisation though is to go through all the routes and pick them up rather than having this characterisation be properly woven through the narrative (though the argument for this is to create differing levels of darker storylines with each route escalating which I can concede to at times). Seeing as Shirou’s character is essential to the visual novel as a whole, it would be a disservice to not provide a better portrayal of Shirou’s abnormality as a person while still choosing a resolution to his character based on the adapted route. Leaving out key monologues is one way to hurt such characterisation (as Miura has already done to the UBW anime for ‘visual’ story-telling) and only with all the routes together can one truly see Shirou’s character as a whole.
Tied together with Shirou is Kirei Kotomine, the mapo tofu priest with such a rich crispy voice who serves as a major antagonist in each route though with decreasing degrees of significance (with Heaven’s Feel making him a personal friendly nemesis to Shirou). Once again, character traits of Kirei are left out of each route and only revealed through playing each route. The Fate route makes him into a malicious opponent and partner of Gilgamesh who attempts to allow the Grail to form. Only on his death does he hint at his involvement with the death of Rin’s father with a remark on the Azoth dagger. As for the UBW route, Kirei, still a partner of Gil, reveals his direct involvement with the death of Rin’s father as his murderer while still being a malicious individual who ends up being killed off in an unceremonious manner (which I may add, does not provide a resolution from his story carried over from Fate/Zero so ‘nice’ job there ufotable). It is the Heaven’s Feel route that reveals the most of his character with his love of mapo tofu as a particularly hilarious revelation. The most significant revelation however appears through Shirou’s interactions with Kirei (that indicates the type of person Kirei thought Kiritsugu Emiya, Shirou’s stepfather, was) and Shirou’s monologue in their final clash: That they are the same. Both of them are twisted individuals as neither of them are able to derive pleasure or joy properly. With Shirou, he can only feel any form of pleasure through aiding others (to the point where he has no care for himself) while Kirei can only derive pleasure through the suffering of others. This similarity marks Kirei as a darker counterpart to Shirou as two twisted individuals who have different motivations that drive them to their actions. In the Heaven’s Feel route, this inevitably leads to their final clash as two twisted individuals duke it out before the Greater Grail (or rather a heart-transplant patient attempts to curb-stomp a porcupine). While Fate/Zero does show this aspect of Kirei, the original visual novel only showcase Kirei’s twisted personality in the Heaven’s Feel route which leaves out such an interesting characterisation from the other routes. This makes adapting difficult especially if a story is carried over from Fate/Zero that leaves out such a characterisation thus preventing a satisfying conclusion to his tale of villainy.
http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/typemoon/images/a/aa/Kotomine_kirei.png/revision/latest?cb=20141019084245
As for ideas explored, two come to mind: the idea of a hero and the deconstruction of the shounen protagonist. Now before I proceed, I will say that I do like how well explored these ideas are in the Fate/Stay Night visual novel and that separating the way these ideas are explored into several routes that deconstruct and/or reconstruct aforesaid ideas was a brilliant method to bring the ideas across. The problem comes when adapting singular routes into an adaptation. While each route carries over one perspective of those ideas with enough depth to stand on its own, the quality is diminished somewhat without the perspectives from the other routes. Shirou’s resolve to be a Hero of Justice in the Fate route is not as significant to me without the Heaven’s Feel route showcasing a Shirou that abandons his ideas of heroism for a single person while the UBW route showcases the potential that each Shirou possesses. Without additional route to put things into perspective, Shirou’s growth in power and his motivations wind up looking like a typical shounen protagonist with plot-assisted power-ups with no proper build-up. With separate routes, further insight into each idea is given.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/6d/TheHeroWithAThousandFaces.jpg
http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/typemoon/images/9/94/Hillofswords.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20130501231022 In the Fate route, Shirou remains true to his ideals as a hero with enough healthy amendments (such as accepting his failings to motivate him to protect those he can protect, sort of like “Mourn the lost but remember the living.”) to the initial idea to allow him to become a hero worthy of Avalon, showcasing the role of resolve and purpose to an ideal hero. The UBW route showcases the dangers of becoming obsessed with such an ideal especially when it is borrowed by another but Shirou ultimately accepts these flaws by recalling the intentions behind borrowing such an ideal and amends the idea again, rebuilding his resolve to be a hero but also being aware of such dangers that will allow him to sheathe his swords when it is time to stop. The Heaven’s Feel route deconstructs the idea of a hero entirely as Shirou, faced with a moral dilemma with a personal stake in it, chooses to abandon such ideals to protect Sakura who he comes to care for, removing him as an ideal hero but making him more relatable. As a whole, this idea is thoroughly explored by the visual novel which elevates the quality of the writing to a higher degree whereas a sole adaptation of a route reduces the quality by reducing the exploration of such ideas. This is why visual novel readers of Fate/Stay Night like myself will always advise newcomers to read the visual novel first.
With regard to the deconstruction, each route handles the deconstruction well on their own. Sheer heroic resolve, brash courage, excessive helpfulness, determination, over-protectiveness of a love interest and the desire to simply be a hero often backfires painfully or have unintended consequences. In the Fate route, Shirou’s over-protective instincts towards Saber hinders him at times while being overly courageous will lead to plenty of Bad Ends. In the UBW route, Shirou’s helpful ways are called out on as it highlights a fatal flaw in his character based around his unhealthy desire to be a hero that becomes the crux of the route’s climax. The Heaven’s Feel route highlights the dangers of determination and being over-protective of a love interest whereby Shirou loses a limb, suffers severe mental damage and eventually is mutilated by the UBW overwhelming his body as he strives to save Sakura (though it does make for an inspiring moment where he strives to save Sakura despite having no memory of her as though the only thing keeping him going is that desire to save the one he loves). The extent and impact of Fate’s deconstruction can only be comprehended through playing all the routes which cannot be done whenever an anime adapts a single route, diminishing the deconstruction of the shounen protagonist that the series is known for.
http://www.greenstreetinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/deconstruct.jpg
and http://www.greenstreetinc.com/benefits-deconstruction/
Overall, the problem on Fate relying on exposition from each route is that the routes by themselves do not hold up. Necessary plot points, characterization and ideas will be left out or not explored thorougly if the routes are solely adapted like ufotable’s UBW adaptation. While the perceptive may be able to pick up points, these points may not have the amount of exploration that the visual novel provided through three separate routes. Deen’s Fate anime however showcases the dangers of incorporating elements from each route into a single show haphazardly though with certain plot points being raised and dropped as quickly as an unwanted bell-end piercing. I do believe that Deen had the right idea though contrary to popular belief. The three routes of Fate/Stay Night are incomplete on their own and require elements of each when an adaptation is made. Having these elements in a route can be risky but done right, it can provide a complete package that showcases Fate at its best. For instance, keep the Fate route’s elements in UBW so that Saber’s development in the Fate route has a proper conclusion (especially if the adaptation is supposed to piggyback off Fate/Zero which would fill in some gaps with Ilya’s character at least). For the upcoming Heaven’s Feel, emphasis probably needs to be placed on Shirou’s intimacy with Saber (not to the point of romance since it is Sakura’s route but having intimacy that approaches the Fate route) to ensure that there is impact when Saber is taken by the Shadow and turned into Saber Alter while Rin needs to have greater presence similar to UBW to build up her repressed sisterly love for (spoiler alert) Sakura (perhaps with additional scenes between the two with Rin’s internal monologue subtly hinting at this).
Conclusion:
When
a Fate anime receives a poor reception (or has flaws in it) some of these flaws
are a result of adapting an eroge with multiple routes that require knowledge
from each route to maximise one’s understanding of Fate/Stay Night. This long
post of mine may not be accurate or can be countered with explanations by the
creators of the franchise but like the name in this blog’s link, this entire
post is subjectively biased. These points are things to keep in mind whenever
the reader sees someone complaining about the visual novel adaptations as the
visual novels had a lot of depth and complexity to them. An adaptation that
does not meet those expectations will face criticism especially when it is
evident that too little effort is placed into making the final product. My
disdain for ufotable’s UBW, as I have said before, comes from the fact that
Fate/Zero was good. This meant that ufotable could have made a great adaptation
if they had tried harder with a better director and better decisions which
makes it disappointing (a worse outcome than simply being a bad product).
For
those who wish to disregard everything I just said out of sheer fanboyism, go
ahead. This should not even affect those readers (unless I triggered some
supressed thought that nags at you constantly and forces you to become
defensive whenever someone criticises your ‘beloved’ work). For the rest, this
is just an opinion to consider.
Now
if you’ll excuse me, I will face-palm at the fact that Kabaneri so far is
nothing more than an Attack on Titan (which was rather dull anyways) clone with
glowing zombies and steampunk trains in it. At least there is Sakamoto, Kuma
Miko, Re:Zero and Stray Dogs to continue glancing at.
‘Oh,
and Ragnastrike Angels because nothing amounts to anime of the decade except
for a thirty second long advertisement clip for a mobile game I will never look
at.’
P.S:
Eagerly anticipating Blood and Wine.
