The Sound You Don't Quite Hear In The Dead Of Night

So I bought the Unlimited Blade Works movie, which makes me a sucker, apparently.
(But not as much of a sucker as the people who bought Garden of Sinners or F/Z from Aniplex. Yeah, you heard me.)

The picture of the back of the box turned out badly, but the description there is as follows:

Having spent the last ten years of his life studying under a mysterious sorcerer, Shiro Emiya has become a Magi, a sorcerer who has summoned a "Servant," a mystical female warrior of incredible power named Saber, to stand together in the ultimate test of sorcery and magic: the Holy Grail War. But Shiro's own feelings for Saber may conflict with their goal. For to win the contest means to take the risk of losing everything, even as he also begins to empathize with members of the rival battleteams. For while seven teams will enter the battle, only one will leave, and the winners will receive the prize of the Grail itself and their greatest wish granted. Will that wish be worth the price Shiro must ultimately pay? The battle is on in FATE/STAY NIGHT - UNLIMITED BLADE WORKS!

Never mind that it more accurately describes Fate route than UBW. ONWARD!



This release is hilariously no-frills. It's just the movie. That's it. There's some nice art on the case and in the menu, I guess. Just to give an example, my first action whenever I get a movie is to go to the Special Features tab, and we have two options there:

1. Also Available on Blu-ray from Sentai Filmworks
2. Disc Credits

Yep.

I'm just going to give my random comments while watching the dub in order here. Be warned, it's probably gonna be pretty long.

• So far, all the same voices from the regular anime's dub. I enjoyed that dub, so I am okay with this.
• That means Sam Riegal as Shirou, etc.
• Sakura's voice is still way too high-pitched.
• Julie Ann Taylor as Taiga is still spot-on.
• Mela Lee as Rin is still monotone.
• Jamieson Price is still Kotomine and therefore still the best voice in this movie.
• In the anime they pronounced it "mah-gus", and here they're pronouncing it "may-gus". Ah well.
• Unmei no Yoru (UBW Version) is still an awesome track.
• I can't tell if this is still Kate Higgins as Saber, yet. If it is, she's gotten more monotone.
• "Be happy, young man". The anime's dub said "rejoice, my son", and I thought that turned out well seeing as how he's a priest and all.
• Archer is still Liam O'Brien and therefore still the second best voice in this movie.
• Shirou called her Rin? I never remembered that. Sounds weird to actually hear it.
• I guess it has been what, six years since the last dub? I shouldn't expect them all to sound exactly the same.
• "It's Ilya and Berserker!" Okay then, Rin.
• Yeah, that's not Kate Higgins as Saber anymore. I think? Damn, it can be hard to tell sometimes, and I'm usually pretty good at this. Once she says more than two words at once, I should be able to tell for sure.
• Berserker sounds more like an actual voice going BLARGHHH now than just straight-up BLARGHHH grunting.
• Ilya is still Stephanie Sheh. Still has her voice too high, but it works better for her than Sakura.
• This animation is an eyesore. This animation...
• Is it canon that Archer didn't remember anything, or was he just messing with Rin the whole time? I'm inclined to think the latter.
• I'm only just realizing how Shirou's command spells do indeed look like a sword.
• Saber's voice has become very monotone. Still can't tell if it's Kate Higgins or not. It might be Karen Strassman?
• It's not Karen Strassman or Kate Higgins, for sure. I recognize who this is, but I can't place it.
• I want to say Michelle Ruff.
• Shinji had great voice work in the anime's dub, because he sounds like the perfect slimy little bastard. Still does.
• "Force field" around the school.
• They really enjoyed animating the blood in this movie.
• Rider is still Karen Strassman, and still hot.
• Cut straight to the Dragon Fang creatures. This movie is impossible to follow.
• Figuring out Saber's new voice is really going to bother me. Maybe it actually is Michelle Ruff??
• Shinji whimpering in the corner like the little bitch he is.
• Goodbye, Rider. We hardly knew ye, and Karen Strassman got barely a single line.
• "Rider was being ordered by someone else!" Um...
• "I lost to Emiya and that arrogant Rin girl!" I'll never get used to them calling her Rin.
• Caster is still Tara Platt, it seems.
• Assassin is the same voice. (David Vincent)
• With each two-word line from Saber I'm becoming increasingly convinced that she is indeed Michelle Ruff trying to be as monotone as possible.
• "My God, you're a nuisance!" Archer relates everyone's thoughts on Shirou.
• "Fight me, already!" where in the original he was telling Caster to "Move!"
• "Bone of my sword, unleash my ire! Caladbolg!"
• Well, come on. "I am the bone of my sword" would sound pretty dumb in an English dub. The original anime had "I am the flesh and bone of my own sword".
• Yes, that is Michelle Ruff as Saber. I am like 90% sure. Maybe. Possibly.
• "You've met Rule Breaker! It's my Noble Phantasm!"
• Awkward Saber in dress scene.
• That is something I appreciated about the DEEN anime - they had shots that duplicate the game's CGs exactly.
• Hello Kuzuki. I guess you'll also die with having barely one or two lines.
• "Trace, on" for the first time.
• I COULD PROJECT THOSE SWORDS AS IF THE KNOWLEDGE WERE THERE ALL ALONG. HINT HINT
• How about we ask Ilyasviel for help?
• The King is still Grant George. I think he got the haughty part of the role right in the anime, but that's about it. He still sounds incredibly full of himself, so on the whole it could have been worse.
• Heart-rip. I always found this scene hilarious.
• "YOU EVIL BASTARD" bahahahahaha
• "Go to hell!" The best possible way to respond to anything Shinji says.
• Words, words, words about Shirou's hero complex.
• Lancer! Yay!
• "You think you can just show up and expect me to trust you?" "Yes, I do." I love Lancer.
• Oh jeez, this fight between Archer and Lancer has some hilariously terrible animation if you take away the shakycam. Look it up sometime.
• "I am the bone of my sword" So they do say it.
• "Gae Bulg!" "Rho Aias!"
• Yes, it was actually Gae Bulg this time and not Gay Bulge.
• Kuzuki only says "Caster..." this entire movie. I am pretty sure he's the same voice, but it's impossible to tell with just that much.
• Yes. I am definitely sure that's Michelle Ruff as Saber.
• And she's doing a hilarious attempt at making her voice sound deeper. It sounds like she's trying to make herself sound like a man.
• "I am the bone of my sword. Unknown to death, nor known to life."
• "Unlimited Blade Wooooorks" bahaha that delivery was hilarious
• "This is my talent as a Legendary Hero"
• And then Shirou runs forward and bats away all the swords. I forgot how ridiculous this was.
• "Unhand me right now, you miscreant!"
• You'd think Rin would be able to escape just being tied to a chair.
• Gilgamesh didn't call him a "Faker". I am sad.
• "You're the Epic Spirit Emiya." Consistency? What's that?
• "The winner takes control of the Blade Works!" Haha, what? That's hilarious.
• "You disgusting creep!" Oh, Shinji.
• "You're a stain on the church!" But Kotomine has such a cool voice!
• "Damn...you...KOTOMINEEEEEEH" This delivery is amazing.
• "If I had known this is how I would die one day, I would have never become a heroooo" I'm pretty sure that wasn't the original line.
• Shinji's actor is having tons of fun just laughing like a psycho.
• "Why won't you die?!" "You first!" I love Lancer.
• "Sorry lass, but feel free to try again when you're a few years older." Bro it up, Lancer.
• Cue Emiya.
• "I don't care if my body is made out of swords!" Uhhhh okay then
• "RIGHT WILL ALWAYS DEFEAT WRONG"
• Hey Shinji, have a heart. (I'm still not clear on how he ends up living through this.)
• So they're saying that it's taking Rin's leftover Command Seals and giving them to Shirou so he can use their spare mana, which actually makes some sense. Was that what it was in Realta Nua? Someone set me straight here.
• And we have the reference of Rin watching the track team from the window.
• So they have said both Command Seals and Command Spells are different points in this dub. Consistency!
• So much lovingly animated blood.
• "Guided by skill, Blade Work complete. Trace achieved. Ready!"
• "Projection complete! Fire at will!" Pfffffft
• "Hiken: Swallow Return!" The original anime dub had it as "Turning Swallow Strike".
• "I create a world of powerful swords whose numbers are infinite! I call it Unlimited Blade Works!" pfhahahaha
• "So come on, Hero King! Let's see whose blades cut deeper!" Aww. Sucks.
• "Ex...calibuurrrrrr!" Yeah, I miss Kate Higgins.
• And now Shirou and Gilgamesh just have a close-range fight.
• "Die die die die die die die" instead of "Onore onore onore..."
• Haha, Gil's voice cracked mid-scream.
• Ending montage with the three side ladies whose names I can't remember. One of them is Himuro, I think?

On the whole, the dub isn't that bad. If you liked the dub of the regular anime and want to hear most of those voices again for the movie, might as well pick it up. It isn't that expensive, though as I mentioned above, it is a no-frills release. At the very least I recommend supporting the official release.




Oh, and for those who care (all none of you), my progress on my first draft so far is 39,872 words.