Fate/kaleid liner Prisma☆Illya 3rei!!

Fate/kaleid is the beer crawl of the fate series. Some of it's awesome, some of it disgusts you. Some you'll completely forget(suppressed). You'll get to the end and you'll mostly remember the good parts. Was it worth it? I don't know, but there is a shitty barely legible plaque in my psyche somewhere that says I did it. This is by far the best season. This is a show that gets better the longer you watch it. The animation improves, the stories improve and it even transforms from a primarily yuri loli spinoff to an action that is capable of standing on it's own.

(This review has been adapted from my blog/reddit thread. Spoilers ahead!) I’ve only “acted” in a “play” one time, and it is one of the most embarrassing moments of my life. It was a small presentation within our English class. I took on the role of Jesus as he carried his cross to his inevitable death. But I had no beard. No robes. No sandals. Even the cross was just a meter stick. In short, I looked like any other nerdy, lanky teenager with glasses, a polo, and a pair of jeans. So, there I am, starting at the back of the class, pretending to fumble and trip and hurt as I make my way to the front. Everyone stared at this bumbling, dumb high-school kid who couldn’t even properly hold a marked piece of wood – and I wanted to run away from this whole ordeal. Fate/kaleid liner Prisma☆Illya 3rei!! features a host of villains who believe that they are in a play of sorts themselves. But, while nothing the anime does is to the same level of embarrassment as my “performance,” it seems that it, too, does not deserve an encore. STORY 3rei (need to shorten it per usual) resumes right where 2wei Herz left off. Illya, Miyu, and Kuro finish their summer-vacation homework – only to have Rin and Luvia summon them for yet another magical happening. However, everything goes immediately wrong when strange new foes kidnap Miyu, and Illya finds herself in a familiar yet unknown world. This season marks the fourth in the series. A feat that not many anime can claim to hold. Like its other seasons, this one focuses on a fresh plot, featuring both new and old characters alike – as well as one that seems uncannily similar. 3rei, though, in a welcome move, goes back to its first-season roots. Where 2wei focused mostly on Kuro, and 2wei Herz was almost entirely slice-of-life shenanigans, this season focuses mostly on Illya while melding the slice-of-life antics with its drama and action. Episode seven and eight are a perfect example. Illya’s stuffed-animal predicament is beyond ridiculous, but the combination of her weak magic against the possessed Rin and Luvia, which later turns into her fighting for her life alongside Kuro to save Miyu, is both hilarious and intense. The anime also takes its Fate franchise connection to heart more so than usual. Kirei appears, running a local ramen shop. Sakura’s yandere tendencies come to light. And Rin uses her rare, red life gem on Shirou to save his life. This series has always had these references, from the setting’s city to the characters themselves, but it seems apparent throughout 3rei that, like its plot, it wants to stick with, well, sticking with its roots. So, why all the roots? It deals with what much of the narrative centers on. The plot of the anime centers on saving Miyu who has gone back to her roots (against her will). Gil wants to get his item back to go back to his roots. The Ainsworth family wants to save the Earth to bring humanity back to its roots. Illya fights to bring back her best friend, her life in general back to her roots. Miyu wants to help her Shirou (and vice versa) to bring their lives back to their roots. In a sense, 3rei is about bringing it all back to normal. While this theme is not explored, it has ties to the not-so-normal situations they find themselves in as well as the notion that life is simply better when it is familiar and whole (which the setting can Illya finds herself in can attest to). Thus, seeing this (small) throughput in many of the plot’s events bolsters the anime. What the plot contains, though, does not measure up well. One of the major issues is how many of the fights resolve. More specifically, how they don’t. Almost all of them involve an interruption of some kind: told to stop, phone call, don’t pursue when they can, Ainsworth father just walks away after Tanaka says something. It makes each encounter worthless since a meaningful outcome nearly never occurs. The anime also has some overly convenient plot points that push the narrative along in an eyebrow-raising manner. In episode three, Illya just-so-happens to find Ruby stashed away amongst the thousands of other weapons, and, immediately afterwards, she randomly gains the power to use the cards they have been chasing these past three seasons. Gil going away briefly when the Ainsworth family’s daughter and father arrive is not as convenient a moment, but it still comes off as unnatural. And Tanaka throwing her flaming sword arm (literally) is technically foreshadowed by the constant mentions of her warmth and ability to sustain massive amounts of damage. Yet getting the weapon, that ultimately saves everyone, out of nowhere and only because Tanaka woke up at the opportune time, makes for a less-than-fair development. Even the motivation behind the plot doesn’t work. Last season, it boiled down to “save Miyu.” This season, it also boils down to “save Miyu.” Yes, the dilemma this time is to a much higher degree than last time, but, when the plots at their core are almost the same back-to-back, it makes 3rei seem as though it does not know what else it wants to do (which is somewhat understandable being four seasons in). Its action sequences at least hold up well. Angelica using Gil’s Noble Phantasm against him. Illya personifying Lancer, Rider, and Saber as she dukes it out with Kuro. And the entire final battle (Shirou’s “Trace…on!”, Illya performing “Excalibur!”, Kuro coinciding with the Archer mindset). These are just a few examples that not only further highlight 3rei’s Fate roots but also present some really cool battles. And the “twist” – that Illya and the gang are the “bad guys” in that they want to save Miyu and therefore doom this world to death – gives 3rei some much-needed intrigue. Granted, the villains are still overly evil, like when the father (awkwardly) spanks Erica to punish his child or when Beatrice goes psycho during the fights. Meaning, it’s clear that Illya is still in the right and their enemy is still in the wrong. But it was a nice change to the plot. 3rei somewhat punches itself, though, when Illya declares how she’ll save both Miyu and this world. But it’s at least a very magical-girl stance if there ever was one. Which, once again, demonstrates 3rei going back to its roots. ANIMATION Not much else can be said about the art and the animation that has not already been reiterated for these past few seasons. The dreary city is a bit dull, and both the snowbound school and the open crater do not contain much in terms of detail. But the summer-sitting castle and the different magical backgrounds do what they can to make up for the general lack of intrigue. The battles help with this, too, persisting in their flashiness thanks mostly to the Noble Phantasms wielded all over the place. Beatrice’s Mjolnir, with its intense lightning effects, is a prime example of how over the top the particle effects and extravagance can go. Character designs for the main cast (perhaps obviously) remain just as pretty per usual. Kuro’s dark skin and multi-colored eyes, Illya’s numerous transformations, and Miyu’s damsel-in-distress black dress continue to impress. Not to be outdone, the newcomers are likewise impressive. Angelica’s attractive design: white blouse, long skirt, long blonde hair, ample figure, golden armor with red tattoos and a bikini to boot (when fighting with Gil’s Noble Phantasm). Beatrice gnashes her spiky teeth and glares with her creepy yellow eyes while wearing a black, white, and red outfit with fiery twin-tails for hair. And Erica’s blue eyes, green jacket, and high socks give her a cute look that fits her character well. Also, deserving its own mention is Illya’s stuffed-animal design. Her lanky arms, big head, and small body made each scene with the bear that much more silly. As for the actual animation, it remains in a solid spot for most of its run. Downtime is filled with reactions from Illya or Tanaka bumbling around like a buffoon. Its singular yuri scene, where…

This is the fourth installment of the spinoff series focusing around Illya, who is a magical girl. I'm going to review only the third fourth seasons, as I actually thought the first two seasons were good for what they were. Especially the second season, I found it to be a much better sequel than I was anticipating. As for the third and fourth...not so much. I'm not going to spend a lot of time on the third season, but basically, the first 6 episodes are a nonfactor. If you didn't already know that illya was a magical girl, you'd basically never would have figured it out until episode 7, since the first 6 episodes are just mindless slice of life stuff. Not to say you can't have slice of life, but try to incorporate it into the actual plot. I mean, the third season is basically split into a slice of life section and an actual plot section. Just a lazy way to make a third season, when the first two seasons actually made sense. Plus, the third season's actual plot is pretty linear, boring, and very predictable. The eighth card they are trying to capture is gilgamesh, but that doesn't really matter. He splits off into a child version, who doesn't really do anything but provide comic relief, and some semblance to plot development I guess? Anyway, Illya blows away the eighth card after some ridiculous powerup. NEXT The fourth season actually doesn't have a split slice of life part and a serious plot part, which is already an improvement. Which is what you think, but it sucks. The fourth season was bold, the first episode shows a lot of promise, but the episodes that follow fail to live up to the first episode's "oomph." Lots of plot goes on, but the anime still decides to just throw in a bunch of comic relief and "funny scenes." It's not just a couple minutes that this takes up, but rather multiple episodes. As a result, the plot is not developed, the characters that are introduced are soon forgotten until they fulfill their plot role, and in the end, you just have a bunch of characters you barely know influencing the plot and driving it forward. While I don't mind new characters introduced at all, the characters that are introduced just end up forgotten. The girl chasing down the counterfeiters doesn't even appear for like 4-5 episodes... Gilgamesh is probably the best thing that happened to the fourth season. Other than that, the ending is also trash. Rather than just wrapping the story up and answer any questions, they just leave everything the way it is and hope for a next season. Plus, a bunch of out of character bs happens for the sake of plot, and things happen when they shouldn't happen. WOW. ok. Conclusion of the fourth season: -new characters just "disappear" until they are needed again -comic relief covers a few episodes, which make less time for actual plot, so the plot is even less coherent -Plot twists at the end happen, but they aren't quite good because they don't make a lot of sense, while also simultaneously not wrapping up anything

This season starts with plot right off the bat and never stops. What I mean by this is that, unlike previous seasons, there aren't episodes that feel like "fillers". The art is top notch, specially during action sequences and the sound quality is solid. Overall, it's a good season but there were a few things that left me upset. However they are SPOILERS!!! 1) At some point in the show, Luvia gets her outfit ripped to shreds and basically she goes topless for ages. The way that this is animated makes it impossible for her to have nipples and this really triggers me. Fair enough if you want to show cleavage and give some fanservice but make it anatomically plausible. 2) In the Parallel World, we get an older Emiya Shirou. Same full name. Brother of Miyu. Why use the same exact character? Why is he the only one that has a version of himself in this World? 3) The show ends on a very annoying cliffhanger, without any reference to any future release, and they better answer a lot of questions (including the ones above) through the movies. All things considered, it's a 7/10 from me.

Reviewer's note: This is my 10h entry into the Fate/Kaled spin-off works (Ilya>Specials>Sekka no Chikai>Undoukai de Dance!>2wei>Specials>Mahou Shoujo in Onsen Ryokou>2wei Herz!>Specials). ✪ Genre: action (swordplay), contemporary fantasy, comedy (facial distortion, funny expressions), magic (circles, spellcasting, magic weapons), mahou shoujo, seinen, superpower (emotions awaken superpowers) with some loli and yuri elements ✔Positive Aspects✔ ◧ Animation: following my review of the 3rd season, the characters' design is even sharper, based on the same combination of colors of moderate to low saturation/medium to high lumination, with the urban environment and the urban landscapes being a little more muted in comparison. ◧ Comedic sequences: even though they are not as frequent or hilarious as in the previous 3 seasons, they nevertheless continue to be entertaining. They, mostly, revolve around our 5 protagonists (7 if you count the sticks) with the addition of 3 new deuteragonists and 3 new antagonists (technically, there's only one new), taking place in the same elementary school (kinda) and the antagonist's castle. ◧ Fan service: is always welcome, even though it is not as frequent or as captivating as in the previous 2 seasons - some loli-/yuri- based interactions and some ecchi-based interactions (e.g. pantsu, semi-nude breasts, buttocks fondling). ◧ Character development: despite its faster, combat-heavy pace, the season does a decent job at building the new antagonists, while being more conservative with the new deuteragonists. To be honest, this aspect of the series barely registers as a positive one. ✘Negative Aspects✘ ◧ Action scenes: as I've reiterated, ever since the Sekka no Chikai movie, Silver Link has been consistently putting out crisper action sequences, clearly chasing after Ufotable's remarkable work in UBW & F/Z. Specifically, it does a good job using various camera perspectives (first-person, second-person, third-person) coupled with different camera 'heights' and quick zoom-ins/outs. Once again, the studio is not able to choreograph and polish its action sequences as impressively as Ufotable has. Another problematic element, which is also present in the 3rd season, is the unmistakably shounen-ish vibe that they give. These sequences are not as violent or back and forth as the sequences of the first 2 seasons. ◧ Plot: even though this season is way more action-packed than the 2nd and 3rd season, it does not really balance out its dramatic, comedic, and action sequences as well. Since most of this series' story is wrapping up, the season is busy leading the audience from fight to fight, from new deuteragonists to new antagonists, fixing up some major plot holes, while opening up some smaller ones. ◧ Soundtrack: following the 3rd season, this season's collection also consists of silly-sounding tracks to electronic music during the comedic sequences, new age piano/new age orchestral tracks during the more dramatic scenes, and, mostly, electronic music during the action scenes. Nothing really popped, most felt very generic and low-key for my taste. Overall: This season does suffer from the same issues as the 2nd and 3rd season, resulting in a somewhat better than average anime. P.S. For further reviews of the Fate franchise, please take a look at my profile.

completely honest after watching the series: holy shit this show doesn't make any sense (considering I have only seen stay/night and apocrypha), giving it a 7 sounds completely wrong given this information now, HOWEVER, that's what makes it special. Fitting something as illogical as this into the fate series is funny to me and the story throughout the timeline of the anime was pretty linear luckily. I have no complaints though, it was enjoyable and something I could just watch without needing to pay attention to the story the art was really good, nothing else to say about it. I didn't pay much attention to the sound throughout, it's not something I fuss about (i don't fuss about much, you can probably tell) but I saw no wrong in the sound throughout the show characters were good (although as I mentioned prior, don't fit at all into the fate timeline I've seen so far) and there was good development (in Chloe and Miyu especially) although something felt slightly hollow (i didn't really care too much though) fucking loved this series, no complaints at all on enjoyment, I could just watch it without thinking at all and that's something I need more of. overall 8, I'd watch it again this is my first review, so don't bully me pls

I have seen a lot of Prisma Illya fans give the third season a huge amount of credit, treating it like this is finally the point where the series reveals its “true colors” and where all the supposedly great material begins. Some even describe it as the perfect successor to Fate/stay night, almost like an unofficial Illya route finally being brought to life. After watching it, though, I honestly do not see it that way. To me, it is still largely the same slog that Prisma Illya has already been putting viewers through for the past couple of seasons, except now there is a more central plot holding everything together. In a way, it reminds me of a shonen series deciding to abandon its slice-of-life structure and suddenly become much more action-focused, like Katekyo Hitman Reborn! or Sakamoto Days. The problem is that Prisma Illya never fully commits to that transition. It tries to become more serious while still dragging along many of the elements that represent some of the worst habits of anime and anime fandom: constant objectification, sexualization, and loli fanservice. The first genuinely serious fight of the season initially seems to promise that the story is finally introducing a major threat and raising the stakes. In reality, though, it mostly serves as a mechanism to move the cast into a more isolated and grounded setting where the next part of the story can happen. A lot of important elements also remain unexplained, seemingly because the series expects the later movie to deal with them instead. Meanwhile, Illya benefits from increasingly obvious plot armor whenever the story needs her to survive or progress. The villains do not help either. A lot of them behave like edgy teenagers simply because the plot wants them to look threatening. Their personalities are exaggerated, their motivations are weakly presented, and many of the new characters feel less like actual people and more like collections of anime tropes. At times, it basically becomes a group of obnoxious, supposedly superior edgy teenagers bullying a much younger girl while the show expects me to take them seriously. Some of these characters genuinely represent the kind of anime archetypes I find most irritating. For a season that puts much more emphasis on combat and action sequences, the animation ranges from mediocre to genuinely poor. The fights simply do not have the visual quality necessary to carry a supposedly more serious action-focused season. Comparing this to Ufotable's adaptations becomes almost comical because the difference in presentation is enormous. Overall, Season 3 feels strangely tasteless to me. The story finally develops a clearer direction, but that does not magically erase the problems the series already had. The animation is weak, the villains are uninteresting, the writing relies heavily on plot armor and unexplained information, and the series continues indulging in uncomfortable sexualization of lolis and young girls even while trying to convince the audience that the story should now be taken seriously. And I have to mention this separately: the youngest kid in the Ainsworth family is just unbelievably annoying.