Yes, this review will be a mix of analysis, actual reviewing and comparison of this movie to its source material. I wanted to binge the HF trilogy as I love the HF route from the Visual Novel and I fucking loved Presage Flower. But Lost Butterfly, not trying to sound elitist here- butchered the story it was adapting. Now I know why this film is so beloved, the animation is immaculate, the sound-track is great and the fights are great. And a few people may still be able to empathize with all the characters. But from what I know, most people dislike shirou and sakura- even in this route. Before watching the film I was wondering why it was even getting scores below 90. I knew opinions could differ, but I couldn't imagine someone not liking an adaptation of HF route, but when I watched this film, I came to realize how much the writers who wrote this film messed up. I don't want to sound scornful, condescending or negative, but I just found a lot of flaws in this film- which I would like to highlight. Also, this goes without saying that I will be heavily spoiling both the VN and the film. So don't jump in this review, if you haven't consumed either of them.
Here I go,
- The film animates, possibly the most important and dramatic reveal in the route, which had a shit ton of tension and buildup behind it in the source material, and that is the scene where
Spoiler, click to view
Sakura is kidnapped by Shinji and her being a master is revealed.Spoiler, click to view
involving Sakura and her relationship with Rin and her inevitable fate
- The character of Tohsaka and Sakura and the circumstances surrounding them- In the VN Tohsaka is still a cute tsundere till UBW. But in Heavens feel, her cold and pragmatic side starts to surface and it's hard to digest. She is far more antagonistic in the VN and it's safe to say her character starts to get more depth in HF route as it progresses and starts getting darker. But in the anime, she feels more like a cute tsundere waifu rather than a well-written character. This is so evident. Her sarcastic remarks, her cold bluntness, her "devilish aura" were all absent. We see her more fluff side. Which is just plain wrong. In the VN Tohsaka's character was the one I loved to hate on. Not because she was badly written, bet because her character had dimensions to her and she was acting like a well-written tsundere. Here in the anime I don't feel the same way. Coming to Sakura, it is evident that her character is a victim of unfair Flanderization and hate. And I believe the anime may have contributed to that. Since the route is focused on her, it's natural for her character to have some levels of characterization, but the anime can't present it properly. In the VN she has two conflicting personalities, one is an altruistic one, which she desperately tries to cling on and the second one is a selfish one. The VN tackles both of them, in a very subtle manner. There are times where she gets Yandere level selfish and jealous in the VN, then there are times where she is extremely altruistic and seems broken and helpless as a person. Her character is a perfect example of a tragic person, having gone through so much that they can't get a hold of themselves. The VN makes it clear and focuses on setting up her morally grey character and her tragic circumstances from day 8 to 13 in the VN. The VN did it pretty masterfully, we could closely observe and feel her agony, feel sad for her, feel as helpless as the protagonists and see her life and sanity chipping away. It was the meat of the VN, where it established itself as being "great". Because the atmosphere was there, it was borderline Lovecraftian horror. We could feel what the characters were feeling, the tone was ominous and filled with helplessness. Plus the reveals were shocking and had a lot of buildup. At times the VN got emotionally draining due to its nature. I'm describing this, because this is the crux of HF route. A lot of people would probably say that the ending of HF was its peak and I agree, but HF felt most HF like during this part. And the movie didn't get that feeling across, at all. I will confidently say this, had I only watched the anime, I would dislike HF route. Because it is lacking in the substance the source had. Now obviously someone will say, "but OP this is a movie, it can't capture all this", this is a perfectly fair argument. But I still feel that the movie could've done better. This is more about how time is distributed and how the scenes are written. The fights were awesome, but they should've either cut some of those parts- and instead left it to develop the characters and set the tone or either had the movie be 30 minutes longer. It would by no means replicate the VN, but it would've been more than enough. As from watching this movie, I get a vibe that sakura is a horny character who has a tragic past, which is not true. And the idea is wrong.
- The character of Ilya and the ending- let's talk about Ilya first. In short, in the anime, she is " I will fucccing kill you Shirou'' to "oh hey onii-chan, let's hang out''. In the VN, we get to see the relationship between her and Shirou grow much more, This may be nitpicking, but her character is bland here. There is also an important scene in the VN , where she sings a song and talks about her fate and nature with Shirou, it contributed to her character and made her feel more layered, while Lost Butterfly for some reason decided to not animate it properly if Spring Song is a respectable adaptation, my problems with Ilya at the least will go away, but for now I don't like how she is handled. Now if we were to talk about Lost Butterfly's ending its another part, where it kind of messes up. Firstly, this adaptation seems to ignore the pitiable and miserable condition of sakura. In the VN its is enforced to the viewers multiple times, how saving her is worthless and she will die regardless, that's the information that creates all the emotional drama and partly contributes to the empathy Sakura gets. I can't stress how important being aware of this is. The anime as always just glosses over it. Also, the scene of sakura escaping from Emiya Household, had a lot more elements to it. It's safe to say they cut it off and made something of their own. Tohsaka's remarks on the scene, rider's role, but the biggest gripe I had was how they ignored the conversation that took place between Kotomine and Shirou, while Sakura went to the Matou House. I believe it may be there in Spring Song, since events are restructured greatly and changed in this adaptation, but this again proves point as to how the anime, avoids deeply talking about sakura's condition and how futile it is to save her and also ignores the brilliant character that is Kotomine.
As I myself mention, the adaptation can't equal hours long worth of source material, so if you disagree with me as an Anime only or even VN fan, I can understand- but as a VN reader and a person who watched presage flower hours ago and loved it, I felt this movie was underwhelming and didn't capture the greatness the HF route had. And I won't blame the movie plot structure for it, what I will blame is the direction and writing.
Maybe Spring Song will change my opinion, as I will watch it soon, but for now, it's safe to say that I'm disappointed by Lost Butterfly, even though I liked aspects of it.
