Look. It took a lot of willpower not to just make the whole article just pictures of all the faces Rin makes during the episode. They are quite amazing. (Also if I did that I would not get to put in any Saber shots in the post so maybe I would have never done that in the first place.) But she just makes so many wonderful faces this episode that you have to understand where I am coming from after watching this episode. But that said the fact that I could do a whole episode review with nothing but Rin reaction shots clearly shows that we are firmly into Unlimited Blade Works arc with young miss Tohsaka as the heroine of the story. So lets start talking about the episode for all the people who love to talk about how Rin is the “best girl.”

Spoilers: The best girl is clearly Kaede Makidera.

(Who did you think I was going to say?)

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Tyger Tyger, burning bright, In the forests of the night; What immortal hand or eye, Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

But seriously there was a lot of Taiga in this episode. I mean I love the lady. She is a lovely comic relief character with an earnest heart. I have a feeling that she might have won over a few hearts at Ufotable through Eizenberg consultation room extras just like she was a character beloved by the staff of Type-Moon during the creation of Fate/Stay Night. This is also the only path where she actually participates in the main plot. All that said she always has been a minor character. There was a reason that when Studio Deen threw the United Blade Works parts of Caster’s story into their version of Fate they had Sakura be the one who was kidnapped instead of Taiga. It was one of the few times one of the changes did not do that much to alter the themes of the story. You could argue that putting Sakura in that role added themes and elements that were never meant to be there but I think it is more an interesting choice that can be debated as more than just a poor decision like many of the other changes they made.

I don’t mind more Tiger but like the added prominence of Ayako Mitsuduri and the Three Amiags it makes me wonder if they are trying to build up these characters a bit more for Fate/Hollow Ataraxia. I know part of the reason I keep mentioning it is because I’m seriously hoping that Ufotable will animate the sequel game as they are probably one of the few studios who could easily find a way to tell that story in a way that hits all the highlights, captures the themes correctly, and only cuts the enjoyable but unnecessary filler parts of that story. I really feel like the only way characters like Bazett, Caren, and Avenger will gain any serious prominence is if they get a role in a proper anime. I feel like one of the reasons Tsukihime has always been a lower tier is that its anime has always been lower profile as well. Without a decently accepted anime you will never be able to break through that glass ceiling.

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