Fate/stay night: Heaven's Feel III. spring song

Fate/stay night: Heaven's Feel III. spring song
Theatrical release poster, drawn by Takashi Takeuchi.
Directed by	Tomonori Sudō
Screenplay by	Akira Hiyama
Story by	Kinoko Nasu
Based on	Fate/stay night by Type-Moon
Produced by	Hikaru Kondo
Starring	Noriaki Sugiyama Noriko Shitaya Yuu Asakawa Mai Kadowaki Kana Ueda Ayako Kawasumi
Music by	Yuki Kajiura
Production company	ufotable
Distributed by	Aniplex
Release date	August 15, 2020 (2020-08-15)
Running time	122 minutes
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese
Box office	$20.15 million

Fate/stay night: Heaven's Feel III. spring song is a Japanese anime fantasy film produced by ufotable and directed by Tomonori Sudō.

The story continues immediately from the events of Fate/stay night: Heaven's Feel II. lost butterfly, and is the final installment in the Fate/stay night: Heaven's Feel trilogy.^[1] It premiered in Japan on August 15, 2020 and in the United States on November 18, 2020.

Plot[]

Following her return home, Sakura Matou fuses with the shadow after killing her brother, Shinji, for his attempted rape. Shirou Emiya finds Shinji's corpse and is taunted by Zouken Matou for his role in Sakura's corruption. Afterward, Rider saves him from the insect familiars' attacks. Zouken sends Sakura to kidnap Illyasviel von Einzbern - to be a vessel for the Holy Grail like her mother was - and she attacks the Emiya household with Saber Alter. In the process, Sakura subdues Rin Tohsaka. Illya then surrenders to save everyone. Although bound to protect Shirou by Sakura's final command spell, Rider refuses to fight Sakura directly, so Shirou reluctantly asks Kirei Kotomine for help.

Raiding the ruined Einzbern castle, Kirei engages Zouken and his Servant Assassin. At the same time, Shirou rescues Illya, but Sakura sends a now-corrupted Berserker to chase them. Despite knowing it will eventually kill him, a desperate Shirou unseals Archer's transplanted left arm, replicating Berserker's weapon and strength with Archer's magic to defeat him. Kirei drives off Assassin by destroying Zouken's body, recalling his wish for the Grail - to satisfy his "twisted" nature. Sakura confronts Kirei and destroys his artificial heart from the last Holy Grail War, but fails to finish him off when Berserker's defeat interrupts her.

Shirou learns from Illya and Rin that Sakura is about to give birth through the Shadow to an evil entity known as Angra Mainyu, who corrupted the Grail after the Einzbern family summoned it as an Avenger-class Servant in a prior war. Seeking to subdue Sakura, Rin and Illya combine their powers to show Shirou their family's recorded memories. It's then revealed that the Holy Grail was conceived to reach the "Root" of all knowledge. Shirou uses the visions to recreate the weapon of an ancient magus, the Jeweled Sword Zelretch, at the cost of the power of Archer's arm continues to damage his mind and body. Meanwhile, Zouken plots to make Sakura his new vessel, revealing his actual body near Sakura's heart. However, Sakura retaliates by absorbing Assassin with the Shadow before ripping Zouken out of her chest and crushing him.

After a brief confrontation, Shirou convinces Rider that he will save Sakura no matter what, securing her help along with Rin. The group arrives at Fuyuki Cave, where the tainted Grail waits. Still, Saber Alter bars their way and only lets Rin pass on Sakura's orders. Working together, Shirou and Rider prove to be more than a match for Saber Alter. The pair manages to eliminate the corrupted Servant after a fierce fight. Meanwhile, Rin fights Sakura fiercely while pouring out their hearts. Rin, equipped with The Jeweled Sword Zelretch, proves to be the superior fighter, quickly getting the upper hand. Yet, she stops the battle and intends to make up for being a failure as an elder sister all this time. Sakura is overcome with guilt and wishes to die, but Shirou insists that they both atone by living. Shirou then projects Caster's Rule Breaker, a ceremonial dagger capable of nullifying all sorcery, to sever Sakura's link to The Shadow.

Despite the shadow being purged from Sakura, Angra Mainyu still tries to emerge from the Holy Grail. Rider takes Rin and Sakura to safety. However, Shirou, knowing he's beyond saving, chooses to stay to destroy The Holy Grail with his last remaining power, but a dying Kirei interferes. Shirou defeats Kirei after a vicious fistfight, the latter declaring Shirou the winner of the Holy Grail War before dying. Shirou then prepares to unleash his last magic. In his last moment of hesitation, however, Illya appears before him. She makes the ultimate sacrifice to rescue Shirou by separating his soul from the dying body and destroys The Holy Grail in the process via the use of Heaven's Feel, one of the True Magic. Illya eventually reunites with the spirit of her mother, Irisviel, as she passes on.

In the aftermath, Rin and Sakura revive Shirou by giving his recovered soul an artificial body provided by Tōko Aozaki. Resuming their relationship, Shirou and Sakura - along with Rin, Taiga, and a now-incarnated Rider - go to see the cherry blossoms as Shirou promised.

Production[]

Heaven's Feel III. spring song is produced by ufotable, directed by Tomonori Sudō and written by Akira Hiyama and featuring music from Yuki Kajiura.^[2] The first visual of the film was released in October 2019.^[3] Subsequent ones were publicly distributed on October 28, 2019^[4] and November 17, 2019.^[2] Its March 28, 2020 release date was confirmed in a trailer featuring the main theme, Aimer's "Haru wa Yuku" (春はゆく, "Spring Goes By").^[5][6]

Tomonori Sudō expressed relief when the film was released, favoriting many scenes including Rider's fight against Saber Alter, the relationship between Sakura and Rin, Illya's new design among others. The cast praised Aimer's performance for her song during the release of the movie.^[7]

Release[]

The film was originally scheduled to premiere in Japan on March 28, 2020, but it was postponed to April 25, 2020 and then again to August 15, 2020, due to concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic.^[8] Aniplex of America originally planned to present a preview screening of the film in the United States on April 17, 2020 at the Orpheum Theater in Los Angeles,^[9] and to begin wider theatrical screenings across the United States starting on May 7, 2020.^[10] However, due to concerns over the pandemic, the U.S. premiere was cancelled, and all North American theatrical screenings were postponed to November 18, 2020.^[11][12] The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on March 31, 2021 in Japan.

Reception[]

The film's opening topped the Japanese box office, 270,000 tickets sold for a gross of 474,890,600 yen ($4.48 million) in its opening weekend.^[13] The movie made 1 billion yen at the Japanese box office in 11 days, reaching the milestone quicker than the first two films, and sold a total of 620,000 tickets in that time.^[14] The film went on to earn more than 1.9 billion yen ($18 million) by October 15, 2020 in Japan, until December 31, it grossed 2 billion yen ($18.8 million) in Japan, making it the highest-grossing film in the Heaven's Feel trilogy.^[15]

The film went on to earn in South Korea $682,049, in Australia $124,140, in the New Zealand $17,588, in Hong Kong $259,051, in Mexico $75,000

In the United States, the film opened in 10th place at the box office, with estimated earnings of $200,000 from a limited release in 304 theaters.^[15][16]

References[]

External links[]

• Official website (in Japanese)
• Official English website
• Fate/stay night: Heaven's Feel III. spring song (movie) (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia