Fate/stay night Movie: Heaven's Feel - I. Presage Flower

The Holy Grail War: a violent battle between mages in which seven masters and their summoned servants fight for the Holy Grail, a magical artifact that can grant the victor any wish. Nearly 10 years ago, the final battle of the Fourth Holy Grail War wreaked havoc on Fuyuki City and took over 500 lives, leaving the city devastated.

Shirou Emiya, a survivor of this tragedy, aspires to become a hero of justice like his rescuer and adoptive father, Kiritsugu Emiya. Despite only being a student, Shirou is thrown into the Fifth Holy Grail War when he accidentally sees a battle between servants at school and summons his own servant, Saber.

When a mysterious shadow begins a murderous spree in Fuyuki City, Shirou aligns himself with Rin Toosaka, a fellow participant in the Holy Grail War, in order to stop the deaths of countless people. However, Shirou's feelings for his close friend Sakura Matou lead him deeper into the dark secrets surrounding the war and the feuding families involved.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Saber Main

Kawasumi, Ayako Japanese

Toosaka, Rin Main

Ueda, Kana Japanese

Emiya, Shirou Main

Sugiyama, Noriaki Japanese

Matou, Sakura Main

Shitaya, Noriko Japanese

Emiya, Kiritsugu Supporting

Koyama, Rikiya Japanese

Gilgamesh Supporting

Seki, Tomokazu Japanese

Archer Supporting

Suwabe, Junichi Japanese

Kotomine, Kirei Supporting

Nakata, Jouji Japanese

von Einzbern, Illyasviel Supporting

Kadowaki, Mai Japanese

Lancer Supporting

Canna, Nobutoshi Japanese

Takeuchi, Takashi Producer, Original Character Design

Iwakami, Atsuhiro Producer

Kondou, Hikaru Producer, Sound Director

Kimura, Yoshitaka Assistant Producer

Reviews

Nov 20, 2025

pruebalastunas

Recommended

I should clarify that I had to evaluate this movie a bit differently, because it’s actually the first act of the trilogy, an introductory arc. If I judged it as a fully self-contained film, its writing would fall apart. However, to be fair, Presage Flower was never meant to stand on its own.

It’s also necessary to have at least watched Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works, and it’s recommended to have seen the Fate route and Fate/Zero as well. This film also has a much more seinen and sober tone.

Note: Some readers may consider parts of this review to contain light spoilers, but no major plot ... points are revealed.

1. Narrative (30%)

I have to take this part carefully, because this is just the introductory arc. It is not a standalone movie.
There are strong points: the film does not waste time explaining what you are already supposed to know. It assumes you have seen Unlimited Blade Works and even Zero. This is positive for viewers like me, who are watching this beginning for the third time.

However, as an introduction, it does feel somewhat disconnected, almost like a compilation of character introductions. This gives me mixed feelings. For example, I really liked Sakura’s introduction and the mysterious villain, although that villain does feel a bit “out of nowhere.”

The tension is stronger than in UBW, and it’s clear that this work has a much more adult tone compared to other routes

Score:7/10 (21%)

2. Main Characters (20%)

There is no deep development yet, because this movie mainly sets things up.
What we do see is the establishment of Sakura and Shirou’s relationship, and it is very well done. In my opinion, it’s the best romance among the three routes. You can clearly feel that Sakura is the heart of the story, which makes sense since she’s the protagonist of this route.

Here I only consider Sakura and Shirou as the main characters, unlike the “Fate” or “Unlimited Blade Works” routes where there are more protagonists. Everything here centers on Sakura.

Score:8/10 (16%)

3. Supporting Characters (10%)

Surprisingly, Illya, Rin, Archer, and Saber (my favorite character) act as the supporting cast.
This makes sense, since the relationship between Shirou and Rin is distant in this route, meaning Archer is not the focus. Saber, sadly, is shown almost exclusively in her role as Shirou’s protector; I expected more, but nothing in this saga can match Zero in terms of developing so many characters at once.

On the other hand, I liked Illya’s twist: instead of her usual tragic role, here she feels more villainous, which was interesting.

Score:7/10 (7%)

4. Direction (20%)

This part actually surprised me.
The direction is quite strong, with a more cinematic and sober tone. It feels like a more seinen-oriented film rather than a youthful one. Of course, it still carries the issue of feeling a bit disjointed because it’s an introductory act, but overall, I think the direction is very good.

Socore: 9/10 (18%)

5. Animation / Art (10%)

Same as Fate/Zero and Unlimited Blade Works: it’s Ufotable. Nothing more needs to be said.

Score:10/10 (10%)

6. Soundtrack (10%)

The soundtrack reminded me of Fate/Zero — epic, orchestral, full of strings and emotional weight. In two words: epic and tragic.

Score:10/10 (10%)

My final score is 8.2/10, but since MyAnimeList doesn’t allow decimals, I round it to 8/10.
As a first act, it’s a very strong introduction, though a bit disconnected. Of course, it can’t be compared to Zero, but it’s still very good.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Dec 7, 2024

Sheoth_0

Mixed Feelings

Having finished reading the VN not too long, I had some very high expectations of this routes adaptation as I thought UBW's was great, not perfect, but entirely servicable to the original material.

I can only really call it a mess. Started off strong with the anime original scenes of Sakura and Shirou's past until it devolved into a rushed empty, yet flashy, blur. I started tuning out halfway through, conversations would leave out so many details from the VN and then just end and quickly move onto the next scene. Just a lot of flashy animation without any of the VN's substance. I'll just watch ... a few of the fight scenes and move on because that's all this adaptation really gets right.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Mar 29, 2019

syrupyfey

Not Recommended

I'm not sure what kind of person that's genuine would rate this above mediocre. Even if you were the greatest Fate fan, surely the faults of this "movie" are transparent, namely the incomprehensible structure of the plot and the weak storytelling. Even the score, which should have been memorable given that it's by Kajiura, was utterly bland.

I'll be honest, the only reason I'm here is out of an extraordinary love and devotion for Fate/Zero. Every time I watch that show I think more highly of it than the last, and I always wish there was more. A role that should have been fulfilled by either ... Stay Night or Apocrypha.

I'm reading a lot of reviews of users saying how this is in fact a great experience if you know what's going on. To start with, allow me to say that I sincerely doubt that. I have caught episodes of shows in their late seasons and have read pages from the end of novels without context that made more sense than this entire thing, and were certainly more intriguing. Second, whether or not you know the backstory to things is often irrelevant. You may not know all of the events that led to the beginning of the Iliad, but even though the poem begins in medias res, you're immediately drawn in and start to piece together what's going on. That is what competent writing achieves. You can pick a reputable series right now, and go watch some random scene on YouTube and it'll get a reaction out of you, regardless of whether or not you're familiar with those characters and that story. That is the nature of conflict; but for conflict to work you need to have either interesting characters or clear stakes. This has neither.

Heaven's Feel isn't really anything. It's certainly not story that you can follow and engage with. At the same time, it isn't some action-packed Hollywood flick where you just turn your brain off and enjoy the eye-candy. It's just broken. It doesn't know what it wants to do and presumably wouldn't have the means to achieve it if it did - at first you're treated to mind-numbing introduction full of tropes, and later you get a few battles you have no emotional investment in and no ability to understand. How wonderful.

Nothing short of a disaster.

Reviewer’s Rating: 3

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