In my opinion the UBW good ending (sunny day) is just Rin X Shirou in the anime (ova) . In the VN (and the anime if you don't believe my next arguments) it would be Shirou's harem (arguments 1-4)
The reasons why I believe the anime is just Rin X Shirou:
- Nasu said the anime occurs in a different universe with different laws. Mana transfer, as shown in episode 20, doesn’t happen through sex. Things can't be taken from the Nasuverse cause it doesn’t apply to this universe. This universe uses Realta Nua method.
We can’t assume Rin is even bi-curious either as we can’t take anything from other routes given this is a completely different universe and other routes would happen in a different way as well.
Nasu said that in the anime the ones in a relationship are Rin and Shirou. The anime shows Rin is straight. She is 100% focused on Shirou as a love partner. Then again, you can’t take any info from other routes cause this is a different universe with different rules and even the characters are different. In other routes there would be no mana transfer through sex and
Nasu also said the anime changes were relevant and that actions speak. Now, let’s see some of those changes just on the 7 minute (without credits) OVA.
1. In the VN when talking about the mana transfer all 3 of them are together. Shirou asks what his mana boost will be like and Saber says she wants to know as well how Shirou will boost mana. Rin blushes a lot.
In the anime this is a private conversation between Shirou and Rin. Saber just stands 20 meters away looking into blank space.
How do I interpret this?: They’re having a private conversation and Saber knows that. Them being together means it’s just the 2 of them in love related matters. Saber is an outsider there, and waits for them to finish.
2. In the VN Rin pulls saber (last CG). In the anime she grabs Shirou’s arm with both her arms, pulling him with one arm afterwards. Again, this shows Rin and Shirou are the happy couple and removes possible doubts.
The reasons why I believe the VN is Shirou's harem (and maybe the ova too if you don't think it's just Rin X Shirou) are:
1. Saber:
Shirou and Rin love each other so whoever saber likes will be the deciding factor. In a harem several people have feelings for someone. Who does saber like?
There is one whole route dedicated to the love between Shirou and Arturia. In "the last episode" saber waits for thousands of years for Shirou and cries when she sees him.
In the UBW anime Rin says saber is way to dedicated to Shirou. In episode 23 saber says "Shirou, you are still my master", in episode 24 before dying saber says "I am happy because Shirou has Rin". In the V.N saber flirts with Shirou as Rin states and she says she stays just for him.
If we look the other way we'll see that after Rin is forced to have sex with saber in the fate route H-scene saber's mind is 100% set on Shirou, it's as if nothing ever happened with Rin. This proves that no matter what Rin does, saber never sees Rin as a love interest.
In the good ending the bond between Shirou and saber is even stronger than that of the true ending, strong enough for saber to kill Rin while destroying the Grail without the need of a command seal, although that didn't happen as Archer saved Rin in the last second.
So we have a saber class servant that willingly states "Shirou, you are still my master" (episode 23) while having another master, she willingly almost kills her real master and in the visual novel after Rin saves her she flirts with her master's boyfriend.
In Fate Hollow Ataraxia (the sequel to the VN) eclipse scenes we are shown that Heaven's Feel is Shirou's harem because Rider is fucking him. There is another scene which is very interesting, the saber scene. In the game saber comes from the UBW good ending universe. Her eclipse scene is her going inside the bathroom while Shirou is bathing. Shirou tells her to wait but she tells him not to wrorry, she undresses and bathes with him. After a while Shirou gets turned on and he says he's unable to resist his instincts, so he they have sex. Saber was very happy Shirou would allow her to make love to him.
Unlike Rider, it isn't so clear this will happen in the UBW good ending but knowing Nasu already gave him a harem in Heaven's Feel and the way UBW good end happened I'd say there's a big chance of that happening there.
2. Saber is Rin's servant.
If Rin had set saber free or given her back to Shirou, Rin would have had to have sex with Saber out of necessity to give her mana (as there would be no master- servant relationship that would be the only way). Now, since saber and Rin maintained their pact Rin has no need to have sex with her (as she supplies mana constantly thanks to her immense magical knowledge) and it would be Shirou that comes to be in a enviable position as his “seed” would be needed to maintain the girls (either through Rin or directly to saber if that wasn’t enough).
The situation between Rin and Saber is the same one as Sakura-Rider in Heaven's Feel true ending and they don't have sex (because it's not necessary thanks to the master-servant link)
3. Rin loves Shirou a lot.
In Fate Hollow Ataraxia (sequel to the VN) she just wants to be a couple with Shirou [like when Rin invites Shirou to go to her private pool in her house. Shirou says he's gonna go tell Saber and Rin gets super mad. She tells him it's a couple's date, so just the 2 of them will go]. In the anime [episode 11] all 3 of them go out together, but that wasn't even close to a real date. Rin loves Sakura very much [you how much if you read Heaven's Feel] and at that time Rin still believed he was gonna end up with Sakura. Later in the VN Shirou confesses his love for Rin, but before that she barely even considered going out with him.
Fate Hollow Ataraxia also shows a glimpse of future Rin (minutes 9-16 of the youtube video). She's no longer tsundere, she's just lovestruck. At some point future Rin says: Rather than becoming happy together, I will, with no questions asked, and more than anyone else, give him happiness. It also raises more reasons for Rin to save Saber in the good ending Sunny Days. In the VN in order to reach that ending Shirou has to give Saber at least 4 points, which means he cares about her a lot more than in the true ending. In the VN Rin says to Shirou "you are too kind to Saber" and in the good ending she says "you want her to stay, so it's alright". She also says both of them will be training Shirou, so it wouldn't be too far-fetched to think Shirou's happiness plays a big role in Rin saving Saber in the good ending.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9thish4tmk4
4. Rin's undeniable harem would have been Shirou- Rin - Archer, but Archer didn't accept.
One more thing to consider is that she asks archer to remain in this world. This happens in both the good and true ending (right before the good ending would come archer's scene). Think that if archer had accepted Rin's proposal both the true and happy endings would be the same.
A) The true ending becomes Rin-Archer-Shirou
B) Rhe good ending becomes Rin-Archer-Shirou
By asking archer to stay afterwards saber would have left this world had archer accepted (there's not enough mana for both of them and even Rin knows saber isn't selfish to stay that way, by asking archer she's in a way betraying saber, that's why she thinks "I know I shouldn't ask" (but she does ask...) and archer says "I do not know if you will keep your contract with saber, but I am nor qualified for that")
These quotes are taken from the VN. |
