Score: A

This episode got pretty crazy in a hurry. There was a lot going on in this one. The list would go on endlessly if I just went moment by moment. From the fun of Shirou having his first fight in the Illya franchise to Illya truly stepping up and holding the line against those servants. This episode had a lot of moments and at times felt a little frantic, but the moments still held up extremely well. While I would have really liked to have the Emiya theme going on when he charged up against Angelica, the moment didn’t last long enough to make that work. Going with a more general combat theme let them keep the fight moving quickly.

In a sense it worked to show just how crazy this situation was. The pressure Angelica put on Shirou was actually pretty heavy. He didn’t have much time to think or do anything but counter that almost endless stream of swords. Even buying time to attempt to use Unlimited Blade Works was extremely frantic. His wall holding up momentarily, but really only for a moment. It’s hard to buy time against Gilgamesh, especially one that doesn’t care about holding back.

This isn’t like the Unlimited Blade Works anime. Not to spoil anything in there, but the situation Shirou had to face here was a desperate one. We get the information that he’s already used that move once before and it truly wrecked him. The fact that he was almost able to use it again shows how darn strong he is, but also his limits. He couldn’t activate it, his body simply couldn’t endure it. In some ways I really like the show both showing that he had the ability to use that, but also that Shirou wasn’t able to make it happen. This is a Shirou who has seen a lot and it has left a mark on him.

What shouldn’t be lost here is that he was fighting the Gilgamesh card….on his own! Everyone else either needs a mystic code and/or a class card to even make a dent in this situation. Credit to Bazett, but she isn’t able to do that much considering the levels of the enemies. But Shirou was able to make a bridge and charge his way up there. That is something to truly respect.

It was nothing short of awesome to have Shirou and Kuro team up. One thing I liked was Shirou kind of getting the message that he doesn’t have to do all this alone. He’s been through hell and his mindset going into this was very understandable. But, things have changed and Miyu isn’t alone. Miyu herself can fight and she has friends that will fight with and for her sake. Shirou should do what he can, but not think if he doesn’t do it all then they can’t win. Though I fully support him giving a pretty cool speech about being willing to take on the evil necessary to fight against Julian if he’s going to kill Miyu for the world. Just the idea of Emiya Shirou picking a fight with a “hero of justice” is great.

The team charge against Angelica worked well. It’s only natural that fighting alongside Shirou even for a short time helped to evolve Kuro’s abilities. Hard not to tap into common knowledge Fate stuff here. But, it’s obvious why Shirou helped Kuro so much in terms of evolving. In a sense we have Archer and Shirou teaming up against Gilgamesh and that’s an awesome thing. Great bit of teamwork having Kuro use her teleportation to get around that Ainsworth skill and allowing Shirou to finish the fight. They took down the Gilgamesh card together and even with what happened after…that was great XD. Good time to make use of the Emiya theme.

I think what should have been most shocking was what happened after that point. Shirou making it to Julian only to be interfered with….by Sakura!? A minor note as well that she’s using the Berserker card….from Fate/Zero! Certainly that is one card that can deal with both Shirou and Gilgamesh. An absolutely dangerous skillset and being used by someone who has clearly gone full Yandere. Absolutely no hesitation in dealing a critical injury to Shirou and then attacking Miyu who obviously takes action to defend her brother with everything she has. Just utterly creepy in her manner of fighting and how Julian is using a fake appearance of Shirou to control her.

That was the turning point that made this situation all the direr. Shirou was down and seriously injured, Miyu is being restrained by another one of those noble phantasms, and everyone else is fighting desperately to hold their own against this unstopping wave of death. Not a good situation in the slightest. Rin is doing everything she can to keep Shirou alive, but she has to do that while enemies are continuing to kill them all. Not exactly the most calming work environment.

The Gilgamesh situation is another pretty crazy one. Gil finally gets his hands on his own card and seemed ready to kill Julian himself. Unfortunately….he became amused and as we all know that is a very bad thing. Something about what Julian is doing or what has happened to Erica (who is somehow alive in there) has his interest piqued. He did seem utterly shocked at Erica….before devolving into mad laughter. He pieced something together there with what Julian seems to be doing. That cube, Miyu, Erica….just something about all those pieces has him very amused. The worst mud doll…I think that’s what Gilgamesh called Erica. That doesn’t sound good in the slightest.

All the more sad that Erica seems resigned to not thinking at all and just doing whatever Julian tells her to do. She’s just another pawn in his overarching plan. If Gilgamesh was willing to use his card and still help Illya then things might just turn around in a hurry. But he seems willing to let events unfold now that he has what he’s been fighting for.

The episode ended on a great note as well. The black servants are wearing down Illya and Kuro. Getting hit by sneak attacks and overpowered by the heavier hitters. That those things are willing to start using noble phantasms is basically turning it into a pure nightmare. I can understand why Rin asked them to run. But…Illya has made her choice and will fight for it. She’ll save Miyu and the world, no matter how hard the road ahead happens to be. Using even Excalibur to hammer her point. Kuro as well doing everything she could to buy time. These two will hang in there until the bitter end.

It’s impossible not to make a note about the visual troubles in this one. Silver Link hit the wall this time. They’ve managed to nail the climatic battles in the previous seasons, but this time they just couldn’t pull it off. Archer Illya vs the Saber Card is still way better than what we got in this one. I don’t know if it was budget, time, staff allocation, but this episode was very rough at points. Maybe they overhaul the episode in the BDs, but for the time being this is what we’ve got. The content is still extremely good and I think the episode is still very good thanks to that. But it could have been the best episode in the entire anime if the visuals had kept up with the content. But that just didn’t happen. Kind of a shame.

Now, getting back to the episode itself….the situation is still pretty bad. Hard to see how they’ll manage to get through this even with all the efforts in the world. Beatrice is still there along with that army of servants. They did manage to take down Angelica which is a win, but it’s just one heavy hitter amidst many. Hopefully they can find a way through this.