Xebek’s Blog

Shirou takes Saber out on a date to try and convince her not to use the Grail and go back to her own time, but to stay in this time instead.

Summary:

We start off with Shirou leaving the church after talking to Kotomine. He said that he will look into the matter of the 8^th Servant. Shirou is remembering his worlds however of him saying all he has to do if he wants Saber to drink from the grail and stay in this time is save one command spell. On the way home he reflects upon her, realizing and admitting to him that he loves her. At home Rin asks Shirou what he plans to do next. He mentions how he doesn’t want Saber to become a full Servant by wishing on the Holy Grail and dieing. Supposedly all other servants died before they became Servants except for Saber and she will die to become a Servant so she can fulfill her duty as a King. Shirou says he doesn’t want Saber to become a Servant and Rin says he is saying the same thing as Archer. She says Archer said he regretted his life and ever becoming a Servant and he doesn’t want Saber to do the same thing. They wonder if Archer knew Saber from somewhere but don’t give it much thought. He says he isn’t sure, but tomorrow he is going to take Saber on a date. Rin starts to laugh uncontrollably but Shirou says he is serious.

Shirou and Rin try to explain the whole date thing to Saber who doesn’t quite get what they mean and what the purpose and intention is of the date. Finally Rin says it is basically a secret meeting between lovers where a guy tries to appeal to the girl he likes. Saber gets embarrassed and blushes and Shirou is taken off guard, coughing and being embarrassed. Ilya bursts in saying she likes Shirou to and wants to meet with him in private but Rin knocks her out and tells Shirou to get going. Shirou and Saber head out on their date, going shopping for clothes even though Saber ends up ripping them, watching a movie where a fight sequence gets Saber kind of excited and she waves her hands along with it. They visit an aquarium and Saber is amazed at the beauty of everything and how beautiful it is even though it is unnatural. They go to some more places such as out to lunch and to a toy store where Saber seems to really like a plush lion. Shirou says it really fits her and kind of laughs. Saber gets embarrassed and puts it back saying she will be waiting outside.

Eventually Shirou and Saber get near the end of their date and they stand together looking out over the river. Shirou says this doesn’t have to be a one time thing, but Saber says that she is a Servant and needs to fulfill her duty. They talk about the reason why Saber fights, she fights to avoid fighting Shirou says, she fears fighting for casualties yet goes into battle to stop them. She says she fights for the Holy Grail, to fulfill her duty as a king. Shirou however says that’s wrong, she should be living for herself now. How if she gets the grail and they win she should stay in this time and not die and go back to her time. They argue for a while, details on important pints are in the impressions, but they keep arguing over their purpose and their will and reason for fighting. Saber seems set that she will return to her time while Shirou tries to convince her to stay. Shirou says that she should just do what she wants and runs home leaving Saber there alone.

At home, Shirou is mad and falls asleep. Much later at night he is woken up by Rin who asks where Saber is. It turns out she never came home so Shirou goes running to find her. H finds her at the spot they were arguing, not having moved for hours. Shirou says for her to come home even though Saber is confused and thought Shirou didn’t care about Saber anymore. He just grabs her hand and they walk home together. On the way, they are stopped however by the voice of someone. They turn around to see 2^nd Archer in casual wear saying to Shirou how he shouldn’t’ be taking something around like that that is someone else’s.

Impressions:

This episode was amazing, not for the cute moments and such but how it really brought to light the real issue that is probably going to be prominent throughout the rest of the series. The question of whether Saber will return to her own time or not. Now I know that in the game, for the Fate arc which this anime is based off of Saber does leave to her own tie in the end but there is a bit of hope that the anime ending may be different. Saber wants to get the grail to fulfill her oath as a king and basically die and have it so her people have a better life and because that is what she believed she promised. Shirou wants Saber to stay because he really cares about her and a bit because he is selfish and wants her to stay with him. He believes she shouldn’t have to suffer and should enjoy a life here. I think in the end though Saber will return to her time, first off because it happens in the game, second because she seems so committed to her oath, third I think Shirou likes Saber too much to force her to stay against her will.

I will first give Saber leaving point of view. I think that she is really committed to fulfilling her oath as a king. She fought in a war before this, and now this one to reach her goal that she has had since the start. Although she cares about Shirou too most likely, she seems too noble of a person to stop her from fulfilling a promise to herself. I think she will love Shirou and all, but if his memory doesn’t fade when she goes back she will always just remember him. That brings to life that if she does leave and normally I believe a Servant’s memories are lost that Shirou’s wish would be for Saber to remember him. I don’t think Shirou would in all honesty use his last command spell to make Saber stay, there is of course that he could use it to make her realize that she is better off here and she accepts that but it kind of defeats the purpose of it all if he really loves her then he wouldn’t force her to go against a goal and wish she has had for a long time. The lion plush also really fits into this argument. It seems very very likely something that we will see at the final episode or something on Shirou’s shelf as he remembers Saber, the plush will be a kind of reminder or symbol of her that he will keep since he couldn’t hold onto the real Saber.

I will now give the argument of Saber staying. Saber did at first give a strong argument and such on how much she is committed but I think some of Shirou’s words really shook her and could perhaps influence her. She has already shown signs of humanizing, such as the second bath incident being embarrassed, all the instances in the date where she was amazed by the fish and acting like a normal human expect for some cultural getting used to’s. Saber also stayed there when Shirou gone, looking as if she was really reflecting and thinking upon what Shirou said which could show that his argument is convincing her. Saber has in many cases shown worry for Shirou past that of a Servant for a Master so II think it’s pretty safe to say that she likes him too. Although this doesn’t man that because of that she will stay, it can be a great influencer. On the way home when Shirou grabbed Sabers hand she kind of smiled and went along with him, not refusing to hold hands or go with him because of his beliefs even after he said he won’t back down basically. She seemed to really smile at him which shows how much she has grown to like him. On the date she loved the fish and the lion plush which showed that she is growing to like this world and time itself so she may realize its better for her. I think most of all though if she is to stay, Shirou’s arguments is what influenced it the most. Things he said such as she is just hiding her personal feelings with the excuse of a Kings Duty and what really seemed to shake her confidence in her belief was Shirou saying that No matter what the outcome, you can’t change something that’s already happened, that changing something just because you couldn’t accomplish something (like a kings duty in this case) is just like a kid’s selfishness.

Of course past the seriousness of the ending argument between them and the ominous fateful, no pun intended…ok kind of, meeting of 2^nd Archer (I know his name damnit, I’m just not saying it because it isn’t given yet) there were a lot of really nice and cute parts. I loved how Rin just laughed uncontrollably when Shirou said he was taking Saber on a date, not getting into the whole Rin’s character thing it was funny because of how out of the ordinary it was especially in their situation. Ilya of course, even though a minor role in this episode after being almost left out of the last two, Ilya being knocked out and saying she wanted to meet with Shirou in private too was hilarious. Most of all however I really liked the parts during the date where Saber was amazed at everything and looked really cute smiling. When she was watching the light saber fight in the movie theater and her waving her hands around was just priceless and the plush lion part was adorable.