The experimental ufotable of the past and the current finely-tuned blockbuster makers feel like entirely different studios. 15 years ago, Kara no Kyoukai began that transition: laying their modern foundation, but also embracing their originally chaotic and subversive ways.
Studio Ufotable recently hit their 20th anniversary, which they celebrated with their most successful title to date. Their history up till this point has been marked by consistent ideology, but they’ve still gone through very distinct eras—including some of the craziest experimentation seen in commercial Japanese animation. Theirs is a tale of wild but meticulous growth.
The first Fate/Stay Night Heaven’s Feel movie has finally been released in bluray in Japan alongside some very juicy animation materials, so the time is right to tackle the outrageous production of this movie and talk about the staff that studio ufotable has managed to assemble.
Those of you looking forward to the first Fate/stay night Heaven’s Feel movie, which premiered in Japan earlier this month, please enjoy this long set of notes on the film and the work of ufotable’s crew – worry not, no spoilers! And while this will definitely not cause people to do a 180 on either the franchise or the studio, I recommend that those of you who were on the fence give this a read. As it turns out, this is…