We have to admit, the final farewell scene between Shirou and Illya was deeply emotional. Especially in this extended movie that Ren created, Illya's character was portrayed more vividly and endearingly than in previous versions.
Seeing this, Daniel couldn't hold back his tears.
His vision started to blur.
"Curse that Porter!"
Daniel gritted his teeth and muttered each word.
"Yeah, that Porter is awful!"
The couple sitting next to him overheard Daniel and chimed in.
"He must be a demon, right?"
"How could he kill off such a sweet little girl with the plot?"
Many in the audience were thinking the same thing at this moment.
But fortunately, when everyone saw Illya running into her mother's embrace, they could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
It seemed that the Porter had at least some shred of decency, allowing Illya to reunite with her mother from Fate/Zero. Otherwise, the flood of complaint letters and angry messages might have been overwhelming!
After this, the film transitioned to scenes of Sakura and Rin's daily lives following the end of the final battle.
It felt like a way of showing that even though Shirou was gone, the sisters' bond had been restored.
While some viewers were still upset about the Porter drawing Shirou's death, the heartwarming scenes between the sisters were well-received by many.
"Hmm? What's this?"
Daniel originally thought this final segment was just about showing the characters' future lives without Shirou, wrapping up their stories.
But when Rin and Sakura walked hand in hand through an alleyway, he was taken aback.
In this alley, the sisters crossed paths with a woman with red hair tied in a single ponytail. Although the woman's face wasn't shown, only her back, Daniel immediately recognized that distinctive hair and color.
That was none other than the puppet master, Aozaki Touko, from The Garden of Sinners!
A surprise crossover in Fate/Stay Night!
But what's the point of a crossover that only shows someone's back?
After a second of thought, Daniel's eyes lit up.
Could it be?
Was Illya really unable to save Shirou? Could it be that the Porter was just toying with the audience with that storyline?
Apparently not. It seemed Illya did manage to save something.
And considering Touko's abilities, which Daniel was familiar with from The Garden of Sinners, she could create puppets that closely resemble real humans, whether or not they retained memories of their past lives.
So perhaps…
Touko revived Shirou?
With that realization, Daniel started feeling a bit more optimistic.
The following scenes aligned with his suspicions. Touko created a puppet of Shirou, and with the help of Rin and Sakura, they transferred Shirou's soul into the blank puppet. It turned out that, in her final moments, Illya activated her function as the true Holy Grail—using the Third Magic, "Heaven's Feel," to extract Shirou's soul from his deteriorating body and place it in a vessel.
Later on, Rider and Sakura, with Rin's help, placed Shirou's soul into Touko's puppet, allowing him to live on almost like a normal person.
In the final scenes, two years later in the spring, Shirou and Sakura, together with Rider and Rin, who had returned from studying abroad in London, all gathered to enjoy cherry blossoms.
While admiring the blossoms, viewers could even spot Ayaka and Ryuunosuke in the background.
The final shot settled on a serene scene of Shirou and Sakura together.
…
And thus, Spring Song came to an end.
Many audience members felt a sense of loss as they left the theater, still thinking about the film.
It was fantastic!
The animation quality was exceptional, particularly in the fight scenes—like Shirou's battle with Berserker, Rider's clash with Dark Saber, and the sisters' showdown. Every major battle radiated with a sense of intensity.
The film's details, such as lighting contrasts, imagery in Berserker's memories, and nuanced visual metaphors, all added to the cinematic experience.
The character relationships were also beautifully developed, making it a deeply moving story.
Picca Comics clearly put their heart into making this film.
And online, discussions about the movie were buzzing with excitement.
"Watching Illya say goodbye to Shirou seriously brought tears to my eyes."
"The Porter is a complete monster!! I really wanted to see Illya and Shirou have a happy ending! She's suffered so much, and then he kills her off? Even though she promised Berserker she'd be okay…"
"Come on, it's not all bad. At least the Porter revived Shirou, right?"
"Speaking of Shirou, I've got a question: Since he's now in a puppet body, does he still have all the, uh, 'functions' of a regular guy?"
"Hmm, that's a good question. What do you think, Watson?"
"Elementary, my dear Holmes—there's definitely something fishy going on here."
"I noticed there wasn't an after-credits scene this time… I want to watch more Picca movies. Everything else just feels lackluster now."
"Well, good ideas don't come out of thin air. But with the Porter's speed, I bet there'll be another animated movie soon enough."
Thus, Spring Song concluded successfully, with its high-energy battles earning widespread praise from the audience.
The opening-day box office numbers were soon announced, hitting an impressive 250 million yuan, outpacing the previous two installments.
Most reviews from viewers rated it as an outstanding film.
This buzz inspired many to head to theaters and watch it. Afterward, many new fans of the third movie went back to watch the first and second installments as well.
Meanwhile, Fate merchandise like figurines and other related goods saw a surge in sales.
…
While Spring Song continued to trend online, Ren had just finished attending a class reunion.
It wasn't like the dramatic reunions you might read about in web novels; in reality, not many people showed up.
After graduation, everyone went their separate ways, so it wasn't realistic for most people to travel from other cities just to attend.
After eating and chatting, Ren was ready to call a cab home. But when he saw the driver waiting at the curb, Ren couldn't help but ponder something.
After a while, he couldn't resist asking, "Excuse me, driver, why do you keep looking at the most-wanted list whenever I get in the car? Do I look like someone on that list?"
Even though the driver was trying to be sneaky, Ren's sharp eyes noticed the driver repeatedly glancing at a list of wanted criminals.
Ren was at a loss. Did he really look like a wanted man with his handsome face?
"…" The sudden question startled the driver, who awkwardly chuckled. "Oh, no, I was just browsing through Douyin."
But his eyes kept darting to the rearview mirror. He couldn't shake the feeling that Ren looked familiar, but he just couldn't place him, so he instinctively checked the wanted list.
After all, some people might seem like ordinary taxi drivers on the surface, but secretly, they could be bounty hunters, right?
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