Fate/Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		3.0

Fate/Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie Review

Cardcaptor Sakura: The Next Generation

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman August 31, 2014

Some enterprising inventor in Japan is poised to make a fortune by offering the needy public a little case in which to keep magical cards. What is it with these errant cards (and their keepers) anyway? Older series like Cardcaptor Sakura: Complete Series were built entirely on the premise of a so-called “magical girl” attempting to reunite a deck of specially empowered cards (which could manifest as actual creatures) which had annoyingly dispersed themselves far and wide. Now several decades later comes the infelicitously titled Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya which does more or less the same thing, offering an alternate universe take on similar card capturing gambits that were explored in the Fate/Stay Night franchise (which also included other entries like Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works and Fate/Zero. In some ways, despite offering a story that virtually defines the adage “everything old is new again”, Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya is probably the least opaque of the Fate franchise thus far, offering a relatively straightforward if at times underdeveloped tale of newly recruited magical girl Illyasviel von Einzbern who is tasked, almost exactly like Sakura in the much earlier series, with reuniting an errant pack of magical cards (which again have the ability to manifest as creatures). Those with at least a passing acquaintance with the general storyline(s) and characters of the large Fate universe will probably get more of a kick out of seeing originally relatively tangential characters like Illya taking center stage here, but the series is perfectly comprehensible on its own.

Though I jokingly subtitled this review Cardcaptor Sakura: The Next Generation above, it might be more accurate to simply state that Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya is more like Rin and Luvia: The Next Generation, for not only does the series start with these two elder card captors involved in what turns out to be an interminable squabble, ultimately they both lose control of their magic wands, known in the series as Kaleidosticks, which is when Illya and then another younger girl get involved. Rin’s Kaleidostick, Ruby, seeks out Illya, while Luvia’s wand, Sapphire, attaches itself to Miyu, a kind of a quasi-tsundere whose dislike of Illya provides a mirrored counterpart to the conflict between Rin and Luvia. And indeed Rin and Luvia tag along, supposedly to mentor their charges, but seemingly at times more to simply disrupt the proceedings with silly skirmishes.

This first set of episodes sticks fairly closely to traditional magical girl tropes, with the possible exception of the fact that Illya is a devoted otaku, especially with regard to magical girl outings, something that gives the series a slight “meta” twist that may appeal to some. The first several episodes tend to play things for laughs, or at least lightly, with Illya’s inability to control Ruby or even “spell” correctly leading to occasional problems. Miyu is also more overtly antagonistic in the early going, despite the fact that the two younger girls must clearly work together, under the twin aegises of Rin and Luvia, to collect the cards and restore order to the world.

Many shows that indulge in the “alternate universe” conceit radically rework even the basic concepts of the franchise in order to shake things up a bit and provide a completely new perspective on things. Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya is decidedly less ambitious in this regard, simply foisting a previously minor character into the limelight and then occasionally letting other previously major characters drift through the story as supporting players. And in fact it’s this lack of ambition that may most seriously hobble the show, both for newcomers, who are going to wonder what the fuss is all about (if indeed there is any fuss), as well as for franchise aficionados, who may be disappointed that such a rote treatment of ideas and even characters is on display here.

Things do pick up at least a bit of steam as they go along, and there’s a fairly interesting tonal change of pace part way through this first season that casts the show in a somewhat less predictable light. There’s nothing here that approaches the audacity of, say, Puella Magi Madoka Magica, where one of the central tenets of magical girl anime is set on its head when what should be a blessing turns out to be a curse. The series probably spends a bit too much time detouring into more traditional shōnen meanderings once Miyu and Illya end up as classmates, but this aspect is at least used to help define the initially contentious relationship between the girls. But there’s at least the attempt at some depth here in what is probably too often a shallow and resolutely traditional treatment of magical girl idioms.

Fate/Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Sentai Filmworks with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer 1.78:1. This series has an almost schizophrenic animation styles (or more appropriately, styles) a lot of the time. The day to day activities of the girls is animated in a fairly bland, less detailed style that only offers minimal visual excitement in things like the hues of the girls' eyes, which admittedly pop very nicely. However, things completely explode in the battle sequences, with an incredibly vivid and varied palette on display and nice, fluid motion that pops really well in high definition. Line detail is always clear and sharp here, though contrast is slightly variable at times. There are no issues with image stability and no real problems with typical bugaboos like banding.

Fate/Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya features DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mixes in both the original Japanese as well as an English dub. The mixes here are largely identical save for the voice work. There's an unexpected amount of depth here, and some fairly wide splaying of sound effects, but the battle sequences don't quite have the oomph they might have with a true surround mix and isolated LFE channel. Dialogue is very cleanly presented and the mixes are both very well prioritized.

Fate/Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Clean Opening Animation (1080p; 1:32)


• Clean Closing Animations (1080p; 3:04)

Fate/Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya is probably going to be of most interest to those with a previous acquaintance with at least some of the ever expanding Fate/ franchise. Even those longtime fans may feel a little disappointed in how rote a lot of this outing is, especially since it really doesn't radically reinvent the Fate/ world, but kind of looks at it through a slightly refracted kaleidoscope (kaleiostick?). The show has a tendency to bog down in too many skirmishes between the heroines instead of focusing on the really important battles, but the good news is, the show gets manifestly better as it goes along, especially after it largely jettisons some of the haphazard comedy elements. Fate/ fans may well want to check this out for curiosity's sake if for no other reason, but neophytes wanting a magical girl anime experience may want to stick to other entries like Cardcaptor Sakura: Complete Series or (if they're feeling really ambitious) Puella Magi Madoka Magica The Movie.