Well, Shimousa done. Apologies for the wall of text, I edited it down but it still came out longer than expected.
I was excited for this one since I love samurai stories and the cast of characters that Shimousa brings, and for the most part I left satisfied. The repetitiveness of some scenes aside, I actually appreciate how text-heavy Shimousa was compared to previous singularities and how we got to see POVs and internal thoughts for characters other than Ritsuka and Mash. FGO's presentation is still simplistic even with the improvements shown over time so I actually
want more detailed narration from story chapters. It helped with developing the antagonists, some admittedly better than others, and it set up the stage for the duels which were all very stylish. Saber of Empireo in particular was a really cool fight with great build-up and conclusion, but my favorite was hands down the very last duel.
That OST alongside the whole presentation just got me hyped as fuck. The music in Shimousa was great and I recommend everyone to play with the volume on. Just a shame that
Kojirou didn't get to do much until the very end, but
he went out like an absolute
REGEND nonetheless. Those last few battle nodes in general were just a series of hype moments, I loved it haha
Between all the carnage and high octane battles however, my low-key favorite scene was this little conversation between Muramasa and the player:
The man, the myth, the legend.
FGO doesn't do a particularly good job at conveying what was lost in the incineration of humanity and elaborating on our motivations. Sure, it's the right thing to do, but you never really put much thought into it because no one in the story has personally lost anything. Fujimaru is a non-character, Mash has never left Chaldea and the rest of the cast are just doing their jobs, so you're left with this shonen mentality of fighting because hell yeah we gotta save humanity, friendships, the memories we made along the way and so on, but the present world doesn't
really matter as it is never properly built or referenced. Even now when they have the opportunity to expand on worldbuilding they haven't explored those facets aside from briefly mentioning the state of the world at the start of Shinjuku. So when Muramasa notes that we grew up in privilege, not in a derisive manner but with gratitude that all the suffering he and his people went through eventually led to a country in which kids from average families weren't hardened by the same misery, famine and pain they had to go through, it actually hit me in a way I didn't expect. It contextualizes what you're fighting for better than the game had accomplished thus far and actually meant something to
me as well. Call me sappy but it got me to reflect and left me a bit emotional lol. I wish FGO did stuff like this more often, to use its settings to explore larger and smaller questions about the human condition. What our past says about our present, and consequently what our present says about our future. Agartha kind of tried to say something about government, power and a ruler's responsibilities but it lacked the tact and depth to pull it off meaningfully. In short: I REFUSE TO LIVE IN A REALITY IN WHICH THIS MAN ISN'T SUMMONABLE. To bring it full circle,
he goes out in a blaze of glory so that Onui and Tasuke get to live in those peaceful times. Godspeed, teenage grandpa, you absolute lad. I did feel sad for the kids being left alone in the end though.
Shout-outs to Fuuma and Danzou too. I had no idea they were even part of Shimousa so the amount of good scenes and development they got legitimately caught me by surprise. Which makes the complaints about Musashi's focus even weirder as Kotarou was just as much of a protagonist as her. I went from not caring to doing a complete 180 on the boy. Respect.
Musashi's journey was ultimately satisfying too and didn't get in the way of other characters' growths. Her last scenes during and after
the duel were great. I'm in the camp that likes her even if I wish we could get the real Musashi someday too. Speaking of which, I enjoyed the scenes with actual Musashi. I've seen arguments that he was little more than a red herring or even pointless, but I think he works well thematically as a parallel to Musashi's development rather than being strictly plot relevant. Getting to read his last moments and thoughts on various subjects was interesting by itself, specially since we'll likely never get another opportunity to take a look at his character again.
Overall, I really liked Shimousa. It has a bit more substance than some are giving it credit for, and even at a superficial level the martial artist hero's journey with touches of SMT/Devilman-esque horror is pretty entertaining. It's not
quite Camelot-Babylonia-Solomon level but it's my favorite EOR so far and makes me more confident about the Lost Belts. Specially after that ominous bit of foreshadowing near the end.
TL;DR: just read the Muramasa paragraph pls thanks lol
