Oh, and the ends where you kill Sakura are bad ends for two reasons. With one exception, you fail (and, for good reason, since Zouken isn’t an idiot, and nor is Kotomine), leaving Shirou dead and Sakura totally broken (and, therefore, likely to turn irredeemably into Dark Sakura with no Shirou around to give Rin a chance ot fight her). The only time you do succeed (the Mind of Steel ending), Shirou had no idea that the shadow was Sakura (and, thus, IMO it was unquestionably the wrong decision), and the result, whilst perhaps a good ending for the town, is undoubtedly a bad ending for Shirou (which is the point, since he’s the protagonist).

@Jinx: I don’t get that argument at all. What exactly should Sakura have done to improve her situation? She had no way to fight Zouken with the worms in her, and when she was given to him, she was four. Try asking the next child abuse victim you meet “why didn’t you do anything?”, and see what sort of response you get….

Plus, she didn’t drag everyone else down with her. In fact, she did the exact opposite. She tried very hard to keep Shirou from finding out about her, because she knew he’d end up getting himself hurt trying to save her, and she also avoided pursuing a relationship with him for that reason. And, it’s not true that she didn’t do anything either. It’s just that when she did do things, they were counter-productive, like going to Zouken in order to force him to kill her once she discovered that she was the shadow. There is nothing that Sakura could really have done in HF to produce a better outcome, except for killing herself when Gil told her to, and, really, I think expecting a 15-year-old girl to do that is being just a little unfair….

Heaven Feel is really a good route, I think it ’s the best in character development, stories and themes in the three route. The way the character wrote the dramatic development of Shirou is impressive, and about Kirei, he has really become my favourite character in Naruverses. However, I can’t help but feel very ANGRY at the end of the route, the so called Good End. (Or true end, whatever).

I just cannot forgive Sakura. Oh Yeah, You killed a lot of people and then you are still loved. I don’t like the way they (Shirou, Sakura) could live so happy after the mess they had. Those people are to die because they’re just some “number”, some details in a game, but they are people with their hope and dream, and the murderer could not be forgiven so easily. I got all the bad end involving trying to kill Sakura (is this really a bad end or the author always makes it become bad ends. Screw him!) She really got on my nerves, sometime I became so angry that I call her a psychobitch, (yes I know about her miserable childhood) the same to Shirou, and I must say I hate her very much and hate seeing her happy very much. What kind of justice is that? What kind of justice is for those people who died for some stupid war they don’t even know about ? Like in Boogiepop, “they are not even victims, they’re just at the wrong place at the wrong time” The Good End makes those death seams nothing more than a convenient plot details. And I like the Normal Ends more, because she really had some punishment and ..yes, she’s not happy.

in Kara no Kyoukai, they once said that “Killing a person means killing yourself” , that’s why the Good End makes me so angry. IF she could show some serious remorse (not just some “mentioned” the author throws in at the end of the story), she could gain some of my respect. The same to Shirou, he’s really annoying.

If I was a person in this town, if my friends and families died for this stupid reason, and if I know the murderer, I would definitely go to Emiya house and kill her with the most miserable way. Or at least dying while trying to do so. She got a servant and a magi by her side, after all.

Well, I think I sound so crazy here, but to sum up, Heaven Feel is really a wonderful route, because it could make me think about it so much. The only reason I hate it is Sakura. Not only hate her, I think I could not stand her very existence – or the kind of person like her. I hate the way the story make Death Sounds So Cheap. Fate stay night is great, Heaven feel is great, but Sakura, she does really make me sick

Then again, I never did like Sakura. Do I feel bad about her past? Yes. However, I just cannot empathise with her, which was strange, as she is the only Natsuverse heroine where that is true. Of course, now that I think about it, I know what my problem with Sakura is. She never did anything to improve her own situation. She was going down into hell and she simply dragged everyone along with her. She didn’t do anything. She was, to put it simply, a convenient damsel in distress.

To me, the true heroines of HF is Rider, Rin, and Illya. Rider for caring for her master and doing everything she could to save her master. Rin for that kick ass moment where she was able to rival the power of the Holy Grail (which oh so cool. I couldn’t help grinning like an idiot during that part). Illya. Poor, poor Illya. After UBW, everytime I think about her I feel sad. HF didn’t make me feel much better, especially the Happy Ending. I wished there was a route in which we could make her happy.

To address your point, though, it’s true that people naturally prefer the route of their favourite character. I think one of the main reasons that Sakura kept things bottled up and never fought back is because she was tortured from such a young age. I’m no expert on psychology, but it’s like those stories of child abuse you hear about on the news or in textbooks. It damages the person’s self-confidence, or something like that. Her decision to hurt innocent people was definitely wrong, but considering that she was treated as an toy by her family during her most impressionable years, I can’t say that I blame her.

@ Owen: I-It’s not like I wrote this for you or anything! But… um, well… I’m glad you like it. :3

@ Aorii: Is that really the case in Japan? It’s a shame, because I think her lack of purity was a huge part of what made the route good. I can see why a person wouldn’t want rape and abuse in a typical fluffy nukige, but it does nothing but add to the story here. Well, I guess it’s their loss.

Long story short, I definitely see where you’re coming from. I’m not sure if I’ll ever write a post on it, but I think there will always be part of me that sees Shirou’s battle against Archer in UBW as his defining moment.