[arias]

Originally Posted by zgmf-x19a

Spoiler:

I would have liked Shirou to be selfish for once and use his last reiju to force Saber to drink the curse so that she could remain but I fear that she might get corrupted , the best choice for me would have been the "transfer student Saber" or an event such as this : "after Shirou comes back from school he finds someone there waiting for him guess who it is : it's Saber-chan saying tadaima and Shirou saying okaeri and they embrace each other or even kiss " I know it sounds cheesy but I would have really liked that kind of ending instead.
Like I said before she really deserves a second life and about UBW ending what's the point in having Saber close to Rin lol I really wanted a "happy ending" because as the serie progressed I grew to like Saber and Shirou pairing they really deserve each other and poor Shirou having found his ideal girl who after her confession disappears right afterwards :'(

Actually, saying "poor Shirou" is really not the right way to put things..

As you can see, Shirou is perfectly fine with how things are -- I'm sure ideally he would want Sabre by his side but as shown in the ending, he did accept how things were and.. like many other anime of this sort, accept the future with a sort of affirmation, willing to move forward but never forgetting the past (and her).

You see this in Tsukihime and Escaflowne (I mention Esca again because the conditions of the parting are quite similar), where the protagonists do... look forward.

This sort of story-telling is very typical of Japanese, almost perfectly encapsulating the sentimental dimension of asians. There is a bitter-sweet sort of happiness where the lovers, despite separated by time (Fate/Stay Night), distance (Planetes), worlds (Tsukihime, Esca), mortality (AIR)... move on with their lives while tightly holding the memories of the person in their hearts. It's really a very asian sort of sentimentality, and I'm not dissing Western culture in any of this. For some reason, the Japanese really like bitter-sweetness in their stories.

While this will run the risk of being unrelated, I'll post the lyrics of "Yubiwa", the ending song of Escaflowne the movie, along with some minor commentary at the end from me. This is because I really think the sort of attitude displayed by Shirou in this final episode.. .. ... I mean, your (and I mean any of you out there) understanding of it could well be enriched by it.

Spoiler:

As my tears keep overflowing
I can't see your last smile through the blur
Don't go! Don't go! Stay with me
Light breaks through the sky

I'm so insignificant but
I loved you with all my soul, more than anyone
Thank you for all of the
Precious feelings
That you gave to me

At that time I just
Watched for ages as the vapor trail vanished

Don't forget
You're not alone
Even if we part, our hands are still linked
It was my first love, when I first
Learned of sadness like this

Even if something fades away, something
Will live again
The smile you gave as we parted was
Your message for me to triumph

Someday surely we'll meet again
And be together
No matter how far, we'll stare into each other's eyes
Bet all our hopes and dreams
Let's promise each other
That we'll hold onto the intensity
Of that day
And live in the future that blooms in tomorrow


Commentary:
As you can see, the imagery in the departure is highly similar.. "Light breaks through the sky"

"At that time I just/Watched for ages as the vapor trail vanished".. while this possibly alludes to actual vapor trails from planes, realize that the 'disappearance' effect in anime often have the characters fading into particles, much like Gil in this episode. This could then, also be interpreted to be the longing gaze that the characters hold seeing their loved ones disappear.. ie. Shirou, in this case, gazing at the space where Saber occupied before she disappeared.

Of course, the rest of the lyrics reflect the affirmative attitude in spite of separation.