This was something I worked on a few weeks ago, tell me what you think:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWikfLIj71k
From YouTube description:
I started this project with the intention of it just being a modeling project but I realized I could animate parts of it like in the movie. This was my first project using Maya's fluid container particles so it was a good learning experience.
The project features Fate Testarossa's magic device as seen in the anime. This version is the movie version with the rounded blade as opposed to the jagged version seen in the TV series. Audio credits available at the end of the video.
Modeling took less than a day. The particles took three days. The rest were all animating, cameras and adjusting the glow of some of the pieces. Modeled and animated in Autodesk Maya 2012 and rendered in Mental Ray.