(Okay, the profit part is a lie but hey, if a weird story about a crazy guy who really hates chairs can lead to one of the biggest media franchises in the world then anything is possible)
Usually, the first thing people know about the Fate series, is that there is a lot of it. The second thing is probably the female King Arthur with more alternate versions than there are Fate spinoffs but we’ll get to it later.
Fate has a reputation for being hard to get into, and it’s not completely unfounded. Between the nonsense titles, different routes within one work, multiple adaptations, and a ton of spin-offs that may or may not have anything to do with the main series, it’s easy to get lost.
Fortunately, it’s easier to get into the series than the memes might suggest. I wouldn’t say it’s ‘easy’ exactly, but its no Kingdom Hearts.
But Why Tho?
It’s hard to clearly say what the great thing about the Fate series is since a number of different creators with different strengths have worked on this series.
The basic idea that most Fate works have is the Holy Grail War, where a number of mages (known as Masters) summon famous historical or mythological figures (known as Servants) in order to fight in a deadly battle. The winner gets the Holy Grail, which in most cases, is a powerful artifact that can grant a wish.
It’s a pretty good plot hook, as far as hooks go. I mean, who doesn’t want to see Heracles fight Cú Chulainn? Cowards, that’s who. Aside from that, you can also find fun characters, great fight scenes, fantastic animation, and even some interesting discussions about heroism.
It’s important to note that the quality varies between the different works so it’s likely that you don’t like everything the series has to offer. Still, the best parts make the whole thing worth a look.
Important Note:
If you want to get into Fate, then it’s highly recommended that you do so with the Visual Novel (VN). If that’s a new idea for you, Visual Novels are basically interactive stories accompanied by sprites and limited animation. If that’s not your cup of tea, don’t worry. There are still plenty of things to enjoy from Fate. If you’re willing to give the VN a try, you might as well skip the next section.
The Anime-only Guide
Let’s say, don’t have the time to go through a Visual Novel but you’ve seen the gifs of those sick ass fight scenes and what the see what that’s about. In that case, we’ve got you covered. Fortunately for you, things get much simpler if you cut things down to the anime.
1. Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works (2014-2015)
Unlimited Blade Works (UBW for convenience) is about a Holy Grail War set in Japan where seven mages, each with their own famous hero summoned as a Servant, battle each other to win an omnipotent wish-granting artifact. While I dislike using the word, the show is something of a deconstruction of the idea of heroism and there’s a lot more to it than just the action scenes.
That’s not the say the action isn’t great. In fact, the visuals are just fantastic so the fight scenes are still a treat to watch as a result. Despite that, the focus still remains on the characters. Another good point is that unlike a lot of anime it concludes its story pretty nicely in two seasons without dragging on.
2. Fate/Stay Night: Heaven’s Feel Trilogy (2017-)
The Heaven’s Feel movies are meant to be watched after UBW. Instead of a sequel, it’s an alternate take on the same story. Sort of like a ‘what if?’ story where the plot goes in a different direction and due to different decisions made by the characters.
One thing to note is that these movies are really dark, arguably darker than anything else in the Fate series, and deal with some very mature themes so appropriate warnings apply.
When it comes to the animation, ufotable has surpassed all expectations and the movies are absolutely gorgeous to look at. Even outside of the fight scenes, the visuals are really impressive and the spectacle alone makes this worth a look.
The final movie in the trilogy is out now, and its a hell of a finisher to the main series.
Also, even if UBW and Heaven’s Feel weren’t your cup of tea, you might still like Fate/Zero, which a different story by a different author and features an adult cast.
3. Fate/Zero (2011–2012)
Another adaptation by our friends at Studio ufotable, this anime takes place roughly ten years before the events of the previous two anime. It’s based on a Light Novel by Gen Urobuchi, the writer behind Madoka Magica and Psycho-Pass, who has a reputation for writing pretty bleak stories. Fate/Zero is no exception and some might even get turned off as a result.
As expected from ufotable, the animation is gorgeous, even after all these years, and the soundtrack is appropriately epic. Special attention has been placed on the choreography of the fights so it’s really interesting to see the heroes in combat. While the action is some of the best in anime, its the character interactions that really make the show as good as it is.
So this is it for the main anime adaptations. From here, you can click here to move on to the spin-off anime for more content.
The Main Series
1. Fate/Stay Night [Realta Nua]
Written by Kinoko Nasu, Fate/Stay Night is one of the most popular and critically acclaimed Visual Novels of all time. It’s not the easiest thing to get into since there is no official translation yet so you might need to fiddle around with fan-made patches to get it ready. A quick Google search can point you towards all the required resources.
Fate/Stay Night is about a Holy Grail War that takes place in Fuyuki, Japan. Seven Mages, each with a hero summoned as their Servant, battle it out to win the Holy Grail. This Holy Grail is apparently an all-powerful wish-granting device.
Our main character here is Shirou Emiya, a High School student who is unwillingly dragged into the Holy Grail War. While he might seem generic at first glance but there’s a lot of hidden complexity that becomes more and more apparent as the story goes on. Without spoiling anything, I’ll just say, “that boy ain’t right”.
The other characters are also pretty memorable, from the powerful heroes to the rival mages. You’ll also find that a lot of effort has been made to create the world as well as the magic system.
In Fate/Stay Night, there are three different storylines that you can experience, where each has different a different thematic focus.
- Fate
- Unlimited Blade Works
- Heaven’s Feel
It should be noted that Fate is the least popular of the three and for a good reason. While there are still some interesting ideas, it’s only in Unlimited Blade Works that the writing truly hits the stride.
The main theme is “conquering oneself.” There are three story lines in Fate, each has a different themes. The first one is the “oneself as an ideal.” The second one is “struggling with oneself as an ideal.” The third one is “the friction with real and ideal.” – Kinoko Nasu
2. Fate/Hollow Ataraxia
Fate/Hollow Ataraxia is a sequel to Fate/Stay Night and focuses on fleshing out the cast of the original VN. It’s pretty lighthearted in tone and there isn’t much of a conflict in the story. While there is a darker story spread throughout, the vast majority of the screentime is taken by light slice-of-life shenanigans.
Hollow Ataraxia also drops its predecessor’s Route system and has a Groundhog Day type of setup where you have four days to do stuff before you’re brought back to the beginning.
It adds a lot of details on the characters and has a lot of fun moments. If you liked any of the minor characters in Stay Night and wanted to know them better then Hollow Ataraxia has you covered. It also has two new major characters who turn out to be really interesting in their own right.
There isn’t much that can be said about it without spoiling the main plot but its basically a good sendoff to the original cast.
Now that you’ve gone through the VNs, you can move on and watch the anime adaptations as well as the prequel, Fate/Zero, in any order you please. Just remember to stick to the adaptations by Studio ufotable.
Other Anime
Of course, there’s a lot more to the Fate franchise than described above. Since this is a guide to ‘getting into’ Fate and not an extensive guide on Fate, I’m going to try to keep things short from here on.
Lord El-Melloi II Sei no Jikenbo: Rail Zeppelin Grace Note (2019)
A mystery series starring a grown-up Waver Velvet from Fate/Zero that takes place slightly before the events of Fate/Stay Night, It allows us to see more of what the mages are like in this universe. Since a lot of the focus is on the lore of the world, it tends to get a bit dry at times but is pretty decent otherwise.
Emiya-san Chi no Kyou no Gohan (2019)
A slice-of-life show with the main cast of Fate/Stay Night where the focus is on cooking. It’s a pretty comfy show and a perfect watch if Fate/Zero or Heaven’s Feel has gotten you down.
Also Medea best girl and I will fucking fight you if you disagree.
Fate/kaleid liner Prisma☆Illya (2013)
A magical girl spinoff featuring Illyasviel Von Einzbern from the original series. Yes, you heard me right, a goddamn magical girl spinoff. While it’s not my cup of tea, the series has some kickass action scenes and a surprisingly decent plot. If fanservice is a huge turnoff then this show is probably not for you.
Fate/Apocrypha (2017)
Set in a parallel universe to the main show, Apocrypha’s Holy Grail War has 14 Masters and 14 Servants. The quality of writing is definitely not of the level of the main series, unfortunately.
Still, there are a lot of colorful characters, given the size of the cast, and you can have a decent time with it.
Carnival Phantasm (2011)
A comedy spinoff featuring the cast of the original series alongside some characters from the author’s other works. Equal parts absurd and hilarious, this is another show that can help you out after the bleakness of some of the other Fate stuff.
In fact, this is some of the best Fate content out there.
Miscellaneous Stuff
Of course, this is still far from everything Fate has to offer. Here are some other things that you can check out if you want more of this universe. Of course, I’m not listing out everything here, since we’re going to be here all day if I start getting into the manga adaptations and spinoffs.
Fate/Extra (2011)
Fate/Extra is a PSP game with a surprisingly good story and a pretty interesting set of characters. It’s something of a mashup of a Visual Novel and an action RPG so its much more text-heavy than you’d expect from a game. As for the gameplay, let’s just say it’s not the best part of the game.
In fact, I’d recommend you use cheats to get through the game if you’re stuck somewhere. It’s the story and characters we’re actually here for. It also has a sequel, Fate/Extra CCC but there is no English translation available, sadly. If you still want to experience the story, which is pretty good, you can check out a translated playthrough on YouTube.
Fortunately for all four of us Tamamo fans out there, a remake called Fate/Extra Record is set to release soon with updated graphics and gameplay (thank god), among another improvements.
There is an anime adaptation called Fate/Extra: Last Encore, that you can check out if you want but don’t expect to understand anything without a deep knowledge of the game.
The series is succeeded by the Fate/Extella series, which are much more modern in terms of graphics and are officially available on PC. The story is pretty prominent but fairly divisive when compared to Extra’s. Fortunately, the gameplay is better as it’s basically Dynasty Warriors: Fate Edition. If that seems right up your alley then check them out.
Fate/Strange Fake (2014-)
Written by Ryōgo Narita of Baccano! and Durarara!! fame, Strange Fake is a Light Novel set in America where some madlads attempted to copy the Holy Grail War system with uh… interesting results. As expected from Narita, there are fun characters, intriguing plot, absolute chaos, and balls to the wall craziness. If you’re a fan of Gilgamesh then this is going to be a treat for you.
The story is still ongoing so it’s going to be a while before we get a conclusion. If Light Novels aren’t your thing, there’s also a Manga adaptation that does a decent enough job.
Kara no Kyoukai Movies (2007-2013)
While not directly related to Fate, the Kara no Kyoukai movies are written by the Nasu, the author of the original series, and take place within the same larger multiverse as the rest of Fate. The adaptation was handled by Studio ufotable, so the visuals are absolutely amazing to look at.
It’s complemented by an absolutely beautiful soundtrack, composed by Yuki Kajiura at her best. The story can be pretty confusing at times and tackles many philosophical, and religious concepts. It’s made even more confusing by the fact that it’s told outside of chronological order but it’s worth it to stick through to the end.
The protagonist is Ryougi Shiki, a girl who gains a strange power after surviving an accident. The movies are generally about her relationship with Mikiya Kokutou, a guy that seemed weirdly determined to be her friend, as they solve cases for a supernatural investigation agency.
There are 8 movies in this series as well as a short epilogue so there’s quite a bit of content to get through. Fair warning though, it gets really dark at times and deals with some very heavy topics.
Fate/Grand Order (2015)
So this is it for this guide on getting into the Fate series. It’s not a comprehensive list so there’s still much more to discover out there. Hopefully, you’ll find something that you like.
