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Fate Anime—Where to Start and What's Worth Watching


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b-dragon



Joined: 21 Apr 2021
Posts: 500
PostPosted: Wed Dec 18, 2024 9:41 am Reply with quote
Garden of Sinners is generally my first recommendation for any Nasuverse-curious viewer. It's available on Crunchyroll, is really good, and essentially serves as great litmus test for the other options.

Even as a fan of Fate/Extra (or perhaps especially as a fan of Fate/Extra,) Last Encore is awful. Poorly written, fundamentally flawed, and I think the Shaft directorial quirks only serve to highlight the flaws in the rest of the project.

One thing that these shows often struggle with is the depictions of their protagonist. Shirou (the primary but not only example,) is an interesting character- but a lot of that is in his more interior debates and conflicts that the VN demonstrates. The shows, understandably, cut a lot of that out for pacing purposes. This has the unfortunate side effect of making the characters seem much more shallow than they were originally presented as and making him come across quite differently in specific scenes.
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killjoy_the



Joined: 30 May 2015
Posts: 2490
PostPosted: Wed Dec 18, 2024 9:45 am Reply with quote
I feel like the best way to qualify DEEN's Fate/stay night is that it should be the first one you watch, but if you don't like it that's not an indication of how much you'd like any of the other Fates, and from there you can go just about anywhere really

As for Fate/Zero, one thing I like to add to people thinking of starting on it is that it's dry as hell for its starting like 10 episodes - much more so than any other entries. The characterizations start popping off eventually and it has an amazing second half, but if it pushes you off the franchise because of how loredump-heavy it feels, it's good to know it's not like that with the other entries

I'd also say Kaleid 2wei also has two other important aspects that were only mentioned in 3rei with Kid Gil and Bazett showing up, though it is at pretty much the tail end. I agree that there was no reason to make this an extended 20 episodes divided into two seasons, it just dillutes either aspect you might like the show for


Last edited by killjoy_the on Wed Dec 18, 2024 9:49 am; edited 1 time in total
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Nagatoka_Morito



Joined: 08 Jun 2010
Posts: 51
PostPosted: Wed Dec 18, 2024 9:46 am Reply with quote
Fate/Extra fan here. Completely agree that Last Encore is a massive skip (though do go seek out the show's opening theme Bright Burning Shout on your preferred music platform, it's a banger). Grand Carnival was entirely worth watching for me personally just for a few seconds of Tamamo-no-Mae in animation (yes I'm that desperate).
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Stampeed Valkyrie



Joined: 10 Aug 2014
Posts: 861
Location: PA
PostPosted: Wed Dec 18, 2024 9:47 am Reply with quote
If you want to get into Fate start with the basics.. there is reason why I started calling it Fate/Beating a dead horse. Outside of the 3 routes of the VN adaptation, you could venture into Fate/Zero but not required. Anything outside of that really starts getting into the proverbial weeds.

As for other Nasuverse options.. You can largely watch them in just about any order, some characters do carry over, but its not going to effect the experience not knowing who is linked to who.

As for the author not watching the Tsukihime anime... its not that bad, its not the VN but its worth it for the OP.. IMO.
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FilthyCasual



Joined: 01 Jun 2015
Posts: 2419
PostPosted: Wed Dec 18, 2024 10:07 am Reply with quote
I really can't recommend the DEENime when Ufotable obliterates it as badly as it does and the VN has an official, easily-accessible TL.

Quote:
The only relevant plot aspect is the introduction of Chloe/Kuro, Illya's “dark” twin.
Also spoiler[Bazett and the 8th Class Card.] You can skip the filler episodes, but you'll be lost pretty badly if you jump straight to 3rei.
Quote:
a hideously debased version of Shinji Matō

*spoiler[Sakura. Shinji only shows up in Oath Under The Snow.]

I personally found Prisma Phantasm pretty dull.

You've Lost Fujimaru Ritsuka is consistently funny, but meant for FGO players.
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cyberdraco



Joined: 30 Jun 2013
Posts: 647
PostPosted: Wed Dec 18, 2024 10:08 am Reply with quote
The Studio Deen Fate/Stay Night anime is on Hidive and not Crunchyroll. I think the Studio Deen anime is a good place to start and going in release order(maybe skip the Studio Deen UBW movie since we have the Ufotable show). Also, I disagree with Last Encore and I think it's wroth your time.
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varmintx



Joined: 31 Jul 2006
Posts: 1240
Location: Covington, KY
PostPosted: Wed Dec 18, 2024 10:42 am Reply with quote
I think it's pretty funny that of this obscenely large list of shows, the only one I have seen,
Lunar Legend Tsukihime, is the only one the author hasn't (that they could see anyway). I don't remember anything about it, but I gave it a "Decent."
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KefkaesqueXIII



Joined: 30 Nov 2015
Posts: 133
PostPosted: Wed Dec 18, 2024 11:13 am Reply with quote
Okay, so an English subbed version of Fate/Grand Order x Himuro no Tenchi: 7-nin no Saikyō Ijin-hen (localized as Himuro no Tench - These Seven Strongest Greats Arc) did exist and got shown as part of the YouTube Premiere of "Chaldea Broadcasting US Branch Vol. 8", but...

1) said stream was region locked to the US, Aus, and Canada (presumably for licensing reasons)
2) the stream vod was immediately privated to be replaced by an upload without the short
3) the short was never uploaded separately

As far as I can tell, they basically liscensed it for a single showing just to give context to why FGO players were about to receive a CE commemorating the short.
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Top Gun



Joined: 28 Sep 2007
Posts: 4830
PostPosted: Wed Dec 18, 2024 11:25 am Reply with quote
The Fateverse always seemed utterly impenetrable to me as an outsider, so this is incredibly useful. I'm not sure if it's something I'll ever try getting into, but I'll be sure to use this if I do.
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bassgs435



Joined: 21 Mar 2015
Posts: 378
PostPosted: Wed Dec 18, 2024 12:18 pm Reply with quote
I’d rather the author reccomeds skipping Prisma entirely. Loli fanservice and SoL is what gives it an identity and 3rei is great as the result of slow build up from what seems like a more light hearted magical girl show. Skipping to 3rei will severely damage the experience. Like going from season one of Hero Academia to season 6. 2wei and 2wei Herz is a must watch for anyone who wants to get into Prisma. If anyone hates it’s content I reccomend skipping Prisma entirely

I don’t like the modern tendency to focus only on what is seen as plot relevant, as plot focus means you lose on the attachment you get from simply watching characters deal with daily life and more mundane problems before they gotta tackle the serious plot, and I’d even leads to an “why should I care what happens to these characters I barely know?” effect

As a Type Moon fan, the article is better than I expected otherwise but the “skip from Prisma S1 to 3rei” is a part I heavily disagree with


Last edited by bassgs435 on Wed Dec 18, 2024 2:22 pm; edited 1 time in total
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tintor2



Joined: 11 Aug 2010
Posts: 2177
PostPosted: Wed Dec 18, 2024 1:32 pm Reply with quote
Like most of us, I started with Deen's version since it aired in my country. It really felt like the studio tried telling as many stories as possible with 24 episodes which kinda helped give Rin and Sakura more screentime than in the Fate visual novel. It didn't hit me in particular but when I learned of Zero and the staff I was confident with watching it. It was a strange experience. Saber felt like the laughing stock of Urobuchi considering not only Gilgamesh and Iskandar mock her, but Kiritsugu also doesn't care about her morals or honor. Kiritsugu is an undeniably cool character but it kinda felt sometimes like he didn't fit. While the ending was emotionally strong, spoiler[Saber once again ended as the worst treated character despite being the mascot.]

I later moved to Ufotable's UBW and while I liked the series, I kept wondering if the writers really hated Shirou and Saber. Shirou either ended powerless in the first cour and Saber just didn't get much to do. As soon as I heard Illya's spinoff I was completely against watching it. It was not until I heard they made a prequel movie focused on Shirou but with the magical girl or boy like style that could be seen in Bleach or Saint Seiya, that I decided to watch Vow in the Snow. Vow in the Snow Shirou was probably one of the coolest version of the character in the entire Fateverse especially when he spoiler[uses a card that borrows clothing from separate versions of himself. it's a shame they didn't really exploit this version of the character.]
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AniMangaNime



Joined: 02 Oct 2023
Posts: 47
PostPosted: Wed Dec 18, 2024 4:20 pm Reply with quote
What a wonderful and detailed article. Can you consider doing this again but with "Monogatari Series" next?
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TJ_Kat



Joined: 11 Jan 2007
Posts: 426
Location: Saskatoon, Canada
PostPosted: Wed Dec 18, 2024 8:47 pm Reply with quote
Thanks for the Prisma Illya review. I remember the first season not being too bad, then 2wei and 2wei Hertz made me swear off watching anything Prisma Illya related ever again. However if 3rei and the movies leave all that garbage behind and are actually decent, I might give them a try.
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bassgs435



Joined: 21 Mar 2015
Posts: 378
PostPosted: Wed Dec 18, 2024 8:56 pm Reply with quote
TJ_Kat wrote:
Thanks for the Prisma Illya review. I remember the first season not being too bad, then 2wei and 2wei Hertz made me swear off watching anything Prisma Illya related ever again. However if 3rei and the movies leave all that garbage behind and are actually decent, I might give them a try.
They don’t really ever drop it
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Snomaster1
Subscriber



Joined: 31 Aug 2011
Posts: 2943
PostPosted: Thu Dec 19, 2024 2:53 am Reply with quote
It looks like everyone here has a "Fate" show they like. Anyone here won't be surprised of my choice. It's the "Fate/Strange Fake" one that's coming up. I'm waiting for that and it looks really good. It looks like something I'm going to like a lot.
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