Fate Anime—Where to Start and What's Worth Watching
by Kevin Cormack,
Ask a hundred fans of TYPE-MOON's intimidatingly huge Fate universe about the best place to start with the franchise, and get a hundred different answers. Founding writer Kinoko Nasu's even more expansive “Nasuverse” (of which the various Fate iterations are merely a component) began with three loosely-linked works: his unreleased 1996 novel Mahōtsukai no Yoru (Witch on the Holy Night), continuing with 1998–99 novel trilogy Kara no Kyoukai (The Garden of Sinners), and 2000's Tsukihime visual novel.
While Tsukihime was the Nasuverse's first major success, Nasu and TYPE-MOON's 2004 visual novel Fate/stay night shot the company's popularity into the stratosphere. Twenty years later, the Fate series encompasses a dizzying number of video games, books, manga, drama CDs and many different anime. Both Tsukihime and The Garden of Sinners also received their own anime adaptations, and a highly anticipated studio ufotable Witch on the Holy Night anime movie is currently in production.
With 2024 bringing not only the official translation of Tsukihime visual novel remake A Piece of Blue Glass Moon but also the original Fate/stay night visual novel to English-speaking audiences and sequel Fate/Hollow Ataraxia confirmed for eventual release, Western TYPE-MOON fans have never had it better. Understandably, not everyone wants to commit to reading several seventy-hour-plus visual novels, so that's where anime comes in. While we'll (briefly) touch on non-Fate anime later, the purpose of this article is to cover all of Fate's multitudinous anime adaptations, with context regarding their origins and relations to one another. Detailed discussions of manga, novels, and video games are beyond the scope of this article, primarily because there are so many, a large proportion unavailable in English. Sticking with anime provides enough material to get one's (True Ancestor) teeth into!
What it is: Where better to start than with Kinoko Nasu and illustrator Takashi Takeuchi's original 2004 Fate/stay night visual novel? Belatedly released in English on Steam and Nintendo Switch in August 2024, finally, it's legitimate for Fate fans to suggest newbies “read the visual novel” first! However, that's a big ask, considering in its entirety, it's longer than The Lord of the Rings.
What it's about: Shirō Emiya is the orphaned adopted son of mage Kiritsugu Emiya. He lives in his deceased adoptive father's home in Fuyuki City, attended to by his female schoolmate Sakura and his homeroom teacher Taiga Fujimura, a family friend. Shirō is drawn into the mysterious “Fifth Holy Grail War,” a secret battle between seven mages, nominated by several opposing factions, who summon magical “servants” to fight as proxies in order to win the “Holy Grail," an omnipotent magical wish-granting device. Each servant is a legendary historical hero, belonging to one of seven main “classes:" Saber/Archer/Lancer/Rider/Caster/Assassin/Berserker, each with their own particular skills and magical abilities. Shirō inadvertently summons the beautiful young woman Saber, who offers to fight on his behalf so that she can gain the Holy Grail for the sake of her own wish.
Fate/stay night is divided into three main routes, each with a completely different story. Route one, "Fate," focuses on Shirōs relationship with the mysterious Saber. Route two, "Unlimited Blade Works," focuses on Shirō's fellow mage and Grail War opponent, Rin Tohsaka, along with her apparently nameless servant Archer. Route three, "Heaven's Feel," focuses on Shirō's friend Sakura Matō, and is by far the darkest of the three. Each route features a different philosophical examination of Shirō's ideals, and the visual novel routes are best read in the order "Fate">"Unlimited Blade Works">"Heaven's Feel."
What should I watch first?: Entire dissertations could be written discussing the arguments for starting with several different options, but I'll cover them in the order that makes the most sense, which other fans are most welcome to noisily disagree with in the comments.
What it is: A 24-episode Studio DEEN TV anime from 2006. Streams on Crunchyroll in North America, but not in the U.K. Blu-ray is available from Sentai (U.S.) and MVM (U.K.).
Worth watching?: Possibly, but with major caveats.
Why: As with many others, Studio DEEN's maligned "Fate" route adaptation was my first experience of the Fate universe. And I liked it! Compared to the later anime, it looks pretty terrible, has wonky pacing, and is full of spoilers for the other routes because DEEN jammed in plot points and events, mainly from "Heaven's Feel" into the later episodes. Some fans advise skipping this altogether, but it's the only "Fate" route anime adaptation we have, and there are a couple of reasonably decent fan edits out there in the depths of the internet that do a respectable job of removing the spoilery aspects. If you're willing to put up with some jank and want to watch the anime adaptations in the correct visual novel order, you could start here.
What it is: A 105-minute Studio DEEN anime movie from 2010. Blu-ray is available from Sentai (U.S.) and MVM (U.K.), with no streaming options.
Worth watching?: Absolutely not.
Why?: Cramming F/SN's entire second route into a single movie is a bad choice that leads to an incomprehensible, rushed story. Despite boasting far superior visuals to DEEN's own "Fate" route TV show and an excellent soundtrack, I like to pretend this version doesn't exist, as only four years later…
What it is: A 26-episode studio ufotable TV anime from 2014. Streams on Crunchyroll. Blu-ray is available from Aniplex USA or MVM (U.K.).
Worth watching?: Yes.
Why?: Now this is more like it — a full 26-episode adaptation of the second cite>F/SN route. It even animates the visual novel's prologue as an episode zero, which could arguably be watched prior even to starting DEEN's earlier "Fate" adaptation. While this is studio ufotable's second Fate anime, their first (Fate/Zero) is full of spoilers for "Heaven's Feel," so I prefer to follow the visual novel order. Some fans recommend missing out on the "Fate" route anime and starting here instead, but that robs Saber of most of her characterization.
ufotable's production is gorgeous, leading to the long-standing fan meme “Unlimited Budget Works” when it comes to the stupendously flashy and exciting fight sequences, of which there are many. While the show is perhaps a tad overlong (the second part can drag a little), this is orders of magnitude superior to DEEN's movie version. For fun, after watching this, you can go seek out the as-yet-unfinished Fate/Abridged fandub/fan-edit series on YouTube, which is absolutely hilarious, though it does generously spoil everything from every route, so be careful!
What it is: A trilogy of movies from studio ufotable, adapting the third and final F/SN route, released between 2017 and 2020. Available on various VOD services, plus Aniplex USA and MVM U.K. Blu-ray.
Worth watching?: Oh my goodness, yes!
Why?: There's a reason all those Demon Slayer fans writhe in excitement with each new achingly-padded, drawn-out episode, and it's because ufotable could animate paint drying, and it would look amazing. ufotable brings their incredible mastery of both 2D and 3D animation, plus their peerless execution of intense, flashy action scenes, to a story that's actually good. Heaven's Feel is a dark, twisted, traumatic story that explores the catastrophic effect of physical and psychological abuse on the route's primary heroine. It's not for the faint-hearted, but it is incredibly rewarding for fans who have first experienced the two other routes. Mysteries are resolved, and seemingly inviolable concepts are inverted or subverted. Shirō is faced with brutal, cruel choices that challenge the ideals at the bedrock of his personality. This is an incredible trilogy of films that truly do justice to bringing an upsetting, but compulsive, visual novel to horrifying life.
What it is: Studio ufotable's first Fate anime (though not their first Nasuverse foray), this is a 25-episode TV series from 2011–2012. Based on a four-volume series of Fate/stay night prequel novels by Gen Urobuchi (Madoka Magica, Psycho-Pass, Thunderbolt Fantasy), it's set ten years before Fate/stay night, it chronicles the disastrous Fourth Holy Grail War. Streams on Crunchyroll. Blu-ray is available from Aniplex USA or MVM (U.K.).
Worth watching?: YES.
Why?: Widely regarded by fans and critics alike as the best Fate anime, Fate/Zero is a Greek tragedy writ large on an animated canvas of despair, pain, and suffering. It juggles an enormous cast skilfully, allowing a wide variety of characters ample time to shine. It very thoroughly spoils many of the central mysteries of Fate/stay night while arguably telling a bigger story with a larger scope. Once again, Saber is the poster girl, though this is a younger iteration whose experiences will shape her guarded presentation in the later Fifth Holy Grail War.
Fate/Zero's cast is full of timeless pairings — like young mage Waver Velvet with Rider servant Iskandar, and creepy priest Kirei Kotomine with legendary King of Heroes Gilgamesh. Several of Fate/stay night's central human cast members are represented here through the tragic stories of their parents, and we come to understand how Kiritsugu Emiya's tortured ideology came to so profoundly influence his son Shirō. If you intend to watch only one Fate anime, this is the one to choose. Personally, I feel it works best in context with knowledge gained from all three F/SN routes, yet many others differ.
What it is: A 2019 studio TROYCA-animated 13-episode TV sequel to Fate/Zero following a grown-up Waver Velvet, now a Professor of Magecraft at the Clock Tower, the Mage Association's London headquarters. It's bookended by a 2018 prequel episode zero OVA and a 2021 sequel OVA. Based on a series of novels, it's set roughly two years before the events of Fate/stay night. Streams on Crunchyroll. Blu-ray is available from Aniplex USA or MVM (U.K.).
Worth watching?: Yes, but deeper knowledge of the wider Fate universe is recommended, especially Fate/stay night and Fate/Zero, maybe even Fate/Apocrypha.
Why?: Bright-eyed and idealistic mage Waver Velvet has survived the Fourth Holy Grail War, and has grown up into the perma-smoking, facial frown-line-sporting, long-haired, perpetually-tired, and exasperated university lecturer we all love. He's essentially Magic Sherlock Holmes, investigating impenetrable mysteries involving a large cast of characters taken from other Fate timelines. We've got characters from Prisma Illya, Apocrypha, and Grand Order, among others. It's not essential to know them all, but it's a lot more enjoyable if you do.
This fun mystery series describes itself as a “whydunnit” rather than a “whodunnit”, which tends to mean the solution to each episode's mystery relies on woolly Calvinball-esque Fate logic. This basically means the writers have carte blanche to write whatever nonsense they want, as long as it makes sense to the magecraft-using characters, audience be damned. I love it, but it requires a high bullshit tolerance level from its viewers.
What it is: A 16-episode studio Lerche OVA from 2011–2012, it's a scattershot comedy poking fun at characters from Fate/stay night, Fate/Hollow Ataraxia, Tsukihime, and Melty Blood. Based on a 2004–2005 gag manga. One episode adapts Fate/Prototype, Kinoko Nasu's original vision for Fate/stay night.
Worth watching?: Yes! Though it's not legally available. Why must you neglect us like this, Aniplex?
Why?: I guess the benefit of the expansive Nasuverse is that everything is canon, including this wonderfully demented sketch show full of deranged skits that, although it works best if you know the characters, remains a good time for the uninitiated, too. Probably don't start with this one; the more Nasuverse knowledge you have, the funnier this will be — especially some of the cleverer running gags. It's nice to know that in one universe, everyone isn't living lives of permanent doom and gloom but of silly fun.
What it is: A 13-episode studio ufotable short-form anime from 2018–2019, based on an ongoing manga that started in 2016. A cooking show! Streams on Crunchyroll.
Worth watching?: Yes! This may, legitimately, be the greatest of all Fate anime.
Why?: This is the closest thing that the mostly slice-of-life-focused Fate/Hollow Ataraxia visual novel currently has to an anime adaptation. In this reality, the Fifth Holy Grail War ended peacefully; no one was killed, and each master and their servant continued to hang around in Fuyuki City. Everyone is on more-or-less friendly terms with one another (with a few notable, hilarious exceptions), so now the major focus is on everyone turning up unannounced at Shirō's place expecting to be fed. It's not that different from Fate/stay night, then, just without the horrifying violence. We're treated to cozy, chill episodes where Shirō and friends buy ingredients, cook, and eat yummy food. It's wonderful but works best if you're very familiar with all three Fate/stay night routes.
What it is: Fate does magical girls! Based on an ongoing manga.
What it's about: Starring F/SN's terrifying elementary school student Illya, in this reality, her parents Kiritsugu and Irisviel are still alive. She lives with her adopted brother Shirō and two fussy maids in domestic bliss. She becomes a magical girl when magical Kaleidostick Ruby rejects her current master, Rin Tohsaka, instead granting Illya powers. Mentored by Rin and her arch-rival Luvia, Illya and her new magical girl friend Miyu hunt down Servant Cards to gain the Holy Grail.
What should I watch first?: Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya season 1. Familiarity with at least Fate/stay night is preferable.
What it is: The first ten episodes (+OVA) of the Fate magical girl spinoff show! Streams on Crunchyroll. Available on Blu-ray from Sentai (U.S.) and Anime Limited (U.K.).
Worth watching?: Yes. Why are you backing slowly away? Stop, it's good! Please believe me!
Why?: Kinoko Nasu always wanted there to be a fourth F/SN route, focusing on Berserker's master Illyasviel Einzbern, but due to time constraints, some of her scenes were instead folded into the third route. Prisma Illya is an attempt to give Illya her own story, though it's very different from F/SN. Think Card Captor Sakura… but Fate… with “mana transfers.” Yeah, Prisma Illya is one of the only Fate anime not to be coy about the fact that mages use sexual activity to share mana… And this is a show about elementary school-aged kids. Oh dear, no wonder it has such an iffy reputation.
This first season isn't too overtly sexualized, and the story builds well over the course of its ten episodes, developing the friendship and rivalry between Illya and Miyu, interspersed with some excellent action scenes and plenty of cool F/SN references.
What it is: The second and third seasons of Prisma Illya. Streams on Crunchyroll. U.S. Blu-ray from Sentai. No U.K. Blu-ray.
Worth watching?: Ugh, no.
Why?: This is the show you've been warned about. Two ten-episode seasons (+OVA) of pure plotless fluff, jam-packed with uncomfortable and exploitative sexualization of underage girls. I suffered through the entirety of this, so you don't have to. The only relevant plot aspect is the introduction of Chloe/Kuro, Illya's “dark” twin. Most of the discomfort comes from Chloe's repeated attempts to harvest mana by sexually assaulting her sister or her classmates. Yuck. Skip this.
What it is: The fourth season of Prisma Illya. Streams on Crunchyroll. No U.S. or U.K. Blu-ray.
Worth watching?: Unbelievably, yes.
Why?: 3rei's twelve episodes are like "Heaven's Feel" of Prisma Illya, but with much less creepy sexual stuff. Something suddenly clicks with the unexpected shift in setting to a dying alternate world. It's much darker and more dramatic, the action animation reaches almost ufotable quality at times, and it's almost enough to completely banish the horrid taste left behind by 2WEI and 2WEI Hertz.
3rei's extended cast is full of interesting characters like Kid Gilgamesh, a slightly older/more traumatized version of Shirō Emiya, a hideously debased version of Shinji Matō, and Fate/Hollow Ataraxia's Bazett McRemitz gets time to shine. Watch season one, skip seasons two and three, and jump straight to this.
What it is: Vow in the Snow, released in August 2017, is a prequel to 3rei, explaining Miyu's backstory, and the state of the dying alternate world. Licht Nameless Girl, released August 2021, is a direct sequel to 3rei, while the upcoming third movie will continue the story further. Streams on HIDIVE. U.S. Blu-rays from Sentai. No U.K. Blu-rays.
Worth watching?: Yes!
Why?: Both currently-released Prisma Illya movies are a world apart in quality compared to the second and third seasons of the TV show. Deep, serious, dark, spectacle-filled extravaganzas, in my opinion, these films almost reach ufotable "Heaven's Feel" levels of drama and spectacle. Vow in the Snow provides the heartbreaking backstory for Miyu that recontextualizes everything about her character. In contrast, Licht Nameless Girl is a superb continuation of 3rei's heavy story. These are absolutely not to be missed and sadly seem to have gone more or less ignored by Fate fandom as a whole. Prisma Illya's source manga is still (very slowly) ongoing, so who knows how many more films it will take to finish the story?
Worth watching?: Yes, but only if you're familiar with the Prisma Illya world.
Why?: This is exactly the same idea as Carnival Phantasm, but instead of poking fun at multiple aspects of the Nasuverse, this one remains laser-focused on Prisma Illya. It's extremely funny, but the relatively obscure jokes will leave non-Illya-veterans shaking their head in confusion.
What it is: Kinoko Nasu's license to print money, the world-conquering mobile gacha game celebrating its ninth anniversary in 2024.
What's it about?: Following an unprecedented worldwide disaster, the Chaldea Organization's inexperienced mage, Ritsuka Fujimaru, is mankind's final master. Together with demi-servant partner Mash Kyrielight, Ritsuka must rayshift (sort-of-time-travel) to “singularities,” which are corrupted periods of human history, summoning multiple servants to retrieve the holy grails that have caused history to veer off course. If Ritsuka fails, then humanity will be “incinerated.”
What should I watch first?: Fate/Grand Order: First Order
What it is: A 74-minute OVA from 2016 by studio Lay-duce adapting Fate/Grand Order's prologue, the “Fuyutsuki Singularity.” In some ways, it's a twist on Fate/stay night's Holy Grail War, with which it shares a setting, but many details are different. Streams on Crunchyroll. Blu-ray from Aniplex USA or MVM (U.K.).
Worth watching?: If you want to watch the rest of the Fate/Grand Order anime, then yes. If not, it's skippable.
Why?: Look, this anime is mainly made for fans (like me) who are already familiar with Fate/Grand Order and have perhaps even already sold their souls/worldly possessions/children to feed their burgeoning gacha addiction. It's fun seeing the prologue chapter get animated, but this is nothing special as far as anime is concerned. The action is serviceable, and the story is kind of predictable. Still, it's decent enough as a starting point for those who want to experience the broader sweep of F/GO's story without prostrating themselves before the god of RNG.
What it is: A pair of movies from 2020 and 2021, animated by Signal.MD and Production I.G, covering Fate/Grand Order's sixth singularity: Camelot. Streaming on Crunchyroll in North America. Aniplex USA Blu-rays are available. Unavailable to stream or buy in the U.K., as Aniplex seems to hate us.
Worth watching?: Yes
Why?: F/GO initially received much criticism from fans for its relatively poor story. While the Nasu-written prologue was reasonable, singularities one through five were uninspiring. This all changed when Nasu returned with the sixth singularity, "Camelot," an epic story deepening many of the Arthurian mythological elements first introduced in Fate/stay night. TYPEMOON polled fans on which singularity they'd most like animated, and "Camelot" won second place, scoring a two-part movie adaptation.
It's completely fine to jump from First Order to Camelot, considering how unimportant the interstitial chapters are. This pair of films, coming to just over three hours in total runtime, do an excellent job at slimming down Nasu's often bloated prose and meandering plotlines into a tight, exciting story. This streamlined approach does cost some supporting Servants their more detailed characterization, and some characters are cut entirely, but for clarity's sake, I feel these decisions are worthwhile. The second movie's extended climax is undeniably spectacular, even if the story is somewhat incomprehensible. I only wish my beloved three-star assassin, Serenity, got a little more screen time.
What it is: A 22-episode TV adaptation of F/GO's seventh singularity, Babylonia. Streams on Crunchyroll. Aniplex USA Blu-rays are available. No U.K. Blu-ray.
Worth watching?: Yes!
Why?: This is undeniably the very best F/GO anime adaptation. It includes an “episode zero” prequel episode that could be watched straight after First Order, but the rest of the show is best watched after both Camelot movies, if possible. Given ample time to breathe, Babylonia's extensive cast of colorful characters really comes alive in this excellent anime from CloverWorks. There's a good reason that Babylonia won Aniplex's fan poll for best singularity — it's another Nasu-written epic, with an enormous word count to match. A TV show fits this huge story far better than a movie format ever could.
Set in ancient Babylonia, we meet another version of Fate/stay night's King of Heroes, Gilgamesh, but are also introduced to his mythical demigod friend Enkidu, along with twin goddesses Ishtar and Ereshkigal, two of my all-time favorite F/GO characters. While the CG used in some of the larger action sequences looks more than a little wonky, this is an exciting and compelling historical fantasy epic, effortlessly evoking the tone of those amazing old Ray Harryhausen films full of monsters and heroism.
What it is: A 94-minute 2021 movie from CloverWorks, the conclusion of Fate/Grand Order's Part 1 storyline. Basically, the Avengers Endgame of F/GO. Streams on Crunchyroll, as does the stage play adaptation! Aniplex USA Blu-ray is available. No U.K. Blu-ray.
Worth watching?: Maybe.
Why?: Despite its existence as a movie, Solomon more or less shares production quality with Babylonia, which is unsurprising considering the same studio made it. It looks more like an extended TV special than a theatrical film in that it's nowhere near as impressive as either of the Camelot movies.
It's worth watching as a capstone to the F/GO story, but it can't hope to stand on its own. Anime-only viewers are likely to be left baffled by references to unadapted singularities, and the relentless cameos of unfamiliar servants will leave non-gacha addicts cold. This story worked far better in game form as an incredible climactic raid battle that encouraged F/GO masters all over the world to work together to fight the final bosses. Unfortunately, this rather workmanlike adaptation can't hope to inspire the same enthusiasm as its progenitor. I find the anime version of Solomon fairly dull.
What it is: A short 33-minute OVA from 2017 that allegedly bridges the gap between Part 1 and Part 2 of F/GO's story. Part of the Fate Project New Year's Eve TV Special 2017 Broadcast. Streams on Crunchyroll. No physical release.
Worth watching?: No.
Why?: I've been playing and reading F/GO for years, and I still have no clue as to what this OVA is all about. A wasted half hour of incomprehensibility.
What it is: A 14-minute short OVA from 2017, an adaptation of an untranslated 4-koma comedy manga featuring a mashup between Fate/Hollow Ataraxia characters and F/GO characters. Part of the Fate Project New Year's Eve TV Special 2017 Broadcast.
Worth watching?: Unknown.
Why? There's no English translation of this; it may be a bit too obscure for most Western Fate fans.
What it is: Two 30-minute episodes from 2021 that do for F/GO what Carnival Phantasm did for F/SN. It even comes with an updated version of the theme song! Streams on Crunchyroll. Aniplex USA Blu-ray is available. No U.K. Blu-ray.
Worth watching?: Yes, but for hardcore F/GO fans only.
Why?: Full of deep cuts and references to obscure Fate lore, this is absolutely not suitable for newcomers. I wouldn't even recommend this to F/GO anime fans unfamiliar with the game itself, as it features multiple characters who have never appeared in anime before, along with many nods and jokes about game mechanics. Ritsuka Fujimaru appears as their red-headed female variant in this version, unlike the male Ritsuka in the “serious” anime adaptations. Grand Carnival is quite amusing, but I don't feel it's as consistently funny as Carnival Phantasm. Some jokes are stretched far too thin, and the comedic timing suffers as a result. Still, it's a good time for hardened F/GO veterans. In the absence of Tsukihime's "La Creatura/Neco" Arc, it's funny to see “neco” versions of various F/GO characters…
What it is: A fifteen-minute short anime from 2018, adapting Riyo's chaotic parody/supposedly “educational” manga. Streams on Aniplex USA's YouTube channel.
Worth watching?: For F/GO veterans, yes!
Why?: Riyo's anarchic take on the often very serious Fate universe is deliriously deranged, and his long-running F/GO companion comic is a surreal delight. This short but incredibly sweet animation adapts the cuteness and insanity of the manga spectacularly well. The female protagonist (affectionately named by fans as “Gudako”) is a terrifying force of nature/laziness, while many of the servants develop strange and unexpected character quirks. I'd pay a not-insignificant fortune for an entire season of this.
What it is: Season one comprises 33 short two-minute comedy episodes. Season two recently started. Streams on Aniplex USA's YouTube channel.
Worth watching?: Not really.
Why?: It's an incredibly low-budget, scrappy-looking comedy skit-based anime. It's vaguely amusing, but the humor doesn't do it for me. I can't handle more than a couple of episodes at a time without losing interest.
Other Fate anime:
What it is: A 25-episode 2017 TV anime from A-1 Pictures based on a series of five light novels. Set in an alternative world to F/SN, where during the Third Holy Grail War, the Holy Grail is stolen from Japan and taken to Romania by the Yggdmillennia family. Sixty years later, the Fourth Holy Grail War develops very differently… F/A streams on Netflix and Blu-ray are available from Aniplex USA or MVM (U.K.).
Worth watching?: Yes, but best to watch at least F/SN and possibly Fate/Zero first.
Why?: If the large F/SN and Fate/Zero casts can be difficult to keep track of, F/A essentially doubles the number of Masters and Servants. This time, there are two sides with seven Masters and seven Servants, each battling over the Holy Grail in central Europe, plus a new Servant type is introduced: Rulers.
That F/A manages to remain coherent despite its enormous cast is a miracle in itself, though perhaps the rather high character attrition rate has something to do with it. Filled with excellent and interesting characters like Jeanne D'Arc, William Shakespeare, Vlad the Impaler, Frankenstein's Monster, and even Jack the Ripper, F/A is a whole lot of fun. It also features my all-time favorite Fate character, Astolfo, who is so funny and endearing. F/A does rely on the viewer's understanding of the minutiae behind Holy Grail Wars. It directly references lore and mechanics related to "Heaven's Feel," so perhaps it isn't a great entry point for newcomers.
What it is: A 13-episode 2018 TV anime from studio Shaft. An adaptation of/sequel to the 2010 PSP game Fate/Extra, it's set in a very different universe to every other Fate property, where magic has disappeared from the Earth, and Holy Grail Wars now only occur in simulated form within the supercomputer network of the Moon Cell, high up in orbit. Streams on Netflix. Aniplex USA Blu-ray is available. No U.K. Blu-ray.
Worth watching?: No.
Why?: I don't know what possessed Kinoko Nasu to pen a sequel to the bad ending of a long out-of-print PSP game no longer available for purchase anywhere. Surely, that significantly limits one's audience? Anyway, the only aspects of note from this otherwise incomprehensible mess of an anime are the fact it stars the iconic Red Saber (umu!)—and is animated by the inimitable Shaft—with direction from the legendary Akiyuki Simbo. Despite often looking very pretty, this poorly-conceived abomination is a waste of time for all but the most obsessed Fate/Extra fans, of which there presumably aren't that many. Perhaps the upcoming 2025 game remake Fate/Extra Record may help to make sense of this?
What it is: A single one-hour special adapting the beginning of the (so far) nine-volume Fate/strange Fake novel series. A full TV series adaptation will premiere on December 31! Streams on Crunchyroll.
Worth watching?: Yes, but extensive knowledge of F/SN, Fate/Zero, Lord El-Melloi, F/GO, and Tsukihime is advised.
Why?: Fate/strange Fake relies on the viewer's familiarity with so many Nasuverse constituents because its main purpose is to subvert as many of them as possible. There's a reason it started off as an April Fool's joke before metamorphosing into a full-blown novel series. It's like an entire subreddit of shitposts crammed into a concentrated container, given physical form and permission to cause chaos. This “fake” Holy Grail War occurs on U.S. soil and is filled with unusual masters and even more bizarre servants. Gilgamesh returns (again), as does F/GO Babylonia's Enkidu, plus we also have Tsukihime's Dead Apostles (vampires) to deal with. Kinoko Nasu previously advised that Fate worlds and Tsukihime worlds were completely separate from one another, but Fate/strange Fake seems to exist to break all the rules, which is quite exciting from a narrative perspective.
Non-Fate Nasuverse anime:
What it is: Studio ufotable's first Nasuverse anime, based on a series of Nasu-written light novels, this was a several-years-spanning project comprising eight theatrical movies and two OVAs, with varying runtimes from thirty minutes to two hours. Movies 1–7 and OVA 1 Blu-rays are available in a box set from Aniplex USA and MVM UK. Movie 8 and its associated OVA are currently unavailable to stream or buy.
Worth watching?: Yes. No other Nasuverse knowledge is necessary.
Why?: This is a dark, compelling, extremely violent, and deliberately confusing series told in anachronic order. Mainly concerned with the exploits of Mystic Eyes of Death-wielding Shiki Ryōgi, she works as an investigator for Witch on the Holy Night's main antagonist, the mage Tōko Aozaki (who also appears later in Lord El Melloi II's Case Files). Shiki's understated relationship with the “normal” and reliable Mikiya Kokutō provides the emotional backbone on which is hung a complex and unsettling story of murder, obsession, mistaken identity, and magecraft-fuelled greed. While it has no direct Fate references, it prominently features mages and plot devices intricately associated with Fate lore.
What it is: A 12-episode 2003 TV anime from studio J.C. Staff adapting the 2000 doijinsoft visual novel Tsukihime. Streams on HIDIVE in the U.S. No U.K. streaming options. DVDs are available (most likely secondhand) from Sentai (U.S.) and MVM (U.K.).
Worth watching?: No, apparently not.
Why?: Even Tsukihime fans like to pretend this show was never made. It's the only anime on this list I've not seen personally, so check out this article by fellow ANN writer Kennedy, who revisits the series.
What it is: An upcoming movie adaptation of the Nasu-written 2012 (remastered 2021) visual novel from studio ufotable.
Worth watching?: Hopefully!
Why?: The visual novel (available in English for PS4, Switch, and Steam) makes an excellent place to start a Nasuverse journey by virtue of the fact that its original, unpublished 1990s novel form was the very first story Nasu wrote based in this universe. The recently-released trailer looks incredible, and I doubt ufotable will do a bad job of the adaptation, considering their nigh-perfect hit rate with TYPE-MOON anime so far.
I hope that's been a helpful rundown of every Fate/Nasuverse anime to date. It's an enormous media franchise, only a fraction of which is easily available in English, but this list of anime is more than enough to get started with, at least!
Kevin Cormack is a Scottish medical doctor, husband, father, and lifelong anime obsessive. He writes as Doctorkev at https://medium.com/anitay-official and appears regularly on The Official AniTAY Podcast. You can also find him on Twitter @Herrdoktorkev. His accent is real.
Disclosure: Kadokawa World Entertainment (KWE), a wholly owned subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, is the majority owner of Anime News Network, LLC. One or more of the companies mentioned in this article are part of the Kadokawa Group of Companies.
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