Directors Takahito Sakazume and Shun Enokido on Adapting Fate/strange Fake to the Small Screen

As the Fate series celebrates its 20th anniversary, Anime News Network was able to speak with Shun Enokido and Takahito Sakazume, the directors of the upcoming anime Fate/strange Fake. Together we talked about their history with the series, their philosophy when it comes to adapting the novels into animation, and the involvement of the original author, Ryohgo Narita.

Enokido has nearly a life-long love for the Fate series. “When I was in school, I was one of those fans of TYPE-MOON works who were fascinated by the cuteness of the characters drawn by Takashi Takeuchi and the world created by Kinoko Nasu,” he began. It wasn't until years later, in the 2010s, that both he and Sakazume began working on the anime adaptions of related works.

“The first [Fate-related] job I was involved in was a commercial for Fate/Grand Order, which I worked on with Enokido-san.” Sakazume continued, “That led to us working together as action directors on Fate/Apocrypha—and since then we have often worked together on Fate/Grand Order's [other] commercials.”

Like both Fate/Grand Order and Fate/Apocrypha, Fate/strange Fake is an adaptation rather than an original work—in this case, one penned by Ryogo Narita of Durarara!! and Dead Mount Death Play fame. Narita himself is deeply involved in the project—and he is not the only one. “From the script to the storyboards, Narita-san has been overseeing the process of turning it all into animation,” Enokido told me. “Morii Suzuki, who is the one behind the novel's illustrations, also checks them—adding to the level of detail for each of the characters,” Sakazume mentioned.

It is supremely important to both directors that they keep the spirit of Narita's novels alive when creating the anime version. “I have always maintained the basic principle of adhering to the original work when creating anime that has one,” Enokido explained. “One thing that stands out as particularly appealing about Narita-san's work is the way he creates an “ensemble drama woven together through many characters.' When adapting it into animation, we had to think about how we could bring out the individuality and drama in each of the characters as well.”

Luckily, animation allows for the visuals to carry part of this load. As Sakazume put it: “As directors, we are fortunate to have come from animation backgrounds and we are eager to give shape to our own form of 'animation expression' that we have cultivated over the years.”

Of course, adapting a novel to anime also comes with more than a few challenges. “Anime has time constraints due to the [episodic] format, so we are careful not to omit any of the good parts of the original work to the extent that this is possible,” Enokido told me before explaining more of their process. “I think the rhythm of Narita's writing style makes Fate/strange Fake so interesting. So when making it into an anime, we do a lot of trial and error in the composition of the scenes and dialogue—so that we can incorporate that sense of rhythm [into the show] through the tempo of the cuts and the sound direction.”

While Fate/strange Fake will be a normal TV anime, the directors were already able to start the story with the 55-minute television special Fate/strange Fake -Whispers of Dawn- last year. However, they didn't treat it as simple as an extra-long episode. “Since -Whispers of Dawn- was a television special, we were conscious of creating something visually 'cinematic.' The composition, colors, and characters were made in such a way as to reflect this,” Enokido explained. “Another feature of [-Whispers of Dawn-] is the interesting way in which Morii's drawings are animated cinematically,” Sakazume added. “We have repeatedly tested to find the right amount of information to be contained in the visuals that would still allow the viewer to experience the fun of the animation.” Enokido felt the same: “I was greatly inspired by the original illustrator, Shizuki Morii, to challenge myself to find ways to enhance the production.”

One way this is being done is through the setting. Unlike the previous Fate series, Fate/strange Fake takes place in the United States, in the fictional city of Snowfield. To create this location, so different from the cities of Japan, Enokido and Sakazume traveled to America. “In 2022, we visited Las Vegas and Los Angeles. The climate, the smells, the colors I saw—the width of the streets and the products on display in the supermarkets—everything was stimulating. It was as if a world that I had only seen on film was unfolding before my eyes,” Enokido said, reminiscing.

“In my case, it was my first time abroad, so it was a shock,” Sakazume told me. “The language and culture are different, so I was able to get all kinds of information that I don't get from my own living environment... I felt that there was a lot of variety in [the people's] everyday behavior and how they communicated.”

However, while Snowfield is based on the real-world American cities the pair visited, that doesn't mean it is a one-to-one reproduction. “There are parts [of Snowfield] that feel real and parts where I wanted to enhance it cinematically—so there may be parts of the anime that may not necessarily be confined to [the structure of] a realistic city,” Enokido clarified.

For all Fate/strange Fake has going for it, it still faces one obvious hurdle: the potential barrier to entry. After all, the Fate series has been pounding out new stories for 20 years. That's a lot of lore and history. However, Sakazume isn't too worried about this: “It would be difficult to watch all the other series, but even if Fate/strange Fake is your first time watching one of the Fate series, you will still be able to enjoy it!” On the other hand, if you happen to have spare time, Enokido has his own opinion as a hardcore fan, “Of course, I would recommend watching all of the Fate anime you possibly can. However, just watching the various Fate series may not be enough. I would be happy if our anime acts as a gateway to all TYPE-MOON works, from Tsukihime on!”