Fate/Stay Night - TV Series

Synopsis
(No spoilers included)

Spoiler:

Originally Posted by Take a guess

Fate/stay night chronicles events in the life of a 16-year old second-year high-school student, Shir? Emiya, who resides in Fuyuki City. At a young age his parents died in a fire and he was adopted by Kiritsugu Emiya, an enigmatic man who called himself a sorcerer. Eventually, Kiritsugu passed away as well.

Unknown to him and the rest of Fuyuki City, their city is the battleground for a secret war. When the time is right, sorcerers from near and far will gather with their Servants - the summoned spirits of legendary souls so mighty they exist outside of time - and fight a war for possession of the Holy Grail, a relic said to grant its owner a wish. The true names of the servants reveal their weaknesses, and so they are usually referred to by a classification of type instead: Saber, Archer, Rider, Berserker, Lancer, Caster, and Assassin.

When returning from cleaning his archery club's dojo one day, Shir? accidentally sees two of the servants, an Archer and a Lancer, battling in the school yard. To preserve the secrecy of the war, the Lancer mortally wounds him, but Rin T?saka, a girl who seemed like just another ordinary classmate until now, saves his life using a magical pendant. As he continues home, bewildered with the encounter, he is again attacked by Lancer. Just as he is about to be killed with no hope of surviving, a Saber-class servant appears before him, greeting him with the words



Inexorably, he is drawn further and further into the Grail War.

History of the Game

Spoiler:

Originally Posted by What is you dumb

Fate/stay night (????????????) is a Japanese visual novel game created by TYPE-MOON in 2004 that has been adapted into an anime television series, currently being broadcast in Japan, as well as a manga series, currently being published in the monthly Sh?nen Ace magazine. It has enjoyed immense popularity, especially in Japan, spawning numerous adaptations, merchandise, memorabilia and amassing an extensive fanbase around the world.

Fate/stay night was TYPE-MOON's first commercial work since transitioning from a d?jin soft group and when released in January 30, 2004, broke all records on its opening day, quickly becoming amongst the most popular visual novel games ever released. It appears to take place in the same world as their signature work, Tsukihime, although they explore different themes. A "fan disk" sequel, Fate/hollow ataraxia, was released on October 28, 2005. Both the original visual novel game and the sequel are adult-only eroge, but like many other visual novels such as Kanon or TYPE-MOON's own Tsukihime, it is well-known mainly for its expansive, comprehensive story and characters. Fate/stay night is scheduled to be released on the PS2 platform in 2006, in a version that will be intended for all ages.

This series made up for the huge disappointment that I found Lunar Legend Tsukihime to be. The anime translation of that series lacked much of what I found so appealing about the game's plot and characters (in addition to cool fight scenes). Maybe I was spoiled by Melty Blood. The animation wasn't very impressive either. Fortunately, Fate/Stay Night is a bit more faithful. While certain aspects of the storyline weren't followed (there were three branching "arcs" that you could follow in the game), the anime is still enjoyable.

Shirou, the main character, starts off as a pretty annoying and average joe. Fortunately this doesn’t last, although I’ve wanted to punch him in the face a few times just for screaming “SEEIBAAH.” The characters are likeable and cool for the most part. TYPE-MOON and the writers, due to the fact that this IS aimed at an audience under 18, alluded to a few of the darker and ecchi tones of the original h-game. If you’re already watching the series and have some knowledge of the game, then you know how much a bastard

Spoiler:

Shinji

really is. It was the first in a while that I was glad they killed a character off, as this asshole really deserved it.

While the writing’s not excellent, the feel and overall story of the original work is translated to television alright. As I said, certain elements are missing and I feel that had they been included, certain subplots would have been much, much better. In fact, there’s so much subplot and background in the original game that most of it didn’t make the cut. Past relationships, characters, and plot twists are somewhat muddled together and barely mentioned or hinted at. If you only have minimal knowledge of the game, then you’ll probably be left wondering how so-and-so are blahblahblah and why Joe is such a pessimist.

Despite it’s flaws, Fate/Stay Night is one of the better shows of the season.

Number of Episodes
- 24

Sub Groups
- Eclipse (I suck and couldn't find their homepage, so use Tokyotosho.com for a search)

Licensing Status
- Licensed (Geneon Entertainment)

Most amazing jew boots

Originally Posted by ms-07

ps obligatory:

Spoiler:

Best doujinshi ever made. I wish they adapted this into the anime in some impossible way or other.

Also might want to warn people that it's not exactly work-safe.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

I made a thread pre-crash (which had a bunch of pics from the Curtain Raiser teaser trailer), but you know, shit dies in crashes.

Game References

Spoiler:

I like how the "sex scene" involved Shirou getting his arm ripped off by a terrible CG dragon. Talk about bad, uncomfortable sex.

Zouken also briefly appears in Sakura/Rin's flashback in episode 18 (I think it's that episode). He's the one in the limo pulling away when Sakura is taken.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by Spatula

Regarding the game, I've not really seen much of what this "Japanese visual novel" game from TYPE-MOON looks like nor what its interface is like. Is this like a 2d fighter game (which I can see) or as some people mentioned an H type game with a "clicky adventure" interface.

For those of you who have played, what sources did you get the game from, and how easy is it to nagivate or play the game, assuming it's entirely in Japanese. I myself have played very few PC games in Japanese to keep my interest up, since much of how I progress is through guessing and testing.

From what I've seen, Tsukihime and Fate/Stay (and it's 'sequel' Ataraxia) play sort of like the dating sims. There are branching paths you can take which ultimately determine the outcome of the story (and in some cases, which girl you end up with).

Like chato said, the Melty Blood fighting game series plays like slightly toned down Guilty Gear.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Originally Posted by Spatula

I've played a few of the dating sims but found most of them pretty generic with predictable stories. But for Fate/Stay, I might actually bother to care for the characters. So I take it that the possible "dates" are: Tohsaka, Saber, and Sakura. But the game I'm guessing would be more focussed on building up your servant stats and such and duking it out.

Well, you can basically sex up just about every girl except Caster and Illya, I believe. Saber and Rin get it more, of course.

I was speaking idiomatically.

So, because the ending was 'sad' the series left a sour, almost 'ruined' taste in your mouths?

Go back to Digimon.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Might want to cut back on those ellipses before you make me cry-kill.

FELIPE NO

A Fate/Hollow Ataraxia anime would be kind of boring. I'd rather an OAV based on Heaven's Feel, since that one's pretty action packed and f'd up.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?