The anime in the "Fate" franchise has appeared since 2006 in many varied forms of adaptation, some of which are more famous than others. It is essential to understand them all and therefore to know in which order to watch them. This is not necessarily obvious, especially if you are just starting out. But to make it easier for you, we are going to detail some essential points about the anime and its series.
In what order should I watch Fate?
Depending on their chronological order in the saga, the Fate series can be simplified as follows:
- Fate/Zero (release date in 2011 – 2012). Tells the story that takes place 10 years before Fate/stay night. Seven Mages appointed by the Holy Grail summon seven legendary spirits to battle against each other so that only one remains.
- Fate/Stay Night (release date in 2006). Focuses on a two-week period in the life of an amateur mage (Shirō Emiya) who attends Homurahara Academy in the city of Fuyuki, Japan.
- Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works (released in 2010 – 2014). An anime series made by Ufotable, based on Type-Moon's visual novel Fate/stay night, whose story takes place in the same universe as Tsukihime. The story is marked by my discovery of the singularities of the powers of Shirō Emiya, who initially did not want to participate in the war.
- Fate/Stay Night: Heaven's Feel (film trilogy) (released in 2017 – 2020). The scenario is focused on Shiro Emiya, who must fight during the 5th Grail War in spite of himself.
- Fate/Grand Order (animated film in progress since 2020 -). Begins with an attack on the Chaldea organization and the discovery of a kind of parallel universe ("Singularity F"), where evil Servitors fight at the call of a mysterious Grail.
- Fate Apocrypha (released in 2017). The scene takes place in an alternate universe to Fate/stay night, where the Holy Grail has been missing for many years following the Third Grail War. In the 2000s, the group "Yggdmillennia" which claims to hold the Grail, announces the end of the Association of Mages.
- Fate/Extra Last Encore (2018). This is a kind of spin-off series that tells the story of Kishinami Hakuno (one of the main characters), who finds himself in a curious virtual universe where, having no memory of his past, he must fight to his survival in a war he knows nothing about, in order to win the ultimate prize of being able to fulfill his dearest wish.
To include ancillary works of the saga, here's the order in which you should view it:
- Fate Zero (2011-2012)
- Fate stay night (2006)
- Fate/stay night Unlimited Black Words ( 2014- 2015)
- Fate/stay Night (Heaven's Feel) I Presage Flower (2019)
- Fate stay Night (Heaven's Feel) II Lost Butterfly (2019)
- Fate stay Night (Heaven's Feel) III Spring Song (2020)
- Fate Strange Fake (2023)
Although there are a few suggestions for watching the Fate anime, we advise you to start with Fate Stay Nightwhich was published in 2006. Although this spoils some of the events that occur in the animated adaptations Unlimited Black Works and Heaven's Feel, you won't miss any of the details.
In fact, no matter what order you watch the Fate anime in, you're in for a treat, as they all reveal things about each other. However, as this is supposed to be the first episode of the anime, we suggest you start with Fate Stay Night.
The fundamentals of animation
The Fate license includes three well-defined main universes, as well as secondary spin-offs of all categories, of which we can mainly cite: Fate/Stay Night, Fate EXTRA (Fate/EXTRA Last Encore, the two games Fate Extella and Fate Grand Order For anime series in particular, they maintain a common theme and general ideology.
Basic concept
The Fate series is based on a clear fundamental concept: clashes ("Holy Grail Wars") between humans with magical powers ("mages") take place at regular intervals in a contemporary universe comparable to our own.
Magicians fight through the intermediary of "heroic spirits" (an incarnation of great figures from the history of mankind called upon to intervene in the Grail Wars). They often invoke real or mythological heroes such as Gilgamesh (Sumerian hero), Musashi Miyamoto (famous Japanese swordsman and philosopher), or Leonidas (king of Sparta and hero of the war against the Persian Empire in Antiquity).
Bound by a pact, master and servant fight with the ultimate goal of winning the Grail War to fulfill one of their most cherished wishes. Each servant has his own class, named in English to describe his preferred weapon and fighting style: Swordsman, Archer, Spearman, Caster, Rider, Assassin and Berserker.
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