Quick Info
Director: Shun Enokido and Takahito Sakazume
Distributor: Crunchyroll
Episode Count: 13
Runtime: 325 minutes
Availability: Streaming on Crunchyroll
Story Summary
In the city of Snowfield in the United States, a Holy Grail War has begun. The Masters have gathered, and the Servants are being summoned, but this Holy Grail War is different; there are more Masters and Servants than there should be. What’s going on, and who will make it out alive?
The Author of “Durarara!!” Is Having So Much Fun!
Ryōgo Narita, the author of Durarara!! Is the author of Fate/Strange Fake. He had a lot of fun with this plot, and it really shows. He excels at a story with a large cast, and the adaptation shows off a lot of that cast.
The story is a fun, entertaining ride if you’re already a Fate fan. It is not meant for newcomers, but longtime fans of various Type-Moon franchises, and I’ll explain that later in the article.
The Masters, both real and fake, are all interesting people to watch as they begin to fight each other for the Holy Grail.
All the characters are unique; they may not be as fleshed out in the anime because the light novels have a lot of extra details that the anime doesn’t adapt, but it’s still an entertaining anime.
The Animation Is Spectacular!
A-1 Pictures animated Fate/Strange Fake, and the animation looks amazing. It has a unique art style that makes it unique among the various Fate anime adaptations. What the studio excels at is the fight scenes, and boy, are they a lot of fun!
The fights are spectacular, and while I enjoy them a lot, I know that some fans only watch the Fate franchise for the fight scenes. I find that to be a very shallow reason to get into the franchise. People still enjoy the fights, while I enjoy everything about the series, the character interactions, the setting, and the fights.
The fights are well-choreographed, and the animation looks amazing for each fight. The fights are all story-related, and there are plenty of surprises if you’ve watched other Type-Moon media, because all the fights are based on story and character lore since characters are based on historical or mythological figures.
The fights are an adrenaline rush that all fans will enjoy, and they’re a visual spectacle to behold.
Everything in the anime has a great presentation, and if you’re looking for an anime with great visuals, this is definitely a visual treat.
The English Dub Is Great!
The voice acting for the English dub is great. I love the English cast for most Fate entries, and this one is great, bringing back voice actors David Vincent as Gilgamesh and Marin Miller reprises the role of Enkidu.
There are plenty of newcomers for new characters, and I like them a lot. The voice cast choices are excellent. Some that stood out to me are Khoi Dao as Flatt Escardos, and Anjali Kunapaneni as Ayaka Sajyou.
The Japanese dub is also great with an amazing cast, so no matter what language track you pick, you’ll enjoy the voice acting performances. It’s a great English dub and Japanese dub overall, so you should watch the anime twice so you can hear both voice tracks.
The Soundtrack Is Great!
The soundtrack for Fate/Strange Fake is excellent. Hiroyuki Sawano worked on the soundtrack for the anime, and it’s very nice. The soundtrack is very well done and sounds grand and epic when it needs to, and is good background music.
The opening for the anime is "Provant" by SawanoHiroyuki[nZk]:Jean-Ken Johnny & TAKUMA, and the ending is "Senzaiteki na Ai" (Potential Love) by 13.3g. The music is great, and I enjoyed the opening and ending a lot.
Overall, the music is fantastic. It fits the anime very well. The soundtrack is great and fun to listen to, but not my favorite.
The Pacing Is Very Fast!
The pacing for Fate/Strange Fake is very fast. It speeds through events, and what I’ve heard from light novel readers is that the anime skipped several scenes from the light novel and removed them from the adaptation.
During the later episodes, a lot of content is cut from the anime because they were rushing to adapt some of the later volumes. While anime fans won’t notice, light novel readers noticed and didn’t like the anime as much as people who haven’t read the source material.
The fast pacing, because of the cut content, makes it a very weird adaptation. It also makes the story feel uneven because of all the cut content.
This is Not Meant to be Your First Entry
Contrary to what YouTuber Gigguk says, Fate/Strange Fake is NOT a great place to start your Type-Moon journey because it’s a giant love letter to Type-Moon in general, not just Fate. Sure, you can start with it, but you won’t understand what’s going on because there’s an unspoken rule breaking going on that only fans of the franchise, but Fate/Stay Night and Tsukihime will know, but a newcomer wouldn’t. They also throw in a lot of references that will fly over your head if you have no previous experience with the franchise, and it’s meant for established fans to enjoy, not newcomers to the franchise.
This is the worst place for a newcomer to start because this is written by fans, for fans, like the Fate/Grand Order anime adaptations; those are meant for people who played the gacha game and want to see the “cool scenes” animated.
This entire series is fanservice for longtime fans, and while newcomers can watch it you won’t enjoy it half as much if you’re new because all the fun references will just fly over your head. It’s not like the anime is going anywhere, so you should read Fate/Stay Night, Tsukihime, and watch Fate/Apocrypha and El-Melloi II’s Case Files to get full enjoyment out of Fate/Strange Fake.
It's Not Perfect, But It's Fun
Fate/Strange Fake is a fun entry to the Fate franchise; it’s not quite the turn-your-brain-off “popcorn” Fate entry like Fate/Apocrypha, but it is a fun and entertaining anime to watch. It’s absolutely fitting for an American Holy Grail War to be off-the-rails and crazy, and Fate/Strange Fake delivers that.
It’s got stunning animations, a great story, and characters that are memorable, incorporating aspects from both the Fate franchise and Tsukihime. It isn’t going anywhere, so you have time to get invested in the Fate franchise in order to fully enjoy Fate/Strange Fake.
This anime isn’t a perfect adaptation of the light novels, but it’s still a lot of fun.
My Grade: A
Fate/Strange Fake might not have the best anime adaptation, but it’s a lot of fun. I love the story, the plot, the characters, and the animation. It has excellent production value, and it’s very entertaining.
The story is fun, and I enjoy the twists the story has in it that turn all the Holy Grail War rules on their head. It’s a lot of fun because I enjoy Ryōgo Narita’s Durarara!! The writing is good, but the cut content makes the pacing feel weird.
I highly recommend Fate Strange Fake for any fan of the Fate franchise, but it is worth being into the Nasuverse before watching Fate/Strange Fake. You’ll get more out of the references if you are into the Nasuverse and recognize characters and lore from other works compared to if this is your first entry in the Fate franchise.
I enjoy the anime a lot, and I’m looking forward to watching season 2 when it comes out. I enjoyed everything about this anime. It’s very pricey if you want to own it, but if you want to watch the anime on Crunchyroll, you should.
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