Summary
- Fate/strange fake anime to debut on Crunchyroll with an alternate future plot in the Fate/Stay Night universe.
- The series originated from an April Fool’s joke, turning into a best-selling light novel with 9 volumes by Narita.
- Anime staff includes A-1 Pictures animating, Enokido and Sakazume directing, and Ohigashi as head writer.
Fate fans usually wait eagerly for the New Year’s Eve surprises that TYPE-MOON prepares for them. This year, they will be getting the first episode of a new anime series, Fate/strange fake, that is already confirmed to stream internationally on Crunchyroll.
Aniplex has already premiered the episode with an English dub during the Fate 20th Anniversary Showcase in Hollywood back in November 2024. The episode was also available on Crunchyroll’s YouTube channel for a limited time. For now, the series length is yet to be announced, but they will probably drop more information during New Year’s Eve. Ahead of the traditional New Year’s Eve Special Fate Event, the Fate/stay Night Heaven’s Feel trilogy will start streaming on Crunchyroll and Hulu from December 19. This film takes place in a different timeline from Strange Fake, but it’s always good to have more Fate content officially available.
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Fate/strange Fake Has the Potential to Be the Best Fate Yet
With the first episode set to release officially at the end of the year, we look ahead at the next major story from the Fate Series.
An April’s Fool Prank That Turned Into an Official Series
What would later become Fate/Strange Fake was actually an April’s Fool joke posted on Ryogo Narita’s (Durarara and Baccano! creator) website in 2008, originally named Fate/states night (a pun on “stay night” and “United States”). As the title suggests, it was a parody, presenting a Fate game project that would take place in the US.
After April 1st, the post was taken down. But TYPE-MOON enjoyed the joke, and later published it as a novel. In 2015, it became the Fate/strange fake light novel series, with 9 volumes so far. The story is penned by Narita, and Morii Shizuki is in charge of the illustrations.
Plot Overview: An Alternate Future of Fate/Stay Night
It started as a joke, but what is this series about? Well, an American organization gathered information during the Third Holy Grail War, which happened in 1939 in Fate/stay night’s chronology, and then started working on a way to reproduce it.
In 2009, they tried to do it in a city called Snowfield (but it didn’t go as well as planned, allowing strange summons to start happening). In this scenario, the (London-based) Mage’s Association sends Langal and Faldeus to investigate Snowfield and this war, but Faldeus is actually a spy from the US organization. Timelines can be confusing, but this is basically a “what if” future to part of the Fate/stay night narrative.
Fate/strange fake Anime Staff
The anime series features a returning cast from the Fate/strange fake: Whispers of Dawn movie. A-1 Pictures is once again animating it (usually Fate series are animated by Ufotable, but this one is different), with Shun Enokido and Takahito Sakazume as directors.
For those who have not seen the movie, Enokido previously directed a music video titled Flower Rhapsody and was animation director on a few Fate/Apocrypha episodes. Sakazume made his directional debut with this series, but he has previously worked on series like Black Clover, Fate/Apocrypha and Fate/Grand Order. Apócrypha is some sort of Strange Fake prototype, so it’s important both directors worked on it, and they are also working hard on it.
Daisuke Ohigashi is the head writer, and his portfolio includes Ghost in the Shell SAC_2045 (script and screenplay) and Noblesse (script). Legendary composer Hiroyuki Sawano is in charge of the music (Sawano’s portfolio is huge, but his recent works include Solo Leveling).
Whispers of Dawn Prologue Movie
This year, a prologue movie titled Whispers of Dawn was broadcast on TV (in Japan) and streaming (in Japan and internationally). It was supposed to be aired during the 2023 New Year’s Eve Event, but ended up being postponed to July. It had a good reception among niche audiences and even among people who are usually into the Fate series.
This prologue is unlikely to be a must for those who want to watch only the anime series, but it might be a good introductory movie to the franchise. It’s available on Crunchyroll.
Fate/strange fake
Episode 1 will air on December, 31, 2024 in Japan, but fans were able to watch dubbed in English in November. It will be streamed on Crunchyroll.
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Fate/strange Fake
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Fate/strange Fake: Whispers of Dawn
