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This Week in Anime
What's So Great About Fate/strange Fake?

by Monique Thomas & Nicholas Dupree,

Nick and Nicky double down on the hype surrounding the newest anime entry of the Fate franchise, Fate/strange Fake -Whispers of Dawn-.

These series are streaming on Crunchyroll and HIDIVE.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the participants in this chatlog are not the views of Anime News Network.
Spoiler Warning for discussion of the series ahead.


@Lossthief @BeeDubsProwl @NickyEnchilada @vestenet

Nick
Alright, I've drawn the summoning circle with orphan blood, marked each point of the pentagram with a precious gemstone, and placed a hard-drive full of tragic slashfic in the center. Let's do this. SPIRITS OF THE PAST, ROOT OF ALL MAGIC, SUMMON MY CO-HOST!
Nicky
I'm sorry, but if this were a gacha, my rarity would be low, and my stats would be trash. Thanks for the fic, though! It'll hold me over while Ao3 is down.
Don't worry; I specifically summoned you for your special ability that lets you spend way too long reading fan wikis. Because today we're diving into the latest animated installment in the ever-sprawling Fate franchise.
See? It pays to have your niches, and anything related to TYPE-MOON certainly prides itself on that. Anything related to Fate/stay night is a perfect example of how something as niche as an hours-long mid-00s visual novel could spin into a high-grossing mega-mass of media, including multiple anime, various spin-offs, and a mobile game that fountains infinite money. Its modern setting, high-fantasy premise, sleek character designs, a plethora of world-building, and lore spanning across series have created a large and highly dedicated fanbase specializing in cataloging everything the franchise offers.
It's certainly been a staple of the anime scene for over a decade. You've got prequels, TV adaptations, movie adaptations, spin-offs, alternate timelines, the works. As somebody who's watched a (un)healthy amount of those works, I can tell you it is an extremely mixed bag. However, I have been excited about this particular entry since the original light novels were announced, entirely because my man Ryohgo Narita wrote them, and FATE/BACCANO! sounded like the most fun thing imaginable.
While Fate is undoubtedly popular, trying to approach the behemoth franchise on an entry-level basis can seem daunting. There are differing opinions on how much homework should be acquired before fully appreciating what Type Moon offers. Some people have doctorates in whatever language author Kinoko Nasu speaks in the same way that people study Tolkien. Whatever language also involves horny anime pictures as part of its vocabulary. Politely, everything about Fate is an acquired taste that involves a lot of tolerance for anime-level bs. I've clashed and bounced with the series more than once.
The basis of Fate is paradoxically simple and convoluted. Simple, in that "Seven wizards summon historical/mythological figures and have big anime battle royales" is such a great hook that it's carried the entire franchise for nearly two decades. Convoluted because there is a massive amount of lore and backstories, like three other less-popular franchises that occupy the same thing. Having sifted through more proper nouns than I care to remember, my advice is that the Lore of Fate or the Nasuverse only matters as much as you want it to. If some entry or horny character design catches your eye, dive in.

While there's certainly fun to be had if you're neck-deep in the magic system or history of it all, anyone who says you need to know it all to enjoy any given entry is probably just in need of a noogie.
Yeah, the idea of taking legendary figures and clashing them together like action figures is incredible, with the additional hilarious side-effect of being the bane of history professors everywhere when they unwittingly use Google on the projector and end up with a page full of Gilgamesh's gilded smuggery or other renditions unfit for the classroom. Fate's a machine for turning the old men of yore into bikini models. However, it's a concept interesting enough that I keep going back to it.
Which brings us to the other bit that can make the franchise seem unapproachable. It loooooooooves to bring back various characters from other entries. At this point, Gilgamesh has shown up in over half of all the animated Fate things ever. There's also a fun franchise-wide plot mechanic where he only sometimes remembers the other times he's shown up.
Not only are there references to their real-world mythology and history, but Fate is also often self-referential to its many different incarnations and entries, including Nasu's other works. The prologue Fate/strange Fake -Whispers of Dawn- is no exception, but most of what it throws out there is to give the gist of the rules involving the Holy Grail War and get the audience up to speed. Having so much information at once feels like being tossed in the deep end, but even the most beginner-friendly Fate entries require some initiation. Some may also delight in these references. I was delighted to see the nods to my introduction to Fate, Fate/Zero, the F/SN prequel penned by Gen Uroboochi.

My fondness for Zero is why I have high hopes for Strange Fake.
As disappointed as I was by The Case Files of Lord El-Melloi II, hereby known by its true name of Detective Waver, I will always have affection for seeing this stuffy British doofus trying to wrangle his chaotic mage students.
I'm also coming into this as more of a fan of Narita than Fate, similar to how I watched Fate/Zero as a fan of Booch. This is also pretty good timing as I wrote extensively about Narita's specific writing style over in our Dead Mount Death Play column
If anything, Narita is a perfect fit for the typical Grail War setup. He's got a knack for making vast ensembles of wild, often depraved, or villainous personalities who are so charismatic that you love them anyway. Letting him make his magic battle royale is practically a no-brainer.
Booch and Narita are also close buddies with Nasu. Watching their group roleplay sessions might have bored me to tears in the much-forgotten Chaos Dragon, but they're all unique writers with their flare for details. Narita launched Fate/strange Fake as a short April Fool's joke promo for a hypothetical RPG on his webpage in 2008 before it was written as a light novel and manga in 2015. This chaotic energy makes me trust Narita enough to make Fate's concepts interesting, play with it using characters, and subvert what you might typically expect from a Grail War.
Initially, it was called Fake/states night! Taking place in the United States instead of Japan. And let me say that nothing is more American than pulling out a lighter and casually taking a smoke while your enemy gets mowed by the hidden firing squad. Good prank.

Subversion is baked into the entire identity of this one, right down to the title. This is a "Fake" Grail War, thrown together by upstart mages in America for reasons not yet known. It's an in-universe counterfeit, and that theme ties together everything in this special.


Each of the Masters winds up being a "fake" through disguise, subterfuge, or pure accident. It's an enormous magical battle that is ramshackle from the first second and can only careen further out of control, which makes this hour-long special riveting despite being 90% character introductions.
The servants are also unusual; while Gil is there, many phantasms are less heroic or noble than your typical grail war candidates. While previous series might have featured King Arthur or Alexander the Great, here, we get figures who are a little more dubious, like a sleazy hip-hopping fast-talking Alexandre Dumas or an unknowable version of Jack the Ripper accidentally summoned by an idiot holding a toy knife using the magical equivalent of inspect element.

Though even Gilgamesh's summoning doesn't go off without a hitch. Tine immediately knocks off the guy who summons him. Though it's not like this dude would have lasted long trying to boss Gil around.
and one of the masters is...an injured animal that was supposed to be used as a sacrifice? A wolf, to be exact!

Narita playing by real Air Bud rules where nothing in this Holy Grail playbook says a dog cannot be a master and making slam dunks. Way to throw caution to the wind!
When the light novel/manga started coming out, somebody said, "One of the masters is a dog." Like, that's just perfect. Brilliant. No notes.
But it's not enough to be good in concept; what ties this premiere together is the characterization and the pacing. It's a lot of info, but I was engaged because it's all framed by the banter between the characters. There're obvious machinations afoot and many factions to keep track of, but you also get Flat and Jack the Ripper having a sweet philosophical discussion. Hearing a disembodied voice worried about its existence is pretty cute, combined with Flat's distressingly laidback attitude towards the large-scale grand battle with universe-altering stakes.

Flat is the best example of Strange Fake playing with the formula. Where every person knowingly involved in previous Grail Wars was a self-serious, scheming sociopath or a victim, Flat does it because he thinks it'll be cool and fun. He is seemingly blessed with the dumb luck necessary to cruise through life. He even joins through enthusiastic misunderstanding when he mistakes a cool knife Waver gets in the mail for a "relic" of Jack the Ripper.

Yet because he's got powerful magic and believes, it manifests the mythologized legend of the Ripper rather than his actual identity. It's a fantastic, almost Pratchett-esque combo of high concept and goofy circumstance.
The direction is pulling its weight too. It's not ufotable, and the designs will look slightly different to some people than Takashi Takeuchi's style, but the A-1 team matches the madness of Narita's dialogue well. Mages in the Fate series are almost universally horrific screwed-up power-hungry bastards capable of horrors beyond the imagination. Being able to capture the creepiness of an immortal's soliloquy as the body horror transforms into a much hotter, more feral guy is aces in my book.

That's Assassin's master, who we know comparatively little about, but he joins a long line of total freaks. It's also hilarious that the moment he summoned her, Assassin just yeets his heart. I'd almost believe she's seen what happens to every other Assassin in this franchise and decided to get out before she jobs for somebody else.

That's a moment intended to make the eyes of people Fate-familiar bug a little but for other reasons. Even for someone very casual with the franchise, there are a lot of implications mixed in here and there, but it works on two levels. People on the up and up with their books can enjoy the speculation without feeling like they're going through the motions. Still, it's subtle enough that it won't be overwhelming and alienating if you're not.

So we can all marvel at going, "What the hell, Narita?" simultaneously when things happen!
Personally, the most WTF moment was meeting... By process of elimination, this is Rider?
Surely, it's the Babadook showing up late for Pride Month.
Please don't ask me how or what it is, besides visually being tied to the plague, but it's somehow here and was summoned by a comatose girl in a hospital and possibly killed her mage parents. It's the biggest question mark here, which makes it a huge draw. I want to know what its deal is!
I learned names while prepping for this, but I won't spoil it. Given how much each figure remains highly interpretable, I was only left with more questions. But it's indeed very curious how a sick child trapped in a hospital bed in a dream realm is supposed to participate in this. I get strong Bedman? from Guilty Gear vibes.
The whole idea behind this is that it's throwing the rulebook out the window. There's exactly one master in this setup who joined willingly and summoned a proper, normal servant; of course, he's a cop.
Among the list of unknowable are motives, too. The point of Fate/Zero is that only sickos would bet their life to get their wish granted by a magic chalice. In contrast, many characters in Strange Fake don't care or are more worried about the consequences of holding an epic wizard underground boxing match. There's a reason that the whole thing takes place in Nevada. Moreover, it's not entirely obvious which side we should root for. Sir Cop here is working with the mastermind. Still, he believes some of his own BS, and Faldeus, who we know the least about, might be trying to act in Clocktower's interest by acting the part of an antagonistic force since his gruesome warning gives them time to act.
Ironically even the most straightforward of the combatants is bending the rules since his Caster has the skill to make a whole horde of counterfeit legendary weapons for his master's officers.

It tickles me because any other Fate entry would spend a bunch of words talking about how this is impossible and not part of the system and definitely couldn't happen—before just doing it anyway, like how Caster in Unlimited Blade Works has a weapon called "Rule Breaker" that lets her do stuff like this. Narita accepts that the rules are made up, and the points don't matter, and kicks us off with everyone using console commands.
Amazingly, Fate/strange Fake doesn't feel haphazard either. It's stylish in how it's watching someone who knows the rules well enough to find the loopholes are, like watching some high-level trading card player get away with things because they read all the fine print. From the sidelines, opponents fall over in one turn, but the sense of logic behind it all is part of the tension.
Plus, even if you don't know anything about Fate, these are just interesting ideas in their own right. Each Master/Servant pair has their own thing going on, and it's all intriguing to imagine how they might come to blows. And while this special doesn't have much action, it gives us the mother of all samplers when Wolf's servant shows up.
Speaking of tension! While most characters are new, there are some returning characters, and they're well-handled. As mentioned, we enjoyed Lord El-Melloi II because he felt consistent with other entries while getting the gist that he's a big grumpy worrywart. I also thought Gil was balanced well; he's smug but maintains a sense of nobility worthy of being the star of one of our oldest recorded legends. Though, with how noble he is, it is aping some of his characterizations from the FGO Babylonia anime.
Especially once his old flame arrives, the two immediately get down to fight-fucking like there's no tomorrow.

This is fun because even if you know nothing about these two as Fate characters or even the real-life mythology, Gilgamesh and Enkidu make it clear through every line of dialogue that, despite predating the bible, they know each other very Biblically.
I've heard The Epic of Gilgamesh, historically referred to as "the world's oldest yaoi," once. I'll never forget it. I wouldn't say that's inaccurate because it's well-documented that Gilgamesh and Enkidu have been interpreted as comrades, best friends, enemies, and even lovers; in the same way, many anime rivalries are due to their status as true equals. What better way to show off the millennium-aged drama than portraying them as two ungodly powerful opponents who treat each other with smiles and warmth because they love duking it with each other?



Their feelings for each other are so strong you can see it from OUTER SPACE!
It's great. Anyone familiar with Fate Gilgamesh will revel in seeing him be so goddamn happy to see another person, while newbies can bask in how cool the fight is. Even as just a sample, it shows us—and the other characters—just what a Grail War can be.


Frankly, I'm glad this didn't end up in ufotable's hands because seeing wild stuff like this was the best part of Fate/Apocrypha, and it rules here too.
Fittingly, this was also done by the Apocrypha staff. I would also be remiss if I didn't mention that Hiroyuki Sawano's boosted tunes were blaring behind all of this. It rules.
I think Fate is at its best when it's just being bombastic, indulging in spectacle and the chemistry of its cast. So getting an entire special—and an eventual TV series—of precisely that is great.
It's easy to be thrown off by the inside baseball at a glance, but it's well-crafted enough that I recommend newbies sit back and try to take in what's going on before they give up and pull up the wiki. It's nice to have a spin-off where I'm not required to play the main series or mobile game and can enjoy it without hang-ups. There are references, but it's a sandbox approach inviting different kinds of viewers to play around in whatever way they see fit.

If people want a more straightforward but standalone example of a Grail War, I still recommend people check out Fate/Zero. Not even because it's homework, but mostly because it's a good time.
Zero is still the most consistent and easiest entry point, but if you have some faith in yourself, this is also a fine place to start. More than anything, it's just a playful, clever spin on the premise that feels fresh even after so many other iterations.

My one worry is that Narita is 100% the kind of writer to kill that dog.
Okay, I take back what I said about all Grail War participants being sickos and not knowing who to root for because I need to root for dogs to be happy and get lots of pets by their powerful non-binary tree-hugging god-servant. This is the only outcome I will accept because every universe's rules dictate that Dogs are Good. And I can't wait to watch this whole thing to see how right I am about that.
You heard it here, you magical weirdos. The dog is off-limits.
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