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Fatefans 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 alreadypremiered the episodewith an English dub during the Fate 20th Anniversary Showcase in Hollywood back in November 2024. The episode was also availableon 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 traditionalNew Year’s Eve Special Fate Event, theFate/stay Night Heaven’s Feeltrilogy will start streaming on Crunchyroll and Hulu from December 19. This film takes place in a different timeline fromStrange Fake, but it’s always good to have moreFatecontent officially available.
An April’s Fool Prank That Turned Into an Official Series
What would later becomeFate/Strange Fakewas actually anApril’s Fool jokeposted onRyogo Narita’s(DurararaandBaccano!creator)website in 2008,originally namedFate/states night(a pun on “stay night” and “United States”). As the title suggests, it was a parody, presenting aFategame 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 theFate/strange fakelight 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 inFate/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 theFate/stay nightnarrative.
Fate/strange fake Anime Staff
The anime series features a returning cast from theFate/strange fake: Whispers of Dawnmovie.A-1 Picturesis once again animating it (usuallyFateseries are animated by Ufotable, but this one is different), withShun EnokidoandTakahito Sakazumeas directors.
For those who have not seen the movie, Enokido previously directed a music video titledFlower Rhapsodyand was animation director on a fewFate/Apocryphaepisodes. Sakazume made his directional debut with this series, but he has previously worked on series likeBlack Clover, Fate/ApocryphaandFate/Grand Order.Apócryphaissome sort ofStrange Fakeprototype, so it’s important both directors worked on it, andthey are also working hard on it.
Daisuke Ohigashiis the head writer, and his portfolio includesGhost in the Shell SAC_2045(script and screenplay) andNoblesse(script). Legendary composerHiroyuki Sawanois in charge of the music (Sawano’s portfolio is huge, but his recent works includeSolo Leveling).
Whispers of Dawn Prologue Movie
This year, a prologue movie titledWhispers of Dawnwas 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 hada good reception among niche audiencesand even among people who are usually into theFateseries.
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 fakeEpisode 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.
