Fate/stay night

Fate/stay night
Fate/stay night original visual novel cover.
フェイト/ステイナイト (Feito/sutei naito)
Genre	Action, Romance, Supernatural, Thriller
Video game
Developer	Type-Moon
Publisher	Type-Moon (PC/PS2) Kadokawa Shoten (PS2)
Genre	Eroge, Visual novel
Platform	PC - KiriKiri engine
Released	January 30, 2004 (PC CD) March 29, 2006 (PC DVD) April 19, 2007 (PS2) February 29, 2012 (PC)
Manga
Written by	Type-Moon
Illustrated by	Nishiwaki Datto
Published by	Kadokawa Shoten
English publisher	Tokyopop
Magazine	Shōnen Ace
Demographic	Shōnen
Original run	December 26, 2005 – present
Volumes	17
Anime television series
Directed by	Yuji Yamaguchi
Studio	Studio Deen
Original network	TBS, Saitama TV, Chiba TV, Tokyo MX TV, Sun TV, TV Aichi, TV Kanagawa
Original run	January 6, 2006 – June 16, 2006
Episodes	24
Anime film
Unlimited Blade Works
Directed by	Yuji Yamaguchi
Written by	Takuya Sato
Studio	Studio Deen
Released	January 23, 2010
Runtime	105 minutes
Original video animation
Fate/Prototype
Directed by	Seiji Kishi
Produced by	Yūji Higa
Written by	Makoto Uezu
Music by	Yasuharu Takanashi
Studio	Lerche
Released	December 31, 2011
Runtime	12 minutes

Fate/stay night (フェイト/ステイナイト, Feito/sutei naito) is a Japanese visual novel developed by Type-Moon, which was originally released as an adult game for the PC. A version of Fate/stay night rated for ages 15 and up titled Fate/stay night Réalta Nua (Irish for "a new star"), which features the Japanese voice actors from the anime series, was released for the PlayStation 2 and later for download on PC as a trilogy covering the three main story lines. On October 28, 2005, Type-Moon released a sequel to Fate/stay night, entitled Fate/hollow ataraxia. Its plot is set half a year after the events of Fate/stay night.

Fate/stay night has made transitions into other media. A manga series based on the visual novel was first serialized in the Japanese magazine Shōnen Ace and published by Kadokawa. The manga is illustrated by Japanese artist Nishiwaki Datto and is currently ongoing. In 2007 the manga was licensed for an English-language release in North America by Tokyopop. A twenty-four episode anime series created by Studio Deen aired in Japan between January 6, 2006, and June 16, 2006. The anime series were initially licensed and released in North America by Geneon Entertainment, however On July 3, 2008 Geneon Entertainment and Funimation Entertainment announced an agreement to distribute select titles in North America including Fate/stay night. On November 22, 2006, Type-Moon announced a series of light novels entitled Fate/zero, set as is a prequel to Fate/stay night. There have been four video games based on the series to date. Three fighting games have been released, Fate/unlimited codes for arcades and PlayStation2, Fate/tiger colosseum and its sequel Fate/tiger colosseum Upper for PSP. A PSP RPG entitled Fate/Extra was released on July 22, 2010. A Fate/stay night film was also created by Studio Deen and was released in Japanese theaters on January 23, 2010.

Gameplay

Fate/stay night's gameplay requires little interaction from the player as most of the game's duration is spent on reading the text that appears, representing either dialogue between the characters or the inner thoughts of the protagonist. Often, players will come to a "decision point" where they are given the chance to choose from options displayed on the screen, typically two to three at a time. The time between these decision points is variable and during these times, gameplay pauses until a choice is made that furthers the plot in a specific direction. There are three main plot lines that the player will have the chance to experience, one for each of the heroines in the story. To view all three plot lines, the player will have to replay the game multiple times and choose different choices during the decision points to progress the plot in an alternate direction.

Plot

Setting and themes

Fate/stay night chronicles a two-week period in the life of the protagonist Shirō Emiya, an amateur mechanic who attends a school named Homurahara Gakuen in Fuyuki City, Japan. The story primarily takes place at and around Shirō Emiya house, which acts as their base location in the Holy Grail War. Outside of Shirō's house, frequented locations include the Homurahara Gakuen high school, and the Ryūdōji Temple.

The main theme in Fate/stay night is "conquering oneself." There are three story lines in Fate, each has a different theme. The first one is the "oneself as an ideal." The second one is "struggling with oneself as an ideal." The third one is "the friction with real and ideal."

Main characters

Main article: List of Fate/stay night characters

The story revolves around Shirō Emiya, a serious yet helpful, hardworking, and honest teenager and an unwilling Master in what is known as the Holy Grail War. He is an orphan whose parents died in a massive fire several years ago, but was adopted by a man named Kiritsugu Emiya, who also died several years later. He has some slight talent with magic, though he was discouraged by his foster father from improving his gifts. One day, he is twice attacked by a mysterious, lance-wielding man who calls himself Lancer. Out of nowhere, he is saved by a young girl in shining armour. She introduces herself as Saber, calling herself Shirō's Servant and is the first of the main heroines. Her appearance formally marks Shirō's entry as a Master into the Holy Grail War. She is an agile and powerful warrior; loyal, independent, and reserved, Saber acts coldly but is actually suppressing her emotions to focus on her goals. Saber is frustrated by Shirō's "protective" tendencies, believing his erratic and reckless behavior will jeopardize her chances of winning the Holy Grail War. The second of the three heroines is Rin Tōsaka, a model student and idol of Shirō's school who is secretly a magus and Master in the Holy Grail War, commanding her own Servant, Archer. She is a descendant from a long line of magi, and though she lacks a formal magic education, she is extremely powerful in her own right. She is perceptive, resourceful and avidly competitive, but secretly greedy, tomboyish and a slacker at heart. Her first major encounter with Shirō is shortly after his first encounter with Lancer, where she secretly heals him from a near-death state with a magical pendant. The final heroine is Sakura Matō, a student in her first year of high school and the adopted sister of Shinji Matō, secretly another Master. While the blood sister of Rin Tohsaka, she was given away to the Matō household at a young age. After Kiritsugu died, Sakura often visited Shirō's home to help him with his daily chores. Sakura is outwardly shy and timid, but possesses great inner strength. However, she often appears troubled and afraid of her own household, and harbours dark secrets of her own. She has a long-standing and obvious crush on the oblivious Shirō.

Story

Fuyuki City is the setting for a secret and violent war among competing magi. For the past two centuries, seven sorcerers have gathered and engage in a battle royale known as the Holy Grail War, each gambling his or her own life to obtain the Holy Grail, a legendary chalice capable of granting wishes. The past four Holy Grail Wars have typically occurred every sixty years or so. However, the fifth war has started prematurely, with the most recent concluding less than a decade ago.

The seven sorcerers, known as Masters, are aided by seven beings known as Servants, reincarnations of legendary heroes from all time. These resurrected souls possess superhuman characteristics and wield powerful artifacts or abilities called Noble Phantasms, symbols of their heroism during life. Only one Servant can be summoned in each war from one of seven classes: Saber, Archer, Lancer, Berserker, Rider, Assassin, and Caster, each representing their distinctive role in battle. The Servants are summoned by the power of the Grail itself and aid their Masters in doing battle, protecting them from harm and killing other Servants or Masters. In return for their aid, the Servants also seek their own wish from the Holy Grail, should their Master become victorious.

Shirō Emiya is a serious yet helpful, hardworking, and honest teenager and a student at Fuyuki High, whose parents died in a fire years ago, around the time of the conclusion of the Fourth Holy Grail War. He was then adopted by Kiritsugu Emiya. When he was a child, his adoptive father told him how he had failed at his life ambition to become a "Hero of Justice". Shirō affirms to his adoptive father that he intends to devote his life to achieving that distant ideal, much to Kiritsugu's chagrin. To do this, Shirō pleads with a begrudging Kiritsugu to teach him sorcery; but being born without the capabilities of a magus, Shirō proves to be talentless in almost all the fundamental sorcerous disciplines. Kiritsugu dies in Shirō's youth. From then on, he grows up as an orphan in the occasional company of Taiga Fujimura, his English teacher at Fuyuki High, and Sakura Matō, his underclassman.

After cleaning his school's kyūdō dojo late one night, Shirō stumbles upon two Servants, Archer and Lancer, battling in the school courtyard. Upon accidentally revealing himself, Shirō runs away. To avoid compromising the war's secrecy, Lancer hunts down and pierces Shirō's heart with his Noble Phantasm, a long, red spear. Shirō is then discovered in a near-death state by Rin Tōsaka. For the sake of her sister Sakura Matō who has feelings for him, she uses an heirloom filled with concentrated magic to restore his damaged heart and leaves before he awakens. Shaken and dazed, Shirō picks up the heirloom and returns home only to be assaulted a second time by Lancer. Shirō weakly defends himself against Lancer using posters he strengthens with magic, but is soon overwhelmed by the powerful Servant's attack. Before Lancer can inflict another fatal blow, a magical mark on Shirō's hand begins to light up and a magical circle inside the shed begins to glow. A young woman clad in armor with an invisible sword appears in a flash of light and blocks Lancer's attack. After driving Lancer away from Shirō, she introduces herself as "Servant Saber", and formally announces her intention to fight under Shirō for the Holy Grail.

Meanwhile, Rin has realized that Lancer will return to finish what he started and rushes to the aid of Shirō, only to discover that Shirō is safe and has gained his own Servant. From here, the story splits into three paths.

Development

Kinoko Nasu first began writing Fate/Stay Night in college and had not intended it to be a game. Initially, Nasu only wrote what would become the game's "Fate" storyline however the game went on to have three storylines, the Fate storyline being one of them. In his early drafts, Fate's heroine Saber was a man, and the protagonist was a girl with glasses. This early draft was embodied in the short original video animation (OVA) Fate/Prototype, which was released with the final volume of the Carnival Phantasm OVA series. Nasu set aside the project and went on to found Type-Moon with artist Takashi Takeuchi.

After the success of their first visual novel Tsukihime in 2000 Type-Moon transitioned from a dojin soft organization to a commercial organization. Nasu and Takeuchi decided to turn the old Fate story into a visual novel as Type-Moon's first commercial product. In the beginning, Nasu was worried that because the main character was a girl, the story might not work as a bishōjo game. It was artist Takeuchi who suggested switching the genders of the protagonist and Saber to fit the game market.

Release history

The Fate/stay night franchise began as a visual novel video game created by Type-Moon which premiered in Japan on January 30, 2004. A CERO C-rated version of Fate/stay night, entitled Fate/stay night Réalta Nua, for the PlayStation 2 was scheduled to be released in late 2006. However, it was postponed until April 19, 2007. Fate, Unlimited Blade Works, and Heaven's Feel are the three branching storylines found within the game.

On October 28, 2005, Type-Moon released a sequel to Fate/stay night, entitled Fate/hollow ataraxia. Its plot is set half a year after the events of Fate/stay night and features new characters such as Avenger, Bazett Fraga McRemitz, and Caren Ortensia, alongside returning characters such as Shirō Emiya, Saber and Rin Tōsaka.

Adaptations

Manga

The Fate/stay night manga, illustrated by Nishiwaki Datto, began serialization in the manga magazine Shōnen Ace, published by Kadokawa Shoten, on December 26, 2005. It is an adaption of the Fate/stay night visual novel, rather than the anime. In contrast to the anime, the manga focuses solely on the Unlimited Blade Works scenario of the game (albeit with slight deviations), and has refrained from pooling story elements from the sister scenarios, Fate or Heaven's Feel. The manga was licensed for an English-language release in North America by Tokyopop in 2007. Seventeen bound volumes have been released in Japan.

Himuro no Tenchi Fate/School Life is a comedy 4-koma manga revolving around the normal life at school of the minor characters of Fate/stay night and Fate/Hollow Ataraxia, specifically the character Kane Himuro, classmate of Fate/stay night protagonist Shirō Emiya. It is serialized Manga 4-koma Kings Palette and currently three volumes have been published by Ichijinsha.

A spin off manga series Fate/Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya written and illustrated by Hiroyama Hiroshi it was first serialized in Comp Ace in 2008 and later release into two bound volumes. The series features Illya as a main character where she's living an alternate life as a school girl. However, she is chosen by the Magical Stick Ruby and is involved in a quarrel between Rin and Luvia. Fate/Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya 2wei continued the series in 2009, with the same artist and publisher.

Anime

See also: List of Fate/stay night episodes

The Fate/stay night anime series aired between January 6, 2006, and June 16, 2006, containing 24 episodes; the storyline follows mainly the Fate scenario but shows parts of other scenarios as well. It was animated by Studio Deen and produced by the Fate Project, which was formed in response to the popularity of the visual novel and included Geneon Entertainment, TBS, CREi, Type-Moon, and Frontier Works Inc. The series later received its international television premieres on the anime television network Animax in 2007, its English-language television premiere occurring on Animax's English networks in Southeast Asia in June as well as its other networks in South Korea, Hong Kong and other regions. Geneon also licensed the series for distribution across North America. On July 3, 2008, Geneon Entertainment and Funimation Entertainment announced an agreement to distribute select titles in North America. While Geneon Entertainment still retains the license, Funimation Entertainment assumes exclusive rights to the manufacturing, marketing, sales and distribution of select titles. Fate/stay night was one of several titles involved in the deal.

The anime is an adaptation of the Fate/stay night visual novel, featuring content from all of the available scenarios in the original game's release. The general direction of the anime borrows heavily from the Fate scenario, with select segments from Unlimited Blade Works included as filler while only a couple nods are given toward the Heaven's Feel option. Elements from Fate/hollow ataraxia not directly impacting the plot were included, but sparingly. Kenji Kawai composed the original music for the series and also remixed four symphonic themes from the Fate/stay night visual novel for use in the anime: "Hizashi No Naka De" (not featured on the original anime soundtrack, but on the out tracks album "LA SOLA"), "Yakusoku Sareta Shouri No Tsurugi", "Emiya", and "This Illusion", the last of which was retitled "disillusion".

The television series was re-released in Japan on January 22, 2010 in two 60-minute special edition DVD/BD volumes to commemorate the release of the film Fate/stay night Unlimited Blade Works. Fate/stay night TV reproduction I and II each recap 12 episodes from the anime and feature re-edited and re-compiled footage along with new opening and ending animation footage, with new ending songs by Jyukai and Sachi Tainaka. The opening song "disillusion -2010-" is a re-recording of the "disillusion" theme song from the television series.

Light novel

See also: Fate/Zero

On November 22, 2006, Type-Moon announced a new installment in the Fate/stay night franchise, entitled Fate/Zero. Fate/Zero is a prequel to Fate/stay night, stressing the events of the 4th Holy Grail War and how its consequences affected the 5th Holy Grail War. In contrast to Fate/stay night, Fate/Zero is a series of light novels instead of a visual novel, and is told in a third person narrative that follows the actions of multiple characters. The series is a collaboration between Type-Moon and a fellow developer, Nitroplus. The first volume was released on December 29, 2006. The second volume was released on March 31, 2007. The third volume was released on July 27, 2007. The fourth and final volume was released on December 29, 2007, along with the Fate/Zero Original Image Soundtrack "Return to Zero".

Video games

See also: Fate/Unlimited Codes, Fate/tiger colosseum, and Fate/Extra

In 2007 Fate/tiger colosseum, a 3D fighting game based on Fate/stay night, was released for the PlayStation Portable by Capcom and cavia, inc. in cooperation with TYPE MOON. The characters are all rendered in a super deformed style. A sequel, Fate/tiger colosseum Upper, was released on August 28, 2008.

Another fighting game based on the franchise titled Fate/Unlimited Codes was debuted at the 2008 Amusement Machine Operators' Union (AOU) show in Japan. It was developed by Capcom in conjunction with Cavia and Eighting. The game was released in the arcades and had an exclusive PlayStation 2 release on December 18, 2008. A pre-order version was also available which includes a limited edition Saber Lily figure. Capcom also released a PlayStation Portable version titled Fate/unlimited codes Portable on June 18, 2009. A digital download of the game was released in North America on September 3, 2009. and in Europe on September 10, 2009

A dungeon RPG adaptation of the series was announced in Famitsu and is produced by Image Epoch and Marvelous Entertainment titled Fate/Extra. Players take on the role of an unnamed male or female character that the player chooses to be one of seven chosen masters and control servants Saber, Archer or Caster. The game was released for the PlayStation Portable in both regular and the "Type-Moon Box" editions. The limited, Type-Moon Box edition includes a Saber Figma figure from the game itself, a visual book and a limited edition soundtrack. While the original release was set for March 2010, the release date was pushed back to July 22, 2010 for further testing. In July 2011, Aksys Games confirmed it would be publishing Fate/Extra in North America.

Film

An animated film based on the storyline of the Unlimited Blade Works route from the visual novel was released in Japanese theaters on January 23, 2010 and produced by Studio Deen. The staff from the anime television series, including director Yuji Yamaguchi, returned to work on the film, with most of the voice cast reprising their roles. The film earned 0.28 billion yen at the Japanese Box Office. Sentai Filmworks has licensed the Unlimited Blade Works film and will release it on DVD and Blu-ray featuring an English dub produced at Bang Zoom! Entertainment.

Music

There is a soundtrack to the game, called Fate/Stay Night Original Sound Track. There is also an arranged soundtrack of the game music, entitled Avalon - Fate/Stay Night. It is arranged by WAVE and K. JUNO and features two English arranged versions of "This Illusion" titled "Illusion/Vision" and "Illusion/Fate". The anime original soundtrack was arranged and composed by Kenji Kawai. In addition, there are image albums Wish and WHITE AVALON as well as various remix albums Fate another score, Fate/extended play, and Emiya #0. There are also numerous fanmade arrangements: Exodus: Fake/ever since, Iriya 51, Broken Phantasm, fragments, and 17 Division.

Aside from Fate/stay night, the other games in the series have their own soundtracks. There is a Fate/tiger coliseum OST and an imaged sound track for Fate/zero entitled Return to Zero.

Game themes

Title	Composition and Arrangement	Lyrics	Performance	Type
"THIS ILLUSION"	NUMBER201	Keita Haga	M.H.	Opening theme
"days"	NUMBER201	Keita Haga	CHINO	Ending theme
"Ougon no Kagayaki"	NUMBER201	Keita Haga	MAKI	Opening theme (Réalta Nua)

Anime themes

Title	Composition	Arrangement	Lyrics	Performance	Single Release Date	Type
"disillusion" (episodes 1-14)	NUMBER201	Kenji Kawai	Keita Haga	Sachi Tainaka	February 22, 2006	Opening theme
"Kirameku Namida wa Hoshi ni" (きらめく涙は星に, lit. Glittering Tears Change To Stars)(episodes 15-23)	KATE	Sogawa Tomoji, NUMBER201	Keita Haga	Sachi Tainaka	May 31, 2006	Opening theme
"Anata ga Ita Mori" (あなたがいた森, lit. The Forest In Which You Were)(episodes 1-13,15-23)				Jyukai	March 15, 2006	Ending theme
"Hikari" (ヒカリ, lit. Light) (episode 14)				Jyukai		Ending theme
"Kimi to no Ashita" (君との明日, lit. Tomorrow with You) (episode 24)	Sachi Tainaka	Kaneko Takahiro	Sachi Tainaka	Sachi Tainaka	February 7, 2007	Ending theme

Reception

When released on January 30, 2004, Fate/stay night rapidly became one of the most popular visual novels in history, securing the title of "highest selling visual novel" in 2004 of the adult game retailer Getchu.com.

In early 2007, the popularity of Fate/stay night and the anime Japanese voice actors lead to the launch of the Fate/stay tune internet radio drama, featuring the voice talent of Kana Ueda and Ayako Kawasumi. In 2011, the writers Chris Klug and Josiah Lebowitz in their book Interactive storytelling for video games praised Fate/stay night as a strong example of branching storylines and interactive storytelling, comparing its depth and complexity to that of a traditional novel. They also noted that the English fan translation of the game has a total word count, taking into account all the branching paths, exceeding that of The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

External links

• Type-Moon's Official homepage for the Fate/stay night game Template:Ja icon
• Funimation's Official homepage for the Fate/stay night anime
• Official website for the Fate/stay night anime series Template:Ja icon
• Official homepage for Fate/stay night [Réalta Nua] Template:Ja icon
• Official website for Fate/Unlimited Codes Template:Ja icon
• Official website for Fate/Extra Template:Ja icon
• Fate/stay night film official website Template:Ja icon
• Fate/stay night (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
• Fate/stay night at The Visual Novel Database