Finally a chance to see if Print matches Film!I’ve wanted, and probably some point will, to
do this with Anime as there are numerous examples of printed comics (Manga)
being turned in to animated shows (Anime), and sometimes the differences are
stark, and sometimes, it’s a One to One copy.This isn’t the case, as Harry Potter itself has numerous changes to it
that take an 8 hour read in to a 2 hour film, and with a shortened run time,
some liberties are necessary.So here’s
our thoughts on it.
Quick Run Down
Harry potter is dropped off to the Dursleys after
Voldemort’s defeat
It is shown how poorly Harry is Treated and the weird stuff
that happens around him
Letter being sent to Harry about being accepted to Hogwarts
are stopped by Dursley,
Hagrid introduced and explains how Harry is a Wizard
Harry is introduced to the wizarding world, gets his
supplied, Hagrid picks up the Philospher’s Stone
Harry Travels to Hogwarts via Train, befriends Ron
Harry is sorted in to his house, Gryphndor
Harry is introduced to His Teachers, along with Snape, who
dislikes Harry
Harry is tricked in to a duel with a rival student, but
learns of Fluffy, a 3-headed dog
A troll is in the school, and Harry and Ron defeat it,
Hermione befriends them
Harry is explained and played Quidditch as a seeker
Christmas, Harry discovers the Mirror of Erised and its
secrets
The Trio learn who Nicolas Flamel and that he created the Philosopher’s
stone, leading to them leaning that it’s hidden in the school
The trio learn of Norbert the dragon, and in getting out of
the school, Harry, Hermione, Nevil, and Draco are sentenced to detention when
caught
Everyone is sent to the Forbidden Forest for detention, to
find a injured Unicorn, Harry encounters Voldemort, but is saved by Centars
The Trio journey through the defense leading to the
Philosopher’s stone. The Puzzles along
the way are:
Fluffy – Calmed by Music
Plants – Stopped by fire Magic
Flying Keys – Harry catches the
right key floating in air
Chess – Ron leads the Trio through
a chess game, but he is taken out at the end due to his sacrifice.
Another Troll – but already beaten
Potion Riddle – Hermione solves the
riddle, but passes out due to the potion making someone fall asleep
Harry meets Professor Quirrell, who is trying to use the
Mirror of Erised to get the stone. Harry
gets the stone, and then confronts Voldemort, who is living on Quirrell’s
head. Quirrell is stopped by Harry’s
inherent Protection magic and burned badly, and dies of his wounds. Harry passes out before Dumbledore arrives to
save Harry.
Harry wakes up in the hospital, has
a chat with Dumbledore.
Gryphndor wins the House cup due to
Dumbledore giving pity points
Everyone goes home for the summer
Sorcerer’s Stone Vs
Philosopher’s Stone
Reason noted was due to Scholastic thinking that Philosopher
sounded too archaic for readers, and suggested Sorcerer instead.Rowling disliked this change and felt that
she should have fought harder for it not to be changed, but didn’t have the
clout or prestige at the time to do so.
During filming, any reference to the Stone was done twice,
one for the British audience, one for the America audience, where they actually
used the differing terms.
Book:
Pro
Enjoyed the comical nature of the Dursleys.
Easy to understand writing style for children’s literature.
Con
Felt like it took a while to get in to the magical aspects
of the books
Film
Pro
Children Actors weren’t that bad.
Depth of Cast, pretty much nailed all the looks
Love the Castle & music
CGI is dated, but doesn’t take you out of the movie
Con
Seamus Finnigan – Unnecessary character in the film.
Ghosts could have been used better used to add exposition
Poor use of exposition throughout film (Ex: Centaur +
Unicorn Scene)
Lack of useful world building, IE not adding much context to
prior events or reactions
Eventually we’re going to get to something a bit more
literary, and it was a topic that was teased a number of times.So we dive into Harry Potter and its rather
lengthy book series.Our conversation
takesa bit to get there due to the most
recent events regarding the author, but I still felt it was a good discussion.
History
Written by J.K. Rowling, she was convinced of the idea while
her train from Manchester to London was delayed in 1990.Between when she finally published the first
book in the series, her mother had died, she had her first child, and her
husband divorced her, not to mention she was in relative poverty prior to the
first book coming out.She continued to
write the books of Harry Potter until 2007 when the final book came out.She has continued to write books, primarily
aimed at young adult, but also some crime stories aimed at adult, under the pen
name: Robert Galbraith.
The seven books in total were published from 1997 to 2007,
each book encompassing a fictional school year in the life of Harry Potter at
the fictional Hogwarts School boarding school for Wizards and Witches.The seven books include:
Philosopher's Stone (1997)
Chamber of Secrets (1998)
Prisoner of Azkaban (1999)
Goblet of Fire (2000)
Order of the Phoenix (2003)
Half-Blood Prince (2005)
Deathly Hallows (2007)
The first three books each one awards Smarties Prize, a well
respected Children Literature award.Rowling removed her subsequent books, in order to allow other
winners.Each book sold better than the
last and was a huge financial success for the author.
Although J.K. Rowling did not intend to continue writing any
more books in the Harry Potter series after the release of Deathly Hallows, and admitted her next fiction would likely not be
fantasy, she mentioned in 2010 that she was working on a new book in the
saga.This new book was intended to be
an encyclopedia of various terms, placed, characters, and notes about the Harry
Potter universe, intended to continue fleshing out the universe, and include
ideas or notes that never made it in to the books.The encyclopedia ended up being
Pottermore.com, which offered an interactive collection of notes, games, and
elements of the Harry Potter world.By
2019, the site was rebranded as WizardingWorld.com, as much of the media
outside of the books is branded under the Wizarding
World name.
An 8th Story was introduced in 2016, as Harry
Potter and the Cursed Child, which was a stage Play, and eventual book.
The Harry Potter Wiki, is just the Harry Potter Wiki, no
clever name.
Separating the Author from their work
While J.K. Rowling is a professed Christian, but her books
often promote magic, a notion which has put her in hot water with some
communities.She is also considered
center left of politics, promoting gay marriage in Scotland when it was up for
referendum.
In late mid June
2020, Rowling made comments that read:
“If sex isn’t real,
the lived reality of women globally is erased. I know and love trans people,
but erasing the concept of sex removes the ability of many to meaningfully
discuss their lives.”
Many individuals took the comments as being ‘Anti-Trans’ and
cruel to the community.The comment
seems to be in reference to the phrase ‘people who menstruate’, which is prescribed
to transgender men and non-binary individuals, and Rowling’s preference that
they be called women.Many groups found
this hurtful, including a many of the lead cast members of the Harry Potter
Films.She eventually returned her Robert F.
Kennedy Human Rights (RFKHR) Award after the award’s president
called her statement harmful.
Premise/world
The world of Harry Potter, also known as the Wizarding
World, depicts a version of our modern world that has a secondary magical
world layered underneath it.This world
depicts modern humans capable of magic, though keeping it secret from the rest
of the world.At one point, those
without magical abilities (Muggles) and Wizards lived together, but as fear and
persecution of wizards grew, the Wizarding community eventually went
underground.Much of their world is
hidden from public view, through enchantments, barriers, and manipulating
memories of those.While the story of
Harry Potter primarily takes place in Britain and the United Kingdoms, Wizards
and Witches come from all over the world, even in America.
The Wizarding World of Britain primarily centers on the
Ministry of Magic, led by the Minster of Magic, which enforces magical laws and structures, similar to the
Prime Minister or President for Wizards.Their job is to primarily manage magical laws and ensure that Muggles
don’t learn of the Wizarding World. While Muggles aren’t allowed to know, some
individuals in high political positions, Prime Ministers, etc, are aware of the
Wizarding World for security reasons.
Unlike the rest of the world however, the Wizarding World
does not keep up with modern technology.As an example, instead of pen and paper, the still use quill pens, ink,
and parchment.Most Wizards and Witches
have no greater understanding of modern technology, with some out right
despising it.Most magical areas
actually disrupt electricity, stopping them from working all together.While you can enchant electronic items to
work with magic, they often don’t take on the same characteristics.The Wizarding World itself is considered very
old fashioned, often still in the 1500s of technology.
Magic in the Harry Potter world is an inherent ability, and
while someone may have magical capability, most are not capable of Magic
without proper training and study.To
this end, Magical Schools exist throughout the world, including Hogwarts, which
acts as a traditional British Boarding school that takes in children throughout
the year.
Most magic requires a wand, which is specifically tailored
by a wand maker using various types of wood, but also magical cores, such as
Phoenix Feathers, Dragon Scales, and other mystical creature’s horns, hairs,
and even heartstrings.While magic is
possible without a wand, it is often less precise and powerful.Most magic requires the precise movement of
the wand, in conjunction with an incantation of Latin words that describe the
act.Wands themselves are described as
being quasi-sentient, often choosing their owner for themselves; a difficult
task for a wand maker is selling their wands to new students, who might have to
try out various wands.While a person
can use another person’s wand, the wand is often described as being
temperamental, and magic produced from it is often less powerful and less
precise.A wand can change its allegiance
though if the original owner is stunned, disarmed, or otherwise defeated or
even killed.Some spells are known to
damage or break wands, and as a result, damaged wands perform unexpectedly and
are prone to back firing.A broken wand
however cannot be fixed, and the owner will want to procure a new wand as a
result.
Some magic is available without magical skill, but are
commonly found in the magical world.This includes potions, alchemy, plants, and certainly creatures, which
include various dragons, unicorns, and other mystical creatures from around the
world.Entire studies and work goes in
to hiding magical creatures, as some people purely study various kinds of
animals.
Story
The story primarily follows Harry Potter and his friends as
they venture through Magical School over seven years, starting in 1991 until
1997.Each book covers a year of their
lives in the school, starting from age 10 until 17.The story itself is told from the first hand
experience of Harry Potter, so unless Harry Potter sees it or experiences, the
actions of other characters and events are left vague or unknown.
The story is well known for having lots of recurring
characters, however, the most common characters include:
Harry Potter
The lead character, he is the audience point of view
throughout the series, as also the character with the least amount of knowledge
of the Wizarding World.He is introduced
to it at 10 years of age, having learned he is apparently the one who defeated
Voldemort 10 years prior to the beginning of the story.He is easily distinguishable by his unkempt
brown hair which hides a thunderbolt scar left behind by Voldemort.He is described as being a so-so student, but
a strong sense of right and wrong, but always put in challenging situations
that lead to occasional mistakes.He
eventually comes the Head of Magical Law Enforcement for the Ministry of Magic.
Ron Weasley
Harry’s best friend, he comes for a large family of Wizards
and witches, each with orange, ginger like hair.Ron is often a comedic character, being
insensitive and immature, but is never the less loyal, strong, and occasionally
brave.He grows over the course of the
series to overcome his immaturity, eventually becoming a leader in his own right.He is described as a poor student, similar to
Harry Potter.He eventually comes to
marry Hermione, works with Harry as an Auror for a time, before working with
his older brother at the Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes, a magical joke shop.
Hermoine Granger
Harry and Ron’s friend, she is a Muggle-Born witch, a witch
whose parents weren’t magical at all.She noted as being the smart one, with an encyclopedic knowledge of
magic and wizarding world.This often
comes off as a know it all, which greatly annoys everyone else.Much like Harry, who also didn’t come from
the Wizarding World, she often see the out-dated norms of magic and it’s
beliefs, and it likely the first to try and break or change them too.She eventually marries Ron Weasley and
becomes the Minster of Magic.
Albus Dumbledore
The Headmaster of Hogwarts, and a well accomplished Wizard
in the Wizarding World.He is considered
one of the most powerful wizards, but is also prone to eccentricity, gentle
humor, and unfailing kindness.He is
seen the kind elder statesmen in the franchise and a true hero to all his
students.He his death leaves a profound
loss on all those in the Wizarding World.While never directly expressed in the books, Rowling would later say
that Dumbledore was infact Gay, and harbored feelings for his rival, Gellert
Grindelwald.
Severus Snape
A teacher at Hogwarts, he is initially the Potions Master,
Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, and eventually Headmaster of
Hogwarts.He is also head of House
Slytherin.He is a mysterious character
that appears to be up to no good and holds a deep disgust and hatred of Harry
Potter.His actions, while they would
appear to be against Harry Potter and his friends, are often in the end, to their
benefit, as he continues to aid the school and Harry Potter, much to his own
charging.
Voldemort
Originally born Tom Riddle, he rechristened himself Lord
Voldemort as he became the most feared and dangerous Dark Wizard of his
time.He is known for his having
survived at the hands of Harry Potter when he was a baby, but is eventually
revived by his legion of Death Eaters.While a gifted student in Hogwarts, his thirst power led to his seeking
immortality.He is the primary
antagonist of the series, with Death Eater sleeper agents all over the
Wizarding World.
Movie Adaptations
All seven books were eventually translated to movies, with
the final book ‘Deathly Hallow’ turned in to two parts.
While the movies are faithful to the books, they omit a
large number of background stories and characters, often omitting them due
limited run times of the movies, but also their impact on the story.As the first movies didn’t come out until
2001, after the first four books were released, it is hard to say what minor
elements from one book become a pivotal or important moment later on.
One example includes Rita Skeeter,
who is an important back ground character during the 4th book and
but minor appearance in later books, her role in the 4th movie is
nearly entirely cut out and never resolved, though she is often seen in the
background.
The movies also saw the relative growth of several child
actors over the course of 10 years of production, including Daniel Radcliffe,
Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Tom Felton, and Matthew Lewis, all of which have
continued in either Film, Tv, or Stage productions, trying to distance
themselves from their former Harry Potter Roles as much as possible.The lone exception being Emma Watson, who has
become full blown movie star.
Topic: Fate Stay/Night: Unlimited Blade Works Review
While mom didn’t watch all of it, she actually kind of wants
to now, just to see where the story goes.This isn’t a bad thing, if anything, another person who will finally
understand my undying love for Saber.Okay maybe not undying love, but atleast sees these complicated
characters and world for what they are.
To help people follow along, here’s a list of the various
characters that are seen throughout the series, to better allow you to follow
along.
Masters:
Shirou Emiya
A lead protagonist, and Master of Saber.He has a strong sense of justice and wants to
be a hero, despite little to no aptitude for magic. While unfamiliar
with the rules and true nature of events, he fights in an effort to stop all
the fighting and end the war as soon as possible.
Rin Tohsaka
Daughter of a prestigious mage family, she is the Master of
Archer, and tends to act as a Tsudere type character. (IE, acts very brash and
brutish to the main character, before becoming friendly and loving with them
later.)Rin continues to pursue
the Holy Grail due to her family’s strong desire to reach the Root, and joins
only out of obligation.
Illyasviel von Einzbern
She is from a prestigious Mage family and is the Master of
Berserker.While she appears to be the youngest participant in the war,
she is actually 18 years old, but takes the form of a ten to twelve year old
child.She is actually a homunculi and
Shirou’s step sister, for whom she has a conflicted relationship. She believes
she was abandoned for Shirou, but in reality, her father was unable to return
to the castle to retrieve Illya, leaving her to be lonely and pressured to
perfect her magical skills.
Shinji Matou
Sakura’s older brother and Master of Rider.A chauvinistic and
a narcissist, he openly treats Shirou with hostility and derision. He is has no
real magical skill, as the Matou family’s magical bloodline has been diluted
over the decades.This is what prompts
the head of the Matou family to adopt Sakura, previously of the Tohsaka Family,
and raise her to be the Matou’s next heir instead of Shinji. This prompts
Shinji to take his anger and frustrations out on Sakura.
Souichirou KuzukiA strict teacher of Rin’s Class, he is the Master of
Caster.While he does not desire the
Grail, he becomes the master of Caster due to Caster killing her previous
master and him wanting to help her.It’s
implied that Him and Caster are potentially involved romantically.
Servants:
Saber
Artoria Pendragon(King Arthur), the King of Knights, who was
actually a girl.She a stoic and knightly figure, but brushes up against
Shirou, who tries to save her and sees her more as a girl than a knightly
figure.She is in the fight due
to her desire to rewind history and stop herself from drawing the sword in the
stone.
Archer
A mysterious individual who is capable of summoning sword
and turning them in to Arrows to fire from his bow.He doesn’t remember
what Heroic Spirit he is suppose to be, and often acts fickle and teasingly
with Rin, and hostile with Shirou, who he dislikes.Despite being a long range class, Archer
regularly uses swords he creates from his magic.
Lancer
Cu Chulainn(Child of Light), a Hero from the Ulster Cycle of
Irish Mythology.His master is unknown,
but primarily acts as a watchdog and assassin during the course of the war.
Berserker
Hercules, one of the greatest heroes in Greek
mythology.He is deeply loyal to
Illyasviel, but lacks emotions due to his Berserker class.His Noble Phantasm is known as his Twelve
Labors, which represent his immortality; upon receiving enough damage that
would otherwise kill him, he regenerates and loses one of his
Labors(Lives).
Caster
Medea, an unfortunate priestess from the tales of Jason and
the Argonauts.She is renown for her
magical prowess, which surpasses most masters and magus of this age.Due to her killing her original master, and
leaving only six known masters, she uses her magical prowess to obtain fake
command seals and summon Assassin, thus becoming the seventh Master.
Assassin
Sasaki Kojirou, a mythical swordsman said to have faced
Miyamoto Musashi in combat.Assassin is
actually a false servant, as servants summoned by the Assassin class are all former
owners of the name Hassan-i-Sabbah(Old Man of the Mountain).Because he was summoned under false pretenses
by Caster, herself a Servant, he is bound to the Ryuudou Temple where both
Caster and Souichirou reside, unable to leave the grounds.
Rider
Medusa, the Gorgon of Greek Mythology.Initially she is the servant to Sakura Matou,
but due to Shinji Matou insistence, Sakura transferred her rights as Master to
him.She still seeks to protect Sakura
but act Loyal to Shinji’s orders and commands.Her Noble Phantasm is a Pegasus that she rides, hence of the Rider
Class.
Other:
Sakura Matou
A part of a rival Mage Family, she is a friend to Shirou and
often takes care of him.She does this as her Brother is mean and cruel to Shirou, and
she does it as penance for her brother’s actions.She primarily serves as a support character
during the Fate and Unlimited Blade Works routes, but becomes a primary
protagonist during the Heaven’s Feel route, where we find out how poorly she
was treated and routinely tortured by the Matou’s magical training, and by
Shinji.
Kirei Kotomine
An Observer from the Holy Church, he was a former master in
the 4th Holy Grail War and acts as an impartial judge and moderator for the 5th
Holy Grail War.He is described as a
defective person: finding pleasure in the misfortune and suffering of others,
but never openly seeking it for them.He
acts as Rin’s legal guardian, and convinces Shirou to participate in the Holy
Grail War.
Gilgamesh
The King of Heroes, ruler of Mesopotamia, and considered the
first hero due to his record being amongst the first ever recorded.He was of the Archer Class during the 4th
Holy Grail War, but survived to take on a mortal body following its
conclusion.He acts as a 8th Servant
during the 5th Holy Grail War.Gilgamesh
is known for believing everything of value belongs to him, including the Holy
Grail.His Noble Phantasm is known as
the Gate of Babylon, a massive vault that holds all the treasures he collected
during his life time, including all the prototypes of Noble Phantasms, which he
launches like bullets and rockets at his enemies.
Taiga Fujimura
Shirou’s legal guardian and English teacher at the school
Rin, Sakura, Shinji, and Shirou all attend.While she a comedic character, she is unaware of the magical nature of
the events happening around her, and is oblivious to the events of the
series.She plays limited parts in the
various routes, and is primarily a background character.
Today, we dive deep in to one of my favorite Anime
Franchise, the Fate series, specifically Fate Stay/Night and its prequel Fate
Zero.I know that the series is very
dense and large, especially when you consider all the spin offs and media that
exists out there for it.And that’s
before you get to ALL of the Sabers out there…. Let dive in!
What is it?
Fate / Stay Night, or the Fate Franchise, is a part of a
large universe of characters and stories in the Nasu-verse, a fictional
universe created by Kinoko Nasu of Type-Moon. Created initially as a Visual Novel in 2004,
and the third major work of Type-Moon, the series was an immediate success and
quickly spawned a massive franchise that dwarfs many of Type-Moon previous and
future works.
While the Fate Franchise is the most popular work, the
Nasu-verse comprises of several series, including:
Kara no Kyoukai (jp: Boundary of Emptiness / eng: Garden of
Sinners)
A series revolving around Shiki Ryogi, a paranormal
investigator with the ability to see and cut the mystical lines of mortality in
anything, and her friend, Mikiya Kokutō, a fellow assistant investigator who
works alongside the powerful Sorceress Tōko Aozaki in her agency.
Tsukihime (eng: Lunar Princess)
Tells the story of Shiki Tohno, who like Shiki Ryogi, can
see the mystical lines of mortality of anything and cut them, thus ending the
their existence.The story progress as
he faces vampires and changes depending on which heroine he chooses follow
throughout the story.
What is a Visual Novel?
A Visual Novel is like a Choose your own adventure in book,
though typically takes the form of visuals with characters standing up against
a back drop/setting and a serious of dialog boxes express what the characters
are saying or doing.Most games follow
branching story lines which lead to various endings depending on the actions
taken by the player.In most games, the
Player takes on the role of the lead character and is given a limited pool of
options to react or respond to when presented by events or situations in the
game.An example could be a character
asking if they look good, with the player being given the choice between
various options to respond; and depending on the answer, will trigger a
reaction from the character.
Visual novels are popular within Japanese media as they are
relatively cheap to produce and create, as most Visual Novels rely on beautiful
still art of characters, their reactions, backgrounds, and occasional splash
pages, along with minimal background music, and focus more on stories.Few visual novels rely on motion graphics or
voice acting, and if they do, it is limited to an opening scene or trailer for
the game.Most games tend to lead toward
a particular demographic, and offer fan service for those demographic in an
effort to get them to buy the game.
Most Visual novels are of the Eroge, or Erotic, variety;
which primarily focus on stories that have sexually explicit scenes and
graphics depicting those scenes.Eroge
games can range from Teen to Adult rating, with some game being straight Hentai,
while others are more titillating and offer fan service.A popular theme among Visual novels tends to
be Harem based games with a single character with multiple love interests of
the opposite sex.
History / Lore
Fate / Stay Night, at heart, is a story revolving around
Shirou Emiya, who unwittingly joins a secret Battle Royal involving six other
mages and each of their servants in the Holy Grail War.As the name suggests, the ultimate prize is
the Holy Grail, a creation of magic that can grants any wish from the winner of
the War.During the time of Fate / Stay
Night, this is the fifth incarnation of the Holy Grail War within the fictional
city of Fuyuki City, on the south tip of Japan.The city was chosen for its strong ley lines, but also due to no magus
or holy church involvement in the area during the First War in 1790s.
Within the Fate / Stay Night, there are three different
routes/stories that exist within the game, each of which change the nature of
the story dramatically once they split off from one another.These include:
·Fate Route – Primarily Focusing on Saber and
building the world/lore of the game.
·Unlimited Blade Works Route – Primarily Focuses
on Rin Tohsaka and her servant Archer, and places more development of the
various cast of character than the other routes.
·Heavens Feel Route - Primarily Focuses on Sakura
Matou and her servant Rider, and focus more on the background behind the Holy
Grail War, along with the darker aspects of the world that led up to the
current events.
One must complete
each individual route in order to progress on the next route.While each route tells a different story and
aspect of the world and events, they all use the same characters, who each have
the same feelings and emotions, but differing motives as the story
progresses.
Each Holy Grail War consists of seven Mages and their
Servants.Servants are summoned
individuals known as Heroic Spirits, which take on the form of famous
historical figures.These historical
figures can be real life individuals or fictional individuals that actually did
exist within Nasu-verse. Most characters range from various myths and stories,
but most range from stories originating within Europe primarily.Examples of historical figures include:
King Arthur
Gilgamesh
Alexander the Great
Hercules
Medea
Medusa
Gilles de Rais
Lancelot
Each Servant being summoned may be one of seven available
classes of Heroic Spirits being summoned, with only one class per War, in order
to make the war fair. Each servant is referred to by their class, in order for
other servants and mages to not realize who the Heroic Spirit is and thus gain
a tactical advantage.IE, might be known
as Gilgamesh, but is referred to as Archer.Each class has benefits and weakness, some are based on strength, while
others are based on tactical or strategic advantages or weakness.These classes include:
Saber – A knight who uses Swords in combat, considered very
desire-able class.
Archer – A knight who uses ranged weapons, ie Bow and
Arrows, guns, or any other kind of projectile.
Lancer – A knight who uses a Lance, Spear, or Medium range
weapons in combat
Berserker – A strength based hero who dominates with
overwhelming force
Assassin – An rogue typically who is known for killing their
opponents from the shadows or in a secretive manner
Rider – An individual known for riding or driving a vehicle
or creature
Caster – A Magical Type of individual
Each Mage has three Command Seals upon their right or left
hand, which symbolize their pact with their servants, and are laid out artfully
in accordance with the Mage’s style of magic.Each Command Seal can compel the servant to act or do as the Mage commands,
with the more concrete and forward commands being the most beneficial to the
Mage over more broad ranged commands.
Mages and Servants may or may not work well together, as
some Servant or Mage classes out right hating each other, while others are distrustful,
and others are best bonds in the world.Most servants act in accordance with their Mages, as Mages supply the
very mana necessary for the Heroic Spirit to exist within the physical world.A Mage is considered disqualified from the
War if they lose their Servant and do not make a pact with a new Servant(One
that has already been summoned), or dies during the war.
As eluded to earlier, the true purpose of the Holy Grail War
is not to grant wishes, but intended to harvest mana and magic from the
servants that participate within the Holy Grail War, and then use it to
activate the Greater Grail and reach a mythical origin (Root) of magic.The system however is fundamentally flawed,
as the Greater Grail can only be held by a servant, thus limiting it to only
granting wishes.However, during the 3rd
Holy Grail War, the Holy Grail itself was corrupted by a rogue servant, thus
causing the Holy Grail to be tampered and would not work properly regardless of
the magic absorbed in to it.
With the Main Story, includes a few notable characters:
·Shirou Emiya – Lead protagonist and Master for
Saber.He has a strong sense of justice
and wants to be a hero, despite little to no aptitude for magic.
·Saber – Artoria Pendragon(King Arthur), the King
of Knights, who was actually a girl.She
a stoic and knightly figure, but brushes up against Shirou, who tries to save
her and sees her more as a girl than a knightly figure.
·Rin Tohsaka – Daughter of a prestigious mage
family, she is the Master of Archer, and tends to act as a Tsudere type
character. (IE, acts very brash and brutish to the main character, before
becoming friendly and gentle with them later.)
·Archer – A mysterious individual who is capable
of summoning sword and turning them in to Arrows to fire from his bow.He doesn’t remember what Heroic Spirit he is
suppose to be, and often act fickle and teasingly with Rin, and hostile with
Shirou, who he dislikes.
·Sakura Matou – A part of a rival Mage Family,
she is a friend to Shirou and often takes care of him.She does this as her Brother is mean and
cruel to Shirou, and she does it as penance for her brother’s actions.
·Shinji Matou – Sakura’s older brother and Master
of Rider.A chauvinistic and a
narcissist, he openly treats Shirou harsh and coldly, and often takes out
frustrations on his sister.
·Illyasviel von Einzbern – She is from a
prestigious Mage family and is the Master of Berserker.She is the youngest participant in the war,
at only 12 years old.She is actually a
half- homunculi and Shirou’s step sister.She is intended to become the Holy Grail upon the completion of the Holy
Grail War, using her body as the catalyst for its creation.
To Date, there have been animated version of all three
routes.
Fate / Stay Night (2006) – Studio Deen
While the original Fate Route is fully realized, many fans
considered it an inferior interpretation due to its animation issues and the
later releases.
Fate / Stay Night – Unlimited Blade Works Movie (2010)
Studio Deen
A singular Movie version of the Unlimited Blade Works Route,
however, much like the previous work, it is considered inferior interpretation,
as it glosses over a lot of the events and details from the game.
Fate / Stay Night – Unlimited Blade Works (2014-2015)
ufotable
After the success of Fate/Zero, this is considered the
superior version of the Unlimited Blade Works Route, as it more closely follows
the route’s events, along with the superior arts and animation from ufotable.
Released as a series of three films, ufotable returned to
animate the Heaven’s Feel route and knocked it out of the park.
Spin Offs
The fate series to date has had a number of spin offs from
the original game, some which are better documents in novels, video games,
manga, anime, and/or other visual novels.
Fate Zero
The Prequel to Fate/ Stay Night, it tells the story of Kiritsugu
Emiya, Shirou’s adopted father, along with his servant Saber, as they
participate in the Fourth Holy Grail War, just 10 years prior to the events of
Fate / Stay Night.The prequel is
considered a better place to start the Fate series, as it outlines the events
of the Battle Royal and sets up the various Fate routes better when viewed
later.It was initially started as a
light novel series before being animated by ufotable in 2011.
Fate/Hollow Ataraxia
A continuation of the Fate Story 6 months later, however,
from the vantage point of Bazett Fraga McRemitz, a mage sent by the Magus
Association to participate in the 5th Holy Grail War.She is the original master of Lancer before
he is stolen from her.The story takes
place in the dream of Bazett and follows her and her servant, Avenger, as they
replay through the events of Fate / Stay Night’s various routes.While it is a continuation of the story, it’s
not the direct continuation of any particular route, and is left to open
interpretation as to the true events that actually did happen during Fate /
Stay Night.
Fate/Prototype
Considered the original Version of the Fate / Stay Night
Story, it was the initial draft and documents for the series.It’s notable as it re-contextualizes a lot of
characters, including making King Arthur a man and Shirou as a female with
magical aptitude.It has only a short
animation included after Carnival Phantasm, but sparked a lot of interest from
the fan community.
Fate/Apocrypha
A true Spin Off, it re-imagines the Holy Grail War having
been stolen during the Third Holy Grail War, and pits two warring factions (Red
and Black) who each summon seven servants to battle against the opposing
side.The Story primarily It’s notable
as it introduces Mordred as the Saber of Red and the Son of King Arthur
(despite Mordred being a girl too), but also introduces an 8th Class
of Servant known as Ruler (Joan of Arc), a neutral party that acts as a
mediator and official for the Holy Grail War.Originally a Light Novel Series, it was later animated by A-1 Pictures
in 2017.
Fate/EXTRA (Extella, CCC)
Another true Spin Off, it re-imagines the Holy Grail War as
a tournament with where the final victor will grant a wish.This started off as a dungeon crawling video
game series in 2010-2011, with Sequels including Fate / Extella, and Fate /
Extra CCC.It’s notable for having Red
Saber, the first non-Arthurian variation on Saber, despite looking similar to
Artoria Saber.She is actually Nero
Claudius Caesar, the 5th Roman Emperor.It was animated in to a single series: Fate/EXTRA: Last Encore directly
to Netflix in 2018.
Carnival Phantasm
Existing within the Nasu-verse, this is a light hearted,
comedy affair.Carnival Phantasm
re-imagines most of the characters with their personalities and faults dialed
up for comedic effect, and includes various other character outside of the Fate
Franchise, most notable Tsukihime.It
initially started as a manga in 2004-2005 before being animated in 2011-2012 by
studio Lerche.
Fate/kaleid liner PRISMA☆ILLYA
A magical girl variation on the Fate
Franchise, this variation re-imagines Illya as a human girl who gains the
powers of a Magical Girl.The universe
takes influences from the Nasu-verse, but instead of summoning heroics spirits,
people equip class cards and summon heroic spirits in to themselves and fight
in the war.Illya uses her magic
wand/stick to activate weapons and merge with various heroic spirits available
to that class.The series is known for
being very cute looking, but heavy on fan service and heavily implied sexual
harassment of various characters.It
started as a manga, and has been adapted to various seasons in anime from 2013
– 2016, with various movies after that.
Emiya-san Chi no Kyou no Gohan (Today's Menu for Emiya
Family)
A light hearted affair, it imagines the Holy Grail War as
not happening and instead various Masters and Servants living together
peacefully.Each episode focuses on
preparing a meal for dinner in the Emiya house, which often includes other
characters in the Fate / Stay Night story coming to visit for dinner.Most episodes show someone cooking and going
through the process to make the dinner or meal, with Saber as a self insert
character having never seen most of the meals cooked.The light hearted and warm feeling shows a
different side of the characters that more homely and healing.
