Fate/Stay Night
September 22nd, 2008For the past two hundred years a magical war has been fought between mages for the ultimate prize, the Holy Grail, which can grant the desire of one’s heart. Seven mages are selected to fight for the prize and as the chosen weapon of combat each mage summons an epic hero, the souls of legendary figures taken from across time and pitted against each other. One hero is summoned from each of the seven classes, Saber, Archer, Lancer, Berserker, Rider, Assassin, and Caster. The battle lasts until only one hero is left, when the Grail appears and grants the wishes of both the mage and the hero.
Ten years prior to the events in the anime Emiya Shirou is the only survivor of an enormous fire started under mysterious circumstances. Shirou is found and healed by the man who would eventually become his adoptive father. His adoptive father also turns out to be one of the seven mages who competed in Holy Grail War. The fire that killed Shirou’s family was a result of the war. He didn’t tell Shirou about the war or about the servants, but he did begin to train him to be a mage. His training doesn’t go very well. Shirou turns out to be completely inept as a mage, except in the area of reinforcement magic. Shirou can find the weaknesses and physical defects in an object and erase them, making the object stronger, making it last longer.
Ten years later Shirou’s father has passed on and the Holy Grail War is starting again about 50 years too early. The various mages have summoned their servants and are seeking each other out. Shirou witnesses the battle between the Archer and the Lancer servants and is sentenced to death to preserve the secrecy of the war. Shirou is stabbed in the heart by Lancer and left to die. Tohsaka Rin, the master of Archer, takes pity on Shirou and saves his life, healing him from a fatal injury. Lancer finds out that Shirou survived and attempts to finish the job. In his moment of panic, Shirou saves his life by summoning his servant Saber. Saber protects Shirou by driving Lancer away and in so doing discovers Lancer’s true identity when he is forced to use his Noble Phantasm, the ultimate attack that reveals who the servant was in life.
Shirou and Saber then must defeat the other six masters and their servants. Each servant has various powers available to them as part of their class. Saber is a master with the sword, just as Lancer and Archer are masters with their respective weapons. Berserker with fight on regardless of any injury sustained. Rider is a master of animals and can ride or drive just about anything. Assassin is a master in the art of killing. Caster is a magic user of incredible power. Each servant and each master vie for the Holy Grail as each has a wish or desire that they would like to see fulfilled. Only Shirou seems to be concerned with the war and the consequences, even his servant Saber has a desire that she wished to have fulfilled and fights to make that come true.
The story that drives the characters in this anime is enthralling. The anime is based on a Japanese visual novel of an erotic nature. The game was so captivating that it spawned the anime, with the eroticism removed, it wasn’t needed to drive the story in any case. I started watching and couldn’t wait to see what was coming next. That is not to say that there aren’t any rough spots. There were a few places where the loose ends were ignored. Each of the servants’ true identities are revealed, except for Archer. It seems that for whatever reason it was not deemed necessary to reveal who he really was in life. Archer’s true identity is revealed in the game, but not in the anime for some reason. It mars the delivery somewhat on an otherwise exceptional anime.
The artwork is high quality and the character designs are beautiful. It is amazing the things that they can do with animation. This series has become one of my new favorites.

