By Ethan Gurr
edited by Kwame Obiri-Addai
So let me get this out of the way first and foremost before I start talking about this hour-long OVA in more depth because I know someone reading this might be wondering - no, you don't need to have watched any other Fate series before this in order to understand it. Will you get a little more out of it having watched Case Files first? Yes but it’s not like you need to have seen it to understand a character's deal and the exposition given in this adaptation of Fate/Strange Fake’s first volume is more than enough to understand things. At most, what you need to know jumping into this is the following:
Strange fake is set some time after Fate/stay night and unlike that one, which is a 7-way master-servant battle royale, The Fake Grail War will eventually have 13 pairs of servants and masters. In this OVA, we met 6 of them (technically 7 if you count the post-credit scene but they have such little screen time and I assume the first episode of the anime will be their summoning).
Oh right, dear reader, you might have missed the news - Fate/Strange fake is getting a full anime adaptation, not just this OVA. Seeing how this OVA covers the first day of the Grail War, you will need to watch this before the first episode of the anime.
Now then, I’ll be getting into this OVA a little more in-depth. Minor spoilers will be inbound; nothing too big but I will be referring to the servants presented in this special by their class names. This is your minor spoiler warning. Much like everyone else on the r/GrandOrder and other parts of the Fate fandom, I loved this and fully recommend it. I was not lying at the end of the Kamen Rider Zero One comic review. I'm back, this time talking about something i'm much more positive about.
Written by Baccano! Author Ryōgo Narita, Fate/Strange Fake is a spin-off light novel series that, at time of writing, is about 9 volumes deep and way into its stories end game. This makes it perfect for an anime adaptation, starting with this OVA which speed runs the first volume, removing details about Fake Rider and its young master and some exposition/inner monologue being the biggest changes between this and the source material and its manga adaptation.
All things considered, it does a very good job of setting up its core mysteries and reestablishing the Grail War rules. It is a little exposition and set up heavy but the fight that the OVA ends on is well worth the wait in my opinion. Also, I should have mentioned I watched it dubbed (it is available subtitled on Crunchyroll, I believe ) and all of the performances were amazing from returning VAs and those new to Fate alike, there wasn't one outta the bunch I felt was off. If I did have to criticize this anime OVA for anything then there are only two points I can think of: -There are a couple wide shots that just don’t look good. The shot with Fake Archer and the shot of his master Tiné walking out of the cave he’s summoned in has the energy of a psp loading screen. Other than these two shots, the animation was fantastic.
-Saber and his master Ayaka were featured heavily in the promotion. The iconic scene of him getting arrested was even used as the announcement picture. They were the first two characters to have their voice actors announced soo the fact that the only scene with them is the post-credit scene feels a little misleading. I know they will be getting way more focus in the full anime but their use in the promotion of this OVA just feels misleading.
In summary, as mentioned earlier, I freaking loved this and I can't believe you read this and didn't go watch this OVA already (unless you did, in which case, good job. Gold star for you). Of course I recommend this, it’s required viewing for the upcoming anime that I have no doubt I will give a 10/10. Look forward to a more spoiler-heavy write-up for the anime when it drops next year, probably.
(the following is just for A-1 Pictures,Aniplex and Type Moons eyes)
Hi A-1 Pictures,Aniplex and Type Moons
As you may see from this overly long love letter to an OVA, I really like Fate and Fate/Strange Fake. If you could please see it in your hearts to give me early access to the anime or anything else released, it would mean a lot. Odds are, I was already going to cover it and be positive on it anyway so really, you’d just be saving both of us time. Please think it over. My DMs are open to you anytime.
Kind regards
Ethan Gurr.
No comments:
Post a Comment