Fate/stay night
Japanese visual novel game and its franchise
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Fate/stay night is a Japanese visual novel game developed by Type-Moon. It was first released for Windows on January 30, 2004. The story takes place over three distinct routes: Fate, Unlimited Blade Works, and Heaven's Feel. It focuses on a young mage named Shirou Emiya, who becomes a warrior in a battle between mages called "Masters" and their "Servants" known as the Holy Grail War. In each route, Shirou bonds with a heroine and confronts different adversaries participating in the war.
- Type-Moon
- Kadokawa Shoten (PS2, Vita)
- Aniplex (NS, Steam)
| Fate/stay night | |
 Original game cover by Takashi Takeuchi, featuring Saber (in the center), Illya (lower right), (then counterclockwise) Lancer, Rin Tohsaka, Archer, Sakura Matou, and Berserker | |
| Genre | Dark fantasy[1] |
|---|---|
| Video game | |
| Developer | Type-Moon[a] |
| Publisher |
|
| Genre | Visual novel, eroge[b] |
| Engine | KiriKiri |
| Platform | Windows, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Vita, iOS, Android, Nintendo Switch |
| Released | Windows
|
| Manga | |
| Written by | Datto Nishiwaki |
| Published by | Kadokawa Shoten |
| English publisher | |
| Magazine |
|
| Original run | December 26, 2005 – October 26, 2012 |
| Volumes | 20 |
| Anime television series | |
| Directed by | Yūji Yamaguchi |
| Produced by | Masaaki Saito |
| Written by | Takuya Satō |
| Music by | Kenji Kawai |
| Studio | Studio Deen |
| Licensed by | |
| Original network | TVS, CTC, KBS, tvk, Tokyo MX, SUN, TVA, AT-X |
| English network | |
| Original run | January 7, 2006 – June 17, 2006 |
| Episodes | 24 |
| Manga | |
| Himuro no Tenchi Fate/school Life | |
| Written by | Eiichirou Mashin |
| Published by | Ichijinsha |
| Magazine | Manga 4koma Palette |
| Original run | November 25, 2006 – present |
| Volumes | 15 |
| 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 |
| Manga | |
| Fate/stay night: Heaven's Feel | |
| Written by | Taskohna |
| Published by | Kadokawa Shoten |
| Magazine | Young Ace |
| Original run | May 2, 2015 – present |
| Volumes | 11 |
| Manga | |
| Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works | |
| Written by | Daisuke Moriyama |
| Published by | ASCII Media Works |
| Magazine | Dengeki Daioh |
| Original run | December 25, 2021 – present |
| Volumes | 7 |
| Other | |
| |
An enhanced version, Fate/stay night Réalta Nua, was released in April 2007 for the PlayStation 2.[2] Realta Nua was later ported to Windows in 2011, PlayStation Vita in 2012, and Android and iOS in 2015. A remastered version of Réalta Nua was released for Nintendo Switch and PC via Steam in 2024, marking the first time the game was made available outside Japan.
Fate/stay night was a critical and commercial success, and is considered a defining work in the visual novel genre. It received several anime and manga adaptations, beginning with a 24-episode anime series by Studio Deen, primarily based on the Fate route, which aired in Japan between January and June 2006. A film adaptation, Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works, also by Studio Deen, was released in January 2010. A second anime television series, Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works, was produced by Ufotable and aired between October 2014 and June 2015. A film trilogy by Ufotable adapted the Heaven's Feel route, consisting of three films: presage flower (2017), lost butterfly (2019), and spring song (2020). A manga series adaptation by Datto Nishiwaki was serialized in Kadokawa Shoten's Shōnen Ace magazine between February 2006 and December 2012. A second manga adaptation, based on Heaven's Feel and illustrated by Taskohna, began in 2015 in Kadokawa Shoten's Young Ace. A third manga adaptation, based on Unlimited Blade Works and illustrated by Daisuke Moriyama, began in 2021 in ASCII Media Works's Dengeki Daioh.
The visual novel spawned the Fate media franchise, consisting of many adaptations and spin-offs in various different media. A sequel visual novel, titled Fate/hollow ataraxia, was released in October 2005. A prequel light novel series titled Fate/Zero was published from 2006 to 2007, with an anime adaptation by Ufotable airing between October 2011 and June 2012. A spin-off magical girl manga series, Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya, began serialization in 2007, and has received several anime adaptations. Numerous spin-off video games have been released, including the fighting games Fate/tiger colosseum (2007), its sequel Fate/tiger colosseum Upper (2008), and Fate/unlimited codes (2008), as well as the RPG Fate/Extra (2010). A gacha game titled Fate/Grand Order was released for mobile platforms in 2015, which was a commercial success and has received anime adaptations by several studios.
Gameplay
Fate/stay night's gameplay requires little interaction from the player as most of the game's duration is spent reading the text that appears, representing either dialogue between the characters, narration, or the inner thoughts of the protagonist. Often, players will come to a "decision point" where they are given a chance to choose from options displayed on the screen, typically two to three at a time. The time between these decision points is variable. 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 must replay the game multiple times and choose different choices during the decision points to progress the plot in an alternate direction. Finishing one route will unlock the next one. When interacting with the heroines in each route, an "affection meter" is created, which is raised by giving them an answer that pleases them. A "True Ending" can be unlocked depending on the player's affection.[3]
There are multiple ways in which the player can lose the game, including Shirou's death or a decision that causes the heroine to be murdered. Should this happen, the player is taken to an area called the Tiger Dojo (タイガー道場, Taigā Dōjō) where Taiga Fujimura and Illyasviel von Einzbern give the player hints about what they should do to survive in the next attempt to complete the game.[4]
Plot
In January 2004, the story revolves around Shirou Emiya, a hardworking and honest teenager who unwillingly enters a to-the-death tournament called the Fifth Holy Grail War, where combatants fight with magecraft and Heroes from throughout history for a chance to have their wishes granted by the eponymous Holy Grail. Orphaned and the sole survivor of a massive fire in Fuyuki City as a child, Shirou was taken in by a retired mage named Kiritsugu Emiya who would die 5 years ago. His perceived responsibility to those who died and his salvation through his father formed a strong desire for justice and peace in him. Thus, he earnestly trains his body and minuscule ability with magecraft to someday greatly help others, even if people often abuse his generosity at his stage.
One evening, after seeing two devastatingly powerful beings trading blows at his school with swords and spears, he is attacked, as witnesses of supernatural are generally supposed to be eliminated. Chased to his home by the spear-wielding warrior Lancer and barely able to avoid his attacks, Shirou is about to be killed when he is saved by Saber. Saber, the personification of a renowned figure in history, was created to aid participants in the War. In her supposedly accidental summoning and the appearance of the marks on Shirou's hand, his entry as a Master into the Holy Grail War is formalized.[5]
Fate
The first of the three heroines, Saber is a mighty warrior who keeps her identity secret, hence her substitute name after her role as a member of the Saber class. She also serves as the route's servant protagonist. She was the victor of the Fourth Holy Grail War with another Master and claimed to be the strongest out of all Servants in the Saber Class. However, Shirou is against Saber's constant aim for conflicts with other servants and instead seeks to ally with Rin. Shirou drops his pacifism when he discovers that his former friend, Shinji Matou, is a Master with the Servant Rider, aiming to sacrifice all students from their school to increase the Rider's powers.
Following Shinji and Rider's defeat, Shirou learns that Saber cannot fight at full strength without exchanging Mana (magical energy) with her Master. During a confrontation with Master Illya and her Servant Berserker, Shirou has part of his magical circuits ripped out from his system and sacrificed to Saber to create a connection to her, and later assists her in defeating the enemy by projecting one of Artoria's lost swords, the Sword-in-the-Stone Caliburn in combat. As Shirou seeks to keep Saber in their world, he learns from the priest Kirei Kotomine that the Holy Grail is cursed. It is revealed that Shirou's late guardian, Kiritsugu, once used Saber to destroy the Grail. However, it instead caused the fire where Shirou lost his family.
Realizing this, Shirou rejects the idea of accepting his wish for the Holy Grail as he decides to accept his past and never forget Saber. Moved by Shirou's will, Saber also rejects the Holy Grail, believing she should not change Britain's history and that she should accept herself. As Kotomine aims to use Illya's body to recreate the Holy Grail, Shirou and Saber confront him and his Servant, Gilgamesh.[6] After being victorious, Shirou orders Saber to destroy the Grail. This causes Saber to go back to her last moments before she dies, finally accepting her life.[7] In the Réalta Nua version of the game, an overarching ending can be unlocked after all the routes, where Shirou fulfills his roles as a heroic spirit in order to meet Saber in Avalon.[8]
Unlimited Blade Works
The second of the three heroines is Rin Tohsaka, a model student and idol of Shirou's school who is secretly a mage and Master of Archer in the Holy Grail War. Her Servant Archer serves as the Servant protagonist of the route. She descends from a long, distinguished line of mages, with potential to become one of the 100 strongest human magi.[9] Classmates dub Rin "The Ice Queen" for her cold, unreachable persona at school; however, this is simply a front to hide her actual status as a mage. Her presence in the story is established after Lancer mortally wounds Shirou at school. Upon seeing him, she revives him due to his connection with Sakura Matou, with whom Rin is closely acquainted. The two become allies in the war, unaware of Archer's true identity as an adult Shirou from one of the series' numerous alternate universes.
Shirou loses control of Saber during the story but aims to fight with his magical strength to stop the war. Archer betrays Rin and reveals his despondency and bitterness over his past choices to Shirou. He subsequently challenges Shirou to a fight, hoping to destroy his story of being a hero. However, Shirou accepts his future regardless of his regrets and misery, sticking to Kiritsugu's ideals. Gilgamesh tries to kill Archer and Shirou, with the former seemingly sacrificing himself to protect the latter. Later, Rin passes Shirou her Mana to fight Gilgamesh to replicate Archer's powers. As Gilgamesh almost drags Shirou into their deaths, Archer uses his last strength to save the latter.[10] In the True Ending, Shirou and Rin move to London to study magecraft, as well as start a romantic relationship.[11]
Heaven's Feel
The third and final heroine is Sakura, a first-year high school student and longtime friend of Shirou's, who often visits his home to help him with his daily chores. A quiet, soft-spoken girl, Sakura can be surprisingly stubborn and holds a deep, unparalleled affection for Shirou. She is revealed to be Rin's long-lost sister, raised by the Matou family, and has since suffered their abuse while training as a mage. Sakura is also discovered as the true Master of Rider, whom she reasserts control of from Shinji, making Rider the Servant protagonist of the route. In the route, Saber and Berserker are consumed by the shadows of Angra Mainyu. In the ensuing battle with True Assassin and the corrupted servants, a mortally wounded Archer transplants his left arm to save a dying Shirou.[12]
It's revealed that Zouken, Sakura's adoptive grandfather, placed a shard of the lesser grail from the 4th Holy Grail War in her body, infecting Sakura with Angra Mainyu. She becomes Dark Sakura, killing Shinji in his attempt to rape her.[13] Despite the threat Sakura poses to humanity, Shirou, having fallen in love with her, abandons his ideal in favor of saving Sakura, despite Rin's initial objections. Upon learning that Illya is another sacrifice to create the Grail, Shirou teams up with Kotomine and uses Archer's powers to save Illya from Berserker.[14] Rin is injured after finding herself unable to kill Sakura, while Rider and Shirou successfully eliminate Saber Alter. Shirou talks to Sakura and helps her regain her humanity, freeing her from her contract with Angra Mainyu. He then faces Kotomine in a final battle to later destroy the Grail. In True Ending, after Kotomine dies in combat, Illya sacrifices herself to destroy the Grail and extracts Shirou's soul using a weaker version of the Third Magic. Rider later returns to the cave to grab and bring Shirou's soul home, and Rin places it within a puppet body. Shirou, Sakura, and Rider live peacefully in Japan, while Rin moves to London to study magecraft.[15]
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.[17] 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.[18] This early draft was later embodied in the short original video animation (OVA) Fate/Prototype, which was released with the final volume of the Carnival Phantasm OVA series.[19] 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 dōjin 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. Artist Takeuchi suggested switching the protagonist's and Saber's genders to fit the game market.[17]
The novel Makai Tensho influenced Nasu to write a fantasy story in which famous heroic personalities from all over the world would take part.[20] The original idea was limited to the prototype of the Fate arc, where the main characters were the female master and her Servant Saber (the embodiment of King Arthur as a man).[21] According to Nasu, this version contained elements of 1980s romance and ideas of transformations to world order, while the final version focuses on changes within people and has other purposes for using the Holy Grail.[22] About a third of the scenario of the future Fate arc (up to the battle with Sasaki Kojiro) was completed at that time, but for several personal reasons, Nasu could not write further for more than ten years.[20]
The first two-story arcs completed were Fate and Unlimited Blade Works; the latter was partially presented to the public in a preview booklet at Comiket in December 2001.[23] Unlimited Blade Works was based on the idea of a character's confrontation with himself and his own ideals, something unrealized during the development of Tsukihime for the arc of Yumizuka Satsuki.[24] In 2002, it was found that the content that was already written was nearly equal in length to Tsukihime, leading to proposals to divide the game into two parts. However, due to the high cost of releasing two products at once, the arcs of Illya and Sakura were partially combined, resulting in Heaven's Feel.[25][26] Nasu originally thought of extending the Fate route involving an alternative Fifth Holy Grail War where Shirou fought alongside Saber without a romantic relationship developing between them. Following their separation, Shirou would bond with Rin in a similar way to the true ending of Unlimited Blade Works.[27] The main theme in Fate/stay night is "conquering oneself". There are three storylines in the visual novel; each has a different theme. The first one, Fate, is the "oneself as an ideal." The second one, Unlimited Blade Works, is "struggling with oneself as an ideal." The third one, Heaven's Feel, is "the friction with real and ideal".[17][28]
According to Nasu, the main theme of the resulting Heaven's Feel arc was chosen to apply the protagonist's ideas in practice. This is in contrast it with Fate and Unlimited Blade Works, which paid most attention to the demonstration of Shirou's ideals.[29] Nasu wanted to portray him as a typical teenager while artist Takashi Takeuchi did not want him to have too much individuality to make players project themselves onto him.[30] In 2002, Takeuchi suggested Gen Urobuchi, a well-known author of Nitroplus visual novels, to connect to the preliminary scenario of the game, but Urobuchi ultimately refused. Afterward, Nasu decided that Fate/stay night would be the most significant work in his life, created by him from beginning to end.[21]
Release history
After translating the text into code, editing background images and sprites, and debugging audio-visual effects, on October 21, 2003, the game's demo version was released on a CD with the magazine Tech Gian from Enterbrain,[31] and on November 1 was posted on Type-Moon's site.[32] Fate/stay night was released in Japan on January 30, 2004, for Windows PCs.[33] The opening animations were produced by Tatsunoko Productions.
A CERO C-rated version of Fate/stay night, titled Fate/stay night Réalta Nua, for the PlayStation 2[34] was scheduled to be released in late 2006. However, it was postponed until April 19, 2007.[35] This version replaced the sexual content with alternate scenes, added an extended ending scene to the Fate storyline, and featured voice actors from the 2006 anime series. In the Fate route, the 2004 release's adult content was replaced with a much more anticipated scene from the writers,[36] of which was eventually expanded with a subsequent prequel novel. This "Magical Circuit Grafting" scene was highly abstract and symbolic,[37] revealing the Dragon's Core aspect of Saber's character that would subsequently remain as a key part of her characterization through the franchise into her appearance in Fate/Grand Order.
The updated re-release also provided not only this key part of the Fate route's 'Day 10 & 11', but also the true ending to the Fate route. Tatsunoko Productions produced three opening animations, based on the three branching storylines in the game. Fate, Unlimited Blade Works, and Heaven's Feel are the three branching storylines found within the game. They were released separately through digital download on Windows (but as the Réalta Nua version) in the beginning of 2012. A PlayStation Vita port of Réalta Nua was released in Japan on November 29, 2012, with three new opening animations by anime studio Ufotable and the option to change the aspect ratio to 4:3, 16:9 or in-between.[38] On January 30, 2024, Type-Moon announced Fate/stay night Remastered.[39] It was published by Aniplex worldwide on August 8, 2024, for the Nintendo Switch and Windows via Steam with Japanese, English and Simplified Chinese language options.[40] The remaster is based on the PS Vita version of Réalta Nua, and marks the first official release of the visual novel outside Japan.[39]
There have been only small changes to Shirou's physical design since its inception. With red hair and stubborn eyes, Takeuchi aimed for a typical design of a straightforward shōnen manga genre character. However, he felt that it was too standard, so he added more circles in his eyes. Takeuchi has trouble bringing out Shirou's expressions because of his unique eyebrows; as a result, Shirou remains the most difficult Fate/stay night character for him to draw. Their goal of creating "a protagonist without a face" to comply with the nature of bishōjo games in the initial release of Fate/stay night is another reason Takeuchi had trouble drawing Shirou, who only appeared in a handful of scenes. In the re-released Réalta Nua version of the visual novel aimed at teenagers rather than just adults, the importance of showing non-adult content was increased. So Takeuchi had to draw Shirou more often.[30]
On October 28, 2005, Type-Moon released a sequel to Fate/stay night, titled Fate/hollow ataraxia.[41] 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.[41]
Music
There is a soundtrack to the game, called Fate/Stay Night Original Sound Track.[42] There is also an arranged soundtrack of the game music, titled 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.[43] 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 soundtracks. There is a Fate/tiger coliseum OST and an imaged soundtrack for Fate/Zero titled Return to Zero.
| Title | Composition and arrangement | Lyrics | Performance | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| "This Illusion" | Number201 | Keita Haga | M.H. | Opening theme |
| "Days" | Number201 | Keita Haga | Chino | Ending theme |
| "Ōgon no Kagayaki" (黄金の輝き, Golden Glitter) | Number201 | Keita Haga | Maki | Opening theme (Réalta Nua) |
| "Link" | Number201 | Keita Haga | Rhu | Ending theme (Réalta Nua) |
| "Arcadia" | Rico | Earthmind | Opening theme (Réalta Nua PSV, Fate route) | |
| "Horizon" | Earthmind | Opening theme (Réalta Nua PSV, Unlimited Blade Works route) | ||
| "Another Heaven" | Earthmind | Opening theme (Réalta Nua PSV, Heaven's Feel route) |
| Title | Composition | Arrangement | Lyrics | Performance | Single release date | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Disillusion" (episodes 1–14)[44] |
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)[45] |
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)[46] |
Manami Watanabe | Jyukai | March 15, 2006 | Ending theme | ||
| "Hikari" (ヒカリ; lit. Light) (episode 14) |
Manami Watanabe | Jyukai | Ending theme | |||
| "Kimi to no Ashita" (君との明日; lit. Tomorrow with You) (episode 24)[47] |
Sachi Tainaka | Kaneko Takahiro | Sachi Tainaka | Sachi Tainaka | February 7, 2007 | Ending theme |
| "Disillusion2010" (OVA) | Number201 | Ayumi Miyazaki | Manami Watanabe | Sachi Tainaka | January 22, 2010 | Opening theme |
| "With..." (OVA, Episode 1) | Number201 | Jyukai feat. Sachi Tainaka | Ending theme | |||
| "Kumo no Kakera" (雲のかけら, lit Fragments of Clouds) (OVA, Episode 2) | Number201 | Ayumi Miyazaki | Manami Watanabe | Sachi Tainaka feat. Jyukai | 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.[48] Readers of Dengeki G's Magazine ranked the game second in a list of "most interesting bishōjo games" in August 2007.[49] The original PC version of the visual novel sold 400,000 copies.[50] On the PlayStation 2, the 2007 release sold 184,558[51] and the 2009 re-release sold 21,937.[52] On the PlayStation Vita, the game sold 58,157 in 2013,[53] and 86,836 as of 2014.[54] This adds up to total visual novel sales of 751,488 copies. The DVD and Blu-ray releases of the 2006 anime series sold 283,864 units in Japan.[55]
In early 2007, the popularity of Fate/stay night and the anime Japanese voice actors led to the launch of the Fate/stay tune internet radio drama, featuring the voice talent of Kana Ueda (Rin) and Ayako Kawasumi (Saber). 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.[56] In 2019, the franchise took first place in the Comiket event.[57] The spin-off Fate/Grand Order was also a commercial success, surpassing the gross revenue of the video game franchise Metal Gear in four years.[58] As of July 2021[update], Fate/Grand Order grossed $5.6 billion worldwide, making it the seventh highest-grossing mobile game of all time.[59]
Critical response
Fate/stay night is, according to various estimates, one of the most famous representatives of its genre.[60][61] It has also been described as "among the most well-received visual novels ever published".[62]
It was noted that TYPE-MOON's use of heroes from legends of antiquity encouraged acquaintance with their literary and mythological sources.[63] Uno Tsunehiro from Kyoto University compared Shirou's traumatic background in regards the city's fire to survivors from the September 11 attacks while also showing different ways the Japanese society used to take care of their lives in such time. As a result, Tsunehiro views Shirou's change in each route as a way to recover from the trauma, grow up and become an independent person.[64] According to Lebowitz and Klug, the authors of the book on the theory of visual novels, the chosen format of the visual novel was optimally used since the concept of several plot arcs stretched the exposition of elements important for a common understanding of the plot and supported reader interest.[65] The researchers also identified branchings that contain differently emotionally colored scenes that made it possible to view the situation or characters from several angles.[66] A large number of sudden deaths, coupled with a strong effect of losing control over the situation, according to the authors of the monograph, gave the gameplay an additional emotional coloring and motivated players to continue playing the game, aided by well-developed plot twists.[67] Despite the linearity of the passage of the story arcs, the option of completely skipping the already known scenes "warned players of fatigue and again quickly dipped them into the thick of events".[68][69] Story twists were called by various observers "relevant and exciting".[70] The darker narrative "Heaven's Feel" takes in comparison to "Fate" and "Unlimited Blade Works" resulted in the route being compared to the horror genre.[71] Rice Digital claimed the adult content was given a deep theme particularly in Heaven's Feel when the heroine, Sakura, is treated differently due to her backstory, which makes her uneasy.[72]
Critics and scholars praised Shirou. Gamasutra regarded Shirou as an interesting protagonist due to his childish ideals of becoming a hero and continuing this goal while growing up. The site added that the player's in-game choices make Shirou's character arcs change dramatically and allow Nasu to convey a different aspect of his ideal.[3] The novelist Shūsei Sakagami praised how the user can witness Shirou's "gradual change from a robot to becoming a human" through the three routes, developing distinctive traits in each one.[73] In his analysis of the magical system and details of the personalities of the characters, Makoto Kuroda sees in the idea of Shirou to become a "champion of justice" a direct analogy with the traditional view of the life of bodhisattvas in Mahayana Buddhism, seeking to save other people at the cost of their own efforts and suffering.[74] In Kuroda's view, Buddhist concepts are opposed to the elements of faux-Christian ethics contained in the plot through the opposition of Shirou and Kirei Kotomine in the form of the main character's rejection of the interpretation of Angra Mainyu as a creature who accepted and manifests the sins of others in the name of salvation.[75]
In the story aspect, the reviewers considered Shirou's behavior and his attitude to his own ideals as the most interesting and well-developed part of the whole novel.[76][77] The main character in each of the story arcs was placed in different conditions, which gave readers the opportunity to understand the conditions of the setting ("Fate"), to conduct a theoretical understanding of the ideals of the character ("Unlimited Blade Works"),[78] to face the problems of their implementation ("Heaven's Feel") and, having combined this, to understand the details of his image.[76]
The images of Rin, Saber, and Sakura received conflicting ratings. Thus, many reviewers recognized that the psychologically deepest arc is "Heaven's Feel," which is largely due to the sharp and versatile disclosure of the image of Sakura Matou,[79][80] and her romantic line with Shirou is the most "adult" among all the heroines.[80] According to Gen Urobouchi, the author of the Fate/Zero prequel, the relationship between the main character and Saber resembled the relationship "between a boy and a boy who became a girl" and more "corresponded to the ancient Greek understanding of love".[80] The very image of Saber was considered by some reviewers to be "full of dignity and not falling into banality".[81] According to some reviewers, Rin Tohsaka "emphasized a different opinion about the ideals of Shirou",[82] and her romantic line looked "most realistic",[82] where Rin and the main character "compensated for the shortcomings and increased the virtues of each other".[80] Despite this, TYPE-MOON's Takashi Takeuchi maintained that in purview of the essential themes concerning the ideal and overcoming self, "the first story [the Fate route] is Fate itself for me."[83]
Notes
- Only the original 2004 Windows version
- Through Madman Anime.
