Fate/Stay Night (2006 TV series)

Did You Know?

• The series was supervised by Takashi Yamana.
• The English dub was produced at Bang Zoom! Entertainment in Burbank, California.

Plot

Set in Fuyuki City, the series follows orphaned teenager Shirou Emiya, who lost his parents in a house fire ten years earlier. He is drawn into the Fifth Holy Grail War, a battle royale between mages called Masters and their summoned Servants, where the victor's wish is granted. After accidentally summoning the servant Saber, Shirou allies with classmate Rin Tohsaka to stop the war. He struggles with his desire to be a hero while protecting others, and his bond with Saber deepens as they attempt to destroy the cursed Grail, leading to a bittersweet separation.

Broadcast and distribution

A prequel OVA titled Fate/Stay Night: Curtain Raiser was released on November 23, 2005. The 24-episode series was produced by Fate Project, comprising Geneon Entertainment, TBS, CREi, Type-Moon, and Frontier Works. Geneon USA licensed the series for North America, and Crunchyroll licensed it for Australasia. The English dub was produced at Bang Zoom! Entertainment. In July 2008, Geneon and Funimation Entertainment agreed that Funimation would handle manufacturing and distribution of select titles. In January 2010, the OVA Fate/Stay Night: TV Reproduction was released in two episodes recapping the series with new animation. Sentai Filmworks licensed and re-released the series on DVD and Blu-ray in January 2013. DVD releases in Japan occurred in six volumes from March to November 2006, and a complete Blu-ray box set was released in May 2023.

Music

The soundtrack for this series was created by Kenji Kawai, who also managed the musical arrangements. Some musical pieces were taken from the 2004 visual novel, which had music by KATE and James Harris. Sachi Tainaka performed the opening songs "Disillusion" and "Kirameku Namida wa Hoshi ni," while the duo Jyukai sang the ending tracks "Anata ga Ita Mori" and "Hikari." Geneon Entertainment released the original soundtrack as a single CD in June 2006.

Reception

The series received mixed reviews from critics. Carl Kimlinger of Anime News Network described the first DVD as having "a surfeit of atmosphere and a dearth of involvement." Theron Martin noted that the first Blu-ray collection spent considerable time on particulars and character relationships, leaving little room for significant battles. In reviewing the second collection, Martin observed it attempted both flashy battles and developing the central relationship between Shirou, Saber, and Rin. Todd Douglass Jr. of DVD Talk praised the narrative, characters, and premise, calling them compelling. Both Douglass and Martin identified sound quality as a major flaw. DVD sales exceeded 1 million units by March 2010. The first Blu-ray compilation ranked in the top 10 of Anime News Network's Japan's Animation Blu-ray Disc Ranking in September 2010, with about 5,768 copies in circulation by November 2011. The TV Reproduction OVAs ranked 10th and 13th on Oricon. DVD volumes ranked higher on Oricon than BDs, with volume one at No. 5, volume two at No. 6, volumes three and four at No. 4, volume five at No. 6, volume six at No. 2, volume seven at No. 4, and volume eight at No. 6. The opening and ending theme songs debuted at No. 9 and 16 on Oricon's weekly singles chart, each selling about 40,000 copies combined.