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Fate/Series - Watching Guide

The Fate/Series comprises of different iterations of the same story, parallel worlds with different timelines, same worlds at different times (centuries or millennia apart), spinoffs, and some are barely related by the series name and the character's looks.
1 Fate/stay night

Fate/stay night

Watch.

This show is the first series in the franchise and where I recommend you to start. It could be argued that the Unlimited Blade Works story is similar, with newer & better animation but it may spoil parts of this story if you decide to watch this one at a later time. So although a lot of people may recommend you start with Unlimited Blade Works, I don't agree with that because if you enjoy the show and want to watch more, then you'll end up wanting to watch this season anyway, therefore, it's better you start here in order to avoid spoiling it, and also because the plotlines on each installment were created taking the release order into account.

All the 'Fate/Stay Night' series are a retelling of the main story in a parallel or alternate world where events unfold differently, they reuse the same characters and their personalities, but they play a different role and their circumstances also differ. This is because it's based on a game that has three different routes depending on the decisions you take on the game. So each of the main anime series depicts one of these routes, using a different girl as the heroine. In this first series from 2006, the main heroine is Saber.

The Fate/Series has a simple 'Tournament' setting where they battle each other for a 'prize'. Furthermore, this series incorporates a lot of different ideas that have proven successful time and time again, so it's not very original in that sense. The success of this series is in its execution & characterization, which manages to keep you interested as fights repeat with different characters, and these character's personalities, backstories, and what they stand for; play a vital part in the plot to make all of these work. The battles are visually engaging, well-choreographed, and quite intense. They also incorporate opposing ideologies based on the history and beliefs of each character, so they can be quite philosophical & deep. 

'Fate/Stay Night is an excellent anime all around; especially if you fully understand the implications of the story and how all the servants relate to their masters. Fate/stay Night kept me watching episode after episode too until the very end; I couldn't stop. I highly recommend that everyone at least give the series a shot.' -starlightknight

Note: The so-called 'Nasuverse' is a term used to describe the Type-Moon universe that Nasu Kinoku the main series writer, and Takeuchi Takeshi, the main series character designer, have created.

The dub is ok.

2 Fate/Zero

Fate/Zero

Watch.

Although this is a prequel to both Fate/stay night (2006) and Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works (2014), the plotline has definitely been adjusted based on what you should know from 2006 and what's to come in 2014 Unlimited Blade Works, so it's better to watch this series 'in-between' those two in order to avoid spoiling anything. 

This is a more serious war with professional mages, not some kids that just happened to be dragged into the war. It is often regarded as the best part of the franchise and a must-see for any anime fan!

The dub is great!

3 Fate/Zero 2

Fate/Zero 2

Watch. Continuation of Fate/Zero story.

4 Fate/Zero Cafe

Fate/Zero Cafe

Skip, it's just comedy chibi filler.

5 Fate/Zero: Onegai! Einzbern Soudanshitsu

Fate/Zero: Onegai! Einzbern Soudanshitsu

Skip, it's just comedy chibi filler.

6 Fate/Zero Remix

Fate/Zero Remix

Skip, it's just a recap.

7 Lord El-Melloi II's Case Files {Rail Zeppelin} Grace note - A Grave Keeper, a Cat, and a Mage

Lord El-Melloi II's Case Files {Rail Zeppelin} Grace note - A Grave Keeper, a Cat, and a Mage

Optional.

But if you decide to watch, I recommend you do so any time after episode 1 of the TV Series, which provides a better introduction for this spinoff and its characters.

If you watched Fate/Zero, then you'll probably remember Waver Velvet the Master of Rider (Alexander the Great, Iskander, King of Conquerors) and after being inspired by Rider you may have wondered how that meeting was going to change his life for the better and his personality, which we see improving a great deal during the war.

So this is a spinoff focusing on this character. After the events of Fate/Zero, he returned to the Clock Tower to resume his study of magecraft where due to the decline of the El-Melloi clan, Waver assumes the title of Lord El-Melloi II after agreeing to assist the true heir, Reines El-Melloi Archisorte, in restoring the clan until she is old enough to take charge. The story takes place 10 years after the events of Fate/Zero and 2 months before the events of Fate/Stay Night. (Taken from WikiPedia)

This special was meant to serve as an introduction to the new series but doesn't do a good job of introducing you to this world, that's why I recommend you watch after episode 1 of Lord El-Melloi II's series.

8 Lord El-Melloi II's Case Files {Rail Zeppelin} Grace note

Lord El-Melloi II's Case Files {Rail Zeppelin} Grace note

Optional

Continuation of Lord El-Melloi II spinoff, but I rather recommend you start here and watch the special A Grave Keeper, a Cat, and a Mage anytime after Episode 1 of this spinoff.

I find this show average but still entertaining, mostly made for fans of Fate/Zero and especially people who liked Waver Velvet character, as otherwise, it lacks the amazing personalities & stories of the servants. The show is about mysteries, but they are not the kind that you can figure out yourself as they all depend on magic and the rules of their world. It's more of an introduction to the world of mages outside the Grail War, similar to what we saw a little bit in Fate/Zero > Kiritsugu Emiya's flashbacks, but nothing as dramatic or well done, as I said, is still entertaining, but nothing as good as the original.

The show has several cameo appearances from characters from other Fate/Series & Spinoffs.

9 Lord El-Melloi II's Case Files {Rail Zeppelin} Grace note - Special Edition

Lord El-Melloi II's Case Files {Rail Zeppelin} Grace note - Special Edition

Optional.

It is just average at best. It's an extra episode set after the TV Series, it can be watched at any time and if you enjoy the series then you might like this as well.

Touko from The Garden of Sinners makes an appearance.

10 Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works Movie

Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works Movie

Skip.

This is basically the same story as Unlimited Blade Works TV Series, but super-condensed and will spoil everything. The TV Series is the better version of the two.

11 Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works Prologue

Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works Prologue

Watch.

Although this is not essential, it is a good intro to the Unlimited Blade Works storyline.

12 Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works

Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works

Watch

All the 'Fate/Stay Night' series are a retelling of the main story in a parallel or alternate world where events unfold differently, they reuse the same characters and their personalities, but they play a different role and their circumstances also differ. This is because it's based on a game that has three different routes depending on the decisions you take on the game. So each of the main anime series depicts one of these routes, using a different girl as the heroine. In this series the main heroine is Rin.

You won't be bored by watching this series with a similar story as the 2006 iteration. At some point, the similar plotlines end, and the stories diverge completely from each other.

The dub is great!

13 Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works 2

Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works 2

Watch. Continuation of Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works storyline.

14 Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works 2 - Sunny Day

Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works 2 - Sunny Day

Optional.

This is an alternate, 'good' scenario during the final battle of Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works storyline.

15 Fate/stay night: Heaven's Feel I. presage flower

Fate/stay night: Heaven's Feel I. presage flower

Watch

All the 'Fate/Stay Night' series are a retelling of the main story in a parallel or alternate world where events unfold differently, they reuse the same characters and their personalities, but they play a different role and their circumstances also differ. This is because it's based on a game that has three different routes depending on the decisions you take on the game. So each of the main anime series depicts one of these routes, using a different girl as the heroine. In this series the main heroine is Sakura.

This movie quickly goes through a compilation of the parts that are similar between all instances, so you must have watched either the 2006 anime & especially Unlimited Blade Work first, in order to understand the story and fully appreciate it. It will also help to know the events of Fate/Zero as well. The film then focuses exclusively on what's different for this timeline. The only character explored in these movies is Sakura and only the parts we couldn't see in the other installments. You are expected to know everything about the other characters already, what is the war about, and how the world works.

As always Ufotable delivers perfectly in animation, music & sound effects. Characterization is kept to a minimum since we already know who they are and their backstories.

'Some of the most epic fight sequences ever put to the animated screen... It's not even just the fights though. The stakes are incredibly high, and we know there's some greater evil at play.

The visuals are nothing short of spectacular. Ufotable at their best as usual, you can feel the Kara no Kyoukai similarities.

I liked how the movie 'fast-forwarded' through some of the introductory stuff, it doesn't re-tread over old ground (When Shirou Emiya's first encounter of a battle between Servants). It very much assumes that the audience have already seen or experienced the first two routes so one should be familiar with the Fate series before watching the film.' -2nsane

The dub is excellent!

16 Fate/stay night: Heaven's Feel II. lost butterfly

Fate/stay night: Heaven's Feel II. lost butterfly

Watch. Continuation of Fate/stay night: Heaven's Feel storyline.

17 Fate/stay night: Heaven's Feel III. spring song

Fate/stay night: Heaven's Feel III. spring song

Watch. Continuation of Fate/stay night: Heaven's Feel storyline.

18 Fate/stay night: TV reproduction

Fate/stay night: TV reproduction

Skip, it's just a recap.

19 Fate/Prototype

Fate/Prototype

Optional

This 12 minute short was what Fate/Stay Night could have been using a Male King Arthur and a Female Master. the Holy Grail War is also different with a different purpose.

'Is a reimagined version of Nasu Kinoko's original draft of Fate/Stay Night, which Nasu wrote during high school but which was eventually vastly overhauled to be a visual novel to be more suitable to target audiences. Much of the lore stayed the same, but the system of the Grail War differed. Though certain character archetypes and concepts (i.e., Gilgamesh, Avenger) stayed the same, the main character Ayaka Sajyou and her Servant are gender-swapped compared to the visual novel series. Though never officially stated, this series is probably non-canon.' -кяαzєя & V2Blast

20 Fate/Extra: Last Encore

Fate/Extra: Last Encore

Optional.

This is based on a video game of the same name and despite using the word 'Extra' it has no relation to the previous installments of the Fate/Stay Night Series, in fact, you'll be better at forgetting everything you know about those installments and start again from scratch. The name may have been better as 'Fate/Art Online' as that is basically what it is, but instead of having to go through 100 floors, there are only 7 here. In fact, the only relation to the Fate/Series is that it is reusing the same look of some characters and their names. Other than that they have different personalities & backstories, the world and the rules for the war are different and none of those is an improvement from the originals. As an anime, the whole show may have been better not having any relation to the Fate/Series at all, that would avoid any comparisons to previous works and make everything less confusing.

There is not much of a story, and despite having long dialogs and info-dumping explaining the ideologies of each character regarding their world, there are no more than nonsense using complicated words to try to make what they said sound intelligent, but the ideologies themselves have no substance.

So is it worth watching? Perhaps just for the animation alone! Created by Studio Shaft, who is well known for eye candy and excellent editing (Monogatari SeriesMadokaSayonara Zetsubou Sensei). If you want to see good animation for the visuals alone look no further, everyone else would be better off moving into better stories.

'The setting is supposed to be the main selling points of this series, but it's overly complicated and doesn't make any sense in how it's rules work, and barely anything is done with it outside of making characters talk about it, we also never get to see any masters besides the protagonists and the one they fight, which makes the large number meaningless anyway.

Every floor is considerably different than the rest, And has some of the most eye-catching scenery where any one would want to fight to death, each of of the floors looks like it's own world and gives you the impression that it could come to life at any given moment to tell it's own story...' -Zed60K

The dub is good.

21 Fate/Extra Last Encore: Illustrias Geocentric Theory

Fate/Extra Last Encore: Illustrias Geocentric Theory

Continuation & Final Battle of the Fate/Extra Last Encore storyline.

22 Fate/Apocrypha

Fate/Apocrypha

Skip. It's average at best.

The story is set in a parallel world (to the main Fate/Stay Night universe) in which the Grail was removed from Fuyuki City after the Third War, so the events of Fate/Zero, Fate/Stay Night 2006 & Unlimited Blade Works never occurred. The story focuses on the clash between the two opposing factions, Red vs. Black, with each summoning 7 Servants of their own, and the Grail itself summoning a special 'Ruler Class' servant as a mediator of this Holy Grail War. Whether or not it can be considered canon has not yet been determined, but I'm inclined to say 'no' as it's definitely 'filler quality'! Just consider the servants: Dracula, Frankenstein, Jack The Ripper, Shakespeare? Common! LoL. Furthermore, the overuse of changing gender for famous male servants is ridiculous, making a mockery of the show.

The best part of the series is the music! Read the reviews if you are still curious.

23 Fate/Apocrypha: Seihai Daisen Kaimaku-hen

Fate/Apocrypha: Seihai Daisen Kaimaku-hen

Skip, it's just a recap.

24 Fate/Apocrypha: Seihai Taisen Douran-hen

Fate/Apocrypha: Seihai Taisen Douran-hen

Skip, it's just a recap.

25 Fate/Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya

Fate/Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya

Skip.

Unless you are into magical girls or moe you won't like this, but even so, I rather recommend Madoka, Princess Tutu (if you want something lite and cute for the family), or Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka.

In this series, Illyasviel von Einzbern is transformed into a magical girl and the show is like a spoof of Cardcaptor Sakura, which is a better anime if you enjoy this genre.

Read the reviews if you are still curious.

There are many Fate/Kaleid animes, but I won't be watching any of them, so I cannot guide you through this branch of the series. If someone else does please send me the link to your guide so I can add it here.

26 Fate/Grand Order: First Order

Fate/Grand Order: First Order

Optional, but recommend skipping.

This is based on a mobile game of the same name and with the story set many years in the future, in the same universe as Fate/Stay, although I'm not clear which route/iteration or if it will be an alternative/parallel universe altogether. It introduces new characters who can time travel, so it had the potential to unify all the universes as different timelines, but it didn't.

A lot of characters from the Fate/Stay Night Series have cameos, so I thought this was going to explore the servant's backstories, how they became Heroic Spirits, and introduce new historical figures; but it does nothing of the sort. The cameos are not the same people as in Fate/Stay Night storylines, although they share the names, character designs, and even their backstories; but they are portrayed differently and the stories you see here are not really related to the Fate/Stay Night storylines.

I could see a lot of potential in this Fate/Grand Order Branch but it wasn't fully developed storywise. The Babylonia anime was a disappointment for me though :( and the films didn't do any better.

This special is an adaptation of the game's prologue and therefore, just an introduction to the Fate/Grand Order universe, but a required watch if you really want to explore this branch of the Fate/Grand Order Series.

I cannot really recommend you watch the Fate/Grand Order Series unless you are playing the game (and even so it may be a waste of time), as otherwise, it makes little sense, storywise is a waste of time, all chapters feel like you start in the middle of the story (as it probably started in the game) and even the fights choreography is weak. The animation & music are often quite good, but that's not enough a reason to watch them just as a standalone anime.

This entry is probably the best storywise and is quite average, but at least sets up the plot and the world, plus introduces the main protagonists for this branch.

If you decided to watch this, you could skip all the way to the end to Fate/Grand Order Final Singularity: Grand Temple of Time - Solomon since that is the final story that is a direct sequel to these events.

The dub is ok.

27 Fate/Grand Order: Moonlight/Lostroom

Fate/Grand Order: Moonlight/Lostroom

Skip.

Unless you are playing the game it makes no sense and even so its just average at best.

It centers on a 'Lost Room' where you can find what was lost.  It serves as a transition between Epic of Remnant and Cosmos in the Lostbelt, parts 1.5 and 2 respectively of the story of Fate/Grand Order Game.

28 Fate/Grand Order -Divine Realm of the Round Table: Camelot- Wandering; Agateram

Fate/Grand Order -Divine Realm of the Round Table: Camelot- Wandering; Agateram

Skip. 

You'll need to watch Fate/Grand Order: First Order in order to understand what's happening. Unless you are playing the game, this makes little sense. The story is subpar, the only good things are the animation & music, but otherwise is a waste of time.

This is a two-part movie animated by Production I.G which adapts the game’s “Order VI: The Sacred Round Table Realm: Camelot” storyline. 

29 Fate/Grand Order -Divine Realm of the Round Table: Camelot- Paladin; Agateram

Fate/Grand Order -Divine Realm of the Round Table: Camelot- Paladin; Agateram

Skip. 

Continuation of the Fate/Grand Order -Divine Realm of the Round Table: Camelot movie and the game’s “Order VI: The Sacred Round Table Realm: Camelot” storyline.

Unless you are playing the game, this makes little sense. The story is subpar, the only good things are the animation & music, but otherwise is a waste of time.

30 Fate/Grand Order: Absolute Demonic Front - Babylonia - Initium Iter

Fate/Grand Order: Absolute Demonic Front - Babylonia - Initium Iter

Skip

This is a special episode titled Episode 0: Initium Iter, which takes place before the events of both Fate/Grand Order: First Order & Fate/Grand Order: Absolute Demonic Front - Babylonia. You may want to watch it first if you decided to watch 'Babylonia'.

You'll need to watch Fate/Grand Order: First Order in order to understand and appreciate this episode better. Although the events of this episode are a prequel to First Order, it is better to watch it afterward, as this episode does not explain what's going on and just gives extra information about what we know of 'First Order' and serves as a bridge for 'Fate/Grand Order: Absolute Demonic Front - Babylonia'. This episode is mostly dialog, cameo appearances, and recaps of First Order. The information it's presented it's not essential to the main story, but it's still interesting if you enjoy First Order.

Unless you are playing the game, this makes little sense. The story is subpar, the only good things are the animation & music, but otherwise is a waste of time.

31 Fate/Grand Order: Absolute Demonic Front - Babylonia

Fate/Grand Order: Absolute Demonic Front - Babylonia

Skip.

Produced by Clover Works, this is an adaptation of the 'Order VII: The Absolute Frontline in the War Against the Demonic Beasts: Babylonia' quest from Fate/Grand Order Game. You'll need to watch Fate/Grand Order: First Order in order to understand this story better and you may also want to watch Fate/Grand Order: Absolute Demonic Front - Babylonia - Initium Iter before starting this anime.

If you are expecting the great characterization and a seriously driven plot like in 'Stay Night/Zero' installments, then you'll be greatly disappointed!

Unless you are playing the game, this makes little sense. The story is subpar, the only good things are the animation & music, but otherwise is a waste of time.

This has great animation, especially with the use of camera movements, but nothing that sets it apart from other animes in 2019. The fights have amazing motion & eye candy, but the fighting moves often make no sense, and they are resolved using Deus ex machina. Why they are fighting anyway? The reasons make no sense either, characters just meet each other and start fighting. The excuse is often just a stubborn personality and silly misunderstandings. It has a lot of fanservice as well.

This may be entertaining but nothing more, it has a plotline & characterization made for kids, but it's too bloody to let them watch this and too silly for teens & young adults, so I'm not sure Who is the intended audience? They added a lot of comic relief and as in any comedy, some people laugh, some don't; I didn't so I can't recommend it for that either. You can try a few episodes for yourself, but in the end, I think it is just average and offers nothing new to the genre or the franchise. There are better animes where you can spend your time!

On a good note, you get to see Gilgamesh acting like a benevolent king to his subjects, and learn why he is considered a hero, at least as long as nobody challenges his authority (like in Fate/Stay Night or Zero), lol. These parts are good but bear in mind that he is just a minor character in this installment.

'In an interview for Newtype magazine, CloverWorks producer Yūichi Fukushima stated that while the anime adaptation doesn't cover the beginning of the video game, it will be accessible even to those who don't play the game. Shizuka Kurosaki said also that 'Think of each adaptation as a different take on Chaldea and the Singularity. You don't need to watch the TV series before the films.' -Wikipedia

'Aniplex had previously launched a survey in January, asking fans what their favorite quest was, and what kind of future development they'd like to see for the franchise; the 'Babylonia' quest and 'TV anime' ranked first respectively.' -Wikipedia

The dub is good.

32 Fate/Grand Order Final Singularity: Grand Temple of Time - Solomon

Fate/Grand Order Final Singularity: Grand Temple of Time - Solomon

Optional, but recommend skipping.

This is an adaptation of the 'Order VIII or/and Final Singularity' from Fate/Grand Order Game.

This had the most cohesive story since Fate/Grand Order: First Order and is the conclusion of the events that happened there but having said that, the story is average at best. Again, you'll see a lot of characters and they'll talk about things that were never explained in any of the animes, so you'll probably have to play the games to fully understand all. 

33 Fate/Grand Order x Himuro no Tenchi: 7-nin no Saikyou Ijin-hen

Fate/Grand Order x Himuro no Tenchi: 7-nin no Saikyou Ijin-hen

Skip. It's just filler comedy.

34 Fate/Grand Order OP

Fate/Grand Order OP

Skip.

There are many Promotional shorts, you can just skip them all. I won't be adding them to this list to keep it lean. None are worth watching, nor relevant to any storylines.

Fate/Promotionals Incluses PVs (Previews), OPs, CMs & Crossovers.

Fate/OP = Opening Animations

Fate/CM = Commercials

Fate/Crossovers

35 Fate/strange Fake: Whispers of Dawn

Fate/strange Fake: Whispers of Dawn

Optional.

This TV anime is based on the Fate/strange Fake novel, written and created by Ryohgo Narita, author of Baccano! & Durarara!!, so it has some potential to be a watchable spinoff of Fate/stay night branch.

This is just the introductory episode for the series and is not enough to tell how good it will be, I can only say that it has the potential to be another great war with interesting characters and an actual plot like Fate/Stay Night. But it also shows some lame decisions like having a lot of characters with ridiculous personalities, barking a lot of nonsense and we haven't seen if those characters have any bite, or if is just barking for attention.

The dub is good.

============================================

Fate/Strange Fake Watching Guide

In order to understand what is going on here, you'll need to watch the following, prior to starting this series:

  • Ideally, you'll have watched all of the Fate/Stay Night Branch as indicated above in this same guide. Honestly, this is the best branch of the Fate/Series and the only one really worth watching overall. 
  • But at the very least, you'll need to watch Fate/Zero & Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works, which is part of the above branch, but is what is referenced on Fate/Strange Fake. This is kind of required by any spinoff of the Fate/Series, as all the rest just try to piggyback on the success of those animes.
  • Then, watch just the First Episode of Lord El-Melloi II's Case Files {Rail Zeppelin} Grace note
    • Episode 1 introduces some of the characters that take prominence in Fate/Strange Fake.
    • It is not necessary for you to watch the rest of Grace Note, since it's mostly episodic and focuses on other events & characters.
    • It is also not necessary to watch the Grace Note Special A Grave Keeper, a Cat, and a Mage. Doing so, it may help you learn more about the characters, but it is not really necessary for understanding this story.
    • There are also some references to Fate/Grand Order: Absolute Demonic Front - Babylonia, but unless you like to watch dumb action scenes with good animation, but full of plotholes and bland characters, I suggest you ignore that branch of the series.

36 Fate/strange Fake

Fate/strange Fake

(Upcoming) Continuation of Fate/strange Fake: Whispers of Dawn storyline.

37 Carnival Phantasm

Carnival Phantasm

Optional, but I recommend skipping.

It's just filler comedy, but some people do like it a lot, however, you'll be required to watch most of Nasuverse in order to fully enjoy it:

'Carnival Phantasm is a title where after finishing the Visual Novels/Animations for Fate/Stay and Tsukihime gives you a fun turn of events of combing the two titles and having fun with them.

Full of inside jokes, characters, hilarious make up of slapstick humor is just amazing. After going through so much drama, romance, sadness, and action, Carnival Phantasm is your prize for enduring long hours of watching and reading and having fun with the characters we all know and love.' -bobjoekaren

'it's (mainly) a parody of Fate/Stay Night, Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works, Fate/Hollow Ataraxia, Tsukihime, and Melty Blood and you must at least see/read Fate/Stay Night and Tsukihime anime/visual novel to have any idea what is going on. Now I mainly saw the Fate series and have some limited understanding about the Tsukihime ones so this review will be mainly be on the Fate series (although to be honest the Tsukihime segments didn't really follow the source material much to begin with, so I was able to get away with it).

There's 3 seasons with 4 episodes in each, episodes usually alternate between Fate and Tsukihime segments (although there are some episodes that shares half and half).

Overall each episode is quite entertaining and doesn't have to be watched in order (with the possible exception of episode 11) as they're all self contained.

The entire Holy Grail War has been reduced to series of wacky competitions and all the characters are on good terms with each other, Lancer (from Fate/stay night) is the victim of some pretty hilarious jokes throughout the entire series. Arcueid and Ciel are now fighting over Shiki quite aggressively for various reasons.' -extreme133

38 Fate/Grand Carnival

Fate/Grand Carnival

Optional, but I recommend skipping.

Similar to Carnival Phantasm above this is just filler comedy, but some people do like it a lot, however, you'll be required to watch most of Nasuverse in order to fully enjoy it. As the name implies, this is more focused on the Fate/Grand Order Characters.

39 Today's Menu for Emiya Family

Today's Menu for Emiya Family

Skip. Fate/Foodies?

If you loved those moments in the Fate/Series where people sit down to cook & eat together, then this may be for you. I don't watch the Fate/Series because of that reason and I'm not fond of this kind of slice-of-life, so I cannot recommend it.

'This is basically Fate Stay meets Food Wars! Shokugeki no Souma (Cooking manga). It has all the character so far from the Fate/Stay Night series, in a show about food and preparing it etc. It's not as good though as others of this genre, and if you were especially annoyed by the last show in the series being Fate/Apocrypha, you'll probably not even bother with this.' -renorxukuth

40 The Garden of Sinners Movie 1: Thanatos. (Overlooking View)

The Garden of Sinners Movie 1: Thanatos. (Overlooking View)

If you finish watching the Fate/Series and are looking for something similar then you can try:

The Garden of Sinners - Watching Guide

'As one of Kinoko Nasu's earliest works, it introduces some of the most fundamental concepts in the universe of Type-Moon's works, including souls, the Akashic Record/Root, Counter Force, Magic, Magecraft, and Mystic Eyes.

Kara no Kyōkai is set in an alternate universe to Tsukihime and Fate/Stay Night; in which it serves as the prototype for both series as well as introducing many of the concepts prevalent within the latter two.' -Wikipedia

Tsukihime is average at best, so I cannot recommend it.

The Garden of Sinners:

Also known as 'Kara no Kyōkai' this movie series has excellent animation & an intriguing supernatural story with something meaningful to say. Make sure you watch to the end of each movie.

The story is in anachronical order, but release order (as depicted on this guide) is strongly recommended, especially for the first time watching the series. Otherwise, you lose some of the intrigues. You can rewatch the series in chronological order at a later time.

'The series deals with the paranormal and tackles mature themes such as suicide, rape, patricide, incest and murder. Its lore and story draws inspiration from various religious philosophies and psychological concepts such as multiple personalities; the Anima and animus; the nature of sin; life, death and reincarnation; and the Paradoxical nature of the Taiji.' -Wikipedia

'If for nothing more than to gape in awe, Kara no Kyoukai should make its way onto everyone's list - movies like this are every action fan's wet dream.  Even at that, its level of production is so magnificently high that I expect it to appeal to just about any anime fan regardless of taste. I'll keep my fingers crossed, but if Kara no Kyoukai'strend continues down the path of greatness, this very well could be 2008's sleeping giant; not to be missed.' -Sheex

'I would have given the first film 10 overall.  Then when you throw in the remaining 6 films, you realise that actually, it really deserves the 10.  I loved it...' -Merryberry

Comments

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SeprithLiCastia Jan 14, 2024

I can understand the need for a watch guide, but what is the point of this if you are going to suggest skipping most everything? The gag comdedy shows, sure, but Apocrypha? That is a solidly optional show at worst, and at its best has some of the fandoms favorite Servants (like Karna, Achilles, Astolfo, and Jeanne) while helping to explain some of the Grails most interesting lore. We lean way more about the Clock Tower and Magus society from this show than we do any other main-line series.

ShinrabanshouGr Sep 14, 2023

As a guide that explains the order and what each installment is, this is phenomenal.
As a recomendation guide it's below average.

Suggesting to skip Grand Order and Apocrypha is at least sacrilege.
Both are amazing with great stories and characters. We don't even have to talk about the action and animation, both are top quality with Apocrypha having a different art style than the rest.

Now, for Kaleid. It does have a LOT of yuri and fanservice, so this may put some people off, but the animation and action are top tier again. So, anyone that doesn't mind yuri and fanservice SHOULD watch this for the action alone. Its story is also decent enough to keep it all together.

Gray404 Jun 1, 2023

It's a shame you have to skip 90% of them, I hoped it wouldn't be like that. Still, thanks for clarifying which ones are canon! 

JustAkeno Feb 8, 2023

Great guide. My only critique is that there's a bit too much info IMO.

Larkawolfgirl Apr 21, 2022

Thank you! This watching guide is great! Even though I already some of the info here, it was really helpful being able to see the information laid out like this in a sensible order. It was really nice reading your little reviews of the companion works to see what I may or may not enjoy watching since I had been under the impression that I should watch everything to fully comprehend the Fate/Stay universe. It makes me want to try going back to the actual visual novel. The only reason I never finished it is because of hearing how long it is to play its entirety.