Sentai Filmworks, through their kinds hearts, have decided to re-release the fan favorite anime series Fate/Stay Night, previously having been issued as two 12-episode collections which are now out of print. This 3-disc set sees the entire 24-episode series in a single release. How does this show hold up? Let’s dig in!

Orphan Shirou is a regular high schooler who happens to be taught magic and combat. One day he finds himself caught in a fierce battle between two super-powered beings called Servants and despite being severely injured he finds that he heals up very quickly. After a second Servant attack, Shirou somehow summons his own servant, a female Athurian knight named Saber who is sworn to protect him. Shirou finds out that he is what is referred to as a Master and much battle against other epic heroes with their own Servants for control of the Holy Grail in a war that has occurred four times previously throughout the centuries.

Fate/Stay Night began life as an adult visual novel but has gone on to massive success as it’s own multi-media empire. In addition to anime featured in this review, the game has spawned multiple other anime series that act as either prequels (like Fate/Zero, which began as a light novel spin-off) or adaptations of other routes in the game like Unlimited Blade Works and Heaven Feel. There have been several more game sequels and spin-offs as well including Fate/Grand Order most recently, one of the highest grossing mobile games of all time (over $6 billion worldwide!). Heck, there’s even a whole slew of random magical girl spinoffs (Fate/kaleid liner Prisma☆Illya). Knowing all of this built up some expectations that frankly this series just doesn’t quite deliver on completely. First off, this series does something that is common with anime that bugs me where it just throws you into the middle of the action, hurling various terms and references at you with no exposition. Some like this immersion technique but I find it somewhat overwhelming. Also the lead Shirou doesn’t have a lot of personality to him, meaning early on when we spend most of our time with just him that it’s a little slow going. It does get more interesting though as the series begins introducing other Masters like Rin and Illya, and we begin to see factions form in this Holy Grail War. Early on, Saber’s back story is very vague as well, and her general lack of emotion (reminding me a great deal of Violet Evergarden actually) making her a hard character to relate to. Throughout the course of the series, she probably grows more than anyone else though and makes for one of the more interesting character arcs. The last couple of battles also feel a little rushed compared to the first half of the series but offers a suitable climax for those vested in the story. This reminds me of other anime series where the original adaptation was a little rough around the edges, so the series was given a do-over due to popularity (see also Hellsing, Fullmetal Alchemist, etc.). As such, I’ve heard Unlimited Blade Works in particularly is very good and is one I may need to check out at some point in the future.

On the technical front, we have the same 1080p transfer from the previous releases of the series, and to be honest, they look a little soft. Now this isn’t so much a fault with the transfer itself and more with the source material. Given this series was released in 2006, it does feel a little on the older side and certainly not as digitally polished as many newer series. Still, it’s a decent picture quality that isn’t going to get any better given its age. For audio options, we have both Stereo 2.0 English and Japanese tracks with this using the same audio from the previous releases as well. Honestly my biggest disappointment here is the complete and total lack of extras, not even OP and ED animations. In particular I would’ve like to have seen included the spin-off Emiya Family OVA series that shows Shirou’s day-to-day life after the events of this series. Many of the other sequels and spin-offs are hefty enough to warrant their own releases (and many do indeed have separate releases) but this is one I don’t see ever making it here.

Overall, while this may not ultimately be the best Fate/ series out there, it is basically where it all started. If you are a fan of the games, then you might find yourself getting more immediately vested in the characters since you have more of a proper basis of understanding. Fans of solid fantasy action may find much to like here as well.