Fate stay night novella. Fate: Stay Night on PC (2004)

The novella covers two weeks in the life of one of the main characters - Emii Shirou. He lost his parents in a terrible fire and is adopted by a mysterious man, Emiya Kiritsugu, from whom the main character learns that he is actually a magician.

Cool FullHD wallpapers from Fate/Stay Night.

One day, after an attack, Emiya Shirou, against his will, summons a Servant - the swordswoman Saber. After this, the hero makes a decision anyway take part in the War.

Characters

As the story progresses, the player will also meet other Masters and Servants, as well as ordinary people who may suffer in this War.

Peculiarities

1. Fate/Stay Night contains a lot of text: character dialogues, thoughts of the main character, the player will not have to constantly be at the choice point.
2. The novella has several story arcs, represented by different short stories. In addition, the series was adapted into an anime series, OVA and manga.

Epilogue

Game screenshots

But I have never seen a single novella there. Maybe this is due to the Asian habit of “not releasing their own products outside the country,” or maybe due to the lack of translation from Japanese. One way or another, only since 2010 did books of this kind begin to appear on the shelves of digital stores. Well, enough about the past, let's look at the review part first. no spoilers, where we will try to understand why I recommend reading something that was already 15 years old.

Almost Fate/Stay Night review

The events take place in a completely modern world, only with the exception of innovations in the form of mobile phones, computers and the eternal desire to “be different from everyone else.” The focus is on the main character named Shiro, who experienced the loss of his parents as a child. The boy lived for some time with his adoptive father, who reluctantly taught the boy useless types of creative magic. Then this parent passed away too. Then a schoolteacher and a childhood friend took custody of the teenager, although for the most part he began to live alone in a huge house. Although, to be honest, it’s difficult to call this trough a home; in fact, there are no chairs, no beds (except for the guest room), no wardrobes, or other amenities - and all this is called “Japanese style”. Sleep on the floor and be happy, yeah. In the morning you cook a meal from the products that you bought yourself, then you go to school, and then to work part-time, because tomorrow you will want to eat again. A completely closed and hopeless life.

In terms of his psychological characteristics, Shiro is quite persistent and purposeful. He wants to help people in any way he can. The word “no” is not in his vocabulary, which is often used by those around him. However, you can’t call him a weakling, because he can easily hit him in the face, having strengthened the nearest useless object with the magic of strength. This is of little use, but if you only have paper at hand, you can turn it into wood, and wood even into iron (the internal strength structure will change, and that’s all). This is where his skills end. The guy doesn’t have a spark of humor, but he keeps all his emotions deep inside. One ordinary evening he witnesses a strange fight on the street, and realizing the mortal danger of the situation, he tries to take refuge in the school. In vain. An unknown enemy quickly catches up with him and pierces his heart with a pike in a matter of seconds. A magician appears nearby, who uses the power of a magic gem to transfuse magical energy. This gives the guy a chance to wake up after a while and hobble home, but if only everything were that simple...

Grail War

Three hundred years ago, three famous families of magicians joined forces to create an artifact that would grant any wish. They used the knowledge of the ancients, the ability to form golems (alchemy) and energy crystals to summon something unimaginable into this world. But the grail turned out to be not a simple object, but an entity with its own interests. For its full formation it was necessary to make sacrifices, which were the founding families. The union quickly turned into a bloody massacre, but no one was able to get what they wanted, and the grail, never filled, disappeared. It’s just that he has the passive property of returning to the world once every 60 years in order to again give the sufferers the opportunity to fight for possession of the “cup”. For this, seven most worthy people (called “masters”) are selected and seven powerful spirits (servants) are called upon to serve them. Spirits and magicians must fight until only one pair remains. Only the last surviving servant can touch the grail and give his master the power to grant one wish. According to rumors, it could be anything, even “the destruction of all living things.”

And here comes the part that personally interested me the most - each servant belongs to a certain class of characters. Archer (archer) uses ranged combat techniques, Berserker is a rampant warrior, Saber is a swordsman, Caster is a mage, and there is also a Rider (horseman), Lancer (spearman) and Assassin. Accordingly, each master can only have one servant with him, and as proof of the contract between them, three command spells appear on the master's body. They allow you to give a special order to a servant once, for example, to instantly restore health, quickly teleport to the right place, or increase combat power many times over. Servants have their own consciousness, they are far from stupid and are themselves interested in fulfilling desires (at least the grail promised them that). You can also beg to stay in this world in human form and live a normal life. For a long-dead hero, this is a fantastic opportunity.

First blood

Spirits are extremely powerful, so masters cannot resist them in open combat. If the servant opposes any person, the battle will take only a couple of seconds and will end very predictably. After the death of the master, his servant can stay in this world for a maximum of a couple more days, after which he will disappear. But, if another participant in the battle has lost his servant, he can still renew the contract with the freed one. It turns out that in theory it is possible to do without human casualties, which is what the protagonist strives for. In practice, it is necessary to eliminate the weakest and most accessible links first. Battles between heroes often end in a draw, and since they quickly heal any non-fatal wounds, victory depends more on the survival skills and patience of the participants. Anyone who gets into trouble acts recklessly, because you can stupidly sit back and wait until the others kill each other.

Well, of course, Shiro would not have had any chance of winning if not for a special piano made from bushes. For some reason, the guy received unrealistic regeneration, capable of restoring him at the level of Wolverine from the X-Men. Enemies often treat what is happening with enviable indifference, so they do not make a control blow to the heart or brain. And this helps you lie down and “heal” by the next day. Again, it is not strength that decides, but survival. Although it won’t be possible without one-shots in any case. There are a total of forty bad endings in the game, all of them end with the death of the protagonist in different variations and are accompanied by text that takes about 3 minutes to read. After which the tigers dojo is highlighted, where the gamer is guided on the right path... They suggest the correct choices in dialogues and places of logical errors (a kind of cheats, if such a thing is applicable to visual novels at all). There are a dozen good endings, but in general there are only three major plot branches.

Three ways

By the way, the hentai scenes were completely out of place. In such an active novel, they look inappropriate and simply unnecessary, and I don’t believe that there is any other way to share mana. And it just so happens that everyone is trying to sleep with only the protagonist, as if there are no more suitable individuals. Moreover, as participants in the great war, magicians had to prepare for such difficulties in advance. But not one of them, NOT ONE, did this. Yes, this time the grail appeared only ten years later, and not sixty, which probably did not allow some to properly train their reserves. The three original families entered the battle, which is quite logical, as well as four outsiders. Almost none of them by this point no longer possesses a rich family tree, outstanding spells, or trusted allies. It would seem that it’s time to use the power of money and connections with the same police, hire snipers and set traps, but ALL clashes occur spontaneously head-on.

About halfway through reading Fate I started to get really bored. The hero is constantly beaten, nothing is clear, and the number of ordinary events is off the charts (the notorious tea party, cooking, meaningless training). At that moment I decided to watch the anime adaptation and I was right. It turns out there is a backstory called Fate/Zero, where the events of ten years ago are described in great detail. Also, instead of slow-witted schoolchildren, real masters of magic and cunning fight there, and the servants are much more charismatic. Adult showdowns, adult victims and the same goal - to gain desire. But the plot of Fate xthtcxeh is drawn out and bland. It becomes really interesting to go through the second and third branches, because everything changes a lot there. New servants are revealed in all their glory, and the intentions of the masters are demonstrated from a different angle. It’s probably better to start getting acquainted with the series with Zero, and only then move on to reading the novella... Or watching the anime, because it’s also done well (although the part about Heaven will only be released in 2018). The voice acting is the same everywhere, which undoubtedly pleases.

Disadvantages of the novella

It talks about duty, honor and valor, about attempts to protect society with all one’s might and to live up to the difficult status of “leader”. In general, everything that is alien to a gamer... Also, the concept of “fate” is presented here in a not very pleasant light, demonstrating the hopelessness of life situations and inevitable consequences. Shiro tries to enlist the help of others to train himself as much as possible in the use of magic and melee combat. As a result, he becomes very close to his servant and falls in love with her, although it is unlikely that it will be possible to reach such a level of adoration in two weeks. The essence of Saber, her past and, in general, the essence of the work of the grail are immediately revealed. In the end, it turns out that everything is not what it seems, and the outcome of the war was determined even before it began. All battles look like a banal beating of the weak by the strong and end with a large advantage of strength. But even in conditions of terrible inequality, the characters manage to survive. Sometimes the absurdity of some rescues goes beyond all limits. It is unlikely that the novel would have received such high ratings if it consisted only of this branch.

Here events take a completely different turn. Shiro makes himself a real murder-hungry opponent in the face of Archer. Having taken a liking to the protagonist, the archer begins to suspect that he is connected with the boy in the most unpleasant way - they are one. In the future, little Shiro will become that great hero Archer, who will believe until he is blue in the face in a world without war and the salvation of everyone around him. Realizing this absurdity, Archer decides to kill the guy at all costs, since he hated all this heroism of endless battles. His dream of “saving everyone” is impossible, because "when a terrorist takes hostages, but you save them, there will still be at least one victim - the terrorist himself". And the universe itself suggests that two identical objects should not exist in the same time period. Unlike the strong dependence on outsiders in Fate, here Shirou learns everything himself and begins to powerfully copy other people's techniques. To such an extent that it becomes a real threat to the grail war. Caster is also seriously pumped up, doing real crazy things. You shouldn’t give the ancient magician time to accumulate strength!

At the end of the story, unreal action begins. The servants die at the very beginning, and they are replaced by something new, dark. It seems that one of the participants in the war summoned a creature that could easily destroy both the city and the masters. Not only does it completely paralyze everything it touches, but it also resurrects fallen servants as corrupted undead. One by one, the masters lose their servants and are left high and dry, while hitherto untapped characters come to the fore. All previous measures of strength and ability no longer work, and aspirations change radically. The heroes have to reveal all their cards and discuss painful issues, and each event turns out to be a maximum surprise. And then it becomes much more difficult to find the right path, because the slightest mistake leads to death. In particular, some points along the way require a whole bunch of reputation from one of the heroes, and if you haven’t accumulated it, then they won’t let you go further and you’ll have to go through it again. It’s good that at least in the game folder there is a guide with all the possible dialogue answers and hidden rewards received.

Subsequently, the two friends decide to move up a level and write their first visual novel, Tsukihime (2000). The visual novel turned out to be as dark and philosophical as KnK, but on the plus side there were elements of comedy and hentai. The visual novel received fairly high praise in the press, and three years later it was filmed as a TV series.

Thanks to Tsukihime, Type-Moon earned even more money and devoted all their efforts to creating their Opus Magnum - Fate/stay night (2004). The experience gained from past projects was not in vain. FSN had everything at once. Philosophy, darkness, comedy, as well as a huge, well-developed universe, with its own laws and history. The success was phenomenal. The sales record was broken on the first day. Type-Moon resurfaced and created a franchise, releasing sequels, prequels and spin-offs. Since then, three anime series and one film have been released in the universe, which is essentially a brief retelling of the events of the second route. In 2017 they promise to release a series based on the PSP game Fate/EXTRA and a film based on the third route of the original novel.

The plot of all works takes place in the same universe, which fans nicknamed “Nasuverse” in honor of the main screenwriter of Type-Moon. The world of Nasuverse is very similar to ours, but with one difference - it contains magic and enchantment, carefully hidden from ordinary people. Some characters from various short stories are interrelated with each other.

High school student Emiya Shiro becomes an unwitting participant in the so-called “Holy Grail War”, which takes place from time to time in the Japanese city of Fuyuki. This is the struggle of seven magicians for the possession of a legendary artifact - the Holy Grail, which will fulfill any desire of the winner and, thus, change his fate.

Every mage, from the moment he begins to participate in the war, summons a servant - one of the great heroic souls of the past or future - to fight on the side of his master. The battle is fought until only one pair of master and servant remains. Emiya Shiro, against her own will, summons a swordswoman who has set herself the goal of getting to the Grail by any means. However, he does not want to participate in the battle. Emiya begins to be helped by Rin Tohsaka, a powerful magician who studies at the same school as Shiro. But the rules of the Holy Grail War indicate that sooner or later they will have to fight each other, and the most likely outcome for the loser is death.

Characters

Shiro Emiya (Japanese: 衛宮 士郎 Emiya Shiro:)

A second year student at Fuyuki City High School. Lost his parents in the last Grail War that took place in the city 10 years ago. His adoptive father, Emiya Kiritsugu, was a magician and participated in the war as a master. He became a role model for young Shiro, as he strived to help all people using his abilities. At the same time, Kiritsugu did not dare to teach Shiro any spells, with the exception of a single technique. After the death of her father, Fujimura Taiga, the granddaughter of an old friend of Kiritsugu and a teacher at school, began to look after Shiro. Having become a participant in the next war for the Holy Grail, Emiya does not want to fight with anyone, but learns that the catastrophe that orphaned him is a consequence of the War. If the artifact falls into the hands of a madman, the disaster may repeat itself.

• Fate: Accepted Saber's disappearance and continued to live a quiet life. In the true ending, Realta Nua lived his life as a hero and, after his death, met Saber again in Avalon.
• Unlimited Blade Works: Good ending - began to live with Rin and Saber. True ending - leaves with Rin for London.
• Heaven's Feel: Normal ending - sacrificed himself to destroy the Grail. True ending - received a new body and began to live with Sakura and Rider.

Rin Tohsaka (Japanese: 遠坂凛 To:saka Rin)

A girl from Shiro's parallel class. A representative of the hereditary dynasty of magicians, the founders of the Grail War. Rin is determined to participate in the war and prepares to summon Saber, but by mistake (in reality this is not a mistake, as stated in the Unlimited Blade Works thread) she summons Archer instead, which confuses all her plans. At first, having met Shiro, she sees him as an enemy, but over time she becomes his reliable ally and friend. Sakura's sister.

• Unlimited Blade Works: Good ending - began to live with Shiro and Saber. True ending - leaves with Shiro for London.
• Heaven's Feel: Normal ending - started a family and stayed in Fuyuki. True ending - went to the Association. Later visits Shiro, Sakura and Rider.

Sakura Mato (Japanese: 間桐桜 Mato: Sakura)

Shiro's close friend, who had been taking care of him for the last year and a half before the events described, was originally assigned to Shiro by her grandfather as an observer. Representatives of the Makiri dynasty (now called Mato) were strong magicians, but over time their family lost the ability to perform magic, that is, Sakura’s magical skills were suppressed. She loves Shiro very much, but is afraid to admit it to him. Sakura was the victim of cruel magical experiments by her grandfather, Zouken Matou. Because of them, she became the container for Angra Mainyu, a servant of the Grail and a member of the eighth class who could not be summoned normally. Rin Tohsaka and Sakura Matou are sisters from the Tohsaka clan, separated in childhood. Sakura is the youngest. In order to save the eldest daughter and maintain friendly relations with the Matou family, the girls' father and mother gave Sakura to be raised by Zouken. The Matou family gains their power by controlling the worms and allowing them to live in their body.

• Fate: Continued to live a quiet life.
• Heaven's Feel: Normal ending - she moved into Shiro's house and waited for him until her death. True ending - she lived happily with Shiro and Rider, but she is still connected with Akaseya and has a huge supply of magical energy.

Illiyasviel von Einzbern (Illya) (Japanese: イリヤスフィール・フォン・アインツベルン Iriyasufi:ru von Einzuberun)

A little girl participating in the war on behalf of the Einzbern family, whose representatives were one of the initiators of the Grail Wars. At the beginning of the series, he lives in the forest castle of Einzbern, where family members stay during wars. A very powerful magician. Illya managed to summon Berserker - the most physically powerful servant - and easily control him, converting her magical powers into energy for her servant. A homunculus, destined to serve as a vessel for part of the Grail at the end of the War and, as a result, die. Likes to pester Shiro and call him "brother". At first he acts as the main opponent of Shiro and Rin. Daughter of Emiya Kiritsugu, Shiro's adoptive father. Initially, she had an ambivalent attitude towards Shiro: on the one hand, she envies the boy for whom her father abandoned her, but she believes that if Kiritsugu found something in him, then there must be something. She is actually eighteen years old. After the death of Berserker, he remains with Shiro.

• Fate: Moved to Fuyuki and lived a normal life, but her lifespan will not exceed a year.
• Unlimited Blade Works: Killed by Gilgamesh.
• Heaven's Feel: The normal ending is unknown. The true ending is that she sacrificed herself for Shiro, revealing to him the truth about her birth before disappearing.

Shinji Mato (Japanese: 間桐 慎二 Mato: Shinji)

Member of the Matou family, Rider's temporary master, Sakura's half-brother. Since childhood, he dreams of becoming a strong magician. From the moment Sakura became a member of the Matou family, Shinji tried his best to support her. On her birthday, he overheard a conversation between his family and Sakura, which stated that Sakura should become their representative in the Holy Grail War. Shinji decided that Sakura had been mocking him all this time. Since then they have been in a very tense relationship. Shinji often hits Sakura for some small thing. He tries to surpass Shiro Emiya, but fails. He entered into a fake contract with Ryder, which he does not provide with mana and treats it like a thing. Later, when Sakura made a contract with Rider, she saved Shinji in his battle with Shiro.

• Fate: Killed by Illya after being defeated.
• Unlimited Blade Works: Survived and was able to establish a relationship with Sakura.
• Heaven's Feel: Brutally killed by Sakura.

Soichiro Kuzuki (Japanese: 葛木 宗一郎 Kuzuki Soichiro)

A teacher who teaches at the same school that Shiro and the others attend. His servant is Caster. He is cold-blooded, ruthless, and fights his opponents dispassionately.

• Killed in all arcs.

Kirei Kotomine (Japanese: 言峰 綺礼 Kotomine: Kirei)

Priest of the Fuyuki Church, mentor of Tosaka Rin. Observer of the Fifth War, participated in the Fourth War, in which Gilgamesh was his servant. It was he who was to blame for the fire ten years ago, from which only Shirou Emiya escaped. Having killed Master Lancer, he himself became his master.

• Fate: Killed by Shirou during the Grail Summoning.
• Unlimited Blade Works: Killed by Lancer.
• Heaven's Feel: After the battle with Shiro at the Grail, he dies after his black heart is stopped by Dark Sakura.

Each servant belongs to one of seven classes:
Swordsman – “Saber”;
Archer - "Archer";
Spearman – “Lancer”;
Rider – “Rider”;
Warrior – “Berserker”;
Killer – “Assassin”;
Caster - "Caster".
There are also non-standard Servant classes:

Defender - "Shielder".
The ruler is "Ruler".

The class of a servant is given in accordance with his “noble phantasms” - the distinctive features of the hero, important reasons for his fame (the Gorgon Medusa, for example, is capable of turning people to stone, although not literally). Each servant is interested in obtaining the Grail no less than the master, since the fulfillment of a desire awaits everyone. Each artist has a three-part pattern on his arm that resembles a tattoo (the pattern depends on the personality of the artist). These are command spells. They allow you to overcome the limitations of servants: with their help, you can give orders that contradict the intentions of the servants, even suicide, or their physical capabilities. The command spell can be used three times until the last part of the pattern disappears, in which case the person ceases to be a master. He can sign a new contract, but usually this does not happen.

Saber (Japanese: セイバー Seiba:)

Shiro's servant. He considers obtaining the Grail his main goal and duty. She seems cold-blooded and selfish, although she also has human feelings, which she carefully hides. She was summoned by Emiya Kiritsugu in the last, fourth war, but lost the last fight. Real name: Arturia Pendragon, King Arthur. Saber believes that another person, less soulless and callous than herself, is worthy of the title of King of England. Participates in the War for this purpose. Considered to be the strongest servant. Rin Tohsaka wanted to summon her, but Shiro Emiya accidentally did it by mistake.

• Fate: Destroys the Grail and disappears.
• Unlimited Blade Works: Good ending - continues to live as Rin's servant. True ending - destroys the Grail and disappears.
• Heaven's Feel: Killed by Shadow in the middle of the War, later turned into Saber-Alter and finally destroyed by Shiro and Rider.

Archer (Japanese: アーチャー A:cha:)

Servant of Tohsaka Rin. Claims that he does not remember his real name. In Unlimited Blade Works, he is revealed to be Emiya Shiro from a possible future.

• Fate: Dies at the Hands of Berserker after killing him 5 times.
• Unlimited Blade Works: Disappears in the ending after asking Rin to take care of herself.
• Heaven's Feel: He was mortally wounded by a shadow while protecting Rin. Later he asked for his arm to be transplanted into Shiro, after which he disappeared.

Lancer (Japanese: ランサー Ransa:)

Archer and Saber's first opponent, the first servant Shiro encountered. Appreciates beautiful fights, participates in war only for his own entertainment. He lost his master on the fourth day of the War and became a servant of Kotomine Kirei, a priest of the local Fuyuki church. Lancer's true name is Cuchulainn, a hero of Celtic myths.

• Fate: Died at the hands of Gilgamesh near the end of the story.
• Unlimited Blade Works: Committed suicide on Kirei's orders, but managed to kill him too, protecting Tohsaka Rin.
• Heaven's Feel: Killed by the Shadow early in the War, then devoured by the True Assassin.

Rider (Japanese: ライダー Raida:)

A servant summoned by Matou Sakura, but placed under the control of her brother, Matou Shinji. Rider is secretive, taciturn and cautious, hates her temporary master, but has sympathy for Sakura and tries to help her whenever possible. Since Shinji Mato is not a magician, he is not able to supply Rider with energy and support her in battle, and her characteristics themselves are reduced, so she has to attack people, absorbing the energy of their souls. Real name: Gorgon Medusa. Rider is able to control her eyes, paralyzing all living things within sight, but wears a blindfold as a precaution.

• Fate: Died in a fight with Saber.
• Unlimited Blade Works: Killed by Soichiro early in the War.
• Heaven's Feel: Attacked people and was defeated by Saber, later saved Shiro from the True Assassin. When Shinji kidnapped Sakura, it was revealed that it was Sakura who summoned Rider and created the “Book of Command Spells” for Shinji. She cares about Sakura very much, but goes against She is protected by Shiro at the last conscious request of Sakura.On the last day of the War, together with Shiro she fights with Saber-Alter and wins, in the true ending she lives calmly with Sakura and Shiro, in the normal ending her fate remains unknown.

Berserker (Japanese: バーサーカーBa:sa:ka:)

Servant of Elijah. Real name: Hercules, famous hero of Greek mythology. His colossal physical strength and endurance are supported by the Heavenly Phantasm "Hand of God", which gives Berserker an additional 12 lives - one for each feat he has accomplished during his life. This Phantasm also gives the servant protection from any low- and medium-rank damage and immunity to weak magic. Servants of the "berserker" class are usually wild and uncontrollable, but Hercules unquestioningly obeys his little mistress and obeys her in everything.

• Fate: Killed by Saber and Shiro.
• Unlimited Blade Works: Killed by Gilgamesh while protecting Illya.
• Heaven's Feel: Defeated by Shadow and Saber-Alter, turned into a dark Berserker and defeated by Shiro with the help of his own True Phantasm (Nine Lives: The Shooting Hundred Heads).

Caster (Japanese: キャスターKyasuta:)

The servant who tricked his master into wasting all his command spells and killed him. Without calculating, she was left with virtually no energy and on the verge of extinction. Found by Kuzuki Soichiro (the teacher of the Fuyuki school where Shiro studies) and became his servant. In love with Kuzuki. Real name is Medea.

• Fate: Killed by Gilgamesh while attacking Shiro's house and demanding Saber become her servant.
• Unlimited Blade Works: The main antagonist of the arc, managed to take control of several servants at once (Assassin, Archer, Saber). But she was betrayed by Archer and died protecting Soichiro.
• Heaven's Feel: Killed by Saber at the beginning of the War, but resurrected by Zouken as a puppet. Defeated by Saber and Archer.

Assassin (Japanese: アサシン Asasin)

Sasaki Kojiro. He was summoned not by a human magician, like other servants, but by Caster. Because of this, he is limited in movement and limited in combat abilities. He does not occupy the position of a Servant in war and serves solely as a gatekeeper guarding the entrance to the Ryudoji Temple.

• Fate: Defended the gate to the temple. During Sakura's liberation from Caster, Saber was defeated.
• Unlimited Blade Works: Defended the Temple Gate to the end, defeated by Saber.
• Heaven's Feel: A mysterious ritual was performed on him, and a True Assassin escaped from him, who later devoured his body to restore his personality.

Gilgamesh (Japanese: ギルガメッシュ Girugameshu)

A cursed servant from the last (fourth) Holy Grail War, Archer class. Two-thirds god and one-third man, the ruler of ancient Uruk. Arrogant and mysterious, his desire is to obtain the Saber. At the end of the last War, he was partially exposed to the influence of Angra Mainyu, which made his body material. Gilgamesh is the strongest participant in the Holy Grail War.

• Fate: Defeated by Saber with the help of Avalon.
• Unlimited Blade Works: One of the main antagonists of the arc, planned to bring Angra Manya into this world. Defeated by Shiro.
• Heaven's Feel: Devoured by Sakura when he tried to attack her.

"I have a secret that I haven"t told you... I"m a Magi"
-Emiya Kiritsugu

Fate/Stay Night is a graphic (visual) novel from the Type-Moon studio, also known for Tsukihime, Kara no Kyokai, and the Melty Blood series of fighting games. The novella was published in 2004 and became the beginning of a whole series of works.

Everything starts somewhere​

So, an Ordinary Japanese Schoolboy...
... but no, the schoolboy is still not quite ordinary, but with an interesting ability to see things from the inside and fix them without taking them apart. Repair a heater, for example, or a kettle. Hard to call it a superpower, right?
So, this schoolboy was driven by some incomprehensible impulse to go to school at night and stumble upon two big guys who had just decided that the school yard at night was the best place in the world to find out which of them was cooler. Naturally, Emiya could not help but get the first number, from which he suddenly died on the spot... WOULD HAVE, if he had not been revived in time by a student of the same school who arrived in time. After which a blonde in shining armor appeared to the already rather stunned hero and suddenly declared that she would fight on his side, and that he was her Master.
This is where the novella itself begins. And everything above is just a backstory, nothing more.

Are you my Master?..

Characters​

Almost all the heroes of the game have one thing in common: they are Masters. Overlords. Magi.
Each of them is subordinate to one of the seven Servants: Saber, Archer, Berserker, Rider, Lancer, Caster, Assassin. All Servants are the spirits of great heroes of the past, present, and sometimes the future.

The main character, part-time, is not an ordinary Japanese schoolboy -

Servant -

Servant -
A sweet little girl who came from nowhere and is clearly obsessed with bloodlust -

Servant -

But not all heroes are Mages; there are also ordinary people among them. For example, Emiya's friend, the personification of kindness, modesty and purity,

Game process​

Graphic novels can rightly be compared to picture books: the entire gameplay consists of reading text on the screen, which is accompanied by images illustrating it. The text is also often spoken out loud, and the images are animated, but this depends on the specific novel. Graphic novels are usually distinguished from books by several components:
Firstly, this is the plot. In short stories, sometimes everything is so twisted and confusing that not every book can stand it. (an exception, perhaps, is "Game of Thrones...")
Secondly, it is interactivity and, as a consequence, nonlinearity (some short stories, however, are quite linear).
And thirdly... this is hentai. Erotica. Historically, many people equate the genre of graphic novels with erotic novels: this is not entirely fair, but it is often justified.

Specifically, now we are talking about Fate/Stay Night: the volume of text in it, according to translators’ calculations, exceeds the volume of all three volumes of The Lord of the Rings. The text is accompanied by beautiful illustrations and perfectly chosen voices of the actors (naturally, the characters speak Japanese). Interactivity is manifested in the fact that at certain moments in the narrative the player needs to choose the hero’s action from several options. In practice, almost all choices in the game come down to the same thing: the hero either safely moves on to the next episode, or gives up his life... and ends up in Tiger Dojo- an unusually executed system of hints, where they popularly explain to him, as a poor student, what he did wrong this time. There is eroticism in the game, and it is very organically woven into the plot.

Plot​

Intrigues are woven around the hero; Among the Masters there is a struggle for life and death, with the simplest idea: winner takes all.
The plot of the novel revolves around the servant Emiya Saber(that blonde in shining armor), as well as the events taking place in the city. The hero finds out what is happening, who the magicians and Servants are, and why he himself became a Master. As the story progresses, it will become clear who Saber really is, why she became his Servant and her goal and role in everything that is happening.
Thump-thump-thump, in reality 10 hours have passed, and there are several days and fights in the game, and it seems like it’s already over.
By the way, an anime series was based on the game and it ends at the same place

But! After the ending, the hero suddenly finds himself in the already probably familiar Tiger Dojo, where he learns that if “you try to replay everything again, but at one very specific moment choose not option A, but option B...”

... unknown to death; not known to life...​

After reading the second story, the player will receive answers to many remaining questions: a deeper and more detailed history of the battles will open before him, the essence of Archer will finally become clear (oh, how many topics about this have arisen on the Internet after the release of the anime), and much more. And, of course, the constant scenes of the hero’s death due to a wrong choice.
The second story, by the way, is no longer entirely linear: it has two possible endings.
The anime OVA based on the second part is almost pointless to watch as a separate work. But the anime plays the role of illustrating the events taking place in the novel 10 out of 10.

I"m going to hurt you, Senpai​

Summary​

I learned about the Fate/Stay Night novel quite by accident after watching the anime - wondering who Archer was, because he was the only Servant whose story was not revealed in the anime. Fortunately, at that time the novella had already been translated into English...
Almost a week was lost from my life. I woke up, read, went to bed, woke up again and read further: it was summer and I was on vacation. Having already completely read the entire novel, I found a time counter in it: it showed three days and an hour and a half, for a total of almost 75 hours. It was impossible to break away.
This novella is without a doubt the best I have ever read in terms of execution; the plot in it has no equal. Fate/Stay Night is a true masterpiece that I highly recommend checking out if you consider yourself a fan of anime, graphic novels, or just fantasy stories.
The story of Fate/Stay Night is closely related to two works:
Fate/Hollow Ataraxia is a graphic novel, a continuation of the story of Fate/Stay Night. The translation of the game into English is close to completion.
Fate/Zero is a prequel to the story, released in the form of a light novel, which was adapted into an excellent anime.

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