Thought you had seen every version of the Fate series feasibly possible? Think again! Following the TV special, here's the latest on the Fate/strange Fake anime’s release date and everything else you need to know about the latest addition to the franchise.
Table of Contents
- Fate/strange Fake: Not Just Another Fate Series
- Is the Fate/strange Fake Anime a TV Series or Movie?
- Fate/strange Fake Release Date
- Fate/strange Fake Release Countdown
- Where to Watch Fate/strange Fake
- What Characters Feature in Fate/strange Fake?
- Fate/strange Fake Cast
- What Studio is Creating Fate/strange Fake?
- Fate/strange Fake Trailer
Discover: The Fate Anime Series Explained
Fate/strange Fake: Not Just Another Fate Series
Much is made about Fate/strange Fake initially being an April Fool’s joke by light novel author Ryohgo Narita, but the strange Fake part of this story goes a lot deeper.
The story revolves around a Holy Grail War based on the Third instalment (the one before Fate/Zero) reconstructed by mages in the United States. However, their creation is imperfect, leading to a distorted fake war occurring alongside a real version.
As you can imagine, the plot gets incredibly confusing, with fake and true masters and servants all running around the American city of Snowfield.
This is the first Fate story set primarily in North America, following on from Apocrypha, which sent the franchise to Europe for the first time.
Ryohgo Narita is a much-respected light novel creator behind ensemble anime hits such as Durarara and Baccano, and his work on Fate/strange Fake has been warmly received by fans of the franchise.
If there’s anybody capable of stitching together two different Fate storylines stuffed with strange characters, it’s probably him!
Learn More: Is Fate/strange Fake Canon? Timeline Explained
Is the Fate/strange Fake Anime a TV Series or Movie?
Initially, Fate/strange Fake was being classed as a 'TV Special', aka a movie. However, it's now been revealed that the movie was a prequel to a traditional TV anime, which is coming soon.
The majority of Fate series are released as traditional TV anime. However, there has been the occasional movie release, most notably the critically acclaimed Heaven’s Feel trilogy.
Fate/strange Fake Release Date
There is no official release date yet for the Fate/strange Fake TV series. So far, we have only received a teaser visual and confirmation that it's coming in the future.
There has been no additional information on the Fate/strange Fake TV series since the visual was released. In fact, beyond promotional stuff around the Whispers of Dawn movie's release in July, the official Twitter account has been almost silent.
The only thing we do know is that Fate/strange Fake will be an anime "series", so it won't be a movie-style sequel. How many episodes the series will have is yet to be announced.
The Fate/strange Fake: Whispers of Dawn special movie was released on Sunday, July 2nd 2023, premiering at Anime Expo before being available on streaming services in most regions.
Initially, the special was supposed to release on December 31st 2022 as part of a Fate celebration on TV. However, ‘production issues’ led to it being delayed by over half a year.
It's hoped that the Fate/strange Fake TV series will arrive at some point in mid or late 2024. However, with nothing confirmed, all we can do is keep our fingers crossed.
Fate/strange Fake Release Countdown
Fate/strange Fake: Whispers of Dawn Premiere Countdown
The countdown above was set to when Fate/strange Fake premiered on Japanese TV on Sunday, July 2nd 2023.
When news on a potential release date for the strange Fake TV series is announced, we'll update this countdown with the latest info.
Where to Watch Fate/strange Fake
Fate/strange Fake can be watched on Crunchyroll in most regions.
The series is an Aniplex production; both Aniplex and Crunchyroll are part of the larger Sony Group.
The special was released on the streaming platform shortly after its premiere at Anime Expo, and the TV series will likely follow suit when it's released.
What Characters Feature in Fate/strange Fake?
Most Fate series are notable for similar characters appearing in each but in slightly different incarnations.
As Fate/strange Fake was created as a spin-off and features two concurrent battles, it largely features a new, vast cast, but there are some similarities.
Gilgamesh, who appears as Archer in most Fate series, including Stay Night and Zero, also appears in strange Fake as the Fake Archer.
The Assassins in both Holy Grail Wars are from the Hassan lineage seen in most Fate series and are likely to play key roles in the story. Faldeus Dioland, one of the main characters, is the Master of the true Assassin Hassan-i-Sabbah, the same Assassin as seen in Fate/Zero.
Saber plays a key role in most Fate series, and in strange Fake, it takes the male persona of Richard I. Unlike other classes, there is only one Saber, with the fake war not having that class due to its irregularities.
Some other characters that Fate fans might recognise in strange Fake include a new amalgamation of Jack the Ripper as Berserker and Enkidu, a Lancer seen in Grand Order who’s summoned into the fake war in Snowfield.
Learn More: Fate/strange Fake: All Servants and Masters Explained
Fate/strange Fake Cast
See below highlights from the voice cast for Fate/strange Fake (the full list is available on the official website):
- Ayaka Sajyou – Kana Hanazawa
- Tiné Chelc – Sumire Morohoshi
- Saber – Yuki Ono
- Lancer (Enkidu) – Yu Kobayashi
- Archer (Gilgamesh) – Tomokazu Seki
- Tsubaki Kuruoka – Aoi Koga
- Caster – Showtaro Morikubo
- Berserker – Kenyu Horiuchi
- Jester Karture – Tatsumaru Tachibana
- Assassin – Lynn
- Faldeus Dioland – Junya Enoki
- Francesca Prelati – Maaya Uchida
Perhaps most notably, the major returning characters, such as Gilgamesh and Enkidu, retain the same voice actors as they had in previous versions of Fate.
The lead master of Fate/strange Fake, Ayaka Sajyou, is voiced by Kana Hanazawa, who fans may recognise as the lead in Psycho-Pass (Akane) as well as Steins;Gate's fan-favourite Mayuri!
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What Studio is Creating Fate/strange Fake?
Fate/strange Fake is being animated by the studio A-1 Pictures, the studio behind the Apocrypha series.
A-1 Pictures might be disappointing for some fans as the majority of Fate’s most notable series, such as Stay Night and the Heaven’s Feel movies, are produced by Ufotable (of Demon Slayer fame).
However, A-1 has worked on Fate before, so it will have a similar feel to other recent TV releases.
Strange Fake also has a debut director in Takahito Sakazume. However, Sakazume is a prolific key animator with bags of experience on major series and previously directed episode 20 of Fate/Apocrypha.
As mentioned, the original story for Fate/strange Fake was written in light novel format by Ryohgo Narita, notable for being the creator of the Durarara and Baccano light novels.
More recently, Narita was also the original writer for Dead Mount Death Play, the anime adaptation of which premiered in Spring 2023 and returns in the Fall.
Fate/strange Fake Trailer
The above teaser trailer for the Fate/strange Fake TV anime was released shortly after the TV special, featuring many of the key characters and some new cuts not seen in the movie.
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