With Fate/strange Fake having made its debut – with a premiere at Anime Expo no less – the novels are long overdue for a localization.
Highlights
- Fate/strange Fake: Whispers of Dawn is an hour-long special that serves as an abridged version of the first novel in the series.
- Certain story beats, including the storyline of Tsubaki Kuruoka, are left out in the special, which hinders the storytelling to some extent.
- The TV adaptation of Fate/strange Fake is highly anticipated, with an all-star creative team and the potential to cover several novels in a single season.
GAMERANT VIDEO OF THE DAY
SCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT
The following contains spoilers for Volume 1 of the Fate/strange Fake light novel series and Fate/strange Fake: Whispers of Dawn.
The relationship between an anime and its source material can be a fickle thing, and while one typically views an adaptation as a standalone work, it can just as often be treated as an ad. When Fate/strange Fake: Whispers of Dawn was announced, one could easily have assumed it to be marketing for the novels, perhaps a prelude to a wider international release, but not quite.
Of course, it wasn’t all bad; fans were instead treated to the announcement of a TV adaptation from the same creative staff as the special, something arguably more enticing to fans. We reviewed Whispers of Dawn and gave it a 3.5 out of 5, praising the directing and visuals, but criticizing the absence of certain story beats, which in turn hindered the storytelling somewhat.
What Didn’t Make The Cut?
As of the time of writing, there are eight volumes, the most recent of which was released on February 10, 2023, and according to fan discussions dating to 2021, the story is far from done. To give some perspective, Whispers of Dawn covers most of the first novel, which introduces the “False” servants, and chronicles the bombastic start to the war.
It’s an impressive feat for an hour-long special. Whispers of Dawn covers the broad strokes of the premise, garners investment in the war, and builds anticipation for what’s to come. With that said, it is certainly an abridged version of the volume, and while the TV series proper might double back to expand on that which was cut, some of the omissions hurt more than others.
The biggest victim of this is Tsubaki Kuruoka, the Master of False Rider, a young girl who is comatose in a hospital, yet has been chosen by the Grail to participate in the war. In the special, her parents – both of whom are mages – are seen rushing her to a hospital and later discussing their upcoming involvement in the Grail War, but the book goes a bit further with this story.
In volume 1, a doctor explains Tsubaki’s mysterious condition to her parents. They seem concerned, but once the doctor mentions that her reproductive functions are intact, their worries cease. If anything, they become elated. All they care about is winning the Grail War and preserving their family line through their daughter. It’s a haunting lack of compassion made more repulsive given how young and innocent Tsubaki is.
Unexpectedly to the mage couple, however, Tsubaki becomes a Master, and they become victims of False Rider, puppeted around in a dream world built by a servant to make its master happy. It’s a dark moment of karmic justice that feels less impactful in the special because of the lack of context. It’s one of a few storylines hurt by omitted scenes, though certainly the most egregious.
Obviously, when adapting anything, there are bound to be details left on the cutting room floor, but fun as it is on the whole, Whispers of Dawn cuts out a little too much. It would be an easy remedy to simply recommend the original text, but currently, there are only fan translations passed around. However, that might not be the case for long.
The Next Big Fate Adaptation
Not since the Heaven’s Feel trilogy has there been so much excitement over a new animated work in the Fate Series. With the story set in America, Aniplex seems to have had no issue hyping it up to Western fans. Whispers of Dawn premiered at Anime Expo 2023 and was even released on Crunchyroll dubbed before even the subbed version hit the streaming site.
The English dub saw the return of David Vincent as Gilgamesh, joined by Marin Miller as Enkidu, a role they previously portrayed in Fate/Grand Order – Absolute Demonic Front: Babylonia. Likewise, Lucien Dodge and Khoi Dao reprised their roles from Lord El Melloi II’s Case Files, as Waver Velvet and Flat Escardos, respectively. In addition to the familiar faces, Fate/strange Fake is filled with brand-new characters.
The original story was written by Ryohgo Narita, the writer of such classics as Durarara and Baccano, dramas that thrive on interconnected stories between huge casts of characters. “Fate by way of Durarara” is quite the pitch, hence why an adaptation has been so sought after for years, especially after A1-Pictures animated a commercial for the novels in 2019.
As luck would have it, the creative team responsible for the ad reunited, including famous Attack on Titan composer Hiroyuki Sawano, to create Whispers of Dawn and now the new TV series. By all accounts, it’s a dream team that promises to bring this “fake” Holy Grail War to life through vibrant colors and cinematic orchestration. With all this hype, there’s never been a better time to bring the novels to U.S. shelves.
An Overdue Localization
As stated previously, the story still has a ways to go. There have been eight novels, yet only a few days have passed in the timeline. It is an incredibly elaborate story with many moving parts, as is customary with Narita’s work. Assuming that the show is paced similarly to Whispers of Dawn, the TV run could adapt several of the novels over a single season – possibly even all of them, though that is certainly less likely and an episode count has not been confirmed yet.
The implication this has for the anime is a bit worrisome, if only because it will mean a longer wait for a sequel. Even if the TV series takes its time and doesn’t rush the adaptation – which would be for the best – there’s no guarantee that the novels will end any time soon. There’s been talk about Narita trying to finish the series in 10 volumes, but there are just as many who are skeptical of this, and it can be hard to corroborate these claims.
All the more reason for the light novel series to finally get an international publication. There’s not even a release date for the first season, much less an idea of how much it will cover, so the least the publishers can do is give fans some reading material to make the wait less painful. It might build even further hype for the anime.
Fate has something of a strange reputation for hard-to-find source material. Despite the popularity of Fate/Stay Night, the classic visual novel has – bafflingly – never been released outside of Japan. But between Type-Moon finally releasing their VN’s in the West and the surge of hype in anticipation for Fate/strange Fake, hopefully, fans can more readily access the stories they’ve been told to read for years.
Fuente: successacademy.edu.vn
Categorías: Anime
