The Gravity of Fate

Sadly this article is not about Emperor Dornkirk and the Fate Alteration Engine but about how it is a wonderful time to be a Type-Moon fan. Carnival Phantasm season one recently came out and was hysterical. All was right with the world. Type-Moon then announced that the limited edition of the third season would come with the newest version of Melty Blood for the PC. All was even better with the world. Good Smile made-over their cafe to have a Carnival Phantasm theme. All was awesome with the world. While Type-Moon might be constantly pushing back the date for A Witch on the Holy Night, Girls’ Work seems more mysterious than real, and the Tsukihime remake seems like dream there is tons of good news for Fate/Stay Night fans. Saber fandom über alles!

At first there was great rejoicing at the news that the Fate/Zero prequel novels were being adapted into an anime. Considering how poorly anime and manga novels have done in English the commonly held sentiment was that the only way US fans would get to experience the story beyond summaries was if there was anime. But now not only is the anime coming out but it is being simulcast in 8 DIFFERENT LANGUAGES (Korean, Chinese (Traditional & Simplified), English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish) all over the world via Nico Nico Douga. Aniplex and ufotable are truly embracing an international market and I appreciate their efforts. The episodes will only be up for one week but that is just a good indication that they wish to release the DVDs and Blu-Ray Discs overseas as soon as possible. While I fear that means we will probably have to pay prices like with the Kimi ni Todoke boxsets it is better than nothing. Hopefully they will be as nice as the Kimi ni Todoke boxsets as well. Also not to be outdone there are also Fate/Zero cafes in Japan just to put a cherry on top of everything.

And in the same trend of getting translations of Type-Moon properties that no one really thought we would ever get came the announcement of an English version of Fate/Extra. At Anime Expo everyone was shocked when Aksys Games announced that they had picked up the license for Fate/Extra. But they did not stop there. Aksys Games are also releasing a limited edition box set and the Fate/the Fact Booklet if your preorder the game through Gamestop. Fate/Extra is a Persona style RPG that takes place in a parallel universe to the traditional Fate/Stay Night universe. Saber may look mostly like everyone’s favorite Saber (except for the larger breasts) but she is voiced by Sakura Tange and her true identity is quite different. (And before you guess she is not Joan of Arc.) Kinoko Nasu is the scenario writer on this game so I am confident it will be pretty darn fun.

And if that were not enough Image Epoch and Marvelous Entertainment announced that Fate/Extra was getting a sequel entitled Fate/Extra CCC. While there are not a good deal of details out it seems the story is more of an alternate path to Fate/Extra than a full sequel. The Heaven’s Feel of Fate/Extra, if you will,  including an increased emphasis on Sakura. As a bonus you can carry over information from the first game for bonuses in CCC. And of course there is a special edition box set with a slew of extras including a wedding dress Saber figure. I really hope Fate/Extra does well enough in the US that we can get this as well.

I can’t tell you how much all this news excites me. The only thing that would be better would be the US release of the Fate/Stay Night and Fate/Hollow Ataraxia visual novels. Maybe we could also get an English version of Decoration Disorder Disconnection. But I am not that greedy. Everything here is beyond my expectations. Plus it makes the wait for A Witch on the Holy Night so much easier.

P.S. Considering who Fate/Extra Saber is how can anything related to her be called the Virgin White Bride.