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Fate/Prototype: What Fate/Stay Night Could Have Been


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pharmboy23



Joined: 05 Oct 2018
Posts: 196
PostPosted: Fri Feb 21, 2020 2:42 pm Reply with quote
Dang. I want to see that story too.

I really like the designs for the characters there. I only dip a toe into the Fate franchise every now and then, but I can’t deny that Sabre is indeed pretty boring. The Prototype version actually sounds pretty neat.
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AksaraKishou



Joined: 16 May 2015
Posts: 1410
Location: End of the World
PostPosted: Fri Feb 21, 2020 2:43 pm Reply with quote
Good job frog!

Even for peeps like me who already knew most of this, it's nice to have a single write up to reference when introducing these elements to newer fans. Very Happy

#MisayaIsHotAsHell
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Kicksville



Joined: 20 Nov 2010
Posts: 1168
PostPosted: Fri Feb 21, 2020 3:36 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
I've got to be honest. I don't actually like the female Saber that much. To me, she's easily the least interesting of the three main heroines of Fate/stay night. I got into the series well after the initial novelty of a genderbent King Arthur wore off, but also I just never felt the chemistry between her and Shirou.

Yyyyeah, I know the feeling. It kind of reminds me of (of all things) Dancougar: You've got this great main cast, but the story almost never gives them anything to work with. So while you may be glad to see them, it's frustrating they never get to shine as often as they should.

(Especially since Saber is one of the greatest character designs ever - right up there with like, Mickey Mouse, Batman, Goku, Gundam - it's no wonder they keep making copies of her)
Quote:
Although the Fate/Prototype OAV doesn't go into much detail about any of the characters, the animation material and character notes paint a certain picture of Arthur. He's described as a "feel good hero," but he also occasionally says some nihilistic things. The notes compare his attitude to Fate/stay night's Archer, and it makes a lot of sense when you look into his backstory.

Errrrggh...really drives home for me how great the opening for Fate/Stay Night is, with Rin and Archer playing off each other so naturally and thinking "Oh boy more of this please!" and then it's...largely...not...that... ;_;
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maximilianjenus



Joined: 29 Apr 2013
Posts: 2858
PostPosted: Fri Feb 21, 2020 4:21 pm Reply with quote
While we are talking dreams I want the third holy grail war and feel put down whenever people talk about an anime adaptation of ataraxia.
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KitKat1721



Joined: 03 Feb 2015
Posts: 952
PostPosted: Fri Feb 21, 2020 4:46 pm Reply with quote
Honestly, now I kind of want to read/see an adaptation of Fate/Prototype haha

Not as much as I want an eventual Fate/Strange Fake adaptation whenever those novels are finished, but still.
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killjoy_the



Joined: 30 May 2015
Posts: 2457
PostPosted: Fri Feb 21, 2020 4:51 pm Reply with quote
Wait are you telling me the prototype Rin was supposed to be the Master of a hot-dad Lancer?

How the fudge have people not expanded on that. That sounds great.
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nightjuan



Joined: 22 Jan 2008
Posts: 1473
PostPosted: Fri Feb 21, 2020 5:04 pm Reply with quote
Quite interesting. I hadn't really heard about these details. Given the sheer number of different Fate-related works, I hope that one day someone else will be allowed to use these concepts and characters not only for a prequel novel, if I read that right, but for a full-fledged anime or movie. Just a one-off OVA seems like a waste.
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getumbuck



Joined: 15 Feb 2008
Posts: 197
PostPosted: Fri Feb 21, 2020 5:59 pm Reply with quote
I've always had an interest in this as well. It's a shame it never got made into a full series.
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catbot158



Joined: 04 Mar 2017
Posts: 232
Location: United States
PostPosted: Fri Feb 21, 2020 9:08 pm Reply with quote
Disclaimer: What I say next is based on my own opinion. This is not an attack on Fate/Stay Night or anything else mentioned here, this is just me rambling about my thoughts on Fate/Prototype. Also this is really long, my bad. I had some feelings that I couldn't help but let out.

My thoughts on Fate/Prototype go just beyond "I wish they had adapted this." It actually make me angry. Because think about Fate/Stay Night, and how much of an impact it made. Not only is it regarded as one of the best visual novels out there (arguably, Key does exist), but it is a media juggernaut, with all of its prequels, spinoffs, novels, manga, etc. It has made its mark on Japan's pop culture, and even trickled its way here in the West through stuff like Fate/Grand Order.

Now imagine instead of the Fate/Stay Night we know being the juggernaut, it was Fate/Prototype. No matter what Nasu says about the story and characters of F/P, no matter his intentions back in middle school, there is no denying it: it was definitely designed to be a otome game. Female protagonist, some hot guy Servants for her to pick, the usual otome game stuff. But it also had a compelling story, unusual characters to fill out the cast, and a visual style rather unique to otome games. Well okay, the character designs are not that unique. But the aesthetic is. It's not trying to be sparkly, or goth-sparkly like the darker otome games are.

Do you realize just how much F/P would have changed the otome game landscape? Because as it currently stands, and apologizes to any otome game fans out there, a good amount of otome games are kind of underwhelming. There are some good ones out there- Amnesia, Diabolik Lovers, Mystic Messengers, Hatoful Boyfriend- and even those are problematic in terms of how they depict women, how the men can be controlling jerks, etc. (Well, except Hatoful Boyfriend, that one is perfect as it is) Plus, a lot of otome games aren't all that well-known by international fans, unless it gets an anime adaptation, and they can't usually be played.

Compare the success of the otome game genre compare to the regular male-targeted visual novels- Clannad, Air, Kanon, Steins; Gate, YU-NO, Muv-Luv, Higurashi, and more. They are all male-oriented visual novels, but they also aren't all solely romance games. There's usually another element to them that make them stand out, or add something interesting to the mix in terms of gameplay or mechanics. Most otome games are romance games, first and foremost, and aren't all that concerned about standing out in terms of story (except Hatoful Boyfriend, which is, again, perfect in every way). Some try to be more in terms of mechanics, but even those are still considered trashy romances. Just like the rest of the otome game genre.

That's why the concept of Fate/Prototype pisses me off a bit. We could have had a subversive otome game that was more than just a romance game. And it could have turned into a huge media franchise if the writing was as great (okay, weird is a better word) as Fate/Stay Night. Nasu made the right call, at least in terms of creating a successful game, but I can't help but imagine us ladies getting something wonderful for ourselves.
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BlueCatMage



Joined: 19 Sep 2015
Posts: 139
Location: Florida, USA
PostPosted: Fri Feb 21, 2020 10:20 pm Reply with quote
In all honesty, when I first saw the OVA for FP I was a bit miffed that Type HASN'T done anything more for that forgotten story saga yet! It actually looked quite interesting. Much more than what FSN ended up becoming since I'm also not a real fan of Saber. (Though I still very much enjoyed that wine banquet between the three kings in FZ when she was oh so thoroughly made fun of by Iskander!) I mean the OVA came out almost 9 years ago so truly what's the hold-up here Type? They've already created so much more material for the FATE universe in general with game FGO and anime FA, but the OVA, which received a good showing with people truly interested in further fleshing out the story, hasn't even been touched besides the LN series. Hence, I'm a bit annoyed as to why Type hasn't considered trying to go down that direction yet. Personally, I feel that since they know FP was basically a by-protect of the draft novel of a middle school boy's ideal version of the otome game series, if they didn't want to go down that route, they could always change it up in different ways. From what I remember watching, the FP looked quite dark story-wise and I'm sure they could change it make it not completely about romancing the female lead. There are always options and I would like to maybe one day maybe see that hunky looking male Saber grace the animation screen for more than just 12 minutes. >Very Happy
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Zimmer



Joined: 08 Jul 2015
Posts: 177
PostPosted: Sat Feb 22, 2020 2:14 am Reply with quote
Ever since I saw that OVA all those years ago I've always had this curiosity over what Fate/Prototype could have been. One of the big franchise ponders right up there with what the title Fate/Stay Night actually means.
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nobahn
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Joined: 14 Dec 2006
Posts: 5120
PostPosted: Sat Feb 22, 2020 1:23 pm Reply with quote
This essay demonstrates yet again all of the writing attributes of Kim Morrissy that I adore.
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Kisuke525



Joined: 05 Nov 2019
Posts: 191
PostPosted: Sat Feb 22, 2020 2:49 pm Reply with quote
Damn the Artoria disrespect hurts Sad And Kim when you say saber in FGO is just a joke do you mean standard or Alter?
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Jinbei



Joined: 12 May 2014
Posts: 55
PostPosted: Sat Feb 22, 2020 4:27 pm Reply with quote
The Prototype had more than just the to-be versions of Rin, Saber and the just slightly altered Archer and Lancer... there was a version of Kotomine(the d**k of a priest) and a young giggly girl who can't be anything else than early illyasviel, but drooling after saber rather than Shirou. The priest in the Prototype was a Shinji Hirako lookalike with a wildly freakish and cackly persona barely hidden underneath his calm demeanor. takehito Koyasu absolutely rocked the heck out of that performance, as he tends to do ^^


But yeah.... i reeeeeeeally wish to see an anime made out of this. With the original cast from the 12 minute episode. Hanazawa, Sakurai, Nakai, Koyasu, Nakamura...all of them...
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Frog-kun
ANN Reviewer


Joined: 10 Jun 2017
Posts: 118
PostPosted: Sat Feb 22, 2020 5:02 pm Reply with quote
Kisuke525 wrote:
Damn the Artoria disrespect hurts Sad And Kim when you say saber in FGO is just a joke do you mean standard or Alter?


Alter. My bad, that sentence was unclear.

Thanks for all the comments, everyone!
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