Fate/strange Fake -Whispers of Dawn-, based largely on the first book in Ryohgo Narita's Fate/strange Fake series, is the opening chapter of a much larger story. It features over a dozen main characters—constantly switching between them while building the setting to support the events of this special and the upcoming anime series.

What we get is an exercise in controlled chaos: We don't know what's truly going on—nor do the characters in the story. Even hardcore fans won't be able to tell how much of the established lore surrounding the Holy Grail War can be trusted, given the “fake” nature of this series' battle. Sure, the repeated concepts, like Masters and Servants, are there, but we also have police armed with Servant-killing weapons and a mysterious young woman who seems to think she is the mastermind behind the whole thing. All this comes together to give the special a sense of mystery not present in many recent iterations of the Fate franchise—not to mention an ongoing sense of tension and looming danger.

This is the kind of story that Ryohgo Narita (of Durarara!!, Baccano!, and Dead Mount Death Play fame) is best at—and it shows in this animated adaptation. It's simple enough to follow the various characters and their allegiances—and it helps that, at the center, is a sequel to one of humanity's oldest legends: The Epic of Gilgamesh.

While Gilgamesh has long been a staple villain of the Fate franchise, -Whispers of Dawn- presents him in a much more sympathetic light. Sure, his ego and pride are on full display, but so is his humanity in a way we haven't seen before. He cares for his young Master, a girl who has the responsibilities of her people resting solely upon her shoulders, and his joy at meeting (and fighting) his long-lost friend after four millennia is something to behold.

As for the new characters, they're surprisingly original. Rather than the normal mages common in the larger Fate franchise, we have a police chief, a vampire, a girl in a coma, and even a wolf serving as Masters. Many of these characters—both Masters and Servants—are set further differentiated from past Fate characters because they don't seem to want the grail in the first place. Instead, they are in the war to stop it, to experience it, or simply because they were summoned into it. This means it is a war without meaning for most of them, a fake war in the truest sense.

But while -Whispers of Dawn- blazes a new and creative path in many aspects, the fact is that it's still highly reliant on what has come before. At the bare minimum, you're expected to know at least what a normal Holy Grail War is like—which means this is not the best place to start if you're interested in getting into Fate as a whole. That said, this is one of those shows that gets infinitely more entertaining the more involved in the franchise you are.

Lord El-Melloi II, for one, is one of the main characters in Fate/Zero and The Case Files of Lord El-Melloi II—with Flat as a significant supporting character in the latter—and Gilgamesh has appeared in everything from the original Fate/stay night to Fate/Grand Order. Meanwhile, even cameo characters with just a single scene are major players in other works—by that Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg (Tsukihime) or Ayaka Sajou (Fate/Prototype). The more you know about these characters, their lives, and how everything is interconnected, the more fun this special becomes.

But the story is only half the product—the other half is the presentation. On the animation side, -Whispers of Dawn- looks excellent. While using a noticeably different art style compared to the most popular of Fate adaptations, returning characters are easily recognizable. Meanwhile, the Snowfield looks like an American city—rather than a Japanese one or some bastardized version of New York City. But, of course, in an anime centered around a magical death game, it's not the setting or character designs that take center stage; it's the fights.

When it comes down to it, there is just a single major fight in -Whispers of Dawn-—Gilgamesh versus Enkidu—and it is the highlight of the special. While we've seen Gilgamesh use his legendary sword, Ea, many times in the Fate franchise, this time makes it seem endlessly more epic in scale—especially when clashing off against an equally powerful Enkidu. If that weren't enough, the clash between the two's seemingly infinite number of flying swords is equally dazzling.

Yet, as good as the animation is, it pales compared to the music. The always amazing Hiroyuki Sawano (Attack on Titan, Kill la Kill, Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn) is in top form with this special. Featuring not only great orchestral tracks but several lyric-filled insert songs that punctuate important scenes and the characters. Add the stellar theme song "FAKEit," and you have a soundtrack that's an easy must-buy.

All in all, as a Fate fan, Fate/strange Fake -Whispers of Dawn- is the most exciting Fate project in the past several years. It's a great first chapter to a story that takes the typical Fate framework and twists it in several new directions—making for a story filled with novel characters and cryptic unknowns. And while it's not the best point to break into the franchise, it's one of those anime that gets better the further immersed in the lore you are. Simply put, if this anime's job is to build hype for the upcoming TV anime, it certainly succeeds.