Fate/Stay Night (2006 TV series)

Set in Fuyuki City, the Fate/stay night anime series follows Shirou Emiya, a teenager who lost his parents in a fire ten years prior. He is reluctantly dragged into the Fifth Holy Grail War—a battle royale between mages known as Masters and Servants for the Holy Grail, which grants the wishes of the victor. After accidentally summoning the servant Saber to save his life, Shirou teams up with his fellow classmate, Rin Tohsaka, to stop the war and protect himself. During his battles with other participants, he attempts to protect others while grappling with his personal desire to be a hero. The series also focuses on the gradually progressing bond between Shirou and Saber, with the two ultimately attempting to destroy the cursed Holy Grail together, leading to a bittersweet resolution where they must accept their pasts and separate. == Broadcast and distribution ==

A prequel original video animation (OVA) titled Fate/stay night curtain raiser was produced by Studio Deen, and released in November 23, 2005. The 24-episode Fate/stay night anime television series was directed by Yūji Yamaguchi, and produced by Fate Project; which consists of Geneon Entertainment, TBS, CREi, Type-Moon and Frontier Works. It aired on multiple television stations between January and June 2006. collection release of the anime The series later received its international television premieres on the anime television network Animax in 2007, its English-language television premiere occurring on Animax's English networks in Southeast Asia in June, as well as its other networks in South Korea, Hong Kong and other regions. Geneon USA also licensed the series for distribution across North America. The English dub was produced at Bang Zoom! Entertainment. The anime was also licensed in the Australasia region by Crunchyroll. In July 2008, Geneon Entertainment and Funimation Entertainment announced an agreement to distribute select titles in North America. While Geneon Entertainment retained the license, Funimation Entertainment assumed exclusive rights to the manufacturing, marketing, sales, and distribution of select titles. In January 2010, an OVA titled Fate/stay night TV reproduction was released in two episodes. Fate/stay night TV reproduction I and II each recapped 12 episodes from the anime and feature re-edited and re-compiled footage along with new opening and ending animation footage, with new ending songs by Jyukai and Sachi Tainaka. == Music ==

The anime's music is composed by Kenji Kawai, who also provided the musical arrangement. While other musical themes were adapted from the original 2004 visual novel, scored by KATE and James Harris. The music was released through Geneon Entertainment. The opening themes "Disillusion" and "Kirameku Namida wa Hoshi ni" were sung by Sachi Tainaka, while the ending themes "Anata ga Ita Mori" and "Hikari", were performed by musical duo Jyukai. The anime's original soundtrack was released in June 2006, as a single-CD set. == Reception ==

Critical reception The Fate/stay night television series received mixed reviews from critics. It received many comments from staff of Anime News Network. In his review of the first DVD of Fate/stay night, Carl Kimlinger said that it was "a surfeit of atmosphere and a dearth of involvement". While Theron Martin, in his review of the first blu-ray collection wrote that it "spends [so much] time establishing [...] particulars and monkeying around with developing character relationships" that it leaves little to almost no time for "significant" battles. Martin, in his review of the second collection, noted it had attempted to accomplish two goals: "dish out a lot of flashy, super-powered battles and develop the central relationship between Shirou, Saber, and Rin". On the DVD Talk website, reviewer Todd Douglass Jr. praised the narrative, including the characters and the story: "The characters are interesting and the premise is compelling enough to create a rich atmosphere". Both Douglass and Martin agreed that a major flaw in the anime was the sound quality. By March 2010, the DVD sales alone had exceeded 1 million. The first Fate/stay night Blu-ray Disc (BD) compilation volume had ranked at 10 on Anime News Network's Japan's Animation Blu-ray Disc Ranking in September 2010. By November 2011, it had about 5,768 copies in circulation. The blu-ray collection for Fate/stay night TV reproduction I and II OVA ranked at 10th and 13th on the Oricon chart, and 11 and 12 on the Japan's Animation Blu-ray Disc Ranking respectively. The DVD volumes, however, ranked significantly higher than the BDs on Oricon. Volume one ranked at No. 5, volume two at No. 6, volume five at No. 6, volume six at No. 2, volume seven at No. 4, and volume eight at No. 6. The opening and ending theme songs "Kirameku Namida wa Hoshi ni" and "Anata ga Ita Mori", debuted at No. 9 and 16 on Japan's Oricon weekly singles chart, respectively, both selling about 40,000 copies combined. == Notes ==