"Fuyuki City is the setting for a secret and violent war among competing magi. For the past two centuries, seven sorcerers have gathered and engage in a battle royale known as the Holy Grail War, each gambling his or her own life to obtain the Holy Grail, a legendary chalice capable of granting wishes. The past four Holy Grail Wars have typically occurred every sixty years or so. However, the fifth war has started prematurely, with the most recent concluding less than a decade ago.
The seven sorcerers, known as Masters, are aided by seven beings known as Servants, reincarnations of legendary heroes from all time. These resurrected souls possess superhuman characteristics and wield powerful artifacts or abilities called Noble Phantasms, symbols of their heroism during life. Only one Servant can be summoned in each war from one of seven classes: Saber, Archer, Lancer, Berserker, Rider, Assassin, and Caster, each representing their distinctive role in battle. The Servants are summoned by the power of the Grail itself and aid their Masters in doing battle, protecting them from harm and killing other Servants or Masters. In return for their aid, the Servants also seek their own wish from the Holy Grail, should their Master become victorious."
So is this a remake of the Studio DEEN television series or the film or what?
No for the 2006 series and yes for the film, as you see the visual novel Fate/stay night is a story that branches out into three very different paths due to the butterfly effect which are the Fate route, the Unlimited Blade Works route, and the Heavens Feel route. The 2006 television series produced by studio DEEN was an adaptation of the Fate route.
Now the Unlimited Blade Works film is a one and a half hour condensing of the second route, I'd also add that for a newcomer to the franchise it's rather difficult to follow because of how much it cut and condensed the story. So where does that leave us? The studio Ufotable thought it best to skip the Fate route and instead adapt the second route Unlimited Blade Works as a television series. The staff has said that they're going for a faithful adaptation that will leave nothing out and will also for old fans include original material written by the author of Fate/stay night, Kinoku Nasu to enhance the narrative.
Do I need to watch anything else before this?
No you don't as the Fate/stay night visual novel came before anything else, with all future Fate/ titles being spin offs so you can jump right into this series and by the end enjoy a complete story. The prequel series Fate/Zero, is set ten years before the events of Fate/stay night and just to let newcomers know, watching Fate/Zero first spoils Fate/stay night by revealing nearly every single one of its plot twists within the first episode. It's also completely unnecessary to watch the 2006 DEEN series to understand this as this series so far has gotten to the upmost lengths of giving the viewer all of the information that they'll need to follow the story (also don't watch it because the 2006 series is terrible).
Studio: Ufotable (Fate/zero, Futakoi Alternative, Kara no Kyoukai)
Director: Miura Takahiro (Kara no Kyoukai: Oblivion Recorder)
Music: Hideyuki Fukasawa (Aku no Hana, Vividred Operation)
Art Director: Eto, Koji (Buddy Complex, Captain Earth, Fate/Zero, Kara no Kyoukai: Mirai Fukuin)
Character Design: Ikariya, Atsushi , Tabata, Hisayuki , Sudou, Tomonori
PV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spseKv7jtmY
Site: http://www.fate-sn.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Fate_SN_Anime
Cast:
Rin Tohsaka by Ueda, Kana
The heir to the prestigious Tohsaka mage family.
She attends the same high school as Shirou and is popular among the students as an honors student.
CM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4n-1OCK2vo
Archer by Suwabe, Junichi
The smug archer class heroic spirit who enters a contract with Rin.
CM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZPAOPA4AN8
Shirou Emiya by Sugiyama, Noriaki
A young man who aspires to become a hero.
He is the sole survivor of the Great Fire that occurred in Fuyuki City 10 years ago.
CM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEp3Mr5cHlI
Saber by Kawasumi, Ayako
The proud saber class heroic spirit who enters a contract with Shirou.
CM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWbt1raUgxg
Lancer by Canna, Nobutoshi
The lancer class heroic spirit.
His master is unknown but he demonstrates that he is equally powerful as Saber.
CM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTqo2XG1QPU
A young Teutonic aristocrat, she traveled to Japan to participate in the Holy Grail War as a Master.
CM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCIbnzX2rcc
Berserker by Saizen, Tadahisa
The Servant of Illya, he is a swarthy giant with adamantine skin and gross brawn. He wields a colossal stone Axe-Sword, and is capable of causing massive destruction with the mere backlash of his swings. As a Berserker, he was stripped of his sanity and reason, acting feral and animalistic in combat.
Kotomine Kirei by Nakata, Jouji
An enigmatic priest who oversees the Holy Grail War.
CM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIXOeCeDwCg
Caster by Tanaka, Atsuko
The mysterious Caster class servant who will take any means necessary to achieve her goals.
Assassin by Miki, Shin-ichiro
The Assassin class servant who seems to have teamed up with Caster.
Sakura Matou by Shitaya, Noriko
An underclassman to Shirou who is almost like a family member.
She has a very reserved personality but…
Shinji Matou by Kamiya, Hiroshi
Sakura's brother who is friends with Shirou, a popular yet haughty guy.
Rider by Asakawa, Yuu
The quiet and sultry Rider class servant.
Taiga Fujimura by Itou, Miki
She is an English teacher at Shirou's school, homeroom instructor of Shirou's class and the supervising teacher for the archery dojo. After Shrou's father Kiritsugu died, Taiga became his guardian and has been living with him for several years. Taiga and Shiou are very close, and she regards him as a younger brother.
