Scattered Thoughts: Fate/strange Fake: Whispers of Dawn Minor spoilers present but theres honestly not much to spoil if you know anything about it When I first laid eyes on the extended teaserhttps://youtu.be/EpLKseoUV6Q?si=DaHnovpWXWuVLWh for this Fate/strange Fake adaptation I could not suppress my absolute glee seeing Gilgamesh and Enkidu clash with Hiroyuki Sawano blasting in the background slowly building to an epic crescendo that left me starved for more. Just under 10 months later I find myself once again grinning like an absolute idiot at the exact same standoff. And Ive only watched one episode of the FGO Babylonia spinoff anime I barely even know who Enkidu is. Once again however Im left craving more but Im also even more excited. Gilgamesh is back in business Jack the Ripper isnt a loli this time I think?? thank god theres a young master who might be in over his head one of the other masters is clinically insane doggo the police are a magicwielding militia: whats not to love about this mess? Fate magic systems and lore are as barelysensical as ever and I have no idea whats going on but I wouldnt have it any other way. As a prequel this special strikes an excellent balance of raw excitement and captivating mystery. It effectively weaves together the backdrop of this impending Holy Grail War by introducing and providing insight into many new characters motivations and goals all the while keeping the giddy Fate fan in me eagerly anticipating whats to come. Sure there are some questionable moments in the animation quality that made me laugh out loud but the ufotableesque climax certainly compensates in terms of sheer marvel. A1 seems like they have put in some serious work here and if they can maintain or even improve this trajectory during the TV show season proper well likely have something excellent on our hands. Do you need to watch the other Fate material before this? Probably yes for some additional context as there are a lot of references and Easter eggs as well as some basic concepts and rules about the Fates traditional Holy Grail War that arent explicitly explained. But even if you just know the basics pairs of masters and servants play battle royale for the allpowerful wishgranting Holy Grail its almost certainly enough to enjoy this special and the upcoming full season. This This is the Fate Ive been longing to see again. Miss me with the big flashy number simulator ads this is real fucking Holy Grail War right here. None of that pansy ass dick tugging fighting for humanity bullshit. Fate is back baby. Feel free to message me with any feedback you might have or if youd like to agree or disagree. Im always open to a good discussion. If youre curious on how I rate I have a short explanation or a much longer writeup if you prefer on my profilehttps://anilist.co/user/theJokerEvoker/.