Fate/Strange Fake: New Trailer and Release Date

Fate/Strange Fake, a fan favorite spin-off of the Fate series mostly known for its main story, Fate/Stay Night, and the hit mobile game, Fate/Grand Order, has finally been given an updated release date.

For those unfamiliar with Fate, the series began about 20 years ago with the release of the visual novel Fate/Stay Night in 2004. The premise is that there are mages in our world— people capable of using magic passed down by family lineage. While there's a lot to unpack with the symbolism of inherited family duties and the sense that one's life isn't truly one's own, Fate has more to it than that. The main plot involves contest of mages called the Holy Grail War, which is a fight to the last mage standing for the ability to obtain the Holy Grail and use it to make a wish. There are (usually) seven mages chosen by the grail itself, and they each summon a different class of heroic spirit from the past. These servants are usually historical or legendary figures with enough of a mark on history to give them incredible power, such as King Arthur or Medea.

The Fate series has grown substantially since the release of the original light novel, including continuations (Fate/Hollow Ataraxia, which just got an official release in English on August 6th, 2025) and spin-offs, such as Fate Strange/Fake.

Back in the summer of 2023, an OVA for the opening portion of Fate/Strange Fake's story aired. Then, fans got news that season 1's release date would be December 31st of 2024. This was somewhat true- only episode 1 came out on December 31st with no furthering airing of episodes as the weeks went on, leaving us scratching our heads for when rest of the season would arrive. As it turns out, this episode was released early as a celebration of Fate's 21st anniversary. The only other for the rest of the season was a vague "2025", and the months went by without news, until now.

A new trailer from Aniplex USA gives us the new date for the rest of the season: January 3rd, 2026

Fate/Strange Fake originally started as an April Fool's joke about a Holy Grail War taking place in America nicknamed "Fake/states night". However, author Narita Ryohgo (Durarara!!) created the Fate/Strange Fake series, writing ten light novels in total about a wacky Holy Grail War being set in America for the first time ever. Fate/Strange Fake brings back classic characters such as Gilgamesh from Fate/Stay Night, characters from other Fate entries such as Enkidu (mentioned in Fate/Grand Order) and Flat Escardos (Case Files of Lord-El Melloi II), and brings a whole new cast of characters to the mix for an action-packed, bizarre series that won fans over in its light novel and manga forms.

However, despite how new and exciting it is to have a new Fate anime around, Fate/Strange Fake isn't the ideal starting point for new fans. The entire system of the Holy Grail War is turned on its head with both a "real" and "fake" war, as well as servants being from the "real" and "fake" classes. Even Fate/Apocrypha, which also had two teams of characters, was easier to follow for a newcomer. The twists on the system and the incorporation of prior characters make Fate/Strange Fake further down the viewing order.

A recommended basic anime viewing order, so that prior context of the Fate universe and recurring characters are included, would be:

• Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works
• Fate/Zero
• Case Files of Lord El-Melloi II
• *Fate/Grand Order Absolute Demonic Front: Babylonia
• Fate/Strange Fake

*Fate/Grand Order Absolute Demonic Front: Babylonia is a possible addition to the watchlist for the background it provides on Gilgamesh and Enkidu, but the Enkidu in Babylonia isn't the same Enkidu in Strange/Fake, and Gilgamesh as his Archer self the rest of Fate media is also quite different from his Caster presentation in Babylonia. In this case, having the context of the other Fate series and knowing the gist of Gilgamesh and Enkidu's mythological ties is enough, though the anime is there for anyone craving more Fate. In fact, there are other viewing orders out there that branch off into more spin-offs and other Type-Moon IPs for a full experience.

The Fate series may be sprawling and complicated, but the newest anime adaptation has already been a crowd pleaser for fans and is sure to win new ones over, provided that they don't mind how large the series it.

With a date confirmed and a wild ride ahead, 2026 here we come!