After my trip to Anime Expo, let’s freshen things up with a new Import Report! I’ll start this month off with a series really dear to me, Fate/Stay Night! The new 2014 anime to be more specific. However, before that, we’d like to remind you that this is a bi-monthly column which will be looking into anything from Japan that deserves (or at least people think deserves) to be localized outside of Japan. At the end of the article, I’ll give the series a rank based on its chances of localization. The rankings will go from zero to three:

• 0: No chances
• 1: Slight chances
• 2: Moderate chances
• 3: Extremely likely

Fate/Stay Night follows the story of a young man named Emiya Shirou. Shirou is the adopted son of a magi who once saved his life in an incident known as the Great Fuyuki Fire, which killed many of the town’s residence. Years later, even after the passing of his adopted father, Shirou still attempts to train and follow his dream of becoming like his father. His dream of becoming a Hero of Justice. However, one day while leaving school, Shirou stumbles across a battle between two supernatural beings called “Servants”. These Servants are the familiars of 7 chosen magi participating in the deadly battle of the Holy Grail War. The rules of the Holy Grail War dictate that whoever is the last one standing, the winner is granted one wish from the Holy Grail. Shirou is then forced to participate in the battle, becoming the master of the strongest Servant class, Saber. With his Servant, Shirou sets out for the goal of stopping the Holy Grail War before any more lives are lost.

Fate/Stay Night was originally a visual novel created by Type-Moon in 2004. The story was written by Kinoko Nasu and character designs by Takeuchi Takashi. The series is Type-Moons most popular work, spawning many spin-offs for light novels, games, anime series, and manga. Recent spin-offs include Fate/Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya and Fate/Zero. Studio DEEN adapted the series into an anime, creating one TV anime and a movie based off the Unlimited Blade Works route of the visual novel. Production company ufotable adapted the prequel, Fate/Zero, and is planning to do a remake adaptation of the original series, a TV series and anime. The TV series will go down the Unlimited Blade Works route, while the movie will go down the Heavens Feel route. The TV anime is set to debut this Fall, while the release date for Heavens Feel is still yet to be determined.

Localization Rank: 3

Reasoning:

I have no doubt in my mind that the 2014 remake will be licensed by Aniplex USA, and this also goes for the Heavens Feel movie. The Garden of Sinners and Fate/Zero are both animated by ufotable, and they’re two of the best animated works Aniplex has to offer. The fan base for the Fate franchise isn’t as big as hits like Sword Art Online and Attack on Titan, but it deserves its place to be localized due to its quality. The only problem is how they’re going to price the series. The TV anime will most likely be separated into two sets, about 12 episodes each, and each set costing from $100-$150. Crazy? I know, but look at the Fate/Zero box sets that Aniplex dished out a couple of years ago. Aniplex knows that the franchise has a dedicated fan base, and they also know how much they’re willing to pay up.

The Fate/Stay Night anime remake is set to debut on October 4. Even though the series has yet to air, I’m already positive that a localization is imminent. If you want to immerse yourself into the franchise before it airs, I recommend watching Fate/Zero which is available on Crunchyroll and Netflix. For now, all we have to do is simply let the show take its wonderful time to arrive.