Fate/Apocrypha
Fate/Apocrypha
Preview
Fate/Apocrypha is a series in the Type-Moon Fate franchise. The franchise began as a light novel written by Yuichiro Higashide with illustrations by Ototsugu Konoe. The light novel series spans five volumes and also spawned a manga series that began in 2016 and a television anime adaptation produced by A-1 Pictures that began in 2017.
Plot
Fate/Apocrypha takes place in a parallel world to Fate/Stay Night in which the Great Grail was stolen from Fuyuki City after the Third Holy Grail War and disappeared for many years (in the world of Fate/Apocrypha the events of Fate/Stay Night and Fate/Zero (this never happened).
It is later revealed to be in Romania in the possession of the Yggdmillennia clan when they announce their secession from the Mages' Association to form their own organization. The Mages' Association sends 50 mages to retrieve the Greater Grail, but all but one are killed almost instantly by Lancer of Black. The sole surviving mage activates the Greater Grail's reserve system, which triggers a contingency known as the Great Holy Grail War in Trifas. Unlike previous Holy Grail Wars, the Great Holy Grail War allows for the summoning of 14 Servants and two factions battle for control of the Grail, with the winning faction then fighting until only one remains to claim it. The Yggdmillennia clan makes up the Black Faction, and the Mages' Association's selected mages along with a cleric from the Church make up the Red Faction. A Ruler-class Servant is also summoned by the Grail to oversee the war. However, shortly after the war ends, Ruler soon realizes that things are not quite as they seem and that something is seriously wrong.
Factions
Black Faction
The Black Faction is primarily composed of members of the Yggdmillennia family. Darnic Prestone Yggdmillennia is the faction's leader along with his servant, Vlad III. The faction's main fighting force is composed of homunculi created by Gordes Musik Yggdmillennia and golems created by Roche Frain Yggdmillennia and his servant, Avicebron. With his family scattered across numerous organizations, including the Mages Association, Darnic is able to obtain information and updates on the opposing faction. The Masters of Black also have a significant advantage over the Masters of Red in that they do not have to provide their servants with their own magical energy. Thanks to a system devised by Gordes, he is able to use the homunculi for this purpose, meaning that their servants can use their Noble Phantasms and other magic more freely without worrying about draining their master's magical energy.
Red Faction
The Red Faction is composed of mages selected by the Mages Association to prevent the Yggdmillennia from activating the Grail, along with a priest from the Church to lend their cause an air of legitimacy. The faction is a mix of Clock Tower members and outside professionals, including the freelance necromancer Kairi Sisigou.
Media
Video game
Fate/Apocrypha was originally developed as an MMO. Type-Moon was working on the project with an anonymous developer, but the project was canceled in the planning stages. The project would later be revived under the name Fate/Grand Order .
Light novels
The first official release of the series was a light novel written by Yuichiro Higashide and illustrated by Ototsugu Konoe. The series was announced in November 2011 and first appeared the following month as a short story in the seventh volume of Type-As of the Moon magazine on December 15. The series was published in five volumes by Type-Moon from December 2012 to December 2014.
Another light novel in the series written by Higashide titled Survivor Side was released as a bonus feature with the anime's second Blu-ray box set. The story follows the journeys of Rider of Black (Astolfo) after the events of the anime.
Manga
In August 2016, a manga adaptation written by Yuichiro Higashide and illustrated by Akira Ishida began serialization in Comp As. The series is published by Kadokawa Shoten, and eight collected tankobon volumes have been released to date.
Anime
An anime adaptation aired in Japan on Tokyo MX and other channels on July 2, 2017. The anime is directed by Yoshiyuki Asai with series composition by Yuichiro Higashide, character designs by Yukei Yamada, and music by Masaru Yokoyama. The anime became available for international streaming via Netflix on November 7, 2017. Two Blu-ray box sets with a full English dub were also later released by Aniplex of America, with the first box set, which covered episodes 1–12, being released on November 20, 2018, and the second box set, which covered episodes 13–25, being released on February 12, 2019. The series has also been licensed for home video release in Australia and New Zealand by Madman Entertainment and in the United Kingdom and Ireland by MVM Entertainment.
The opening theme song for episodes 1-12 is "Eiyu: Unmei no Uta" by Egoist, and the ending theme song is "Désir" by Garnidelia. Starting with episode 13, the opening theme song becomes "Ash" by LiSA, and the ending theme song becomes "Koe" by ASCA. A two-disc soundtrack featuring composer Masaru Yokoyama's music for the anime was also released.
