Fate/Grand Order, the free-to-play Gatcha game, based upon the extremely popular Fate series, turned 10 years old in July. Yes, it came out in July 2015 and as of 2021, it’s been ranked as one of the highest-grossing mobile titles of all time, with $40 million generated in 2023 in Japan alone. So of course there have been countless spin-offs and much merchandise inspired by this mega-popular game. On this site, we’ve already looked at two volumes of the manga adaptation, and even an anime film, meant to cover the opening arc of the game. At the time, those were the only means for UK Fate fans to explore the game, until late 2022 when it finally became available to play in the UK. Now we have a new anime release, courtesy of MVM, Fate/Grand Carnival, an anime series with the various Servants from the series in comedy-style situations and sketches. It’s a sequel to Carnival Phantasm, another comedy anime based on the Type Moon properties. These anime shorts debuted in 31st December 2020 as part of the 2020 New Year’s broadcast for the franchise.

The Blu-ray disc contains all episodes made from December 2020 to late 2021, but the episodes are very short, due to their sketch/comedy nature. That means that you’ll get a lot of shorts, all formatted together like an episodic 30 minute show, but in total the anime runs for just over an hour. The formatting of the sketches is a little odd in pacing sometimes; for example, the first ‘episode’ begins with the Servants taking part in Olympic Games, but then a few sketches later it feels like a Christmas special, with Jeanne d’Arc Alter giving presents to the younger/kids versions of the Servants. Then there’s the second ‘episode’ with various mini Monte Cristo shorts, pasted back-to-back – all ending with ‘to be continued’ – only for the next one to play right after. Obviously this is a set of sketches meant to be watched in small batches, not in one go. If you do watch in one go, not only will you get through the Blu-ray super quick, but you might be a bit overwhelmed by the end of it.

I’ve been reviewing for Anime UK News since 2010, and have covered a lot of Fate-related material in that time, from the Studio Deen Unlimited Blade Works film, to the various Netflix-produced spin-offs like Fate/Apocrypha. But I’ve yet to review or watch any of the many comedy/light hearted spin-offs from the franchise, I’ve just seen the more serious spin-offs from the Supernatural franchise. I’m very aware of the comedy spin-offs, such as Today’s Menu for the Emiya Family, but I just never got round to seeing any of them until this release. Admittedly, this probably isn’t the best introduction to the ‘lighter’ side of the franchise, because I found this release rather…disposable.

I should say upfront that I’ve not played any of Fate/Grand Order (or Fate GO as it’s known), I’ve only experienced it via the anime and manga I’ve reviewed so far. So a lot of the anime’s inside jokes, and the mountains of Servants the anime piles onto the viewer, were lost on me. I get that the frequent ‘loading screens’ across the shorts, and the references to having some Servants constantly on the back bench, will be familiar to hardcore players. But aside from ‘getting’ the joke, I didn’t find it particular amusing. This isn’t for the lack of trying, as the sketches range from having two Servants try to compete for YouTube stardom, to a mockumentary-style section where the lower-ranked Servants fight for equality. I also appreciated the focus across different Servants in each mini-sode, rather than just focusing on a small portion of them. If you love seeing your favourite Servants in bizarre situations, outside of constant battles as well as being self-aware that there are often copies of themselves within the same building, you’ll have a good time in this set, despite the short runtime.

For me, the most I got out of it were the quick peeks into Servants I’ve yet to see animated before, such as James Moriarty (from the Sherlock Holmes books) or Edward Teach (aka Blackbeard, the famous pirate). There were also Servants I’ve never seen before, but found myself wanting to know more about, such as Ereshigal, partly because she looks like Rin (and is even voiced by the same actress in English and Japanese) and has a really cool design. But I can’t see myself re-watching this set in the near future.

The series is animated by Lerche, which is part of Studio Hibari;.They’ve been active since 2011, delivering  many series including Assassination Classroom and Scum’s Wish, and they do a good job here. They previously animated Carnival Phantasm so they’re skilled with physical comedy, with bright colours and making all the Servants visually distinct.

This release also comes with a special 16-page booklet, housed in a rigid art box. The on-disc extras only come with clean openings and closing, plus Japanese and English dubs. The subtitles are also only in English, but you have the choice to either toggle for just on-screen text, or text and speech. Sadly, the ending and opening songs are not translated no matter which subtitles you toggle on or off.

The English dub contains a lot of returning actors who have voiced the Servants previously, such as Kari Wahlgren (for the various Saber clones) and Erica Mendez (Mash and Jack the Ripper).

It goes without saying that Fate/Grand Carnival is NOT a beginner-friendly Fate release, or a way to be introduced to the franchise as a whole. This set is for hardcore Fate fans only, especially those who love Fate/Grand Order and/or the sillier side of Type Moon content. The artbook provided will make this a lovely set to put on your shelf, but for any other fan, it’s likely to be a pass.

Our review copy was supplied by MVM.