First off, I watched Fate/Zero first before getting onto the other routes of Fate/stay night. Sue me if you will.
If you haven't even touched the Fate series yet....what are you doing. As to what order to watch it in:
Fate/stay night (2006)
Fate/Zero
Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works (The 2014 TV anime, not the Studio Deen movie that came out in 2010)
Fate/stay night: Heaven's Feel (coming out 2017)
Fate/kaleid liner Prisma☆Illya (If you want. I personally found it a fun "what if" story, as it has more Illya XD)
As for watching the 2006 Studio Deen adaptation, that one's kind of up to personal preference, depending on whether you would actually want to sit through a playthrough of the game on YouTube.
But after seeing an entire Let's Play of the Fate route on YouTube, I do have to agree with a lot of VN players when they say that the visual novel is the best way to get into the Fate series. As an anime only watcher, this can be a bit of a gripe seeing as the ufotable adaptations require you to have some knowledge of the Fate franchise. Granted though, I got into it by watching Fate/Zero and then UBW and then checked out the Let's Plays of the VN on YouTube and Fate/Zero is arguably the best way to get into the series as of late. But I'll be talking mainly about the anime adaptations, as that was my intro to the Fate series to begin with.
Seriously, whenever I try to download the game its like I have to download and do a ton of other shit before I get it to work and quiet frankly, I don't wanna destroy my laptop.
With that said: Holy shit.
I had no idea what to expect from this series, seeing as it was based off a visual novel from 2004 with a lot of world building. I mean, an adaptation from a manga is hard enough. How the hell were they going to pull this off in a 26 episode anime?
Lemme put it this way: Studio Deen failed miserably. Ufotable succeeded beyond expectations.
Let me clarify before I go any further: I don't outright hate the original anime. It is massively flawed but I have seen a lot of poor adaptations to call this one pure crap.
So Studio Deen adapted the Fate route of Fate/stay night in 2006. While I liked the pair up of Shiro and Saber, Studio Deen majorly fucked up the damn route by adding elements of (and in the process, spoiling) the other two routes, Unlimited Blade Works and Heaven's Feel, and I watched this route after finishing ufotable's adaptation of the Unlimited Blade Works route. I understand that as an anime adaptation, they were trying to merge the three routes as a singular, definitive adaptation but honestly, the three routes are completely different stories under the same setting for the most part so combining them really seems like the worst direction you can take for an adaptation.
Arkada once said this about the Fate series: "There is never going to be a perfect adaptation for the Fate games." In fact, the ufotable adaptations are the closest thing we're ever going to get as just anime watchers. Reason being, there's just so much material to pack into a 26 episode anime. And in ufotable's adaptations, there's at least three - four episodes that are double the length. In Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works, there was three of this caliber. In Fate/Zero, the first episode was literally the length of a goddamn Once Upon a Time episode.
Even with that in mind, it was kind of a downer to be honest because while Rin Tosaka is a good character and match up for Shiro in the UBW route, I was really looking forward to seeing Saber and Shiro slowly fall in love with each other....without all of the sexist/misogynist writing and having Shiro actually doing something like in UBW and in addition, not act like an idiot. Its granted that I would think this seeing as UBW is my favorite route but at the same time, I am rather fond at the thought of Shiro and Saber as....well, something more.
Edit: I have now seen the Heaven's Feel route of the VN and I am torn. With that said, can wait for the movie AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Now, I'm not gonna lie when I say that I kind of wish I listened to the people telling me not to watch 2006's F/sn. The pacing of the adaptation was horrid and the animation doesn't really make that much of an impact on you (will expand on this in a minute).
But at the same time curiosity did get the best of me and I'll be the first to admit that some moments were not that horrible. Gilgamesh proclaiming Saber to be his was a definitive callback to Fate/Zero even before the goddamn prequel was released (tbh it was released while the anime was still airing), Shiro and Illya's conversation was rather bittersweet seeing as Shiro has no idea about them being siblings, Saber playing with a stuffed lion will always be a highlight, Rin and Illya's reactions at Shiro asking Saber out was priceless as hell and the kiss between Shiro and Saber was kind of sweet, no matter how forced the romance was in the anime. (I really am hoping that after ufotable finishes adapting Heaven's Feel, they'll put their spin on the Fate route.)
Having watched Fate/Zero before anything else, I was really looking forward to Shiro reacting to the fact that a) his adoptive father Kiritsugu Emiya participated in the previous Holy Grail war ten years back (read: Fate/Zero), b) Kiritsugu was also Saber's previous master and c) Illya was his older adoptive sister.
....I guess two out of three ain't bad, especially considering when that last point is revealed in Heaven's Feel.
Edit #2: I sobbed during both endings of the Heaven's Feel route. I'm sorry, I WANTED ILLYA TO LIVE.
And then in 2010, Studio Deen made a movie of the Unlimited Blade Works route, which I didn't watch but I still highly suggest not watching it. If you have watched the 2014 TV anime adaptation by ufotable, then you know the movie completely missed the point of Shiro's Reality Marble as well as his fight with Gilgamesh.
The animation of Studio Deen's versions was crap. And before you tell me about the limitations of the animation budget back then, I politely point you to a lot of 90's anime and 2003's adaptation of Fullmetal Alchemist. FUCKING 2003. There really shouldn't be an excuse. Even though I think that the animation for Brotherhood was better in comparison, 2003's was still rather good.
Anyway, compared to the animation of ufotable's adaptations, as well as other anime that came around that time, Studio Deen's adaptations are really pale and rather outdated.
Here's why: the animation doesn't make an impact on you. Higurashi no Naku Koro ni came out that exact same year (and believe it or not, it was done by SD as well) and even though the animation wasn't that great either, it takes advantage of the bizarre characters designs to show how these innocent moe characters can be brutal killers. Because of this, when a character is being beaten to death (literally) you feel really sorry for them and the animation makes use of the small budget and eerie music (done by the same guy who did the music for the Fate games and Studio Deen's adaptations) to emphasize the horror aspect of the series.
Fate/stay night's was kind of bull because the animation doesn't make you feel. It feels standard and stiff, not making you feel the impact of the fights, even the bigger ones, make the fights themselves rather mundane.
And then Fate/Zero comes out.
My reaction when I found it on Netflix: 000000:
My reaction as I watched the anime: AHAHAHAHA THIS DEFINITELY HAS GEN UROBUCHI AND YUKI KAJIURA WRITTEN ALL OVER IT
Seriously though, watch ufotable's Fate/Zero and Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works. The animation is a lot more slick, you feel the intensity of the fights because the animation allows you to feel that intensity, making even the most simple of the fights feel as though they are on a much grander scale than essential. Some of it is slowed down when necessary, showing you how the character was going to react and avoid some of their opponent's blows. The brilliant use of CG has to be applauded. Not too much, just when the action calls for it. You'd think that is common in animation but in reality, it's really hard to do slow-mo of a character's reaction while keeping the intensity of the fights all the while keeping the pacing of the overall plot line. Not a lot of anime have really pulled that off.
Also, Shiro's "Trace on" looks a lot cooler in ufotable's version than in Studio Deen's adaptation. Damn they really know their stuff.
(Oooh pretty. Totally did not bring up the topic of Shiro's magic to add this beauty of a screenshot-)
Speaking of which, ufotable has a lot more variety. In Studio Deen's version, Shiro only had two outfits: his one t-shirt and his school uniform. However in ufotable's, he has a lot more variety in clothing and I'm not gonna lie when I say that Shiro looked damn fine in that jacket.
I mean
(I'm sorry I have a thing for guys in long-sleeved shirts and collared jackets.)
Saber had a bit more variety with her casual wear as well, such as the trench coat and scarf, looking more feminine and trendy at the same time.
Music plays another huge part in the series and honestly, this is where the 2006 version fails for me the most. You have Kenji Kawai, Yuki Kajiura and Hideyuki Fukasawa. Who the hell do you think I'm going to trust more with music?
Like as much as I admire Kenji Kawai's music (esp. for Higurashi), compared to Yuki Kajiura, he really doesn't hold a candle. I mean, his music is good for quieter moments and building suspense. And granted, I do like some of the tracks from the original anime, albeit it's the more peaceful, suspenseful, and bittersweet ones.
Again, granted, maybe Kajiura had found her niche in Fate/Zero and kind of has been running with it. At this point her music sounds very similar to one another. But maybe that's because I had the soundtrack for Fate/Zero on my iPod way before I even started the series and it's not as impactful on me as it should have been.
Anyway, Saber in Ufotable's adaptations was adorable and yet badass at the same time. Her character is not as robotic and weak as she was in the Fate route, which again, something I hope Ufotable will work around if they ever decide to re-adapt it after Heaven's Feel. Honestly, the original anime did give its reasons as to why she was rather weak (due to Shiro being an incompetent master and not having enough mana to supply her, thus having to use her own and that being used up pretty quickly) and it did show Saber less than pleased with the situation. To be honest I wish she had more screen time but the UBW route does belong to Rin, so there you go. XD
(She's so cute when she sleeps XD)
(Sweetie, it's baseball, not a swordfight. That being said, I'm more than satisfied with Saber in a baseball helmet.)
(This will never fail to amuse me)
Before we get onto Shiro, let's get one thing out of the way:
Oh look, its Harry Potter's long lost twin brother, Shiro Emiya. We expect great things from you, Mr. Emiya.
I know I'm not the only person to make this joke and I definitely won't be the last. (Don't deny it, you're were going to make that same joke. But never let this image die.)
Anyway, favorite Shiro: Unlimited Blade Works Shiro. End of story, and I think we all know why. He's a more complex character in this route than he is in the other two (I could be wrong about Heaven's Feel tho) and just less of a pain in the ass because he's actually somewhat trying to improve his magic to help everyone. And come on, the guy clashed with HIS FUTURE SELF. That is the epitome of an existential crisis right there.
Also, THE GUY IS NOT A COMPLETE FUCKING MORON. IMBECILE. HALFWIT. TWAT. Whichever one, he's a lot more aware of the world around him despite his ideals. He doesn't just rush into the problem, something that was really annoying in the 2006 anime and to an extent, the actual Fate route. He is a lot more cautious, and actually does think about his actions and what was going to be his next move.
Edit #3: I was wrong about Heaven's Feel Shiro. TBH after this I'm kind of torn between the three routes. Shiro was arguably more human in HF but his left arm wasn't a fucking time bomb in Fate and UBW.
......Yeah, I don't think I'll get to the others in this rant.
Readers:
I know you probably hate these two part rants but this one is long enough! And honestly, Gilgamesh is going to take up quite a bit??? (Ahahahah I'm sorry)
Anyway, do comment, vote, and everything. Sayonara!