I've become more of a fan for Type Moon's works lately. These two titles are derived from the eroge visual novels themselves, tamed down to be animated, but still follows the story. They are called Fate/Stay Night and Tsukihime: Lunar Legend. To those who are familiar with the visual novels it was made from, then obviously, it'll bore you to recap through the anime itself.
Let's start with Fate/Stay Night, one of the few entries of the Fate/ series by Type Moon. It centers on Shiro Emiya, a young man who was orphaned twice: once after a fire that obliterated the people of Fuyuki (his original parents among them), and second by Kiritsugu, the man who rescued Shiro, and how he got knowledge in magic, his sense of justice, and last name from. Around this time, a pheonomenon known as the Holy Grail War is about to begin its 5th tier. Though only slightly proficient in magic (as in lacking a magic circuit of sorts), he is taken aback when a woman called Saber appears before him, saving him from being 'killed' a second time by another mysterious individual bearing a unique lance. Another human and Servant, Rin Tosaka and Servant Archer, appear before him soon after. Rin, the one who saved him from death after his first encounter with the Servant Lancer, explains the Holy Grail War to him. While he does not see merit in obtaining the Holy Grail, to avoid an incident like the Fuyuki fire from happening again, he is determined to work with Saber to win the war. But there's more to Shiro than even he himself knows, starting with his connection to Archer. Will he win the war, and will loved ones have to suffer in the process?
Next is Tsukihime: Lunar Legend, which is basically the animated version of the visual novel of the same name, and a prequel to the fighting game series Melty Blood. Shiki Tohno seems normal at first, but for reasons truly unexplained, he is a frail young man, suffering from anemia and can't recall much of his past. Even so, he still goes to school like a normal person. He learns that his father, the Tohno elder, has passed on, and Akiha, Shiki's sister, writes to him to come back to the Tohno Mansion, after years of staying with the related Arimas following an accident in his younger days. There's another strange trait about Shiki: when not wearing his glasses, he has the ability to see lines, and should he trace them with his knife, the object breaks into pieces. After accidentally killing a woman he saw out of fear, he learns from this same person that he carries the Eyes of Death Perception. The person who he "killed" is Arcueid Brunestud, the True Ancestor of Vampires. After relucting to do so, and after his conflict with the Dead Apostle vampire Nrvnqsr (Nero) Chaos, Shiki assists Arcueid in hunting down a vampire responsible for all the incidents he hears about on TV. Will his eyes help him with this task, or is he doomed with the rest of the people?
While both were made originally by the people at Type Moon, the anime went by different directors and different studios and licensing. Fate/Stay Night has 24 episodes, made in the Sudio Deen, and licensed by Geneon for the U.S. Liam O'Brien (who voiced Junta in DNA2 and Gaara of Naruto) voices the Servant Archer, while the lead role, Shiro, is done by Sam Riegal (voice of Comic Party's Kazuki and TMNT's Leonardo). On the flip, Tsukihime: Lunar Legend has only 12 episodes, and made by the J.C. Staff studio, with Sentai Filmworks localizing it for the US. Shiki is voiced by Steve Staley (voice of Bleach's Toshiro Hitsugaya) in his present day form, while his younger voice is done by Wendee Lee ( known for her role as Cowboy Bebobp's Faye Valentine.) The female lead, Arcuied, is done by Michelle Ruff (who I've covered before as the roles of voices like Crimson Viper of the Street Fighter IV games and featurette.) Interesting to note that in the case of Shiki, he has two different seiyuus: one in Tsukihime, and another in its spinoff, the Melty Blood series.
Both are good, and while toned down, it's faithful to the visual novels. Both of them deserve a 8.0 of 10
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