About Fate/Zero
Fate/Zero is a prequel to the Fate/stay night visual novel, adapting Gen Urobuchi's light novels into a 25-episode anime produced by ufotable across two seasons in 2011 and 2012. It chronicles the Fourth Holy Grail War, a secret and lethal tournament fought in the city of Fuyuki ten years before the events of Fate/stay night. Seven mages, known as Masters, each summon a Heroic Spirit from history or legend to serve as their Servant, and the seven pairs battle one another in a hidden war whose victor is promised the omnipotent Holy Grail and the power to grant any wish.
At the heart of the story is Kiritsugu Emiya, a coldly pragmatic assassin-for-hire hired by the prestigious Einzbern family to win the Grail at any cost. Kiritsugu commands Saber, the noble King of Knights, whose chivalric ideals clash violently with his ruthless utilitarian methods. Around them gather an unforgettable cast of rivals, including the boisterous conqueror Rider, the golden King of Heroes Gilgamesh, the priest Kirei Kotomine, and the tragic family man Kayneth and his fiancee, each pursuing the Grail for reasons of duty, vengeance, ambition, or despair.
Rather than a simple action spectacle, Fate/Zero is a brooding meditation on idealism, sacrifice, and the cost of victory. Its philosophical debates, most famously the rooftop banquet of kings, sit alongside some of the most lavishly animated battle sequences in television anime. Critically acclaimed for its dark tone, dense plotting, and Yuki Kajiura's sweeping score, the series became a gateway into the sprawling Fate franchise and is widely regarded as one of ufotable's finest works.