Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works is an anime television series adapted from the Unlimited Blade Works storyline of the titular visual novel game by Type-Moon, which follows high school student Shirou Emiya, an amateur mage living in Fuyuki City, Japan, who is unwillingly dragged into the Fifth Holy Grail War, a secret magical tournament. In it, seven participants, known as "Masters", and their "Servants", reincarnated personifications of legendary heroes of history, fight in a battle royale for the Holy Grail, an omnipotent magical chalice that can fulfill any wish or desire for its victor. Shirou and his Servant Saber, are forced to team up with Rin Tohsaka, another Master in the Holy Grail War, but Shirou finds himself earning the strong dislike of Rin's mysterious Servant Archer, whose motivations are unknown.
The anime series is jointly produced by Aniplex, Notes, and Ufotable, the same studios that co-produced the 2011–12 anime adaptation for Fate/Zero. It is directed by , with music composed by Hideyuki Fukasawa; character designs by , Hisayuki Tabata, and , based on the original designs by Takashi Takeuchi; and art, 3D, and photography directions by , Kōjirō Shishido, and , respectively. The first season ran from October 5 to December 28, 2014. The second season ran from April 5 to June 28, 2015. An advanced screening online premiered ahead of the televised broadcast on September 28, 2014, in several countries across the world, including Japan, the United States, France, Germany and South Korea. The series made its cable broadcast premiere on AXS TV in the United States and aired from February 13 to August 22, 2025, as part of Web3 company Azuki's Anime.com Hour programming block.
For the first season: the opening theme song is "Ideal White" performed by Mashiro Ayano, while the ending theme song is "Believe" performed by Kalafina. A cover version of "This Illusion" from the original visual novel was used as the ending theme for episode 12, performed by Lisa. For the second season: the opening theme song is "Brave Shine" performed by Aimer, while the ending theme song is "Ring Your Bell" performed by Kalafina. A remix of "Ring Your Bell", titled "Ring Your Bell (In the Silence)", was used as the ending theme for episode 15. "Last Stardust", performed by Aimer, was used as an insert song for episode 20.
Series overview
Episodes Season 1 (2014)
Season 2 (2015)
OVA
Home media release Japanese + Aniplex (Japan – Region 2/A) Volume Episodes Release date Season 1 1 0 November 26, 2014 2 1 December 24, 2014 3 2–4 January 7, 2015 4 5–7 January 28, 2015 5 8–10 February 25, 2015 6 11–12 March 25, 2015 Season 2 7 13–15 May 27, 2015 8 16–18 June 24, 2015 9 19–21 July 22, 2015 10 22–23 August 26, 2015 11 24–25 September 30, 2015 Box Set I 0–12 March 25, 2015 II 13–25 + OVA October 7, 2015
English + Aniplex of America (North America – Region 1/A) Season Episodes Release date 1 0–12 August 25, 2015 2 13–25 + OVA February 16, 2016 Box Set 0–25 + OVA July 14, 2020
Notes
References
External links