After having watched the anime, played the game and then watched the anime again I guess it was rather inevitable for me to start reading the manga version of Fate/stay night at some time. Having finished the first two volumes so far I’d say that this instalment of the franchise is pretty alright, too. It certainly isn’t a whole new experience for people knowing the game version, but it might be quite interesting for the ones who only have seen the anime, because so far the according ‘flags’ for the second path (Unlimited Blade Works) were ‘triggered’ in the story, starting with Shirou using his first command spell to stop Saber’s attack on Rin. More I better won’t reveal for the sake of spoillessness.
Further on, the way the story is presented is interesting because the chain of events is told in a slightly different order here. The first volume is strictly told from Shirou’s point of view which means that Rin’s prologue isn’t featured in the beginning and every time Shirou losses consciousness no more about the further events is shown at that point, but is told to him later in retrospect at some time when he’s awake again. This concept is unfortunately dropped halfway in the second volume, but it’s quite enjoyable as long as it lasts.
The drawing quality is good and of course the character designs differ a bit from the anime and game designs, but stay in their core true to the previous versions. For example, Saber has a rounder face and which makes her looks a bit like a chibi version of herself in the first volume, but in exchange this medium is the first one that manages for me to display Kirei as creepy as he is intended be, thus all in all I’m alright with it.
Finishing line: If you liked the anime and want to know more about the story without having to buy a admittedly rather overpriced game or if you’re a huge fan of the whole Fate/stay night franchise this manga might be worth a try.
Anime Afterglow 