Fate/Gay Blight

The Rise and Fall of the Nasuverse
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A tragedy in 3 acts.

This was inspired by Bosscrab talkin about Fire Emblem Fans fighting among themselves, I wanted to highlight a whole universe that pretty much got stale and ruined soon after it got popular.

I'll give the tl;dr upfront cuz no one wants to read this I'm sure:

* Nasu wrote some really good VNs
* Fate/Stay Night has gotten really popular probably due to an anime and a simple to understand premise
* Since it came out in 2004 there haven't been any VNs and there have been about 574875834 Fate/Stay Night spinoffs because popular.
* Any original ideas with this cool setting or any cool concepts have been pretty much snuffed out to make way for more Sabers

Not every franchise that becomes popular will end up like Fate.
BUT, when a franchise that existed suddenly becomes wildly popular due to a few specific things...
It's entirely possible, or even likely, for the franchise to go where the fans go, to gravitate to what the new fans liked.

So far, this hasn't happened to Fire Emblem, but it didn't happen overnight to Fate either.
Suddenly, there's a heavy focus on spinoffs to capitalize on the brand: Fire Emblem Warriors, a mobile game
Both of which predominately feature the characters from "The Popular One".

Again, not saying it will definitely happen, but the similarities seem pretty strong.

This is why I can totally sympathize with the long-time fans that are upset with the way things are being approached.
The way the games are covered is different.
The way the games are marketed is different.
The new players tend to focus on shipping over gameplay.
Spinoffs dominate conversations when they might as well be from a different franchise.
They feel like they've been kicked out of the franchise that they've liked for a long time, and are supposed to feel bad for being "elitist". That's an awful feeling.

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Act 1: The Good Stuff

There once was a writer named Nasu: http://typemoon.wikia.com/wiki/Kinoko_Nasu

He made this great Visual Novel in 2000 called Tsukihime.
It's a VN about a character who has a vendetta against chairs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeiSVFrl_sI#t=4m28s

Ok, that's a lie. It's a psychological thriller about a sorta unique style of vampire with a main character with a strange family who may or may not be going crazy due to his eyes which can see the death points of any object or person: http://typemoon.wikia.com/wiki/Mystic_Eyes_of_Death_Perception

It's really good! It set up a really cool universe with unique rules about magic, mystical creatures, the supernatural, vampires, the church, all while telling a really neat story.

He then made a sequel to that VN, that has a crazy complicated flowchart: http://i.imgur.com/tpku4nE.jpg

It's pretty good. Lots of good character moments and a chance to flesh out Shiki's backstory.

This was followed up by a Visual Novel called Fate/Stay Night.
It's a VN about a character who barely understands what death is: http://i3.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/898/538/65a.jpg

Ok, that's a lie. It's an action VN that expands on the magic system from Tsukihime and tells a cool story with a bunch of cool characters and heros from legends.

Including Saber. Remember her, she'll be important later: https://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/typemoon/images/8/88/Saber_2.png/revision/latest?cb=20110320010239

He then made a sequel to that VN called Fate/Hollow Ataraxia, that has a crazy complicated flowchart that I can't find a picture of.

Act 2: The Popularity Rises

Fate Stay Night was really popular. Like, really, really popular. Ridiculously popular. Especially after it got an anime, even if it wasn't very good.

The concept of heroes fighting each other seemed to stick, and thus a franchise was born. Forget Tsukihime, that crap doesn't matter. All Fate all day.

Also, the characters from the VN became really popular. Especially Saber. Remember her? Everyone loves her now. All Sabers must be Saber.

A year after releasing the sequel to Fate, Gen Urobuchi wrote a very good prequel to Fate.
Then the next year there was a joke / fanservice magical girl manga called Prisma Illya.
Then a year after that there was a Fate fighting game for the PSP.
Then there was another PSP game a few years later that was more of a "what if things went differently...?"
Then there was a film version of the 2nd route from the VN that wasn't very good.
Then the prequel got a manga version.
Then they made a jokey anime that was pretty funny about Tsukihime / Fate characters, but ended up being like 80% Fate.
Then there was another "what if" story in light novel form...
Then they made an anime of the prequel...
Then they made a remake/sequel of the PSP game...
Then they made a decent anime adaptation of the 2nd route which already had a movie by a different studio and...

(This covers up through about 2014, with some entries omitted to save time: http://typemoon.wikia.com/wiki/Fate_series)

Act 3: I Want To Escape

In case it wasn't clear, Fate basically took over this cool universe that was being build. Since Fate came out, only a single VN has been made not set directly around the few set pieces that Fate established. That VN came out in 2012, and has not been translated to this day. And even then, the VN is just an adaptation of a novel Nasu wrote WAAAAY before anything else came out.

There's also a Tsukihime remake that's been in the works since 2008. It's probably not high priority since, you know, not Fate. No Seiba, no buy.

Since 2014, the Fate series has exploded in popularity. One of the biggest mobile games in Japan is Fate/Grand Order, a crappy gacha game with no less than 10 Sabers. Seriously, I counted, here they are:

http://fategrandorder.wikia.com/wiki/Artoria_Pendragon
http://fategrandorder.wikia.com/wiki/Artoria_Pendragon_(Alter)
http://fategrandorder.wikia.com/wiki/Artoria_Pendragon_(Lily)
http://fategrandorder.wikia.com/wiki/Nero_Claudius
http://fategrandorder.wikia.com/wiki/Nero_Claudius_(Bride)
http://fategrandorder.wikia.com/wiki/Okita_Souji
http://fategrandorder.wikia.com/wiki/Mordred
http://fategrandorder.wikia.com/wiki/Jeanne_d%27Arc
http://fategrandorder.wikia.com/wiki/Jeanne_d%27Arc_(Alter)
http://fategrandorder.wikia.com/wiki/Jeanne_d%27Arc_(Alter)_(Santa_Lily)

There's no end in site for Fate/Fanservice Crap. There's an anime currently airing, 2 movies being developed that cover stuff in the VN and in a manga, it's endless. Some of its ok, most of it is trash. But all of it is Fate.