On TV, the first episode of 'Fate/stay night' focused on one of the heroines of the series — Tohsaka Rin.
Her daily life at school centered around two people: Matou Sakura and Emiya Shirou, who was often seen with Sakura.
Compared to the start of 'Fate/Zero', the beginning of 'Fate/Stay Night' felt rather mundane.
'Fate/Zero' opened with suspense and tension; each Master was introduced in a way that made viewers eager for more.
But 'Fate/stay night' began with school slice-of-life scenes — a stark contrast to the impending war atmosphere of 'Fate/Zero', where Masters from around the globe gathered in one city to battle.
For the drama audience — especially fans of 'Fate/Zero' — the tone shift felt a bit odd.
"Why hasn't Artoria shown up yet?"
"This Tohsaka Rin is the daughter of Tohsaka Tokiomi from 'Fate/Zero', right? She's a Master too?"
"Feels weird…"
"I want to see Artoria, not Tohsaka Rin!"
"You guys are so hard to please. She is one of the heroines of 'Fate/stay night'! Honestly, she's not much inferior to Artoria."
"But this is the Artoria Route — why are we starting from another heroine's POV?"
Many viewers found the dual-perspective structure of the first two episodes unfamiliar.
But complaints aside, 'Fate/stay night' quickly broke the 10% ratings mark right after its premiere.
The slice-of-life bits passed quickly, and soon it was time for Tohsaka Rin's Servant summoning.
Though this ritual had appeared in 'Fate/Zero', watching it again still stirred excitement.
One of the signature appeals of the Fate series is seeing which Heroic Spirit each Master summons.
The 'Fate/stay night' game existed before 'Fate/Zero' aired, so the casting of characters like Artoria and Kotomine Kirei, who had appeared in 'Fate/Zero', had already been finalized. There was no debate over actor suitability.
But adult Tohsaka Rin was bound to draw some criticism.
Still, the hardest casting challenge in this live-action adaptation?
Undoubtedly — Archer (Red Archer), aka future Emiya Shirou.
Everyone knows: Tohsaka Rin summoned Archer, who is actually Shirou's Heroic Spirit self after his death.
So while the two didn't need to look the same, they couldn't be completely unalike either. A youthful version and a mature version were acceptable, but a complete mismatch wasn't.
Thus, the same actor had to portray both Shirou and Archer. He needed to convey Shirou's idealistic, saint-like optimism, and also embody Archer's hardened realism.
The trick was to prevent viewers from immediately recognizing they were the same person. Of course, any attentive viewer would figure it out — it's not animation, where changing hair color instantly makes a "new" character. In live-action, that won't fly.
Trying to cast two different actors for the same person at different ages would only confuse the audience, so instead, they just leaned into makeup and acting to convey the contrast.
If viewers didn't realize the truth right away, they'd convince themselves:
"Even I didn't catch on at first. It's totally normal that the girl in the show didn't either."
Honestly, Jing Yu himself didn't know how to explain it logically. When he played the 'Fate/stay night' visual novel, he also couldn't believe Tohsaka Rin couldn't recognize him, or that Emiya Shirou couldn't recognize himself.
After all, Archer wasn't even old — at most, he looked like a mid-20s Shirou, and the Shirou in the show was 18. If he couldn't recognize a slightly older version of himself, you just had to chalk it up to fantasy logic. The author gets to decide.
Because of all this effort around Archer's casting—
The moment Archer appeared on screen, clad in a striking red coat, tall and elegant in appearance—
The viewers went wild.
"As a game player, I gotta say — this Archer is amazing."
"Damn, Old Thief Jing Yu sure knows how to cast. That's the same guy who played loser Shirou earlier?!"
"One actor can look this different with makeup?"
"Don't underestimate professional makeup artists. Give them a chance, and they'll turn a tiger into a delicate beauty."
"Wow. Archer's reveal is such a pleasant surprise."
Once Archer arrived, the plot picked up.
The hidden enemy Servant at school — Lancer — appeared.
Archer vs. Lancer — the battle began.
This part relied heavily on VFX due to the limited action capability of the actors.
Frankly, Jing Yu could have pulled off the moves himself — he could do the scenes from the game.
But he was playing Gilgamesh, and even if he could do the moves, the actor playing Lancer couldn't match up.
So, the action scenes here were visually weaker than in the game. Still, game fans were mostly satisfied.
Then came the classic sequence:
Emiya Shirou, while secretly observing the fight, is discovered by Lancer and stabbed through the heart in a school hallway.
For some unknown reason, Tohsaka Rin makes a huge sacrifice and uses powerful magic to save him.
She leaves behind a depleted magical gem — an important item that becomes a key plot point later in her route.
"Archer's not worried. He read the script."
"Lancer's biggest mistake was not finishing the job. That's why things ended like that."
"Archer's probably thinking, 'Seriously? Couldn't you kill Shirou? What are you even here for?"
"Villains should never get overconfident."
"Archer's actor is incredible!"
"He really made the two roles feel like two different people. If I hadn't known they were the same guy, I wouldn't have guessed."
"What a devoted big sister! Anyone else got killed by Lancer, and Rin would've just walked away."
At the end of Episode 1, as Tohsaka Rin investigates enemy Servants, she is suddenly attacked by another one—
Golden hair, blue-and-white armor, a dignified gaze, and the signature ahoge atop her head—
No doubt about it. It was Artoria.
At that moment, fans watching at home erupted in cheers.
The final rating for 'Fate/stay night' Episode 1 hit a staggering 11.9%.
There wasn't even time for ads or an ending theme — Yunteng TV cut straight into Episode 2:
Emiya Shirou's version of the same two days.
His daily interactions with Matou Sakura, who came to his house early every morning to make him breakfast.
His clumsy attempts to practice projection magic.
His awkward, oddly close friendship with Matou Shinji.
Then, at night, the red-clad man and the blue lancer clashed at school.
Shirou witnesses their fight, gets spotted, and is once again stabbed through the heart.
After passing out in pain—
He suddenly wakes up, somehow healed, and stumbles home.
Only to be attacked by Lancer again.
During the critical moment, as he falls bleeding to the floor of his home, a glowing blue magic circle activates, special effects turned up to max.
The classic "Glory of the King" theme begins to play.
"I ask you—are you my Master?"
It was Artoria's first meeting with Emiya Shirou, and the words she spoke were identical to what she said the first time she met Kiritsugu Emiya.
In the story, ten years had passed.
But for viewers, it was a reunion after many months with Tang Rui's portrayal of Artoria.
Fans didn't need a reason to be emotional.
As long as Artoria appeared in the drama, that was more than enough.
Two days, one event, two perspectives —
Now, they finally converged into a single moment:
Artoria's glorious entrance.