Fate/Apocrypha Box Sets 1 & 2 (Limited Edition Blu-ray) Unboxing

Fate/Apocrypha is a 2017 television anime series based on Yūichirō Higashide’s light novel of the same name. The anime was directed by Yoshiyuki Asai, written by Yūichirō Higashide, animated by A-1 Pictures and published by Aniplex. The series first broadcast in Japan on July 2017 as part of the Summer season.

Background:

““I chose to fight. From that instant, my hands were covered in blood.”

The Black Faction seized the Greater Grail for the sake of the clan’s most earnest wish to symbolize its independence from the Mage’s Association. The Mage’s Association gathers the Red Faction in order to thwart such ambitions. Taking place in Trifas, Romania, the Great Holy Grail War that takes place between 14 Heroic Spirits summoned by the two factions transforms thanks to Shirou Kotomine, one of the Masters of the Red, who is also the Overseer for this Great War.”

Plot Synopsis via Aniplex of America, November 2018.

Fate is all over the place. An eroge visual novel spawned a massive franchise with many anime instalments, multiple books and even a gacha game. After Ufotable adapted Unlimited Blade Works, Aniplex & Type-Moon pretty much decided to delve into the spin-off properties and one of them happened to be Fate/Apocrypha.

Fate/Apocrypha is not set in the same timeline as Fate/Stay Night so you could technically jump straight into the spin-off. While the general concept of heroic spirits battling each other is there, the main difference is the cast of characters which are different to the original series, for instance instead of the Saber you know from Fate/Stay Night & Fate/Zero, we have another Saber called Mordred. Other notable characters from Fate/Apocrypha include Jeanne d’Arc from the Ruler class and Astolfo from the Rider class.

Speaking of differences, Ufotable did not adapt the spin-offs. Instead, A-1 Pictures animated Fate/Apocrypha and from what I heard one of the episodes in the second half is really well done so I’m curious about that.

Aniplex of America picked up the English-speaking rights for the series and it was one of the few titles published by Aniplex that was streamed exclusively through Netflix and was able to get licensed. Aniplex of America generally ignores these titles but somehow they had managed to license Fate/Apocrypha beforehand.

The series was given an English dub during its Netflix stream and eventually the distributor was able to release it on Blu-ray in a limited edition package, which pretty much follows their usual model. MVM Entertainment and Madman Entertainment in the United Kingdom and Australia were allowed to sub-license from Aniplex to release standard edition regular Blu-rays for those regions at a lower price.

Limited Edition Contents:

Aniplex of America may be known for their expensive prices, but in return they also offer some interesting packaging for their titles. Fate/Apocrypha is packaged pretty similarly to the previous Fate releases like Fate/Zero and Fate/Stay Night [Unlimited Blade Works].

Since I’m covering both parts of the series, design-wise they’re basically the same. Both packages offer a rigid box that houses each half of the series across a few Amaray cases alongside a few physical items. Both sets come with an additional Amaray case that includes the show’s original soundtrack CD and a deluxe booklet. The first booklet focuses more on character artwork while the second booklet goes over key animation, background designs and more interviews. Both booklets have episode lists and soundtrack lists.

The artwork on both sets is free of any information and the small o-card that wraps around the boxes covers the information and specification. Aniplex titles are known for their limited quantity and sometimes re-releases with less packaging content, but currently there’s no plan for another release (however a complete series BD-Box was recently released in Japan so it’s expected to follow suit for the US). The unit count for Aniplex releases is not known but it’s probably a few thousand and likely reprinted given its Fate. The SRP for Box Set 1 release is $149.98 and Box Set 2 release is $159.98.

Physical Contents:

• Rigid Box with Amaray packaging and clean artwork
• Info o-card for specification
• Box Set 1: Original Soundtrack CD 1
• Box Set 1: 24-page Booklet
• Box Set 2: Original Soundtrack CD 2
• Box Set 2: 24-page Booklet

On-Disc Contents:

Distributor: Aniplex of America
Released: 20th November 2018 (Box Set 1), 12th February 2019 (Box Set 2)

The Aniplex Blu-ray releases for Fate/Apocrypha contains episodes 1-12 across three Blu-ray discs in Box Set 1 and episodes 13-25 across two Blu-ray discs in Box Set 2. All the discs were authored/encoded by Aniplex. The audio options available for the Aniplex of America release include Japanese with English subtitles and a Bang Zoom! Entertainment English dub.

The white subtitles are unlockable during playback, and the regions are playable to Blu-ray players set to A, B and C (basically region free, Aniplex generally don’t region lock their releases).

Blu-ray Specs:

Languages	English, Japanese
Audio	English Linear PCM 2.0 Japanese Linear PCM 2.0
Video	1080p High Definition Native format 16:9 aspect ratio
Region	A B C
Subtitles	English
Locked Subtitles	No
Discs	Box Set 1: 3 BD-50s Box Set 2: 3 BD-50s

Blu-ray On-Disc Extra Features:

Box Set 1 – Disc 3:

• Japanese Previews 1, 2 & 3
• Textless Opening “Eiyū: Unmei no Uta”
• Textless Ending “Désir”
• Japanese Commercials:
  • CM 1: Ruler
  • CM 2: Black Alliance / Red Alliance
  • CM 3: Beginning of the War
  • Blu-ray Disc Box I CM
• Previews by Rider of Black (Episodes 1-12)

Box Set 2 – Disc 3:

• Season 2 PV
• Blu-ray Disc Box I & II CM
• Blu-ray Disc Box II CM
• 2nd Season Textless Opening “Ash”
• 2nd Season Textless Ending “Koe”
• Previews by Rider of Black (Episodes 13-24)

Unboxing Photos:

Final Notes:

The limited edition releases of Fate/Apocrypha are available to order exclusively through Rightstuf (Box Set 1, Box Set 2), but an affordable UK version is available through multiple retailers like Amazon (Part 1, Part 2).

(Disclaimer: Amazon links are also included when available. They are affiliated so if you decide to order them, I’ll earn a small percentage if they ship which will help me with any hauls or small bills.)