Interview: 'Fate/strange Fake' Directors at Anime NYC 2026

THE NATURAL ARISTOCRAT (NIR REGEV)

To Both Directors: How do you reward experienced Fate fans without punishing newcomers?

Takahito Sakazume

Keep it easy to follow, hold them with the sheer force of the animation, and lay the rails so they walk into the work that way.

I think that alone made it appeal to the audience we were after.

Also, coloring that’s different from the existing Fate, a different feel in the photography, making people think “this Fate is different.” Looking back now, I think that was one way to do it.

Shun Enokido

Also, characters who appear in other Fate works turn up in this one too, and I think that also ties in a big way into what is distinctive about Narita’s writing.

So we intend to be careful in the direction, so that, as far as possible, even someone who knows none of that still comes away feeling how formidable and appealing these characters are.

Wide view of the stage: six people at a long table draped with Anime NYC banners, the one at the right end speaking and gesturing. — **Anime NYC Panel**Apart from the press conference, the directors also took the Sakura Stage for the show's Anime NYC panel on Friday, August 21, with host Albert Kao and English dub voice actors Ben Balmaceda and Anjali Kunapaneni. Credit: Courtesy of Aniplex

Nothing Surrendered

I haven’t concededa bit sourmaybe you were right

Fate/strange FakeCredit: ©Ryohgo Narita, TYPE-MOON / KADOKAWA / FSFPC

THE NATURAL ARISTOCRAT

To Both Directors: What did each director have to surrender to create one consistent work?

Shun Enokido

I don’t really have a sense of having given anything up.

If anything, what mattered more was how to bring in as much as the two of us can do. Giving it a sense of unity was something the two of us pretty much already had in common.

So maybe that’s why, yes, we didn’t give anything up.

Takahito Sakazume

I haven’t conceded anything.

If anything, there were times I’d say I absolutely want this one in, and Enokido would say no, you don’t need that, and I’d get a bit sour about it.

Then the next day, calmed down, I’d think, maybe you were right. [laughs]

A panelist in glasses and a white Fate/strange Fake T-shirt speaking into a microphone at the panel table. — **Anime NYC Panel**The two directors, each taking a question at the panel. Credit: Courtesy of Aniplex

A panelist in round glasses speaking into a microphone held in both hands, a pink-haired character plush on the table. — **Anime NYC Panel**The two directors, each taking a question at the panel. Credit: Courtesy of Aniplex

The Tempo Was Right

the tempoit’s the bestnot really

Fate/strange FakeCredit: ©Ryohgo Narita, TYPE-MOON / KADOKAWA / FSFPC

THE NATURAL ARISTOCRAT

To Both Directors: Which scene required you to slow down more than your instincts preferred?

Shun Enokido

Hmm, I wonder. At least as far as the tempo of the Fate anime that’s out now goes…

Takahito Sakazume

It’s the best.

Shun Enokido

Right. There isn’t anything where I thought I wish I’d done more of this, so not really.

Four people seated at the panel table with a laptop, one speaking into a microphone. — **Anime NYC Panel**At the panel table. Credit: Courtesy of Aniplex

The Disagreement That Made It Better

a scene I wanted to drawit held up without itthe police station

Fate/strange FakeCredit: ©Ryohgo Narita, TYPE-MOON / KADOKAWA / FSFPC

THE NATURAL ARISTOCRAT

To Both Directors: What creative disagreement made the series better?

Takahito Sakazume

Like I said earlier, there was a scene I really wanted to draw, and Enokido told me, “You don’t need that.”

So I tried cutting it as a test, and it held up without it. If anything, I thought it felt cleaner.

In episode 2, in the storyboard, I’d drawn a scene where the Assassin destroys the police station’s power supply. He said it works without it, and I thought it did work.

Shun Enokido

I don’t really have any memory of us disagreeing, I guess.

Takahito Sakazume

We don’t really argue all that much.

Shun Enokido

That’s right.

Takahito Sakazume

We start from already knowing what the other one wants to say.

Two panelists in white T-shirts laughing while the person between them reads from a sheet of paper. — **Anime NYC Panel**Laughter as questions are read out at the panel. Credit: Courtesy of Aniplex

Two panelists in white T-shirts smiling as the person between them reads from a sheet of paper. — **Anime NYC Panel**Laughter as questions are read out at the panel. Credit: Courtesy of Aniplex

Directing as a Unit

basically no splitscript and colorrenewed trust

ANIME HERALD

As co-directors, how do you split the responsibilities of directing the series?

Shun Enokido

Basically, we don’t divide it up.

Takahito Sakazume

Do we split up the episodes, or anything like that?

Shun Enokido

Things like the script and the color, the things that bear on the direction of the work in a large way, we basically decide those as a pair.

ANIME TRENDING (ISABELLE LEE)

The two of you have been working together for a long time, but this anime was your first time directing a series. Have you learned anything new about each other or specific lessons you’ve learned in general from producing Fate/strange fake?

Takahito Sakazume

How hard it is to make a TV anime, I’d say.

Shun Enokido

We had done mostly short-form work, so I think there was a lot for us to learn about the scheduling that a long-form work demands, the production calories, and how to get our own hands around the cost.

As for each other, I already knew this, but Sakazume is the one who pours in the kind of power that ought to go into the visuals.

So if anything, I feel I came away trusting that in him all over again.

Takahito Sakazume

With Enokido, I’d thought he could push himself harder, that he’s tougher than that.

On a TV series that turned out to fit perfectly, the scheduling, the way resources get divided across episode counts. I feel it fit the way the thing was made.

ANIME HERALD

What have each of you learned from each other?

Shun Enokido

I’ll put it as things I thought were great, though. [laughs] The one who took the lead in setting the mood on the floor was Sakazume.

I don’t know how he feels about it himself, but I think it was one big part of the mood that let the staff who joined Strange Fake approach the work more positively.

Takahito Sakazume

What I learned from him. What I think he’s better at than me is that speed of decisiveness, and the willpower to absolutely do the thing he wants to do. [laughs]

Thinking about the surrounding sections, there are times it’s a little hard to say.

But I think Enokido tends to always, first, say out loud, “This is what I want to do.”

Shun Enokido

I’m asking them, though.

Close view of three people at the panel table, the one on the right speaking into a microphone. — **Anime NYC Panel**Answers at the panel table. Credit: Courtesy of Aniplex

Three people at the panel table, one handling a microphone while the one on the right speaks. — **Anime NYC Panel**Answers at the panel table. Credit: Courtesy of Aniplex

Pacing Against the Rules

the script stagethe chronologyno hopping back and forth

DOCTOR ANIME

For both of you. You are celebrated for creating some of the most kinetic, breathtaking action sequences in the entire Fate franchise. However, Strange Fake features incredibly dense, complex magical theory and dialogue. How do you maintain the high-octane pacing you’re known for, while ensuring the audience still understands the deep, intricate rules of this False Holy Grail War?

Shun Enokido

It’s difficult. Getting the audience to understand the rules.

That difficulty is something we try to clear at the script stage.

As for having the script convey the original’s complicated rules without making them complicated, there’s a writer, Ōhigashi-san, and I think the first thing was that we had that person reorder the chronology from the original novel even further.

DOCTOR ANIME

The summoning of irregulars is also very different in this series, and irregular beings appear. In visual terms, they are irregular beings who break Snowfield’s existing rules. To set them clearly apart from the traditional Holy Grail War, did the two of you give them a specific color design and animation treatment?

Shun Enokido

That’s very specific. Well, I do think that intention is certainly one of the things folded into our direction.

But when we think about color and direction, if anything, we put the weight on how to show the world and the characters within the scene.

Takahito Sakazume

I think animation technique advances every day, and of course you use it.

But I think what we placed the most weight on was the question of which form of expression suits this particular work best.

A panelist with curly hair and glasses grinning while speaking into a microphone. — **Anime NYC Panel**A laugh and a wave from the panel. Credit: Courtesy of Aniplex

A panelist in round glasses waving to the audience while speaking into a microphone. — **Anime NYC Panel**A laugh and a wave from the panel. Credit: Courtesy of Aniplex

A Chainsaw in the Storyboard

episode two as wellsomeone else’s handsHansa

ANIME TRENDING (ISABELLE LEE), to Sakazume

You storyboarded Episode 3, which features the battle between Hansa and Jester. What was the thought process behind the storyboards for their clash, and how did the previous depiction of the battle in the light novels’ trailer influence your approach this time?

Takahito Sakazume

Before episode three I did the storyboards for episode two as well.

On that one I could, to a fair extent, take responsibility for the screen and manage the materials myself.

On episode three it was storyboard only, so I think I was conscious of making something that would still look good once it was in someone else’s hands.

At the same time, even when you hand it off, as long as the storyboard is drawn this way, it turns out interesting no matter who takes the episode.

Things like Hansa suddenly pulling out a chainsaw. I tried folding in a few ideas from the original like that.

With the earlier promotional video, I was conscious of making it connect structurally, so that the PV we put out back then really had been a trailer for the main story.

And as for the influence, it was made a good few years ago, so my aim was to draw the continuation more intense than back then.

ANIME TRENDING (ISABELLE LEE)

The two of you have worked on a lot of short-form projects. Enokido-san, for instance, storyboarded and directed the recent “FBKINGDOM STORY” trailer for hololive’s Shirakami Fubuki and the “Yumeiro Wonder” music video for Hololive Dreams. Personally, what do you see as the unique appeal and strength of this side of the anime industry?

Shun Enokido

I feel the biggest thing, really, is that because the running time is short, you can develop experimental techniques and visuals.

Lately, people making short work individually tend to make it as independent film.

It has become the testing ground for how commercial animation like TV anime can absorb that kind of experimental technique.

Takahito Sakazume

This may get a bit technical, but I think the greatest strength you can learn from making short work is knowing how much information can be conveyed.

Cram too much in and no one can tell what you were trying to say.

In a short running time, roughly this kind of movement per cut lets you land the force of it clearly. I think it’s that kind of control over the volume of information. That’s the strength.

Five people at the panel table laughing together. — **Anime NYC Panel**Laughter along the panel table. Credit: Courtesy of Aniplex

Three people at the panel table, the one on the left laughing and the one on the right speaking. — **Anime NYC Panel**Laughter along the panel table. Credit: Courtesy of Aniplex

Narita, and Morii-san’s Detail

the reading might wavera new designfinest detail

ANIME CORNER (JAY GIBBS)

During the production of the project, did you have any opportunities to speak with the original author of Fate/strange Fake, Mr. Ryohgo Narita, or Morii-san, who was responsible for the character designs and the manga adaptation?

Shun Enokido

We got to talk with each of them, Narita and Morii-san.

With Narita, there were places where the reading might waver depending on interpretation, and places about a character’s inner state where I wanted to ask outright what he was thinking.

The work covers an enormous amount of setting, so on checking that sort of thing he has cooperated with us pretty much across the board.

The giant skeleton that appears in episode 13, we had Morii-san draw a new design image for us, and built it so that it fed into the animation.

I don’t know how much I’m allowed to say, but at the script stage, the person who supervises the characters’ dialogue in the finest detail is Morii-san.

Morii-san’s resolution on the characters, putting the characters first. That love, that way of seeing them, I think, is reflected in this anime version in a big way too.

Takahito Sakazume

On the character illustration and the visuals as well, we asked Morii-san’s opinion.

We want to put the character as Morii-san pictures them straight into the animation, so we’d hand the character over and get a check on the coloring.

Wide view of the stage, the six people at the table applauding. — **Anime NYC Panel**Applause on the Sakura Stage. Credit: Courtesy of Aniplex

Wide view of the stage with everyone at the table applauding. — **Anime NYC Panel**Applause on the Sakura Stage. Credit: Courtesy of Aniplex

Snowfield, and New York

stone buildingsout of that city fastsomewhere we’d never notice

ANIME CORNER (JAY GIBBS)

You did location scouting in the US and in Las Vegas and Los Angeles. Having spent some time in New York City, how do you imagine an NYC version of Snowfield would be?

Shun Enokido

If Narita had made New York the model for Snowfield, I wonder how that would have gone.

We’ve only really gone for a walk so far. The impression from walking is the very old stone buildings.

Those struck me, so I have a feeling they would be used in a more symbolic, concentrated way.

Takahito Sakazume

This was our first time coming to New York, and that experience may feed into the sequel in some way.

ANIME HERALD

Do you think you would enjoy living in Snowfield?

Shun Enokido

It’d be fun, I think, since we’re genuinely enjoying being in America.

It’d be fun, but I’d want to get out of that city as fast as possible.

Takahito Sakazume

I’d want them fighting somewhere we’d never even notice.

ANIME HERALD

New York is my city. Welcome to New York. Any fun stories from the trip?

Shun Enokido

We’ve only just arrived.

Takahito Sakazume

I believe something interesting is still ahead.

Shun Enokido

It’s already interesting. Just walking the streets is interesting.

Right now it looks like an incredibly appealing city to me.

ANIME HERALD

Do you have anything fun planned for the trip?

Shun Enokido

We’ll go to a museum.

Takahito Sakazume

And climb the Empire State Building, that kind of thing.

All Gas, No Brakes

pour everything inno delaya slice of life

ANIME TRENDING (ISABELLE LEE)

Assuming that you’re still directing the announced continuation for Fate/strange fake, is there something you would like to achieve that you were unable to during the first cour’s production?

Takahito Sakazume

Enokido-san, please don’t hit the brakes.

Shun Enokido

Well, so it’s fine if the work never gets finished.

Something I’d like to take on, huh. Me, I’m the opposite. Yes, I’d want to take it on in a way where we pour everything in and the release still isn’t delayed.

Takahito Sakazume

I’d like to do something like an everyday, slice-of-life anime with the quartet, the kind that isn’t drawn in the main story at all.

Shun Enokido

Yes, I’d want to do that.

Hansa suddenly

pulling out

a chainsaw

Sakazume boarded episode three knowing someone else would animate it, so he wrote in the moments that would survive the hand-off. The chainsaw was one of them.

Key visual

“Even when you hand it off, as long as the storyboard is drawn this way, it turns out interesting no matter who takes the episode.”

Takahito Sakazume · Co-Director

The panelists posing at the front of the stage with a packed audience behind them, purple lights overhead. — **Anime NYC Panel**The panelists with the Anime NYC audience. Credit: Courtesy of Aniplex

The Makers

Co-Director

Shun Enokido

co-directed with Sakazumestoryboarded episodes two and threeshort-form and music video work

Co-Director

Takahito Sakazume

co-directed with Enokidodecides the script and color as a pair

Voice Cast

Kana Hanazawa as Ayaka SajōYūki Ono as Saber

Anjali Kunapaneni as Ayaka SajōBen Balmaceda as Saber

Fate/strange Fake

Ayaka Sajō: Kana Hanazawa / Anjali Kunapaneni
Saber (Richard I): Yūki Ono / Ben Balmaceda
Sigma: Gakuto Kajiwara / Paul Castro Jr.
Flat Escardos: Yoshitsugu Matsuoka / Khoi Dao
Orlando Reeve: Wataru Hatano / Christopher Wehkamp
Jester Karture: Tatsumaru Tachibana / Clifford Chapin
Hansa Cervantes: Katsuyuki Konishi / Kevin Andrew Rivera
Gilgamesh: Tomokazu Seki / David Vincent
Faldeus Dioland: Junya Enoki / Micah Solusod
Francesca Prelati: Maaya Uchida / Deneen Melody
Tsubaki Kuruoka: Aoi Koga / Kimberley Anne Campbell
Lord El-Melloi II: Daisuke Namikawa / Lucien Dodge

Japanese cast / English dub cast.

FATE/STRANGE FAKE

Adapted from Ryohgo Narita’s Fate/strange Fake light novel series, with character designs by Morii-san. Directed by Shun Enokido and Takahito Sakazume at A-1 Pictures, written by Daisuke Ōhigashi, with music by Hiroyuki Sawano.

The series is Enokido and Sakazume’s first as series directors. Both had worked mainly in short-form and music video before it, and they storyboarded episodes two and three themselves.

Co-Directors: Shun Enokido and Takahito Sakazume
Animation: A-1 Pictures
Series composition: Daisuke Ōhigashi
Music: Hiroyuki Sawano
Based on: The light novel series Fate/strange Fake by Ryohgo Narita
Character design: Morii-san
Starring: Kana Hanazawa and Yūki Ono
Licensed by: Aniplex of America

The Key Art

The Lobby

The conversation after the interview

Article Copyright

All content on The Natural Aristocrat® is Copyright © 2016-2026 TheNaturalAristocrat.com. All rights reserved. This includes (but not limited to) ALL text in this article. All Fate/strange Fake stills, key art, and posters are Copyright ©Ryohgo Narita, TYPE-MOON / KADOKAWA / FSFPC, and remain the property of their owners.

The Natural Aristocrat®

Interview: Co-Directors Shun Enokido & Takahito Sakazume on Fate/strange Fake

The Interview

Table of Contents

Rewarding Fans Without Punishing Newcomers

Nothing Surrendered

The Tempo Was Right

The Disagreement That Made It Better

Directing as a Unit

Pacing Against the Rules

A Chainsaw in the Storyboard

Narita, and Morii-san’s Detail

Snowfield, and New York

All Gas, No Brakes

Voice Cast

FATE/STRANGE FAKE

The Key Art

Read Next

The Lobby