Fate/Hollow Ataraxia

Fate/hollow ataraxia
Cover art featuring the main cast of Fate/Hollow Ataraxia
フェイト/ホロウアタラクシア
(Feito/horō atarakushia)
GenreDark fantasy
Video game
DeveloperType-Moon[a]
Publisher
GenreVisual novel, Eroge[b]
EngineKiriKiri
Platform
ReleasedMicrosoft Windows
  • JP: 28 October 2005
  • WW: 7 August 2025
PlayStation Vita
  • JP: 27 November 2014
Nintendo Switch
  • WW: 7 August 2025
Manga
Written byMedori
Published byKadokawa
MagazineMonthly Shounen Ace
Original runJuly 2013 – June 25, 2016
Volumes2

Fate/hollow ataraxia[c][d] is a Japanese adult visual novel developed by Type-Moon, and released on October 28, 2005 for Windows PCs. Type-Moon released a version of the game without erotic content, with a PlayStation Vita port in November 2014. The game is a spin-off of Type-Moon's earlier adult game Fate/stay night for mature audiences. A remastered version of Fate/hollow ataraxia, was released worldwide for the Nintendo Switch in August 2025. The story takes place a few months after the events of Fate/stay night in Fuyuki City. It follows a time loop imposed on Shirou Emiya and Bazett Fraga McRemitz by servant Avenger.

Development began between 2004 and 2005 as Japanese author Kinoko Nasu designed a story centered around characters in a time loop, that he felt allowed for daily life scenes, new character interactions, and the reveal of the mystery behind the Holy Grail War. The game was introduced primarily as a fan-disc intended to deliver a more "happier" follow-up to Fate/stay night that allowed the characters to coexist peacefully after the "tragic" events of the original visual novel.

The gameplay in Fate/hollow ataraxia uses non-linear gameplay which offers different scenarios with courses of interaction. The game was well received based on sales and critics. Critical response to the game's narrative and cast was generally favorable. The game ranked as one of the top selling visual novels for the time of its release. A manga adaptation illustrated by Medori was serialized into 2 tankōbon volumes between July 2013 and June 2016 in Kadokawa Shoten's Monthly Shounen Ace magazine.

Gameplay

A combat sequence in Fate/hollow ataraxia's Capsule Servant minigame

Fate/hollow ataraxia is a visual novel that abandons the traditional linear gameplay and route-based system of Fate/stay night. It features a "lighter" tone than its predecessor through a slice of life approach.[1][2] Players experience recurring a four-day time loop in Fuyuki City,[3] through the perspectives of Avenger, Shirou Emiya and Bazett Fraga McRemitz.[4][5] An interactive aerial map of the city allows players to choose specific scenes during morning, noon, and night. Players must investigate the mystery of the loop—marked by "!". For progression, flags are retained across loops, allowing players to gradually unlock new events and eventually resolve the loop. Throughout the game, multiple minigames can be unlocked—including a Hanafuda card game, "Operation Illya's Castle",[4] and a built-in chibi-style tower defense game titled "Capsule Servant" in the PS Vita/Remastered versions—along with extras like the "Eclipse" side stories.[6][7]

Plot

Fate/hollow ataraxia takes place several months in Fuyuki City after the events of Fate/stay night.[8][9] Mages' Association member, Bazett Fraga McRemitz,[9] wakes up with amnesia on the fourth day of the Fifth Holy Grail war alongside her newly assigned servant, Avenger.[5] She and Avenger set off to compete and win the Holy Grail War.[10] A time loop occurs due to the tampering of Rin Tohsaka's Jewel Sword which inadvertently merged all the potential timelines of the Holy Grail War.[11] Tohsaka later embarks on mission to fix things with the Mages' Association in England. Emiya suspects something is wrong when he finds himself repeatedly meeting Caren Ortensia in the same scenarios. He realizes that Bazett and him are in a time loop that begins on the fourth day of the Fifth Holy Grail War. Each time Emiya and McRemitz die or survive, they wake up on the first day of the loop.

Avenger is revealed as the catalyst of the corruption of the Holy Grail in the previous Holy Grail war, and the time loop. Having become a weak Grail with the destruction of its physical vessel and his soul separated of Greater Grail in process, his spirit came across a dying Bazett and responded to her wish to live. He created the time loop inside of Bazett's mind and replicated the characters in this dream world, while the real Shirou and his friends are living peacefully in the outside world. After learning the truth from Caren, Avenger and Bazett destroy the Grail to put an end to the loop. Bazett awakens from her coma in the real world and Avenger returns to the void. He revives the participants of the Fifth Holy Grail War who died more than half a year ago, excluding Kotomine Kirei. In the epilogue, Bazett quits the Magic Association and becomes a freelancer.

Development

Fuyuki City is inspired by the landscape of Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan.

After the release of the Fate/stay night visual novel, there were no plans for a sequel. As Kinoko Nasu felt Emiya's character arc and the Holy Grail War fully concluded within the three original routes. The concept of hollow ataraxia started with Nasu's idea to merge the routes of Fate/stay night into a "cohesive" story,[12] inspired by the concept of their previous work, Kagetsu Tohya.[12] It was designed as a fan-disc and pseudo-sequel to Fate/stay night.[12][13] Development for Fate/hollow ataraxia began after the release of its predecessor in January 2004. Nasu wrote the plot, everything from the Holy Grail War on the first night until the completion of the story. While Japanese artist Takashi Takeuchi was the character designer and art director, whom previously worked on Fate/stay night for Type-Moon. For work on the scenario, Nasu contributed alongside sub-writers who aided with daily writing and editing.[12] He explained that the time loop was originally six days, but was later dropped to four to avoid dragging the storyline.[12] Takeuchi stated that some people felt that "[hollow] should include a derivative work to serve as a summary [to] make it popular".[12] While Nasu noted that hollow ataraxia's plot had overlapped with the initial story of his mystery visual novel Decoration Disorder Disconnection (DDD).[12][14]

Further writers include Meteo Hoshizora and several other new scenario writers to Type-Moon—including Aramoto Kei, Hikaru Sakurai, and Morisaki Ryouto.[12] Takeuchi explained that when he first heard about the plan to adapt Fate/hollow atraxia into a manga, he suggested making it two separate works, one being about daytime, and the other about nighttime.[15]

Release history

Cover art for the DVD release of the visual novel

Fate/hollow ataraxia was released as an adult game in DVD format for Windows PCs on October 28, 2005.[7][16] As a bonus, it came bundled with the visual novel's original soundtrack.[17] An updated all ages version with an enhanced port compatible for the PlayStation Vita was released by Japanese game developer Type-Moon and HuneX on November 27, 2014.[18] The manufacturing of the original adult version had since then been suspended. Also along with having full-voice acting,[3][19] an opening video by Japanese animation studio Ufotable,[20] and theme songs by Japanese singer Aimer,[8][21] the limited edition version was bundled with a collection of art material and a mini-Nendoroid figure of Avenger.[7][22] In August 2024, a remastered version was announced for release.[2][18] Type-Moon released Fate/hollow ataraxia Remastered on August 7, 2025 for the Nintendo Switch and Windows PCs.[9][23]

Media

Manga

Cover art for the first volume of the Fate/hollow ataraxia manga

Several sets of manga anthologies based on Fate/hollow ataraxia were produced. Including Fate/Hollow Ataraxia Anthology Comic, released by Ichijinsha on January 7, 2006, under DNA Media Comics; the fifteenth volume in the series was released on August 25, 2008.[24][25] Two anthology series were then released by Kadokawa, released between January to May 2006.[26][27] Another two were then released by Enterbrain. Fate/hollow ataraxia Anthology Comic was released between January 30, 2006, and May 25, 2007, in nine tankōbon volumes under their Magi-Cu Comics imprint.[28] A yonkoma series was later published by Enterbrain between December 25, 2007, and December 25, 2008, in six volumes.[29] In 2013, a Fate/hollow ataraxia manga illustrated by Medori and published by Kadokawa began serializing in the Monthly Shounen Ace magazine.[15][22]

Music

The Fate/hollow ataraxia Original Soundtrack, bundled with the original release of Fate/hollow ataraxia, was released through Geneon Entertainment on November 23, 2005,[30] bearing the catalog number TMC-1007;[17] it was re-released alongside Fate/stay night Remastered in August 2025. The game's theme song "Hollow" by rhu, was released by Type-Moon on October 28, 2005.[31] Aimer's songs "broKen NIGHT / holLow wORlD," and "Open The Doors" were used as the opening and ending theme songs for Fate/hollow ataraxia respectively.[21]

Game themes
Title Composition Arrangement Lyrics Performance Type Peak Oricon chart positions
"Ataraxia" KATE James Harris Kinoko Nasu
rhu (Colorvariation)
 Opening theme
—
"hollow" KATE James Harris Keita Haga Theme Song
"Our future" KATE NUMBER 201 Keita Haga Ending theme
"broKen NIGHT/holLow wORlD" Takeo Asami Kenji Tamai, Shogo Ohnishi aimerrhythm
Aimer
 Opening theme
9[32]
"Open The Doors" KATE Kenji Tamai, Shogo Ohnishi Keita Haga Ending theme
—

Reception

Fate/hollow ataraxia was regarded as one of the top selling visual novels of 2005.[33] In Japan, the PlayStation Vita (PSV) version sold 53,979 copies within its first week, ranking at fourth place amongst all Japanese software sales for the November 24–30, 2014 week of sales charts.[34] By February 2017, the game had sold over 100,000 copies.[35] The Steam release had an estimated over 60,000 players by March 2026.

Notes

  1. ^ Ported to PlayStation Vita by HuneX
  2. ^ Only the original 2005 Windows version has adult content
  3. ^ Japanese: フェイト/ホロウアタラクシア, Hepburn: Feito/horō atarakushia
  4. ^ The word "ataraxia" refers to the Greek term for tranquility, giving the title a combined meaning of "empty (or false) tranquility".

References

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  2. ^ a b Cormack, Kevin (December 18, 2024). "Fate Anime—Where to Start and What's Worth Watching". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on January 20, 2025. Retrieved April 1, 2026.
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