Every Fate/Stay Night Filler Episode You Can Skip According To Fans
"Fate/stay night" is a 2004 adult visual novel game that was adapted into a manga, an anime, a visual novel/anime hybrid, a couple of movies, and a handful of spin-off anime. Unraveling that particular timeline is the stuff of migraines, so just know it all stemmed from a singular, heavily romantic, high fantasy project. Later iterations, like the 2006 anime, tamed the content a bit so that a wider audience could enjoy the magical and adventure elements. And in such elements, "Fate/stay night" paints with a liberal hand.
Like most anime, the series is intensely story driven. Also, like most anime, there's a bit of filler content. It's not a trait that's unique to anime, but anime does it in a unique way, usually by dropping it in without a single word of warning. In a number of cases, these episodes are noncanonical adventures labeled as OVA (Original Video Animation) that serve to fill out a season order. In other cases, these episodes are simply new content with no basis in the manga. Sites, like the aptly named Anime Filler List, collate information on anime to provide a guide for anyone who wishes to watch a series without the fluff or, at the very least, with an understanding that certain content is fluff. Here's what's considered filler for "Fate/stay night."
Fate/stay night is 13% filler, but some of it is still worth the watch
Three of the twenty-four episodes of "Fate/stay night" are considered to be filler, leaving the production with a 13% filler score on Anime Filler List. The episodes considered unnecessary are 6, 17, and 18. As for the rest — that is to say 1-5, 7-16, and 19-24 — they're all considered to be canon with the manga that the anime is based on. With so few entries into the series labeled as unnecessary viewing, and those few being so tightly placed together in the chronological order, watching a self-abridged version of "Fate/stay night" is fairly straight forward.
For the curious, though, here's a brief dive into the filler episodes. Episode 6 is "Two Magi (Part 2)" and follows an emotionally charged truce between Rin and Shirō. Normally on opposing sides, they work together for a brief moment and end up sharing their histories. As far as filler goes, this one's pretty heavy. Episode 17 is "Branded As A Witch" and follows Shirō and company on a mission that reveals valuable information, but at the cost of Sakura getting kidnapped for a sacrificially powered summon. Episode 18 is "Decisive Battle" and follows Sakura's rescue. By our estimation, Episode 6 is still fairly interesting, even to anime purists, but episodes 17-18 can be forgone without much, or any, problems.