The Abridged Series is an internet phenomenon in which a group of content creators take a work of animation/games/movies and make an episodic parody out of it. Often retelling the same story with different context. Telling a new story using the same characters. Highlighting the weak points of the original in an affectionate way.
Some of the abridged works are loved by their fans even more than the original work they're based on. A well-known example is SAO Abridged. A good abridged series takes the original lore, and reference it creatively. It makes the fan feel that the creators understand the original work as much as them or better. One of the abridged series that does just that is: Fate/Stay Night -Unlimited Blade Works- Abridged.
UBW Abridged by Project Mouthwash is a parody of Fate/Stay Night's second anime series which covers the story of the second route of the original Visual Novel.
Fate/Stay Night's story follows Shirou Emiya: A mage who gets involved in a fight between mages called The Holy Grail War. Each participant (called a Master) summons a servant to fight for them. The winner will get any wish granted by the grail. Shirou accidentally summons Saber. The strongest class, that almost won the previous war.
The story of Unlimited Blade Works route focuses on Rin Tohsaka and her servant: Archer. It does so by having a different initial threat than the first route. In the VN ver. the route serves as a showcase for Shirou Emiya's character development and conflicted values. His unachievable dream. To let the final route focusing on him finding the answer.
The abridged version follows the same story, but adds tons and tons of references to Fate franchise's lore! It's recommended to not watch the abridged without being familiar with Fate/Zero. The prequel is referenced every two minutes in the abridged version.
Another thing UBW Abridged does is amplify the quirks or the characters. Shirou is a helpless dreamer who likes to save pipes and people. Mostly pipes. Rin Tohsaka is an insane rich girl who abuses her power and beauty much more than the original.
Abriged-Rin also thinks her servant is Satan! You'd have to love and fear a girl with such warped-logic!
Archer references his tragic backstory in everything he says. Saber is soothing in anger from a 10-years old grudge. She definitely doesn't know who Illya is. She also likes to abuse the modern slang taught to her by the holy grail power. Shinji was already Narcissistic and stupid. He's much more so in the Abridged.
It's clear that the abridged writers not only love, but also understand the Fate franchise. The references are deep. Connecting the dots is satisfying! I'd think they even reference Fate/Grand Order sometimes.
What makes it even better, the story manages to be funny even in the most serious moments without taking anything from the seriousness of the situation! Any writer knows how hard it is to achieve that! It's probably because the characters are so on point with the original version!
You can watch Fate/Stay Night UBW Abridged Here!
If you plan on watching it, be careful because the abridged assumes you finished the original Unlimited Blade Works route. It has heavy SPOILERS for its second half, and even have foreshadowing for Heaven's Feel route.
What are your thoughts?
Have you watched UBW Abridged? Have you watched any other abridged series? What do you think of it? Please let me know in comments.
- First image is from the anime's promotional poster. Second image is The Abridged Series' first Episode thumbnail.
- Article is crossposted here on Hive & on Read.cash.