Anime 10 Years Ago! Fate/Zero," the pioneer of the powerful collaboration of Anipres, ufotable, and LiSA, began broadcasting! Let's take a look back at the 2011 fall anime, which had many masterpieces following the summer season!

In the world of anime, 10 years ago may seem like a long time ago, but at the same time, there are still active series being broadcast today. This time, I would like to take a look back at what kind of works were broadcast in the TV anime world 10 years ago, during the 2011 fall season.

Fate/Zero

Following on from the previous season, there was a bumper crop of anime in the 2011 fall cool, but this one has to be first on the list.

Fate/stay night" is a popular work that started as a doujinshi novel game by TYPE-MOON and has been adapted into TV anime and theater anime many times. In "Fate/stay night," set in the fictional Japanese provincial city of Fuyuki, seven pairs of sorcerers "Masters" and Heroic Spirits "Servants" make a contract and compete for the Holy Grail, which grants wishes. The "Fifth Holy Grail War" is depicted. Fate/Zero" is a spin-off work that depicts the "Fourth Holy Grail War," another dark battle that took place in Fuyuki City 10 years earlier.

However, the origin of "Fate/Zero" is a little different from the norm, and one major creator is involved. That creator is Gen Urobuchi, who belongs to Nitroplus. At the time, he was known as a scenario writer and director of hardcore bishojo games such as "Phantom -PHANTOM OF INFERNO-", "Vedonia the Vampire Eradicator" and "Oniwake Street", whose style was hard and hard, with blood and smoke (Mr. Kyobuchi was the director of "Fate/Zero"). (Mr. Urobuchi had gained significant recognition as the scriptwriter of "Puella Magi Madoka Magica" shortly before the anime adaptation of "Fate/Zero").

TYPE-MOON, attracted by Mr. Urobuchi's style, contacted him and asked him to write a story about the "Fourth Holy Grail War. In "Fate/Zero," the cold-blooded master Kiritsugu Emiya wages an unrelenting war against all means, including assassination and deception, and this is due in large part to Mr. Urobuchi's style.

However, Kinoko Nasu, the original author of "The Fourth Holy Grail War," is a setting fanatic and has set countless settings and restrictions on the story.

The novel "Fate/Zero" Vol. 1 "The 4th Holy Grail War Secret Story" was released as a doujinshi at Comic Market 71 in December 2006. It was a big shock that a huge booth was created just for selling this novel in the corporate booths at Comiket. By the time of Comic Market 73 the following year, a total of four copies of the original doujinshi version had been published, and the story of "another Fate" was born.

By the time "Fate/Zero" was produced as a TV anime in 2011, TYPE-MOON had gained an ally in ufotable, which was in charge of animation production for the theatrical anime "The Garden of the Sinners" and could express TYPE-MOON's world in high quality animation. The project was a great success. The first project in the "TYPE-MOON x ufotable Project" was "The Garden of the Sinners", and it was natural that ufotable would produce "Fate/Zero" as the second project. LiSA sang "oath sign," the opening theme for the first season of the "Fate/Zero" TV anime. Oath sign" was LiSA's first single CD.

The combination of ufotable, Aniplex, and LiSA, which would remind anyone of "Demon Slayer" in 2021, was born because of this work.

Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai

The year 2011 marked the beginning of a new generation of anime based on light novels, and when we think of anime based on light novels from the 2000s, we think of the early Dengeki Bunko works such as "Boogiepop ha Laughing Never", "Kino's Journey", and "Shakugan no Shana". In the fall of 2011, "Shakugan no Shana III -Final-", the final series of the "Shakugan no Shana" series, was broadcast, marking one of the major turning points of the era. It can be said to be one of the turning points of the times.

The first volume of "Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai" was released by MF Bunko J in August 2009. 2010 saw its big breakthrough as a light novel, and in 2011 it was adapted into an anime, so it is fair to say that it rose to stardom at a fairly fast pace. In the story, the main character, Hanasegawa Kotaka, happens to become a member of the "Neighborhood Club," a club for making friends (a convenient word, isn't it?), and the Neighborhood Club attracts beautiful girls and boys who look like beautiful girls one after another. ...... The main character has yankee-like eyes.

The main character is misunderstood because of his yankee-like eyesight, and a club activity that does nothing is the main stage of the work. However, the style of "a human drama centered on romance that takes place in a somewhat obscure club activity" became one of the great templates.

The title "Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai" (but there are many beautiful girls who hate each other) often receives a lot of tskkis because it makes you want to continue, but the abbreviation "Haganai," which picks up hiragana from the title, is so excellent.

Mobile Suit Gundam AGE

One of the most unique works in the "Mobile Suit Gundam" series, "AGE" also started exactly 10 years ago. The game maker Level-5 participated in the production of this work as a planning collaborator, and Akihiro Hino from Level-5 participated in the series composition. Mr. Hino is the president of Level-5 and a multi-talented producer and scenario writer, who has created many mega-hit titles such as "Inazuma Eleven," "Danball Senki," and later "Yokai Watch. For the "Gundam" production team, which wanted to cultivate a new, younger fan base beyond its 30th anniversary, Hino's taste and expertise in creating a series of blockbuster hits for kids must have been very appealing.

The basic concept of "Mobile Suit Gundam AGE" is to depict a great drama that continues through three generations, with the first part, Flit, featuring Flit Asuno, the second part, Asem, featuring Flit's son Asem Asuno, and the third part, Kio, featuring Asem's son Kio Asuno. The legendary "Gundam," a machine that has been passed down from generation to generation, was placed in the middle of this story. The development of the story was inevitably a little fast-paced because it was to be drawn in a single year, covering the Flit, Asem, and Kio Arc as well as the third and final chapter, the Three Generations Arc, but it is worth noting the vertical scale in which the main characters up to the previous parts appear as grown-up fathers and grandfathers, and their feelings and stories are passed on and their parental feelings are not conveyed. The vertical scale of the story is remarkable. One of the highlights of the film is the homages to previous Gundam series scattered throughout the work.

Tamayura ~hitotose

Since the town of Washinomiya and Washinomiya Shrine, the setting of "Lucky Star" broadcast in 2007, became the focus of much attention as a "sacred place," there have been an increasing number of efforts to create works inspired by specific areas and later work with local governments to bring the works and the areas together. One of such works is the 2011 Fall Kurosaki Festival. One such work broadcast in the fall of 2011 was "Tamayura: hitotose," a TV animation series based on the OVA "Tamayura" released in 2010.

Tamayura ~hitotose~" is a gentle and kind story that begins when a girl named "Potte" aka Sawatari Kaede, who loves photography, moves to Takehara City in Hiroshima Prefecture, a town on the Seto Inland Sea. Original story, director, and series composition are by Junichi Sato, who beautifully and charmingly depicts the town and people of Takehara, surrounded by mountains and water. In "Tamayura," Takehara City and Yokosuka, Potte's former home, have become sacred places, and events have been held there many times with the voice actors who appear in the film. The dialogue between director Junichi Sato and voice actress Yuko Gitake, who is often in charge of hosting these events, has become a specialty of these events. The ties between the voice actors and the local community are also very strong.

In terms of the long-lasting and happy relationship between the region and the work, "Tamayura" is one of the most memorable works.

（Kiri Nakazato)