Originally Posted by
SteelBeowulf
I don't think it's that unpopular opinion, but.... Deen's Fate 2006 should be the first Fate anime to be recommended if there was not a remake or VN is not an option. Fate 2006 does it's job well enough to capture people's interest, it put Saber The Heroine as the ultimate focus, put her at the shining spot and captures everyone's heart, of course, at the expense of everyone's else. But that's ok, when I first watch Deen's Fate back in 2009, most protag back then are either oblivious, retarded, or a pervert. That was also the time when Kugimiya four heroines became super popular, point is that male protag back then are usually not the focus anyway, maybe except like Light Yagami or Kyon. So Shirou was more or less "just another one of these harem protag".
Also, Deen's Fate made clear what Fate really is about, something which later adapataion lacks focus on: Fate, in the end, is just a boy meets girl love story like KnK. UFO UBW lacks a lot of those dramatic romances, I mean, they did adapt the romance scenes, but they are as impactful as ones Deen's, they played those scenes straight, but it felt like the anime itself wants to end those scenes quickly and get to the fighting.
Either way, Deen's 2006 first, then optimally the rest of the routes in order, then FZ. Or maybe just say "fuck you read the VN"
It's kindly like watching the prequels first, then complain about the original three, or like watching the The Hobbit first then the Fellowship. "Yeah no shit, some of those scenes felt flat for you, they are prequels, thematically they poke fun and reference to the original source material"