Tons of story tend to cling to the established idea of fate, simple because stories are at its base level some kind of predetermined path that leads to an eventual conclusion. Whether that be some person destine to be a hero, or some continuous event that happens every arbitrary amount of time; these are pretty basic examples of fate.
Now, there aren't that many anime that play around with fate or at the very least, try to make some kind of point with the subject. However, one in particular this season does do such a thing -- that being Rozen Maiden 2013. Unlike the previous iterations of this anime, the emphasis is more on choice, and how those small decisions can affect the future.
A little bit more fascinating than the focus on choices is the difference between humans and dolls. Beside the biggest, and more obvious being that one is an organic life, while the other is created and very much artificial, they both interact with fate differently. And that difference makes it a pretty attractive way of approaching fate vs freewill.
Slaves to Fate
When the Alice Games were first introduced, you wouldn't think that much about it, considering it was something that was used as a way to enforce a central plot. That's all well and good, but taking that, you can also infer that the dolls are wholly controlled by their own fate.
Most dolls follow the orders of their masters -- that being both their creators and the people they make contracts with -- almost wholeheartedly. Which is a bigger clue for them not really having much of a choice. There might be some that will try to fight against their own destiny -- like Shinku, at least in the previous Rozen Maiden when had her doubts about the Alice Games -- but they still will be forced to face what they're fighting, and eventually crack.
Masters of Choice
The previous iterations of Rozen Maiden glossed over the whole "Wind" or "Don't Wind" choice, but with 2013 we get a bit more insight on the nitty-gritty.
With the simple action of choosing between winding and not, changed the fate of what type of world Jun would be heading to. So right off the bat we got to see how human choice changed the world and people in the differing worlds.
Unwound Jun is slowly beginning to realize the power of his actions and shaping the world to the way he wishes. Previously he would go with the flow and be pulled along by the string of fate -- accentually we could call him a puppet. However, now that he knows he has some power in this world, he can in essence, become the master of puppets (dolls).
Unwound
As you can see the nuanced way of approaching a determined path -- while still having some concept of conscious choice -- is a compelling way to approach the matter, but is fairly complex. In the end, they are all bound by fate in some way, it is just humans have the ability to change it if they don't like the way things are going.