Rockmandash Reviews: Carnival Phantasm [Anime]

You know how I typically spend most of my time here talking about VN's with stellar stories or things of that nature? It's time to do something totally different: today on Rockmandash Reviews, we are going a complete 180° with an amazing show known as Carnival Phantasm. It's a weird yet hilarious Type-Moon crossover comedy OVA animated by Studio Lerche, and it's probably my favorite comedy out there.

In any show, the opening is a first impression that shapes how the viewer thinks of the show. This opening, is spectacular influencing your opinion. It's one of my favorite OP's and it perfectly sets the tone for the show with it's cheery, catchy as hell song and ridiculous antics. It's one of the most notable parts of this OVA series, and it's fantastic. It's quite insane, with insane antics, silly dances, and a ridiculously high level of excitement that you can't help but mention.

Opening - 9/10

As a comedy, it's sole purpose was to entertain. How did it do? FANTASTIC. I'm not going to lie, writing this review was an excuse to watch Carnival Phantasm. I re-watch Carnival Phantasm on a regular basis, because I love Carnival Phantasm. It's my go to comedy show when I'm in the dumps. It's just fantastic seeing all my favorite characters interacting with characters they never would have interacted with in the first place, or watch hilarity ensue. This show is quite silly, and when I say silly, I mean really silly. There are many skits in this that I adore, like instead of F/SN characters battling it out in a brawl, they go racing with hilarious references everywhere, or seeing Rin Tohsaka epicly fail at trying to record an episode on a Blu-Ray player. One big thing that will affect your enjoyment is the fact that Carnival Phantasm is not a comedy series you can just jump into; It's necessary to know about Fate Stay Night and Tsukihime, and you need knowledge of Melty Blood, F/SN, Tsukihime and the fan disks to fully enjoy this series. The more you know about Type-Moon, the better it is. If you haven't seen anything type moon, I'm afraid that you wouldn't find it too entertaining, but if you haven't, why are you interested in this? It's a very enjoyable show, depending on who you are.

Enjoyment - 10/10

Carnival Phantasm is a nice and needed break from KnK and Fate Zero. This show is a complete 180 from the dark series Type-Moon does; CP is one of the most light hearted anime I've ever seen. There is no plot, it's 100% completely comedy in the form of short skits. It's very similar to how Full Metal Panic had the Fumoffu OVA season which was amazing, yet season 2 was all serious. The fact that there is no overarching story in Carnival Phantasm means that the essentially spend the whole time making fun of the series, and it's done very well: most of the jokes are hilarious, and the situations the characters get in are great. All the characters in Carnival phantasm are parodied and exaggerated versions of themselves, like how Saber loves food, and Lancer's incredibly bad luck. It's a great way of extracting humor out of series that typically are pretty dark, and it makes the characters very enjoyable. The writing is great for what it needs; a no frills, hilarious comedy.

Writing - 9/10

As a comedy series, they didn't really go overboard on budget, so the show is just average. Everything has a cute look to it, which is awesome and great but it doesn't stand out that much. It's miles better than what Studio Deen sigh did, but it can't really hold a candle to Ufotable's visuals. One thing that made me happy was finally being able to see the Tsukihime characters in an anime, and they were done pretty well. I'm pretty happy that they were done very well the very first time they were animated. Carnival Phantasm's visuals get the job done, in a very cute way, yet manage not to stray away from the source material.

Visuals - 7.5/10

As this is a comedy series and most of Type-Moon stuff is not, a good majority of the sound track is original, with a few pieces re-used from the existing shows. A good majority of the stuff is catchy and cheery, and while it's enjoyable, there's nothing special about it. It's used well in the show, but it's not an amazing listen standalone. All of the voice actors return, so you are getting what you are expecting voice wise, nothing different. There's not too much to say about the sound in carnival phantasm, it does it's job.

Sound - 7/10

Carnival Phantasm is one of my personal favorite comedy shows. Personally, I loved it, but your mileage may vary. This show is very dependent on whether you have read F/SN & Tsukihime, and it will change how you like the show. If you have experienced those two, it's a must watch.

OVERALL - 9/10, Polarization +.5,-1.5

Copyright Disclaimer: Under Title 17, Section 107 of United States Copyright law, reviews are protected under fair use. This is a review, and as such, all media used in this review is used for the sole purpose of review and commentary under the terms of fair use. All footage, music and images belong to the respective companies.

You can see all my reviews on Rockmandash Reviews, and the rest of my Type-Moon Marathon here. For An explanation of my review system, check this out.

EDIT: On 9/10/14, I did some editing in this review and changed the end card. The review is slightly different than how it originally was, but it's not a major change.