First Impressions – Fantasista Doll
Cardcaptor Sakura 2.0 coming at you!
I know what you are thinking another damn magical girl series right? With the likes of Symphogear G, Fate/Kaleid Liner Prisma illya and Genei wo Kakeru Taiyou what can Fantasista Doll possibly do differently that the other magical girl shows can’t? For that answer I guess you will have to read and find out with this first impressions post with Kara teaming up with me once again!
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Well, here I am with round 2 of the magical girls posts (…I still have yet to watch Symphogear, but I hear it’s pretty good). How did Fantasista Doll compare with Taiyou? Er, other than the fact that Fantasista is way more difficult for me to remember the name to, this series seems to have it’s own things that are good about it~.
Fantasista production team
Sasara has a tough choice to make before her fight! Does she wear a Maid outfit or bunny girl suit?
These magical card girls have the best clothes.
Believe it or not Fantasista Doll is created by Goro Taniguchi who is the original creator of Code Geass, Scryed, Planetes and the list goes on and on, but I was kind of surprised to see that he made a magical girl series. Also one of my favorite music composers Yasharu Takanashi who is no stranger to magical girls because he has an amazing track record for working on various seasons of Precure, but as much as I love his work it kind of feels that he just uses the same music over and over again? Of course since he uses the same instruments I guess that kind of thing just happens. So what else is missing? Oh right character designs by Kato Hiromi who believe it or not worked on several Clamp projects, Guilty Crown and various openings and endings for Index. Besides from the character designs and music we have a great list of voice actors!
- Ayaka Ohashi who voiced Fleur on Eureka Seven Ao
- Minami Tsuda who just finished voicing Yui from Yuyushiki
- Sora Tokui who voiced Niko from Love Live
- Chinatsu Akasaki who voiced Nibutani from Ch2koi
- Akiko Hasegawa who voiced Miki from The Idolmaster
- Sachika Misawa who voiced Kuroyukihime from Accel World!
Magical Fate/Maiden: The Gathering… Captors
Best character ever right ladies?
I bet Uzume wants one of those white outfits~
I don’t know quite what to call this. Yu-gi-oh x magical girls? (lol yes, I know they called it something close to Magic: The Gathering or whatever that other game is called, but anything with card game tournaments automatically makes me think of Yu-gi-oh.) And then I don’t know if it’s because I’ve been playing Fate/Extra CCC these past few weeks, but the whole summoning thing and the dolls calling Uzume “master” totally reminds me of the whole Fate/Stay franchise. Plus a bit of Rozen Maiden due to the doll/ master thing. And then there’s the Tuxedo Mask-type guy who was standing on top of the light pole. Ahaha long story short, this was an interesting mash up of a bunch of things I’ve seen before. And it was really fun to watch. I had a bit of issues regarding Uzume randomly being able to use a device that she’s never seen before without any problems, but that was about it. I like the concept of having the main girl having a team of magical girls fighting for her as opposed to her fighting herself. So let’s see Uzume become Master of the Clow and win the Holy-Grail-Alice-Game-War or whatever she’s trying to accomplish. …They never did tell us that either. (But that’s okay, there was some nice action going on this episode.)
Extra magical fun!
Don’t you hate it when your phone tries to explode on you?
Don’t you dare mess with Sasara wall-kun!
Every master should bathe with her servants right? I bet this happens all the time in Fate/Zero!
Inori is that you?!
End thoughts
With only one episode I really do not have a whole lot to build on other than the whole mystery of why Kagami was attacking Uzume? I assume there is some kind of race to collect all the cards before some evil power gets ahold of them which reminded me of Meiling and Sakura from Card Captor Sakura racing to get collect the Clow Cards, but again what separates this series from Genei wo Kakeru Taiyou which is kind of the same thing? I guess the themes because I feel Fantasista Doll will be more fluffy and fun while the other is dark and gloomy; however we don’t really know how things will play out because we could be surprised by both of them in the end! I just want to know what the magical card girls are keeping from their new master because it seemed like they were not being all that honest with her and what about the strange guy at the end of the episode? Right now I don’t get any evil intentions from him but who knows he might be tricking Uzume just like Sasara did to get her to become the new master? I wonder if the card girls have their souls trapped somewhere? That would make for an interesting twist but anyway what did you like about the very first episode? I loved the opening and I have my fingers crossed for this series to have epic battles! On a side note I thought about doing video style reviews for this series or should I stick to text based? Let me know your thoughts on that.
Oh my goodness, these characters have the most adorable character designs ever (…maybe Tuxedo Mask 2.0 isn’t really “cute”, but he seems to have a monocle-ish thing. That should count for something). Seriously, I don’t think there was a single character that I didn’t love the look to. Plus I loved how the Fantasista Dolls showed up even before they were officially introduced (or at least I spotted the blue haired girl watching Uzume when she was in the classroom). I definitely don’t remember them all since they were all introduced within seconds of each other and their personalities don’t seem that clear, but I expect to know more about them soon. …I also hope to learn about the whole point of these magical girl cards too. Surely the plot has more of an explanation to them and why Uzume needs to be their master. Like Fosh said above, I also got a totally different vibe from this compared to Taiyou. However, I like this about just as much even without the mind screwing and darkness that the latter had. Fantasista Doll has a lighter and cuter appeal to it for sure. I can’t wait to see more.
Preview
Girls und Magical tanks next time~
More magical fighting next time!
About Tag Team
We live, laugh, enjoy and strictly believe on "more the merrier". When together, we usually come up with very chatty, conversation-based episodics and interesting posts.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10997 comments
Why does this feel so flat? I got zero motivation for anything the MC does. There is credit to having the protagonist entering into a new world and being confused; there is verisimilitude. But we don’t watch a show to be just as off the take as the character, slightly less will do the trick. Where is the bloody trick?
And…no traits at all. Not wanting to join a club doesn’t a trait make. Scary movies? Yeah, we all like those to some degree, but hardly anything to crow about. The imouto? Well, it’s true that not every MC is graced with a know it all little sister, but this feels tacked on.
If they are trying for incompetence in the making, they are succeeding. But is that something you really need?
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
She, uh, plays card games. Does that count as a personality trait?
…Don’t bother answering that.POWUH: 500-599 with 519 comments
Well playing cards have been shown to be a great life skill to have as seen in various animes! It shows her dedication to uh, playing cards and her motivation to win! Yeah!
Is totally not grasping at straws herePOWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Only, Uzume doesn’t play cards anymore. Meaning that she… uh… has given up the motivation to win. Only now she plays again, thus she’s decided to once again join mankind’s endless struggle to “win”. …Yeah.
Yes, I believe that we have stumbled onto something here. Uzume is actually a really deep character, guys.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10997 comments
Kegawa no yawarakai koneko atatakai koneko sukoshi bōru
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
True Skylion! Sadly we don’t really know what is going on with this story…just like Akari in Genei this is a classic case of we need more episodes <3
LOL YEAAAAH I didn't understand that part I guess something tragic happened to her as a child? Just think more MC of Girls und Panzer she had something tragic happen and didn't want to join the club at the start but we all know that did not last LOL
Hopefully it changes with the next set of episodes >.<
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10997 comments
Genai had way more stuff going on. It was mile a minute barrage of insane things, that still managed to captivate.
Fanatasia did the same thing, but took a clumsy turn somewhere.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
100% agreed~
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10997 comments
I tell, you Spammy and my FI posts…
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Spammy sure has a bone to pick with you.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
I think Highway needs to take Spammy for a walk he is grumpy !
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
I think Spammy will obey him only when Highway gets his title back. Until then, Spammy won’t recognize him as his master. 😉
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
What a coincidence. I just watched this a couple of minutes ago. Summer officially belongs to the magical girls and I don’t see a problem with multiple shows of the same genre. Last season was mecha Spring and one of its shows is still ongoing.
This was good in its own way even if it’s a notch under Genei wo Kakeru Taiyou. Like said other series, the concern is all on where this story is headed. What I liked was the trollong feel of thinking its nothing but shoujo then it turns out some action to it. I vaguely remember Card Captors but I did get some Digimon season 3 vibes having the dolls return to their master’s devices and using add on cards to give them a power boost.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
It certainly is a magical summer <3
Yeah the story for Fantasista Dolls is a bit on the lacking side but at least it looks decent and I have a feeling it will favor the fanservicey side of Magical girls just like Vividred Operation or something close? Yeah I think you mean like combining with their digimon right? I remember that was a thing...
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10997 comments
Speaking of the Magical Summer, I trust a FI of Fate/Kaleid Linter Prism Ilya is imminent…
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Kyo is waiting on a HQ episode for screencaps/watching she doesn’t like webrips~
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Speaking of which, isn’t Fate/Kaleid supposed to air anytime soon? I still haven’t seen it on any anime sites.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Unless you saw the webrip/preair then yes I found one on AnimeTake, but it was more on the comedy side of things imo
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
I see Symphogear more as the series handling the fanservicey side of Magical girls like Vividred Operation. Fantasista Doll seems more focused on adventure and a decent amount of character development.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
True Symphogear will probably have more fanservicey themes but both ate/Kaleid and Fantasista Doll first episodes had bath scenes! Not to mention the white non battle outfits in this episode xD
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10997 comments
Symphogear had very lite fanservice moments, if I recall. If the first episode is off any indication, then Prism Ilya might just revel in it. But a minor bath scene is probably about as far as this one will go.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
I think we’ll get a certain amonut of fanservice in the second season of Symphogear. The first season had a lot of it when Chris was first with Finè and was put into an S&M state until she was deemed no longer useful.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
@Skylion: I guess we will have to wait and see which magical girl show of the summer has more service.
@BB: Yeah I remember that whole S&M thing with s1 of Symphogear and the TERRIBLE ENGRISH omg…please…no! That said Chris is my favorite xD
POWUH: 900-999 with 915 comments
More unexpected Magical Girls on my MAL list .-.
I would say that I expected a character design more similar to the one on the first image, with big and colorful eyes, vivid
red, at least, but oh well, when this style of art turns into anime, it will be XXII century… But still, I like the fact that there will be lots of clothes for each girl (let’s play dress up \o/), and I can’t wait to see the themes for each of them.Funny fact is that the heroine isn’t even a little hero-like. She desperately runs when she is in danger and she asks magical dolls to do her homework, omg -.-‘ At least she have a lot of space to develop her character.
Well, not really looking forward to it, but it is good enough to have a chance.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Yeppers summer is all about magical girls! It’s a good time to be a fan of that genre <3
I have a feeling each outfit grants different powerups? I know the ones that Sakura wore in CCS were only for looks, but I COULD see that being a factor in the card game aspect of Fantasista Dolls, but for character designs yeah they are a bit lacking in some spots haha
LOL I suspect that was for laughs? I think we will have to wait for character development once she figures out the reason she is the new master of all these girls.
You should try two more episodes and decide to drop or follow, thats what I always do with every season.
POWUH: 900-999 with 915 comments
I’m a little bit weird when choosing the animes I’m going to stick with or drop. E.g., I dropped Kitakubu on the first episode, but I already dropped Vividred on the 7th and Mirai Nikki on the 12th. I will stick with it while I enjoy it, and if there is a point that it turns out boring to watch, I just drop.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Alright… I can understand about Kitakubu because I dropped it on the first episode myself but I’m honestly baffled at where you stopped with Vividred Operation and Mirai Nikki.
I usually decide to drop something after the third episode because it’s still at the start so, therefore, there won’t be any regrets but once I’ve passed the halfway mark on any series, I take it upon myself to see the rest of it through otherwise I’d be troubled about wanting to know how the story ended as if there is a splinter in my mind and won’t feel at peace until I see it.
Are there any series you’ve seen all the way through without dropping them?
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10997 comments
If JP is anything like me with Btoom or Samauri Boobs, three was enough, but was willing to put in some overtime. When the overtime didn’t pay off…it was basically a three episode (pluse some) then drop
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
The only currently airing series that I’ve actually dropped when watching them were Magi, Btooom!, and Aku no Hana. And of those, Btoooom actively bothered me, Aku no Hana just demotivated me to watch the idiotic antics of the main characters, and Magi I just didn’t go looking for anymore.
I don’t consider watching one episode of K and never seeing any more as ‘dropping it’, more like ‘not watching it’.
There are only a few backlog shows I’ve actively dropped (Manyuu Hikenchou *barf*). Most of the time if I don’t finish a series it’s because I’m just not interested at the time, and watch an episode or two every so often (like Ebiten).
POWUH: 900-999 with 915 comments
I’ve never actually thought like “three episodes for the story to become interesting and if not, I drop”. I just go with the flow and if I can’t stand something anymore I drop.
But you are right about the three episodes thing. Out of my 14 dropped animes, 4 were dropped on the 3rd episode (Arcana Famiglia, Busou Shinki, Hayate no Gotoku Can’t Take My Eyes Off You), though I already dropped the first season of Phi Brain on episode 13… Guess the only thing I really regret dropping is Kill Me Baby XD It was so hilarious.
POWUH: 900-999 with 915 comments
There are ^^’ actually a lot of them. My MAL list already counts 102 completed and only 14 dropped.
I actually wasn’t that bothered by dropping Vividred because on my mind, things were pretty foreseeable and then I was more interested in the next Vivid(input your favorite color here) combination than the storyline. And Mirai Nikki, I was purely irritated with Yukki and it was my first time seeing a yandere, I got scared x.x’ But since I’m not bothered by seeing spoilers, I just asked my friends what happened ^^ and no, I don’t have a single drop of regret.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
So, since Mirai Nikki, have you come to terms with your fear of yanderes or does it still bother you? Personally, I love it when a yandere arrives because they make things more exciting and I like watching them make their crazed, psychotic expressions. That’s why I always look forward to series like Mirai Nikki (Yuno Gasai), Deadman Wonderland (Shiro/Wretched Egg), Shiki (Megumi Shimizu) and Date A Live (Kurumi Tokisaki).
POWUH: 900-999 with 915 comments
Well, I’ve watched some shows with yanderes here and there, but none of them have come close to Yuno. From the animes you listed, I only watched Deadman Wonderland and Shiro was in another league compared to Yuno, since she wasn’t yandere 24/7. Date a Live was another show I dropped on the first episode.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
This one wasn’t too bad, but it seemed more like an exercise than an outing. Like there was a “let’s get this done” feel to it. Like skylion said, it felt flat. I mean, it seemed like they were trying for comedy with the long setup for Uzume to ‘enter’ the game, but the laughs just didn’t come, because there was too much cutting to… nothing, and not enough exasperation on Uzume’s part.
I hope they do some more explaining why everything’s going on, and also why Uzume already knows some of the code words.
POWUH: 500-599 with 519 comments
I also agree about it feeling flat. It also seemed like they were rushing to get her to make the contract. She just got touched on the back and she just ran. No questions asked. No, “Oh, it was probably nothing!” The girl didn’t even attack her until after she had made the contract. -_-
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Truth they did skip out on a whole lot didn’t they? At least this is more digimon/pokemon/yugioh style instead of the main girl actually becoming a magical girl? Still they got some explaining to do in terms of “story”
POWUH: 500-599 with 519 comments
So jealous of you Kara. >__>
I think I’ll just wait to see where this is going. It looks promising although that sign up to become their Master took forever. 0_0 Why in the world was all that information needed?
POWUH: 500-599 with 519 comments
OMG. SPAMMY. YOU MY LONG POST AND ABRIDGED IT.
POWUH: 500-599 with 519 comments
Take two….
So jealous of you Kara. >_< I want to play CCC but my Japanese is very…lacking in the kanji department. T_T I thought of the same thing when I heard the dolls calling Uzume Master. XD
I think the one thing that confused me about this show was trying to figure out who this is aimed for. I originally thought this was going to be a kids show with all of the magical girl stuff but then the "servants" were "naked"…
I think I'll just wait to see where this is going. It looks promising although that sign up to become their Master took forever. 0_0 Why in the world was all that information needed?
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Spammy why are you being such a baka!
Hmmm true I wonder if this is more for the fans of something like Strike Witches/Vividred Operation? I COULD see that if they had more uh detail in the character designs! The non fighting outfits do look more transparent >.>
Hopefully by the second episode they fix that issue? I know the story needs work >.<
POWUH: Novice (36-50) with 38 comments
Now this, this I like. Because excluding some mild fanservice, this actually felt like a mahou shoujo.
I guess I understand why so many people like seeing dark magical girl series, but I’m much happier watching the good old sugary-sweet, fluffy stuff. Like this, so far. The music and visuals just feel light and, ahhh… shoujo-y. And I love it. It’s been so long since I’ve watched something like that.
The characters are really cute! I love the character designs and their outfits to pieces! Adorable little pink-haired girl has my interest for now.
I think that if I had to really complain about something… it would be the flow of the episode. It felt kind of choppy to me. Hopefully, it doesn’t continue to be that way for the rest of the series.
But yeah, a mahou shoujo that feels like a real mahou shoujo. I liked it and I’m definitely looking forward to more.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Yepp this was a good episode and it sort of feels more like a pokemon/digimon type of magical girl since the main girl doesn’t technically transform but who knows maybe she will?
Ahhh yeah compared to the other magical girls of summer it is nice to take a break from all the darkness and watch something fluffy! Have you ever seen any Precure? That is all about the fluff but they mix in a lot of great action and the music is by Takanashi Yasuharu who has quite the experience when it comes to OST work on magical girls because he does a lot of Precure.
Yeah the pink one looks like a fun character and yeah sadly the story for the first episode did not flow right, but I hope the story can pick up soon…
Great to hear! I will probably blog this one and Genei <3
POWUH: Novice (36-50) with 38 comments
I’ve really wanted to get into Precure, but there’s so much of it that I don’t know where to start, haha.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Ooooh! I recommend Heartcatch precure for starters that and each precure series is stand alone so you don’t have to watch every season if that bit of info helps xD
POWUH: 500-599 with 519 comments
Heartcatch is a great one! 😀 Although personally, I would recommend the original, “Futari wa Precure”.
POWUH: 500-599 with 543 comments
Well, I do agree this felt flat, but I’m getting the feeling more is to come in the next episode. They probably wanted to get the set up done so that Uzume has the contract and has to keep going through with it. I mean, Code Geass even had the set up to get Lelouch with the Geass in episode 1, so, since this is the same creator, I’m thinking it’s the same thing.
As for how she knows how to use that phone card thing, I’m guessing it has to do with her card-playing past. She quit that, and I’m sure there will be at least half-episode to explain why she quit. At least her ability to use cards is explained, even if she has no idea what she’s doing with everything else.
I’m hoping we get to see more outfits on all of the girls! That subway outfit chooser better be full of worn clothing by the end of this.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Yeah I feel the same after thinking about it Gecko! I hope we get more explaining, but yeah this first episode is in some ways a lot like Geass especially with the main character getting a “power” up~
I hope her reason for quitting is not like derp I got bored or something tragic happened? I would laugh if it was like cardgames killed my friend LOL
Hell ya! Train full of magical outfits ftw
POWUH: 500-599 with 543 comments
I would get mad if she just got bored of the games, that would be so terrible. If a friend actually died, oh goodness, that would be funny but really out there.
Although with a train of outfits in there, they’re giving themselves a lot of room for strange things…
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Kara, I’m with you on the character designs being really attractive. I think I’m watching this just for the designs alone…
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Those designs are really cute indeed~
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10997 comments
I really haven’g given the design enough credit. Thou it may look busy, given that digital/hammerspace wardrobe, it has some good detail to it. The character design has moe and kawaii qualities, without really going over board.
So yes, I could watch for that, but I really need a good story to make it to the end. I hoping for it, as all appearances give that they have good stuff it place.
POWUH: 600-699 with 691 comments
is that Inori? T-T Inorim is back weee…a little younger and stranger, i’ll call her Lil In
by the way…surprise bath scene doesn’t work as a fan service with small girls U.U/
this show has bunch of anime logic’s mixed it’s again strange
POWUH: 500-599 with 519 comments
Now that you pointed it out, I’m surprised that the bath scene wasn’t used for fanservice. 0_0 Maybe the show is aiming for multiple demographics and a bath fanservice scene would be a little much?
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10997 comments
Bath scenes can run from the complete fanservice in To-LOVE-ru right down to just a person bathing alone with their thoughts, Hidamari Sketch. It’s often a bonding sort of thing, and I think this show presented it as innocently as it is in that context.
POWUH: 400-499 with 489 comments
This is from the same person that made Code Geass. SAY WHA
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 175 comments
well alright i just watched this yet find bit hmm might check more.
give whole cards doing in this series does have remind of 3 kamen rider cards series aka ryuki, blade, & decade with also mix of power rangers megaforce.
& why do i got “hmm” i just might figure out who monocle guy real identity?