An anime original series, “Fantatista Doll” is all about high school girl Uzume whose world drastically changes when by chance she is bestowed with a card device that holds five fantatista dolls.
These dolls are powerful virtual beings that can materialize in the real world to battle other dolls, all in service of their chosen master. Even though these ‘card’ battles are part of the core setup, the show seems to lean closer towards the magical girl or science fiction genre than towards competition oriented shows like “Saki”.
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So far the plot has been quite standard for a show of this genre and I expect little to no surprises in how the series will further pan out. The characters too, be it the real humans or the dolls, are all rather standard without really remarkable or interesting features.
Animation by studio Hoods Entertainment is quite good, with lots of care going into rendering the various girls in a cute style and plenty of detail for facial close-up shots. While there is of course the occasional poorly rendered frame, found the overall quality satisfactory, although am not convinced by the fashion design of some of the fantatista dolls.
Found the opening tune ‘Ima yo! Fantasista doll’ quite catchy, which may come as no surprise considering many anime series tend to pull out all the stops when it comes to the opening or ending sequence music. However, felt some nostalgia as it reminded me of the opening tunes from the now bygone years of anime.
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Uzume is voiced by Ohashi Ayaka who also voiced Ringo in “Mangirl!” and Fleur Blanc in “Eureka Seven AO”. Sassy Sasara is voiced by Tsuda Minami, she previously voiced Yui in “Yuru Yuri”, Phryne in “Fractale” and Yui in “Yusushiki”.
Akasaki Chinatsu voices aloof Shimeji, she also voiced Yasuna in “Kill Me Baby”, Nibutani in “Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai”, Yumi in “Senki Zesshou Symphogear” as well as Maki in this season’s “Love Lab”.
Mature looking Madeleine is voiced by Ohara Sayaka who also tackled roles like Alicia in “Aria”, Valmet in “Jormungand”, Yuuko in “xxxHOLiC”, Irisviel in “Fate/zero” and also voices Sayomi in this season’s “Tamayura ~More Aggressive~”.
Solemn looking Akari is voiced by Hasegawa Akiko who also voiced Miki in “The iDOLM@STER”, Ruu in “Photokano” and Garnet in “Shukufuku no Campanella”.
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Tokui Sora voices loli doll Katia, she’s done roles like Nero in “Tantei Opera Milky Holmes”, Sasami in “Little Busters!” and Nico in “Love Live!”.
Uzume’s friend Manai is voiced Uesaka Sumira, she voiced Nonna in “Girls und Panzer”, Dekomori in “Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai”, Sora in “Papa no Iu Koto wo Kikinasai!” and Rika in “Genshiken Nidaime”.
Nazuka Kaori who also voices Miyu in this season’s “Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya” voices Komachi, she also voiced Eureka in “Eureka Seven”, Lynette in “Strike Witches”, Yui in “To Love RU” and Ayatsuji in “Amagami SS”.
While it has not particularly excelled, nor do I expect it to offered any substantial plot surprises, “Fantatista Doll” has been an enjoyable show filled with enough cute moments to keep me watching for now.
Image may be NSFW.
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