I am pretty sure all of my fellow Fate fans have at least heard of this anime before. This series in my opinion is how you should do a cross-universe parody story. Carnival Phantasm is genuinely the pinnacle of officially made parody animes for me. It is short sweet and simple. It makes no sense at times and it does not need to. CP is hilarious as hell and I love it.
So welcome back to another edition of our anime recommendation series! This week we are talking about Carnival Phantasm. I thought you’d need something to fix the depression from this week’s manga recommendation. So here I am with one of the funniest animes in my book. So let’s get started.
Introduction
Carnival Phantasm is based on Eri Takenashi’s Type-Moon parody manga, Take-Moon. It is an OVA featuring characters from various Type-Moon works but mostly from Fate/Stay Night, Tsukihime, and Melty Blood. Of course, you need some knowledge of the originals to get some of the jokes but even if you know F/SN, it’ll be enough to enjoy CP. It came out in August 2011, with 16 episodes, most of which are 12 minutes long.
Plot
What do I even say here? It is not like the plot even matters in Carnival Phantasm, it is a parody show after all. But still, the show mostly follows Fate and Tsukihime characters in absurd SOL situations. I am seriously not even sure what to write here. The whole show is episodic and each section contains some weirdly exaggerated version of real-life situations or situations from the original. Like Illya sending Bersker to pick up some batteries or stuff like Shirou and Shiki making a huge ass complicated date plan to manage all the girls.
Characters
Carnival Phantasm has the same characters we know and love from other Type-Moon works. One thing I really like is how the anime takes a few aspects of the character and then amplifies them to give us some really good comedy. Aside from that, it is kind of hilarious to see all characters after each other’s life just chilling with each other.
Also Neco Arc, man her performance is amazing. She is such a meme legend at this point and for a very good reason.
Animations and Soundtracks
The Carnival Phantasm art style is pretty adorable. It is so much different from the usual sharp and action-centric art style of the originals. Instead, CP goes for a more soft and cute art style fitting its theme. Speaking of themes, the opening and ending themes of CP are so good. The opening theme is a whole meme in itself at this point and it is super catchy. Very well-animated too. Overall, it is pretty clear Lercher had fun making this anime which is great.
Why should you watch Carnival Phantasm?
Quick pointers on why you should check out this anime
- Cute art style
- Great opening theme
- Unexpected characters in weird situations
- Funny as hell
Conclusion
Well, that is it for now. Let me know what you guys think in the comments. Again, I think Carnival Phantasm is a great example of parodies done right and this is how all ongoing games/LNs should follow this. With that said, I will take my leave here. See ya!!
