Fantasista Doll

Plot

One day, Uzume Uno – a girl who used to be an elite player at card tournaments – is given a curious device which uses special cards to summon artificial intelligence female warriors known as Fantasista Dolls. From this day on, she spends each day spending time with her new friends, while also fighting battles against other card masters, who seek to have their wishes granted by the Mutual Dream Association Group in exchange for defeating her.

Characters

Card club

;Uzume Uno : :Uzume 14-year-old junior high school student, and the master of five Fantasista Dolls. She is an elite card player who won a card tournament prior to the beginning of the series. At first she was seriously troubled being responsible for five Dolls all of a sudden, although she eventually develops bonds with them and does not hesitate to fight alongside her Dolls in battles. ;Kagami Todori : :Kagami is Uzume's underclassman and rival. She is the first opponent Uzume faces after she becomes a Doll Master. Kagami joined the Mutual Dream Association Group to search for information on her older brother, who went missing several years ago. However, she eventually comes to believe in Uzume's friendship. ;Manai Uzuki : :Manai is president of the card club and Uzume's childhood friend who has named the club "Masquerade Curry Upbeat". She is also a Doll Master.

Uzume's Dolls

;Sasara : :Sasara is the first Fantasista Doll that Uzume meets. Her color is yellow and she is a strong swordsman who often argues with Uzume a lot due to her stubbornness. ;Katia : :Katia is a small, blue-haired Fantasista Doll who has unconscious luck. She is childish and careless. Katia becomes friends with Uzume's younger sister, Miko, and eventually hangs out with her when the opportunity rises. ;Shimeji : :Shimeji is a pink-haired Fantasista Doll. Having been abandoned by her last master, she is sensitive and fragile. Shimeji initially does not believe much in Uzume, thinking that she will abandon them again. However, Shimeji is relieved when Uzume makes a promise that she will never do that. ;Akari : :Akari is a gothic lolita-wearing Fantasista Doll who attacks using yo-yo. She is expressionless and naive. ;Madeleine : :Madeleine is a tall busty Fantasista Doll who is always ready to help out her master. She also plans out tactics in battles.

Mutual Dream Association Group

;Komachi Seishou : :Uzume's upperclassman, Komachi is a top fashion model and often gives Uzume advice whenever she is down. She is later revealed to be the chairman of the Mutual Dream Association Group who desires Uzume's cards for some reason. She was the original owner of the Uzume's dolls. She formed the MDAG after her doll, Sonnet, was destroyed in a traffic accident, hoping to use the data from Uzume's dolls to rebuild Sonnet using her personal doll, Proto-Zero. ;Anne : :Anne is a dark-haired spectacled woman who was initially thought to be the director of the MDAG. ;Kazunari Kira : :Kazunari is a man who sought out the MDAG to reunite with his ex-girlfriend, using any means necessary to win. ;Umihiro Yamada : :Umihiro is a young boy from the MDAG. ;Miina Rurukawa : :Mina is a girl who saw her dolls as her masters as opposed to their servants. ;Kiyoshi Kiyomizu : :Kiyoshi is a rugby player who sought out the MDAG so that people would appreciate rugby as a true sport instead of a way to meet girls. ;Rin : :Rin is an amateur model who is jealous of Komachi always being ahead of her. ;Jun Fujihisa : :Jun is a novice filmmaker who sought out the MDAG to get people to watch his experimental film, that tends to go under-appreciated by the general viewing public.

Other characters

;The Rafflesia Man : :A mysterious man who watches Uzume closely. He is secretly one of the teachers at Uzume's school. ;Rinto Mikasa : :Rinto is a teacher at Uzume's school who is also Rafflesia's partner. ;Miko Uno : :Miko is Uzume's younger sister who befriends Katia, later learning about the other dolls and keeping it a secret. ;Mikoto Uno : :Mikoto is Uzume and Miko's mother. She was a former gambler who exceled at poker, initially tricking the Director during their play. ;Reika Okazaki : :Reika is Uzume's classmate who is often lending her horror DVD.

Media

Manga

A manga adaptation, illustrated by Anmi and titled Fantasista Doll Mix, began serialization in volume 20 of Kadokawa Shoten's Newtype Ace magazine sold on April 10, 2013. It was later transferred to Kadokawa Shoten's Comptiq magazine with the September 2013 issue. A spin-off manga, illustrated by Tomiyaki Kagisora and titled Fantasista Doll: Prelude Kagami, began serialization in the July 2013 issue of Media Factory's Monthly Comic Alive magazine. A third manga, illustrated by Mekimeki and titled Fantasista Doll, began serialization in the July 2013 issue of Kadokawa Shoten's Comp Ace magazine.

Novels

A web novel titled Fantasista Doll: Osatō to Spice to Nanika Suteki na Mono de Onna-no-ko wa Dekiteiru, written by Hiroaki Jinno and illustrated by Anmi, was serialized 14 chapters on the official website of the anime series between April 19 and July 19, 2013. A novel titled Fantasista Doll Eve, written by Mado Nozaki, was released by Hayakawa Publishing on September 20, 2013. A novel titled Fantasista Doll, written by Akane Mizushima and illustrated by Webisu Daikanyama with the cover illustrated by Hiromi Katō, was published by Fujimi Shobo on October 19, 2013.

Anime

The 12-episode anime series, produced by Hoods Entertainment, aired between July 7 and September 28, 2013, on MBS and was simulcast by Crunchyroll. The series is directed by Hisashi Saitō and is written by Noboru Kimura and Yūko Kakihara, while Gorō Taniguchi is the creative producer. The original concept is credited to the Fantasista Doll Project. The character designs are by the animation director Hiromi Katō, who adapted the anime designs from Anmi's original designs. The music is composed by Yasuharu Takanashi, and the sound director is Yōta Tsuruoka. The opening theme is "Ima yo! Fantasista Doll" and the ending theme is "Day by Day" – both performed by Ayaka Ōhashi, Minami Tsuda, Sora Tokui, Chinatsu Akasaki, Akiko Hasegawa and Sayaka Ohara. The anime has been licensed by Sentai Filmworks for streaming and home video release in 2014.Anime Network streams the anime online.

Episode list

Katsuya Shigehara Katsuya Shigehara Sadayuki Murai Nanako Shimazaki Noboru Kimura Tomoaki Koshida Noboru Kimura

Games

A video game titled Fantasista Doll Girls Royale playable on Android and iOS smartphones, developed by Drecom, was released on September 2, 2013. Fantasista Doll was featured in Bushiroad's Five Qross online trading card game beginning with November 8 of the same year.

Reception

Carl Kimlinger of Anime News Network gave Fantasista Doll an overall B− rating. He was critical of Taniguchi's production team being over-reliant on the magical girl formula throughout the first two-thirds of the series, highlighting the underwritten characters, cornball relationships and lack of "consistent artistry" in the animation as problems. But Kimlinger gave credit to the series for having a "maddening aptitude" to keep viewers interested for the next episode, empathy towards the Dolls' fear of abandonment and wrapping up their ongoing plot points into a heartfelt conclusion, calling it "a surprisingly poignant finish to a previously undistinguished trifle."

References

References

1. Dong, Bamboo. (July 11, 2013). "Anime Spotlight 2013: The List (Fantasista Doll)".
2. "Staff & Cast". [[Hoods Entertainment]].
3. Nelkin, Sarah. (March 25, 2013). "''Comp Ace'' to Launch 2 ''Lyrical Nanoha'', 1 ''Fate/Extra'' Manga".
4. [[Amazon (company). Amazon]]. 4150311307
5. Sherman, Jennifer. (March 9, 2013). "''Fantasista Doll'' Anime Slated to Air in July".
6. "Staff & Cast". Hoods Entertainment.
7. Ressler, Karen. (July 6, 2013). "Sentai Filmworks Adds Fantasista Doll Anime".
8. (August 1, 2013). "Anime Network Online's Summer Special Releases".
9. link. IID. (March 31, 2013)
10. Kimlinger, Carl. (October 7, 2013). "''Fantasista Doll'' Episodes 1-12 Streaming - Review".