Carnival Phantasm

I LOVE Carnival Phantasm, probably to an irrational degree. There's so much I have to say about this show even though it's only like 2 hours long in total, but that just speaks to the depth and quality of the work. The bottom line here is that I think this series stands among Kaguya-Sama and Nichijou as one of the greatest comedy anime of all time, but that's only IF you have a cursory knowledge of Type-Moon's body of media.

I am not really a Fate fan. I liked ufotable's UBW adaptation and Apocrypha was an above-average show, but I'm not as fanatical about the franchise ... as the rest of this review might lead you to believe. I am, however, a massive fan of Tsukihime, a game that I will hopefully play at some point whenever the remake gets officially translated, and with Mahoutsukai no Yoru getting such a fantastic localization earlier this winter I wouldn't be surprised if that actually happens. A lot of my enjoyment of this anime came from seeing the main cast of Tsukihime fully animated in an episodic series, which you can't really do anywhere else. I guess Melty Blood sort of counts but that's not the same.

What this anime does best is its comedy, obviously. It thrives in putting its characters in bizarre situations that make no sense and asking "how would this character act in this situation?" but turning up the absurdity to a ridiculous level. I don't this would work very well if it was just a stand-alone series, but with a main cast normally associated with such a serious tone, it makes for some of the funniest cases of intentional tonal whiplash I've ever seen.

Some of the show's humor does come from being overly self-aware, which could normally be a detriment if executed poorly. Thankfully, it only adds to how insane the execution of the premise is. I think the best example is that in some way, shape, or form, Lancer dies in literally every episode as a tribute to how easily he gets clowned on in every other series he appears in. This kind of commitment to the characters isn't exclusive to the main cast, pretty much every character stays true to their appearance in their original media. There's only one character as far as I know that changes at all from their original counterpart and that might not even be true because I haven't read Hollow Ataraxia.

The animation is fantastic, allowing the show to be visually distinct from other Type-Moon anime while still keeping the characters recognizable. I don't have much to say here but it's good and the art direction goes hard sometimes.

The story is... nonexistent, there is no story. It's a series of semi-unrelated skits that often don't even maintain a narrative through-line within a given episode. Well, that isn't entirely true, there is the story about the "holy grail war" that pops up in a few episodes, but that's pretty much only with the Fate characters and sometimes Neco-Arc so it doesn't really count.

In one episode Saber is implied to have eaten Lancer alive. I'm not giving you any more context.

I know that I wasn't being entirely serious about my rating in my Inferno Cop review, but here I completely am. Carnival Phantasm is a 10/10 anime and I cannot name a thing it could have done better. The only real problem with it is that you can't watch it legally without buying a DVD, which might cost you a bit of money. Well, that and there isn't more, I want more. Type-Moon, make a Carnival Phantasm 2, the Melty Blood community would lose their minds and it's a good way to promote Fate/grand order without putting 3 FGO characters in the Tsukihime fighting game.

For any Type-Moon fan, you must watch this! It is an OVA comedy series with all of the characters from Fate Stay/Night and Tsukihime. Even if you only know about one of the two series, it is enjoyable. Each episode has the characters in different situations and shenanigans. These include a race, shopping trip, working at a cafe, etc. The full series subbed can be found easily on Youtube. It is nice to see everyone from such dark shows in fun, light-hearted situations. It may be my favorite Type-Moon anime series, and I have watched it through several times. 10/10 recommend!

Nyahaha!

I must admit a nifty secret; I only watched the fate-part of this short OVA, as I don't know the other anime. And it was super funny and enjoyable, wohoo! So, job accomplished I guess. :D

There's no real story, it's just a bunch of loose sketches with the fate characters interacting. It's no slice of life either like Shirou's cooking show - just crazy scenarios and a bunch of jokes.

There's nothing special about the art and that's fine. The soundtrack is catchy and that's neat. The characters are great, and I was gibbering throughout like a fangirl does, so good job!

It does what's on the ... cover, no more no less, and that's sweet. :)