Arte: Key Point Review
THE BOTTOM LINE:
This is a good and inspiring anime that is definitely worth watching if you enjoy the slice of life genre. The main character is amazing, hard-working, and determined to achieve her goals at all costs. The story is centered around the main character’s personality and the events surrounding her as she strives to achieve becoming a professional artist during a time in 16th century Italy when only men were allowed to prosper in the profession. I do hope this anime eventually gets a second season, but we’ll have to be patient for now.
SETTING:
Early 16th century Italy, mostly in Florence.
STORY:
Centered around an endearing, hard-working, and vivacious female main character who never gives up.
The plot spends a lot of time on the female main character trying to become an artist in a male-centric world. While this is a central theme of the anime, the story has even more strength in the life lessons woven through main character and plot. It has a lot of depth and much to be learned if you pay attention.
Overall, the story is very good and relies heavily on the main character’s depth. Some time is on the back stories of some secondary characters, but these are mostly brief side stories used to frame the main character’s situation at the time.
The first season concludes very quickly. The ending is a little weaker than I hoped, but it’s because it feels rushed.
A main character who inspires everyone she meets with her personality and willingness to dive into hard work.
The plot should resonate with anyone who has been treated poorly, like an outsider, at a place they’ve worked. Mistreated, having to work twice as hard as everyone else just to be allowed to survive in a work space is a central theme.
A strict mentor who is tough on you so you can grow, but they do care for your well-being.
Depicts the feeling of having to put up with an arbitrary social structure in your work environment just to survive.
The story hints at love and romance themes, but they are never fully fleshed out.
No serious combat scenes. There’s some minor fist-fighting though.
Themes that help you embrace the traits that make you who you are.
Opportunities offered to the main character regular people could only dream of.
A quest for self-sufficiency doing what you love.
CHARACTERS:
Almost all the time spent in this anime cultivating interesting personality traits was used on the main character, but there are some secondary and support characters that have a little depth to them.
The anime has a lot of generic and bland character designs (generic tunics and dresses), but some of the noble characters have a lot more detail in their faces and clothes.
Some characters wear clothing items that were not worn in 16th century Italy, but it’s not really a big deal.
DIALOGUE AND VOICE ACTING:
The dialogue is an odd mix of good and bad.
The main character has most of the strong dialogue moments. Secondary characters can surprise you with well-articulated life wisdom at times, but these moments are rarer.
Most of the dialogue that surfaces in flashbacks is terrible and has a contrived, blocky feel to it.
The dub is in English, but randomly interjects Italian phrases and exclamatory words at times. It really detracts from the anime and doesn’t help immersion in the setting at all.
The voice acting is average overall. It’s usually fine and only has a few instances where it’s a little painful to listen to. Felecia Angelle voices Arte and she does a good job with her role.
ANIMATION:
The animation style is a bit lackluster overall. There are no intricately animated scenes in the anime, but there are a few still shots of characters and art patterns with some detail to them. For an anime about art, you would think they would’ve spent a little more time on their own animation.
MUSIC, OPENINGS, AND ENDINGS:
Opening song: "Clover" by Maaya Sakamoto. It’s a good uplifting song that fits the anime and is definitely worth listening to.
Opening animation: It’s decent. It fits the anime well and displays the main character’s traits. Some other characters appear in the opening, but it doesn’t add any depth to them.
Ending song: “Hare Moyou” (晴れ模様) by Kiyono Yasuno. It’s a good, relaxing song with female vocals. The song has a rising strength to it as it progresses.
Ending animation: Decent, but still low budget and it shows. It’s a little inspiring watching the main character climb stairs while the moments of her life pass her by.
Author username: Marro Danatalle
Photo source: Seven Arcs