(CR) Fortune Arterial

[Midonin]

The singles are an ouroboros. The B-side of "kizunairo" is "I miss you" and the B-side of "I miss you" is..."kizunairo". Each sung by the respective singers of the OP/ED respectively, and both songs are good (I can appreciate a rock arrangement of pretty much anything), but it is curious to note.

[relentlessflame]

Originally Posted by Midonin

The singles are an ouroboros. The B-side of "kizunairo" is "I miss you" and the B-side of "I miss you" is..."kizunairo". Each sung by the respective singers of the OP/ED respectively, and both songs are good (I can appreciate a rock arrangement of pretty much anything), but it is curious to note.

Heh -- interesting given that the album covers are also "flip sides" of each other; one shows Erika as she normally appears, and the other shows Erika as a vampire. Looks like they thought this through pretty well.

[asaqe]

Originally Posted by Saturn Beaver

I'm too sleepy for my brain to remember other examples, only thing that come to mind is in Index where the whole Necessarius church seems to be the good guys, although they're not always nice. At least Kaori and Stiyl, as well as Index (she's more of a nun, but whatever) is definitely good. I do agree that most of the time, the good priests are in the minority fighting a larger number of evil/misguided church though

Also Saint Church of Belka in Nanoha

[Shinji103]

The blue they mixed into Erika's hair on the OP CD cover looks really bleh (I have no idea why they did that ), but otherwise yeah, the CD covers look nice.

[Pellissier]

Scan from Nyantype:


4084x5975 - 2,5 MB

+ Scan from Megami:

Spoiler for slightly NSFW:

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[Skyfall]

Originally Posted by Pellissier

Scan from Nyantype:


4084x5975 - 2,5 MB

If there is one thing to say about Fortune Arterial, it would be the artwork and designs being simply gorgeous. This is quite likely the best looking scan i have seen in a good while, quite the eye-catch. I could spend minutes looking at it (Haruna being my favorite character doesn't really hurt either).

[Midonin]

Spoiler for Fortune Arterial 04 - Whether Or Not Vampires Sparkle:

Except for the closing moments, and the vampire explanation scene, the sports festival preparation could've happened at any old school. Though that Seiichiro and Iori says things are going "according to plan" is suspicious. As for Kanade, her ideas for the sports festival is shocking to say the least. Would make for a hell of an event. The gate falling isn't necessarily a good omen either.

In other stories, seeing Shiro get a brief moment in the spotlight was nice.

[relentlessflame]

Agreed about the character designs and art -- really, really great, especially in posters and standalone artwork (it's a bit simplified in motion, but still looks good).

As for episode 4, just finished watching, but have to run so quickly...

Spoiler for Episode 4:

This is called the "everyone falls in love with Kouhei because he's such a hard-working nice guy" episode. As soon as Erika stepped onto that step ladder, I knew what would happen, but they turned it into something nice anyway. Lots of good scenes with Shiro as well.

I laughed a bit at how they didn't even bother to couch the vampire explanation at the beginning, which was obviously for our sake as viewers (as well as Kouhei). It's like "now we're going to explain this vampire stuff" -- and so they did.

The post-ED scene was an obvious joke, but I laughed anyway.

More later...

[Kaoru Chujo]

Ep4, and this continues to be a thoroughly enjoyable show. I've read this far in the manga, and this ep gave me similar warm feelings to that.

[Skyfall]

Just finished watching episode 4, and i found it quite enjoyable. What i like about Kohei is that he really earns his keep at the student council, despite his reasons for joining them. Vampire stuff aside, it actually does make sense for him to be a member of the council - he is charismatic, knows how to work hard and how to get things done, and how to get others to do so as well, despite starting at a disadvantage (New guy, having to live up to Iori's reputation, and being the official lecher of the school, courtesy of Erika ). For once, we have a male lead where him attracting the attention of females shouldn't be all that surprising. (And it's not like the girls are lining up - just that it wouldn't be too questionable if they did). He has a good head and charisma going for him, rather than the typical setup of a "clueless but kind" one.

Liked the bit with Shiro at start where she seemed wary of the ancient vampire movie, despite the fact she has two in the room with her, which doesn't trouble her at all Also, props to them for doing something more with Erika's falling on Kouhei scene - while that was predictable the second she set her eyes on the ladder, they managed to spin something more out of the scene than the usual fall-on-top-of-each-other awkwardness. They handled the mood here pretty well, which goes for the episode as a whole. My favorite parts still remain Kouhei's interactions with Haruna and Kanade - they feel quite 'natural' to me, if that makes sense - i like how non-forced and well-flowing these interactions feel, something you would expect from friends attending the same school indeed.

So ... yeah. A good episode all around, my only "complaint" would be how obvious the "chosen girl" status is for Erika - i mean, no one has any doubts there, and i don't need a split screen with both of them on several occasions to cement that message (And on the note of Erika ...what's with those "tsun" moments here and there, stood out like a sore and unneeded thumb, even if they don't last ...)

[KariOhki]

It's a very pretty show and the OP is probably my favorite this season, but really, you could take out the vampire stuff and have nearly the same story. Sure Goldy and Aion are hinting at something greater that probably involves Erika, but meh. I'd like some plot soon.

[Seihai]

Great episode. Graphics go very smooth and clean, just fine. Music kinda adds to the calm and heartwarming atmosphere. It's like - yeah, an excellent piece of slice of life.
The vampire stuff isn't my major concern so I see that as a good addition.
The girls are just too... cute.
And for all I know, I really hope the "chosen girl" isn't as obvious as it may seem. I don't mind Erika at all, in fact, I think all girls are likable to me.
The OP isn't too special but it doesn't need to be. I like the ED animation and song a lot.
That last scene made me giggle.

[Klashikari]

Good to see they didn't make Kohei being the "idol" there in a corny way (as frankly, the way they made Erika's speech in Episode 1 was overdone so ).
I must say it built his character in the right way, although they certainly pushed him to the point one would wonder when the burnout triggers on him.

Other good news is, as already mentioned, the design and animation were kept on a very good average, and being the fourth episode of a 1 cour series, it is definitely above the usual quality drop you should expect for this kind of series.

In overal, this episode is probably the best paced right now, and as Sky already mentioned, the discussions went much smoother and more natural (unlike the clunky Episode 3), although they seem to shove Erika a bit too much on the viewers whereas she really doesn't need that.
I mean... Erika, pulling typical tsun soft liners 3 times? Really?
Not so much for imouto vibes from Shiro in this episode, but appropriate fluff.
Meanwhile... why on earth did they make Kiriha showing up? Not like I'm going to complain, but I wish the scripters were as subtle as some elements of characters backgrounds were(gamers know what I'm talking about), for the characters' screentime, because it is too flat on our face

[Silverwyrm]

Hmm, in some shows this may not have worked for me but here it did. In my opinion its probably because I feel that since he realized in the last ep that he was here to stay (and not simply walk away and forget as his other schools) he has become very enthusiastic about it.

The vampires are still a little weird to me, but its obvious that something is planned and it isn't a bunch of random acts by Iori.

Love the character art, was nice to see Shiori get a bit of time, felt bad for when she wants to help and her brother simply says "get everyone tea". I'm sure she's capable of more than making tea XD

On an unrelated note back in ep3, when that sister (forgot names sorry) was showing him the "cute" duck thing and the other walked in they quickly hid it and covered up with that weird song. I honestly fail to understand what that was about, is it something that comes u later or did I miss something?

[larethian]

It is an almost given that they would go for the True End route so the "chosen girl" isn't that unexpected. The 'tsun' from Erika was indeed a little uncalled for.

[Archon_Wing]

Just finished episode 3, and I was kinda like lol wut? They play a game of Life (Yay I like Life), and then DUN DUN DUN (Now I hate the game). Well shit sucks now and Kohei must give up his treasured memories of people that he spent all that time with. Wait what? He just came here not too long ago. It's a bit hard to take this sentimental scene seriously when I'm like "wait why does everyone care about each other so much?" I know what they're getting at (Some things are just too valuable to let go, and some risks are worth taking) but it just didn't build up enough credibility with me.

So far, I'm not too impressed but the adorable characters make me want to keep going. Hopefully they'll have good stuff by the end.

[Zexas]

Ep 4

No complaint at all This is what I'm asking for


Calming music, smooth scene transition, perfect pacing, and lovely character interaction and design . And best of all how they identified kouhei character really well. What makes the game stand out than the rest for me is the protagonist. Seriously he's like breath of fresh air. Charismatic - neither dense nor an idiot and most important of all he got guts in him.


I'll admit that they keep going better for each episode however at the same time I kind of wary wether they could keep this up.... The first 3 episode just didn't click with me and I almost rage with it. I guess it's kind of traumatize me

[Wrath88]

I quite liked this episode... Kouhei, you showed the reason why you should have a harem rather than all those lame harem leads out there.

[sikvod00]

^ LOL at the implication of someone "deserving" a harem.

[Cosmic Eagle]

Nice bit of foreshadowing about Kiriha there with the old photos....