English Dub Review: Arte “The Faliers’ Portrait Painter / Apprentice”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

The eleventh episode starts with Katarina as she starts feeling lonely with Arte being busy and after a chat with Yuri she decides to join Arte on her trip to the workshop and one of the apprentices, Matei comments on how her background and gender make her stand out and that he’s envious of that. That spurs on Arte to overwork herself which worries Daphne and Katarina. Then one day she collapses which worries Katarina and Yuri orders her to stop at the pace she’s going. Meanwhile, in Florence, Leo takes on more commissions while missing Arte as almost everyone around him asks about Arte. In Venice, Arte learns to take it easy as she shows her portrait of Katarina who then takes it to the workshop to show to Matei. Later Yuri offers Arte another chance by offering to be her patron so that she could work independently.

The twelfth episode starts with Arte completing the portrait for Lady Sofia. On the other hand, it’s been six months and Leo is unsure if Arte will return from Venice along with the rest of her friends. Matei visits to apologize for his comment and they talk about her work on the portrait. The next day Arte rejects Yuri’s offer on the basis that she wants to be hired for her results rather than her gender and background. When she returns to Florence she finds out that Leo is sick and he has a commission with a tight deadline with Ubertino. With Ubertino’s permission, Arte attempts to complete the mural but grows exhausted until Angelo and the other apprentices help out. When Leo recovers he looks at the completed mural and welcomes Arte back as his apprentice.

Our Take:

These two episodes essentially conclude Arte’s time in Venice with a new friend and a valuable lesson as an artist. The animations and voice acting were good as usual. Furthermore, Arte’s journey as an artist can still continue as she’s under Leo’s tutelage at the end of the anime.

Now the eleventh episodes bring up an interesting perspective from Matei who is envious that Arte can stand out due to her gender and noble background. It’s the complete opposite from what Arte has seen so far with the initial attitude from other apprentices. In fact, that small comment spurs her to try and prove herself but by filling in her time with studies and sketches. Even if that comment didn’t have any malice, it was still a thoughtless remark to make which Matei even acknowledges after Katarina shows him Arte’s portrait of her in the twelfth episode. That minor remark was a good way of showing the other side of peers to Arte as a fellow artist rather than just having another minor misogyny conflict. It’s interesting to see how even that positive perspective can bring conflict.

Furthermore, there’s Yuri and his offer to be Arte’s patron. By all means, it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity, however, it’s mainly due to her gender and noble background not because of her results as an artist. Once again Arte rejects the offer opting to return to Florence to be independent through her work. That choice is a good start for her future endeavors as an independent artist. In addition, Katarina and Arte’s relationship turning from teacher and student to friends was a good way to conclude the plot on Arte’s time in Venice. I particularly enjoyed where Katarina stands up for Arte by showing her portrait to Matei and being blunt with Arte afterward. In addition, the two making the plan to write to each other is a good idea and lessens the sorrow in their parting.

Meanwhile back in Florence, the brief scenes with Leo as he goes about his day without Arte shows how much she’s impacted his life along with the friends she made during her time as his apprentice. Then when she comes back and finds that he’s sick and has an important deadline that she decides to complete as his apprentice. When Arte’s friends come to help out with the mural, she shows her appreciation for everyone with the mural. That’s a classic move on the power of friendship against a hard task which worked out in the end.

These episodes also add in a bit of fact on artists. For example, the scene where Arte shows Katarina the sketches she made for her portrait. Artists research and sketch out different props or backgrounds for hours in hopes of satisfying their customers. Arte really takes the time to show how artists refine their craft and how much effort it takes to create their works. There’s also the art techniques like how Arte’s style uses a gentler touch because of how her gender and background influences it.

Overall these episodes were a good way to conclude Arte. The anime felt like every episode was shorter than twenty minutes with how the story flowed as we view Arte’s journey as an artist and the various conflicts that arise during it. Personally, I enjoyed how Arte explored the world of Florence and the details in an artist’s job.