The Arte Season 2 anime will have the titular heroine trying to live up to her promise to grow as an artisan and find a better patron than the Faliers. But when will the Arte Season 2 anime come out?
The anime was produced by anime studio Seven Arcs, which is best known for fantasy anime series like Dog Days, Trinity Seven, and Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha. This meant the historical fiction Arte anime stood out from its other projects in both art style and tone.
Director Takayuki Hamana is also known for directing Appleseed XIII and the 2020 Sorcerous Stabber Orphen reboot. Arte series composition writer Reiko Yoshida started her career working on Dragon Ball Z back in the 1980s, but in recent years she’s worked on popular anime like Violet Evergarden.
Artist Chieko Miyakawa was the character designer. Composer Goro Ito created the anime’s music.
The first season’s opening (OP) theme song music was “Clover” as performed by Maaya Sakamoto, while the ending (ED) music was “Hare Moyo” by Kiyono Yasuno (the Japanese voice actress who played Arte’s friend Darcia).
The Arte Season 2 opening and ending have not yet been announced.
The first season was streaming exclusively on FUNimation Now. The dubbing company has not yet announced an Arte English dub. The finale, Arte Episode 12, aired on June 20, 2020.
This article provides everything that is known about Arte Season 2 (Arute Season 2) and all related news. As such, this article will be updated over time with news, rumors, and analysis. Meanwhile, let’s delve down into what is known for certain.
Arte manga is loosely based on real-life female painter Artemisia Gentileschi
The story for the anime is based on the Arte (Arute) manga by creator Kei Ohkubo. Serialized in Monthly Comic Zenon since late 2013, the Arte manga series is up to Volume 12 as of January 20, 2020.
Historically, a new manga volume releases twice a year, once in January and once in July. Therefore, Arte Volume 13 should come out in July 2020, Volume 14 in January 2021, and so on.
North American publisher Media Do is handling the official English translation of the Arte manga series. Unfortunately, as of summer 2019, only three volumes had been released, and it doesn’t appear that there are any plans to publish an English Arte Volume 4.
The manga’s story is apparently a tribute to Artemisia Gentileschi, a real-life female painter who rose to prominence in 17th century Italy. Similar to Arte, Artemisia faced many trials in pursuing her artistic training and was the first woman to become a member of the academy of fine arts in Florence.
The Arte manga is definitely not a historical fiction retelling of Artemisia’s life since many important details are extremely different. While Artemisia did spend time in both Florence and Venice, and one of her parents also died (her mother rather than father) when she was 12, she was the daughter of a Tuscan painter, not a struggling noble, so she grew up in her father’s workshop surrounded by painting.
Even though the art tradecraft was dominated by men in that era, her family never opposed her desire to become an artist. Artemisia trained and worked alongside her brothers but surpassed them in enthusiasm, and her father boasted of her exemplary talent. Over time, her work as a Baroque-style painter became so well-regarded that in modern days she’s still remembered for her memorable works.
The Arte manga seemingly targets the Shojo demographic despite officially being labeled as Seinen, so incorporating Artemisia’s trials in real life wouldn’t make sense because her actual history is quite gory rather than romantic or comedic. When she was 18 years old, Artemisia was tutored by a painter named Agostino Tassi, who raped her along with another man.
Despite being sexually assaulted, Artemisia expected to marry Tassi and continued to have sexual relations with him for many months. Eventually, Tassi was put on trial, where it came out that the man engaged in adultery with his sister-in-law and had planned on murdering Artemisia after she became his wife.
It’s said that reality is often stranger than fiction. Crazily enough, the trial verified Artemisia’s testimony about her being a virgin before the rape by torturing her with thumbscrews! Needless to say, that story alone is reason enough for why the manga did not follow Artemisia’s history closely.
Arte manga compared to the anime
Anime fans might be wondering just how closely the Arte anime follows its source material. It’s unavoidable that anime adaptations will often condense a plot by skipping certain elements in order to reach a good stopping point within the limits of 12 episodes.
But unless you read the manga beforehand, you wouldn’t have known anything was missing based on the seamless progression of the anime. The anime’s story managed to bring resolution to all of the major conflicts by focusing on the theme of Arte coming to terms with being an artisan who is also a woman and a noble.
Unfortunately, this singular focus meant that the anime skipped manga story elements to the detriment of the supporting cast. For example, Yuri Falier was depicted as slightly conniving and selfish in the anime, but overall he seemed like a good guy.
However, in manga Chapter 30, the Faliers’ maidservant Daphne spots Yuri apparently kissing Lady Sofia! In connection to this revelation, manga readers learned in Chapter 31 that the Faliers’ maidservant Daphne was the daughter of an affluent merchant who fell from grace.
Daphne fell in love with a future bishop and became pregnant out of wedlock. The relationship was a secret, and Daphne’s lover married another woman to gain position and prospects. Worse, Daphne’s parents gave away her baby to a childless couple and effectively banished her by finding the maidservant job in Venice.
So, Daphne supported Arte mainly because she wished she had been able to choose her own path instead of allowing others to dictate her life. Daphne also heavily disliked Yuri due to her personal history but chose to keep quiet about the apparent affair.
Skipped scenes like that gave the manga additional emotional depth that makes it worthwhile for anime-watchers to go back and read what is missing from the anime. At the same time, the anime did a great job of adapting the most important plot points during this story arc, so it felt like a self-contained story.
Winning acceptance from both her fellow tradesmen was accomplished over the course of the season. Still, Arte Episode 12 wrapped it all up with a satisfactory original ending that provided a proper resolution to Arte’s first conflict with her mother.
The anime’s ending was very loosely based on manga Chapter 37, which simply had Arte surprising Leo at the workshop’s door and coming home as an apprentice. Rather than stick with this scene for an anticlimactic ending to the season, the anime’s writers created the last-minute conflict with the ceiling painting, which allowed the finale to provide full closure by showing Arte winning even her mother’s approval.
The emotional scene was touching since it harkened back to all the people who had an impact on Arte’s life. Most importantly, the original elements still left an opening for Arte Season 2 anime to continue the story.
All in all, the anime found an ending near the beginning of Arte Volume 8, which is when Arte returned to Florence. Manga readers who wish to read ahead of the anime can jump straight to Chapter 38.
As previously mentioned, it’s still worth going back to read the manga in its entirety for the extra storytelling. The only bad news is that English-only manga readers will have to rely on fan translations online since the official translation has apparently stopped.
Worse, when Arte Episode 12 released, there were not enough manga chapters available for Arte Season 2 to be produced quickly.
Arte Season 2 release date depends on the manga’s story
As of the last update, Seven Arcs or any company related to the production of the anime have yet to officially confirm the Arte Season 2 release date. Nor has the production of an Arte sequel been announced.
Once the news is officially confirmed, this article will be updated with the relevant information. In the meantime, it’s possible to speculate about when, or if, the Arte Season 2 premiere date will occur in the future.
Assuming that a second season maintains the same pacing, it will need at least another six to seven volumes worth of manga chapters to be created. Since new chapters are released monthly, anime fans will need to wait until at least 2021 before an Arte Season 2 anime could be created.
Unfortunately, the Arte anime was criminally under-watched, considering that it came out during the 2020 SARS-COV-2 pandemic, and it was one of the few TV shows not delayed. Considering the relative lack of popularity, it’s possible the anime series really is “finè” as Episode 12’s final moments stated.
Arte Season 2 spoilers (plot summary/synopsis)
The last time we watched Arte, she had just returned to Florence and reunited with her master Leo. Months have passed, and Arte has received six personal commissions to create portraits thanks to her friend Veronica spreading word of her having worked for the Faliers.
It’s very unusual for a mere apprentice to receive commissions, and Arte has already gained a reputation for refined elegance in her work. Leo is worried about how the guild will react to Arte receiving commissions despite not being a full member of the guild.
But he’s assured by a guild friend that times are changing and one person’s success can boost opportunities for others. Plus, the industry is at a turning point since Raffaello Santi and Leonardo da Vinci have recently died (did you think Leo was supposed to be THAT Leo?).
Arte is looking to land a big-time patron, and Leo is struggling to figure out how to help her ambitions. Since Leo is an average craftsman running a small workshop, it’s suggested that Arte might be better off if she finds a new master of higher stature.
Meanwhile, Arte is praised by a client but then accidentally overhears them discussing how women can’t create religious paintings or other refined works of high art since they supposedly lack the necessary skill and knowledge! (It should be noted that the real-life Artemisia became famous for her depictions of Biblical figures.)
While that incident was depressing, Arte was cheered up by a letter from Katarina. Although Yuri also teased her with a sub-note about “doing portraits by the roadside” after rejecting his “generous offer”.
Arte begins studying and reading books in hopes of raising her education so she can interact with high-level clients. But Veronica recognizes that her progress is being harmed by the lack of support and connections with the nobility, so she bluntly advises that Arte leave Leo and join a bigger workshop.
Such incidents cause Arte to examine her motivations as an artist. She wonders if winning fame and renown should be the goal or if she can find happiness in a simple “good job” as an artist.
Arte’s resolve is put to the test when an important guest from Rome comes calling. Irene is a Spanish aristocrat who is connected to the Cardinal, and Arte might be able to draw a portrait of a Princess. How will Arte respond in the face of major opportunity?
Unfortunately, anime fans will have to wait until the Arte Season 2 anime to find out how Arte resolves this predicament. Stay tuned!