Fridge / Carnival Phantasm

Fridge Brilliance

• The series is named after the Phantasm ability seen in Kinoko Nasu's works, that enables warriors to create a separate dimension (Marble Phantasms, Noble Phantasms). The Carnival Phantasm refers to creating a dimension of entertainment and fun, in contrast to the generally grim and serious tone of Nasu's stories.
• Why aren't Len and Satsuki part of the volleyball game in episode 2? Because they weren't playable in the original Melty Blood!
  • Also the volleyball game took place during the day and Satsuki is a Dead Apostle so she'd probably be asleep or too weakened to play.
    • That's a possibility, but that didn't stop Sion from participating. Satsuki most likely simply wasn't invited.
• In the dancing part in the opening, why is Archer immediately after Shirou, when the previous lines established it as "Tsukihime character followed by a Fate Stay Night character" and so on and so forth? Then you remember: "Oh yeah, Shirou and Archer are the same person."
  • But, then why are Lancer and Kirei right next to each other?
    • There aren't enough male characters in Tsukihime to keep the pattern going. The highest potential number is 4: Shiki, Nrvnqsr, Roa/SHIKI, and Arihiko. Kouma and Wallachia are possibilities, but they're in the background.
• In the "Magicians Hate Machines" short, Archer is enjoying the hell out of Rin's freakout. After noticing the clock, he thinks to himself "it's almost time" and finally explains to her what she needed to know, without really having been told what it was Shirou was wanting recorded in the first place. Then you realize again that Archer is Shirou from the future and doesn't like his past self very much, so of course he wouldn't miss out on a chance to jerk him around!
• During Season 2, the Neko Arcs are concerned about the cafe being in the red. But, by the time Episode 8 ends, they have Saber and Gilgamesh to thank for putting them back into the black.
  • It doesn't last as the cafe is back in the red by episode 10. Maybe Saber Alter ate through all of what they earned?
  • The Lancer episode appears to show that the episodes aren't played in chronological order, so Episode 10 may have come before Saber and Gil's money fall.
• Caster's been learning Soichirou's martial arts from him after being on the wrong side of an I Surrender, Suckers moment from Rin back in the original novel. This explains why she's able to deliver a knockout strike to Issei in that style in episode 7.
• Shiki and Shirou teaming up in spite of their differing life philosophies (why Word of God says they can't get along) can make sense considering the reason: They both have numerous super powered love interests, with many similar personality types. They bond over it and Shirou's absurd determination rubs off on Shiki as he says "I'll make it happen" in regards to being in two places at once.
  • Not to mention they become Fire-Forged Friends in the sense they're up against a common foe: super-powered girlfriends who can and will kill them (or worse).
• Sakura being pleased at Nrvnqsr eating Shinji during the afterparty makes more sense if Shinji's being purged of evil in episode 6 "stuck" (despite the series' lack of continuity). She'd put up with his abuse because she'd hoped it would make her look like a saint, so if he's turned nice, he's worse than useless to her.
• Lancer has such horrible luck in this at least partially as a parody of the fact that he dies in every route in Fate/stay night, but in Fate/Grand Order, he is known for being ridiculously hard to kill, and his Caster version managed to basically solo the messed up alternate Fuyuki Grail War in the spinoff OVA for it. FGO was released well after this, so it looks like he really did take "Like hell I'll die!" to heart.