Arte (manga)


Arte is a Japanese manga series by Kei Ohkubo. It was serialized in Tokuma Shoten's manga magazine Monthly Comic Zenon from October 2013 to April 2025. It was collected in twenty-one volumes. The manga is licensed in North America by Comikey. An anime television series adaptation by Seven Arcs aired from April to June 2020.
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Plot

In early 16th-century Florence, Italy, Arte is the only daughter of the noble but decadent Spalletti household. Since her childhood, Arte has proved herself as having an unusual talent for painting, but when her father dies, her mother tries to force her to abandon her love for art and find a young nobleman to marry as soon as possible in order to save the Spallettis from ruin.
Arte, however, refuses to give up her dreams, and, going against the beliefs of her time, she starts searching for a master painter to work for, hoping to one day become a master painter herself.
Her strong determination ultimately catches the attention of the young but well-known painter Leo, who finally accepts her as his apprentice. Unfortunately, as time goes on, Arte finds herself falling in love with her mentor, and is forced to make her choice between her personal artistic dream and realistic love.

Characters

;Arte Spalletti
;Leo
;Angelo Parker
;Veronica
;Yuri Falier
;Katarina
;Darcia

Media

Manga

Written and illustrated by Kei Ohkubo, Arte was serialized in Tokuma Shoten's Monthly Comic Zenon magazine from October 25, 2013, to April 25, 2025. As of August 2025, twenty-one volumes have been published. The manga was formerly licensed in North America by Media Do, but is now licensed by digital manga publisher Comikey.

Anime

An anime television series adaptation was announced by Tokuma Shoten on July 19, 2019. The series was animated by Seven Arcs and directed by Takayuki Hamana, with Reiko Yoshida handling series composition and Chieko Miyakawa designing the characters. Gorō Itō composed the series' music. It aired from April 4 to June 20, 2020, on Tokyo MX, BS Fuji, and ytv. Maaya Sakamoto performed the opening theme song "Clover", while Kiyono Yasuno performed the ending theme song "Hare Moyō".
On April 3, 2020, Funimation announced that they licensed the series for streaming in the U.S., Canada, the UK, and Ireland. On October 9, 2020, Funimation announced that the series would receive an English dub, which premiered the following day.

Reception

The series received mixed reviews from critics. Caitlin Moore of Anime Feminist, reviewed the first episode, saying she thought the series would be like Snow White with the Red Hair but it proved her wrong, saying that it had a "heart of steely determination" and said the series won her over when Arte chopped off her long braid and was "ready to cut off her own breasts before someone stops her." Moore went onto say she liked Arte's character, seeing the series as "something special" and noted that although the series had a vision for Renaissance-era Italy which was not aligned with historical accuracy, it was enough "grit and texture" to hold her interest. In a three-episode check-in on the same site, Dee gave a different view, saying that she was "totally lukewarm" about the series, arguing that it could be shallow, missed the mark on becoming "a charming, inspiring historical fiction" and criticized the possible romantic plotline between Arte and her painting teacher, Leo. In contrast, Stig Høgset of THEM Anime Reviews said the series went a "relatively cheerful" path with its message, with the core theme that Arte wants more control of her life, praised the animation for being "pretty decent" but argued that series could sometimes be a "bit on the nose" when it came to gender, while saying it was "fun to watch."