Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout The Animation – Ep. 1 (First Impressions)

Recently, I finally started playing Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout on my Nintendo Switch and I’ve been enjoying the game (beyond the “plot” that it offers). I actually wanted to finish the game before this anime adaptation premiered but I’m currently a few hours in. It could be fun playing the game alongside watching the anime but who knows. I’m having a hard enough time keeping up with anime in general.

Atelier Ryza is a JRPG developed by Gust and published by Koei Temco. It is the first of three in Atelier‘s “Secret” trilogy and one of many titles in the whole franchise. That the game is receiving an anime adaptation is an interesting development. Atelier has been around since the 1990s but it’s generally been a cult series. As far as I can tell, the only game before Ryza to receive an anime adaptation is Atelier Escha & Logy and that was almost a decade ago. Ryza however has given the franchise a resurgence, especially overseas. The game and its two sequels has sold a combined sum of 2 million copies worldwide and that’s supposedly unprecedented for the franchise and a big chunk of its total sales. Naturally, Gust and Koei Tecmo would want to keep this traction going and since the trilogy ended earlier this year, they’ll need to look towards other avenues, hence the anime adaptation. I wonder if the plan is to ultimately adapt the whole trilogy though I suppose that’ll depend on how this potential first season will fare.

The plot of Atelier Ryza (no, not that one) revolves around its titular protagonist, Reisalin “Ryza” Stout (Yuri Noguchi), a farmgirl living in the village of Rasenboden on Kurken Island. Bored with her daily life, Ryza decides that she wants to go on an adventure, convincing her best friends, swordsman Lent Marslink (Takuma Terashima) and scholar Tao Mongarten (Yui Kondou), to accompany her. In the first episode, the three venture into the mainland. Along the way, they meet Klaudia Valentz (Hitomi Owada), a merchant’s daughter, and rescue her from some monsters. The four are then attacked by stronger monsters but are saved by alchemist Empel Vollmer (Hirofumi Nojima) and his bodyguard Lila Decyrus (Haruka Terui), who Klaudia’s father hires to rescue her. Empel’s use of alchemy fascinates Ryza and it eventually inspires her to become an alchemist.

Back at the island, Klaudia takes temporary residence with her father, who aims to establish a trading post with the island’s de facto leader. Empel and Lila are staying there as well as they want to investigate the island’s various ruins of an ancient civilization. Ryza and her friends ask Empel and Lila to take them on as apprentices. The pair are initially reluctant but agree to do so after Empel notices that Tao is in possession of various texts written in the ancient civilization’s language. Tao will learn how to read the ancient script from Empel while Lent will learn how to fight from Lila. Empel also agrees to teach Ryza alchemy after he tests her on her alchemical aptitude and discovers her potential after she successfully synthesizes a beginner’s recipe.

The first episode runs at 48 minutes, which is a smart move on the staff’s part. It doesn’t seem to cover much ground but the game starts off slowly so doubling the running time for the first episode still gives the anime a head start in setting things up. I’m also glad that the first episode ends with Ryza performing alchemy for the first time. That’s a very appropriate place to end the premiere on.

So far, the anime appears to be faithful recreation of the game’s story. That said, some deviations do exist. To start off, the premiere actually begins with original scenes introducing Ryza, Lent, and Tao as well as some supporting characters such as Rya’s parents. The scene at around the 10 minute mark where Ryza talks with Lent and Tao in her room about adventuring is actually where the game begins. I find this change to be an appropriate one as it allows the anime to introduce us to the initial party and Ryza’s goal more organically. The game starting with the scene in Ryza’s room is fine, it wants to get to the adventuring ASAP, but it is filled with a lot of exposition that would drag a lot more in a television scene than in an in-engine video game cutscene. The show also appears to be introducing some of the game’s NPCs in between the game’s major story beats, which does make sense. In the game, you’d run into these NPCs at your own discretion and interacting with them is technically optional. Obviously, the anime doesn’t have that kind of freedom so I get the staff trying to fit them into what is the game’s main story. Some other scenes are added in so that the narrative flows better in animation. For example, you have a scene where Klaudia unintentionally helps Ryza figure out where to look for one of the ingredients she needs for Empel’s alchemy lesson. This allows for a transition to Ryza gathering the ingredient as the anime obviously can’t the “player” dicking around the in-game world in search of the item (or looking it up online). The only original scene that falls flat is the montage of Ryza, Lent, and Tao exploring the forest. It serves to abridge the exploring you would do in the game but it goes by very quickly, to the point that it feels abrupt once the show returns to the main story.

One aspect of the game I was very curious to see in the anime is the alchemy, which is the game’s form of crafting. In the game, crafting has its own UI with branching paths to encourage different results, including items radically different from the base recipe. Obviously, the show can’t really show the UI so it has to deviate in how to visually depict the alchemy. Frankly, the alternative is a bit silly as it has Empel and Ryza make one of the game’s items, the Green Supplement, by throwing in a plant and a vial into Empel’s cauldron. After some synthesizing, the cauldron glows and some bubbles appear, one of them containing the Green Supplement conveniently stored inside the vial. The bubbles are an effect that happens when you synthesize in-game but here, it looks really goofy. The fact that the Empel and Ryza throw in the vial and the vial magically reappears filled with the Green Supplement looks just as silly. You’d think they’d do it more realistically by pouring the substance into the vial.

Something that most people will immediately bring up about Atelier Ryza is Ryza’s character design. According to an interview with the game’s producer, Junzo Hosoi, Ryza wasn’t designed with sex appeal in mind. Whether or not you believe that, Ryza’s character design is often commented on and she got very popular with fan artists. The anime adaptation wastes zero time in acknowledging it. The OP and ED in particular have a plethora of cultured shots featuring Ryza, most notably her thighs. Was Ryza’s thighs a contributing factor in her games’ sales? Maybe. Has it influenced interest in the anime adaptation? Probably. That said, I hope Ryza will stand as a likable character in her own right. Her desire to venture out is relatable enough. She has an excitable personality that’s entertaining and it’s easy to see why the other main characters are drawn to her. Ryza’s interest in alchemy is an interesting development, the craft being framed as a source of motivation that she’s apparently been lacking up until now. About the only thing I’m concerned with is the fact that Ryza is introduced to alchemy via a bomb Empel crafted. I found this funny in the game and I still find it funny here. Of all the items to show off, why a bomb? Methinks “alchemist” is going to be another word for an “arsonist”. Overall, I don’t know how Ryza will fare for the whole story but she makes a pretty good first impression.

OP: “Golden Ray” by Sangatsu no Phantasia

ED: “Arrow” by Awkmiu

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Watch Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness and the Secret Hideout The Animation on Crunchyroll.