An American Writer's Thoughts on Japanese Animation

Seasonal Selection – Management of a Novice Alchemist Episode 1

Have you ever heard of the Atelier games? They’re a series of JRPG Crafting Sims that see you playing as a girl alchemist, gathering ingredients in the wild, brewing potions, making sentient alchemical pies, and all that good stuff. They typically have a lighter and softer tone that can be more described as cute, where you’re worried about running a shop rather than some demon king bringing about the end of the world. The first game in the series is Atelier Rorona: the Alchemist of Arland, but nowadays most people are more likely to know the more recent Atelier Ryza games and their fanservice-pleasing heroine.

Management of a Novice Alchemist is so completely like that – in its pitch, its themes, and even its visual style (all the way to the costuming) – that it’s frankly more shocking that this isn’t a straight adaptation of an Atelier game. Technically, though, this is an entirely separate work, based on a Light Novel… even if its inspiration seems fairly clear.

Our story begins with a young girl being orphaned. Not exactly the light and fluffy start, but follow the young orphan as she throws herself into studies and then, on meeting an alchemist who grew up in the same orphanage (which seems like a nice enough place) gains the ambition to become an alchemist herself, and then run a shop like her parents did.

She continues to study, attending a prestigious school for trainee alchemists and powering onward until it’s finally time to take her practical exam where (due to a mix-up by the junior staff) she produces a high-level potion rather than a mid-level, earning her quite high marks – according to her master, likely the top of the class once the inflated grades of noble students are corrected for.

Graduation achieved, our novice alchemist is concerned with striking out on her own, getting (with her master’s slightly troll-like help) a set of the critical texts of Alchemy, as well as the deed to a workshop in the boondocks where she’ll be able to harvest rare ingredients with relative ease, as long as the month’s travel to the capital isn’t a problem. Thanks to master arranging things for her acceptance, our lead heads out on her month journey to her new shop and home… only to discover on arrival that the place is a complete wreck, and setting up shop is going to take more than a little hard work.

That’s where the first episode ends, and honestly? This show promises cuteness fairly well. Sarasa, our lead, is quite likable, and is introduced with a realistic approach to why she’d be a good alchemist: she’s studied her butt off with a good school and skilled teacher. Said teacher, Ophelia, is just enough of a jerk to set up a good punchline while still being a caring not-quite-mother figure. The arrival at the run-down shop (and the hint of a new friend given at the same time) is entirely expected, but it’s also the right beat for the moment. I don’t think this is going to break any molds, but it should have the media-equivalent effect to a warm cup of chamomile tea each week if it just stays the course.