An American Writer's Thoughts on Japanese Animation

Seasonal Selection – Management of a Novice Alchemist Episode 3

Less chill this episode, but still the cute alchemist show.

Here Sarasa saves life and limb of the blue-clad girl brought to her door in pieces at the end of last episode… for a price, of course, which seems to earn her some assistants for a time – that girl, Iris, and her elf-seeming friend, Kate.

They end up fighting the monster that tore Iris up, a four-armed bear on fire. While harvesting its body parts for her alchemy, though, Sarasa notices that its eyes indicate a nutritional deficiency that means an entire pack of giant fire bears will soon be on a rampage, likely attacking the town.

She rallies the townsfolk and pitches in herself in order to prepare a defense, herding most of the monsters into a pen where they can be cut down in relative safety. It doesn’t catch all the strays, and in fact the last ones end up bearing down on Lorea at the shop (which they also put a hole in the wall of) before Sarasa comes in and finishes them off, but by in large the town is saved relative to the damage that a score or more of hellfire grizzlies, boss included, could have done. This allows us to end on something resembling a high note.

And hey, now we have two more cute girls to do cute things with! That’s the show.