Score: B+

This was a cute start. They really made use of the double length episode to slowly build up the main cast and set them on their paths. There was a point early in the episode that I wasn’t sure if I’d get into it all that much. But once they really got on their little adventure it started to come together. Ryza herself is fun, but her friends aren’t bad. Tao is ok, but he didn’t stand out that much in this one. Lent has some potential though. Reality was kind of thrown in his face about what his current ability is and I’m looking forward to seeing how things unfold for him.

Ryza has her charms

If there’s anything I’ll remember from this show is that Ryza has some impressive thighs! The show knows it too and makes sure to draw attention to them at every opportunity! No wonder she couldn’t stand simply living according to the rules and wanted to branch out a bit! Joking aside, she’s got a nice character design overall. Has a “I’m the main character and need to dress like it” appearance. But I do get that she was constantly living her life seeking something different. Could say she was born to be an alchemist. She had that potential but had no means to know it. So, Ryza was just going crazy trying to find what she really wanted for herself. The moment she saw alchemy in the flesh it was like a switch was flipped!

I can get why her mother is a bit frustrated. The father doesn’t seem that way though he is still trying to teach Ryza. The village traditions are strong in themselves, but they are also putting in hard work to make that farm function. I’m sure seeing their daughter looking lost in thought, wandering off for “adventures”, and showing little interest in the farm that provides for her would be a bit tough. If not for the hard work Ryza’s father puts in she wouldn’t have the free time for any of it. But at the same time, Ryza is her own person. Her father has a passion for what he does so even the hard work doesn’t bother him. But Ryza just doesn’t have that feeling for farming. Trying to cram her into that role is going to make all of them unhappy.

Just wanted to protect his friends

Lent felt like the character with an arc that I’ll be able to get behind. And that’s got nothing to do with the very cute teacher he’s going to have hammering the basics of combat into him. Probably nothing to do with it…Of course Lila is cute and I appreciate her “I don’t feel like doing anything” attitude. I’m sure it’ll be fun seeing her help Lent become more capable and pick up the skills he just hasn’t been able to learn while training on his own. If nothing else she is extremely skilled and if we can see her in action some more in the future I’d be ok with that.

The potential for Lent’s arc is nice though. You could see how he’s got a desire to prove himself and grow stronger. But that desire is mixed with a hesitation. I’m sure before going on this adventure even he knew that he had a long way to go. But facing off against the slimes and the pixies really hit home for him how far away he is. In the end he couldn’t do more than get a lucky hit in against the slimes and was a sitting duck in the second fight. His friends who were hardly fighters in their own rights either were having to try and protect him because he was getting swarmed. There’s no doubt he really does want to get stronger and his focus with Lila is that she can help him get there. I like that it was her skill that really wowed him.

This village seems to have good materials

Becoming an alchemist seems perfect for Ryza. She’s constantly been wandering around wanting more out of her life. She’s gone around to every area on that island that she can and still that feeling remained. But finally, all of it now feels like it has meaning. It was simple, but I like that moment when she found her material and had a kind of awakening. All the things around her that seemed meaningless finally meant something. All that excitement she has built up inside of her can be pointed towards the world around her. So many things probably have the potential to be materials for alchemy and now she can look at the world with fresh eyes.

In that sense she lucked out so hard getting to meet Empel. I get why he was distant to start since alchemic potential probably isn’t common. But good thing he listened long enough to confirm Ryza had that ability. His tests were pretty to the point, but I guess if Ryza didn’t have the potential, it was better to confirm things quickly.

Hopefully she’ll be careful

That village will be an interesting setting for the show (presuming it spends the whole show there). It’s a place with many mysteries and ruins to check out. But it’s got a very uptight populace that probably isn’t too eager to have a businessman opening business there. And I’m sure Ryza and her friends aren’t exactly the most popular people either. Things might get a bit tense in that place as times goes on. But I guess that will be something to see as the show goes along. Depending on how frustrated people get even the merchant’s daughter Klaudia might get some unwelcome attention. I’m particularly curious where her character is going to go. Since there isn’t one obvious direction for that right now.

Curious to learn more about these two

This has my attention. It had a slow feel in the beginning, but I get that it kind of needed to. It was a good move to make it a double episode though since it would have simply ended part way through the adventure before things started to get out of hand. Now Ryza has basically started on her path as an alchemist and there’s plenty of room for the show to grow from here. There are plenty of mysteries as well surrounding Empel and why he’s there. What exactly is he hoping to find here? It wasn’t like finding any apprentices was the point of this trip after all. But I guess that is something to find out later! At least this episode picked up at the right time. Not sure if I’ll cover this show, but this was a fun one to talk about.