Shinmai Renkinjutsushi no Tenpo Keiei (Management of Novice Alchemist)

[Chosen_Hero]

Originally Posted by alex_drian

I like it. Here I can concentrate in the plot instead of being distracted by the MEAT of the MC like in Atelier.

... you say that like it's a bad thing.

[alex_drian]

Originally Posted by Chosen_Hero

... you say that like it's a bad thing.

Is bad when I want to concentrate in the plot and Atelier MC design check all my boxes so I can't pay attention to anything else.

[zeross87]

the smith insn't bald i feel betrayed

[Marina2]

Ep.2

Ok, This show is a bit on slow side but I enjoy it.

Sarasa is a socially awkward person but compare to Suletta (Witch from Mercury) she has a bit more self-confidence. She felt she couldn't get along with anyone in the village but luckily everyone came to help her because she has left a good first impression on them. Lorea is a good friend to have.

I am sure didn't expect to see a girl with severed arm come in their first opening day...

Random thought
- Alchemy here is basically a magic. Still, look like there are some limitation as she still has to make some object by herself.
- Sarasa and Lorea looks really small compare to adult. I thought Sarasa is 16-17 years old after the graduation but it seems she actually just about 13-14.
- The volume of background BGM feels too quiet.

[Alchemist007]

You will eat ze bugs.

Nice of them to help out with the house afterwards though.

[stray]

MC kinda looks like Riesalin if she were in elementary school. Its interesting enough I guess, though none of the CGDCT are all that compelling this season so far. I'll see how the other girls are.

[arkhangelsk]

I'm disappointed in this episode though I can't say I'm shocked:
It skips some of the relatively few humor moments in the LN (Sarasa is caught by her neighbor while she's sorting Medicinal Weed), while adding stuff that isn't and probably shouldn't be there. Namely, the whole thing with "bug food" is based on the original, but in the original no one ever tries to serve her that - it is only mentioned. And the whole thing about her insecurities ... it's not impossible that some of that was in her heart, but the idea to bring it front and center is entirely anime original. In fact, the LN goes out of its way to say that she slept perfectly well on her first night in the village.

Basically, the anime team tried to use every bit of interpretive room to make Salasa "just another Atelier cute girl". That does not bring out the charm of the story - which is more or less Salasa avoiding most of those tropes, as well as detail-work. She's a star student from the toughest school in the country and shows it in her entire bearing. Though she's 15, her overall mental stability and maturity would easily compare with a 35 year old anime character.

Perhaps they think they are playing it safe by bending her to be more with the masses, but quite frankly this story is never going to win in the humor or heartwarming departments because it isn't set up for it. If you don't play to what strengths it has, you are not reaching for success. At best you are just avoiding the worst.

Also, I can see they restructured the story so the other two girls can enter ASAP (and Lorea becomes a hire much faster too), but frankly the story relies on detail work and slow progression. This rushing of things just isn't to its advantage.

[Liddo-kun]

episode 2:

Lorea is a good addition to the store. Now Sarasa can go out more.

also nice that the village people helped out to fix the place. Anyway, an alchemist in their remote village would be a big help.

looks like that adventurer girl has a serious wound. He arm was cut off... wtf..

looking forward to next week.

[Tenzen12]

That was very good timing. I wonder if that group waited all that time outside for mc to open shop to barge in with their injured person. It's very polite of them, I will give them that...

Originally Posted by alex_drian

Is bad when I want to concentrate in the plot and Atelier
MC design check all my boxes so I can't pay attention to anything else.

That's your own fault though isn't it? You should train more so you can focus on both PLOT and plot at same time. As seasoned enjoyer of both I can guarantee it's possible.

[Ghostfriendly]

Lovely episode. Seemed a bit of a cheat to clean the store with magic, but she is an alchemist. Lorea's exuberance and Sarasa's mild social awkwardness are a nice contrast, and it's good to see two older women with non-standard character designs and great chemistry adopt a daughter. Lots of shoujo-ai generally, a heartwarming reception from the villagers. Though Sarasa is a bit awkward with people, her competence as an alchemist is clear. A whole series of hearwarming cutesiness wouldn't make the most of the premise, so just as well to have a mood whiplash at the end, and reminder of Sarasa's large debts.

Originally Posted by arkhangelsk

Basically, the anime team tried to use every bit of interpretive room to make Salasa "just another Atelier cute girl". That does not bring out the charm of the story - which is more or less Salasa avoiding most of those tropes, as well as detail-work. She's a star student from the toughest school in the country and shows it in her entire bearing. Though she's 15, her overall mental stability and maturity would easily compare with a 35 year old anime character.

Perhaps they think they are playing it safe by bending her to be more with the masses, but quite frankly this story is never going to win in the humor or heartwarming departments because it isn't set up for it. If you don't play to what strengths it has, you are not reaching for success. At best you are just avoiding the worst.

It is going to be disappointing if the anime doesn't have what you liked in the light novel, and I'd want to see some mundane tribulations of running a small business as well. 'Detail work and slow pacing' however, aren't strengths unless they're used well, and you need writing as good as Spice and Wolf to do that, when you're dealing with artificial systems and simple characters. If the light novels were even as good as Spice and Wolf, and the anime had tried to adapt them exactly, it could have still have ended up flat and tedious.

As it is, while the humour indeed isn't going to carry the series, the heartwarming cuteness does look set to, if some more serious and practical matters rotate with it. Sarasa's social anxiety isn't incompatible with her skills, or a crippling hinderance. LN Sarasa could potentially be an impressive character, but anime Sarasa is certainly both charming and interesting.

[Alchemist007]

That was a lot gorier than I would've thought .

[Ghostfriendly]

Nice to see Sarasa being serious and competent, even in a life/death situation she's never encountered before. It would've been nice to have a closer look at how she translates theory into practise; cutely collapsing at the end was a reasonable way to show the pressure she'd under, but maybe not the best one.

Trying to be serious doesn't work so well when solutions are so clean and straightforward - so clean not even an apron is needed to keep blood off Sarasa's cute dress. Possibly magic? Cute shoujo-ai is still the main strength, and that works better with a workplace/slice of life show.

[Rasty]

I liked the speech about doing things without compensation doing more harm in the long term. It always annoyed me when adventurer MCs go and complete all the underpaying jobs "because they are nice" and ignore that they are ruining the livelihood of others, etc.

The battle scenes were about as good as one could expect from slice-of-life anime, but the way how Sarasa without hesitation butchered the Bear for parts was pretty nice.

And poor Iris and Kate. I really hope the gatherers make decent money since from what we have seen 20 million is a seriously huge sum. Though I wonder whether that's only Sarasa's costs (were the gathered herbs so valuable? Otherwise she shouldn't have so much) or the price they will have to pay.

[serenade_beta]

Spoiler for ep2:

The story was so horrible I don't even have words for it
I... I guess the animation in that one scene only was pretty good
...Yeah...

[BBOvenGuy]

Cute girls doing cute things... in another world!

Sarasa is a bit overpowered for me. It would have been nice to see a bit more balance between her and the rest of the village. But it'll do.

Her diving straight into the bear to harvest parts was hilarious. If there were 20 bears, including a "boss class," she might just break even on her expenses or even turn a profit.

And if Iris and Kate aren't a couple already, the fandom will have them hooked up in no time.

[Liddo-kun]

episode 3:

surprised at the amount of bear gore shown in this show.

the two adventurers now have a 20 million debt, and Sarasa is going bankrupt (lol). Hopefully, the bear parts obtained from the battle can help compensate.

this and Bocchi are the shows I'm enjoying the most this new season.

looking forward to next week!

[Rasty]

Bocchi? What is the full name? Also when we are speaking about cute girls doing cute things (though a bit different) Tenken (Tensei shitara Ken deshita) is even better.

[Liddo-kun]

Bocchi the rock.

https://forums.animesuki.com/showthread.php?t=156401

[ryllharu]

Originally Posted by Rasty

I liked the speech about doing things without compensation doing more harm in the long term. It always annoyed me when adventurer MCs go and complete all the underpaying jobs "because they are nice" and ignore that they are ruining the livelihood of others, etc.

The battle scenes were about as good as one could expect from slice-of-life anime, but the way how Sarasa without hesitation butchered the Bear for parts was pretty nice.

And poor Iris and Kate. I really hope the gatherers make decent money since from what we have seen 20 million is a seriously huge sum. Though I wonder whether that's only Sarasa's costs (were the gathered herbs so valuable? Otherwise she shouldn't have so much) or the price they will have to pay.

I thought the speech and that scene in general were a really nice injection of common sense to otherwise fluffy series like this.

Gatherers risk their lives to obtain ingredients to sell to alchemists or others that want them, and they make their living that way. Cheapening the cost of potions means that Sarasa would have to start shortchanging the gatherers to break even herself. That means that all the risk and effort gatherers put in would mean their lives aren't worth much over time.

Sarasa charges the refined potion prices accordingly and buys the gatherer ingredients at proper market value. It's an ugly business but being overly kind at the top would ultimately be worse for those on the bottom of the supply chain. I wonder if she learned that in school or from Ophelia.

[Ghostfriendly]

Originally Posted by Rasty

I liked the speech about doing things without compensation doing more harm in the long term. It always annoyed me when adventurer MCs go and complete all the underpaying jobs "because they are nice" and ignore that they are ruining the livelihood of others, etc.

I found it pretty jarring. Paying for healthcare isn't the kind of thing Sarasa should have to explain, and not much to complain about if she lets patients pay later. Users of the American healthcare system are going to be perfectly aware they have to pay, and might very well be in a much worse situation than swordgirl in that regard. How Sarasa dealt with an injured person who really couldn't pay/didn't pay would be much more interesting.