Shinmai Renkinjutsushi no Tenpo Keiei

After her parents are killed by bandits, young Sarasa Feed is sent to an orphanage where she learns about the prestigious world of alchemy. Determined to follow in her late parents' footsteps and become an independent business owner, she enrolls at the Royal Alchemist Academy to train and get certified as an official alchemist.

Five years later, Sarasa graduates from the institution and nearly achieves her dream before realizing that she lacks the funds to do so. Left with little choice, she makes do with a low-priced storefront in a town situated far away from the bustling capital. Despite the threat of treacherous terrain and dangerous monsters in the remote countryside, Sarasa begins her exciting new life as an alchemist.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Feed, Sarasa Main

Takao, Kanon Japanese

Lorea Main

Kino, Hina Japanese

Lotze, Iris Main

Oonishi, Saori Japanese

Starven, Kate Main

Suwa, Nanaka Japanese

Millis, Ophelia Supporting

Saiga, Mitsuki Japanese

Feed, Louis Supporting

Nakamura, Genta Japanese

Darna Supporting

Yanagi, Kouhei Japanese

Village Chief Supporting

Tamai, Yuuki Japanese

Erin Supporting

Sugiyama, Riho Japanese

Baal, Yoku Supporting

Okitsu, Kazuyuki Japanese

Tokumura, Kenichi Producer

Kawamoto, Sachi Producer

Isogai, Noritomo Producer

Andou, Keiichi Producer

Reviews

Dec 21, 2022

CostCurl

Recommended

8.5-, Wasn't just a moe anime.

This anime was quite a mix of things. I was expecting a more moe happy cgdct anime, but right off the bat you get this sad to depressing backstory of Sarasa, which while it fortunately turns around for her and things are great. It continue when as other reviews have mentioned there is a bit of a tonal shift episodes later and continues to happen throughout the anime periodically. You get an interesting mix of things like Slice of Life and Action, Moe and gore/blood, Happy Village and Brutal Capitalist, and way more with a good part revolving around economics ... of goods and services. Still it keeps it mostly lighthearted often moving past those feelings to focus on more about the ingredients for alchemy which give it a good introduction to the fantasy elements in this world. Along with having an upbeat village full of happy characters steers you away from realizing initially how kind of shady and a bit bleak this world is.

The main part that I see is this anime is it feels more towards adult/dark humor undertones and wouldn't be good if you were looking for only a more lighthearted and moe anime. Sometime Sarasa will say some random comment and it is just unexpectedly more of an adult take that it catches me off guard, sometimes I find those comments pretty funny too. With the discussions of money to jokes to the messages it tries to convey, it feels a bit different than a standard moe blob of a show. It does lack in having a good story flow would be my biggest gripe which to be fair it's a slice of life, so I wasn't expecting much in that regards. But the moments it does have some sort of story it was entertaining it just didn't flow very well in concluding them as there's some loose strings with questions unanswered. The OP was also great has an upbeat energetic vibe to it.

Overall, it was fun to watch and I would say actually slightly improves each episode. The few times of action it had was surprisingly good especially the last episodes. In general the art and animation were pretty good backgrounds, characters, and the magic were animated well. Better than I was expecting from ENGI which has had a mix record as a studio. The world is interesting being it's fun to see how the economy and ingredients from monsters for this fantasy world work. I would say this for most people would be a solid average or slightly above anime being it just is such a mix of things, but it does them decently to well. Following the three episode rule would be a good inclination of what the anime has to offer initially, as I do believe it gets slightly better as it progresses once everything has set a foundation.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Dec 19, 2022

KANLen09

Mixed Feelings

Wow, the new Atelier game is looking great! Oh wait...wrong material, we're talking about the anime version if there ever was an imitation of it, but in all the good and bad ways possible...which was just a plain ol' fantasy snoozefest.

It's almost a given that the SoL a.k.a Slice-of-Life genre can do no wrong, only except that the other genres overshadow it to showcase a bunch of features that ultimately weigh to nothing. And this is such the case for novelist Mizuho Itsuki's series that is Shinmai Renkinjutsushi no Tenpo Keiei a.k.a Management of a Novice Alchemist. As one of the many stories under the ... Shousetsuka ni Narou a.k.a Syosetu banner, this does feel like a stereotypical adventure-cum-fantasy setting that there're so many copycats like it floating around, but how this source material stands out enough to get an anime is just beyond me, because let's be honest: this series is just the turn-off-your-brain kind of comfy show, where you need not question the story/plot, but just enjoy as it is: a CGDCT-like (but is not marketed as one) coming-of-age story.

Picture yourself as a kid standing between your parents, dreaming of all the things that you want to become when you grow up, all from a sweet childhood memory. And now, enhance that image when all these things are ripped away from you, feeling dejected about what the future holds, only to be picked up by a stranger that teaches you to be his/her apprentice in a craft to help mold your future. This is the female MC Sarasa Feed in a nutshell, under the tutelage of her teacher, the masterclass alchemist Ophelia Millis. Once an orphaned kid, and now on the road to become just like Ophelia, Sarasa works hard to achieve that dream, only to realize that the journey to becoming a masterclass alchemist is not as easy as it seems. With that in mind, Ophelia issues her a tall order: as a graduate from the alchemist academy, the starting point is by opening up shop and establishing a business of her very own. Only except that the shop's location is way out of town, and having little resources to work with, the learning lesson is that everyone has to start from somewhere, and Sarasa literally starts from scratch. Oh, did I forget to mention that Sarasa is an OP character? Bet you didn't see that coming.

For the most part, the show does what you expect: a largely simple slice-of-life show where anything and everything can happen since there's essentially no story or plot to begin with (except the MC's "becoming a masterclass alchemist" part), and that by itself can feel mundane, especially when the characters aren't the particularly strong suit to begin with. Sarasa's helpers of the young Lorea, along with daughters Iris Lotze and Kate Starven of noble stature are a fun bunch to watch, but while I get this fuzzy feeling of just living life together, as time passes, it changes from fun to pure toleration of the sobering truth that there really isn't anything much to the characters either. Most of the "cast" are fellow villagers making appearances every now and then amongst the 4 girls and helping them with the alchemist business. And as stereotypical as this is, it just lacks excitement and misses the "oomph" factor of what defines a work, though in Mizuho Itsuki's case, the novelist is content in staying true to the bread-and-butter ideas of the burn-in of daily life, which is a decent idea, but shows the lack of creativity to spice the source material, leaving it devoid of any staying power. If the show hasn't got a word to describe itself, it would be "standout".

The more I learn about studio ENGI working on series that it was chosen to adapt, it has always been a very inconsistent record of adaptations, from good stories stymied by bad animation or bad stories with just a heck little care put into it, and I would say that the latter is pretty much true about the show. I wasn't hoping much from director Hiroshi Ikehata anyways, so this show was certainly a dud in the most average way possible, and not a good one, even though it is enjoyable in spots, provided it's constantly like a bait-and-switch in the on-off position. The OST is also average as heck, with Aguri Oonishi's OP and Nanaka Suwa's ED just sounding kinda repetitive and nice respectively. Both are decent songs though, and nothing more else to add to the roster.

There're 2 camps for this: the recommendation goes for the light-hearted setting and the calm and collectiveness that it emits, or the mixed reception that aside from the good points of both the show and its source material, there exists a hollow and empty shell to provide more ideas, that weren't explored on. As for me, I just found the show mildly enjoyable, that slowly was subjected to boredom. Maybe you have a different experience than I did, and that's the subtle diversity of our perceptions.

But if there is one certain thing that this show has it going for: the 3-episode rule definitely applies here, and your mileage will vary.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Dec 19, 2022

_Redo_

Not Recommended

Ever seen an anime where the protagonist has things go their way? Well look no further than Shinmai Renkinjutsushi no Tenpo Keiei, or Management of a Novice Alchemist. Management of a Novice Alchemist has NOTHING to offer. The animation’s average, the story is terrible, and the characters are absolute cardboard flat. If you’d like to waste your time, here’s your first step forward.

The story? Terrible. The protagonist, Sarasa, has everything go her way. If she’s in a predicament, she’ll always save the day. Totally not use of cliche tropes. If there’s a villain, she’ll save the day. Expect nothing but a predictable storyline from ... Management of a Novice Alchemist.

In addition, the characters are cardboard flat. Sarasa is the same old “nice and kind” protagonist. Side characters act all energetic, but I dislike them. There isn’t a driving force that makes me want to like them.

The animation is bland. Bland backgrounds, and nothing special. The character’s look rather bright but the art is rather average. There isn’t that much CGI, which is surprising.

I didn’t enjoy Management of a Novice Alchemist. Not one bit. With a predictable story with cardboard flat characters, what could you expect? It’s just terribly boring.

As previously mentioned, if you’d like to waste your time on an anime with a predictable story, cardboard flat characters, and average animation. Then look no further than Management of a Novice Alchemist. I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone at all.
I give Management of a Novice Alchemist 1 Sarasas out of 10.

Reviewer’s Rating: 1

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