Ryza no Atelier: Tokoyami no Joou to Himitsu no Kakurega

From her hometown to her daily life on Kurken Island, everything surrounding Reisalin "Ryza" Stout is painfully ordinary. Despite being the daughter of a hardworking farmer, she would rather go on pretend adventures as she explores almost every corner of the island. However, the fact that it is against the local customs to venture off Kurken Island irritates her to no end.

One day, wishing for something interesting to finally happen in her life, Ryza escapes on a boat with her two good friends: the bookworm Tao Mongarten and the aspiring warrior Lent Marslink. Arriving at a nearby forest, the trio stumbles into Klaudia Valentz, the daughter of a visiting merchant who also wandered off into the woods.

As the naive and underprepared group ventures further, they run into dangerous monsters. Thankfully, they are rescued by the alchemist Empel Vollmer and his skilled bodyguard Lila Decyrus. This fateful encounter will lead Ryza to the key that will change her life forever—the creative and wonderful world of alchemy.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Stout, Reisalin Main

Noguchi, Yuri Japanese

Decyrus, Lila Main

Terui, Haruka Japanese

Valentz, Klaudia Main

Oowada, Hitomi Japanese

Vollmer, Empel Main

Nojima, Hirofumi Japanese

Marslink, Lent Main

Terashima, Takuma Japanese

Mongarten, Tao Main

Kondou, Yui Japanese

Brunnen, Bos Supporting

Azakami, Youhei Japanese

Vogel, Romy Supporting

Nagaku, Yuki Japanese

Jonna Supporting

Suwa, Ayaka Japanese

Marslink, Samuel Supporting

Matsuyama, Takashi Japanese

Oowada, Tomoyuki Producer

Sotokawa, Akihiro Producer

Ooi, Rira Producer

Nara, Shunsuke Producer

Reviews

Apr 30, 2024

Almus

Recommended

Best feel-good, slice of life, female protag anime that I've seen in years. Honestly, a lot of the negative reviews I read just didn't make sense. It seemed more like people complaining were doing so because they were misidentified the genre. This is a recommended watch if you want something refreshing and endearing.

Ryza no Atelier is a great show if you're looking for a lighthearted coming of age story that still maintains that childhood innocence to it. It breaks away from the "teenaged classroom" model and gives us a freah take on "kids just being kids and finding their own way to become adults."

The ... show has adventure, without making it too complicated because the cast is children. It has comedy but without making anyone the "stupid character" for comedic relief. And it has drama, without there having to be some dark twist that's traumatizing to witness. I wouldn't say the show is appropriate for children, but I would say it's a great title for adults who want a realistic reminder of what it was like when we were children.

If you want a break from all the non stop violent action and soul crushing drama that exists in more suspenseful titles, but still want a light-hearted "challenge me so that I can grow" sort of story, I would be hard pressed to think of a better title than this. I read that Ryza no Atelier is based off of a video game, and I have never played it. Idk if that is why it has such a low rating, because it's a game title. But I gave it an 8/10 as just an anime title and not a video game, and I couldn't give you a single complaint that I didn't like about the show.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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May 9, 2024

SuperAdventure

Mixed Feelings

This is a very pretty and well made anime, but there’s something…. missing.

CyGames makes good stuff. I wouldn’t deny that. The last one I really got into was Granblue Fantasy… it’s a good one to compare this to. It looks excellent- nice lines and crisply drawn characters always on-model; beautiful colors and nice filters like for sunset scenes etc; good composition, good voices, and a very nice soundtrack. It's a nice place to be.

Ryza is the star of the show and looks the part. She’s bubbly and hopeful and confident and fun. Her fashion style- Ryza’s tight red shorts and thigh-length sandal-boots + a ... yellow cape that actually hides her short shorts from the back- it’s a great style I love it. It made her famous after all. But…. well, it doesn’t really fit the environment very well. It’s a medieval fantasy world, which is nothing unique- but her clothing clashes so hard with the society she’s in- it presents an odd visual disconnect: and also some interesting questions that go unanswered.

This gets on to what I think is missing from the anime. How did she acquire such odd clothes? Did she make them? If so, she’d have to be a really good seamstress- and that would be her occupation- but it’s not. Her mother chides her for not helping out on the family farm- okay so she’s a farmer- but NOT ONCE does mom bat an eye at what her TEENAGE DAUGHTER is wearing!!!!
Now that’s just totally impossible! This doesn’t appear to take place in California in the 2020s- mothers in the past, especially an era like that, would definitely scold their daughters for going out in sexy clothes! Fathers would object and stop her.
No such adversity exists here. It would present a kind of challenge for Ryza to overcome- to define her character more. Her defiance at her parent’s strict beliefs, contrasted against her determination to do her own thing and show the world who she is. That would be an inspiring story to tell, an origin story of the character.
Instead- you get the kind of dumb arc where she becomes an alchemist (why alchemy? It doesn’t really make sense- and it appears anyone can learn it- oh it’s because she is one in the GAME)
So Ryza learns how to just make anything magically appear by mixing in a couldron- which is shown by her doing this twirl in a blue sealike picture, then she appears back in the room where she is- holding the thing she created.. voila!

She learns the alchemy from a couple of mercenaries named Lila and Empel. Lila is a cutie with heterochromia and that weird crossed-bangs hairstyle you sometimes see. The two of them act a bit annoyed at Ryza’s trio- but after they go to the couple’s hangout, with some pleading- both agree to train Ryza in alchemy. Okay, but why? This takes a lot of their time and Ryza isn’t paying them anything. They teach Ryza, Lent and Tao by basically tossing odd criticisms their way from the couch. It’s not that I dislike Lila or Empel- it’s just that they don’t really come across as strong characters. In fact, no one really does. Lent is just Tank Guy. Tao is just Smart Boy. Lila and Empel are just… there. They sit on the couch looking slightly bored or annoyed, and sigh while giving Ryza and her friends advice. They’re helpful, but there’s no tension here. No reason for them to help, and no crisis that threatens them or Ryza.

In Granblue Fantasy, there was a tension that constantly had the main characters under threat. Everyone was motivated to accomplish something important- or go somewhere to learn from a master who could teach them how. But this show doesn’t have any tension or drama.
It’s just a really pretty lead character and her handsome friends, dreaming of going on adventures but not actually going on one…
This brings the biggest criticism I have of Atelier Ryza- the lack of epic adventure.

If your characters are ‘Adventurers’ and that’s what your show is about- you gotta GO ON ONE. As quickly as possible. You’ve got to get your characters MOVING in an adventure story. Somehow! And here, it just feels dull and flat because they aren’t going anywhere.

It's mostly just Ryza, Lent and Tao's (with Klaudia) wandering around encountering goofy 'monsters' from the game. NONE of them look remotely threatening- seriously blue bouncy balls with smiley faces; cute little fairies... which they kill on sight without asking any questions. It's really hard to feel like the heroes are in danger when they're being chased by a thing that looks like a glittery triceratops with rainbow crystals on its back...
There isn’t enough to get emotionally invested. It just looks good. And that means you don’t feel a strong motivation to watch the next episode. There were no hooks, no cliffhangers, and there was nothing to make you wonder what was coming next. So this would probably delight fans of this game and entertain you for a few episodes, but probably won't fascinate viewers with its world or story since it's mostly kind of generic.
Art- Excellent; Animation; Very Good; Vocals: Good; Music; Excellent; Story: Needs work.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Nov 5, 2023

enriquelirac

Not Recommended

It is difficult to understand what Koei Tecmo's goal was when they funded this anime. I would like to assume that the idea was to promote and boost the extraordinary Atelier Ryza franchise.

If that was the idea, then we have to ask ourselves: what was going through their heads when they were developing the story?
Koei Tecmo had the opportunity to create a great story, to take advantage of their incredible characters, and thus captivate the world with the extraordinary world of Atelier Ryza.

However, instead, we are faced with an incredibly bland story with no depth. Simply put, there is no story. Atelier Ryza can be ... summed up as the life experiences of 4 teenagers living on an island in a video game universe. The worst part is that those experiences are not great experiences. They have no more excitement than following the lives of 4 teenagers living in the real world and looking for excitement beyond their school.

Honestly, my friends, don't fall for the trap of video game fame. Atelier Ryza is a boring, hollow anime that doesn't contribute anything. I repeat, I don't understand what Koei Tecmo was thinking when they created this story. Today, we live in a world where the anime industry is very competitive, with hundreds of stories that aspire to a second season and die instantly due to lack of audience. Here, with Atelier Ryza, it seemed that Koei Tecmo simply had a few extra dollars and wanted to spend them on something that didn't require much effort.

Finally, I can't help but laugh at those who said that this anime would be worth it for Ryza's thighs. Again, I have bad news, my friends: Koei Tecmo, in a treacherous move against their fans, eliminates virtually any fanservice of the protagonist. There are a few interesting scenes here and there, but they are few and far between. Nothing worth highlighting.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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