Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout

Episode 4

Let's not bury the lede here: this is easily the best episode of Atelier Ryza so far, and it's not even close. While the plot is nothing special—our heroes go to their first dungeon to try and put their training to use—that's not much of a downside in this specific case.

Generally, there are two types of stories in popular fiction: plot-driven and character-driven. In plot-driven stories, the adventure itself is the most important. The characters are basically a tool to keep the story moving with tons of drama and action. Character-driven stories are the opposite. The story is simply there to promote character growth—to explore the human condition by showing who our heroes are as people and how they change throughout their shared trials and tribulations.

Atelier Ryza hasn't been either one in its first three episodes. The plot has been going nowhere, and the characters have been both one-note and rather static. Yet, in this episode, we see the beginnings of a decent character-driven narrative. Our three heroes, Lent, Tao, and Ryza, are flawed and immature—still sitting awkwardly on the border between child and adult.

Lent has this ideal of what it means to be a warrior, but he has no idea about the specifics. Over the first three episodes, he's started to train with Lila but doesn't understand her focus on the most basic of basics. He wants to learn sword techniques, but she's trying to teach him situational awareness instead. In the last episode, we saw her teachings in action, with him buying enough time for the party to escape unharmed.

This week, however, we see what happens when he fails to follow them—how dangerous things can get if he loses control of what's going on. By the time the credits roll, Lent has a deeper understanding of why he is learning what he is learning—that it's even more important than him being able to swing his sword. While he failed this test, he now truly understands the stakes of failure.

Tao, on the other hand, is both cowardly and selfish. He goes along with Lent and Ryza due to peer pressure. All he wants to do, however, is sit at home reading. What he has failed to realize up until this point is that knowledge is meaningless if not put to use. While he may have felt useless previously—not being a fighter himself—in this episode, he sees that his knowledge is valuable to his friends during their adventures. He is the reason they could escape safely when things go wrong. But more than that, the dungeon adventure ignites a curiosity within him for the mysteries of the world—the things those who wrote his books never figured out themselves.

Then we get to Ryza. As I said in last week's review, Ryza is a rather unlikable character. Headstrong and irresponsible, she tends to almost get her friends killed at least once per episode (this week's being no exception). This time , the situation is dangerous but under control until the moment Ryza acts. She throws the situation into chaos with her homemade bomb, and it's implied that if Lila weren't there secretly helping them behind the scenes—they would have died.

However, what's different in this episode is that someone finally calls her out on her dangerous mindset of “it all worked out in the end so there's no problem.” At the end of the episode, Empel explains to her that her talents are not the issue. She is a natural-born alchemist. The problem is everything else. She unilaterally decided to use an untested explosive in an underground environment in the heat of battle. Any of these factors could have compounded to get everyone killed. Yet, even after escaping, she had to be told that she messed up. She alone couldn't see where she went right and wrong during the dungeon test.

To her credit, she doesn't argue with Empel, however, it remains to be seen whether she can learn from this experience—to consider not only what she makes and how she makes it but also where to use it and how. As always, Ryza is confident—but the fact that Lila seems less than convinced makes me think Ryza has only taken the first step on what looks to be a very long road. Still, if each episode moves her closer to being a responsible adult, it should be an enjoyable journey.

Rating:

Random Thoughts:

• Look, I know that Ryza's “thicc thighs” are a major selling point of this anime but do we really need reaction shots of her thighs during important, character-building conversations?

• I'm noticing a lot of shots of Ryza's feet. I guess the thighs aren't the only fetish this show is targeting.

• I'm honestly shocked that Lent's sword didn't shatter in battle this week. The thing is in such a state of disrepair I wonder if it could even be fixed without reforging.

• Lent noticing that Lila was secretly keeping them from being overwhelmed by rock monsters was a nice touch.

Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.