Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout

Episode 5

Last week's episode was all about our heroes coming to realize how they fit into the party and what they need to improve on. This week is about the ramifications of this knowledge.

Lent had been working hard to learn situational awareness to keep his friends safe. Yet, when things went off the rails, he lost control over both himself and the situation. This has caused him to become completely focused not on swinging his sword but on developing a sense of everything around him—with little success so far.

Tao, on the other hand, saw his knowledge of ancient runes save him and his friends from a life-threatening situation. But that raises the question: What about next time? What happens if he lacks the specific knowledge needed to keep everyone safe? This idea has put him into panic mode—trying to cram as much knowledge into his mind as possible.

And then there is Ryza. She finally understands that she almost got her friends killed by throwing an untested bomb at a monster in an underground, enclosed space. Until she can make what she intends to at the level she intends to, she poses an active danger to her friends and perhaps anyone else she encounters in her role as an alchemist. This is the last thing she wants to be.

What we see in all three of them is a part of human nature in action: the tendency to overcorrect. The three have gone from carefree and irresponsible to hyper-focused. This has, in turn, led to them stressing out and not improving despite their newfound drive to do so. Thus, it falls to Klaudia and Lila to try and teach the trio to find a measure of balance—and inadvertently gives us one of the better “beach episodes” I've seen in anime.

In most anime, “beach episodes” are an excuse to show off as much fanservice as possible—often while teasing some romance angle or another. However, while there is fanservice in this episode (and every episode) of Atelier Ryza, the beach location is vital to the characters' ongoing development. The unfamiliar beach is a distraction for the characters—with Tao and Lent working out so they have no energy to think about what's bothering them, and Ryza confronting (and overcoming) an old fear to do the same.

Then the three are put through a scripted adventure—one that uses all of their skills to teach them the most important lesson yet: that they can count on each other to make up for their shortfalls. That doesn't mean that they can slack off, but that it's okay to ask for help and trust that when they do mess up, they have someone watching their backs—and even more importantly, that together they can accomplish things that they never could alone.

All in all, it's a solid episode of the series that takes our heroes to their next step into the world of responsible adults. While they have not overcome their shortcomings, they are now in the mental state to do so. And with that, they may soon stop pretending to be adventurers and become adventurers for real.

Rating:

Random Thoughts:

• Wait, so Lila isn't human? I had no idea demi-humans even existed in this world.

• Klaudia doesn't see herself as part of the group but I bet she's the only one who sees things that way.

• Wow, Empel took that fall in the barrel like a real champ. That had to hurt like hell.

• I wonder if the flash we got of Ryza almost drowning as a kid will ever be brought up again.

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