Review: THE ALCHEMIST WHO SURVIVED NOW DREAMS OF A QUIET CITY LIFE

Now we turn from the 80s to the modern day.  These days fantasy owes a lot more to video games and other light novels than it does to D&D, and sometimes that means that it borrows some of the worst elements from its genremates.

THE ALCHEMIST WHO SURVIVED NOW DREAMS OF A QUIET CITY LIFE (Ikinokori Renkinjutsushi wa Machi de Shizuka ni Karashitai), based on the light novel by Usata Nanohara and character designs by ox, with art by Guru Mizoguchi.  First published in 2017 and first published in North America in 2019.

PLOT:

Mariela lived in a prosperous city full of magic.  Under the tutelage of her master, she was well on her way to becoming a great alchemist.  Then the city fell to a wave of monsters, and Mariela puts herself in magical suspended animation to save herself.  She awakens 200 years to a drastically altered world.  The city she knew is gone, with its descendants scraping by within the walled center fortification.  Monsters are a constant threat and alchemy is all but extinct, which makes Mariela's potion-making skills incredibly valuable.  With nothing but her skills and an injured slave to help her, Mariela sets forth to understand this era and maybe make enough coin to keep herself comfortable.

STORY:

I wanted to like Alchemist.  I've never been shy about my dislike of the derivate, male-centric isekai fantasies. so it's nice to find one that's a more straightforward fish-out-of-water scenario with a competent and fairly likeable heroine.  Yet this promising scenario is completely ruined by some of the elements it borrows from those derivative, male-centric isekai fantasies.

Part of me wonders if Mariela owes more than a bit to Shirayuki, the heroine of Snow White With the Red Hair.  After all, both are red-headed potion-makers with a no-nonsense attitude and a lot of empathy.  Maybe it's just that fact that while Mariela does have a cautious side to her, she possess a lot of the sunny can-do attitude of a shojo heroine (along with the same sort of obliviousness to her attractiveness to the same sex).

It's a shame then that all too often Alchemist gets bogged down in the details.  It's amazing that while this series has nothing to do with video games mechanics whatsoever, it's seemingly obsessed with the alchemical equivalent of grinding.  Whatever wonder the reader might have gotten from watching Mariela magically distill herbs is lost after seeing every single step of the process for the sixth or seventh time.  As bad as that padding is, it's got nothing on the tedium of watching Mariela negotiate the details of a contract.  I don't necessarily mind Alchemist taking a more economic and methodical bent.  If anything, it reminds me a little of Spice and Wolf.  The difference between the two is that Spice and Wolf knew how to balance long discussions of economics and coinage with good character moments and bits of world-building while Alchemist fails to find that balance.

Then there's the slavery.

Yeah, that's something else this series borrowed from modern isekai stories.  Honestly, it's interesting to contrast the way Alchemist  treats slavery versus the way something like The Rising of the Shield Hero did because there are at least some surface similarities.  Like Naofumi, Mariela purchases her slave so that she may have a loyal companion.  Like Raphtalia, Mariela's slave Sieg is meant to serve as eye candy for the cast and audience alike, as both Mariela and others around her comment on his fine eyes and other attractive features.  Also like her, he is clearly being set up as a love interest for Mariela.

Yet the motivation behind this story couldn't be more different.  Mariela buys Sieg not out of spite and resentment, but out of compassion and empathy for him.  Afterwards, she does everything in her power to help him.  She heals his wounds, shares her food and shelter readily and generously.  She speaks to him kindly and encourages him frequently to speak his mind.  She even starts to train him to help her with gathering and preparing potion ingredients, along with serving as her protector.

Yet neither Mariela nor the author questions the system that allowed this form of slavery to happen.  She never shows any discomfort with the idea that lifelong slavery is a fair sentence for a crime (or even just for heavy debt).  The notion of freeing Sieg never once crosses Mariela's mind, even as a long-term goal.  If anything, she takes advantage of his servitude to use him as a confidant, secure in the knowledge that his magical brand will ensure that he keeps her secret.  The author certainly never considers that Sieg's gratitude is not and should not be considered the same thing as romantic tension.  Things only get worse when we learn Sieg's backstory.  Once a magically enhanced warrior, Sieg has been broken by years of bad luck and abuse and views his enslavement as proper karmic retribution for his hubris.  This might be the most insidious part of the story.  After all, if the slave  views their enslavement as just, then why should anyone else complain?  It's things like this that stuck with me after putting the book down, poisoning what was otherwise a pleasant and low-key tale.

ART:

From what I can determine, Nonohara's art is more or less on par with that for the original light novels.  Still, I wouldn't call it particularly remarkable in look or layout.  The most notable thing is the distinct difference between Mariela's cute, short, wide-eyed looks and the taller, more chiseled men around her.  It definitely plays up the shojo undertones of the story, giving it even more of a reverse harem-like quality.

RATING:
Alchemist is an enjoyable, shojo-tinged fantasy...so long as you don't think too deeply about it.  That might be enough for some, but I need something more substantial and less problematic to top the likes of Ascendance of a Bookworm in my heart.

This series is published by Yen Press.  This series is ongoing in Japan with 2 volumes available.  1 volume has been published and is currently in print.