Summer 2023 Impressions: Ryza no Atelier, Uchi no Kaisha no Chiisai Senpai no Hanashi, AYAKA

Ryza no Atelier: Tokoyami no Joou to Himitsu no Kakurega

Short Synopsis (Anichart): The story of Ryza, a fledgling alchemist, who escaped her boring daily life with her friends to pursue her dreams.

Lenlo: Ryza no Atelier has one goal, and that’s to engrain the following message into as many peoples heads as possible: Thicc Thighs Save Lives. That’s not even a joke, I’m pretty sure this show exists entirely off of the sex appeal of Ryza’s thighs. Why else would they get shoved into every shot possible. Character picking tomatoes? Frame it so her thighs are eye level with his head. Girl standing up? Pan the camera down to her ass centered on her thigh gap. 2 characters standing side by side in a fullbody shot? Apply specular highlights and blush to her thigh meat so it stands out. It is legitimately 50 minutes of leg meat. That’s right, this is a double feature of a premier. On a more serious note, it’s a pretty classic jrpg plot. Local village kids want to get out of their small-town lives and decide to go on an adventure. They fight some goofy slimes, form a party of adventurers, and generally just wander around in classically overdone jrpg outfits. There’s nothing particularly impressive about its production (Aside from the thighs), it doesn’t move all that well or that much. If you’ve played the games then you know exactly what you’re in for, and if you haven’t then there probably isn’t much to hold your attention past this double feature. I know there isn’t much holding me.
Potential: Thicc Thighs out of 10

Amun: Yoooo, Lelno is NOT joking about the THICCCCNESS of this show. I mean, I started to get concerned for her circulation – between those shorts and the thigh highs, that can’t be promoting healthy blood flow. Something like half your blood is in your legs, right? Anyways – “Ryza no Atelier” is a rather uninspired plot. Nice setting, but I was very bored throughout the hour long introduction. There is an immense amount of dumbness present as well. Staggering amounts. Almost more than the thighs.
Potential: 0 thighs for me

Uchi no Kaisha no Chiisai Senpai no Hanashi

Short Synopsis (Anichart): Shinozaki is an office worker who is taken care of and coddled by his senior team member Shiori Katase, who is a gorgeous, profoundly kind, loving, and diminutive woman. Shinozaki certainly hopes that she’s not doing it out of duty… but her joy of doing so increasingly exposes her feelings!

Lenlo: Look let’s not beat around the bush, this is fetish wish fulfillment for people into short stacked girls, only this time instead of being a loli the character is actually legal. Baby steps. Or adult steps, in this case. That said if all you’re looking for is ecchi bait then you might want to go elsewhere, because this seems to be trying to portray itself as more of a wholesome romance with some lewd jokes then an actual ecchi show. Personally I think it plays things a bit to forward to be taken seriously as a romance. The series is basically a middle/highschool rom com that happens to take place in an office, not an actual adult work-place romance. But if you want something chill and straight forward between 2 consenting adults then I think you could do a lot worse than this.
Potential: 30%

Amun: This show somehow insists on using the absolute worst parts of any ecchi/ero – the setup. It’s like the entire show is going to be the lead up and none of the payoff. The problem here – and where previous shows have done a better job – is that it’s about your two main characters’ journey to romance. “Uchi no Kaisha” is so obviously one step from the finish line (in perhaps more than 1 way…) that there’s no potential for growth here. And that doesn’t make for an interesting story. At least the visuals are on point – it’s clear that there’s plenty of love for the characters from the staff. I don’t hate that, and I usually like these kinds of shows, but I need something more substantial to make it through this season here.
Potential: 30%

AYAKA

Short Synopsis (Anichart): The story follows Yukito Yanagi, an orphan who one day encounters an eccentric disciple of his father’s. The strange man takes him to his birthplace on Ayakajima, made up of seven islands where mysterious beings called “Mitama” and dragons are rumored to reside. There, Yukito meets his father’s two other disciples, who protect the harmony of Ayakajima… which soon threatens to collapse.

Lenlo: My initial impressions of Ayaka are mixed. The surface at least appears to be a rather standard emotionless/blank-slate self-insert MC with a cast largely defined by whatever their primary color is. The setting is fine, and I’m always a bit of a sucker for oni/cultural monsters and shit. Plus it being an original gives me a slight hope that it could do something good with the MC slowly opening up. As far as thinly-veiled shows about self-acceptance goes, I’ve seen worse. I’m just not terribly enthralled by it either yet.
Potential: 20%

Amun: Okay, this is basically a worse looking (if that’s even possible), worse written version of Monogatari, which has a second season airing this summer. There are too many characters, the mechanics of the world are wonky, and the visuals are flatly subpar. Monogatari is going to be my show that fills the supernatural slot this season, so my recommendation is to skip this. I do like the train on the water between islands, though.
Potential: 5%