Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout Season 1 Episode 4 Recap & Review

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sRNt93A2ZU

Sunken Mine

Episode 4 of Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout begins with Lent and Tao informing Ryza to travel to Empel and Lila’s place with her. They tell our trio that they want them to travel to the Sunken Mine to test their skills. Lila tasks Lent with keeping everyone safe while Empel asks Ryza to find Koberinite. Tao gets ordered to follow the two around to get accustomed to traveling and sharpen his observation skills.

Ryza, Lent, and Tao bump into Klaudia, who wishes she travel with them on their new adventure. After arguing with Lumbarr and Bos, Ryza and her friends promise Klaudia they’ll be safe and prepare for their expedition. Our trio arrive and enter the Sunken Mine. The crew encounter a crystal-embedded rock monster, and Lent slays it. Ryza checks it for the Koberinite since she can’t find it in the cave and thinks a monster has it. Ryza and Lent comfort Tao about their current trip and say they’ll keep a return trip in mind.

The trio continues exploring the Sunken Mine and reaches its end, but Ryza still hasn’t found the Koberinite. This trip reminds the trio of moments when they’d go on explorations in the thicket to find Fairystone Fragments when they were kids. Ryza finds the Koberinite and encounters a large version of the crystalized monsters. She throws a bomb she crafted the previous night to destroy it. However, the cave starts collapsing, causing the trio to panic. Tao finds a weird scripture and learns it has information on how to leave the mine. He tells Ryza and Lent to follow him.

The trio finds Empel waiting for him outside, and Lila’s close behind them. Lent apologizes for failing Lila but acknowledges Tao’s bravery and skills. Lila tells Lent not to worry about it since he let go of his ego and relied on Tao for wisdom. She tells him he has the aptitude for fighting. Tao learns how valuable he can be to the team. Empel says he’ll have more opportunities to become a greater asset to Ryza and Lent since there are more ruins on this island.

Ryza presents Empel with the Koberinite, but he tasks her with synthesizing a new bomb. She returns to Empel’s place with a new bomb. He says it’s good, but he calls Ryza a failure for not understanding how powerful the item she synthesized was. Empel tells Ryza she needs to stop having fun and focus more on enhancing her judgment and knowledge of alchemy.

The episode closes with Ryza promising Empel that she’ll try her best.

The Episode Review

After the episodes we’ve been receiving, this one was a nice change of pace. While it didn’t have the greatest action scenes compared to other anime airing this season, viewers will love seeing Ryza and her friends doing something somewhat different this week. We not only get to see Lent defeat a few monsters, but Ryza finally uses her alchemy to create weapons. 

Although it’s a weapon we’ve already seen before, it’s nice seeing her craft something for offensive purposes. At the same time, Tao receives minor development in this chapter. He’s received the short end of the stick (so far) in the trio and lacked purpose. However, this trip to the Sunken Mine shows that he can be just as valuable and important to the team than he realized. 

Overall, this was a simple yet satisfying chapter of Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness and the Secret Hideout. Our characters are finally pushing forward with their goals. Although the action was subpar and could’ve challenged our trio a little harder, it was nice seeing them do something different and explore areas we haven’t seen before. Hopefully, the anime continues leaning into the show’s adventurous aspects as it’ll help it feel more memorable and less uneventful.