My husband is a huge Anime/Manga fan - and so he wanted to check this Manga out! He wasn’t a huge fan of the story but did like the art. Just wasn’t for him but I’m sure others would like it.

I'm a fan of the Atelier games, so I was excited to see this adaptation. It was great to jump back into this world, with its lovely art and colourful characters. Reading this is a no-brainer for anyone who is a fan of the series, and provides a good starting point for new fans who might be interested, but want to experience the story without committing to a full game.

This is a decent read for people who have played the game to quickly re-experience some of the fun moments of Ryza and the crew again, but the keyword is definitely quickly here. 😅 For people wanting to get a taste of Atelier Ryza's story, the pacing makes it hard to really understand what's going on. It is a good attempt on wanting to not cut out on certain plot points and subplots, but it can get really confusing for a person who knows nothing about this world and this cast. This absolutely would have benefited from being told in at least a few volumes than the single standalone. The art was fantastic though and it really did make me want to go back to play the game again!

NetGalley Review

Star Rating: ★★★☆☆

I liked this one, but I feel like it was very rushed. It made some really big jumps. The main character goes from being a normal kid with nothing to a beginner in alchemy right in the beginning. Which is fine. She's told that she's got potential, but is gonna have to practice. Okay, I'm still with it. She uses alchemy to build a fully furnished house. Wait... what? They story was neat, the villain's (monsters) had potential to be super awesome. I thought the lady behind the portal was going to be something crazy and a huge part of the story. Nope, wrong. I thought the book had great bones and I'd love to see the whole story stretched out and all the holes filled in. I want to read other works by this author too, to see if it's just this one I don't like.

Like always though, read it and decide for yourself

Thank you NetGalley and Udon Entertainment for providing me with this arc in exchange for my honest review.

Unfortunately this didn’t really work as a manga. So much is crammed into this and rushed through, it took me a long time to read and it never felt exciting or even interesting enough.

The illustrations are great and we meet a lot of interesting characters. Ryza and her two friends Lent and Tao, Bos & his friend Lumbar who they used to be friends with, Klaudia who is visiting with her merchant father and Lila & Empel who are good at fighting and alchemy and are investigating the many ruins on the Island. But we eventually find out what they are actually doing.

Ryza and her friends are tired of the boring and ordinary days on the island and seek adventure. On one of their adventures gone wrong, they are saved by Lila and Empel and they meet Klaudia. Empel is an alchemist and becomes Ryza’s advisor. Ryza has the aptitude to become one too but unfortunately we don’t get to see much or actually almost nothing of her practicing. Same for her friends who are learning fighting and deciphering old books from Lila and Empel. I would have loved to see fighting practice or anything from those seemingly interesting books! It feels like they tried to cram so much into this manga that there wasn’t space to actually go deeper into anything interesting. So they create a hideout but again, no details on how it was actually created (alchemy?) and Lila and Empel decide to stay there too. Klaudia uses it to practice her flute music and the others practice whatever they’re learning from Empel and Lila but we never actually get to see them practice. Klaudia’s father is so weird.. Testing Ryza in elaborate ways, which again we don’t get to actually see in any detail, before entrusting his daughter to her. The other parents aren’t any better, hitting their child or getting super annoyed their child isn’t helping at the farm all the time. It does get a little more interesting when we learn what Lila and Empel are upto and they start to involve the group of friends but overall, this gave me a slight headache and little entertainment. This had potential but wasn’t executed properly.

I did not realize this was based on a video game when I started and have never played the game before. I’m sure if I had, it probably would have added more context or excitement to the story.

The art style was nice and I thought there was a lot of really nice detail included in the character designs. The female characters did lean a bit more into fan service design then I would have careful for, but that isn’t that unusual for manga either.

The story sounded really promising, but for whatever reason it just did not get my attention. It wasn’t bad at all, it just was really difficult to get through. I think they tried to include a bit too much in it, which made the text feel too dense and the pages looked cluttered and too full.

Beautiful art style and interesting storyline. It was a bit much packed into just one manga book / volume. I assumed this was going to be a series, instead of one completed story, so I felt a bit overwhelmed by the pacing. That is not to say, that "Atelier Ryza" is bad. Not at all. It made me curious to learn more about the characters and the world they are in, so I'll definitely look into playing the games at some point.

Having played the games, I obviously had to give this a spin. I found the art to be very cute but it felt a little.. cluttered. I wish it have been cleaner and given us more time to appreciate the charm of the individual characters instead of seeming to want to rush through something that is supposed to be very relaxing and slice of lifey.

That being said, the enjoyment I got out of this was because I was already familiar with the characters. I doubt someone new to the franchise would get as much out of it

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Atelier Ryza: The Manga: Ever Darkness & The Secret Hideout! As someone who has loved the Atelier series for a long time, and played the game this manga is based on, I can say it's a very faithful adaptation of the game and the art is simply gorgeous. I would recommend this to any Atelier fans!

tl;dr
A video game adaptation that reads like a video game, punctuated with some truly beautiful artwork.

Thoughts
I didn't know this was a video game adaptation when I started reading it, but it only took two pages for me to figure it out. The main character introduces herself as a normal girl from a normal town, and then I turned the page and was greeted with a stunning JRPG heroine design, replete with accessories, extra belts, and cute thigh highs, all lovingly rendered in delicate inks and detailed tones. The rest of the book follows suit, with plenty of beautiful artwork and attractive character designs. Settings are also beautifully illustrated, making a book that feels very good to look at. The story in contrast moves like watching only the cutscenes from a video game. Plot points are doled out in spoonfuls, with missions and battles spacing them out evenly in such a way that you can practically see "New Mission!" alerts pop up on the screen. I think the biggest weakness here is that we miss out on the actual game portions. Alchemy is a core focus of the story, but it gets skipped over regularly because it's gameplay. Fights are handled very quickly, often in a few panels, to make way for the next cutscene. Overall, this largely feels like a book for fans of the game who'd like to relive the story in a more digestible form. As for me, I'm genuinely curious about the game now - so I guess the manga did its job after all!

Inspired by the RPG game, you meet Ryza and her friends.

Resalin Stout, or Ryza for short, and her friends, Lent and Tao, long for adventure. One fateful day, they encounter two travelers, Lila and Empel, after trying to rescue a girl named Klaudia, which changes their lives forever. As a result of this encounter, the three friends uncover their true calling and unravel some dark secrets about their island.

It's been a while since I've delved into the world of manga, so stumbling upon this gem was a pleasant surprise! What piqued my interest even more was the revelation that it was adapted from a game. The book is brimming with charm and unexpected plot twists that kept me engaged. However, I wish it delved deeper into the intricacies of alchemy.

Ryza exudes bravery and an infectious cheerfulness that resonated with me. Her character had many standout moments throughout the book. Tao provided solid support and guided the characters through challenging situations. On the other hand, Lent's impact on the story seemed minimal, and I found Klaudia's character a tad annoying. Lila and Empel were intriguing characters with enigmatic backstories that were skillfully portrayed.

Overall, I recommend this book to fans of Atelier Ryza who are curious about experiencing the game's narrative in manga form and anyone who likes an intriguing fantasy with a solid story.

Happy Reading, Paige ❤️ 📚

Thank you, @netgalley and @udonent, for the complimentary ARC. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I was very excited for the opportunity to read this book due to Atelier, the cover and the topic.
I enjoyed the last act but until we got there, I did not find the pacing, the complexity and the action that I was looking for.
Yet, for the fans of Atelier, this can be a nice companion and I still recommend it.

The art in this is stunning! But that’s to be expected when it comes to something with the atelier title! This is the plot of the first ryza game and just covers everything that happened in the game. It might seem repetitive if you just played but, it might be a good recap if you haven’t played in a while.

I'm not sure what it was about this one, but I had such a hard time getting through it! It felt like every time I picked up it I was already exhausted to start it again. I think that it would still be a fun read for others, but just not for me.

I think this would have been more enjoyable had I played the game this is based off of because I couldn't really get into the characters or the story. A lot of fun adventures happen with these group of friends, but it did feel like I was dropped in the middle of a story that was halfway done.. like I should know these people and where they live already, but since I don't I'm very lost!!

Ryza and her friends live on a fantastical island they can't leave. They dream of being explorers and when they accidentally run into a girl who needs saving they unfortunately need it, as well, and that is what gets them on their path to being stronger! Elements of alchemy are in this and I thought that was pretty cool. I could see how playing the video game of this would have been very fun!!

If you're looking for a game to manga adaptation you will like this!

First up thank you for this book, sadly I didn't click with this one despite really really wanting to read this one!
I have played a couple of Atelier games, love several of the characters from the universe, and so I was excited about this one. Sadly, I just couldn't click with this one. The story didn't really seem to flow naturally, there was a lot of text and dialogue but I missed important bits that made it make sense, and it was just boring as heck due to that.
I did love the art though and I am still happy I got the chance to try to read this one! 2 stars (1 for the art, 1 for alchemy stuff that I always love in stories).

*I will not be posting my review on my blog*
The thing I enjoyed most about this was the art. However, pretty art doesn’t save this from being boring to me. It didn’t have a compelling story to keep my attention. In a fantasy I need to feel that theirs real stakes and that the characters feel real. This was just cute girl discovers she can do alchemy and they “fight” monsters and it’s over in 2 panels. This was unfortunately not for me.

Ryza is growing up on her little island with her friends Lent and Tao, and quite frankly, they are over it. These three are looking for adventure and a chance encounter with the alchemist Empel and his companion. Lila set them off on the adventure to end all adventures.

I love this series, so there's just no way I wouldn't enjoy the manga. It is true to the game both by the storyline as well as keeping Ryza's reckless but wonderful sense of responsibility to those she loves. The art is, of course, absolutely gorgeous, and I loved how they were able to keep the same emotions that I had playing the game. Did I know they were going to beat the dragon? Yes, because I beat the dragon, but I remember thinking while playing that I was SOL, and was just as happily surprised reading it as I was playing it. To be able to capture that was really just amazing yo read.


Overall, of course I recommend it. The Atelier series and Ryza, in particular, have perfected the art of telling a coming of age story in gaming, and that has translated to this manga wonderfully.

As always, thanks to Udon Entertainment and NetGalley for the wonderful eArc! And now I'm off to play some Atelier!

Atelier Ryza: The Manga: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout is based on a game and only one book long. Perhaps this manga works better for those who've played the game, since I had hard time catching up what was happening. Ryza is a tomboyish girl and along with her friends she has to fight these monsters and save everyone. Mostly the manga is about relationships though and friendship. The characters talk a lot, but plot wise hardly anything is happening, which is why it's hard to follow the story. The panels are heavy with text and the fight scenes are over before they even started and no, I'm not a big fan of fights. It's just that I didn't really get what the monsters were or where they came from in the first place.

It's hard to cram fantasy story in one book. Considering this fact, the manga isn't all that bad. I liked the characters and their interactions with one another. This was probably the best part of the manga. I just wish the world building had been better, but perhaps this is meant for the gamers. As a sidekick to the game, this works nicely - but as a standalone? Not so much.

I picked up this book because I recently bought the game and was curious to get a preview of what I was getting into. I was really impressed with the art quality; it’s stunning and so detailed.

I also really loved the character development that each character went through in the book. I was surprised at how well it was done. Each character felt unique, had their own goals, and challenges to face. Ryza was definitely the glue holding the group together. She was likable, honorable, loyal, and determined. I’m glad that Bos was given more depth than being a simple bully. I liked this angle and enjoyed seeing him grow as well.

The story had good pacing. It covered a lot of information about the backstory of the island without feeling overwhelming. I loved the complex history and how all the characters were determined to set things right.

The ending was a little bittersweet, but I’m sure that the friends will reunite. I would definitely want to read any future volumes simply because of the beautiful art alone. I recommend this to any fans of some lighthearted fantasy!

Thank you netgalley for an advanced ARC of this manga

It was OK but not great, I didn't really connect with the characters but I can see this book being great for others but for me it just didn't love it