Management of a Novice Alchemist: Volume 1

Management of a Novice Alchemist #1

by Itsuki Mizuho, Sean McCann (translator), Fuumi (illustrator)

Sarasa, a newly graduated state alchemist, has been gifted a shop of her very own by her master. The catch is...it’s an abandoned building on the frontier! She sets out on the journey there, dreaming of the elegant life that awaits her as a shop owner, but she’s quickly disappointed to learn just how much of a fixer-upper the place really is. Still, even if she’s not thrilled with the rustic location, she’s got a shop to run or she won’t be able to make a living! Surrounded by cute part-timers and kindly villagers, Sarasa is determined to stand on her own as an alchemist. This laid-back story of a magical work life is now open for business!

Genres: Light Novel, Fantasy, Fiction, Slice Of Life

254 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 11, 2024

Reviews

[Aelvana · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sarasa is ready to manage her own alchemy shop now that she's graduated from school. There's just one problem: it's all the way out in a tiny town in the country. And it needs a lot of fixing up. But she's nothing if not determined, and with a little work she's sure she can have her own place feeling homey in no time.

I've never played the Atelier games but I can imagine they were a big inspiration for this. The focus is not, sadly, on the actual alchemy (which is at best Sarasa vaguely talking about throwing unspecified things into a pot and them bam, item). It's not even on building small-town relationships, although that might be closer.

No, the real focus of this volume appears to be on setting up pairs of girls and loading the relationship with just enough innuendo (or in one case outright groping) that it's unclear if this wants to be yuri or just the suggestion of it. Sarasa is always commenting about her own breast size (can this trope PLEASE DIE ALREADY), in addition to commenting about OTHER women's breast sizes. (Sometimes I really want to tell Japanese authors there is more to character development than chest sizes).

That was not what I was hoping to find in this book.

Sarasa's comments on economics are sometimes bizarre. For example, she talks about how alchemists can make a lot of money . . . and then says that because they earn a lot no alchemist would ever dream of cheating on taxes. Apparently she has no idea that tax evasion is not limited to poor people (and to some extent they have less to worry about as they owe less in taxes). There's also a ton of trying to justify price fixing without considering the fact that other things could legitimately allow prices to fluctuate a bit between regions (which is weird because she also notes how prices change between city and country . . . and then has no issue with the fact that all medicine has to cost the same no matter where she's selling it. I'm also highly amused she's backdooring the whole process with her bottle scheme).

So there isn't any actual alchemy to get excited about. The character development is also dull---none of the townpeople feel like anything other than stock characters, including the utterly generic friend she makes. There's some action but the author's idea of a fight scene is to end the fight in about a sentence. The comedy of Sarasa being way stronger than she thinks she is (which she doesn't recognize because she's far short of HER master) had some promise, but ultimately that isn't enough to get me past the other issues I had with the book. It's not as badly written as most of the dreck I rate at the bottom, but I feel annoyed enough at the bait and switch with the same tired tropes as any cliche harem novel that I'm not inclined to be more generous. Not Recommended.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Less boring than the anime and just cute enough to work. I do wish they hadn't used Japanese honorifics, though - it would have been trickier to translate, but I think "Miss Sarasa" and "Madam Shopkeeper" would have conveyed "Sarada-san" and "Shopkeeper-dono" well enough and been less awkward.

[Pieter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Management of a Novice Alchemist is a cute girls doing cute things in written form. The MC is a just graduated alchemist who sets up shop in a backwater village, and the other girls are her soon to be assistant and a couple of gatherers (adventurers). It is all set in a fairly typical JRPG fantasy setting although without a system and where alchemist are pretty powerful, although the MC is particularly talented. It is very much a slice-of-life story with enjoyable if somewhat simple characters, and for its genre it is an entertaining well-written read. It lacks depth, has it cringe and fan service moments such as for example the typical bath scene and very few man in any kind of important role (although for the genre there are actually more than usual). Still, it is what I expected and like to read on occasion.

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This first book in the series gave us some good worldbuilding into what it means to be an alchemist in this world. The main character has some charming blind spots and a good heart. I appreciate her positive attitude and excellent work ethic.

Overall, this first book is a cute read.

[Suzy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice, slow-paced story of a newly graduated alchemist making her way into the world. Some may find the pacing is a bit too slow, but it personally felt it was just right for the story. The world grows as the story progresses. It's hard to say where the author intends to go with the story, but... so far, I'm happy to go along for the ride.

The main character is objectively overpowered, but it's a power earned through hard work, not so much given. Although her powers do feel a bit too convenient at times, it did not actually bother.

Looking forward to the next volume!

[Progreads · Rating 2 out of 5]

There's nothing bad here, if anything it does most of what it does better than other light novels. The slice of life stuff doesn't get too boring and the protagonist despite being strong isn't in a position to trvialise their problems.
The issue is that absolutely everything here has been done before elsewhere in the genre. The fantasy world is such a generic light novel world that this could be set in the same setting as other books with zero changes. The same goes for the protagonist, she's broadly likable but there's nothing interesting about her, she's just a bogstandard hardworking good person who is a bit under socialised.

It's a likable text with no real obvious flaws but without more volumes where something actually interesting happens there's no reason to recommend this.
Boring first books seems to a genre wide problem for light novels but that doesn't mean this should get an exemption for it.

[Colleen · Rating 2 out of 5]

A hard working underdog character you are rooting for begins an adventure while striving to start their own business. I really enjoyed those parts of the story. The sexist negative comparisons of the main character’s breasts to other female characters breasts weren’t amusing. It was hard to believe this misogynist garbage wasn’t cut out by the editor! The bonus story at the end was an extended cut of the sexist garbage that was completely unnecessary and offensive. Hard to decide how many stars to assign this book. If the misogynist content was removed 3-4 stars.

[My · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel like there isn't enough of neither the management nor alchemy aspects, which I kinda thought I'd see a lot of. At the moment, there isn't much grabbing at me to keep reading, but it isn't a bad 1st volume or anything. It's just not a standout.

[Sandra (I don't read, I devour.) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one that I fear is going to have yuri later on. I hope I'm wrong. Cute story for now. Need to see how this progresses.

[C · Rating 4 out of 5]

A simple slice of life novel lacking in any plot.

[Blisscast · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extremely cute! Perfect for Atelier fans and for anyone whose dream is to become a cute alchemist!