Arcana Alchemia (アルカナ・アルケミア) Review

When I first saw the announcement for this new Lump of Sugar title, Arcana Alchemia (アルカナ・アルケミア), I genuinely couldn’t hold back a laugh.

What year is it, and they’re still making traditional “alchemy” stories?

The moment you say “alchemy” it’s always “human transmutation” this and that — at least bring up how alchemy was a precursor to modern medicine, philosophy, and chemistry, would you? Then I read the premise. Oh boy, of course it’s “transmuting a living beast-eared girl.” No idea if that was on purpose or an accident.

When the game came out at the end of December, I couldn’t shake the association — seeing “shark” reminds me of that Osaka black-veil otaku, which then reminds me of jerking off, and that’s just uncomfortable. So I got around to this one first. And it turned out to be surprisingly decent. Honestly I’d even say Arcana Alchemia is the best thing Lump of Sugar has put out recently, good enough to squeeze into my year-end ranking.

That doesn’t mean the story is anything novel, of course. Just as you’d expect, it’s as by-the-numbers as it gets: in a modern world of advanced science and tech, traditional “alchemy” has basically lost all recognition. Ruri, a busty onee-san carrying the legacy of an ancient alchemist family, still runs a shop selling alchemy materials and diagrams. Business is terrible.

So to wake people up to alchemy again, and to revive the family business, Ruri decides to do something big with alchemy — transmute something absolutely insane as a publicity stunt. After a whole lot of fumbling with nothing to show for it, by sheer coincidence the protagonist tosses a rock he’s carrying into the alchemy cauldron, and the unexpected happens: a girl with beast ears gets transmuted.

As a homunculus, the beast-eared girl is named “Fine,” taken from the sounds she mutters to herself. The stunt worked, but since “human transmutation” is forbidden arts, Ruri doesn’t dare make it public — she just lets Fine stay there.

And Fine’s transmutation has a lot to do with that rock the protagonist had on him. Where did the rock come from? Turns out as a kid the protagonist was gravely ill and survived on potions made with alchemy, but they couldn’t cure him. Later he ran up a mountain, stumbled into a spirit’s house by accident. The spirit, well-versed in alchemy, took pity on him and out of the goodness of her heart decided to save him — using her own body as raw material to re-transmute a new body for him, then pouring his soul into it. Just like that, the protagonist was completely cured.

And that saintly spirit’s body scattered away, her soul turning into a gem that ended up in the protagonist’s pocket.

So you can guess the rest: the protagonist later tosses that rock back into the cauldron — it just transmutes the original spirit back out again. That’s Fine’s route in a nutshell.

The other routes aren’t anything special either, though they all tie into alchemy to some degree. Ruri’s route is about using new media and influencer power to promote alchemy, and it actually works. Ayara-senpai, who’s fairly skilled at alchemy at school, wants to use it to resurrect her best friend from childhood — an adorable pet companion. Hayane, the underclassman dying to learn alchemy, wants to transmute a cure for her sister’s strange illness.

So the story really can only be called “ordinary.” No crazy twists, no grand narrative, and certainly no philosophical musings. And yet one character single-handedly salvages the entire game’s quality…

That character is Haruwaka Hayane.

Her appeal comes entirely from how she’s performed — the slice-of-life dialogue and the voice work — and has little to do with her personal route’s story. Hayane is written so completely that you’ll quickly find yourself drawn to this “tsundere,” “money-loving” girl who nonetheless cares about others, is sometimes surprisingly reliable, and no matter how you look at her is just adorable. Her route gave me the flavor of peak-era Alcot and SMEE from years back. Man, it’s been a while.

I’m not personally a fan of Ayumi Sara, but her performance here is flawless. Few visual novels in recent years have brought back that old feeling of wanting to fall in love with a 2D girl. Hayane did it.

Arcana Alchemia as a whole is merely competent — more like a normal, assembly-line Lump of Sugar iteration. But Haruwaka Hayane’s performance directly elevates the entire player experience, to the point where I can recommend this game to plenty of people. Not for the alchemy, not for the beast-eared girls — but because talking with Hayane gives you that flutter in your chest.

And with Hayane’s sheer charisma carrying things, the other characters’ stories don’t feel so stiff anymore either, giving the whole game more of a fairy-tale color. Sometimes a work about “alchemy” doesn’t need thick, fleshy thighs — a girl whose every word and gesture oozes cuteness can make you believe alchemy exists too.