English Dub Review: Possibly the Greatest Alchemist of All Time “Contracts and Oaths”

Overview (Spoilers Below):
In order to create 100 of the toilets equipped with a magic device that Papek begged him for, Takumi visits the Mulan Company to procure help.  After requesting “someone to manage the mansion” and “someone capable of fighting and protecting me”, Takumi meets a beautiful human girl, Maria, and a beautiful elf, Sofia.

Our Take:
Takumi’s task to find an assistant has taken quite a turn due to his encounter with a female elf named Sofia Sylphid, whose presence was far from welcoming.  She’s gorgeous to a fault, but regarding her warning toward Takumi to leave, she doesn’t take too kindly to visitors or, in this case, future masters.  She’s also been affected by a curse that has plagued her for 50 years, prompting Takumi to hire her as a skilled fighter and search for a way to cure her.  But, of course, one slave isn’t enough to help him with his alchemist duties, as he also hired Maria as his housekeeper.  Considering that Maria and Sophia have a history together, Takumi was able to bring the best of both worlds for them while also attempting to be more of a friend than a master.
With only three episodes in, the show was quick to get into the “harem” part of the narrative, with Takumi hiring Sofia and Maria to perform their duties.  While he still has to put together a hundred magic toilets, this element gets tossed aside to focus on Takumi’s attempt to dispel Sofia’s curse, which has affected her surprisingly strong skills.  There is also the matter of Sofia’s distrust toward Takumi, in which she believes he’s not who he seems to be, but later turns around after Takumi dispels her curse with his light magic skill.  The episode also has a one-year time jump involving Sidonia training the other heroes for battle and Akane’s suspicions about Empress Elisabeth.  While the show’s formula persists regarding its harem tropes, the moments involving Takumi and Sofia were diverting enough to bypass most of its shortcomings.