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Visual Novel / Animamundi Dark Alchemist

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"Georik Zaberisk hasn't been having a good week. His sister is a talking head, his new boss is a sociopath, and he's constantly being pestered by the minions of hell and / or skeezy debt collectors."
— Old Hirameki's BBS, now found in this fansite

A Japanese gothic horror Visual Novel developed by Karin Entertainment and distributed by the now-defunct Hirameki International in the United States. Animamundi Dark Alchemist has the distinction of being one of the few Boys' Love video games brought from Japan to the United States.

The main storyline centers on Georik Zaberisk, a nobleman fallen on hard times. After the mysterious deaths of both his parents, he gave up his position as the Royal Doctor and moved his fragile sister, Lillith Zaberisk, to his family's country manor. There, Georick applied his skills as the town doctor. However, his life has been far from peaceful, for his dreams have recently been plagued by the devil Mephistopheles eager to acquire his soul.

When a mysterious invitation comes from the King of Hardland requesting his return to practice, Georik, bored with his country life, jumps at the chance. However, while away reuniting with his old friends, Lillith is accused of witchcraft and beheaded. Arriving moments too late, Georik retrieves his sister's head only to discover that it is miraculously still alive. Vowing to restore her somehow, Georik returns to the capitol city with the hope that his old occupation will provide him with the money and means to save her.

Help comes in the form of Timothy, a mysterious lad with some knowledge of the forbidden art of alchemy. Uncovering his father's secret lab in the basement of the family mansion, Georik must work against time to create an artificial replacement for Lillith's body. But with a sociopath as his new employer, war on the horizon, shady debt collectors on his heels and a devil haunting his dreams, Georik will need both wisdom and endurance to save his sister's life... and his own soul.


This game contains examples of:

  • Alas, Poor Yorick: Following Lillith's execution, Georik cradles her head in this way... except it's still alive.
  • Black-and-Gray Morality: Black being Count Sandwich and gray being everyone else.
  • Big Bad Ensemble: A lot of people worked different angles to make Georick's life the mess it currently is. Mephistopheles is trying to claim Georick's soul and Bruno's only keeping Georik alive long enough to steal Mephistopheles away from him (and provoking a war that will devastate Hardland). Also, despite being a less-immediate threat, Count Sandwich both ruined Georick's father's life and is now manipulating the witch hunts. Oh, and the satanic parties he hosts basically combine Black Magic, orgies and torture.
  • Bittersweet Ending: Half of the good ones are this. There's no absolute good ending. Even in the one where things are fixed, only Mikhail and Georik remember what happened. In all but two or three endings, Georik is dead, and, if Lillith's fate is consistent in hers and Germant's ending, she dies within a few months.
  • Boys' Love: As noted under Gay Option, the vast majority of the sex and romance in the game is homosexual-male.
  • Blue Blood: Most of the characters have shades of this.
  • Bowdlerization: Subverted — it's still pretty darn gory and explicit; the edits were mainly to take the edges off.
    • And if you look in the right places, there are patches to put the edges back on.
  • Curiosity Killed the Cast: If only they weren't so interested in alchemy, witchcraft, freemasonry...
  • Deal with the Devil: An inescapable part of the story, really. When the first scene in the game is Mephistopheles (i.e. the demon Faust himself made the pact with) telling you he's looking forward to working with you, you can stop looking for a way out.
  • Death by Origin Story: Lillith getting killed starts the entire plot rolling.
  • Depraved Bisexual: Bruno, Count Sandwich, though he seems to prefer the men of the Zaberisk bloodline.
  • Disguised in Drag: Georik. Poor Mikhail falls hard for him, and barely notices that Georik is his best friend in disguise.
  • Even Evil Has Standards: Mephistopheles finds Count Sandwich so repulsive that he ignores the man's attempts to summon him.
  • Failure Is the Only Option: Due to a bug in the game, the players would not have the necessary items to keep Lillith alive. Ever. Luckily, a patch that fixed this issue was released later.
  • Fan Disservice: Do you like shirtless guys, naked girls, and mankissing? Well Anima Mundi will soon fix that!
  • Faking the Dead:
    • Georik's father. When Georik found out, though, he was already dead for real.
    • Also an option with Lillith, whether Georik tells Germant that she's missing, or that she's dead, it changes how the story goes.
  • Fake-Out Make-Out: When Georik tries to spy on the Hell Fire Club, Dashwood does this to avert suspicion when he is discovered.
  • Game-Breaking Bug: The original release of the game in English accidentally locked out any endings other than "A Quiet Corrosion".
  • Gay Option: Inverted. There are lots of gay options and about two heterosexual ones. It should be noted that the only option with straight (albeit only off-screen) sex happens only when Georik is possessed by a demon. That's right, he won't be involved with a woman unless he's possessed by a demon.
  • Kiss of Death: Dashwood, by Ruthberg's kiss. Ruthberg was earlier called 'Cantarella' by him in a flashback. It was sort of a mix between a Last Kiss and a Last Request.
  • Knight Templar: Mikhail often comes off as one, especially in the Demon in the Church Chapter. He does love his friends, but he's also uber-religious and extremely patriotic.
  • A Love to Dismember: Sort of, in St. Germant's case especially in his Envy ending. And always when we're talking about Count Sandwich.
  • Mephistopheles: Mephisto is determined to obtain the lead character's soul, and Georik eventually sells it in exchange for his sister's life after she's attacked by a monster in the woods. However, not only was Mephistopheles the one who attacked her in the first place, he did so because she had also sold her soul to him a little while earlier in exchange for her brother's life. Mephistopheles is quite pleased with himself for that one. Dr. Bruno Glening also wants a deal with Mephistopheles, but the devil finds Bruno so repulsive that he rejects every attempt, and it has gotten to the point where he even refuses to answer the man's summons.
  • Murder Is the Best Solution: Certain options let you play Georik this way.
  • Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Lillith. A double-subversion in this case. She really is every bit as sweet and innocent as she seems. She's also the indirect cause of all of Georik's hardships, and the living Soul Jar of THE Lillith. Also Lucifer, Mephistopheles, "Whistler" the Ripper, and the less-known Hell-Fire Club, Count Sandwich and Francis Dashwood.
  • Player Personality Quiz: The game gives you one at the beginning to narrow down which of the twenty-odd endings you'll get.
  • The Rival: Mihail just can't get over how Georik's the better swordsman.
  • Scary Shiny Glasses: Bruno Glening when he's about to do something eeeeeevil.
  • Sealed Evil Inside A Person-Shaped Can: The men in the Zaberisk line are functionally living prisons for Lucifer's soul; the women are the same for Lilith. Conversely, the men in Mikhail's family are this for the Archangel Michael.
  • Sex As Riteof Passage: Well, obviously you knew what the "initiation rite" for the Hell-Fire's Club was, right?
  • Shown Their Work: Although many artistic liberties were taken (a great deal of the books and authors mentioned in the game existed), the alchemic items provide accurate information, symbolism is used effectively and many characters have very significant names taken from people who really existed and were involved in alchemy and/or freemasonry.
  • Smug Snake: Bruno. Just look at the guy...
  • Snicket Warning Label: At least in the ending in which St. Germant and Lilith marry, they are happy together, right? Except that she dies one week after the marriage, rotting away in St. Germant's arms while he's left all alone since all the other characters were killed or went away.
  • Sociopathic Hero: Georik. He'd do anything for his sister, after all...
  • Spoiler Opening: The opening pretty much tells us that Mikhail is Archangel Michael and that Georik is Lucifer.
  • What the Hell, Hero?: Georik gets his ear pulled a lot by his little sister and Mikhail. Especially Mikhail. Even Germant gets on it at least once.

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