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.

Tropes used in Animamundi: Dark Alchemist include:

• Alas, Poor Yorick: Except Lillith isn't quite dead yet.
• Black and Gray Morality: Black being Count Sandwich and gray being everyone else.
• 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.
• Boys Love
• 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.
• Curiosity Killed the Cast: If only they weren't so interested in alchemy, witchcraft, freemasonry...
• A Date with Rosie Palms: Georik has to, caham, collect genetic material to create the homunculus. He refuses getting help, actually.
• Deal with the Devil: An inescapable part of the story, really...
• Dead Little Sister: Well, mostly dead anyway.
• Death by Origin Story
• Death by Sex: Having an affair with Count Sandwich is a veeery bad idea. Georik's father should have seen it coming.
• 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.
• Doomed Hometown: Subverted. HUGELY.
• Downer Ending: All the bad endings, the majority of the "good" ones.
• Equivalent Exchange: Just ask Timothy
• 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.
• Gay Option Straight Option: 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.
• God Is Evil: Averted magnificently.
• Gorn: Probably had more to do with the M-Rating than the sexual content. And this was AFTER the edits...
• Heroic Sociopath: Georik. He'd do anything for his sister, after all...
• Hey, It's That Voice!: The Japanese cast contains some very big names in voice acting...
• Interplay of Sex and Violence: And how.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Dashwood. Also Mihail, to a lesser degree.
• 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.
• Mad Doctor: Bruno
• Modesty Bedsheet: In Mikhail and in St. Germant endings.
• 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.
• Multiple Endings
• Our Angels Are Different
• Our Demons Are Different
• Our Souls Are Different
• Princesses Prefer Pink: Princess Sylvie. Nuff said.
• Really Seven Hundred Years Old: Timothy. Not that you hadn't guessed by then...
• Reasonable Authority Figure: The King of Hardland.
• 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.
• The following apply to Count Sandwich:
  • Screw the Rules, I Have Connections
  • Screw the Rules, I Have Money
  • Screw the Rules, I'm Beautiful
• Sex as Rite-of-Passage: Well, obviously you knew what the 'initiation rite' for the Hell-Fire's Club was, right?
• Shown Their Work: Though *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 usen 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.
• Video Game Caring Potential: OF COURSE I WILL GO GET RAPED BY A CRAZY DOMINATRIX, I AM NOT GOING TO WATCH LILLITH CRUMBLE TO DUST.
• Villain with Good Publicity: Count Sandwich, Bruno
• 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.
• Witch Hunt