Spring 2021 First Impressions – The Saint’s Magic Power is Omnipotent

Streaming: Funimation

Episodes: 12

Source: Light Novel

Story Summary: Sei is an overworked office employee who, after being made to stay late yet again, returns home under dark of night only to be magically summoned to an alternate world called Salutania which suffering from the proliferation of a terrible miasma. In this world a figure called a “Saint” is said to have the power to hold back the miasma, but in dire cases where they do not appear organically they are often actively summoned into duty through magical means. Sei arrives with a second woman and Prince Kyle seems to take to her more quickly, whisking her away and leaving Sei to spend her days alone in boredom. But a chance meeting introduces Sei to a magical research institute, where her prior interest in herbal remedies translates very well into the distillations of magical potions. She has a knack for it, too; despite having had no idea how to use magic when she arrived in Salutania, it turns out that her magical abilities are powerful and seemingly bottomless. When a group of knights is attacked by a monster, Sei’s special 1.5-strength healing potions turn out to be a boon.

Impressions: One of the things I’ve been most thankful for over the past few months is the greater understanding I’ve gained toward the development of modern isekai stories. I think as a woman who’s been an anime fan since the 1990’s, it’s really easy to get caught up in the idea that the shoujo fantasy series of yesteryear were objectively superior to the isekai power fantasies of the last decade or so, when in fact they’re different beasts entirely. I recommend Kim Morrissy’s recent historical breakdown of where stories like Mushoku Tensei and its brethren originate from for some interesting perspective. That said, the genre does tend to come with its share of tropes and I’d be lying if I said I was cool with all of them. One thing that’s bothered me in the past is the gender ratio of isekai protagonists, at least as far as anime adaptations are concerned.

One thing I’ve appreciated over the past few years is the relative increase in isekai stories starring girls and women. I can’t say we’ve reached gender parity in these kinds of anime adaptations, but similar to my feelings on fanservice, it’s easier to accept a non-ideal situation when you feel like you’re being treated like a valid audience member at least some of the time. Stories like Ascendance of a Bookworm and So I’m a Spider, So What? have served as a bit of an oasis for me when I’ve been feeling bummed over the state of affairs in anime fantasy-genre storytelling.

The Saint’s Magic Power is Omnipotent seems to be shaping up as a good addition to that list, at least as far as the first episode is concerned. It’s got some of my favorite things going for it – it stars an adult woman protagonist who arrives armed with a useful skill set based on her hobbies, she’s smart and isn’t a pushover, and there’s perhaps a bit of subtle commentary buried within the story about how damaging prejudiced perceptions of women’s skills can be .

The other woman Sei is summoned with is immediately whisked away by the Prince; it seems that everyone assumes she’s the real Saint whereas Sei is just an extraneous figure. There’s a somewhat unstated assumption that the other young woman – more traditionally feminine, quiet and pretty – must be the actual Saint, whereas Sei – a gruffer, perhaps older (hard to tell), and more overworked woman – doesn’t fit that idealized image. While my hope is that these two characters aren’t pit against one-another in a way that boils down to women just being competitive for dubious reasons, I think I can see a path forward where the wrongful assumptions of the men in this story (seriously – the only other woman we’ve been introduced to thus far is a maid) comes back to haunt them. And heck, maybe our unnamed other Saint candidate has her own set of abilities we haven’t learned about, yet. What’s better than one cool woman? Two cool women, of course.

Pros: While the background plot of this story seems pretty typical, the focus on herbalism and healing magic definitely is not. Multiple people I know have compared it to Snow White with the Red Hair because of the protagonists’ shared herbalism skills and focus on benevolent rather than violent magic, but I’d actually say it reminds me more of Ascendance of a Bookworm in its hobbies-turned-skills framing. Either way those are both fantasy stories I really enjoy and I’m glad that I feel I can favorably compare this first episode to those series.

I also really appreciate how readily the other characters accepted Sei’s desire to do something useful with her time and even encouraged her interests. I just find it nice that she wasn’t questioned or warned against wanting to learn. I suspect that there are perhaps other motives for letting her off her leash, but for right now it’s just a really pleasant turn of events.

And I really just like Sei. She’s not a wholly sarcastic person, but she definitely doesn’t take to her isekai circumstances right away, and I can appreciate that.

Cons: As much as I like our main character, I feel there’s a risk of her being tokenized. All the other named characters we spend any amount of time with are men and I worry that Sei may end up being framed as an exception of her gender, rather than just a person with exceptional skills. I also don’t want her other real-world counterpart to end up being an antagonist in some way (though Prince Kyle is already looking to be kind of a bad guy, or at least he’s being framed that way, so maybe I’m worrying too much).

Content Warnings: Aftermath of violence, including bloody and dire injuries (no gore).

Would I Watch More? – Yes, it’s going on the list. I really liked this episode a lot.