Anime Hajime Review: The Saint’s Magic Power is Omnipotent

Original Run: April 6, 2021 - June 22
Number of Episodes: 12
Genre: Fantasy, Isekai, Slice of Life
Based on the Series Created By: Yuka Tachibana

***Warning, the following may contain spoilers for The Saint’s Magic Power is Omnipotent. Reader discretion is advised.***

Series Synopsis

One night, Sei Takanashi’s (voiced by Yui Ishikawa) room fills with a bright light. The next moment, she finds herself in a parallel world.

The Kingdom of Salutantia has been struggling with beasts and monsters for many years. The country’s best mages perform a powerful summoning spell to call forth the legendary Saint to reverse this plight. But something goes wrong, and two potential Saints come forth– one of them being Sei.

However, the kingdom’s crown prince, who believes Sei is far too plain, insists the other candidate must be the Saint. Thus, he leaves Sei to her own devices with no way back to her world.

Although angered by her poor treatment, there isn’t much Sei can do. Therefore, she decides to settle into her new home. And over time, it appears the prince’s snap decision was the wrong one.

Series Positives

I am of multiple minds regarding The Saint’s Magic Power is Omnipotent (The Saints Magic Power). On the one hand, this show is:

• Charming
• Cute
• Relaxing
• Enjoyable

And on the other hand…well, let’s save the “other hand” for later in the review. In the meantime, I feel comfortable saying this much:

I do not think The Saint’s Magic Power was a lousy show.

For better or worse, this series could only have worked as an isekai anime. Now, I did not know this show would be an isekai when starting, so that was quite the surprise. In fact, it was such a surprise, it nearly came off as forced.

Fortunately, The Saint’s Magic Power made up for its isekai-in-name-only attitude by avoiding some of the genre’s usual stereotypes. For instance, although Sei Takanashi was an overpowered protagonist, that was more of a footnote to her personality instead of the entirety of it.

Also, being the titular Saint was an unusual position. First off, everyone knew the Saint was from another world. It’s surprising how in many isekai anime, this topic is rarely brought up, often to the point where the protagonist treats it like a take-to-the-grave secret. Then again, in worlds filled with might and magic, naturally, who would believe interdimensional travel is possible.

In this series, refreshingly, people asked questions about Sei’s life in Japan and how it differed from their own.

Hence, The Saint’s Magic Power could not have existed as a stand-alone fantasy tale. The consequence of the heroine being from another universe was a fundamental pillar of this show. In truth, this series was at its most interesting when culture clashes occurred.

I am not sure how else to say this, but The Saint’s Magic Power was oddly fair. What I mean is, people took responsibility for their actions, and few were rarely unreasonable.

Sei, for instance, was a fish-out-of-water, but she also knew how to stand up for herself. Her summoning to a parallel world was not her fault or her choice, and she never let anyone forget it. Conversely, Sei also understood that, regardless of how it happened, she was in a different place. Although she didn’t need to go with the flow without question, some level of adaptation was beneficial to her.

And on the reverse side, the people Sei interacted with, from the outset, treated her as an honored guest (minus the crown prince). After all, they had brought Sei to their kingdom against her will, so they, at least, needed to be civil towards her. Then over time, as Sei grew more accustomed to her new home, her hosts became colleagues who many then became her friends.

The Saint’s Magic Power was no thriller. There was no world-conquering villain, no political shenanigans, no power grabs, backstabs, or betrayals. Nevertheless, this show had a knack for building intrigue. Despite its mellow pacing and slice-of-life nuances, this is an easy series to marathon.

Be that as it may, it was impossible not to see how brutally bare-bones The Saint’s Magic Power was. Sure, the animation was decent (except when it looked painfully cheap), talented voice performers made up the cast (despite them not getting much material to work with), the characters were likable enough (albeit still instantly forgettable), and the word “boring” is not the first term to come to mind when thinking about this show (but you’ll get to it eventually).

The crux of the issue is, The Saint’s Magic Power left zero impression, so much so that it was as if this show didn’t want to be anything else.

Series Negatives

Recalling the top of the Series Positives section, we can describe The Saint’s Magic Power with the following adjectives as strongly as we did the others:

• Bland
• Slow
• Weightless
• Inconsequential

This might not have been a lousy show, but it was, by no means, special either. I am from Los Angeles originally, so I have seen air with more substance than The Saint’s Magic Power.

It’s baffling how little there was to this series, and yet, here it is – twelve full episodes, animated, voiced and composed. But why, though?

Sure, there is something worth saying about a show that is this low energy. Additionally, I would be lying if I pretended The Saint’s Magic Power wasn’t calming in areas. However, even in the most slapsticky, goofy, ridiculous slice-of-life comedies, there is something to give the characters pause; there is something they have to overcome.

Okay, yeah, this series had monsters and battles. But as you might guess from this show’s title, nothing was ever at stake since Sei could instantly prevent, heal, or solve whatever issue that was blocking the way forward. Except saying it like that suggests there was more tension than there actually was; The Saint’s Magic Power had minus pressure.

While this might sound like a nitpick, it does so because I don’t know how to express the sheer hollowness of this show. In a weird, not at all positive kind of way, this series’ nothingness was a sight to behold. I don’t remember the last time an anime left me this underwhelmed.

If you like or are looking for something simple, you can’t do much better than The Saint’s Magic Power. And to reiterate what I was saying at the start, I didn’t think this was a bad show. Heck, I sort of liked it at a few parts.

You could do a lot worse than this. Unfortunately, you may accidentally end up watching this series once or twice because you’ll have forgotten you’ve already seen it.

Final Thoughts

I don’t doubt this show could garner a following. There were elements that allowed it to have a certain amount of charm. I can even see myself receiving a slight backlash because people might perceive me as being overly harsh.

Still, the fact remains. There were times in this series where it felt as though it was doing the barest of minimums. And other times, it was as if even that was too much to ask.

This show is not void of merit. But what is here is not worth your time.

You can skip The Saint’s Magic Power is Omnipotent.  

But these were just my thoughts. What are yours? Have you seen this series? How would you advise The Saint’s Magic Power is Omnipotent? Leave a comment down below because I would love to hear what you have to say.

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