The Saint’s Magic Power is Omnipotent – 05 – Unappraisable

There’s a lot of lead-up to Sei’s introduction to Grand Magus Yuri Drewes—yet another hot guy who just recovered from the coma he suffered after summoning her and Aira. But when it comes time for him to do his duty as the most powerful mage in the kingdom and appraise Sei’s power, his spell is unable to penetrate her own far superior magical power. That means Yuri is fairly certain she’s the true Saint, because he was able to appraise Aira’s power.

Unfortunately, it’s not that simple. Yuri’s inability to properly appraise Sei means he can’t be certain she is the Saint. Aira may not possess her incalculable magical power, but she is progressing abnormally quickly in her training at the academy, which is to prepare her to do battle against the monsters threatening the kingdom. If Sei were to follow a similar path, she’d be playing catch-up, at least on the training side of things.

Yuri relays his findings to King Siegfried, assuring him he’ll continue his research, but a satisfactorily definite answer as to who is the Saint probably isn’t forthcoming. All Siegfried has is Yuri’s expert opinion that Sei is the true Saint in one hand, and an unruly son in Prince Kyle who insulted Sei by choosing Aira as his Saint.

Siegfried decides to flex his royal power by officially inviting Sei to the court, which is a whole thing. Marie and a phalanx of maids thoroughly bathe her, massage her, and dress her in saintly robes. Then Hawke (who it turns out is the younger brother of Earhart, the Assembly’s second-in-command) arrives to be her personal escort, as both he and Johan worried she’d feel lonely entering the court on her own.

Sei, who is a bundle of nerves, is happy to have Commander Hawke to lean on, but once they enter the court chamber, she alone approaches the throne. Siegfried descends from the dais, and he and the rest of the court bow their heads in formal apology for Prince Kyle’s conduct. Sei accepts the apology and is praised for her grace and once again asked what she wants.

It was at this point that I figured the thing she wanted most was to continue living a quiet but rewarding life at the Research Institute. Considering she doesn’t seek any land or titles, this would be a simple thing to grant. But even there she’s hit a bit of a wall, so she asks for two things that will help breach that wall: access to the forbidden section of the royal library, and a magical tutor to teach her the ways of spellcasting.

Siegfried appoints the only person remotely qualified to tutor a saint: Grand Magus Yuri Drewes. As for Prince Kyle, he hears a report about his father’s activities and digs in his heels. As far as he’s concerned, there’s only one Saint, and it’s Aira, whom we finally see in the flesh, but unfortunately don’t hear her utter any actual words. Still, it’s inevitable that Sei and Aira will meet. I hope they won’t allow all the politicking going on around them to spoil what could be a meaningful, supportive friendship.

The Saint’s Magic Power is Omnipotent – 04 – With Great Magic Power…

Both Johan and the Royal Magi Assembly director are bound by duty to report Sei’s handiwork to the king, but the only other person powerful enough to properly appraise her power—and determine whether she is the true saint—is the Grand Magus, who is currently in a “deep slumber”.

Meanwhile Sei continues to whip up potent potions at a rate so prestigious Johan has to eventually kick her out of the lab so she doesn’t use up their entire supply of herbs. Sei is working harder than ever, just like she did in her old office job, but the key difference is working hard here is making her happy, and it’s also helping the kind (and handsome) knights like Ser Wolff out a bunch.

She’s so satisfied with her work, in fact, that even when King Siegfried Salutania himself casually approaches her in the library, both to apologize for his son Prince Kyle’s rudeness and to offer her a reward for her services, Sei turns down all material offers. The work, and the good it does, is its own reward.

When the knights again return from a tough battle in Groshe Forest, she finds that Ser Wolff has lost a hand in battle, and as efficacious as her potions are, they aren’t enough to heal him or the many other maimed knights in the infirmary. Worse still, because the commoner Wolff can no longer serve as a knight, he’s lost the right to live in the palace and must return to his hometown, his dream shattered.

Sei, who had just been studying more powerful healing magic, knows that if she succeeds in restoring Sei’s hand she’ll likely no longer be able to pretend she’s an “ordinary person”, and her extraordinary powers will give her even more responsibilities and attention. But whether Wolff was the friend to her he is or just a stranger, she knows full well she wouldn’t be able to do nothing. So, in a powerful scene full of awe and wonder, she takes his arm and gives him his hand back.

When she realizes there’s more work to be done in the infirmary, Sei pulls up her sleeve and gets to work, not stopping until every knight is made whole again. This culminates in using an area-healing spell on the less-injured knights, which drains her energy considerably. Johan and Hawke arrive not to scold her for working too hard or exposing her saintly power, but to praise her for her good works and offer a shoulder to lean on.

Even though part of me, like Sei, fears her peaceful life is about to become more hectic and complicated. That’s especially once the Grand Magus wakes up and appraises her, setting up a confrontation between her and the other Saint, Aira Misono.

I doubt I could pretend any more than she could that I wasn’t the immensely powerful Saint I clearly was. She didn’t ask for the power, or to be summoned, or to be initially passed up for Aira by the prince. But now it’s no longer about what she might’ve wanted, but how she can help the most people. She’s ready to say goodbye to the illusory quiet life where no one expected anything of her, and not look back.

The Saint’s Magic Power is Omnipotent – 03 – The Ice Knight Melteth

It’s a hot one at the research institute, so Sei dips her feet in some cold water, only to be visited by her present semi-crush, Albert Hawke. Once she’s decent, he asks if she’d like to join him on a trip into town on her day off, and she accepts. Between helping her out of the carriage, buying her a snack, using his ice magic to chill her drink, and holding her hand virtually the whole time, Al is a perfect gentleman.

When Al asks Sei if she wants anything at a jewelry store, she declines. On the carriage ride home, she falls asleep on his shoulder. Then before they part he presents her with a gift from the store anyway: a lovely hair ornament with jewels the color of his eyes. Sei had a wonderful time and wouldn’t mind doing it again. But due to her lack of a love life in her previous life, she doesn’t realize she was on a date until Johan breaks it to her the next day.

Liz too is proud of Sei for successfully melting the heart of the infamously cold Ice Knight (whom we learned is also a rare ice mage). Sei then ends up doing some work with the Royal Magi Assembly enchanting “foci”—essentially small gems and baubles—with magical properties and affinities. Casting these enchantments comes as easily to her as walking or talking, which isn’t surprising…she is a Saint, after all.

Rumors leak of her adeptness with enchantments, and the First Order of Knights puts in an order with the Assembly for more enchanted foci. Its silver-haired director beseeches Sei to assist them with a bit of a rush order for which she’ll be compensated, and she completes the work so quickly and successfully, she manages to squeeze a rare smile out of the guy.

Sei is given one of the buffing foci she enchanted as payment, which she then has embedded in a charm necklace which she presents to Al in his office. He thanks her by kissing her hand, only adding more fuel to the fire of their budding romance. To which I say: Good for you, girl!

With Ishikawa Yui voicing Sei, I can’t help but want her to be happy…especially after Eren did Mikasa so dirty in Attack on Titan! Otherwise, this is a pleasant if somewhat inconsequential series I’ll probably be sticking with for Yui and the comfort food factor.

The Saint’s Magic Power is Omnipotent – 02 – Exhausted…In a Good Way

When the Research Institute is rewarded for their diligent work healing the knights’ wounds after the salamander incident, Johan asks Sei if there’s anything she wants, and the result is a brand new kitchen. While contractors in this new world are unreal, the cooking apparently sucks, at least when judged by Sei’s palate.

Johan informs her that chefs will be hired, but Sei actually enjoys cooking. When she presents him with a simple yet savory herb-crusted chicken, he’s bowled over. I find it beyond charming that in this series, the OPed MC makes the best-tasting food anyone’s ever eaten, not just because of her magical power, but because no one in this world has ever tasted food from hers.

Another day, Johan introduces Sei to Albert Hawke, the knight commander whose life she saved with her high-level potion. Sei is not only amazed how perfectly he healed after being on death’s door, but he just happens to be her type, standing out in a world full of handsome men.

It’s Sei’s lucky day, then, when Johan tells her Hawke is going to the southern forest with his knights for a hunt, and she’s welcome to join for a medicinal herb-gathering mission. She also prepares lunch for everyone, and Albert makes it a point to sit close to her as he praises her luxurious cuisine. Sei returns home to her room exhausted, but in a good way—not in the way that eventually did her in in her old world.

The next morning, Sei discovers that the lotion she crafted for her face and skin has also somehow corrected her eyesight, eliminating the need to wear glasses anymore. She also learns from Johan that the meals she’s been preparing have resulted in attribute boosts. If her ability got out it could cause chaos, so he gives her the day off.

Given a surprise vacation day for being too good at what she does, a bored Sei discovers the huge and inviting Beauty and the Beast-style library at the royal palace, and meets one Elizabeth Ashley, a noblewoman who looks like a porcelain doll. Before she sets off back to the institute, Albert offers her a ride on his horse. When she says she’s never ridden, he simply rides home with her in a princess lift.

Sei soon befriends “Liz” Ashley, who informs her of a beautifukl new girl at the academy who grew close with several already-betrothed male classmates, leading one of their fiancées to stop coming to class due to her acne. Liz believes this girl’s confidence would return if her skin condition were resolved, and is cetain Sei is the one to resolve it.

Liz introduces the girl, Nicole Adler, to Sei, who offers her a bottle of lotion she crafted. Nicole is dubious until Liz dabs a bit of it on her own skin, which instantly polishes it to a glorious shine. Nicole’s eyes emerge from her long bangs, and she gives a heartfelt thanks to Sei. Later, she writes her to say the lotion worked wonderfully, and invites her to dinner sometime.

So yeah, it’s all coming up Sei. After all of her hard work in her old world led to her demise, here her hard work has wonderous, even miraculous results that make her the toast of the research institute and royal palace alike. But she’s not totally bereft of problems, as Liz reports fresh rumors involving Sei and a certain “Ice Knight” whose heart she’s apparently thawed with her beauty…

The Saint’s Magic Power is Omnipotent – 01 (First Impressions) – Keeping Busy in a New World

I loved how elegantly Saint’s Magic Power begins: a lovely prelude preceding the title card, then a quick sequence of overworked office drone Takanashi Sei (Ishikawa Yui—Hi Mikasa!) suddenly being transported to a new world via a summoning spell. It immediately feels new and refreshing simply because its protagonist is an adult woman and not a horny male teen/NEET.

The other refreshing catch is that Sei wasn’t the only “Saint” summoned by the Grand Magus of the Kingdom Salutania. A second Saint is summoned right beside her, but despite them having equal standing, the preening Prince Kyle chooses the other young woman, totally ignoring Sei. Rather than follow the chosen heroine, we follow Sei…the “Spare” Saint.

Except for a brief recollection of her in Sei’s thoughts, we never return to the other Saint’s story, though I’m sure she or we will check in on her at some point. Until then, Sei is encouraged to reside on the grounds of the royal palace and basically stay out of trouble. While her life is comfortable and every need seen to by her kindly maid Marie, Sei, a hard worker in her original world, soon becomes quite bored.

Frankly, that’s awesome! For once, our heroine isn’t thrust into an epic battle of good and evil with a ticking clock. Instead she makes do with far more modest stakes that nevertheless make the fantasy setting feel more real and down-to-earth. Watching Sei, so often cooped up in an office most days, happily frolicking on the palace grounds, is quietly enthralling.

Sei soon finds that her real-world interest in medicinal plants and herbs has a magical analogue: an entire institute dedicated to their research. She meets Jude, one of its researchers, who shows her around, and before long it occurs to her that this is where she wants to be: somewhere she can do what she loves and keep busy.

With the institute director Johan’s blessing, Sei decides to join, and to move out of the palace and into the institute. The palace’s aide-de-camp is happy she’s found something to do and pleased to offer whatever she needs. With that, Sei starts her new unexpected new career in potions.

But first thing’s first: she has to learn to make potions, the institute’s top export. Jude goes through the process step-by-step, and reaches the point when he learns that she’s never used magic. You’d think Jude would know this if he knew she was a summoned Saint from another world, but whatever.

Regardless of her inexperience in casting spells, as a Saint she is naturally imbued with more magical power and sensitivity than most. It’s just a matter of learning how to summon and use that power. Within three months, she’s already making medium-to-high level potions the institute usually had to order from outside sources—and making Jude understandably jealous with her rapid progress.

Their playful repartee is interrupted by an emergency: knights who were on a mission to subjugate a forest of monsters took heavy casualties, and several are near death. The researchers are summoned to the palace with all the potions they have in tow. It’s a good thing, then, that Sei has gotten so good at making potions—all of them 50% more effective than anyone else’s—she lost count of how many she’s made!

When they arrive, Sei is initially shocked by the sudden scenes of injured and maimed soldiers, but soon snaps out of it and gets to work administering potions, which have an immediate healing effect. She’s brought before the horribly wounded captain of the knights. When he won’t drink her high-level potion, she insists that he must until he does, and soon recovers nicely.

Both the captain and Johan, his good friend, thank her for saving him. Sei, beaming proudly, is happy she could help. I for one am here for this charming, laid-back yet still engrossing slice-of-life isekai series. Should her titularly omnipotent magic power justifiably lead her to greater things, I’m fine with that too!

 

To Aru Majutsu no Index III – 08 – Unfinished Sentences

As a battered Touma recovers in hospital, Itsuwa is briefly overcome by regret for being beaten by Acqua so easily, failing so completely in her mission, and yet still being thanked by her charge. Tatemiya snaps her out of it by rattling her cage, and as the rest of Amakusa sharpens their blades for a rematch, Itsuwa regathers her fire and commitment to beat Acqua to a pulp.

If only it were that easy. While Itsuwa talks big and she and Amakusa have a deep bag of tricks including Saint Breakout, specifically designed to deal with saints, all of it is for naught, as Acqua isn’t just a saint, but the Right Hand of God, possessed with the angel Gabriel and master of both human and angelic spells.

Even Breakout isn’t enough to so much as singe his collar, and Itsuwa ends up taking a fall off the dome of the underground district and has her turtleneck burned off, leaving only her crop tank. The rest of Amakusa can’t do any better. With only them between Touma and Acqua, the situation is most dire.

Acqua is about to finish Itsuwa off, but someone shows up he must give his full attention: Kanzaki Kaori herself, there not just to bail out her former sect, but to protect Touma. Miss Half-Cutoffs exchanges words with Acqua, but as much as he’s said this episode, he’s really not interested in talk when it comes to Kanzaki. He wants to see what she can do against him. And so they begin.

Meanwhile, Touma wakes up to find Index dozing by his bedside, but as far as he’s concerned there’s a battle to return to, so he gets up and gets going. I really don’t know what else he can do considering how easily he was taken down by Acqua’s saintly powers, but who knows…when there’s a saint in your corner—even a non-Right Hand one—anything is possible.

Toaru Majutsu no Index: Endymion no Kiseki

On the streets of Academy City, Touma and Index meet Meigo Arisa, a street singer/songwriter with mysterious miracle-like powers. She wins an audition to become the “spokes-idol” for Endymion, a space elevator nearing completion. Touma protects Arisa as she’s pursued by both the church – who believe her to be a saint, and Ladylee Tangleroad, the CEO of the company that built the elevator who has been cursed with eternal life. She sends her employee, the militaristic music-deaf Shutaura Sequenzia to retirev Arisa seeking to use Arisa and the elevator to create a magical device that will end her life – destroying half the world in the process.

When Shutaura learns of Ladylee’s true plans she turns against her. With the help of his many friends, acquaintances, and one-time enemies, Touma and Index launch into orbit to reach the top of the elevator, where Arisa performs before a massive crowd. As the parties on the ground disable Endymion, Index disrupts Ladylee’s spell, while Touma convinces Shutaura not to kill Arisa, punching her in the process. It turns out Arisa was the manifestation of Shutaura’s own wish when she was aboard the doomed space plane piloted by her father. Arisa merges with Shutaura, who regains as Ladylee’s spell is destroyed, ending the crisis. Life returns to normal.

First things first: woe betide ye who attempt to watch this film as a newbie to the Index/Railgun franchise. Aside from having no idea why a normal guy like Touma keeps shrugging off multiple blows and severe burns to his body, and has a tiny bitey nun for a roommate, all of the dozens of cameos in the film will go right over their heads. We ourselves have a certain soft spot for the franchise, and so were eager to see what they could do with a feature-length film. The results were very ambitious, and we came away from the viewing feeling it succeeded insofar as it adapted the spirit of the show – magic vs. science – and was a most entertaining romp, complete with robot fights, mecha/car chases, and space battles, all taking place in gorgeous settings.

We also dug the idea of dual heroines in Arisa and Shutaura. Looking back there were plenty of clues that they were pretty much the same person split in two: music was Arisa’s life, but Shutaura’s ears couldn’t even discern it; Arisa remembers nothing prior to three years ago; they both possess halves of the same blue bracelet. Arisa’s meteoric rise to fame reminded us of Ranka Lee’s similar arc in Macross Frontier, a series we kept thinking of due to the similar space opera-y milieu the film adopts in the second half. The film looked and sounded great, we had a lot of fun watching it. Had it run in a theater near us, we would have definitely felt we got our money’s worth.

Rating: 8 (Great)