Seijo no Maryoku wa Bannou Desu

Title:Seijo no Maryoku wa Bannou Desu
The Saint's Magic Power is Omnipotent
聖女の魔力は万能です
Overall:Watch
Keywords: , , , ,
Notables: Animation - Diomedea
EGUCHI Takuya
ISHIKAWA Yui
KOBAYASHI Yusuke
R1 License - FUNimation
SAKURAI Takahiro
YASHIRO Taku
One moment office worker Sei was stepping into her apartment, and the next she (and another young woman from modern day Japan) had somehow been transported to the Kingdom of Salutania in some alternate reality. They are told that when a deadly miasma threatens the land, a 'Saint' is magically summoned to protect them. The general consensus is that the other woman must be the Saint and nobody knows for sure why Sei was brought along as well. But with time she finds that she has some latent magical abilities after all.

12 episodes
OverallArtAnimationCharacter Design MusicSeries StoryEpisode StoryReviewer
Watch Stretch [series:4291#628]
(Watch+ or Rent-)

(All episodes watched):

I liked the way that Sei is simply hurled into this alternate reality without any attempt to rationally explain it--I had wondered if we'd get the usual 'she's hit by a truck and reincarnated' bit. Here it is entirely a matter of magic, which paradoxically seemed more plausible to me; if the event is clearly impossible, don't even try to explain it logically. Less well handled was what exactly happens immediately after the two women arrive. Sei doesn't tell her new hosts that hey, they've got the wrong person because she doesn't know squat about magic. She just largely keeps her mouth shut and apparently by default the other woman (who I don't recall saying a word either) is declared the Saint. The protagonists being women (and there being two of them) seemed unusual. For some reason Sei doesn't seem to care who the other woman was or what she has been up to during the several months that pass during episode one. Largely out of boredom she goes and gets a job at the Research Institute, where signs of her magical skills begin to appear. This did not strike me as a brilliant show, but I was curious what would happen next. Sei doesn't go and join a adventuring party or anything like that, and in a way the anime I am most reminded of would be Ascendance of a Bookworm. The main difference is that Sei, of course, is a grown (and single) woman. She finds all sorts of new uses for medicinal herbs, including saving the life of a badly wounded but very handsome officer, Commander Hawke, who afterwards is clearly attracted to her. It's like a dream come true as everyone takes an interest in this remarkable woman. This series was probably meant for young women but I found it entertaining as well. It's easy to empathize with Sei, who has been hurled into this situation without ever wanting such a thing, and makes an honest effort to build a new life for herself. This is a show which I always look forward to new episodes of, because it's a tale of a modest underdog attaining fame as a result of just doing good deeds. Good thing she had considerable latent magical abilities, however; it could be argued that this new life of hers is better than the old one, as she racks up accomplishment after accomplishment and inconvenient things like poverty and infectious disease don't seem to exist in this video game-like world. After a year or so Sei becomes capable of things that are downright miraculous and the idea begins to spread that maybe she is the Saint after all. She's not a warrior but the things she does in a support role are arguably just as beneficial, if not more so. We finally learn the name of the other woman, Aira Misojo, who was hastily declared the Saint, perhaps due to nothing more than the impatience of Crown Prince Kyle. In episode six we learn that Aira may have done something improper that has made her unpopular among the gentry while Sei has wisely kept as low a profile as possible. In episode seven we get an idea of what Aira has been up to since she and Sei arrived in Salutania. While not as amazing as Sei, her magical abilities are considerable, but she isn't entirely delighted with being transported to this alternate reality. And Prince Kyle isn't as ignorant and arrogant as he had seemed. So, these characters are somewhat more complex and realistic than they had previously seemed, which is good news.

Sei is required to accompany a (small) military expedition into a dangerous forest, and, as might be expected, when trouble appears she stretches the envelope of her magical powers even farther. The enemy, a 'miasma' and various monsters, seem pure evil so there are no ethical worries about using magic to destroy them (which is convenient but not too exciting). Whereas early on Sei being hurled into this radically new situation had seemed intriguing, things have gotten somewhat predictable as we have gotten used to Sei's life in Salutania. Nothing seems to go wrong for her, The only question is whether she will be able to develop her abilities fast enough to keep up with the spreading miasma. It had seemed that there might be a misunderstanding and conflict with Aira, but that possibility fizzles out. So, while I was still enjoying this show it was getting a little tiresome that every time a new problem emerges Sei would simply discover that she has what's needed to overcome it within herself. It's easy to be famous when virtually unlimited powers are bestowed upon you, but I wish she would ask herself why she has been so lucky and whether her good luck will continue indefinitely. Anyway, Sei discovers that there's a link between her expanding magical powers and her feelings for the dashing Commander Hawke--kind of a simplistic link, but a link nevertheless. The fight with slimes in episode 11 was more laughable than exciting, but I liked the revelation that Aira has found a role for herself. The climax did not excite me a whole lot. One more miasma causing swamp has been cleaned up and another miracle performed, but miracles have gotten commonplace and boring and we get no answer to the question of whether Sei and Hawke will get married or anything like that. So, I enjoyed the first half of this show somewhat more than the second one. The novelty rubbed off with time and things went a little too easily for Sei in the end.

Last updated Wednesday, July 12 2023. Created Thursday, April 08 2021.

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