Many “Otome” games and anime—i.e., romance stories aimed at women—follow a specific pattern. A fish-out-of-water girl (the viewer proxy) is thrown into a situation she knows nothing about—and is surrounded by a diverse set of handsome boys she can potentially romance. This season’s The Saint’s Magic Power is Omnipotent is one of these stories yet, it deconstructs the most common cliché setup of the genre at the same time.
Image source: TVアニメ「聖女の魔力は万能です」公式アカウント on Twitter
The Saint’s Magic Power is Omnipotent follows Sei, a normal office worker, who is summoned to a fantasy world to be the Saint that is the key to defeating the monsters plaguing the land. There’s just one problem, Sei isn’t the only one summoned. Aira, a high school girl, is summoned along with her and is immediately proclaimed to be the new Saint—leaving Sei trapped in another world for seemingly no reason and with no way to return to Earth. The anime itself is about Sei finding her place in this new world—and about her being surrounded by handsome men who all have an interest in her.
It’s pretty standard fare for such stories, though with enough new aspects to make it unique. However, what’s really interesting is that, in the background, it looks like the most cliché of cliché fantasy Otome stories is actually taking place.
Image source: TVアニメ「聖女の魔力は万能です」公式アカウント on Twitter
Aira is your normal high school girl. She finds herself enrolled at a magic academy filled with the young nobles that will be ruling the country in the near future. She is doted on by the prince of the kingdom and his followers and has a sizable magical talent. These two things make her look to the majority of students as if she’s trying to rise above her station. She is even scolded by the prince’s fiancé, Elizabeth, who appears to be every bit the stereotypical villainess, right down to the “drill curls” in her hair.
However, things are far from what they appear to be on the surface. Aira isn’t your typical happy-go-lucky girl. Rather, she is terrified. She is alone in a strange world. Her only protection comes from Prince Kyle and his supporters. She’s afraid that if she angers them—if she goes against them in any way—then she’ll be left for the wolves. This has left her socially isolated, as the prince and his followers are so overprotective of her that they assume anyone trying to get to know her is doing so for nefarious purposes.
Image source: TVアニメ「聖女の魔力は万能です」公式アカウント on Twitter
Elizabeth, while supposedly the villainess picking on Aira, is actually one of the few people truly trying to get to know the girl. Yet, before she can do so, Kyle’s actions towards Aira make it look to outsiders like he is romantically interested in her. This is socially mortifying to Elizabeth, as it appears that her fiancé is cheating on her—and that she is unable to bring Kyle or Aira in line. Luckily, Sei, the only other Japanese person in this fantasy world is able to explain to Elizabeth that there is likely a clash of cultures happening and Aira is not trying to steal her fiancé—that there is likely something more going on.
Image source: TVアニメ「聖女の魔力は万能です」公式アカウント on Twitter
Of course, this is very much the truth. Because while Kyle appears to be a prideful, egotistical, and love-struck fool, he is actually playing damage control politics. Upon the summoning of Sei and Aira, he publically declared Aira the Saint and ignored Sei—assuming that, due to Sei’s bland business suit, she was Aira’s servant. However, once things became clear that Sei was the Saint, not Aira, he realized that he needed to play the fool to protect Aira—an innocent he dragged into this mess—from the fallout.
By playing himself up as the bad guy in this situation, everything will land on him. It will look like he strong-armed Aira into pretending to be the Saint—making her the victim, not the perpetrator. After all, he can recover from this as he is the crown prince and still hasn’t come of age. Aira, on the other hand, would never be able to survive the social stigma she would receive if anyone believed her to be the one behind the “deception.”
Image source: TVアニメ「聖女の魔力は万能です」公式アカウント on Twitter
All in all, this is an entertaining twist on the archetypical story. At first, it appears like it’s playing the cliché straight only to show that the truth is much more complex and real. It develops the characters in interesting ways and having it happening in the background—only ancillarily related to Sei’s story—adds breadth and subtlety to the world. It’s a novel way to use a cliché plot that many storytellers of all mediums could learn from.
The Saint’s Magic Power is Omnipotent can be seen on Crunchyroll.
Top image source: TVアニメ「聖女の魔力は万能です」公式アカウント on Twitter.
Be First to Comment