By Yuka Tachibana and Yasuyuki Syuri. Released in Japan as “Seijo no Maryoku wa Bannou desu” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Julie Goniwich.
This may sound like a comparison only I would make (because it is), but a lot of Saint’s Magic Power Is Omnipotent is starting to feel like Der Werwolf to me. Specifically, our saint tends to regard herself as just an ordinary researcher who can use ingredients really well, whereas in reality everyone else in the world knows that she’s a… well, a SAINT. Literally, as we see here, as a gift that she gives to a colleague ends up healing permanent burn scars that another woman had on her face. It’s as biblical as they come, frankly, lacking only Sei literally laying hands on her. That said… no one actually mentions this happened to Sei, because I think they realize quickly that telling her “you did a miracle that saved by friend, I would die for you” would just make Sei feel uncomfortable. And she’s got enough trouble as it is, because a simple visit to the opera might torpedo her first love!
Sei has wrapped up all the monster hunting in Albert’s hometown, and is free to do things like sampling the local dried sausages and giving recommendations on how to turn a hot spring into a hot spring village. After that, she’s back home, trying to figure out how to get more land for her herbs and plants when everyone else in the research department also wants land. Thankfully, the King comes to the rescue by giving her and Johan an estate just outside the city which can house, essentially, top secret stuff – including most of what Sei deals with. And then there’s that trip to the opera I mentioned before. She goes with Yuri, and everything seems fine, but all of a sudden the rumor goes around that she and Yuri are getting engaged! Has Albert heard this rumor?
I really do love that this series is basically bereft of children (especially now that the prince has been exiled) and everyone has normal, sensible reactions. Albert hears the rumor, and his reaction is not “wow, it must be true, time to panic”, but to immediately understand what happened. Indeed, Sei may be the most immature one here, and the reason Albert has been courting her at a snail’s pace is for that very reason – he can tell she’s not ready for love yet. But she’s more ready than he might think, and what’s more, events have made it so that he HAS to take action. What follows is what I usually describe as “the payoff”, and it’s absolutely sweet and heartwarming. I could do without that ominous cliffhanger, though…
I would have liked to have seen more of Aria aside from the stories at the end (which are, like Bofuri, store exclusives from past volumes), but since she has her own spinoff I suppose it makes sense not to involve her. Fans of Sei and Albert will eat this up, though.
| By Inio Asano | Viz Media – There probably wasn’t a good way that this final volume was going to wrap up for me. Asano’s series have always generally been too depressing for my tastes, and this is the only long-form one I read till the end. To its credit, all the timey wimey stuff happening throughout the series does mean that we get a happy ending of a sort, and the ending is somewhat optimistic, and ties in with Isobeyan. On the downside, I was not at all interested in the front half of this book, which basically involves a lot of freedom fighters and innocent civilians getting brutally murdered to show off what a terrible world this is now. Still, at its best, this series was magical. – Sean Gaffney
