By Yuka Tachibana and Yasuyuki Syuri. Released in Japan as “Seijo no Maryoku wa Bannou desu” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Julie Goniwich.

One of the better things about this new volume of The Saint’s Magic Power Is Omnipotent, aside from waiting till near the end of the book to justify that title, is that it’s committed to trying to figure out how the magic in this world works, rather than just seeing it as a stat. Of course, it IS a stat here, and we get lots of talk of HP and MP, But Sei realizes here that potions and medicine are not the same thing, and that in fact the use of potions may mean that diseases and maladies that might otherwise have been researched and analyzed are completely glossed over. That said, medicine takes years of testing and watching for side effects, and may not be all that potent, whereas potions are a magic cure-all that you just need to drink down. I don’t see one supplanting the other, especially given that Sei manages to invent the bestest potion of them all. The secret? Apples.

The bulk of this book concerns itself with the arrival of a visiting dignitary from the nation where Sei got her Asian food last volume, which continues to be very much not-China. One of the many princes in this country, he is here to study herbs and medicine, and despite the best efforts of the kingdom to hide Sei whenever he’s around, it’s pretty inevitable that they eventually run into each other. While she’s able to conceal her identity as the Saint to a certain degree, she can’t help but find a kindred spirit in the Prince, who really seems to know his herbs… and is also searching for a specific kind of cure. Can Sei manage to figure out what it is that the Prince’s mother has wrong with her? And if not, is there a way that she can weaponize her OPness to save the day?

The cover art shows off Prince Ten’yuu as a handsome bespectacled young man, but what I noticed more was the internal illustration, which showed him with the “spiral coke-bottle glasses” common to Chinese stereotypes in Japan (see Ranma 1/2 for the most famous instance). Fortunately the stereotypes seem to end there, with the main plot instead revolving around him as a sort of villain (everyone’s trying to stop him seeing Sei and figuring out who she is) who eventually becomes sympathetic (when we find the reason he’s there in the first place). It also reminds us that keeping Sei under wraps just is not going to fly as a long-term plan for much longer. Marrying her off to keep her in the Kingdom seems like the obvious answer, but again, she’s still in the ‘blushing maiden’ stage, and Albert is not inclined to push the matter. The politics remain boiling quietly in the background.

This is apparently one of the top ten light novel franchises in Japan right now, and I can see why. It’s solid and has likeable characters, and Sei is overpowered without being boring about it. She puts in the work.

By Yuka Tachibana and Yasuyuki Syuri. Released in Japan as “Seijo no Maryoku wa Bannou desu” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Julie Goniwich.

The Saint’s Magic Power Is Omnipotent may be an atypical light novel in some ways, but it is still an isekai when you get right down to it, and that means that the isekai cliches are still there to be walked into. Our heroine has ended up in the fantasy equivalent of medieval Europe, as is typical for these sorts of books. She really misses the taste of home, with good old fashioned rice and miso, as is also typical. Generally these sorts of books fall into two types: either our isekai’d Japanese person tries to make rice and miso and the like themselves in the kingdom or they hear about a country far across the ocean that just happens to have the exact foods they’ve been looking for (and sometimes samurai, but hopefully the Saint series isn’t going there). We get the latter here, as Sei happens upon a slow boat from China – or its fantasy version – that gives her the meals she’s been craving for so long.

After discovering not only that her cooking can deliver magical power ups to those who consume it, but also that Turkish Coffee is being imported nearby, Sei is on a cooking tip. She also has to do something about her cosmetics company, which has become so popular that the nobles are taking *too* much interest in it. As a result, she has a new umbrella company founded for future Saint developments. Disguising herself as the daughter of said company’s head (which is, in reality, her) she travels with Johan to a nearby port town to track down the rice she’s wanted to find for so long. Getting a hold of this proves to be an adventure in itself, and features Sei almost giving away who she really is multiple times. Then, back at the capital, she has an even more dangerous event lying in wait… her debutante ball.

After waiting nine months between books 3 and 4, the wait between books 4 and 5 hasn’t even been one month. Which means I have a bit less to say than I normally do, as I just talked about all this. I will note that Sei’s aversion to romance is starting to not only get on people’s nerves, but to be a genuine problem. Albert is trying to be aware of her feelings and courting her at the speed of a glacier, but she’s the Saint, and is also very much of marriageable age. She can’t simply stay in the back of the research lab and make potions for the next ten years. She manages to get through the ball designed to introduce her to society, but is terrified of dancing with any men she doesn’t know. Fortunately, the palace agrees with her – they certainly don’t want other nobles getting a chance to woo her. Given the author does not really seem to care much about the romance in this series, I’m not sure where this plot will go, but it’s what is interesting me most at the moment.

All this plus Sei teaches Aira how to make a magical Coleman Stove. Thankfully, Vol. 6 of The Saint’s Magic Power Is Omnipotent is not coming out in December. That said, I’m still interested.

By Yuka Tachibana and Yasuyuki Syuri. Released in Japan as “Seijo no Maryoku wa Bannou desu” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Julie Goniwich.

It’s been a long time since the 3rd volume, likely due to the ongoing issues with printing books the world has been having. That also means that we’ve seen the anime series come and go since I last reviewed it. the anime got decent reviews, and everyone seemed to find it pleasant. It also adapted through this volume, meaning that I’ve actually seen the anime first in this particular case. I try not to do this too often, and after reading this book I reinforced why: I think that a lot of these scenes work a bit better animated. Sei is, with the exception of her embarrassing love for Albert, a fairly mild, low-key hero, which is good, but it does mean that when it comes to exciting battle scenes they can sometimes seem a bit lacking. I was waiting for the big final battle in this book, and realized as I got past it that I’d missed it in the lack of excitement.

We’re still in Klausner’s Domain, trying to get rid of the monsters that are destroying its valuable plants and herbs. There are fewer monsters at the edges since Sei is around and she’s the Saint, but they do have to deal with a great deal of slimes – not, as she explicitly notes, the cute Level-1 slimes from Japanese RPGs, but a far more dangerous kind of slime. They need more mages and fewer knights. Fortunately, Yuri and Aira show up, happening to be passing through by pure coincidence. (Note: it was not pure coincidence.) And even if they do manage to kill off the monster that’s causing all the blight upon the landf, the land is still dead, right? Sei is going to have to finally stop being the Saint in secret if she wants to solve this mess.

There’s some good stuff here, though I will admit that I find the 2nd Knight brigade more creepy than funny, as does Sei. I get that they’re worshiping her because she literally healed their missing arms and legs, but they come across like idol fans more than anything else. Yuri is slightly better, his shtick basically being research uber alles, but he too can also be a bit offputting, especially when he’s right in Sei’s face trying to see how her magic works. Fortunately, Sei’s relationship with Aira is great, and we see the two of them cooking and chatting together. What’s more, Sei’s way of thinking may be changing the mature of magic in this world – Yuri is now able to make ice cubes after seeing Sei’s power of imagination, and it’s implied other discoveries may also be possible. I wonder if we’ll get a lot more research in he next book. Oh yes, and Sei and Albert are the same as they’ve ever been – this relationship is not upgrading anytime soon.

So a decent volume, but it lacks a bit compared to its animated counterpart. Still worth a read.