In catching up on the season’s anime these past few weeks, I found my attention turning to The Too-Perfect Saint. Honestly, I found the series’ opening episode to be like a salve for an old wound. Not long into “The Saint Who Never Smiled” came that feeling, “Ahh, she’s like me…like I was.” That moment when you realize that Philia’s life makes it so the pains inside can’t be shown, because it will only bring her more suffering if they were to realize what’s underneath; it left me misty-eyed by the time she reached the national border. It’s so close to home.
I remember when I was young, feeling like “To die inside with a straight face” would be the most valuable life skill to master. It’s the memory of that place that makes Philia’s story feel so soothing. In many ways, I recognize the character as a kindred spirit, and more than a few artifacts of my younger self in how she adapts. Odds are, this will be one of the new series I end up finishing.
That it chooses to show not only how the protagonist was treated but her own thoughts behind the veneer, I applaud. It’s essential to the characterization, even more so given the contrast between the vile people who would sell Philia to further their own ends and the sweetness she encounters across the Girtonia-Parnacorta border.
For me, it’s the kind of story, where you root for the character. It tugs at old pains, long since gone but perhaps ones never to be truly forgotten. Looking back, I can’t help but hope that Philia’s story finds a happy ending. Because I know, when you’re in a place like that in life, it can be so hard to imagine what that looks like–and how beautiful it can be to reach the other side. I can’t help but wonder if that will manifest itself in the character’s development, or be simply buried under the tied of the plot, but I plan to find out.
Ya know, I have a feeling that double-rewards day is going to get taken advantage of this time. As a frequent reader of Light Novels, seeing translations of the first two volumes on Amazon, I think my reading queue can use a few additions.