By Fuyutsuki Koki and Masami. Released in Japan as “Kanpeki Sugite Kawaige ga Nai to Konyaku Haki Sareta Seijo wa Ringoku ni Urareru” by Overlap Novels f. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Tiffany Lim. Adapted by Shaenon K. Garrity.
Oh dear, and it was going so well. Too-Perfect Saint hits that difficult second album, and it’s the worst possible timing for English-speaking readers, as the anime has just begun, so we’re seeing the first book come to life while we read this second volume. The things I really liked about the first book were a) the fact that Philia really struggled with expressing herself and feeling emotions like “happiness” and “hope” after an entire lifetime of abuse, and b) the fact that we had a “my parents hated me but praised my younger sister instead” novel where the younger sister was NOT evil, but was in fact the second protagonist. Now we get Book 2, and Mia gets a much smaller role where she gets nothing to do. As for Philia, she’s dealing with the romantic subplot that I predicted would happen last time. Sure hope another cartoon villain doesn’t show up – oh dear.
Philia is preparing for a giant conference of saints from various countries, which can now happen given she’s purified the world with her giant barrier. Unfortunately, saints have been disappearing one by one, and in fact Philia and Osvalt, who are out on a not-date, almost see one happen in front of their eyes. Worse still, her ex-fiance Julius has vanished from his prison cell. Fortunately, she has some new allies coming to protect her in the form of exorcist Erza and her demon familiar Mammon, who feel like they’re crossing over from a different book (they are, but that one does not appear to have been published) Unfortunately, as the convention gets underway, it’s invaded by Asmodeus, an ancient demon who has possessed Julius. He’s here to resurrect his former love… who happens to have been reincarnated as Philia.
If that last sentence made you roll your eyes a bit, well, congratulations, you had the same reaction I did. Almost every beat of this book, unlike the first which had a few clever swerves, is straight on the beat and not a surprise at all. It’s not entirely without merit. I did like Asmodeus using Philia’s parents as “hostages”, knowing she’s spent her entire life being abused by them, and her reaction – I don’t care about them at all but I am a decent human being so I will not murder them to satisfy you – is quite good. But for the most part all the emotional bits in this book are hamstrung by Philia’s calmness, which feels less like a deliberate choice and more like flat writing in this book. Her conversation with her equally reticent real mother is a low point, and her romantic confession ends up eliciting a mild smile.
This has a third volume, where apparently villains try to make Philia into the Pope. But unfortunately, this probably should have stayed a one-shot.
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