Tags: Adventure, Fantasy, Drama, Romance

Sub-Tags: Personal Growth, Politics, Family

A Powerless Daughter’s Journey to the Empire!

Written by Almond and illustrated by Yoshiro Ambe, The Oblivious Saint Can’t Contain Her Power is the latest license to grace the J-Novel Heart line of novels.

Following the story of Carolina, the premier volume in the series finds the protagonist at a point of great change in her life. Sick to death of her sister’s constant abuse, her chance to escape comes in the form of a royal decree commanding her to take part in a political marriage. Ushered away to the Empire of Malcosias, her new life as the bride of the “bloodthirsty prince” will bring a whole set of new challenges for the meek duke’s daughter. From political upheaval to assassination attempts, life for Carolina will never be quite the same again, and that’s before she discovers she might not be so magicless.

The Saint Misunderstands

The Oblivious Saint’s story takes a similar form to the often-used “suffer then rewarded” trope. Faced with acts of abuse or indifference from her family, Carolina’s reward in this situation is her chance at escape through political marriage.

In all fairness, Oblivious Saint is a well-written example of the trope. To avoid a generic take on the genre, the author does a good job adding layers to the overall simplistic narrative and successfully pulls off several attempts at subversion. Carolina’s father makes for a good example of the latter.

During the novel’s first act, Carolina misunderstands her father’s actions. What she sees as indifference is quickly turned around to show remorse. Her father loves her but finds it difficult to express given the situation he’s put her in. It’s a rare act in light novel series that adds to the overall humanity of the characters.

Carolina and the Power Struggle

As for Carolina’s reward section, the author wastes no time in showing that Carolina’s happy ending will not be so easily won. As she journeys alongside her new fiancé, Edward, several mysteries appear surrounding the Empire. Power struggles, assassinations, a loss in magical strength, and the true identity behind Carolina’s powers all crop up.

Unfortunately, it is with these mysteries that my major problem with the volume appears. Given the interesting plot threads set up, I can’t help but feel that the author chose the wrong one to start with.

The plot of a power struggle between brothers lacks impact. Aside from being able to see the development from a mile away, the plot can’t get to full throttle due to the lack of players introduced and the fact that Carolina can only play the victim, given that her powers haven’t awoken.

Overall, The Oblivious Saint’s first volume sets some good foundations for its continuation. Subverting genre expectations and setting up interesting plot threads for the future holds promise for the series. Unfortunately, what sours the volume a little is the power struggle plot. Poorly placed and lacking the right impact, I can only hope the next plotline is better realised.