THE OBLIVIOUS SAINT CAN'T CONTROL HER POWER Review: Power Through Modesty

For all her 16 years, Carolina Sanchez has considered herself to be a disgrace of epic proportions.

The Oblivious Saint Can't Control Her Power
The first episode is now streaming on Crunchyroll. Subsequent episodes will debut every Wednesday.

In viewing herself this way, she is reflecting what she feels from everyone else in her kingdom, especially from her older sister Flora.

Wildly popular and spectacularly beautiful, Flora carries herself as a person of great importance. She also has healing powers, which endears her to the populace, and adds to the widely-held belief that she will become a Saint in her kingdom.

In public, Flora speaks kindly to her younger sister Carolina. In private, Flora diminishes Carolina's power entirely, calling her a disgrace, largely because their mother died shortly after giving birth to Carolina. Their father is taciturn toward them, and so Flora's hurtful words, repeated ad nauseum over many years, reinforce Carolina's self-doubts.

One evening, an opportunity is presented to Carolina: Will she marry the second prince of an allied nation in order to ensure peace between the two kingdoms? She agrees, and hears kind, loving words from her father, perhaps for the first time.

Carolina travels to meet her new husband, who is also the commander of a large army of knights. Full of apprehension, she steps up to him on a huge field, surrounded by the army. Sure, he's handsome, but what kind of person is he?

The first episode concludes on a questioning note. The official synopsis gives clues as to what will develop during the first season:

"Overshadowed by her saintly sister Flora, plain Carolina seizes a chance to be useful by agreeing to political marriage with a prince rumored to be cruel. But the prince is nothing as expected--he's a gentleman, and Carolina feels valued for once in her life. As Carolina blossoms, she discovers a sense of self-worth and a mysterious power, while Flora's perfect life back home starts to crumble."

Crunchyroll describes the show as a drama/fantasy/romance, which is not normally my bag. Even so, the artwork is lush and beautiful -- credit goes to animation studios Magic Bus and Picante Circus, with series composition by Toko Machida, character designs by Taihei Nagai and music by SUPA LOVE --so if this fits into your viewing preferences, I'd say check it out for future developments.

Here's the Crunchyroll page describing it further .

Now Streaming celebrates independent and international genre films and television shows that are newly available on legal streaming services.