©冬月光輝・オーバーラップ/完璧聖女製作委員会
Christina Rosetti tells us in her poem “Goblin Market” that “there is no friend like a sister/in calm or stormy weather.” That is true for the Adenauer sisters. Philia, the elder sister, has been raised to be the most perfect saint of all time, and as these three episodes go on, it becomes clear that that’s not because her family wanted her to be the best – it’s because they wanted her out of the house. From an early age, Philia has undergone harsh training, but despite that, nothing she does is ever good enough; not for her parents, not for her fiancé, the prince, and not for the people of her country. Even if they do acknowledge everything Philia is doing for them, they still find time to complain about how she doesn’t smile enough. Because you should be grinning like a ninny with gratitude and feminine grace when you think you’re not allowed to sleep because you have to keep the kingdom free of monsters and the people healthy.
The only person who appreciates Philia is her younger sister Mia. Mia’s a saint, too, apparently a hereditary position in the story’s world, but no one expects nearly as much of her. That’s not because she’s less talented than Philia, but rather because she’s simply more loved. No one wants Mia working herself to the bone, foregoing sleep or luxurious meals, because they like her better. And they’ve worked very hard to ensure that Mia has no idea, planting the idea in her head that Philia is choosing to do everything entirely on her own. In her eyes, that makes Philia even more amazing, and she adores her older sister, much to everyone’s chagrin.
As a starting point, it takes until episode three for things to start moving. Yes, Philia is sold to neighboring Parnacorta with shortsighted glee by her father and fiancé, which you know is a terrible idea, at the end of episode one, and yes, episode two goes to great lengths to show us that what Philia’s been doing isn’t remotely normal. But it’s when Mia figures everything out in episode three and begins planning revenge on the people who wronged her beloved sister that it feels like the plot really gets going.
In part, that’s because Mia’s a more outwardly dynamic character. Philia’s been beaten into submission to the point where she doesn’t even realize that she’s allowed herself to be consumed by her role. It isn’t until Prince Osvalt of Parnacorta asks her to tell him about herself that she freezes. Faced with his gentle, eager question, Philia suddenly recognizes that the only thing she knows about herself is that she likes tea. She’s in her late teens or early twenties, and all she can say is, “I’m Saint Philia, and I like tea.” That’s incredibly sad. And of course, someone who was raised to value herself so little that she doesn’t even know if she likes sweets or not isn’t going to be able to move the plot along by herself. She needs help, the one thing she’s never had any experience with.
Like the original light novels this is based on, the story is divided between the sisters. Philia gets the lion’s share of the episodes, then Mia comes in at the end to take over. This works better here than in the books because, quite frankly, the novelist isn’t great at differentiating between character voices. But in both cases, it’s watching Mia figure out what happened and decide that she’ll do her damnedest to make things right that is cathartic. It’s great that Philia’s new kingdom and household love and welcome her, and obviously, Osvalt is head-over-heels for her. But Mia is the one who knows the whole story. Mia’s the one who’s only in this for Philia, and not for king, country, and demon realm suppression. That means that it’s Mia who’s being set up as her sister’s savior, and in a story where the heroine is disliked because she doesn’t smile like a good girl, I can get behind a sister savior much more easily than a knight in shining armor.
It’s dangerous to use the first three episodes of your series as setup, which is essentially what The Too-Perfect Saint has done. But now that Mia’s on the warpath and Philia has a plan that ensures she’ll never have to return to her previous kingdom (even if she doesn’t realize that’s what she’s done), we should see some plot improvements. Either way, I hope Philia can find a sense of self when this is all done. She deserves to know what she likes and dislikes, and to tell anyone who wants her to smile to shove it.
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The Too-Perfect Saint: Tossed Aside by My Fiancé and Sold To Another Kingdom is currently streaming on Crunchyroll on Wednesdays.
