[Atuhor's Nose: This was meant to go up yesterday, but I forgor because of SGDQ. Double feature time.]


In a world laid to waste by a demon invasion, Kyle subdues the demon king with his last remaining strength, but then he's sent back four years into the past. Armed with his memories and experiences, he takes this second chance to ensure that the tragic events of the future he lived through never occur.

Sometimes winning isn't worth it. That seems to be the case for Kyle, a hero who managed to take down the demon lord, but at a price that was far too high. If anyone deserves to get their hands on a magic spell or item that can send them back in time, it's him, and conveniently for the plot, that's exactly what happens. Hands down, the best pieces of this are the ones that show what a toll the final battle and the loss of everyone he loved took on Kyle. When he collapses after winning, there's a sense of resignation in the weight of his body. That goes double for when he stands back up after realizing that his work isn't quite done--you can practically feel his exhaustion. Then later, when he finds himself back in his childhood bedroom and faced with his lost love Liese, his reaction is also palpable. Do I love that he goes right from squeezing her in a tight hug to groping her ass? No, but he thinks he's dreaming of a time that's gone, so it at least makes a little sense, and he knows enough to let go when she slaps him and to apologize later for his bad actions. Thus far, he doesn't seem like a twit who assumes consent without asking when he's in his right mind.

And that's what I liked about this episode.

I have all sorts of criticisms I could level at New Saga, but my Spidey-Senses didn't begin to tingle as I watched its first episode, and that means more than you might think in the middle of a packed season. Still, even if New Saga is put together well enough to give you the impression that it actually cares about being a decent TV show, that doesn't mean that it gets an automatic pass for all the shortcuts and crutches it's relying on. This is yet another vaguely defined dark fantasy world where yet another hardened hero has slain yet another world-destroying Demon Lord, only to find that he's actually trapped in yet another "Death kicked me back to the beginning of the story" type of reincarnation anime. Also, our main hero's name is Kyle. Just Kyle. First Dennis, then Lloyd, now Kyle, this is apparently the season of fantasy anime whose protagonists have the most laughably ordinary names ever. There is not one element of the show so far that you'd be surprised to find in an anime with this premise. I feel like anyone who's watched more than five anime in their life should know what to expect from this kind of show. With a protagonist named Kyle.

Like I always say though, execution is everything, and New Saga's execution is just solid enough to keep me from writing it off. The voice cast does a good job of giving our band of heroes emotion and personality. The art and animation are decently appealing. As with any story about getting a second chance at some terrible misadventure, there's always the chance that New Saga will find a genuinely interesting way to use Kyle's foreknowledge of events in its writing.

If this show were truly trash, all of the issues I took with it would be foregone conclusions, but I feel like New Saga has a chance at being, if nothing else, not so bad. This first episode is just a bit too preoccupied with setting up the basics of a story we've already seen done a few dozen times before to be anything close to gripping or compelling, but the characters are likeable enough that it still holds your attention. Maybe, just maybe, we'll even see improvements in the coming weeks.

As this episode went on, I found myself reminded of A Returner's Magic Should Be Special more than anything else. Kyle lacks the self-assurance of that protagonist, but his motives are very much the same: Stop the same tragedy from unfolding twice, just this time there's no Tolkienian pasta dragon. He's been cautious with his methods so far, and ultimately his steadiness may prove to be a big advantage for the overall story. This isn't a great first episode, but it's competent, and that makes me think it'll be worth giving it a couple more episodes to see how it unfolds.