The Strongest Sage with the Weakest Crest
What are your thoughts on reincarnation? Could it be absolutely true, or have a possibility or be complete baloney? Whichever the case, Anime is free to represent it any way they like, and most enjoy how it ends up represented. While characters in the Isekai series get thrown into absolutely new or separate worlds, Reincarnated contenders can end up in their own world under different circumstances. More often than not, they land in a different time, a different place, or possibly both. These new environments often have complications and issues of their own that must be dealt with before the characters achieve smooth sailing. Or do they?
“The Strongest Sage with the Weakest Crest,” also known as “Shikkakumon no Saikyokenja,” is a 12-episode TV anime series that aired from the 8th of January until the 26th of March, in Winter 2022. It featured the genres of Action, Adventure, and Fantasy, alongside the Reincarnation theme, and received a rating of PG-13 for teenagers 13 years or older. It was produced by Square Enix, NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan, Medicos Entertainment, Sammy, GREE, Good Smile Film, and SB Creative and brought to life by Studio J.C.Staff. The central staff behind it includes Tomita Akihiro as Producer, Akitaya Noriaki as Director, Nakashima Yuki & fripSide on Theme Song Performance, and Uchida Hiroki on Series Composition.
The Anime is based on the Light Novel series, “Shikakumon no Saikyou Kenja: Sekai Saikyou no Kenja ga Sarani Tsuyokunaru Tame ni Tensei Shimashita” (The Strongest Sage of Disqualified Crest). It began publication on the 15th of May 2017 and is still ongoing. This is the work of AuthorShinkou Shotou and Artist Kazabana Huuka. The Shikkakumon no Saikyou Kenja Anime was released on Blu-ray from the 30th of March until the 29th of April 2022.
In Shikkakumon no Saikyokenja, every mage comes to randomly acquire one of the four "Crests,” which represent the extent of their magical prowess at birth. A man named Gaius ended up with a crest specializing in Creation, and with this, he reached the very ceiling of his potential and even came to be known as the world's strongest Sage. Despite possessing overwhelming power at his fingertips, he was primarily unsatisfied with his capabilities and hoped to acquire the Crest for Close Combat instead. Yet, the knowledge that one’s crest is unchangeable led Gaius to decide on an alternative instead. He chose to reincarnate far into the future of the same world, hoping to obtain the Crest he desired and thereby alter his fate.
As he planned, Gaius gets reborn as Mathias Hildesheimer thousands of years later. He has now successfully gained his long-coveted Crest but is surprised to learn that the world has undergone massive yet undesirable changes. In this era, magic has significantly waned, and the techniques that were so widely used in the past are now reduced to nothing more than just specks of legend. Worst of all, the very Crest that he painstakingly strived to gain is now considered the weakest of them all, commonly known as the "Crest of Failure."
This does not stop Mathias from naturally exceeding all expectations and leaving everyone in awe. He enrolls himself in the Royal Capital's Second Academy and continues to ace every single trial that crosses his path. As time passes, he begins to discover the dark truth behind humanity's downfall into magical mediocrity: demons! Full of new resolve, he now endeavors to remedy the negative consequences of his millennia-long absence once and for all.
Prepare to be disappointed for viewers who head into this Anime, thankful that it's not another Isekai. This is an entirely plain, generic, super-power fantasy series with little to no redeeming qualities. Mathias simply managed to start a new account from scratch in his world thanks to his reincarnation, and he is still just as OP as he used to be. To be blunt, this is worse than a typical Isekai these days. No matter the situation, they always throw a “because of my previous life” to remedy things and move the plot along. Everything works thanks to his previous life, whether knowledge, experience, encounters, reassurance, or methodology.
There were avenues for this Anime to be a good Fantasy series, regardless of Comedy aspects. Still, it falls terse thanks to its lackluster plot and lack of sheer originality in any element. This plot is incredibly predictable, and there’s no doubt that the MC will win no matter what. There ought to be other factors for the viewers to look forward to in cases like these, but Shikkakumon no Saikyokenja has none. Nothing is intriguing or suspenseful at work here. The demons are evil, and humans are weak, Mathias is OP, even the King yields to him, the MC saves humanity, the ladies love him, and everything goes swell.
Mathias is an extraordinarily generic and OP protagonist, and he can do anything if the plot requires him to, but he is still a timid boy who even freaks out over a girl’s touch. He isn’t even distinguishable within his own series, be it not for his ridiculous strength, and would otherwise be a weak mob character. The supporting characters are pretty drab and generic as well. They don’t stand, and even the two central girls’ names are easily forgotten because of their purposeless and personality-less existence, only to affirm and praise the MC’s strength.
The only good and memorable character in the whole series is Iris, who easily outshines the leading trio without even trying. The girls, King, and Headmaster only exist to covet Mathias and hardly count as separate entities. The only decent part is the S Rank Adventure they take on, which is mildly interesting.
Considering the time of its creation, viewers would expect good Art. But no, even the Art is terrible, uninspiring, and generic. The Animation is pretty good, but it isn't enough to save this department. Even the Opening and Ending sequences are visually disappointing, comprising only still shots and in-show footage.
The character designs, backgrounds, and fictional elements stay loyal to the Novels, but that’s it. The character designs follow a typical JRPG style, with different weapons and attributes connected to their fighting styles. In terms of choreography, certain magic crests and techniques are mildly attention-grabbing but nothing spectacular. There is nothing to enjoy in the Action scenes, considering just how OP Mathias is.
The Opening theme is "Leap of faith" by fripSide, which is fine other than the fact that it is used to glorify Mathias more. The ending theme is "Day of Bright Sunshine" by Yuki Nakashima, which is like a walking simulator with hardly any Visual aspects, so it's very skippable. As for Voice Acting, only Iris’s voice stands out and brings out her relatively cute demeanor. The remainder is easily forgettable and doesn’t contribute much to the show. The OSTs are just as bland and unforgettable too.
If you stumble upon this series as a Fantasy Anime fan, it's best to avoid this one. Not recommended and would be a waste of time. If you enjoy watching Mathias being OP, go ahead! If you're super interested, give the first three episodes a watch and decide if you’ll continue or not.
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