The Fall 2026 Anime Preview Guide

A Tale of the Secret Saint

Fia always dreamed of becoming a knight. Born into a family of knights, she's the least talented among them, but she still clings to her hope and trains with everything she has. When the day comes for her to slay a small demon and prove her worth, she ends up face to face with a dragon instead. A deadly injury makes her life flash before her eyes…and she suddenly remembers her former life, when she was a powerful Saint in a bygone era who defeated the Demon King. That life ended in pain because of who she was, making her fear ever becoming a Saint again. Now that the magic from her previous life has been rekindled, she may become a more powerful knight than she ever dreamed–if only she can survive long enough.

A Tale of the Secret Saint is based on the light novel series by author Touya and illustrator chibi. The anime series is streaming on Crunchyroll on Saturdays.

It's hard to blame Fia for not wanting to be a saint. Even if you discount the fact that her entire family is made up of knights – and appear to be quite overprotective – the minute she remembers her past life, she recalls that the demon who tormented and killed her promised to visit the same fate upon her should she ever be reborn with the same powers. So when Fia's first knight test goes awry, resulting in her near-death experience and returned memories, it's hardly a shock that she opts to tell exactly no one that her powers are still there.

This lines up with my memories of reading the first light novel in this series: a decent start that deteriorates afterward as it turns out Fia isn't the sharpest tool in the shed. Sadly, that's already apparent: when she returns home after her test, she immediately tries to cover up her new pact with a powerful SS-rank monster in the stupidest way possible. If her memories came from a past life in another world (like, oh, modern Japan as a totally random example), her excuse might make a bit more sense to us viewers. But her past life was in the same world. She has zero excuse for not knowing that black dragons are the most powerful monsters out there, that they never form pacts on a whim, and that the healing potion she gave him would have done exactly nothing to heal him. Suddenly, it looks like Fia's three older siblings weren't being overprotective of her at all; they were well aware of her deficiencies.

Still, that bit of annoyance aside, this is a decent enough first episode. We get a good sense of who Fia is and who she was in the past when she went by Serafina. In fact, the horrible end she met as a saint works towards explaining why she's so utterly different now. Why would her soul want to repeat the horrors of the past in this new life? It may have been pure subconscious self-defense that she is the way she is now, because if even she's unaware of her saintly powers, there's no way she could be killed for them a second time. And the way Shion Wakayama delivers her lines does help with this, giving Fia a bouncy, almost carefree tone. (Wakayama deserves a lot of credit for that one super-fast speech Fia makes, too.)

The art and animation are fine – there's not much to write home about in any sense. Zavilia, the dragon, quietly contradicting her with head motions is pretty good, and he has a cute design; on the other hand, Fia's ludicrously large hair ribbon kind of irritates me for no good reason. This is a perfectly acceptable first episode – and as an added bonus, it has no stat screens, which probably shouldn't bump it up in my estimation, but here we are.

Here's a tip for all of you secret saints trying to hide your identities: don't recite your spells out loud. Every single time Fia enchants her sword (and herself), we see very clearly that she's murmuring the magic words aloud, which (and maybe I'm being picky) doesn't seem like the best plan if you're trying not to be found out. Then there's the fact that all of her spells are way too powerful to be cast with the level of magic knowledge currently available to mages. Fia mentions that the technology for her brand of spellcasting has been lost in the years between her lives, so she's fully aware that she's using spells that ought to be impossible unless you're a saint. And yet, she keeps casting them throughout the episode, then is shocked, shocked, when those around her figure it out. Fia, sweetheart, you're quite literally broadcasting what you're doing in front of the best of the best the kingdom has to offer. What did you think would happen?

Not that anyone's figured out that she's Serafina's reincarnation or a saint of any type yet – or at least they're not telling Fia if they have. Based on what Prince Saviz and the three knight commanders say, however, I'd suspect they're remarkably close to knowing and are probably just waiting for further confirmation. It doesn't bode well for Fia's desire to fly under the radar as a knight rather than a saint, especially since her enhancement spells have ensured her placement in the top knight troupe – one of only two newcomers to join a regiment that typically requires knights to have ten years of experience to join. Fia may have great hair and magical skills, but she's clearly not a stealth genius. (And someone really should have called her out about that magic stone in her fight against Ardio.)

That's what irritated me about the novel I read, and it's rearing its ugly head and making me annoyed with the anime too. Compounding this issue, most of Fia's sword fights in this episode are reduced to a few quick shots of Fia and her opponents with their swords crossed. The fight against Saviz fares a bit better, but it still isn't as impressive as it needs to be to drive home that even with saint-grade enhancements, Fia can't beat the prince. Since she's unsure if she'll be able to bring herself to protect the descendants of the men who left her for dead, this is particularly important.

And all of this is without getting into the warning bell that talk of “increasing points” rings. We haven't had any stat screens yet, but now I'm very much afraid that those are looming in the story's future. Much as I love a strong swordfighting lady, I'm not eager to see more of this. Book-to-anime adaptations have pleasantly surprised me before, but this clearly isn't going to be one.

Oh hey, a girl isekai played straight! While “Villainess” has been popping off lately and some of the oldest, overtly feminist works in the “transported to another world” genre, like Red River, are starting to get more attention, A Tale of the Secret Saint is one of the few anime I can think of that features a female lead in what is now an overt power fantasy format. Sure, there was Heroine? Saint? No, I'm an All-Works Maid (And Proud of It)! from last season, but that read more like a parody to me than a traditional entry in the genre.

An isekai by way of in-world reincarnation, Fia is the youngest daughter of a noble family. She decides to become a knight, as the more familial and patriarchal duties expected of someone in her station can fall to her siblings. While they initially hesitate, her family eventually consents, and she travels to the woods to defeat a monster and take its magic stone to prove her martial prowess. When she accidentally heals a feared Black Dragon and is grievously wounded, she remembers she was a Saint and awakens her tremendous magical powers. After gaining the Black Dragon Zavilia as a familiar, she returns to her family's home. She remembers that awakening these powers will put her in the crosshairs of the Demon Lord and his minions.

Secret Saint definitely does a lot with a little. The talent, time, and monetary constraints in this Felix Film production are clear, but it still lands some jokes purely through its editing and comedic timing. Fia is also a plucky, occasionally anxious delight, and voice actor Shion Wakayama brings her charm and energy. That's about where my visual compliments end, though. This episode of Secret Saint also relies on distractingly noticeable after-effects to cut corners in its animation, and there's a sequence in the opening where Fia jumps between her Saint costuming and her current costuming, and it just doesn't work because of the framing and shot angle.

Still, though, I'm curious to see what a fairly straightforward isekai story looks like in 2026 with a lady in the leading role, and someone had to have faith in this project for the first two episodes to drop back-to-back. I'm not holding my breath, but fingers crossed this anime proves interesting and improves technically in the next few episodes.

Boy, the cast of A Tale of the Secret Saint sure do like saying exactly what they're thinking and doing out loud, huh? While this over-explanation was an issue in the first episode, it was even more noticeable in the second, with Fia borderline flaunting some of her magic MacGuffins she's supposed to keep secret. Furthermore, while it's difficult for me to take any narrative seriously that has to explain its power system in terms of “points,” à la the Dragon Quest games Secret Saint clearly lifts from, this episode had enough world-building to keep my interest piqued.

As she enters the knight exams, Fia starts meeting characters who will round out the supporting cast beyond her siblings. This includes Fabian, who's the son of a marquess, which is noteworthy in this world for an unexplained reason, and Saviz Náv, the leader of the Black Dragon Knight Bergaid, who looks especially like the Demon Lord's right hand from the first episode. Fia becomes a knight thanks to her main character powers, while earning the attention of these other characters and nearly outing herself as the specialist girl in all the land in the process. We also learn here that the current rules of this kingdom are the descendants of the nobility that killed her in her life as a Saint, and that the King's brother is set to take over the throne, as the King “is apparently incapable of loving women.”

I'm more than a little interested to see what is implied to be gay or asexual representation looks like in this fantasy setting, as well as the politics of the court that it inspires, but I don't know if Secret Saint has the writing chops to fully explore those ideas. Episode two also reveals that Secret Saint will have fewer gender politics than episode one implied, as apparently in this world it's not unusual for women to hold the station of Knight. From my view, this means that Secret Saint is cutting out what could have been its most affecting element, but there are also a bunch of hot guys who aren't related to Fia running around now, and it'd be pretty fun if they all started pining after her in a reverse-harem kind of way.

Right now it looks like Secret Saint isn't aspiring to be much more than a gender-swapped power fantasy isekai, which means that it's not amazing but also better than much of the other works in this genre just by virtue of not having the stink of misogyny and male entitlement all over it.

Whenever I see the word “Saint” in a modern anime title, it tends to raise the same hairs on the back of my neck as when a show flaunts a term like “Reincarnation,” “Overpowered,” “Rejected,” or “Cheat-Skill.” There's nothing inherently wrong about playing with the classic tropes of power-fantasy stories (especially when your target audience is mostly young adults who possess what I will politely refer to as “still-developing palettes”). The issue is that I have seen dozens, if not hundreds, of these kinds of shows at this point, and nearly all of them are boring as hell, because they are content to do little more than rehash the editorially mandated stipulations of their respective formulas while greedily demanding viewers' time, attention, and money.

There is but one upside to dealing with a bar of quality that is lodged so deep within the fathoms of the Earth's crust: It honestly doesn't take much to impress me at this point. If I am given even the tiniest crumbs of effort, style, or authorial passion, then I will devour them like the starving little street urchin that this industry has made of me. All of this is to say that, while A Tale of the Secret Saint is no masterpiece, pretty much every component part it is working with – narrative, characterization, art, music, etc – is on average maybe twenty percent better than the mediocrity that makes up for most of the competition. Twenty percent may not sound like a grand improvement, but as I said, woe betide the starving fool who turns his nose away from a halfway-decent bite of food.

The first point in this anime's favor is that Fia is a heroine who actually has a spark of personality, thank the Lord, which goes a long way toward crafting a television experience worth sitting through. The premiere establishes her earnest desire to become a knight, her role as the runt of a noble family, and her somewhat vague but still noticeable likeability, which gets us more invested in the usual routine of table-setting that these introductions go through. When she almost instantly gets herself killed by stupidly mistaking a baby dragon for an injured bird, it actually feels a little tragic, which is what makes us want to see her get that inevitable power-up thanks to her Saint powers.

Speaking of which, I am also immediately more interested when the reincarnation angle of one of these plots is more interesting than just, “A random Japanese teenager was gifted the powers of an unstoppable god for basically no reason.” Serafina was a beloved and notable figure in this world centuries before Fia was born, which gives our protagonist an emotional stake in the new powers and the mantle of destiny that comes with them. I am sure you're just as shocked as I am to discover that it is good for stories to feature defined characters and more than the absolute bare minimum of worldbuilding. While I don't think A Tale of the Secret Saint will shift any paradigms, it's smart enough to have its plucky heroine become inadvertent best friends with the secretly adorable dragon who accidentally murdered her. If that isn't a sure sign that episode two is worth a watch, I do not know what is.

The first episode of A Tale of the Secret Saint was a charming spin on the typical reincarnation and magical saint tropes, thanks largely to the show's higher-than-average quality writing and its very likeable main character, Fia. Now that she's discovered a font of incredible magical power, Fia is set to walk the path of so many venerated heroines that have come before her: She's going to cheat her way through the Royal Knight Brigade entrance exam and finally stick it to her haughty older brothers.

The best “overpowered hero” anime are the ones that make their characters believably flawed and human, even if they have the impossible strength and supernatural powers of deities at their disposal. I like that Fia is the kind girl who is willing to skirt the rules of chivalry and honesty if it means having a more-than-equitable chance at achieving her dreams. One of the most endearing moments of the episode is, ironically enough, where Fia allows herself to be a little petty and vindictive: When she uses a magical enchantment to best her brother in a sparring match and qualify for the Brigade, he angrily asks her if she's satisfied with having one using such underhanded tactics. “A win's a win” is all she replies, with a cheeky smile. Hell yes, girl. Do what you have to do get your bag.

I also liked how overplaying her hand in the climactic duel against Saviz proved to be so risky. On the one hand, yeah, she should have known that juicing up her magical sword to such a degree would end up looking suspicious eventually, especially to such a trained and careful eye as the Black Dragon Grand Master of the whole freaking Knight Brigade. Then again, Saviz is clearly more than a little impressed at Fia's acumen for strategy and quick thinking. The best part is that these qualities don't have anything to do with her saintly heritage. Fia has always had the makings of a hero, and now a seriously attractive hunk with a sexy eyepatch has taken notice.

The only real complaint I have here is that we're seeing the limitations of Secret Saint's production values, as this is a much more action-focused episode than the premiere. While the animation and storyboarding scrapes by, it is only just barely, and there were many occasions where I found myself unfortunately wondering how much better the episode might be if the visuals could cash the checks that its plot was doling out. Still, this anime has proven to be perfectly FINE Entertainment, indeed, and I could see it being a dark horse favorite amongst many fans this autumn.