I'm not going to sit here and legitimately argue that it's either a point for or against this anime that its esteemed hero of a protagonist—the legendary warrior who's transcended time itself to save everyone—is named Kyle. Friggin… Kyle. But there's something so hilarious about it when people in this generic fantasy setting sing the high praises of their valorous savior, and they say stuff like, “You've slain the hydra, saved the princess, and killed a demon—three cheers for the legendary hero, Kyle!” Not to be a hater to all you Kyles out there—I swear I don't hate the name Kyle, it's a perfectly fine name—but surely you get what I mean, right? It gives the whole show a somewhat unserious air through the unintentional comedy of how jarringly simple the name “Kyle” is—and it makes you jokingly think about a certain possible way his enemies could greet him.

To emphasize: I'm not trying to earnestly argue that the gallant, heroic protagonist of this series, having a name as delightfully ill-fitting as “Kyle,” is worth taking into consideration when trying to evaluate the series as a whole. And yet, I still can't help but mention it because “hehe the protagonist is named Kyle” is probably the single most recurring thought I had about this anime while I was watching it. Not because I thought that every single time they said his name (although I did), but more so because it's not like it left me much of anything else to mentally chew on.

New Saga is, at its core, another run-of-the-mill power fantasy adventure anime. Perhaps the only thing that sets it apart from its (many) peers, however, is how our protagonist—the aforementioned Kyle—goes about getting his power. Namely, through a bout of accidental time travel that sends him back just far enough to do something about the hell that's about to be unleashed upon his hometown by way of demons. So rather than something along the lines of the more typical sudden gain of an overpowered weapon or ability, Kyle is instead armed with the knowledge of what's going to happen if he lets things run their natural course—but also, of course, where he might find certain useful resources. Those resources help him along his journey to save everyone considerably, but still.

The idea of using time travel here is, on paper, a cool one. But in practice, the show barely utilizes it. After that first episode, most of the time we see Kyle reference or otherwise try to make use of his future knowledge, it's something totally new that's sprung on the audience in the moment. This happens so often that it comes off as careless—as though the show is making up his memories and what's important, and the story as a whole by extension of that, as it goes along. As though to make up for that, there are attempts at worldbuilding and having a bit of political intrigue along with it throughout New Saga, but never to any meaningful payoff. It's explained so quickly, and usually becomes irrelevant just as quickly as it appeared.

A better cast of characters might've made all this easier to ignore, but our main characters are bland at best (Kyle, Sildonia, and the obligatory girls who are crushing on Kyle), and downright annoying at worst (Theron). They're all one, rigid note— “protagonist,” “is in love with Kyle,” “horny,” “also is in love with Kyle,” “likes snacks,” and so on. And their assigned singular trait is more or less all they get in the personality department. And if you were hoping for something like backstory or character development arcs to make up for that, you'll have to look elsewhere—there's virtually none of that to be found here. In other words: what you see is, unfortunately, what you get in New Saga.

And what would suit this unimpressive show more than equally unimpressive production value? The music, the animation, the voice acting—none of them really stand out, for better or for worse. Although when it comes to dub versus sub, I'd give sub a slight edge, if only because Kyle has the most dialogue, and I prefer Yūma Uchida's Kyle to Kyle (ha) Igneczi's. The direction, meanwhile, could use some work—in particular, about the fights. New Saga has its fair share of battles peppered throughout the series, some more big and important than others. But whether it's a little scuffle or a full-blown duel, the direction just does this series no favors. Camera angles tend to range from boring to unflattering, and would really take away from the momentum if only there were any there in the first place. But luckily, the fights themselves rarely (I can think of one sole exception, toward the end of the series) have anything to make them feel thrilling or impactful in the first place, like exciting battle choreography or a lot of visual flair, so at least we haven't lost much, I guess.

Time travel is a cool angle to approach a power fantasy anime, but poor writing prevents New Saga from ever feeling like it's living up to its full potential. And in the absence of any other traits it could've had that might've helped people look past that—say, a fun cast of characters, or hype-worthy fight scenes—it leaves this anime without any memorable qualities. …Well, except for the fact that the mighty name it bestowed upon its glorious and almighty hero, of all the possible names, friggin Kyle.