Yojo Senki: Saga of Tanya the Evil

Saga of Tanya the Evil takes something silly and absurd and makes it work. And though the use of absurd ideas is nothing new in anime, the protagonist Tanya von Degurechaff makes this show much more lovable with her twisted personality, albeit one grounded in logic and reality adapted from her previous life, only amplified this time.

Well-thought-out and creative mixture of some humor and subtle antiwar sentiments in its plot. This makes it all the more interesting with the chosen inspiration for the nation and protagonist from whose POV we see the war unfold. The supporting characters add value and conflict to warfare and combat tactics applied in the series. Seeing different mindsets and ideologies collide enhance the realities of war and the unforgiving physical and psychological toll it causes on civilians and the military personnel in combat. The magical aspect also adds another layer to the conflict, one that does not take time to explain and blends very well with the story.

Saga of Tanya the Evil is definitely worth a watch and is one of the stand-out anime series from the isekai sub-genre that has a lot of energy, personality, and madness to its name.

Very hard to get into, but very good anime. It's based on world war which is one of the topics I find to be most boring, but somehow this make it look interesting. Musics are dope and Tanya is cool.

This MC is evil. More evil than the overlord MC. It's interesting to watch. Usually we wish the antagonist to die, but here we wait to see the end of the MC. 😈

Many years ago, I read a book called "People of the Lie". This book examines evil in its different form. Relevant to this discussion is the notion of institutionalized evil. What if the organization, in this case, the military is evil, and you are just dutifully following orders? Are you evil?

If you examine the deeds of Tanya in the TV series, she has pretty much done everything in accordance to regulation, at the same time trying to look out for number one. She is no different from many if not most of my coworkers in a big corporation. In some sense, she seems to show some genuine concerns for the welfare of her command. This is not really expected of her. The expectation is that she only need to feign concern. My feeling is that Tanya is not really evil, she is just a bureaucrat.

The TV anime has great sound effects. The artillery and aerial battles are accompanied by earth shaking acoustics.

The songs were amazing. I can listen to Jingo in the Jungle repeatedly.

I greatly recommend that you give this anime series a try.

While the first episode may make you think this is going to be another shallow Japanese adventure story featuring a lolly, by the end of the 2nd episode you are confronted by its actual depth. The name is misleading, as the Japanese name is "The Military Chronicles of a Little Girl" and boy is it's a roller coaster Chronicle. This is not a simple story, its very complex and the war that Tanya is involved in is only secondary to the real conflict, between Tanya and being X. Tanya may be talented, but against being X she is puny, yet her spirit and drive to survive is breathtaking. Her acts of heroism brought a tear to my eye in one episode, yet she is not perfect and a real SOB. This is a complex and rich story and a massive fun ride.