Saga of Tanya the Evil

Between a unique twist on the "rebirth in a new world" trope and a dark and devious main character who refuses to surrender to the god(s) it is a must watch.

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.

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.

You know I don't get the evil part at all. OK. She is not a friendly or warm_heart fellow but still, evil? She always try to find logical solutions and most of the time try to find a more peaceful solution. we see she even propose surrender to her enemy several times. she even trained her forces with best way. damn i can say she even care for her subordinates. Yes, for sure she don't believe in god and she is not one of those guys who sacrifice herself for other people. but still, why she is evil?

This is one of the few cases where an anime adaptation surpasses the manga. The manga is a mess of aesthetics, mostly from the 40es in an alternative 1920es setting. The anime is much more coherent.

The main character is actually interesting in his thoughts and actions and the whole story is about a challenge to God where every success of the MC either brings greater challenges or forces God to intervene to up the game.

Worthy of note is also the expressivity of the MC, wether it is coherent with his feelings or he's putting on a face to achieve his goals.