Yojo Senki: Saga of Tanya the Evil

Tanya's got guts to do this stuff... Anyway, I really enjoyed this Isekai and Military anime. It really was a blast! It's probably the first dark anime of this kind, and honestly, I have to say, I'm impressed! Definitely worth watching!

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. 😈

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.

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.

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.