27/07/2021: review of The Saga of Tanya the Evil

Here's our latest reader submission, by Kaoru Yamazaki! It's a splendid review of a historical fantasy isekai series that started out as a light novel before getting an awesome anime adaptation. It's just recently been greenlit for a further season, so now's a perfect time to check it out. Hopefully, this review can open your eyes to the merits of this series and give you something to sink your teeth into with the remainder of your summer break!

BTC NO PICO: REVIEW OF THE SAGE OF TANYA THE EVIL

On 19 June 2021, it was announced that the second season of the anime series The Saga of Tanya the Evil, known in Japan as Youjo Senki, had been green-lit, with the returning cast and staff reprising their roles and production to be handled by NUT.

Now that we can expect to see everyone’s favourite murderous loli back in action, here’s my review of The Saga of Tanya the Evil.

Overview

The Saga of Tanya the Evil centres on an unnamed Japanese salaryman who is murdered by a disgruntled subordinate whom he had previously dismissed for poor work performance. At the moment of his death, he is confronted by an unnamed supernatural entity, presumably God, although the main character contemptuously refers to the entity as “Being X”, who chides the salaryman for not having ‘faith’.

Even at the brink of death however, the atheistic salaryman is unimpressed by such divine intervention and openly expresses his disbelief at the concept of the supernatural as well as Being X. In retaliation, Being X decides to reincarnate the salaryman into a world where he would experience significant hardship and deprivation, thereby forcing him to turn to Being X for help and finally develop ‘faith’.

True to Being X’s word, our MC is reincarnated as an orphan girl, Tanya Degurechaff, in an alternate world that is supposed to parallel Europe during the First World War (with elements of the Second World War thrown in as well). Soon enough, war breaks out between the Empire (the alternate equivalent of Imperial Germany) and several other nations that are supposed to mirror France, the United Kingdom, and the Scandinavian countries, amongst others (true enough, both the original light novel and the manga adaptation show that the map of Tanya’s world is literally the map of Europe, with some slight boundary changes).

However, in Tanya’s world, there is a slight twist. Besides the usual paraphernalia of guns, big guns and even bigger guns, there also exist human beings who possess magical powers. These humans are usually recruited into their respective countries’ militaries as ‘mages’. Tanya, being one such person, opts to volunteer in the Empire’s military as an imperial mage and soon manages to climb the ranks with rapid speed (by the end of Season 1 of the anime, she already holds the rank of Major).

The rest of the story tracks Tanya’s experiences on the warfront, as she and the soldiers under her command fight it out with the armies of the Allied nations, her own interactions with her contemporaries and nominal superiors within the military, as well as her longstanding duel with Being X as each party endeavours to outwit and outmatch the other.

The original light novel series are written by Carlo Zen, with illustrations done by Shinobu Shinotsuki. Twelve volumes have already been released, with the series likely to continue in the foreseeable future. There also exists a manga adaptation and an anime series, which readers would probably be more familiar with, comprising of Season 1 and an animated movie which picks up from the end of Season 1’s storyline.

At this point, if you’ve managed to make it through the review without being overwhelmed by all that information, congratulations! Now that we’re done with the condensed Readers’ Digest version of the show, I thought I’d go into a bit more detail into why precisely I’ve enjoyed this series a lot and why you should check it out as well.

The World-Building

I think one of the series’ biggest strengths, if not it’s biggest strength, is the amount of detail and world-building that has gone into the series. The original light novel in my opinion does this very well, with a great amount of effort going in to explain not only the geopolitical developments leading up the present war between the Empire and the Allied nations but also the inner workings of the Empire’s military and all other sorts of background information. Granted, it’s not on the level of a Tom Clancy novel in terms of detail and exposition but it gets the job done and Zen manages to construct an alternative world in the light novels that is nicely fleshed-out without losing its internal logic (even the concept of ‘mages’ is explained well-enough in such a way as to make it fairly believable in a World War I-esque setting).

The anime adaptation is a bit skimpier where such details are concerned but it still provides just enough information to not leave the viewer scratching his or her head at the show.

The Plot

The plot of The Saga of Tanya the Evil is deceptively linear and straightforward at first glance: Tanya refuses to submit to Being X and decides to stick it to the deity by attempting to secure a cushy desk job at the rear and away from the frontlines.

However, the storyline’s unpredictability, and for me, one of its big selling points, reveals itself when more often than not, Tanya’s efforts to get away from the frontlines tend to backfire with tragicomic results, and Tanya inevitably finds herself fighting on the frontlines and inevitably leading her men to victory after victory. Ironically, it is precisely because of her own successes as an officer that she comes to be valued by the top brass as a highly valued military asset which in turn leads to more frontline assignments and battles for her to fight.

Besides Tanya’s own running battles with Being X and her nominal superiors in the military, Zen also takes care not to neglect the broader narrative of the raging war between the Empire and the Allied nations. As the story progresses through each successive battle, the reader is kept in the right amount of suspense as to whether the Empire will indeed come out victorious and win the war once and for all, or whether the next battle proves to be the Empire’s last.

In a supremely ironic twist of fate, each victory strengthens the Empire’s military position vis-à-vis its adversaries and yet, each victory also causes more and more nations to resent the Empire’s growing strength, thereby compelling them to take up arms against it, thereby prolonging the war and increasing the impossibility of a permanent peace. History wonks would be familiar with, and would probably appreciate, this particular aspect of the plot, given the numerous historical examples that have played out in history (Germany in the two world wars and Japan in the Second World War come to mind):

Since the light novel series is still ongoing, it remains to be seen just how Carlo Zen will address this aspect of the series’ storyline, and in turn what becomes of Tanya in the end.

Light Novel, Manga or Anime?

I would usually recommend that first-time viewers check out the anime adaptation of The Saga of Tanya the Evil first to get a quick introduction to the basic storyline and the principal characters of the show. Once one is done with the anime series, I suggest one jumps straight to the light novels to get the full experience of the series. As stated above, the light novels contain far more detail and a more expansive world-building than the anime. Certain key events in the anime are also given a more fleshed-out exposition in the light novel.

In fairness to the anime though, the artwork is quite nicely done and I enjoyed the character designs that the studio NUT brought to the show, as well as the battle scenes, which managed to capture the realism and horrors of war. I personally wasn’t too sold on the manga because I felt the artwork at certain parts was a bit too cartoonish that detracted from the overall tone of the story.

So to sum up, I would recommend that one start with the anime series first, then jump straight to the light novels, with the manga to be read only if you’re bored with plenty of free time on your hands (but at that point, you’re better off just getting into the Fate series, right? Right?)

Conclusion

If you’re a military nut who enjoys some good old-fashioned 20th century-style warfare or a big history wonk, or even both, then The Saga of Tanya the Evil is just the right series for you.

Even if you are none of these, if you enjoy a decent, action-packed isekai show that’s a refreshing break from all the usual conventional stereotypes and tropes of the moral, righteous, upstanding main character, then The Saga of Tanya the Evil is definitely for you.

Shiota Nagisa's ending words:

That's it for this submission. It was a really good and deep view of the series! Personally, I'd heard about the series but wasn't sure which one to try out first. A comparison of the three media really helps! There's only about 1.5 weeks of summer left, so let's all try to have as much fun as possible! Thanks to Kaoru Yamazaki for taking the time to write this. We've a number of non-reader submissions in the pipeline, so look forward to those very soon. See you!