Anime Review – Saga of Tanya the Evil

Japanese: 幼女戦記 (Youjo Senki)
Episodes: 12
Aired: Jan 6, 2017 to Mar 31, 2017
Studio: Nut
Genre: Action, Military, Fantasy, Isekai
Duration: 24 min. per ep.
Rating: R – 17+ (violence & profanity)
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MY RATING: 8 OUT OF 10

Tanya Degurechaff is a young soldier infamous for predatorial-like ruthlessness and an uncanny, tactical aptitude, earning her the nickname of the “Devil of the Rhine.” Underneath her innocuous appearance, however, lies the soul of a man who challenged Being X, the self-proclaimed God, to a battle of wits—which resulted in him being reincarnated as a little girl into a world of magical warfare. Hellbent on defiance, Tanya resolves to ascend the ranks of her country’s military as it slowly plunges into world war, with only Being X proving to be the strongest obstacle in recreating the peaceful life she once knew. But her perceptive actions and combat initiative have an unintended side effect: propelling the mighty Empire into becoming one of the most powerful nations in mankind’s history.

Story

I love action but I’m not really into the military or war. My idea of action includes magic and flying. But surprisingly, this one has those two but in a military setting. Sounds intriguing right? And it doesn’t just end at that. This anime also has reincarnation wherein the main character was transported into an alternate world after insulting “God”.

To be honest, I actually find the combination quite interesting. However, watching the first episode didn’t really give me the impression that I will love this series as a whole. It was probably because the main character is in the body of a little girl. I’m not particularly into anime with loli characters, so it was kind of cringy at first. But in all fairness, it gets better as I watch further. Well, its evident on my 8 out of 10 rating above, *wink.

Opening & Closing + Songs

I’m not sure if it’s just me, but I find the opening scene really dark. Well, it’s to be expected since it’s a military anime with lots of war scenes being presented. I don’t particularly hate it, but after seeing those characters flying while holding their rifles, ok, I guess I like it a little, hahaha I’m so easy. The closing on the other hand is simple but the art is really beautiful.

I believe both the opening and closing songs fit this series. When I first heard the opening song, it reminded me so much of those really catchy songs from the anime Overlord. And then I found out that it’s the same singer. No wonder!

Characters

Thinking back, other than Tanya (main lead), I think there’s no other character that stood out for me or I find interesting. So I guess let’s just talk about her ok? Hahaha.

My first impression of Tanya is that she’s definitely a devil incarnate inside a little girl’s body, which I think explains the title, lol. She works in efficiency which explains why at such a young age she’s now commanding people in the battlefield. For this kind of character, I think there’s nothing to hate since that’s basically her sole existence in this series.

Voice Actors

I only watched this series on an English dub so I can’t speak much about the Japanese counterpart. But I’m pretty sure it’s amazing as always, *wink.

For this one, it sure took me quite a while to settle (which is pretty normal on an English dub). I can’t say it was awful since there’s some that suits really well in the character they are portraying. I’m usually not very picky in this department unless the anime is really bad lol. So I guess that’s just it hahaha.

Conclusion

You may have noticed that I didn’t add a section for animation here hahaha. Sorry about that. Just like with the voice actors, I’m not really very picky (but once in a blue moon, I do hahaha) when it comes to this as well, so just as long as the story is good, then it’s fine with me.

Despite not being a fan of a military setting anime, I sure enjoyed this series as a whole. I heard there’s season 2 coming, so I’ll definitely be looking forward to it.

Are you a fan of this genre? Then Tanya the Evil might be something you will enjoy as well. Share on X

Trailer

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