The last time I watched a series that involved cute girls in a war-like setting, I enjoyed
it for its upbeat story and entertaining characters.
That was "Girls Und Panzer".
"Saga of Tanya the Evil" is not upbeat, but oh man, is it as entertaining.
What I knew about this show going in was that it involved a young girl.
One who is a super genius for her age and is moving up the ranks in a German like military
during world war two.
Also I knew that there is magic and she’s quite adept at it.
So I figured that we were going to have some story about her trying to protect her country
from "the enemy".
You know typical stuff with some magic flair because there needs to be something to spice
it up.
But man does this series take an entirely different direction.
If all you watch is the first episode, even then you can kind of get a hint of how many
fucks Tanya does not give.
She may be young, but she is in command and will do whatever it takes to defeat her enemies
as quickly as possible.
Even if that involves sacrificing the troops under her command.
Though usually she only does that when they piss her off.
This alone, was enough to grab me.
I wrote down some notes after that episode, I’d list them all out but that would be
tedious so instead let me summarize.
If this is all the show is about it will get old fast.
Tanya seems to have some kind of patriotic loyalty or religious zealotism to her but
we have yet to see the reasoning behind her motivation.
We also have yet to see the reason why a girl her age has the abilities that she does.
If the show does not explain these things soon, my interest will disappear.
Then episode two starts.
Spoilers by the by.
Episode two begins in Japan, in what looks to be present day.
A Japanese businessman begins narrating his boring and cold views on the world.
How he plans to get his ass promoted to the good life while following the rules because
doing so is easy.
Then he dies.
Or rather he gets murdered by a fellow employee he fired.
Fired for legitimate reasons even if he was a stone cold ass about it.
Either way in the last moments before his death he gets a meeting with God, or the devil,
it’s intentionally unclear.
But this entity wants an explanation for why it should re-incarnate him, when he does not
believe in god.
Then there’s some philosophical talk for a bit.
The businessman does not plan to start believing even on the edge of death.
So the god decides to reincarnate him anyways, though into a body and a world where he may
become destitute enough to finally place his faith in God.
Thus the Japanese businessman is re-born as Tanya.
Tanya is not pleased.
What this series has become is not some story about a young girl protecting her home from
invaders.
Instead it's about a pissed of Japanese businessman and his quest to stick it to the man.
The man in this case being the being who placed him in these circumstances.
All Tanya wants to do now is place herself in a life that is comfortable and free of
any chance of death.
But because god wills it, she gets put into circumstances that are ever increasingly dangerous.
This will most likely continue until Tanya finally caves and believes in god.
Though she is a stubborn one.
The show is a heavy contrast from other series, because despite its setting it decides to
go off and do its own thing.
Comparing it the last series I watched with magic in a alternate version of WWII, this
is quite a bit darker.
Izetta the Last Witch was a series about hope and perseverance.
Also romances that went nowhere, and plots that crashed and burned during the second
half.
No I'm not bitter.
Tanya is about a quest for revenge against a god that our main character refuses to acknowledge.
Even given all the events that keep happening around her to make her think otherwise.
The entertainment comes from watching the unfortunate events occur to this awful person
. Like, Tanya is a truly, TRULY, awful human being.
She was cold and distant in her previous life, at least as far as we saw, but she has become
a vengeful and vindictive killer AND I LOVE IT.
Now, as with every series though there is the chance for things to go tits up.
Going back to Izetta from last season for a moment, I loved the shit out of the premise
and the characters.
But that love only lasted until about half way through the show, then everything took
a trip downhill.
Here though we would need to go heavily off the rails to suffer the same fate.
Not saying it couldn’t happen but it’s a bit less likely.
In the end the series has to answer the question of if Tanya will cave and start believing
in this god.
If she does, what finally drives her to it.
If she doesn’t, how does she survive or overcome her circumstances.
How the story goes about explaining all of this will be key to how much I’ll recommend
the show once it ends.
Until then, I expect a wild ride and as such give my recommendation to watch the series
as it airs.
If you can only watch a few shows this season, I would hope that this is one you have a look
at.
It’s worth it, for now.
If you are interested though, you can go over on Crunchyroll and watch it if you happen
to have access to that website.
Link in the description for a Crunchyroll free trial as usual should you require it.
and what did you guys think of The Saga of Taya the Evil?
Let me know down in the whatchamajig, and for those of you who are further along in
the show or have read the manga, no spoilers please.
Thank you for joining me on this First Reaction.
If you like this sort of thing, hit the like button to let me know and until next time,
ladies, gentlemen, and others, Stay Frosty.