Saga of Tanya the Evil | Anime Review
The story of Tanya Von Degurechaff is a weird, but fascinating, fusion of a “Loli” character and the violence of war. Nicknamed as the Devil of the Rhine, she has gained the reputation of being both a terrifying commander and a ruthless opponent in battle. She is cruel in training and wickedly grins and dances in the sky as she takes down her enemies. But don’t let all of these facts about her make you forget that she is still merely a child.
Set in an alternative version of Europe, where an ongoing war between nations exist, a cute little girl was born with the mind of an adult man. He was a former Japanese salaryman who engaged in a philosophical argument with “Being X”, a being that claimed to be God, who made its presence at the moment before his death. Being X then reincarnates him into the body of a cute little girl and is plunged into a world of magic and warfare.
In an attempt to continuously deny the existence of Being X as God, Tanya decides to climb the ranks of the Imperial Military and ensure herself a peaceful life away from any danger. However, her efforts created the very opposite. She became the Empire’s “ace” as she ended up creating the deadliest Aerial Mage Unit, while leading the Empire to becoming one of the most powerful nation in the history of the world.
It is an interesting story based on Carlo Zen’s light novel series of the same name. The anime currently has one season with twelve episodes, plus a sequel movie. The series deals with complex themes such as death, war, politics, knowledge versus ignorance, and quest for power. Tanya relates and applies her knowledge on human history from our world to the new world, and attempts to ensure that the Empire, an alternative Germany, wins the world war.
The anime also incorporates the atmosphere and aesthetics of Dieselpunk and includes a futuristic technology that uses magic. This allowed the anime to present a unique form of warfare, where “mages” fly into the skies carrying rifles that fire off magic bullets. Since WWI-inspired fighter planes do exist in this world, Tanya and her men are more like a flying infantry and are the first to respond as an air support.
Saga of Tanya the Evil is a great show for those who are into military stories, action, war, and tactics & strategies. Overall, the anime is an 8/10 (based on MAL score) for me and I’m looking forward for its upcoming second season. For similar recommendations, check out:
- Overlord - Both are Isekai anime and share the same idea of a salaryman being born into another world and becomes an OP character. However, Overlord is more of an RPG fantasy than an alternate history.
- Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion - Both anime are set in an alternate history/world, as well as a military genius for a main character (MC). Both MC’s use military tactics and commands their troops to execute them. However, the warfare in Code Geass is far more advance as the anime utilizes humanoid war machines.
- Eighty-Six (86) - Although considered a Mecha anime, much like Code Geass, both the Eighty-Six (86) and Saga of Tanya the Evil anime, not only share the same Military fiction genre, but also share similar themes such as war, politics, death, and knowledge versus ignorance.
Haven’t seen this anime yet? Give it a try. Thanks for reading.
