Youjo Senki (Saga of Tanya the Evil)

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.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Related Anime

Adaptation:	Youjo Senki
Other:	Youjo Shenki Episode 0, Youjo Shenki
Summary:	Youjo Senki: Senkyou Houkoku
Sequel:	Youjo Senki Movie
Character:	Isekai Quartet, Isekai Quartet 2, Isekai Quartet Movie: Another World
Side story:	Youjo Senki: Sabaku no Pasta Daisakusen

More characters

Characters & Voice Actors

Degurechaff, Tanya

Main

Yuuki, Aoi
Japanese

Serebryakova, Viktoriya Ivanovna

Main

Hayami, Saori
Japanese

von Zettour, Hans

Supporting

Ootsuka, Houchuu
Japanese

von Lergen, Erich

Supporting

Miki, Shinichiro
Japanese

Sioux, Mary

Supporting

Tomatsu, Haruka
Japanese

von Rudersdorf, Kurt

Supporting

Genda, Tesshou
Japanese

Weiss, Matheus Johann

Supporting

Hamano, Daiki
Japanese

Existence X

Supporting

Tezuka, Hideaki
Japanese

von Schugel, Adelheid

Supporting

Tobita, Nobuo
Japanese

Sioux, Anson

Supporting

Horiuchi, Kenyuu
Japanese

More staff

Staff

Cook, Justin

Producer

Tanaka, Shou

Producer

Kikushima, Kazufumi

Producer

Isogai, Noritomo

Producer

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Opening Theme

"JINGO JUNGLE" by MYTH & ROID (eps 3-4, 7-11)

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Ending Theme

	1: "JINGO JUNGLE" by MYTH & ROID (eps 2,12)
	2: "Los! Los! Los!" by Tanya Degurechaff (Aoi Yuuki) (eps 3-4, 6-7, 9-11)
	3: "Sensen no Realism (戦線のリアリズム)" by Mako Niina (eps 8)

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Reviews

Jul 18, 2017

Polyphemus

Not Recommended

My first encounter with the anime "The Saga of Tanya the Not Particularly Evil" intrigued me greatly. I walked in on my roommate watching some anime with a little girl and, as per tradition, I casually called him a pedophile. But then something strange happened. Rather than the usual "ACKSHUALLY, she's a 500 year old demon," he said "ACKSHUALLY, she's a middle aged man." Now, I was horrified by this. I slapped him and began to shout. "Why?? Hasn't this trap shit gone on long enough??? It’s too far!“ I said. But he explained the plot to me, so I told him it sounded stupid. ... "No,” he said “Actually, it's really good." And that is where our sad story begins. (It was not, dear readers, actually really good.)

An essential problem here is that the whole premise feels pointless. Some dude dies and God doesn’t like him so he turns him into a badass loli mage. Because that’s a punishment now. Why is it important that this girl used to be a man when we know basically nothing about her previous life? This reincarnation seems to give her knowledge that battle-hardened generals envy, but there's no reason why some salaryman who’s read a few wikipedia articles would be a genius at military strategy. And did he have to be some fedora tipper's wet dream? Libertarian, atheist……I guarantee this man dabbles in bestiality just based on this combination, and this makes him a really unsympathetic character. Couldn’t we have had an anime where a loli becomes Hitler, without this whole thing where it’s actually some reincarnated old dude? That sounds like a much more interesting character. As it is, they keep telling us she’s a monster or evil every episode, but she’s mostly just dull, which is why they have to keep telling us…..we would have never guessed if we were left to our own devices.

In any case, I care more about the actual plot than this weird backstory. Or I would, if the AU was not so vague and dull. One alternate option would have been to create a whole new universe, with only slight similarities to our own, but that would have required world building and work. Another would have been to have it take place in a universe more similar to our own, but the points at which the anime departs from history often seem to be more out of ignorance than creativity, suggesting that this choice was never really an option. As such, we’re stuck in this uncanny middle ground where the viewer knows next to nothing about the setting, despite how similar it is to his own world’s history. The lack of clarification on points of departure is jarring and it destroys immersion.

The ‘Characters' section must be put at 1/10, to represent that there is only one character. (And she’s not that good!) I can’t say I remember anyone else’s name, or anything about them. It seems as if the creators genuinely did not put any effort into creating unique, compelling, or creative characters. I don’t care about any of these people, or what happens to them. And every time I start to feel invested in Tanya I’m reminded she’s actually just some weird old dude, and the whole orphan backstory means nothing. Most character interactions are very shallow, and we don’t know anyone’s motivations other than the absolute basics. Where are the meaningful character interactions? Where is the development? It’s ridiculous and shallow.

The ED was probably the best part of every episode. Not only because it meant the episode was over, but because it was actually not too bad. No complaints there.

Overall, I thought most of this anime’s potential was squandered. It wasn’t an atrocity but I wouldn’t recommend it, nor do I plan to watch the next season. There wasn't really enough tension or depth to keep me going and it became difficult to watch towards the end.

Story: 3/10
Art: 4/10
Sound: 6/10
Character: 1/10
Enjoyment: 5/10
Overall: Let's just call it a 4 or something

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Mar 31, 2017

HelghastKillzone

Recommended

Spoiler

It’s not very often that an anime comes out that has its main protagonist be the villain and does it so well. Overlord is a popular show that explores this idea and Youjo Senki would be a highly recommended for those who enjoy certain aspects of it. It follows Tanya Degurechaff, a Japanese salaryman reincarnated into a female child soldier, in a reality where magic coexists alongside an alternate timeline of World War One. The twist is that she fights for Germanian Empire and behaves far differently than a stereotypical heroine.

Characters

Youjo Senki is defined by the main female lead of Tanya as she ascends ... the ranks of the Imperial Army though bloodshed and maneuvering within its bureaucracy. What makes her character and story so interesting is that she provides a fascinating case study on villainy. Far from the cliche ambitions of world domination, fame or riches, her ultimate objective is to live out a comfortable life by following the rules to an dogmatic degree and being competent. It is a mundane goal, but it does ground her character in becoming relatable.

Being a sociopathic salaryman in her former life, Tanya runs afoul of God due to her lack of empathy and atheism, which then causes her to be reborn into a grim world in order to unlock her faith in a higher power. The crux of the series is for Tanya to physically survive the ever expanding conflict that will become the First World War in this alternate timeline challenge for Tanya become twofold as she is to survive in this new world while not succumbing to the spiritual whims of God’s conversion efforts.

However, Tanya does have access to quite a bit of power in the form of retaining full knowledge of her previous life, extremely high magical potential, ruthless work ethic and state of the art equipment. Despite ending up in the body of a ten year old blonde girl, there is very little pandering to when it comes to her loli physicality, and those who underestimate her quickly find themselves outclassed and outmaneuvered. Tanya is completely ruthless and brutal when it comes to waging warfare as her tactics are to swiftly end the fight with clever tactics and overwhelming firepower. Off the battlefield and with the knowledge of World War One, she can sweet talk her way to the command staff with groundbreaking military doctrine and instill a sense of reverence in her troops.

Indeed, the greatest downfall to her is the incompatibility of her final goals, ideology and actions within the military environment resulting in the various schemes that she cooks up to ensure a comfortable position ends up with the opposite effect. Her adherence to rules, regulations and orders does not offer any alternate route in spite of Tanya’s being the villain in her own story. While the civilian business world can be far more accommodating to the desires of talented individuals, the military values competency by rewarding those specific individuals like Tanya, with greater responsibility. There was no way that the Imperial Army was letting a brilliant tactician and ace mage with unmatched strength or leadership ability, be sidelined in the greatest war to end all war. As smart and cunning as Tanya is, for her to not realize that simple face seems like an oversight to me.

The other characters of the show don’t even come close to holding a candle to the flamethrower that is Tanya, but that doesn’t mean that they are poorly designed or constructed. Her subordinate, Viktoriya Serebryakova, a female conscripted into the German Empire Army, acts as the foil to Tanya’s cold efficiency and utilitarian worldview. With nationalistic ideals, a strong sense of duty, concerns about her comrades and a belief in a higher power, she is far more akin to your standard anime female heroine. It is this juxtaposition of their attitudes that makes their interactions so peculiar as Viktoriya is slowly smitten by her superior officer.

Finally, there is Being X himself, a singular god-like entity as opposed to the myriad of deities in the source material. Studio Nut took liberties with the light novel and made him a far more sinister character by setting up Tanya in situations where she has no choice but to praise his name in exchange for the usage of the very powerful Type-95 magical orb. Appearing through proxies at certains encounter, his involvement in the plot goes to the point of altering the source material and cumlnate in an explosive climax which gives Tanya a real challenge and face to fight against.

Animation

From the limited information available, Youjo Senki is the first main animation production from Studio Nut, a newfound company is made up of former Studio Madhouse employees. There is obviously some talent behind this anime production as the action sequences looks quite good and convey a sense of ferociousness as Tanya effortlessly butchers her way through any and all enemies standing between her and a peaceful life. The backgrounds also looks great with the landscape and skybox being highly detailed while having this drab color palette that fits Youjo Senki’s interpretation of World War One’s bleak tone. My only real complaint is the use of some rather dodgy CGI that clashes against the 2D’s frame rate and fidelity. Others may take up issue with the the character design differences between the source material and the anime as Tanya and Viktoriya looks leagues apart when compared to their Soujo-like appearance in the manga and light novel. Personally, I think that sociopathic nature of Tanya and the wide-eyed look of the optimistic and duty-bound Viktoriya meshes well with their respective trollish and dopey animated appearances.

Conclusion

Youjo Senki is a textbook case on exactly how anime adaptions should done by having the strong source material as its base, and layering it with amazing animations, an epic soundtrack and a fitting bleak tone. The World War One setting is worth the admission alone as portrayal of the various weapons and military doctrine is spot on. Tanya, being one of the most understandable psychopathic loli that anime has to offer, only adds to its uniqueness and enjoyment.

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Mar 31, 2017

3xTripple

Recommended

Spoiler

Mod Edit: This review contains spoilers.
----

This anime, compressed into one long ass sentence: “An intelligent, asshole, soldier loli is actually a reincarnated, sociopathic, atheist, former salaryman, who occasionally gets forced by a stalker, god-like entity to pray to it in order for him-now-her to survive in a world-war setting and wreck his/her war enemies... with a magic gun.”

Youjo Senki was a pretty interesting show. It successfully presents an uncommon perspective in anime, where the main character is borderline villainous. I personally found it very entertaining and would recommend it to you.

TL;DR at the end

Story: 8/10
Tanya Degurachaff (the main character) starts off in our ...

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Youjo Senki

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Characters & Voice Actors

Degurechaff, Tanya

Serebryakova, Viktoriya Ivanovna

von Zettour, Hans

von Lergen, Erich

Sioux, Mary

von Rudersdorf, Kurt

Weiss, Matheus Johann

Existence X

von Schugel, Adelheid

Sioux, Anson

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Youjo Senki

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