Youjo Senki

Story 8/10
The story could have used a little more context you're kinda just thrown into it with no beginning to it, but you find your self enjoying her struggle between her and being X.

Art 10/10
This art was visually amazing and made love to my eyeballs. Very well done.

Sound 9/10
Sound fit with the effects and made sense to what was happening on the screen. Music could've been cool but need the less was still cool.

Character 8/10
Tanya was an amazing character, the other characters did not stand out as much as she did, nor did I have as much enjoyment with them as I did her. ...

Enjoyment 10/10
This anime was very enjoyable for me. I haven't seen anything like it so it was new to me and really nice.

Overall 9/10

Watch this if you are a fan of military themes and dark concepts.

Story: A compelling story and great environment building. While the main character is a villain you would enjoy still following their journey. Also, the characters are not black or white but rather grey ones so we can connect with them better. Does its job for a great dark anime. 3 points.

Directing: it drags at some times but in total a passable directing. 1 point

Art: Could have been better but I can't complain. 1 point

Characters: Likable both the good and bad ones. 1 point

Personal preference: I enjoy good villains and I enjoy grey ... characters in general. The environment is also so dark which perfectly conveyed the dark feeling that the story is trying to tell. 2 points.

TLDR, while not the best, the story is creative, the characters are worth to follow and root for and the actions scenes are plenty so you won't probably get bored.

Youjo Senki is a fantastic series, that tells the story of a head strong and confident salary man who played everything by the books in hopes of climbing the cooperate ladder. Only to find out fate has other plans in store for him. I won't go any further into story then that due to spoiling. But I will say, that this series, is a must see simply because, the story is one I feel we all can relate too.
It is extremely entertaining, and has incredible animation and sound tracks.
If you would like to see my whole review on the series, please check ... out the video below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dn566C-qS1k

Imagine a reality in which the world's most power hungry nations battle for control and dominance in classic WW1 style. Now include the fact that these nations have troops capable of flying through the skies with almost magical abilities and weapons and you are sure to turn some heads. Now include the fact that a loli is a major for one of the most powerful mage battalions and I may have just broken your neck. As strange as this concept sounds, I found it even more strange how good this show turned out to be. Here's my full overview for Youjo Senki:

Story: 8

As I ... stated before, yes; a young girl who looks younger than a middle schooler is in charge of a massive battalion of mage-like warriors that dash through the skies as a superior form of air artillery. Their goals range from them demolishing their foes on the ground to the ones lurking in the heavens with them. The one who leads is Tanya Degurechaff, a once male salaryman that is reborn into a little girl thanks to the best/worst, all-knowing entity known simply as God. Struggling to maintain a peaceful upbringing in her new world, Tanya battles the enemies of her nation and the plans that this God has set forth for Tanya.

All in all, pacing matters little as the story is always about the war and how close the Empire is to securing a victory. It is very simple to follow as long as you focus on the situation at hand. Every episode delivers a battle where the strategy is logical and makes sense. No holes, just war and the motives that follow it.

Art: 7

I very much liked the art style in this show. It's not basic enough that you see it often in other shows. The best scenes are obviously where the action is. Seeing Tanya zip through the air striking down mages with her bullets, bayonet, or magic was a "blast". Aside from the action, Tanya's emotions are delivered very well. When you see her angry or upset, you truly see and feel it.

Sound: 6

I see the sound in this as average only because nothing was really memorable. I always skipped past the opening/ending songs so no tune were favored by my ears. If anything, the sounds of war in this are fairly nice. Whether it is the cannons going off, explosions being set, or the clanks of tanks making their way across the ground. Everything seemed good, just not amazing.

Character: 8

Okay, listen, I have a knack for evil MC's and that is exactly what you get here with Tanya Degurechaff. There are no stupid, cliché traits that plague her like countless others protagnoists. She is focused, determined, and is as serious as your dentist. Honestly, Tanya has very little backstory but she does not need it here because all that matters is where is trying to go. There are no plot holes about her that leave you scratching your heads either so she is very simple to follow. I'll say this, don't get attached to the character but her ambitions.

Besides Tanya, you'll constantly see the faces of Tanya's strategic leaders and the mages that take orders from her. I found most of them to be okay and that's about it because I've already forgotten their names.

Enjoyment: 8

Being only 12 episodes, I did find the show to be enjoyable. I found Tanya to be very entertaining and I was curious about what obstacles were bound to stand in her way. I eagerly waited for the clashes between her and God and how Tanya's perspective on it and life would change.

Overall: 8

Just watch it, it's good. I've not kept up on the news for a second season but the ending implies one. When it drops, I will be there to see what I got from the first season: a whole lot of vintage-looking battles and a loli ordering the troops around. Paradise.

Youjo Senki is an unusual Isekai by all means. It is a slightly altered Faustian drama that cut out the middle man (Mephistopheles) where the 'bet' is wagered between the MC and God directly. 'Tanya', as our MC - being reborn as an orphaned girl in Germany - is called, is thrown into the midst of a World War I setting. There is combat magic though and ofc Tanya is adept.
What unfolds is an Isekai show without sex, rapid skill growth, 'exploring the world' or the unwavering unity of MC and mission.
Instead we get Tanya: child soldier, sociopath, narcissist and well-educated from a ... past life.
She dreams of a rear-end position on a career track in the military but gets a front-row seat to the fiercest battles in the many theaters of a world war.
Now this is where it should have gotten interesting:
but the rebellious show, after coming off strong, remains (much like any other Isekai) in its comfort zone. There's a grueling battle, some show of Tanya being a good superior while having a terrible personality, followed by a return trip to Headquarters and a 'victim of your own success'-styled reason for immediate re-deployment.
Youjo Senki laid pretty decent ground-work but fails to water the field.
i.e.: Characters are already developed when they are introduced and I'd say that is a strong point in the start of the show.
Instead of unnaturally developing characters they could have dived deeper into them.. but they don't do that at all.
A general lack of depth is Youjo Senki's biggest shortcoming. Politics, tactics, interactions, hurdles, 'God' and his meddle, the various countries and their many soldiers are all just swiped over. It's similar to a Tinder session where images and profiles are quickly examined and thrown into box a (keep) or box b (toss).. neither of which actually matter much after the fact.
Its superb animation, vivid expressions, resting duckfaces and over-the-top (in a good way) sound design keep the show entertaining nonetheless.
Youjo Senki manages to be incredibly boring and exciting at the same time. If you're looking for a clear-cut action show this military fiction comes highly recommended. If, however, you expect anything more from this: expect to be disappointed.
Summa Summarum: Youjo Senki is a very well-made One-Trick-Pony.

Tanya the Evil offers an interesting premise in that our lead, Tanya, is actually the reincarnated form of a male adult human resource worker whisked away to an alternate 1920s-era world by a being proclaiming itself to be our world's god (which Tanya acknowledges as Being X due to being atheist) and forcing him through suffering the perils of war to make her (how I'll address Tanya the remainder of this review) a believer. In spite of her predicament, Tanya defies Being X's influence on her hellish life by enrolling in her country's military as a mage, as the world in which she lives in ... is capable of utilizing magic for use in combat.

Tanya the Evil's run is driven primarily by how our lead reacts to her unique predicament. Having her past life's experience as a human resources worker and the knowledge she gains taking part in the Empire's military, Tanya becomes a seemingly young prodigy to the military who is ruthlessly able to plan out effective strategies and tactics to dispatch enemy threats with her squad. While seemingly doing this with the best of intentions for the Empire on the surface, Tanya is secretly trying to use her achievements as an opportunity to get high enough in the military's ranks where she won't have to be active on the battlefield and defy Being X's efforts to force her into worshiping it. But between the incompetence of her superior officers and Being X's influence to stir things on, Tanya finds things often not going her way in spite of the increasing achievements she makes on the battlefield.

In addition, the series also sports some of the best quality animation I have seen for the year thus far. This is best highlighted by the aerial magic combat scenes that Tanya and her soldiers can have confronting enemy squadrons as there is plenty of fluid movement and engaging choreography to get out of the show's intense action. In addition, the anime faithfully creates settings and clothing based upon the 1920s European time period that Tanya the Evil is set in, alongside the magical technologies employed by mages to fight in battles.

If there is a weakness that can be said about Tanya the Evil, it would have to be Tanya being the main focus of the series. As the main hook of the series, this can be a double-edged sword. Granted, Tanya doesn't exactly have the most positive traits as a character and the series is well aware of it by delving into her reactions to her unique situations, which can make for some engaging black comedy and philosophical focus on the flaws of religious faith. However if Tanya's character is a turnoff for watching the series, then there is little else that one can enjoy out of it beyond its action scenes. There aren't many other characters given prominent focus or depth, and the plot mostly focuses on Tanya's involvement in battle and her mounting issues between Being X and her military superiors. Not helping matters is the series ending inconclusively as Tanya the Evil's light novel source material is still ongoing as of this review.

Overall, Tanya the Evil is solid entertainment in exploring Tanya's actions and thoughts dealing with being on the battlefield and attempting to defy a divine being. However as this is the main hook of the series, this can turn away fans if they want more to it besides focus on Tanya and are not fans of her character focus. While I did enjoy what Tanya the Evil offered up, I wouldn't necessarily find it among the best titles that 2017 has offered thus far thanks to the narrow focus it employs on Tanya's exploits.

Looking through the anime titles that I had chosen to watch and review Youjo senki or its English equivalent which is sage of Tanya the evil sits high on my list. With the premise of an interesting setting, theme and capable voice cast as well as what promises to be an interesting take on a conflict that is modeled after the first world war I can say that this anime drew me in immediately and I must say I was impressed by the result.
Youjo senki is a war/action anime that has pseudo historical elements within its story. This review has a chance of ... minor spoilers so please be aware.

Youjo senki takes place in an alternate world and in a time and setting that is roughly an equivalent to the world as we know it during the events of the first world war. In this alternate world, the empire a country that is located in the center of the continent that it is situated in is engaged in a number of wars with the surrounding countries. The year is year that this story takes place in is roughly the 20’s. In this war, the empire though a sizable country that has both a powerful military and a sizable industrial might to back them up is fighting a war against several enemy factions that are each worried about the power that the empire has been building up. In this case, one can see that the empire is largely based on WW1 era Germany based not just on the titles that its officers have but also the names of its characters.
The empire finds itself facing the combined armies of three different factions which is the Republic, The Entente alliance and the allied kingdoms respectively. Here the republic is loosely based on the French republic for bases of their character names and the name of their capital while the Entente alliance is based on countries of the Scandinavian peninsular like Denmark and Norway. Lastly the allied kingdom is based off the UK. The other major powers like Russia and the US are present but only provide logistical support to the main powers.

Technology wise the combat between the armies makes use of largely weapons of WW1 era which in this anime includes bolt action rifles, large artillery guns, machine gun teams, WW1 era fighter and bomber aircraft and of course the infamous trenches that made WW1 so different to other wars. The one aspect that Youjo senki introduces to the combat is the introduction of magic and those that wield it which are called mages. Unlike mages shown in other anime the mages here unleash their spells not by use of wands but learning spells that they unleash through the aid of a computation crystal. This allows them to unleash their powers through both their weapons in the case of attack spells and Armour for defensive spells. Apart from attack and defense spells mages are also able to use their powers to achieve flight and it is this combination of spells that make mages so powerful in this world. As a result, mages are elite troops due to the low number of them within all armies and though part of the regular military are treated differently.

The idea of using an alternate version of WW1 era Europe as the setting for this series I felt was good and interesting as this is a setting that is seldom seen. By having the main character and her men fight for a faction that many would see as being the bad guys we get to see what would have happened if they through the use of smart and well thought out plans and strategies and magic manage to defeat the powers that are arrayed against them and win. A large what if scenario if you will.

Tanya
Tanya Degurechaff voiced by veteran seiyuu singer Aoi Yuki of Gosick and SAO fame and is one of the main characters of this series and is the protagonist of the series. A soldier of the empire and a powerful mage whose abilities are such that she is called the Devil of the Rhine by the empires enemies that she faces on the battlefields in which the empire fights its war with. Due to her latent magic power as well as her intelligence Tanya was promoted rather early in her career and as a result she is often underestimated by both allies and enemies alike due to both her age and her height. Her unusually low height makes her look more like a child than an adult which is often used for comical purposes in the show. Personality wise Tanya is a ruthless, calculating and cunning person that cares only about herself and her advancement in ranks. In the beginning, Tanya after joining the military only had a limited amount of things that she wanted and cared about which for this phase was to stay away from the frontlines and stay in the rear where she will be safe.

Due to circumstance, she ended being put in more and more dangerous situations eventually being assigned to the frontlines themselves. Apart from being ruthless and calculating Tanya is also a smart person and a capable strategist and tactician and is able to come up with ingenious solutions to problems and at the same time come up with smart tactics to deal with sudden battlefield situations. Tanya also demonstrates the ability to always see the big picture of a situation which I find admirable within a soldier and a unit commander at that.

Although ruthless and cruel Tanya is not without any positivity as though she still treats them harshly Tanya does care about the men that serve in her battalion willing to both motivate them and guide their growth as soldiers as well as shoulder any extra burden that she feels that they shouldn’t have. One notable trait of Tanya is her bluntness in that she is not afraid to express what she thinks of both the people that she encounters and the actions that they take. This is something that I thought was nice to see as all too often military officers tend to gloss over their plans and not worry about or consider actions that may affect them. Having someone who is both smart enough to understand the plan and be blunt enough to express their opinions of it without fear of censure is a good thing I felt. Another notable trait of Tanya’s is her speeches which though all are motivational tend to be quite dramatic though they almost always have the intended effect.
Tanya, I felt was a well-designed character and I felt that her seiyuu veteran seiyuu singer Aoi Yuki really did a fantastic job voicing the character of Tanya.


Visha
Viktoriya Ivanovna Serebryakov voiced by veteran seiyuu singer Saori Hayami of the irregular at magic high school and Owari no seraph fame is one of the main characters of the show. A second lieutenant within the empire’s military and a member of Tanya’s rapid response battalion Viktoriya who prefers to be called the name Visha serves as Tanya’s second in command. Personally, wise Visha is a kind-hearted person that cares about the well-being of her comrades and will take the time to get to know them when given the opportunity and as a result she is well liked among the battalion. Visha is also an honest and dutiful person that prefers to tell the men everything that she knows about a mission and hates hiding details from the men.

Though easily intimidated by soldiers of higher rank than she is and not having the bluntness of Tanya Visha is still very much loyal towards her friends and comrades and has great trust in not just them but also in her commander Tanya’s judgement and actions as well. Because of Visha’s personality she serves as an effective second in command to Tanya in that she contrasts with Tanya’s personality’s brash and ruthless personality with one that is kind and caring towards anyone that she meets. Though not as powerful as Tanya in terms of combat ability Visha is able to hold her own in most fights and at the same time keep up with Tanya’s fast flying speeds quite easily proving that she too is a capable soldier and mage in her own right. I felt that Visha was a well-designed character and I liked how she had a personality that was the opposite of Tanya’s. This had the effect of minimizing the risk of Tanya turning everyone in her unit against her by being her usual self as Visha will be there to stop her from going too far. This contrast I felt was a good move on the studio’s part. I felt that Saori Hayami really did an excellent job portraying the character of Visha here.

Erich von Rerugen
Erich Von Rerugen voiced by veteran voice actor Shinichiro Miki of Bleach fame is one of the main support characters of the show and is a high-ranking officer within the empires strategic HQ. A capable soldier and an expert strategist Erich is an honest, measured and cautious person that is also methodical with his plans in that he tries to account for every action that the enemy can take in each situation before submitting his plan. Erich and Tanya can be said to be enemies in that Erich is the only person within the empire that see’s Tanya as a monster in the form of a little girl while the others see an extremely capable young officer that is proven in bravery and combat. However, it’s important to note that although Erich despises Tanya he still respects her combat prowess and intellect and is often surprised on how well her unit fights on the frontlines. Though in the beginning he saw her as a monster as the series progresses Erich starts to develop some respect for Tanya and by the end of the series has some faith in her.


Arts and animation

Arts and animation for the series I felt was well done with the character designs and the design of the various environments being especially detailed and well done. The designs of the uniforms that were worn by the characters of the various factions I felt was impressive. The combat scenes that were in the series I felt were pretty well done and detailed with the fights themselves being both frantic and enjoyable. The animation for the use of the magic that was used in the series I felt was also nicely done.

Voice acting

Voice acting, I felt was particularly good in this series with Aoi Yuki who voiced Tanya and Saori Hayami who voiced Visha doing a great job voicing their characters. Aoi Yuki in particular I felt really managed to portray Tanya really well able to switch Tanya’s personality at will to reflect changing events and emotions.


Music
Music for the series I felt was pretty good with the opening and ending themes being my favorites. The scene music that is used for different scenes also felt appropriate for the given scene.

Overall conclusion
Overall I really enjoyed Youjo Senki as it had an interesting story, interesting setting, a great cast of characters and a capable voice cast. Using an alternate world that is modeled after the first world war I felt was an interesting setting as this setting is not widely seen or explored within anime.

One advantage that this brings is that it allows the studio to feature both the actual countries that took part in that historical war and at the same time impose the anime version of events into it. I felt that the various factions that were in the show which as explained earlier amounted to three main blocs which was the allied kingdom, entente alliance and the republic respectively was well thought out and designed with each being pretty unique. The Empire which was the main faction in the show was also well designed and thought out. One result of using an alternate earth as the setting for the series is that it allows the development of an original storyline in which events that did not happen in actual history can be explored and the effects of those happening can be visualized. In this I thought it was interesting to see the empire despite being surrounded on all sides by powerful enemies and not have one ally still emerge victorious despite having to fight on multiple fronts. This was not just as a result of Tanya and her unit’s contribution but also in the plans that were drawn up by HQ most of which I found to be interesting. Being a military themed anime the main point of the story is of course the participation and involvement of the main character and their contribution to the overall story which in this case is the war. In this I felt that Tanya and her men despite numbering less than a battalion is able to field both the firepower of a much larger unit and at the same time have the maneuverability of smaller units and with this affect the course of the war by being sent on specific and critical missions that allow the empire to secure many advantages against their opponents.

In terms of characters I felt that both Tanya and Visha were both excellent characters that were well designed and developed characters that had rather interesting personalities. Tanya in particular while having the appearance of a little girl who looks way too young to be a soldier is nonetheless an extremely capable soldier whose high latent magic gives her the power to unleash many devastating spells that when combined with her other combat skills makes her a powerful soldier that is capable of going against multiple foes at once. Tanya’s skill in battle is matched with her personality which while ruthless and unforgiving towards her enemies is caring towards her troops though this is not something that she would reveal to others. Visha however is different in that her personality is a contrast to Tanya’s in that she is both kind and caring and actively looks out for the men under her command. In the relationship that these two have though Tanya is the superior officer Visha is subordinate whose personality helps ensure that Tanya’s ruthless personality does not get out of hand and that the unit is still able to do their jobs.


Voice acting for this series I felt was especially strong with Tanya’s seiyuu Aoi Yuki and Visha’s seiyuu being pretty impressive. Aoi Yuki in particular deserves a lot of praise as Tanya is not the easiest of characters to portray as she has many different personality traits that though making her stand out makes portraying her difficult. In particular, I really liked how Aoi Yuki was able to voice Tanya’s speeches as I felt that the speeches while motivational were also resounding and had conviction in them. Whether in battle or outside of battle i felt that Aoi Yuki really managed to do a great job here voicing Tanya with this role being one of her standout roles in all the roles i seen her in.

PLOT AND STORY LINE 📖

Youjo senki follows little Tanya, a girl whose cute appearance sometimes covers up her evil and ruthless self that got her the nickname "Devil of the Rhine". The 'devil' that resides inside of her body is the soul of a man that was reincarnated as a little girl into a world of magical warfare. In the moment of his death, the man meets 'Being-X', the self-proclaimed, God that wants to convince the man into believing in GOD. He of course refuses, and so gets reincarnated into a cruel and rough world where he would find his faith. The man, now ... Tanya, accepts it as a challenge and fights her way trough the world by becoming a magician-soldier and later on a extremely successful major whose war tactics drive the Empire in becoming one of the most powerful nations in Man's history.
The story itself is really interesting and catchy, and the whole 'Cat-and-Mouse' game between Tanya and Being-X gives it more depth and also more entertainment.

What wrapped everything together into an amazing story was definitely its setting. After the reincarnation the man was sent to the beginning of the 20th century, into the poverty and the harsh life that marked the years before the first world war. Of course, it is a alternate version of Europe at that time with 'Germany' as the Empire, 'France' as the Republic etc.
Now what breaks all the ordinary and mainstream military genre of the anime was definitely the bit of magic and sci-fi. It is some kind of techno-magic that was fused with the weaponry that each country was using. The only pity of this anime was that they didn't do more with that magic. All the weapons were based on one and the same concept but always say, at least they didn't make giant robots.

The action and the fights are also outstanding. Very thrilling and exciting always following a tactic but with many elements of surprise. The star of most fights was clearly Tanya. Her crazy and daring self put her in a lot of dangerous situations but she of course always found a way out of it.
On the whole, you have an extremely entertaining and thrilling military action with a couple of really good plot twists, no plot-holes, a bit of magic for the fantasy fans and of course an absolutely interesting setting for history fans.

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CHARACTERS 👩👦

When it comes to the characters, I firstly want to mention the outstanding character design. They all look so amazing, especially the main characters such as Tanya, Viktoriya, Hans, Erich and so on. Clearly distinguishable from characters of other anime, yet when it comes to personalities I can't say that they were really good. Of course, the lead character is an exception given the most attention in the anime. Tanya's wit, cleverness, ruthlessness and a bit of madness were kinda refreshing and gave the anime that little extra. The other characters were also good. They had some really unique personalities and they were actually given character, but I didn't see much development in any of them. The only character I saw evolving was Viktoriya Serebryakova. She started as a bit weak and scared official but later on became a really brave and strong lieutedant. The only thing I don't get are her eyes. All the other eyes look normal but hers are big and blue and look really creepy.

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ANIMATION AND STYLE 💻🎨

This was definitely heaven for my eyes. As mentioned, amazing character design. amazing animation, outstanding backgrounds, flawless fight sequences...I cannot name one thing regarding animationa and style that wasn't good. Well welcome to 2017 I guess. There is no bad animation in 2017. The only thing that can go wrong here is a bad, boring style and design which is not the case in Youjo Senki. In one word: FLAWLESS.

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CONCLUSION 👆❌👇

I didn't watch many Winter 2017 anime, but I certainly will and I am even more sure that after all I'll still be thinking that Youjo Senki is one of the best anime of the season. It has an extremely interesting story, an amazing setting, entertaining characters and a flawless animation. This anime has something for everyone and I'd really like to know if there was someone disappointed about it.

This may seem odd but after watching the entire series i would say Tanya is not Evil not in any way you would really expect after seeing the picture for the series here on MAL

this thread on Crunchyroll is pretty much what i mean so ill leave a link
http://www.crunchyroll.com/forumtopic-985673/is-tanya-really-evil

Sorry if i have broken the review rules 1st time posting

but the English name publicly given just throws off the series as what to expect and while i may be thankful its not just a series about a crazy Nazi girl like the picture and name seem to suggest together its annoying

but overall a very good series ... cant wait to see more i just hope she doesn't end up a crazy Nazi girl by the end as it would be a sad end for a otherwise very interesting and cool character

First things first. My "reviews" system is explained on a blog entry. Which can be found through my profile.
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✦Story
The concept was pretty interesting. Having modern day salary man who climbed up in society for peaceful life, but his lack of human heart/soul and being too much of a so called "logical, rational" person became his downfall. Story of revenge, hatred, conflict, mankind and gods playground.

I found for the most part the idea of the story pretty interesting.

But the minus side of the story for me is the whole more serious military topic, patriotism, soldiers and such in general. As I personally despise military in reality, ... then even in fiction more "realistic" presentation of such things are a big turn-off for me. So that was a big minus for me plus how old smart ahems farts sit behind the table and play game of chess with life. So this is strongly minus for me simply because of personal reasons.

Another big plus of the story was the whole concept of mighty being toying with our protagonist and I guess the big picture will be in this story the goal of making main character gaining the human "heart".

Although another issue with the story would probably be lack of development or progress in characters themselves. It felt that story was too focused on war and tactics than the actual story.

To sum it up, story is pretty interesting and for the most part the plot and development of the world is great, whilst character focused story is quite slow.

✦Art & Sound
Art its superb. Action is pretty amazing. Aerial combat was pretty amazing that at some point it even became pretty much of a matrix. Design choices are great. Overall art was just great, but it missed a little bit for me to be truly amazed or impressed. Thus won't get full mark from me.

Before I move to OST, I will mention sound effects in general. I found the balance of music and sound effects very impressive. In a sense it felt as playing battlefield with war tape mode. Meaning that sound was quite spacious, rich and fulfilling/immersive. Now to OST. Music was generally absolute bliss, a lot tracks were very tense and fitting. And the way they made music fade into background of action and make it suspiciously quiet during some of the more dramatic and tense moments, was simply spot-on.

Pretty impressive sound.

✦Character
Middle-aged society drone with lack of human soul gets body of yohjo. That alone is impressive. Seeing the adventures of young sociopath in the fields of blood was darn impressive.

Aside that quite few character very somewhat interesting, but more of annoying or just plain stupid. It's world filled with battle and military mania. Thus we have lot of human chess players. But at the same time making them unlikable and showing cruelty of humanity for silly reasons is pretty nice thing to see now and then in Anime.

On top of that I found the characters good in more of a objective way. But personally aside full on mad sociopaths, I didn't really care much about characters. Having crazy characters is entertaining enough for me.

To summarize, in sense of enjoyment characters are varied and are for the most part quite interesting.

✦Enjoyment & Overall
I did mention my main complaint in story section as it connected the most to that part.

Will add that I did quite enjoy overall, ended up binge watching in a day and even though I initially gave it 7, whilst writing this review I noticed no much I play around the weight of "personal enjoyment" in scoring. The average would be still 8 worthy.

Thus I will give this show 8 as very good Anime with few issues plus a little personal complains I had about it.

EY, YO WHADDUP IT'S MY MOST ANTICIPATED ANIME OF WINTER 2017. Now, let's have a one-sided discussion on Youjo Senki by the studio with the best name for hentai.

Story: Could've been better with the setup. 8/10
This is the second most interesting part of the entire show. You would think after seeing the PV and reading the synopsis that this would be based mainly around major action set pieces, but the main focus is on the cause and effect of each strategic decision, as out main psycho is almost all-powerful due to her circumstances. The true enjoyment is in the psychological skirmishes and setup in the ... quieter scenes, with the execution and situations in the thick of the battles being the reward for all that thinking and foresight. Normally, this would be boring, but the characters and the inherent nature of the military and each soldier's ranks and specialties allow for some interesting and exciting situations, while still having room to point out how seriously (NOT PG WORD) the entire setting is. On top of that, any instances of asspulls or bull can be explained by SONZAI ECKSU just pulling some strings willy nilly to mess with our salaryloli, while still allowing there to be tension and an idealogical conflict between the two due to the specifics of their beings, if that makes sense. However, there is one specific instance of bull near the end that I could not be satisfied with, even if it means we might get more Youjo Senki.

Art: Inconsistent, but managed to impress me around the end. 8/10
The only character that has a notable design is Tanya herself, but that's almost the point. She strays from the more realistic (not realistic, just more so comparatively) designs of literally everybody else due to the nature of her personality, which is one of the more out there ones in recent anime history. Whoever designed, animated and directed the shots of Tanya when she goes full crazy elitist loli all deserve medals, as they are SPOT ON. The animation has a few highlights in the first two episodes to reel you in, but the last two episodes kick it up a notch not only in the animation quality but in direction as well, as there are a few more interesting things done visually compared to the rest of the show. The CGI rages from actually bad to decent in a few places. The middle of the show is not as interesting of technically proficient as the specific episodes I mentions and rely more on the dialogue and characters, which I'll get to, of course. The explosions are notable due to how much impact they portray and how awesome they look. The OP is actually terrible, with 40% of it being footage from the show just thrown in there with no meaning, unlike what was done in 91 Days' OP with it's slick, meaningful editing. The original footage of Youjo Senki's OP also has little meaning, and the last shot of Tanya watching a sunrise is not at all appropriate to the tone and focus of the show. The only semblance of theming is with the clocks in the early part of the OP. The ED is nothing but stills with little meaning, if any, but I have a feeling it was less due to incompetence and more that the few high quality, stylish stills and the song were supposed to carry it. It's a 6/10 in my eyes, which, considering it's an ED, is pretty good, if only when you compare it to most others.

Sound: WOAH, IS THAT A LITTLE BLONDE GIRL OR A FIGHTER JET? I CAN'T TELL, THEY SOUND EQUALLY AWESOME. 9/10-Hypothetical blind man watching anime for some reason

God bless the soul of whoever made the mages and their weapons sound so amazing. OP and ED songs are both perfect. Jingo Jungle plays to the strengths of Tanya's character (by which I mean the trait that most people notice the most from the PV), but as I said earlier, the visual aspect of the OP didn't take advantage at all. The ED song was by Tanya's VA. ED songs by cast members is usually a good sign that the VA(s) had a blast portraying the character, which, since Konosuba 2 is an example, is a great thing. However, I cannot give this a 10 due to the lack of standout performances from most of the other cast members. The VA for Ajin's Satou does a great job with his Zettour, but the only other standout is Serebryakova's VA, who was slightly above good.

Character: SHE IS THE DEVIL IN THE FORM OF A LITTLE GIRL. AKUMA DA/10-IGN Japanesesalaryman% freshness-Rotten tomatoes

The best part of the show, no doubt. I'd rather not explain her backstory, actions or ideologies, as I think it's best to just see for yourself. I just think it's best to point out that she's not as insane as the PVs or the people who watch this show make her out to be. She's much more intelligent than that, which makes her outbursts even more cathartic. The other characters are good, specifically the generals and that blue haired guy I quoted. However, the other characters, including Serebryakova lack any depth, especially when compared to the standouts, with at least one of them being nothing more than a plot device, albeit one that both makes sense and enhances some of the conflicts and themes, while also showing how much of a hindrance SONZAI ECKSU will be in the future.

Enjoyment: I expected more, but was satisfied with the last two episodes. 8/10

Overall: an 8 that should've been a 9
I could have a huge discussion just about how deftly Tanya deals with her situations early on, along with her mindset regarding things, how she treats those around her, and how she takes advantage of any opportunity she takes to try and get things moving her way. Mind you, this is excluding the strategizing and the actual way that the show presents everything, keeping me intrigued when most shows would get the drop. I've been keeping things vague and dropping hints constantly because I couldn't forgive myself if I deprived someone else the ability to perceive the events in this show firsthand, and be like "Oh, that's what that pretentious nerd was talking about".

If you have any tips for me to improve my reviews or happen to want someone who has way too much free time and can thusly spend hours discussing a single show, message me or something. I honestly don't know if PMs are a thing on MAL. Anyway, I hope you watch and enjoy this show, regardless of whether you value over-analyzation or not.

TLDR: A pretty interesting but poorly handled idea wrapped into ok action, extremely ruined by unnecessary edge.

(spoiling out only episode 1 and 2)

We start off at episode 2 where the plot instantly presents a very interesting idea of Rational vs Emotional. On one side we have an over the top rational guy that won't believe in god even if one appears in front of him and on the other side we have the guy that was driven into a corner, which ended up murdering him and the god (or being X).
This was a very intriguing start and what I liked the most about it is ... that the main character didn't lose his s**t even facing a situation like this, showing again to which extreme he's on the Rational side.

Now this is where my very first problem with the show appears - the fact that what I said above is episode 2.
This looks like a small detail, but in reality the first episode is the one that tries to appeal the most to the audience (aka the hook). So we learn here that the hook of the show is not the interesting above mentioned conflict, but action and edge. Also, it has a psychological effect to set the main hero in your brain to the loli...

And daaaamn the edge gets annoying as hell at points. Not only that the thing is aesthetically extremely displeasing, but it conflicts the very main idea of the show by taking off the Rational side of the MC, turning... it... into a typical sadist.
The most obvious next complain is - why a loli?
I am 100% positive that giving the MC like 5 more years wouldn't damage anything in the plot, so the obvious remaining answer is - to please the edgelords (sometimes... really.... fu Japan...). And again it makes no sense within the theme of the show! When the MC is so interested in just securing his easy life, he should have just chilled out for as much as possible. I am sure he would be provided an ok life, considering the importance of the mages in the setting.
These two things are actually the biggest flaws in the show and damage it from multiple aspects. If you can get over these, then your experience with it will be a lot better than mine.

Now the logical question that follows is - how does the show handle its core idea and does it go anywhere with it? The answer is - kinda...?
If you look at it on a superficial level - yes. This whole thing is like a game to the being X (going to call it that, it cracks a smile on my face), which constantly sets up bad situations for the MC, at some points making it even look like trolling and watching the MC struggle can be very entertaining at points.
But again there's this thing that keeps bugging me... Being X is the biggest a**hole in the series. In the Rational vs Emotional fight, I'd really like to see both positives and negatives of both sides. In the Rational camp we can see them both: negative - can't understand human emotions and pays for it; positive - brings results. Yet in the second camp there's only an ass that keeps making wars and killing off people just for the sake of fking around with one person and not only that, but gives power to that person so that it stands a chance so that the killings continue. It's way too easy to take a side.
I have to say that I'm not trying to nitpick this, because it really doesn't take that much effort to show another side of X - just a few scenes here and there where blessings save life. Then it would perfectly symbolize what Emotions are - sometimes warm, sometimes self-destructive.
In the end we have to blame the laziness of the scriptwriter and the low demands of the audience.

The last thing one could care about are the characters... and we have literally one. Everyone else is of low to no importance and the only opposing force in the form of an actual character will exist in the sequel.... YAAAAAAY!
I also generally tend to hate on "perfect" characters. I'm talking about Narsus from Arslan Senki or the MC from Alderamin etc. This is the category that the MC of this show falls into. All the judgments he makes are always corect and his logic has no flaws, being dragged down only by others, even to the point of unjustified hate, despite the MC having the right predictions.

In the end, it's as I said before. Watch this for some action, ignore the rape faces (unless you're into this kind of thing) and try to not too dig too deep into the plot. This is a decent time-waster, nothing more nothing less.

"Deus lo vult"...

***** Some minor spoilers ahead! *****

On first impressions, LA thought this anime would be showing how Tanya, an ace in the Empire's army would open up to her cohorts within the war with Viktoriya being her clutch back into "humanity" due to Tanya's obsession with killing and violence, however this notion was QUICKLY revoked as it didn't become "fixing Tanya's behavior and opening herself up", instead changed to her rivalry towards "Being X" or GOD and just her survival in this new world wrought by war, all due to Tanya's previous life as an atheistic salaryman about to ... die and was reincarnated by Being X through a wager and Being X doing everything in his power to both make Tanya "respect" the gods as well as making Tanya go through hell and back in times of the war, THAT was kinda what cemented LA into both carrying on watching this anime and very quickly jolted to one of LA's favourite anime of Winter 2017. Sure it's sorta a blend of both "protagonist is OP" (but only through Being X's interferences...so slight twist there on this trope) and "transported to another world", but blended soo well all due to Tanya's motivations and just her primary goal of both sticking it to Being X and surviving "this life".

After that...it drove too deep into the war commentary perspective instead of focusing on the major plotline at hand, sure the entire war and Tanya trying to get into the rear echelons is her entire goal and Tanya allowing herself to shoot herself in the foot AND allowing the war to go into world war level was Being X's cause, but the anime's meat is just showing more war commentary than the conflict between Tanya and Being X, which was the best element in the anime and it's not an exact "faffing around", but LA just wanted to see more of it and kind lost it's maniac, sadistic anti-heroism it had in it's earlier episodes, LA still liked the series and like last season's Shuumatsu no Izetta, it went down the same route in terms of plot format, just exchange yuri fluff with war commentary without our main protagonist as it's focus. HOWEVER if there is a bit of defense in all this, this is more build up to Being X secretly planting his own plan to throw Tanya off through both the war and driving Tanya deeper into it AS well as creating a new rival for Tanya.

LA doesn't need to say much about characters as the characters are minimalistic in some sense what with Tanya, Being X, Empire's Military higher ups like Hans von Zettour voiced by Houchuu Otsuka, Kurt von Rudersdorf voiced by Tessyo Genda and Erich von Rerugen voiced by Shinichiro Miki as well as Tanya's own troops of the Empire and Viktoriya Serebryakova voiced by Saori Hayami. Yes, LA's favourite character was Tanya followed up by Viktoriya only if by default due to their screentime, but LA's more interested character was Being X himself but his screentime is VERY limited if anything and he works "behind the scenes" if anything. In terms of character development, Tanya gets the majority of it what with being a character-focused anime and everything, thing is, due to how the anime shifted from a resurrected person vs. GOD to...war commentary, she kinda lost some character development and she just still kept her sadistic nature, Viktoriya isn't much better as she's a bystander to the war conflict let alone a character without much power to the proceedings. The Empire's military higher ups are stereotypical to say the very least but the only character within that group to have some relevance to Tanya was Erich only because he is suspicious of Tanya. The characters if anything is shaky especially if you want to root for Tanya or see her fail, LA was in both parties for that.

In terms of animation by NUT, the animation was rather top notch if albeit slightly shaky due to some animation's quality dipping ever so slightly at times, though the battles were not one to be affected...completely, still the battles were some of the better animation fronts. The character designs were decent at best what with the animation going crazy with Tanya's crazed facial expressions, the rest of the character designs were at best ok but had some semblance of "who's he again?"...especially concerning Tanya's forces sans Viktoriya (that or trying to remember their names were just difficult to remember). Nonetheless, the animation was above average even with it's dip in quality at times and for NUT's first foray into a full length anime especially one this ambitious in it's animation, it's worthy of praise, quality and all.

In terms of voice acting, the voice cast is very good on both the Japanese as well as it's FUNimation Dub. In the Japanese, LA just LOVED Aoi Yuuki as Tanya and Saori Hayami as Viktoriya, like match made in heaven especially Aoi Yuuki as Tanya (it had her perfect range of loli and sadistic). On the FUNimation Dub side, Monica Rial as Tanya had perfect cadence for Tanya in similar respects to her Japanese counterpart and this too for Jeannie Tirado for Viktoriya as well. What can LA say?, this voice cast as minimalistic as it is, is excellent on both fronts.

On the soundtrack of Youjo Senki, LA will say BOTH the OP "Jingo Jungle" by MYTH & ROID and the ED Los! Los! Los! by Tanya Degurechaff (Aoi Yuuki) were LA's favourites of this season respectively (to the point LA has been listening to BOTH songs on loop at times). As for the OST, they fit the mood perfectly, LA had a special affinity towards the latin chanting battle OST prevalent in most of the battle scenes that it had it in.

The finale brought back Youjo Senki to it's former glory AS well as using it's military war commentary to it's best advantage in the form of Tanya's increasingly cynical view on war and humanity towards it and how she just wants the war to stop by ANY means to the point of raving cold-blooded insanity to smite God. The finale also brought on some new plot points and makes sense due to this being an ongoing light novel it opens the gates to a second season?...maybe?. Nonetheless the ending brought back the magic from it's earliest episodes and LA pretty much had a positive reception on this ending if it had the hinting at a second season!.

Youjo Senki put an interesting spin in the entire resurrected in a new world fantasy world especially when it came to our anti-hero main protagonist in whether you rooted for the sadistic loli or wanting to see her fail to her detriment of her resurrection placed on her by God as well as her conflict with GOD, but it got slightly lost in the war commentary it had going for it, until the final 2 episodes where the focus was back in which it redeemed itself...albeit slightly. Again this situation Youjo Senki fell into was similar to last season's Shuumatsu no Izetta even down it being about magical military warfare with female leads. By going into more comparisons and differences, they both have great starts then they start faffing around away from the major plotline then making up for it for the finale, the only difference between the two is the atmosphere, Shummatsu no Izetta being more optimistic, Youjo Senki being more pessimistic about it all.

Even with all it's faults and how it disappointed LA in how it went into this direction, LA still liked this anime to allow this anime to STILL be in LA's Top 3 of Winter 2017 albeit barely (it got third place if your wondering) and wasn't nearly as a big disappointment as Shuumatsu no Izetta was.

God will it... indeed

This was my first war/military anime, and I must say, I was quite entertained all the way through. I found it a welcome change from my usual genres and may consider rewatching it in the future.

~Should you watch it?~

- Story:
The general idea is pretty easy to follow, but may seem complicated at some points. It mainly just follows the rising of the main character through the ranks and the war progressing.

- Characters:
The main character is really the only character with a unique personality. While the others do get character development, their personalities tend to be the same. The main character is also the only one ... to get a real backstory.

- Action:
Youjo Senki isn't 24/7 in-your-face action-packed, but certainly a decent amount. Action scenes involve guns, epic blasts, and death and/or destruction.

- Violence:
If like me you aren't fond of a lot of gore, this anime isn't too bad. It isn't incredibly graphic, although there are a few occasions when a character is 'pumped full of lead'. Apart from that, blood is generally a common sight - it is a war-based anime after all.

- Humor:
There isn't much humor to be totally honest. It is a pretty serious anime, although every now and then there might be a little something funny, but don't expect anything 'hilarious'. The anime itself remains pretty strong and enjoyable even without humor.

Apart from all that, if you think you like the idea of a cute, somewhat psychotic, lethal little girl being in the army and killing people, definitely give this anime a go.

If you want to watch something about world war 2, military strategies, and philosophical/moral questions about humanity and God, you should watch this.

I skipped the first episode because it was so boring, but the episodes that came after were more promising. The story is interesting because the theme is about how far one can get in life as a "devil" in world war 2 (or was it 1) setting and what obstacles you would meet.

The only character you end up caring about is Tanya, the main character. I find every other character as superficial overused personalities. She is quite a relatable character and you ... end up wanting to root for her.

The OP and ED is great. They are both worth listening to. The voice actress of Tanya is a famous one and definitely helps with making the anime more interesting. Her voice acting gives Tanya the kind of depth and attention she needs.

This anime requires you to use your head as you watch it. You have to be interested in moral and philosophical subjects because if you aren't, Tanya and her life story won't be at all interesting to you.

The art is pretty normal. It seems like the kind of artwork a normal studio produces.

Overall I gave this anime an 8. The episodes don't end in a cliffhanger and neither do they give much thrill. The way the author recreated World War 2 centred around Tanya was what made this anime worth watching.

This anime was absolutely perfect, from the beginning, to the end. I found the main character's judgement to be that of no less then perfect. Her braavery, intelligence, seem to be unmatched. She is stern, but honest to all of those who are around her. Especiall, her superiors. It would seerm that she doesn't even hold back when it comes tio rank. She is oone of the most few brave womnen that I hhave ever seen in anime. She is like the perfect soldier or if you will, killing machine,shee follows every order without question. She is the very best.

[not many spoilers, i'll keep it vague] I'll start off by saying that Youjo Senki had quite a lot of potential. One of the main reasons why I started this series was because I felt that its premise was interesting and unexpected - an atheist salaryman reborn into another universe as a girl, participating in a world war? You don't find that in most animes, so kudos for that, i guess.

The most problematic area, in my opinion, was character motivations and relationships. To me, Tanya's motivations were never clear at all. She did say that all she wanted was the 'climb the ladder in the ... rear' and not go to the frontlines. But at the frontlines, she displays aggression and an enthusiasm for violence that contradicts her statements from before. This is especially problematic as this is a very character-centric anime. This means that the plot revolves around Tanya, and her rapid-response battalion. If her motivations aren't clear, then the plot is essentially devoid of investment on the part of the main character. Furthermore, there was a lot of potential in terms of relationships between characters. For example, her relationship with the female war veteran that follows her everywhere could have been more well-developed. What do they think of each other? Why are they paired together? What about her and her battalion? There are some scenes of camaraderie, but nothing to outrightly suggest that they have much loyalty to Tanya.

The plot was also problematic, in the sense that it kept pushing for pay-off, without the set-up required. This is an anime about war. That entails really dark and heavy themes, of death and destruction and bombs. However, we as viewers usually don't get invested in the war and violence at all if we aren't emotionally invested in the the characters. In other words, the deaths of unnamed characters usually fail to incite any emotion in a viewer, unless the story has "set-up" our investment in the character. Okay, to be fair, they did try in a few instances (can't say, spoilers), but it wasn't enough, and at most they spent about a minute on it? There wasn't enough time spent to make sure that we understand and value these characters, and would be sad if they died. Thus, despite the constant emphasis on a "world war", I didn't feel much for it. Furthermore, there is quite a lot of patriotic talk in the anime (like,, everytime someone important opens their mouth). However, the anime only 'tells' us - instead of 'showing' us - that the consequences of losing this or that battle would be bad. Of course, anyone would understand that losing battles and seeing people die is bad, but reality is that depicting a successful operation in the face of all odds doesn't leave an impact the way failing and seeing your men die does. Then again, 12 episodes aren't enough time for all that set-up, though it does pay-off quite nicely in the end. (See: Kuroko no Basuke and the Inter-school competition)

The art was quite good though, I particularly liked the way they depicted the battle scenes, though the way characters were drawn kind of put me off. Music was okay, not amazing, but okay.

All in all, not very worth watching, but still pretty enjoyable. The ending is a pretty good twist (and a perfect set-up for a next season heh)

Youjo Senki tries to be a lot. You can tell by the story. It does succeed in some of those missions. I feel this story bit off more than it could chew but succeeded in some ways.
They gave a fairly interesting protagonist who is funny in her own ways. Every other character you could ask me their names and I would never be able to tell you. Her fight with the character "Being X" (or God) is amusing and to me the only interesting part of the anime.
That being said the half try at this odd military aspect is decent. I feel the military point ... of the show is just this huge shit show to hide from the fact that the concept for Tanya, the protag, is very odd and weird. The show is military heavy. So keep that in mind if you wish to watch. Even so, the military plot is bland and boring.

What I enjoyed about the show is the protag. She is very interesting in her own ways but how she came to be how she did is unbelievable, even in anime terms.

The art is good. It's unique and different. Though you can tell who the main characters are because they actually look different than everyone else.
The op is fantastic tho and the ed is good. The bombs and gun is rather loud imo.

This is a purely graded review, don't read this if you're interested in getting an overview of the show, I'm purely writing this to convey my feelings to people who have already watched the show / read the manga. Light spoilers may follow.

Story-

The story remains mostly unchanged from the manga, however, skips some pretty key details and changes others, which makes for a generally less concise experience and story than the manga had. I understand they did this because of time and budgetary reasons, but it still detracts regardless. Still, the story is quite good. 7/10 overall.

Art-

Why.

Why does Viktoriya look like that? Why does may ... sue look like that? Why do the side characters look good while the main characters look like they were designed in sub 10 minutes by a child sweatshop worker just off their 12-hour shift? WHY?

The character designs looked good. GREAT, even, in the manga. Why do they look so astronomically shit in this? It isn't even artistic license at this point, it just looks fucking awful. There is certainly some merit in the "budget argument" here, as it would definitely suck up the budget to animate the characters as they look in the manga. But WHY DID THEY DO THIS. Viktoriya looks like a fucking blob, the eyes are too big, never animated correctly, the mouths are too small and also poorly animated, hair seems at times to have no or all physics known to man, and generally, the animation is just hard to fucking look at. Another gripe I have with the animation is the excessive use of CGI shots. CGI can be used well, and in moderation- it is neither here. It is not blended well or used at an unnoticeable level, with sometimes KEY SCENE OBJECTS (CENTRE STAGE FUCKING OBJECTS!?!?!? REALLY???) being 3DCG. This is a big no-no.

Overall, the animation is badly done, badly blended, pathetically implemented, and just generally a hellscape. 1/10.

Sound-

Godly OP, Godly ED, fine sound design. 8/10.

Characters-

Characters are largely unchanged from the manga, which is good- because they are great in the manga, but something overall just feels off. Not that I can explain why or what feels off, but something does. Maybe it's the animation or the character designs interfering with my critical judgment. Overall 8/10.

Enjoyment-

IMO, while not being more enjoyable than just reading the manga or the LN (do it, people- you don't burn your eyes on this shit and you get to experience both a better story and characters, it's a win-win.) The anime still holds on to a lot of that enjoyment, and the fact that this is animated at all, regardless of how badly it is animated, adds a lot to that enjoyment factor. 8/10.

Overall-

Overall, 7/10 for the story, 1/10 for art, 8/10 for sound, 8/10 for characters, 8/10 for enjoyment. The mean and therefore overall score comes out at a 6.4/10

Final verdict- read the manga. It's better in almost every way and there's literally no reason not to.

This anime has rather decent art at some moments. Basically the close ups that are meant to keep your attention. The rest is meh.

There is a lot of talking in this anime. Like a lot. Occasionally some star trooper pew pew. It's definitely mostly about the heavy important talking though.


It kept my attention for the most part. I found myself getting bored by episode 8 though. Most of the episodes are relatively similar.



Mild spoilers ahead:
...
So... this anime is basically about this person that doesn't believe in God.

God is like... yo. Wuddup.

Girl be like, you're not allowed to be real. I hate you.

God be like... lolk. Here, fight the world until you believe in me.

She is like I'll fight everyone and win! Also screw you.

I was waiting for God to just smite her. I guess God was very bored.

I enjoyed the anime enough to say it was worth a watch, but I won't be mentioning it to anyone as a recommended anime to watch.