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
