Sequel to Saga of Tanya the Evil
Genre(s): Military, Isekai, Historical, Magic
Age-Appropriateness: 16+ (Violence, Blood, Profanity)
Platforms: Crunchyroll
Episodes: One 1 hour 50 minute movie
TheAwersome Rating: 8.7 / 10
Premise: The Imperial Army’s 203rd Air Mage Battalion led by Major Tanya Degurechaff has won the battle to the south against the Republic’s stragglers. They expected to be given a vacation after returning victorious, but instead receive special orders from HQ as soon as they get home. They are told that there were signs of a large-scale deployment near the Empire-Federation border. Meanwhile, an international volunteer army has set foot in Federation territory, and among them is a young girl seeking revenge on the Empire for the death of her father.
TheAwersome’s Thoughts: The Movie was every bit as wonderful as the series and then some. Something I was more aware of watching the movie as opposed to the series is that there was a good balance of serious scenes and comic relief. The action is also better, as to be expected given a movie’s budget. It was fascinating to see this world’s version of Russia and Tanya’s particular disdain for their communist ways (what with being a diehard capitalist and all).
Something I feel this series does very well is show the dangers of extremes. On one hand you have Tanya: the practical, logical, almost emotion-less atheist automaton who looks at the “Rules of Life” and how best to win and game the system, and every scenario, regardless of who else it affects. On the other hand, you have her foil, Mary Sue: an overzealous agent of God’s Justice (revenge?) so driven by emotion that she throws caution to the wind, disobeys orders, and puts everything on the line to satisfy her ideals. Neither is really “good,” and their pursuits are sure to bring their own ruin.
TLDR: It makes you ask a lot of questions of yourself and do some solid introspection, while being an intriguing military and action piece. Excellent.
If you’re wondering, yes, the other girl’s name is Mary Sue and yes, it was intentional. (The term “Mary Sue” refers to an old Star Trek Fanfiction parody where the main character, an obvious author self-insert Mary Sue, was ridiculously talented, smart, athletic, beautiful, etc. It’s come to refer to characters who un-interestingly excel at everything and have few if any faults).
Mary Sue in this case is a clear “self-insert” of Being X trying to bring Tanya down, by finding someone who is her antithesis and infusing her with an insane, overpowered amount of magical power.
Another interesting thing was how, in Japanese, Tanya refers to the Communist Rus Federation as “Commies.” The Japanese word for God is “Kami,” pronounced the same way, so there’s a fun doubly meaningful hatred for them.
At a Glance Anime 