*Nitsuj is sitting at his desk and checking his email*
(Nitsuj): Alright, time to clean out the old spam folder. Hey what’s this folder? Hmm~, Youjo Senki.
*Nitsuj clicks on the folder where he sees it has over 23,000 emails from people all over the world requesting that he review Youjo Senki*
(Nitsuj): Hey guys why didn’t you tell me I had a Youjo Senki folder?
(Seras): Because it was driving us crazy. Back when the anime came out everybody was sending in requests asking you to review it. It was overflooding the system. We had to send them somewhere, so we created a separate folder to send all the emails to. We were gonna tell you but then that whole 00 Otaku thing happened, and it just slipped our minds. I figured that the file got destroyed in the fire, but I guess not, and I figured you would get to the anime eventually but here we are.
(Nitsuj): Well there’s only one thing to do now. I’ve got to review it. It’s the least I can do for the fans. In the meantime, take care of these spam emails.
*Seras sighs and takes out her scythe where she begins slashing away at all the spam emails*
(Nitsuj): It’s hard to talk about this anime without first talking about the impact it’s had on the industry. Also called The Military Chronicles of a Little Girl or The Saga of Tanya the Evil, the series is based off a light novel under the same named written by Carlo Zen in 2013 and still continuing to this day. It was a relatively successful series, but it quickly started gaining popularity thanks to the success of the anime in 2017 which was produced by the relatively new studio NUT. The anime was praised highly by everyone who watched it and over the years has gone on to be one of the Four Horsemen of Isekai along with Overlord, Re:Zero, and of course Konosuba. Since I’ve review those other animes, it only makes sense that I review the last of the Horsemen. Let’s take a look at Youjo Senki.
Opening and Ending Theme
The opening is “Jingle Jungle” by MYTH & ROID. If you’ve watched Overlord you would know that this group is pretty awesome and their music is great as well. This opening has a unique sound with a club vibe to it as well as a dark undertone that embraces the evilness of our lead character. This song is actually better than I remember it being. I’m actually mad I didn’t put on my top 11 openings from 2017 list. Just think of it as a number 12 spot.
The ending is “Los! Los! Los!” by Aoi Yuuki. This was a song I kinda dismissed when I first heard it, but after revisiting it it’s not bad. It sounds peaceful but when you read the lyrics you actually a pretty dark song that fits with the series perfectly. Actually, it fits the main character perfectly. She may be a cute loli on the outside, but on the inside, she’s a demon.
Episodes 1-4
Our story begins on the frontlines of a battle (I’m not sure what war we’re in or even if we’re in our timeline but by the looks of it they’re using WWI technology) where we see magic exist in this world and some soldiers can use magic to fly and use explosion magic (Megumin would be so happy). On this battlefield we meet our main character Tanya commander of her own magic platoon despite looking like an angrier version of Baby Doll from Batman the Animated series. She’s voiced by Aoi Yuuki (Diane from Nanatsu no Taizai). Tanya gives us a brief introduction into the world where she explains that she serves what’s simply known as the Empire (Stars Wars called, they want their money or they’re gonna send Darth Vader over) a nation thriving in military and industrial power as well as brilliant military minds and mages. Yep, in this world the Empire was the embodiment of victory but unfortunately the country was surrounded by enemy nations on all sides and one of those nations is currently trying to invade the country so the army has executed Plan 315, which is basically the military sending in delayed forces to hold the line until the main army can show up to fight. That was the original plan, but because the higher-ups were hesitant to move out forces it caused a delay in the army being mobilized and moved out meaning Plan 315 is a bust and now they have to move to mobilized defense. That’s when we return to Tanya and her platoon who are doing flank attacks in order to buy time for the troops. In her group two men wanting to prove their valor ignore Tanya’s orders (oh that is not a wise move my friend) and attack the enemy’s artillery troops. After this complete defiance instead of sending the two back home, Tanya just sends them to the rear where they get stationed in a bunker (and even though they’re in a bunker I still fear for their safety. One shutters to imagine what ill-fate awaits those who defy Tanya). Tanya’s platoon is than tasked with rescuing magic observers who are pinned down by enemy troops but unfortunately, they arrive too late and the soldiers are already dead. Refusing to leave empty handed, Tanya takes on the enemy magic users all by herself and just completely destroys them (like it’s not even funny, it’s downright sadistic). After this victory the main army arrives onto the battlefield just in the nick of time and we end on a disturbing note with the bunker housing those two soldiers from Tanya’s platoon getting destroyed and them dying with Tanya smiling about it because she predicted this would happen and since they wanted to go out like heroes, Tanya decided to fulfill their wish.
Episode 2 serves as a prequel to the series where we find out that Tanya is actually a salaryman from modern day Japan (well as modern as 2013 can get). Even as a salaryman he was ruthless. His peers were afraid of him and he had no problem firing people who were incompetent all while believing that if he followed the rules, he’ll climb the corporate latter and be at the top someday. But all his plans went down the drain when a person he fired pushed him in front of a train and time instantly stopped. Tanya soon met God (or Being X as he calls Him/Her) where he flat out says he doesn’t believe in God because of everything being at his fingertips thanks to modern technology. Being X takes exception to this statement and decides to reincarnate him in another world devoid of modern technology and if he dies in that world he dies forever (scene here: https://youtu.be/trEHvnwkxY0). This led to the salaryman being reincarnated as Tanya and born in a world similar to ours during WWI except there’s magic (and Germany has become the new modern USA with every country trying to destroy them). Tanya joined the military at a young age after demonstrating high abilities at using magic. Within the first year of joining the military she quickly became an instructor for new recruits (and I doubt anyone took her seriously) where there were a few minor issues such as her trying to kill one of the soldiers for disobeying her (she does not take kindly to people undermining her orders does she?). Despite these minor issues and setbacks her graduation day came where while on patrol near the mountains, Tanya encounters enemy troops and instructs the artillery unit where to fire until the enemy’s magic corps unit arrives and tries to gun her down. She’s told to fight until reinforcements arrive which will be in 600 seconds so she uses this chance to go wild. She single-handedly kills 4 people (2 more of them unconfirmed kills), wounds one soldier, and when she runs out of ammo, she dropkicks one of the soldiers just to get his gun (damn, salaryman got skills). He finishes up with a self-destruction tactic just as reinforcements arrive to make it look like a heroic last stand (scene here: https://youtu.be/vSz1xHVxIaU). She survives obviously and gets an award for her efforts as well as sent to the frontlines of war but not before doing a photoshoot that demeans her in every way possible (scene here: https://youtu.be/cKF_bszK0Ko).
In episode 3 after her amazing valor on the field, Tanya gets moved to a testing facility where she’ll be tasked with testing out new magic component for war. She thinks she’ll have an easy and safe life but instead the thing keeps malfunctioning and she almost dies on numerous occasions with the head scientist refusing to call it quits or change anything (the sane working for the insane. Every man’s worst nightmare). She requests a transfer and it gets accepted but before leaving she gets a visit from Being X who is still mad that Tanya hasn’t shown an ounce of faith yet (oh she believes, she just refuses to give you the satisfaction of being right. She’s kind of stubborn like that). So Being X puts a curse on Tanya where in order to use her magic gear without it malfunctioning on her, she has to pray to Being X before using it (forced faith). After this we return to present time where Tanya has been promoted to first lieutenant and is being moved back to the academy where she plans to have the easy life free from risking her life on the battlefield but it looks like Being X might have other plans for her. It’s also hinted that higher ups are afraid of her because of her personality (give them credit it is pretty messed up) and also because of her magic powers which exceeds everyone including adults (and because humans are idiots and our minds dictate that we should either fear or hate something we don’t understand, the higher ups see Tanya as a potential threat).
We get a pretty slow setup for episode 4. Six months have gone by since Tanya left the frontlines and she’s now attending a military university doing studies and making connections so that when she graduates, she’ll have the easy life free from war and danger. While there she runs into the general of the military who asks her what she thinks the future will hold for this war (for you guys, nothing good and years later nothing good for your world’s version of the Jews). Tanya pretty much says they’ll go into a world war (yep, that sounds about that) saying that the other countries will take notice of their expansion and see it as a threat to them. They’ll take action and chances are high Tanya’s side will lose so she proposes a rapid response team (you’re about to shoot yourself in the foot) composed of mages to eliminate threats in order to impress the general and earn points with him (should I be worried that he’s questioning a little girl about this? I mean I know she’s really a sadistic bastard of a businessman in a little girl’s body but the general doesn’t know that). The general likes this idea so sometime later at a meeting he proposes the rapid response team which gets greenlighted and he puts Tanya in charge of it (and you just shot yourself in the foot). She’s told to create a battalion of 48 mages and tries desperately to make the position sound as unpleasing as possible (tell them it’s like working at Walmart, that’ll scare them away) but she gets a heap of applications all wanting to join.
Episodes 5-8
At the start of episode 5, Tanya gets a surprise visit from Viktoriya a lieutenant who worked under Tanya on the front lines (and just like everyone else she’s scared of Tanya only she tries to get on her good side to stay alive). She’s been sent to assist Tanya with the creation of the new battalion. The process is slow as everyone keeps failing Tanya’s test which is spotting an obvious illusion (how hard is it to spot an illusion. Oh, a Reese’s *Nitsuj goes to reach for it only to have it disappear in front of him*. Damn it Yume. No wonder you foxes are seen as mischievous creatures. (Yume): Yep. And I’m sure you would love nothing than to take this naughty fox and teach her a lesson. *Yume spanks her own butt* Oh harder master. *Yume spanks her butt again as she begins to walk away swaying her hips* Oh, I’ve been such a bad girl. *Meanwhile next door* (Baron): My perverted senses are tingling. I know what I must do. *Baron gets up and goes to the bathroom* Damn it, we’re out of tissues). So far only 12 soldiers have passed, and Tanya is told to lower the standards for passing (no! Give me the best or don’t give me nothing at all) and reeducate the current members. She has them do defensive training in the harsh snow as live bombs are raining down on them. After this, they had to reach their next destination point on foot all while avoiding soldiers, bombers, and mother nature (stating the obvious here but the girl is a sadist). It’s obvious that Tanya’s plan is to get them to dropout but instead it does the opposite, it encourages them to keep on going and not give up (and apparently these soldiers are masochists). After about a month of training, the company gets sent to the southeastern frontlines by Strategic HQ. One of the neighboring countries, the Dukedom Dakia, has begun invading the borders (just like Tanya said, they’re approaching world war levels) with nothing but foot soldiers and to make their march even more stupid they didn’t encrypt their messages so Tanya and her men know what they’re planning and where they are (dear God they’re stupid! Why would you not encrypt your messages? That’s like one of the first rules of war. This is how Russia got their asses handed to them during the first world war. Russia didn’t encrypt their messages and Germany intercepted them so they knew everything they were doing and Germany kicked their asses to the point that it was hilarious). Tanya’s company goes to attack the troops of Dakia where they slaughter them (scene here: https://youtu.be/G0QN6RxlSik). Despite Tanya’s troops being outnumbered the soldiers of Dakia are no match for Tanya’s troops (when you dance with the devil you lose your life). After taking out Dakia’s troops and ransacking their base, they make their way to the capital where following international war laws and just open fire on the weapons factory but not before giving a warning courtesy of Tanya doing her cutesy girl voice to fool them all (scene here: https://youtu.be/lrEHTfpFq4g). They open fire, destroy the factory and leave feeling good about their accomplishment.
In episode 6 Tanya and her company are being sent up north to Nordan to protect a supply line and test out a new tactic against the enemy (and if they have time, ski and play in the snow). They arrive where their supply depot is being attacked and they engage the enemy and their bombers where Tanya reaches an altitude of 10,000 feet and takes them all down herself (she truly is an OP loli). She tries to capture the pilots who crashed but they’re dead however she does have a run in with Being X who says that he’s behind this whole world war and is doing this just to mess with Tanya (dear God, their relationship is like what would happen if an atheist met God but still decided to reject Him out of spite so God decides to keep messing with that atheist just to teach them a lesson). After her run in with Being X she takes out soldiers spying on her and goes to the Norden headquarters where she’s told that the frontlines are going to advance.
After a special recap episode, we get to episode 7 where the commanders of Norden HQ want to advance and wipe out their opponents. Tanya of course says this would be impossible given their limited supplies which angers the commander (she’s just speaking the truth man). After speaking in private with a few high-up officers, Tanya figures out that the advancement is all a diversion to take over a landing point for their troops to land and restock supplies. She’s given orders to take over a place called Orse Fjord which will act as their landing point and a place where the enemies will never suspect them to be. Tanya will launch an attack to take out the gun emplacements which will allow the Empire fleet to land safely and she’s only given a window of 30 minutes to accomplish this task (geez no pressure). They attack the troops at Orse Fjord taking out all the gun emplacements just in time before the Empire’s fleet shows up wiping out any remaining troops and reinforcements except for one soldier who fought against Tanya in the past (and he survived? Dude that’s like a blessing right there). Refusing to let his homeland fall he tries to defeat Tanya himself (well that’s just suicide) and dies by getting impaled with a bayonet and Tanya takes his sub-machine gun as a trophy (I’m surprised she didn’t have one earlier).
At the start of episode 8 we see Tanya and her battalion return to the frontlines of war to provide support only to get assigned to a new mission. Rebels have taken over a city and Tanya’s battalion has been sent to quell the uprising and eliminate those who resist (just another Monday for Tanya). The only problem is the military has issued an evacuation order meaning anyone still left in the city after the the expired time of the evacuation order will be considered an enemy of the Empire and eliminated (that includes civilians of the Empire who are being held captive against their will and can’t leave). Tanya’s troops attack where they give one final warning telling everyone to surrender before the artillery opens fire on the city but they refuse to give up thus the city gets bombarded with civilians getting caught in the attack (scene here: https://youtu.be/koIaypmL9Gw, it was basically Hell on Earth). After the barrage they take a quick 5 minute rest before resuming the attack but Tanya gets told to take down a group of enemy mages escorting civilians out but one soldier asks Tanya to reconsider (https://youtu.be/lxFxRXCG73M?t=4s). Her response, whacking him in the stomach and chest with a rifle and telling him to pick it up and fire on them because in the end they’ll just pick up their guns and come out for them (take them out first before they take you out).
Episodes 9-12
In episode 9 the strategic HQ of the Empire has announced a plan to wipe out the Republic and end the war. They’re going to pull back their forces in the Rhine to lure out the Republic’s main army and wipe them out in one decisive battle (if this plan is following what I think it’s following than this won’t end well for either side. This is going to be the Battle of Verdun all over again). Their plan is a 3-part plan. First, the retreat which goes off without a hitch. The second part, destroying Republic’s HQ in the Rhine so they’ll be leaderless. Final part, wipe them out (and celebrate with booze, meat, and women). For the second part of the plan Tanya and her battalion are tasked with taking out the enemy HQ and their transportation for getting behind enemy lines is being fired out of rockets going at a speed of mach 1.5 (hope everyone had a light lunch). As you can imagine this whole thing is very risky. Not only is the Empire performing this operation with limited supplies thanks to their railway system being damaged in the fight from last episode but if even one of the parts I mentioned earlier fails than everything else falls apart and they all lose (this is literally betting everything on black). As we approach the end of the episode Tanya and 11 of her soldiers get shot out of the rocket and land near enemy HQ ready to accomplish their mission.
At the start of episode 10 Tanya and her soldiers are successful in destroying the Republic’s HQ and escape where they rest on a submarine while the third part of the plan begins (so far everything is paying off). Back on the Rhine battlefield the Republic’s troops are gearing up to fight the Empire’s right flank where unbeknownst to them their HQ has been destroyed and their left flank will be next. The Empire creates a man-made explosion on the left flank wiping out the Republic’s forces (and no doubt giving Michael Bay an orgasm in the process cause that explosion was cool). With the left flank destroyed and HQ gone the soldiers on the right flank have no idea what’s going on giving the Empire a huge advantage as they move on to their final plan. They’re going to perform a pincher attack on the right flank trapping the Republic and wiping them out in one big attack. After a day of resting on the sub Tanya and her soldiers head off to the Rhine to take down any stragglers from escaping (no mercy for anyone) but along the way they get attacked by another flying unit being led by that soldier who tried to kill Tanya in episode 7 (calling him Mark), failed and survived (man this guy survived twice and he’s trying to kill Tanya again. He’s either the luckiest son of a bitch in this anime or the most suicidal man I’ve ever seen. He survived Tanya twice and yet he’s still going after her. If it had been me I would get as far away from that girl as possible).
Episode 11 opens up with possibly the best air fight scene the anime has produced so far. Tanya’s troops are outnumbered but put up a good until Mark starts using illegal rounds taking Tanya’s troops. Tanya takes on Mark where she sees the powers of Being X coursing through his body (he’s toying with you again Tanya) and she goes all out to beat him. She bests him in air combat but he grabs her and tries to commit double suicide but Viktoriya shoots his arm causing him to let go and Tanya opens fire on him with her sub-machine gun (killed by your own gun). Despite this he comes back to life and explodes trying to take Tanya out but she survives (because an evil like her cannot be destroyed so easily. Scenes here: https://youtu.be/-q-lK2FMx9o and https://youtu.be/sdWokQNBuZA). After this intense fight we see that the Empire were victorious in the Rhine and then we fast forward 15 days later where the Empire marches into the capital of the Republic (literally, there’s a parade and everything) showing that the Republic has accepted defeat and the war is close to over (all glory to the Fatherland). But before the war can officially end the Empire is allowing the Republic’s navy forces to withdraw which Tanya wants to stop because the war hasn’t officially ended meaning the Republic could still attack and they wouldn’t be breaking any treaties or anything. Tanya pleads with higher officers to let her go and kill them but they say no because of the temporary ceasefire (scene here: https://youtu.be/c2mOiHmdQws, you idiots. You’re going to throw everything away).
In the final episode the remnants of the Republic form the Free Republic and vow to keep fighting until the Empire is destroyed and this rallies the world to join them in their fight to destroy the Empire because the Empire is now a threat to the world (they’ve shown the world what they can do and now in an act to protect themselves they’re going to destroy the Empire). The season ends on cliffhanger where we see the Empire sent a few ground troops led by Tanya to the frontlines and Tanya gives a speech cursing God (or Being X) saying that she intends to rip Him to shreds and take his place as ruler of this world (scene here: https://youtu.be/maj4lzamoz4, she truly is a monster in a little girl’s body).
Final Thoughts
Man was this an enjoyable anime. This anime not only has us focus on the villains of this anime, but they execute it so well and make the character so likable that you have no choice but to root for her. Tanya is just an amazing character. Every time she’s on screen is just great. She’s intelligent, sadistic, resourceful, crazy, stuck up, an asshole and she knows it. Give credit to Aoi Yuuki she brings so much to Tanya’s character. She just speaks the lines with the right amount of emotion and affliction. It’s hard not to get sucked into her performance and get a chill with every line she reads. The other characters are decent but it’s clear that Tanya overshadows them. The only person who comes close to Tanya’s level is Being X and the relationship between them is great. Tanya refuses to have faith so Being X continues to mess with her. Despite coming face to face and speaking with what could possibly be God, Tanya still denies Him for her own selfish reasons. It’s both funny and sad at the same time.
The attention to detail is also great in this anime. A lot of the battles and scenarios that play out are similar to the ones that happened in WWI. Speaking of WWI, I do like how the anime focuses on this war instead of WWII like so many other stories out there. It’s refreshing and a nice change of pace. The animation is nice. While nothing too special the shading, colors, backgrounds, sounds and facial expressions match up exceptionally well with the tone and setting of the anime. The music doesn’t really leave much of an impact on me but to be fair it didn’t bother me all that much. I did enjoy the air combat. I admit I really don’t watch animes with air combat but after watching this anime I’m actually interested in seeing more animes that have it.
Final Score
The final score for Youjo Senki is an 8.5/10 with a must watch stamp of approval. If you like Overlord and want to explore the concept of villain characters than definitely check this anime out. As of right now no word has been given about a second season but a movie did come out earlier this year so hopefully a second season is on the way and hopefully I can track down the movie and review it. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj.
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