Hello and welcome to Project Nitsuj. You know, when it comes to Four Horsemen of Isekai it’s hard to say which one is the weakest of the bunch. Konosuba, Re:Zero, Overlord, and Youjo Senki are all great anime with each reshaping isekai and showing us the different directions in which you can take them. However, if we’re going by a popularity contest, I think Youjo Senki comes in last place. Despite the anime being a hit with the fans and bringing in new fans, the series has mostly stayed quiet over the years as opposed to the others. Overlord had 3 animes along with a few recap movies, Konosuba had 2 animes as well as a movie, and Re:Zero is getting ready for a second season with a director’s cut of the anime airing to get everyone excited. Outside of Isekai Quartet, Youjo Senki has done nothing. A big reason for this might be because the studio behind it, NUT, is a relatively small and young studio. In fact, besides Youjo Senki the studio has only created one other anime and that’s FLCL: Alternative. They are working on an original anime but it’s being kept under wraps and there’s been no release date for it as of yet. Well that and the Youjo Senki movie. Yep, in 2019 these guys made a Youjo Senki movie after 2 years of being silent about the anime. I’m not sure if this movie is cannon or not, but it was a hit at the box office making 400 million yen and other reviewers praised it. What are my thoughts about it? Well let’s return to the trenches and take a look at Youjo Senki the movie.
The movie starts years after the war where a perverted individual named Adelheid who is a priest explains to a churchgoer that the reason the world went to war with the Empire was because they were all afraid of the Empire (that, and their leader was a douche).We then cut to our evil loli Tanya fighting in Africa with her battalion against Free Republic forces. At first, it seems like the Empire has lost the battle, but Tanya and her battalion manage to give the Empire a huge tactical advantage by destroying the Free Republic’s HQ. With this, the tide battle turns in favor of the Empire and they manage to win. Tanya and her battalion return to the Empire for some R&R only to be given a reconnaissance mission on the eastern border with the Russy Federation (wow, they’re not being subtle with these references at all). At the border the group is told not to engage unless the Federation takes the first shot (always be the side that plays self-defense) and observe a whole arsenal of weapons the Federation is preparing. As the group prepares to retreat, the Federation fires off a rail cannon and Tanya’s battalion receives the news that the Federation has declared war on the Empire (those communist pigs). Tanya orders a strike on the enemy encampment and they destroy it completely (they had a lot of combustible elements to work with). After this, Tanya proposes a strike on the Federation’s capital which gets approved by HQ.
We then cut to Moscow (like I said, they are being subtle with their references to Russia) where a multinational military mage force has arrived. In this group we meet Mary, daughter of that one soldier Tanya killed in the first season. She joined the US military and is now out for revenge against the Empire and Tanya. As they get settled in Tanya and her battalion attack Moscow and they pretty much just teabag these guys. They attack all of their major buildings, plant the Empire’s flag on their soil, sing the Empire’s national anthem, and record all of this for war propaganda (holy shit, this is almost as bad as the attack on Pearl Harbor). When Mary finds out the Empire is attacking, she ignores her commanding officer (and that would be enough to have her court martialed and locked up) and flies off to fight them where she meets Tanya and tries to kill her. We see that what Mary lacks in fighting skills, she makes up for it by having a high aptitude for magic thanks to Being X (who no doubt is doing this to screw with Tanya). Mary loses to Tanya but manages to survive her fall from the sky thanks to her magic. Tanya and her battalion retreat after causing enough damage and Mary’s eyes turn yellow as she begs God for power to kill Tanya.
That night, the battalion along with other soldiers celebrate their victory by getting drunk (they don’t get shitfaced, just drunk. Big difference). Later that night, Tanya receives an emergency to assists divisions that have been encircled by Federation soldiers at a city called Tiegenhoff. At first, Tanya ignores their call for help in favor of another mission but when she discovers how retaking Tiegenhoff would give the Empire access to a major railway hub connecting all railway lines into the Federation, she decides to exist Tiegenhoff. Tanya and battalion easily retake Tiegenhoff and this gets the attention of the Federation’s cabinet member Loria (who I swear is the long lost brother of the Major from Hellsing Ultimate) a pedophilic who became attracted to Tanya during her raid in Moscow, advocates a massive human wave attack on Tiegenhoff in the hopes of killing her (he actually salivates at the idea of watching her die. Please let him be a reoccurring character moving forward).
The third act of this whole is just one major between the Empire and Federation at Tiegenhoff as both sides suffer major causalities. We even get a major air battle against Tanya’s battalions and bombers/fighter jets. The real highlight of this climax is the fight between Tanya and Mary. After seeing Tanya again, Mary goes into rage mode using the power of Being X to try and kill Tanya. They have this incredible air battle throughout the city which ends in a slugfest (gotta love how this air battle ends in a slugfest in the middle of a destroyed church. If that’s not symbolism I don’t know what is). Mary gains the advantage and assaults Tanya until she’s unconscious. Believing that she’s killed Tanya she looks up at the angel statue for joy (too early to be celebrating) before Tanya stabs her in the back and shoots her (told you). Tanya shoots her at least 6 times in the stomach/chest area, yet despite all of this she somehow is still alive (how badly does she want to kill Tanya? Also, aim for the head next time Tanya). Mary gets rescued by her commanding officer who begs him to turn around and allow her to continue the fight with Tanya. The Federation army finally retreats with the Empire still in control of Tiegenhoff and Tanya realizing that she has to get off the frontlines before she gets killed. 10 days later, Tanya goes to the Empire’s HQ where she manages to convince them to let her do research on combined arms battle tactics in the rear for 2 months. Elated by her request getting approved she goes to a church and dances all while insulting Being X (it’s not gonna work out in the end). After the credits, 2 months have passed and Tanya is enjoying her life in the rear where she receives a call from HQ expressing how impressed they are with her research and want to put it into practice. That’s why they’re giving her a combined arms unit complete with infantries, tanks, artillery, and her mage battalion codenamed Salamander to test the efficiency of her research meaning she’s being moved back to the frontlines (she just can’t win).
Final Thoughts
This was a very enjoyable movie. While it’s not spectacular and adds nothing new it’s a fun watch with great action and Tanya being Tanya. The new character Mary did annoy a few people. Not because she’s bad character but because she’s such a Mary Sue. She constantly talks about how they should be helping out their allies when in truth that’s not how she really feels and needs to cut the crap. She knows and we all know that deep down she doesn’t care about allies or the war, all she cares about is destroying the Empire and killing Tanya. We see hints of it throughout the movie as she completely ignores orders and goes into a blind rage trying to destroy Tanya not caring about anyone or anything. If she admitted that all she cares about is destroying Tanya I would have more respect for her as a character instead of this girl pretending to care for her allies and the greater good. The first two acts are good, but it’s the third act that really makes this an enjoyable movie. The action is just amazing here from the soldiers on the group fighting, to the battle in the sky against the bombers and fighter jets, and to Tanya and Mary having their battle against each other with great camerawork and visuals to go along with it.
Final Score
Youjo Senki movie gets an 7.5/10. A great and enjoyable movie that has good action and sets the stage up perfectly for a second season. If you liked the anime you’ll like this movie, so give it a watch when you get the chance. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj.
*All videos, clips, and music are not owned by me and belong to their respective owners. All rights reserved*
Thanks for reading. As always feel free to leave a comment in the comment section or send your comments, feedback, or request to iamprojectnitsuj@gmail.com
And follow me on twitter for updates and other stuff: https://twitter.com/ProjectNitsuj