Tag: The Saga of Tanya the Evil

Saga of Tanya the Evil Season Two: The Most Adorable War Criminal Finally Returns in July.

I have reviewed a lot of anime on my blog.
If I have learned anything in the process, it is that time plays a big part in my opinion.
I will often look back at a positive review I did of an anime and wonder, why did I rate that one so highly?
Not to say that my opinion of these anime have turned negative, but I would say that some of them are not as fantastic as I once thought.
However, there is one anime that I enjoyed and continue to enjoy whenever I revisit it, which is often.
That anime is Saga of Tanya the Evil, and it follows the story of a Japanese salaryman, cursed by a supposed god to be reborn into another world.
Now a little German girl named Tanya, the salaryman must survive an alternate universe World War One, where mages fly over the battlefield.
The anime has a lot of great qualities, the best of which being the titular Tanya herself.
She is a compelling character with her strict mindset, constant hilarious misunderstandings, and rivalry with the god she calls “Being X.”

Tanya’s constant mental battles with Being X were a highlight for me in the first season.

After finishing the anime, I was eagerly anticipating Season Two.
So, I waited… and waited… and waited…until it felt like we were never going to get Season Two.
Well now, in 2026, we finally have our first trailer (that is not just old footage), along with a release date. 
The trailer begins by showing that Season Two will pick up from the movie.
Tanya has been gifted a full combat battalion by the military branch; despite the aneurysm it gives one of her superiors.
We get a brief look at all of the characters, including those in Tanya’s squad, two new communist characters and, of course, Tanya’s human rival Mary Sue (yes that is her actual name).
From there, the trailer goes through a series of fast animations, teasing what is coming.
We see Tanya engaging in an air battle, what looks to be some sort of demon and, most disgusting of all, Loria licking his finger.
Loria is based off Lavrentiy Beria, one of Stalin’s chief enforcers, who was definitely a sexual predator and probably also a serial killer. 
Given that he obviously has nothing good planned for Tanya, I think we can all agree to pray to Being X that Loria receives a painful end.  

I hope Tanya eventually strikes the same fear into Loria that she does to this pilot in the trailer.

But the highlight of the trailer is Tanya’s crazed expressions.
We see these insane smiles while she fights and tells her troops to prepare for war.
It will never not be funny to see hardened soldiers terrified by a little girl who they constantly misunderstand.
Case and point, the final shots of the trailer are everyone looking horrified as Tanya puts on her little girl voice and smiles sweetly.
To be fair, the last time Tanya used this voice was to trick her enemies into thinking an attack was not coming in a way that would avoid war crime charges.

Knowing that, Tanya’s soldiers being afraid of this face is completley understandable.

It will be both interesting and terrifying to see how Tanya schemes her way out of such charges in the new season, now revealed to be airing in July.   
I will be watching day one, and plan to review each episode weekly.
Hopefully Season Two can live up to the first and, if we do get a third season, we will not have to wait as long. 

The Saga of Tanya The Evil Review: The Monster in the Form of a Little Girl.

Before I begin the review, I will say that this contains spoilers for a reveal that happens early on, which will work a lot better if you do not know what it is going in. So, if you have not yet watched The Saga of Tanya the Evil, then it’s probably best to avoid this review until you have.

When it comes to picking an anime to watch, there are two features which, if present, will usually make me avoid the show I hear they are in.
These two things are the genre of isekais and character trope of lolis.
I don’t have anything against isekais, it’s just that I have found that they usually do not appeal to me.
Then there are lolis, which I don’t think I even need to explain why I find them to be an automatic avoid requirement for an anime.
However, despite The Saga of Tanya the Evil both being an isekai and having a loli as the main character, I heard great things about it, so I decided to give it a chance and was surprised to find that I loved it.
The isekai aspects of the show only make its premise way more interesting and the loli Tanya (Aoi Yuki) is not sexualised in any way (thank god).

Tanya being a child is wisely used as an often comedic or unnerving juxtaposition with her status as a military leader.

Directed by Yutaku Uemura, and based off the light novels by Carlo Zen, The Saga of Tanya the Evil tells the story of a salaryman in Japan, whose job it is to fire unproductive people at the company he works.
However, he is particularly ruthless and uncaring in his treatment of others, and this leads to a man he fired murderering him by pushing him in front of a train.
Just as he is about to die, the salaryman is confronted by a being who claims to be God, who is dissatisfied with the lack of faith in him.
It is at this time that the salaryman makes the unfortunate decision to declare that he is an atheist and does not believe he is talking to God, dubbing him Being X (Hideaki Tezuka) instead.
This leads to the first of many funny cases of miscommunication where the salaryman’s mocking comments cause Being X to believe that if the salaryman is reincarnated in a harsh situation then he will find faith in God.

And so the salaryman’s isekai journey begins.

Thus, the salaryman is reincarnated as the girl Tanya Degurechaff in an alternate version of Germany, known as the Empire, during a World War One where magic exists.   
Wanting to secure a good life for herself, Tanya enters the military at nine-years-old with the hope of using her experiences from her past life to earn a comfy position safe away from the battlefield.
Only problem is that her constant miscommunication with people, and Being X’s interference keeps pushing her to the front lines.
And it is here the good usage of the isekai genre and loli elements come in, with the isekai storyline creating Tanya’s rivalry with Being X during the conflict, and the loli stature of Tanya creating the amusing display of a little girl as a military leader.
Or, as Erich Rerugen (Shinichiro Miki) would call her, “a monster in the form of a little girl!” 

Tanya’s creepy faces get a lot of animation. Looking at this it’s not hard to understand why Rerugen is so unnerved by her.

It is this “monster” who is by far the most interesting character in the show.
The other characters are good but it’s Tanya who carries the whole thing, with her military genius, often crazy personality, and struggle for her own human autonomy against what is essentially God.
Speaking of that crazy personality though, it does lead to a few technically-not-a-war-crime-because-of-loophole scenarios and, oh, boy, are those dark.
A lot of the military strategy surrounding these events are also quite interesting to sit through, and when it comes to the actual combat of the series, it does not disappoint.
However, the thing I want to praise most about the action is not the animation but the sound design.
Seriously, the sound of the explosions and gunfire is top notch and makes the world of this horrible war feel tangible. 

I found myself often replaying the action scenes just to listen to the glorious sound design.

It is not all action though because the comedy is also well done.
I have already mentioned that Tanya gets into a lot of difficult situations due to miscommunication with her superiors, and it gets funnier every time. 
So, with an intriguing story which is lead by an interesting, morally grey character, featuring great action with terrific sound design, some comedic moments and engaging instances of military strategy, it is easy to recommend The Saga of Tanya the Evil.
It has certainly made me more likely to check out other Isekais in the future… not other animes with lolis though because I’m pretty sure most of those are going to be just as creepy as they appear on the surface.