Youjo Senki (Saga of Tanya the Evil): Season 1/ Episode 12 “How To Use a Victory” [Season Finale] – Overview/ Review (with Spoilers)

Despite this being the season, and likely series, finale, there is no end to the exuberant amount of time talking strategy with very little action or development of the characters. Pretty much, it is a new episode and the only thing that has changed is who the enemy is.

Episode Focus: The Infinite War (Tanya)

As Tanya suspected, the Republic, now under the name “Free Republic,” has made a comeback. With General Du Lugo in charge and the world fearing the might of the Empire, it seems war may never end. Yet, despite peace so quickly stolen from Tanya’s grasps, she remains without heavenly faith. In fact, she gives an impassioned speech about replacing God, one which is disparaging to God, and with the way the camera cuts to us hearing Lt. Col Erich von Rerugen speak of her, you’d almost think Being X was using him to push Tanya closer and closer to flirting with death.

Of which, with Mary Sioux joining the war effort, maybe she might be the one to kill the Devil of the Rhine despite her father being unable to do so.

Commentary

If there is one thing this season has taught me is that I’m not into anime which is musical and while I like action and am someone who can appreciate a heavy amount of dialog, I have no fondness for heavy dialog in the form of military strategy. Which is one of the main reasons that, for a few episodes now, I feel like I’ve been watching this more out of habit than excitement and wanting to see what happens next. For, even without being told the end within the comment section of Episode 10, there remains this lack of build which is aggravating.

As noted in that same episode, there is no real sense of loss or struggle with the Empire and, despite some godly being acting against Tanya, she not only survives but thrives. We end things with her still having all the members of her battalion and not a single one who had the ability to speak being killed. On top of that, with her following international law and rarely being that crazy child we saw in the first episode, it has been a struggle to associate her with being evil or some kind of devil.

Thus leaving us with a show that seems like it could go on forever from one battle to the next, one war to the next even. All the while, thanks to Tanya’s “foresight and decisiveness” she comes out on top without a single scar or blemish. Making it so the only thing that perhaps changed was Tanya softening up when it comes to her subordinates. Outside of that, though, you could literally jump from episode 3 to 10, maybe even 12, and probably not feel like you really missed much. For, in truth, you kind of didn’t.

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