Youjo Senki

[shinta|hikari]

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On the front lines of the war, there is a little girl. Blond hair, blue eyes, and porcelain white skin, she commands her squad with lisping voice. Her name is Tanya Degurechaff. But in reality, she is one of Japan's most elite salarymen, reborn as a little girl after angering a mysterious being who calls himself God. This little girl, who prioritizes efficiency and her own career over anything else, will become the most dangerous being amongst the sorcerers of the imperial army.



My favorite of the season so far. 2 eps out.

[Ryllharu]

Especially after seeing eps 2, I will say, the first episode was one of the worst "first episodes" I've seen in some time. Timeskip then flashback was completely unnecessary. There was no reason to jump ahead, and literally no point in doing the series out of order, because we already see Tanya being a badass when she earns the medal.

I did like that the second eps implies a reason that Tanya is so ruthless. She knows that (except for her) the people she slaughters will be reincarnated by Being X, despite the fact that she refuses to acknowledge Being X as God.

[Kraco]

I don't understand Being X's actions. Tanya was granted the reincarnation because the original slipped up and told Being X that only people lacking material and immaterial wealth would believe in a god, whereas he, who had a solid career and an even more solid personal philosophy would have no use for a god. So, why was he reincarnated as a super powerful magician? It would have made sense if she was reborn simply as one of the nameless orphans struggling for their daily bread, but instead she got out of the orphanage and into the military whilst still nothing but a little kid due to her one in a million talent. How will that help her to discover God, huh?

[shinta|hikari]

I guess it proves that Being X isn't really a perfect being and can make mistakes too, which is what Tanya believes anyway.

[Buffalobiian]

I don't understand Being X's actions. Tanya was granted the reincarnation because the original slipped up and told Being X that only people lacking material and immaterial wealth would believe in a god, whereas he, who had a solid career and an even more solid personal philosophy would have no use for a god. So, why was he reincarnated as a super powerful magician?

Talent wasn't one of the things he mentioned but owns.

Perhaps Being X couldn't influence genetics/talent. Or perhaps that very talent is part of Tanya, and Being X didn't change any of that since it wasn't part of the deal.

Being X also said he was overworked administering 7 billion people*, which suggests he only looks after the real world, not the Magical world. He could have just dumped Tanya into another Being's shitty world and asked for the same parameters as per deal.

*It's funny how the being chooses not to reincarnate faithless beings, but the human population keeps growing. Someone can't maths.

@Ryll: I think the timeskip was necessary, especially to give us a first-impression of Tanya as she would appear to her subordinates. We've also been shown her to be very verbal in acknowledging God. Even during her dire fight she spoke nothing of him. That alone has me curious as to what can change her.

[Kraco]

What deal? Being X made no deals. The moral of that short encounter seemed to be that Being X wanted to give proto-Tanya a chance to develop faith as proto-Tanya explained why he didn't have any need for it. At least if that wasn't the purpose, I don't know what it was. What's the point of making the dude repeat a successful life with no need for faith right after he was told he won't get reincarnated?

Saying Being X couldn't control it or it was a mistake... Right. Why bother writing such a story in the first place?

[Edort4]

I liked more the 1st episode. 2nd episode brought a "world inside a world" I didnt need at all. I dont know why anime writters feel the need of making such "intrincate" (actually overused, overburned and eventually simplistic) plots.

1st WW with magic and a crazy bitch MC was just enough base to create something good. The Milkweed Triptych made a pretty decent trilogy with something similar. They add another layer that brings nothing but inconsistencies, mixing "real world" with "magical world", creating deus ex machinas everywhere, plot holes, a boring overused rebirth plot, and bs to the show.

[Buffalobiian]

What deal? Being X made no deals. The moral of that short encounter seemed to be that Being X wanted to give proto-Tanya a chance to develop faith as proto-Tanya explained why he didn't have any need for it. At least if that wasn't the purpose, I don't know what it was.

That was exactly the purpose, but God went "So if I changed XYZ parameters you'll develop faith?" /changes-xyz.

He wasn't exactly scrambling for ideas on how to beat faith into the MC. The MC blamed his lack of faith on a bunch of external parameters, so God changed exactly those.

read:

God: You really have no faith huh? Fuck reincarnating you.
MC: You shit god, you don't even understand people. Of course they'd have no faith if XYZ exist in their life.
God: Hoh?... So if I change XYZ you'll have faith?
MC: *gulp*
God: Alright, done. Good luck. The next time you die it can be for good.

God wasn't exactly sitting around thinking about all the possible factors he could bring into the MC's life to awaken his faith. He just did enough to address the "complaint" towards him, then moved on to the rest of humanity clocking at two deaths per second.

edit:
btw I don't like the female eyes in this show. They're ugly.

[Kraco]

You call that God?

To be honest I'd say that whole scene was nothing but a delusion. Like the popular saying goes, when you are about to die, you see your whole life flash before your eyes. This dude instead saw before his eyes the one and only thing he was lacking: A plan for and knowledge of what comes after. So, being reborn as Tanya had no real connection to that brief moment he experienced. He was simply reborn following the rules of that universe, but since he experienced that delusion before dying and for some aberrant reason remembers his past life (there have been people who've claimed to remember their past lives even in RL), he thinks what he experienced was real and thus he's swearing he will not bow before any god.

[shinta|hikari]

I don't think Being X is really God, at least not in the perfect sense you seem to imply. Even the protagonist thinks so.

@Buff - I agree about the episode 1 and 2 thing. That said, while I understand why they did it, I wouldn't say it was really necessary to do it that way. It was a stylistic choice.

@Edort - They needed this premise to explain why such a young girl can be so methodical and evil.

[Kraco]

Episode 3



- - - - - - -



I was severely underestimating this show. Being X seemed to know exactly what it was doing: If Tanya had been born miserable and powerless, praying to a higher being would have been far more hollow than being born a genius magician, yet still needing to pray. It's always great when a show exceeds expectations.

A jolly good episode also otherwise. I tried to recognize the mad scientist's voice and thought he must have been in Hellsing Ultimate as well, but I'm not sure. He's not yet listed by AniDB or ANN.

[shinta|hikari]

I love Tanya. She is cute AF, smart AF, and amoral AF. My favorite combination.

Each time I see her half opened eyes or insane grin, I cum a little.

[Buffalobiian]

I agree with Tanya. This is cheating. No, this is bullying. Every time things go her way, God steps in and trips her up.

This is exactly like torturing someone until they give you an answer you like.

[shinta|hikari]

But Being X is doing such a bad job at it. He is clearly an imperfect being. Omnipotent? Possibly. Omniscient? Not at all.

[Kraco]

I don't agree on it being bad job. A godly miracle is cheating in every single case. A nation has spent years to train soldiers, raise war horses, create weapons and shields with inefficient, immature technology, formulate, test, and practice strategies. Then comes one single dude for whom God will split the ocean and make all that giant effort of decades useless. What else is that but bloody cheating? If you look at the Japanese folklore, that cheating is all over the place.

I also don't know what you mean by things going her way. She nearly got killed by the exploding device, got sent to a mad scientist who would have get her killed yet again by an exploding device. Being X decided to grat her a miracle by making the device not explode but instead serve her well. Things only went her way when Being X intervened.

[Buffalobiian]

"Things were going her way" when she managed to cop out of a fruitless experiment and lived life at a rear staff." Now God made her pray to be super-good (and not die).

Fast-forward to now, she gets to go to university (and not be forced to pray to use some machine that's saving her life) - only to put into a special strike force to repeat this shit all over again.

[Kraco]

Fast-forward to now, she gets to go to university (and not be forced to pray to use some machine that's saving her life) - only to put into a special strike force to repeat this shit all over again.

They are fighting a stalemate war at best, maybe even a losing one considering we have heard a number of times they don't have anymore reinforcements to send in and their strategies are producing no results. You really think as the most powerful magician she would have got to enjoy a peaceful profession for very long? I'm actually surprised Being X needed to do anything at all. She was the prime material for a highly mobile, reactive force under any circumstances. The only thing keeping her away would be the high command's internal politics where they can't fully trust overly powerful individuals or "I've a daughter of that same age" mentality. However, such sentiments won't last if the war goes poorly.

[Ryllharu]

Of course it's cheating.

That's. The. Joke.

Tanya is fighting against a loser of a petty, self-proclaimed deity. It took ten years, but she won the first three rounds (orphanage/training, her first sortie, and being repeatedly exploded). So he came back.

His insidious plan is to make her believe by repeating the litany, so that she's reminded every day that his existence is why she doesn't blow up. Tanya's new challenge is to keep separated that Being X is a powerful being, and that he's actually God.

[Kraco]

What joke? I don't see any jokes. Proto-Tanya was pushed to his death because he was an emotionless, utilitarian dick. That is, he brought it upon himself. Being X gave him/her another life. Surely Being X doesn't owe anything to Tanya. Tanya, however, owes everything to Being X, but she keeps insisting she has no use for him. She should have killed herself immediately if she didn't want to acknowledge Being X. Whatever Being X does now, it's nothing compared to giving her another chance.

[Edort4]

So we have a being playing with the future of a whole different world just to mess with Tanya/rebirth guy.... and expects to be admired/adored/respected?

How many people has died because Tanya was sent to the front lines with such a power? I guess that having "rebirths" people dont mind getting killed (and feeling the pain of the process, leaving their unfulfilled life behind) just cause this god wants to subdue a single person.

Dunno what being X is but I hope Tanya not only never ever acknowledges him but that she finds a way to destroy that totalitarian piece of shit of "god".