Anime

Saga of Tanya the Evil Episode 1 – The Devil of the Rhine

Quick Summary of Saga of Tanya the Evil Episode 1

In Saga of Tanya the Evil episode 1, The Devil of the Rhine, we meet Tanya Degurechaff, a nine year old blonde girl who’s a flying mage ace who has no patience for incompetence or compassion. One of the newly graduated recruits in her company, Viktoriya Ivanovna Serebryakov, tries to keep up with her superior officer, with mixed results. Two undisciplined recruits try Tanya’s patience by disobeying orders — with unfortunate consequences. Tanya demonstrates to her platoon what a real aerial conflict looks like.

Note: This post may include spoilers, so be cautious!

What’s In This Post

Quick Episode Summary
What Happened in this Episode
What I Liked in this Episode
What I Liked Not so Much in this Episode
Thoughts about the Episode
Related Posts

What Happened in Saga of Tanya the Evil Episode 1

Tanya on the Field of Battle

Saga of Tanya the Evil Episode 1: That little kid's magic packs quite a punch.
Second Lieutenant Tanya Degurechaff demonstrated incredible power on the battlefield — but even she couldn’t turn the tide of battle alone. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

The empire’s soldiers tried to break through their enemy’s lines, but the resistance was too fierce. Viktoriya barely managed to pull a wounded soldier back to their own lines before a shell shattered the magic shield she projected. The other two mages with her wavered and would have fled had not a small voice above them said, “Believers, have faith in the Lord’s blessings. For the Lord will not abandon us.” Hanging above them, Tanya took careful aim and obliterated the enemy emplacements in front of them. However, she could not alone change how outnumbered they were.

From the Imperial capital in Berun, the military high command had attempted a strategy whereby they pushed back against their enemies on all sides to give themselves time to build a highly mobile force. Unfortunately, they didn’t anticipate all of their enemies mobilizing. In particular, the Rhine valley was in danger of falling into the hands of the Republic. They knew they had to adjust their strategy.

Saga of Tanya the Evil Episode 1: A few soldiers didn't get the memo.
Tanya tries to send the two offending corporals home. They make one of the biggest — and last — mistakes of their lives by confronting her. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

Tanya’s Mission to Rescue a Mage Company

Tanya and her platoon are charged with delaying the enemy while the Empire’s troops fall back. Two her her corporals could not contain themselves and attack the Republic’s artillery. Back in camp, she informs the two that she’s going to send them home because they can’t follow orders. They object, saying that they volunteered to come to the front lines and fight but she’s holding them back. Tanya nearly draws her sword on them before Viktoriya interjects. The next day, Viktoriya learns that Tanya has stationed them in a pillbox at the rear. Viktoriya interprets it as an act of mercy.

Their next mission was to rescue a Mage Company who had been pinned down by the enemy. The enemy has a strong aerial contingent of at least 15 mages — against Tanya’s four (a single company). Viktoriya voices concern about the odds, and Tanya muses that losing more new recruits might damage her chances for promotion. She assigns the other three in her company to provide support to their main force, and she goes ahead alone to meet the enemy. Out loud, she says it’s hard being a salaryman, and Viktoriya has no idea what she’s talking about.

Mage Dogfights

Saga of Tanya the Evil Episode 1: Tanya was on another level compared to most of the troops.
Tanya showed the invaders that she wasn’t just powerful. She’s on another level. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

Approaching at high speeds, Tanya first avoids their initial attacks. Then she shoots down several of the mages before closing close enough to use her bayonet to decapitate another. Several of them try to fly above her ceiling, but she blows past them and pauses to announce, over the radio, a chance to retreat. In answer, they fire on her, which was among the last mistakes they made. Blocking their shots, she invokes her God’s protection for the Fatherland, warns her allies to brace for impact, and fires. The single shot destroys the remaining airborne enemy mages. She demands the surrender of the enemy’s remaining ground forces.

Word of Tanya’s performance reached their enemy’s headquarters. They call her The Devil of the Rhine. The empire’s military commands learn that Tanya was instrumental in the battle. One of them, Erich von Rerugen, remembers her from training. He calls her a “monster in the form of a little girl.” Viktoriya learns that her two fellow graduates that had been sent to a pillbox were dead. When she reports it to Tanya,Viktoriya learns that’s what Tanya had planned all along. “A pillbox doesn’t move,” Tanya said. “It’s an ideal target for artillery.”

What I Liked about Saga of Tanya the Evil Episode 1

The Drudgery and Horror of Trench Warfare

Given what we learn of Tanya’s future “predecessor” and his philosophical leanings (see my upcoming review of episode 2), it’s clear that Tanya’s invocation of the Lord is either wildly cynical or her attempt to fire up her platoon. Or, I suppose it could be both!

Trench warfare was ugly and horrible.
The show did a good job of capturing the horrors or trench warfare without trying to glamorize it. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

The show did a credible job of capturing the grinding horror of the front lines without becoming too graphic. The soldiers’ initial attempt to break through their enemies’ lines; the soldiers rushing through trenches; and the desolation left by artillery painted an effective picture.

I wonder if I’m in the minority thinking that Tanya was completely justified for being furious with the two corporals who disobeyed her orders? Her platoon’s orders were to delay the enemy so that the empire’s troops could withdraw. The corporals’ act of mutiny could have easily endangered their own troops. So, when Tanya was about to draw her sword, I couldn’t think of her as being anything but justified. I mean, if she were really evil, would she have let Viktoriya stop her? Or later, would Tanya have reacted so well to Viktoriya insisting she was ready for another mission, even though Tanya said she wasn’t?

Not Skimping on the Animation Budget

When Tanya fired her final shot at the enemy, the animation was fantastic. It looked like a tactical nuclear explosion, both in its inception and its effects. I’m glad this is an alternate history. Witnessing something like that would have been terrifying.

Saga of Tanya the Evil Episode 1: Is Tanya _really_ evil?
Malevolent expression aside, I still can’t see Tanya’s decision to send the undisciplined corporals to the pillbox as evil. She gave them every chance to redeem themselves, and they refused. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

Should I think Tanya’s evil for sending the two corporals to the pillbox, knowing that it would likely be killed? On one hand, I could say something like, “Well, the pillbox had to be manned. Why not those two corporals?” Or, I could point out that disobeying the orders of a superior officer in the middle of combat is a grave offense. On the other hand, Tanya made her decision knowing full well what would probably happen. Maybe it says something more about me, but I’d have to classify what she decided as expedient or utilitarian instead of flat-out evil.

Hmmm. I wonder if the show’s trying to tell me I’m actually evil? That would certainly be a surprise!

What I Liked Less about Saga of Tanya the Evil Episode 1

Just what is Japan's fascination with Germany?
Just what is our fascination with this era’s Germany? Isn’t it a bit unhealthy? Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

I worry when the protagonist of a series is a country like the Empire. Seeing the red banners draped in front of Berun’s buildings of state looked too much like another incarnation of the empire, this time in our own world, in the years running up to World War II. I’m uncomfortable giving that kind of entity any sympathetic portrayals, because too many people nowadays seem to embrace philosophies that we learned not only didn’t work. They left too many humans dead.

Thoughts about Saga of Tanya the Evil Episode 1

We live in really difficult times. I’m not saying it’s harder now than ever before and I’m not saying we face the most grave evils we’ve ever faced. I’m just saying today’s politics are no walk in the park. If you’ve read a lot of my posts here, like my review of Concrete Revolutio episode 9, you know the dim view I take of demagoguery in any of its forms.

Like I said in What I Liked Not so Much in this Episode, this show portrays a version of pre-World War I Germany in a positive light. Tanya’s attitudes about those with weaknesses, especially how they’re a waste of imperial resources, echo a similar concept of the Master Race. Weakness isn’t a sign of deficiency. It’s an indication that additional training is needed, or a given individual is in the wrong role. In other words, a soldier like Viktoriya showing exhaustion after heavy combat isn’t a sign that she needs to be replaced. Maybe she does, but it might also be a sign that the leadership isn’t managing the field of battle, or maybe she’s in the wrong position.

As I watch the show, I’ve reflected that Tanya’s individual decisions don’t seem evil. Maybe I’m looking at this wrong, or maybe the “evil” isn’t in individual actions, but in her approach to life. Maybe it’s her attitude that invokes evil.

What do you think? Do you think Tanya’s really evil? Let me know in the comments!

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11 thoughts on “Saga of Tanya the Evil Episode 1 – The Devil of the Rhine

  1. Honestly, when I saw the trench warfare pic and the references to the first German Empire I couldn’t help but think of the war drama “All Quiet On The Western Front” (which I watched back in high school) and a Sabaton song precisely about its horrors named “The Price of a Mile”. Quite literally this episode description and those songs quaintly captured the difficult aspects of that era and the emotional trouble of it all.

  2. Tanya the Evil remains the best of the “Kadokawa 4” in my opinions. What a premise, what a new and fresh way to do the Isekai that is true to the ideas, but doesn’t feel holed into what is expected of the genre. There will always be another Overlord, ReZero or Konosuba, but there will never be another Tanya.

    So glad we get to go back to this in the future.

    1. In addition to what you’ve mentioned, how the show dealt with the philosophical and theological questions it raised impressed the heck out of me! I can’t think of a show that was more fun to watch from that perspective.

  3. I didn’t get through the entire episode. I wanted to, but this show was very harsh on my photosensitivity (especially the scenes where “God” appeared, but also at other times – look at the picture beneath “Mage Dogfights” for an example. As it is, I have no opinion on the show at all, because I couldn’t tell what direction the was going. From what little I’ve seen, I’d assume though “the Evil” monicker in the title was being ironic; not in the sense that Tanya isn’t evil, but more in the sense that term’s on the same level as “God” – passed on down from above, without much consideration on what it’s like to be in a huge mess. I don’t think I would have liked Tanya a lot, but that might have fit the show. My impression was that the show wasn’t with “Tanya”, but neither was it with “God”. Both sort of had a lesson to learn. But I couldn’t watch enough to find out.

    Personally, I don’t have any use for the term “evil”. I don’t use it, and I don’t really care about how people apply the lable either. But my feeling was that the show’s motif was one of authority and power, whether it be corporate, military, or divine. And as such the label “evil” is assigned from above by people/divinity who don’t dirty their own hands and live well on your back. Again, I haven’t seen enough to judge how plausible that even is (maybe half an episode, with some fastforwarding, and even with only that I was physically sick from the lightshow).

    1. The arial dogfights almost gave me vertigo, and I usually have no issues watching most anime. So I think you made the right choice!

      Despite not watching it, you very accurately estimate what it was about. And I think the series is very sympathetic to the sentiment you expressed when you said why you don’t like how people use the word “evil.”

      In my experience, I think it can be used. But even while I admit the possibility, I have to say I’ve rarely seen it used accurately. Which is a theme that the series built on very, very well.

      I hope you’ll read more of my reviews of this series. I’d love to know what you think of the theological points!

  4. Great review, and a reminder that I need to watch the movie finally. I agree with your angle on Tanya generally, though I won’t get into the spoiler-referencing reasons for it so much here. Just to say that she’s ruthless, but not necessarily evil (at least depending on whether you’re in her sights.)

    Also interesting to bring up the Empire here. While it’s clearly modeled after the old 1871-1918 German Empire and not that later one, the latter is one more viewers would be more familiar with, so I can see the danger of a sympathetic portrayal there. But Viktoriya is still my favorite character!

    1. What makes this show special for me is how well it explores Tanya’s perspective, across all aspects of the human experience. Very, very few shows get that right — especially the philosophical and theological aspects!

Please let me know what you think!

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