Youjo Senki Ep 10-11 Review: Sorry Subordinates, I prefer Coffee

These two episodes did very well on two things: Tanya’s humanization and making me dizzy by the aerial combat shots.

So we know that Tanya is an evil salary man who was reincarnated into a little girl’s body. What we don’t really think about is that behind all his practical (but heartless) deeds, he’s just a man trying to survive the whole war like everyone else. In episode 10, her casual remarks about drinking coffee, her special treatment for Victoria (the only girl), and joking with her squad makes her undeniably human-like. Also in the submarine, when she talked to her underlings with a smile on her face and saw them cheer with glee, we saw how she let out a little sigh and smiled. The transition from boss and workers to brother in arms is what I loved most about these two episodes. That made me forget for a moment that this person smiling gently was someone who would not hesitate to send useless soldiers to forts most vulnerable to attacks and almost shot a military student in the head during training.

I know we all have that one teacher or boss who’s tough and strict on the outside, but once you get to know them, they are actually funny and nice.  And that person in Youjo Senki is Tanya herself.

That aside, the Empire’s strategy was very clever. Lure the enemy in and crush them from behind? I didn’t see that coming.

The highlight of these two episodes would be the return of Anson Sioux.

Apparently this guy didn’t even tell his daughter he was alive. He just came back for one thing: revenge on the Devil of the Rhine. I could understand if he didn’t want to go back until he’s gotten rid of Tanya, but why did he not tell his family he survived? Let me know in the comments if you have an idea why.

Seeing this part came right after Tanya’s coffee joke, it made me anxious. Here, we have Tanya saying ‘Just a bit more, it’ll be all over soon’ and then bam, this guy returns and screws the whole thing up, wounding several members of her unit. I was uneasy. Usually, those who say ‘just a bit more, it’ll all be over soon’ don’t live to see it end. (*cough* Paul Baumer and Katczinsky *cough*) Luckily Tanya lived or else they’ll be no season 2 to milk more money from. (Youjo Senki ranked 4th in Blu-Ray sales. Considering it went up against Yuri on Ice and GranBlue, I think that’s a great number of copies sold.)

What was interesting is that the fight against Anson was the first time Tanya loses it completely. We saw her screaming “Let go! Let go!” madly. The normal Tanya would think up some strategy to handle it, but against Being X’s vessel, she’s still powerless.

Even though Anson became a demon of vengeance, seeing his rifle reminds me that this guy was once human, and he changed for the sake of revenge.

And I could not miss the most important part: Tanya’s last surge to end the war. Youjo Senki would come to an end if the war ended. Being X would have nothing left to harm Tanya with (unless she slipped and fell in the bathroom hitting her head and dies because of internal bleeding in the brain) otherwise.

We see that the sadistic girl is not just a monster but a person too. She can’t break the rules; that would lead to her being shot. If they would attack the pier, the Empire’s conquest would be complete. Still, if the opposing army was annihilated completely, who knew what the Russians, British, and Americans would do. They might band and crush the Empire anyways. If the attack on the pier would lessen the threat against the Empire, then I agree with Tanya. If it just serves to make other major powers uneasy, then I agree with the strategy office that it should not be done. It’s up to how the battle in North Africa will go.

The scene where Tanya threw her medal down and punched the wall was the most heartbreaking scene out of the entire series. It was like the stoic Tanya was breaking down. The salary man is not just a machine of logic and strategies, he’s also emotional. And this was Tanya’s character development. It’s not a battle against G—Being X and losing, then Tanya changing to become a good person. It’s not something childish like a fairy tale that I was expecting…

She’d come to understand that the world does not work solely on logic. Sometimes, human emotions predominates. Even victory could be poisonous.