Completed the following anime:

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Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket

War in the Pocket spoiler

It’s a change of pace from the usual series, by having the child protagonist not pilot a Gundam. Doing so gave us the perspective of someone who is essentially a civilian / side character.

Feels bad for Bernard, but I guess that’s the point: war results in so many needless deaths.

Nothing else much to say.
The old art style, animation and music simply can’t compare their modern counterparts, so all it has going for it is its story and characters.

Short and interesting enough to get me watching to the end. 7 / 10

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Saga of Tanya the Evil

Never have I enjoyed a show so much while still disliking its protagonist as much as I did.

It sets the gold standard on how to start an isekai series off: dropping us straight into a battle which lasted for a whole episode, instead of showing or focusing on the summoning / reincarnation process.

Another thing it did differently from other anime is the lack of explanation of how the magical weapons and technology work. We simply dove right in and get to the good bits without any boring exposition.

I usually prefer shows where the protagonist is a hero (or at least an anti-hero), but this is one of the rare instance where they are straight up a villain.

They are basically a sociopath and so unrelatable to me; someone I cannot self-insert into at all. And that’s what makes their character stood out. Their personality and motives are well-written. It makes me enjoy seeing the struggle that they have to go through, albeit in a somewhat sadistic way.

It’s not like I have no complaints against the show though.

Saga of Tanya the Evil spoiler

For one, we don’t really see Tanya’s allies die - not the named ones at least. I expected at least one named death by the end of the first season, given that they are in a war, but no. Somehow, Tanya’s plot armor extended to them.

Their plot armor is nothing compared to Mary Sue’s though. I understand that her name is literally Mary Sue, but I’d rather not see recurring antagonists; just kill off the current one and bring along new challenger for the next conflict.

Also, besides the first few episodes and a few moments afterwards, the show skimmed past the brutality of war. I felt like the show producers could have shown us more of that to emphasize the brutal consequences of Tanya’s actions.

There’s also a surprising lack of genocide, besides the Russy Federation’s purge of mages.

Beyond that, I only have minor nitpicks such as a few reused animations and slideshows.

Otherwise, this series is superb: the story, the sound design, the banger of an OP (Jingo Jungle, though I prefer the cover by AmaLee), the animation of fight scenes and most importantly, the main character Tanya.

Honestly, Tanya is a victim of circumstances too, and they have every right to blame Being X. However, as per Nuremberg trials, it does not excuse the atrocities that they have committed. That said, I don’t see any ending for Tanya except the one where they exit John-Wick style.

Really looking forward to the second season. 9 / 10