When one reads the synopsis of the anime, they will automatically feel interested. The idea seems very new, and different. It also makes you curious to know what will happen next. And for the first two episodes, it kept getting more and more interesting.
Until you realise that the 'plot' is completely unrelated to the execution.
Story: 2/10
As mentioned in the synopsis, apathetic middle aged dude gets reincarnated to a little orphan girl by a pissed off 'God', because somehow this way will show him that God exists, and make him grateful, he then gets into this tough world but discovers that there is some sort of magic(?) that people fight with, and that he had amazing, unique powers.
Well, I had many problems:
My first problem was how irrelevant the whole reincarnation into a lilo was. He volunteers to enter the army at the age of 8 (no questions) and goes on to become better and better. Having already been an apathetic person, this helped him in being a 'merciless' soldier. and his past life also helped him, but is that all that there is to the whole reincarnation process? We get to rarely see 'God' or 'X Being' in limited scenes where he says empty words that mean nothing, but somehow fuels Tanya to 'overcome obstacles', I have 2 questions:
It was a great disappointment to see that the reincarnation was only made so that we'd see how the dude seemed very wise in her other life. [as Tanya]
While the first 2 episodes seem greatly interesting and different, the anime just falls into a very normal series about war. (No right or wrong, patriotism, fighting solely for one's country and following authority) The whole trying-to-be-badass-and-challenge-what-is-calling-himself-a-god could have easily been avoided. It added nothing to the plot but explaining why a ten year old is leading war.
My second problem was the fact that Tanya was a f*cking lilo. Her being a lilo is a hit or miss, a hit where you think this is brand new and different, interesting to see a 8 year old bossing everyone, or a miss where it's very creepy and offsetting, and also where you cannot believe how everyone acted like it was completely normal and ok for an 8 year old to join the army and beat others all by herself. I don't know about you, but I don't think it was normal back in 1942 (her being a mage doesn't justify anything.)
I also did not really understand the usage of magic, there is little to no details about it. It was unnecessary and can completely be thrown in the garbage. In the series, some humans have 'magic abilities' which can help the country in war, so scientists create some flying shoes and boxes which 'mages' can fly with to fight enemies. They can also protect themselves and, while using very normal guns, shoot very non-normal bullets. Now don't ask me why people who can use magic need rifles and bullets to begin with, because I cannot give you an answer. It felt like the 'magic' was only put there in an attempt to make the anime look cooler. We never know any kinds or types, any details, what can make it weaker or stronger, when it started existing, its abilities. We know nothing at all.
That being said, the anime is entertaining. At one point it did feel repetitive and boring, but for the most part it was greatly engaging. I think it would have been much better had the protagonist been a normal aged character, or if the reincarnation thingy was of any relevance to the plot.
Characters: 5/10
Tanya wasn't a very bad character. Staying in their head was quite entertaining and the thought progress was enlightening, but I only felt that the show was about her, which was of no problem at all, but left me forgetting all other characters. I just found her, or him, a little too smart. It's not like he was a General in the military in his past life, he was just a very simple businessman, his talent and abnormal ability of command, training, and combat were just too...unrealistic. His flexibility as well. He adapted rather too quickly to transforming from a middle aged man to an infant girl, he did not even blink.
my problem with the characters was the X being/God. He was very bland and childish, in the very few scenes where he appeared to pause time, it seemed that he was only trying to tease Tanya while failing miserably to 'prove his point.' Such a meaningless character.
The other characters, as mentioned above, are very easily forgettable. The only character worthy of praise was Colonel Sioux, he left quite an impression on me.
Anime Art: 6/10
The backgrounds and places are extremely beautiful. I paused the anime more than a couple of times to take screenshots of how mesmerizing most of the scenery looked. What made the rating go low was the characters' design and how bad they were. Tanya and Viktoriya especially looked very, very sloppy. It pained my eyes whenever Viktoriya appeared in any scene.
There is some lazy work in the battles as many scenes are repeated or static, but this did not cause me much of a problem as they did, at the end, entertain me.
Sound: 8/10
Although I didn't feel it was used much, the sound was very good. From the opening and closing themes to the soundtracks and everything in between.
__Overall: 5/10_
the story and characters' design needed lots of improvement but they did not prevent the series from being an engaging one. Not something I'd regret watching but not something I'd recommend, either.
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