「フィヨルドの攻防」 (Fiyorudo no koubou)
“The Battle of Fjord”

Who knew it took only a weeklong break for Youjo Senki to turn positively morbid. After leaving off with some hints towards a future rivalry with the not-Frenchman Anson Sue, this episode fulfills that teaser by giving us more, and then some. With a family sent overseas and an ominous Christmas present given by a loving daughter, Anson’s death flag was hanging pretty high from the start, although I didn’t expect him to fizzle out within 20 minutes. Given Youjo Senki’s lack of challenge for Tanya, I honestly hoped Anson would prove up to the task, if not by defeating the little loli at least giving her a decent thrashing. We had this initially too, with Anson going full terminator after glimpsing Tanya and providing some wonderful fireworks. Hell the invasion setup even allowed for some setback, given the scenario is based off of Germany’s 1940 invasion of the Oslo fjord. Sadly, however, I guess it wasn’t meant to be as Anson just as quickly found out this loli has no forgiveness.

What somewhat gets my hopes up for the future here is a clear front to Tanya is being formed. Anson’s sad death is the immediate indication, what between the literal Chekov’s gun and focus on the family members—notably the daughter—but it’s not the only one. Tanya herself is quietly assembling an array of scared and/or enraged individuals, united not so much by fear as by jealousy. The Northern Theater General Schreise is the obvious example thanks to Tanya’s ignorant contempt towards social niceties, but even men like Rudersdorf could prove a serious stumbling block. Tanya’s deduction of the naval landing for example clearly shocked Rudersdorf, as I expect he never pinned her a serious strategist—pint sized battlefield monster maybe, but not staff officer material. Rudersdorf could act to blunt Tanya’s ascension through the ranks if he deems her a threat to the lives of her subordinates, especially if her variety of discipline risks application to the average soldier. Furthermore the stark difference in intelligence Tanya shows could backfire spectacularly if allies deem her a threat to their careers, particularly if she continues along without a blemish to speak of. Strange to think of allies as potential enemies, but self-interest is a serious concern when power, prestige, and lives are on the line.

Also assisting in the buildup to the unknown are the hints dropped regarding the ever reliable Being X. Anson was the first mage here besides Tanya to noticeably pray when performing spells, and there’s nothing that states this God only finds time for bothering the little loli. Given how Tanya has lost the divine creator’s patience, I could actually see Him start giving “guidance” or advantageous luck to a few skilled individuals capable of humbling Tanya. Considering God is willing to move nations against Tanya’s blasphemy, I’d imagine helping an enemy leader or two is a plausible option should the opportunity present itself. With a few concerned allies and some obvious event flags, a true challenge may not be that far off. Just going to have to see what next week brings.

Random Tidbits

Considering the Operation Weserübung basis of the naval invasion, I’m guessing the main ship here is an fictionalized Admiral Hipper-class (likely based off the Blücher) while the others are Dresden-class.

Tanya may be socially ignorant, but she is right regarding command indulgence. I mentioned it before, but World War I staff officers were notorious for their living standards. For the Entente it took until the 1917 Nivelle offensive before such attitudes began changing in earnest.

 

Preview

47 Comments

  1. The ‘God is empowering more than just Tanya’ is plausible, given the direction of the manga.

    Honestly, Being X may be the final boss, but the quirky minibosss squad of Youjo Senki is the war apparatus itself, human weakness, and global politics (with his sidekick, alliances of convenience) is the real threat here.

    Guile
    1. Anson’s eyes went gold as he went badass, and using Tanya as an indication that’s the symbol for “Being X Power”. If he’d done the smart thing (ie no kamikaze run) he could’ve been a threat, but that was probably enough for Being X to pay attention to those he was involved with even after his death.

      Aex
  2. Having not read the manga, what I interpret this instead is that Being X is extraordinarily obsessed with our cynical salaryman/loli soldier.

    It almost feels as if this deity pays personal attention to beings who reject him, rather than beings who actively and faithfully pray to him.

    Dude
    1. The anime is better cold since Being X doesn’t care about Tanya after her rebirth in the manga. See where it goes but I see this as more of an alternate adaptation then played straight.

      Aex
    2. Show Spoiler ▼

      Shadow
    3. Being X has multiple plans for what to do with Tanya, break her and then use her to spearhead religion as you said and if she still stays defiant. Her actions will still cause more people to become faithful so he still wins there and continue to plague her.

      Remember in episode 2, Being X was bitching about people’s lack of faith and then Mr. Salaryman went on a spiel about modern life and science and comfort and no suffering meant no need for god. Being X went, oh really. Ok, lets put that to the test.

      Or as tvtropes says:

      The plot circulates around a suggestion Tanya’s previous incarnation made to “Being X” upon explaining the reason of lack of faith in the world and how to restore it, prompting “Being X” to test out the theory of “Faith through Hardship” with Tanya as the test subject. If it actually turns out as a legitimate success and manage to reform Tanya’s faith, what’s stopping “Being X” from applying the “Faith through Hardship” approach on a global scale afterwards?

      Global? Try multi-dimensional! (It did send Tanya’s previous vessel’s soul to a whole different world after all. How many worlds and realities is “Being X” actually in charge of again?)

      It gets worse. Chapter 11 of the manga reveals that every time Tanya uses the computation jewel to near maximum, i.e. prays, her original personality blacks out leaving the Jeanne d’Archétype personality in control of the body.

      YMMV on whether this is Fridge Horror: both personalities are of Tanya (although only one is a reincarnated salaryman). Presumably, the second personality is who she would have been had she not had another person shoved into her as a baby.

      http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fridge/YoujoSenki

      Space Penguin
  3. While I’d considered it a couple weeks ago, this week seems to push it more into certainty territory: I think Being X might be playing a longer game than Tanya realizes, and she’s going to fall face-first into the trap she’s built for herself.

    Namely: Being X got the idea that misery/scarcity/etc were what drove people to worship God. It [i]looks[/i] like he’s been pushing Tanya as the sole playing piece, in order to force her to have faith, but in actuality I think she’s being built up to be the reason everyone else in the world will want to have faith, as she becomes the source of all their misery and despair, and thus drives the faith of hundreds of millions. Being X ‘loses’ against Tanya’s stubbornness, but ‘wins’ in the game that really matters.

    And as Tanya realizes she was just a pawn all along… what does she do? The only way to counter the faith she created is by bringing about the lack of want that the modern world has. But if all she knows is war…

    David
    1. If the story actually heads that route I’ll be seriously impressed. That would fit the world here much better than God just trying to beat faith into an atheist by using genderbending, war, and magic. Also sets Tanya up for one hell of a spectacular fall from grace.

    2. Close, but because Tanya must pray before using her magic she’s going to be looked at as a symbol of a righteous warrior who’s faith in the Almighty will lead the Empire to victory. That’s going to cause a religious revival, especially if Being X has some others doing the same as her and the Empire wins. We already saw that with the nutso scientist.

      Bear
      1. I agree with Bear. I think its is far more likely that Being X will revive faith by making Tanya a martyr for a people in the Joan of Arc vein. Most of the time Being X takes control thanks to the Elenium Type 95, he makes Tanya look ever more like a devout Christian and/or inspirational leader. It is highly likely that it plays to his sense of dramatic irony that Tanya will be put into a position where she is forced to sacrifice her life to achieve victory and becomes a saint in their religion. Her “example” will inspire faith in others, the very last thing Tanya wants.

        Mechamorph
  4. I can totally get behind the Idea that God Being X turning Tanya into that’s world’s equivalent of Hitler/Lucifer. A being so reviled that it inspires faith in millions.

    Devastator001
  5. A few things:

    1. Airborne operations was a theoretical dream in WWI and became a reality in WWII.

    2. The air transport that brought the 203rd is a Gigant. It was originally designed as a glider before engines were bolted on. The most it can hold is a company, not a battalion IRL.

    On Tanya’s contempt toward General Schreise. She has the right to be blunt about the success of the operation based on the information given to her. The cost of men and supplies for an offensive in mountainous terrain for little to no gain rubs wrong the salaryman in her. Not to mention her possibly getting killed in that operation.

    Rerugen might be suspicious of her, but Zettour and Rudersdorf are in her corner right now. A company of her bn was able to defeat an enemy mage bn. That’s 4 to 1 odds against her. 3 very successful operations to date. You cannot argue with success. Besides, if Rerugen managed to send her to a nice rear line job, she’d be happy!

    ordnance11
    1. Tanya may have the right, but she still could’ve phrased it better IMO. It’s never a good idea directly confronting a superior like that unless others already consider him “out”. In this case it could have backfired too as Rudersdorf et al. had intentions (i.e. the naval invasion) for the offensive Tanya was criticizing.

      The staff leadership might be in her corner now, but they can currently take the strategic credit for her successes. That changes if Tanya winds up in a similar command.

      1. An old adage: “Success has many parents, but failure is an orphan.” There is enough credit for this operation to go around.

        And I do believe the military maverick trope is in operation here. Tanya is joining the Pantheon of Erwin Rommel, George S. Patton, Orde Wingate and H.R. McMaster.

        Tanya wants a cushy REMF job more than anything else. Rank be dammed.

        ordnance11
      2. It did seem weirdly un-savvy for an ex-businessman, but I assume that Tanya was unsettled because she felt like this guy was trying to get her killed?

        Or else she still hasn’t learned tact even after it got her killed once.

        Guile
    2. A TL of the manga says that the Japanese for battalion and wing are the same word. I did a count of what appears to be what they’re calling a company(squadron) and get around 12 mages so about 36-48 for a wing. Another way to look at it is that each mage is equivalent to a tank and you have 12-14 tanks in a tank company, so that works out to about the same number. Gigant can hold 130 so well within that limit.

      They’re really mixing WWI and WII together.

      Bear
    3. The thing is that there was 0 point in her antagonising the general. He wasn’t going to change her opinion. It was a pure ego trip on her part.

      Actually, up until now she’s been very careful and polite with her superiors so I’m not sure why she treated him differently.

      “Rerugen might be suspicious of her, but Zettour and Rudersdorf are in her corner right now. A company of her bn was able to defeat an enemy mage bn. That’s 4 to 1 odds against her. 3 very successful operations to date. You cannot argue with success. Besides, if Rerugen managed to send her to a nice rear line job, she’d be happy!”

      You “can’t argue with success” but once she fails at something they might just abandon her. That’s one of the reasons you don’t act like a bitch to people.

      moridin84
      1. You would think so but remember Episode 2 and 3? Tanya talked shit to God aka Being X even if he proved he held her life in his hands. Tanya gives no crap. It is in fact one of Tanya’s flaws. She can’t help but be vindictive/spiteful, arrogant and shitty towards people she doesn’t care for or looks down on.

        Space Penguin
  6. I know the story of Maj. Gen. Anson Sioux should take centre stage as a metaphor of loss and grief but not-Operation Weserübung and development of the not-German mage corpstook centre stage for me.

    Let’s take a look at the Imperial Mage Corps. It started of mostly for spotting and aerial reconnaissance but in the 1st half we already see the Mage Corps as a potential and viable military arm. In this second half, it strongly points to the Mage Corps being transformed into an offensive arm of the military. Just like how the air force developed from the mud and blood of the trenches to what it was in 1940s.

    Right now at this stage, we enter into familiar territory already. We can add the not-Me 232 into the anime debut pist. My jaw met the table when she appeared. Anime studios never cease to amaze me. Hollywood, you should learn a thing or two from anime studios.

    “Considering the Operation Weserübung basis of the naval invasion, I’m guessing the main ship here is an fictionalized Admiral Hipper-class (likely based off the Blücher) while the others are Dresden-class.”

    https://randomc.net/image/Youjo%20Senki/Youjo%20Senki%20-%2007%20-%20Large%2024.jpg

    TRIGGERED
    BUBU DESU WA~~~~

    It is NOT ADMIRAL HIPPER CLASS HEAVY CRUISER NEITHER ARE THE ESCORTING SHIPS FROM THE DRESDEN CLASS LIGHT CRUISERS!

    You’ve commited a huge heresy. Now repent to Being X Passerby!

    Jokes aside, if you look at the awesome panning shot, that’s very likely a Mackensen class battlecruiser. It could also be Bayern but the aerial shot of her makes her looks longer than the pudgy hulky Bayern. I could also be wrong and it might actually be not-SMS Bayern.

    As for the escorting DDs, looks like Zerstörer 1934 class or Ernst Gaede class from World of Warships.

    Looking at the CGI for the not-Hochseeflotte, I am seriously thinking that War Gaming might have a hand in this show. That or the studio went to the research level of Strike Witches. Those 88mm secondaries on not-Bayern… That level of detail on not-Bayern’s superstructure… Made me wet myself many times over. Looking at the ROF, it seems that they’re loaded with auto loaders…

    Velvet Scarlantina
    1. Shush, I’m a tank man, not a ship man 😛
      Forgot all about the Bayern BBs, so that’s likely why I incorrectly identified it here, too caught up on the invasion similarities. As for DDs, given I haven’t even ground out the German ones in WoWS yet, I couldn’t identify them to save my life lol.

      It’s also possible like you mention that Wargaming may–as with Shuumatsu no Izetta–have a role in the show. I’ll have to pay attention to the credits next time and see if their name pops up.

  7. I don’t think that the beginning of the episode showed “Tanya’s contempt towards social niceties.” It sounded more as an insult, something as: “You are stupid thinking that we can win without so few supplies. Go to the front line instead to be here taking café au lait.

    My opinion.

    Kinai
    1. Observing social niceties would’ve meant finding a less-hostile way of telling a superior he was being dumb, but he was being dumb and arrogant about something that would make her life harder so she ran out of patience.

      Aex
    2. As Aex mentions, my comment was more about Tanya failing to insult Schreise in a pleasant manner that made him amenable towards her position. If she wants a top job so bad, massaging the backs of incompetent superiors along the way is a good strategy, especially if they can throw a wrench or two into her plans.

  8. More Tanya fun. Those main battery guns sort of look like the real ones, very out of date but still able to handle smaller warships. In reality only 3 with no real crews so they only fired two of them once but at very short range getting fantastic results. The torpedo battery the Germans did not know about was a real problem. Here way more guns but a way better German plan to take them out due to war status being clear. In real war attack Germans where hoping enemy would not fire as they were not at war yet and had do not fire first orders. The real battery was in existence for WWI also.

    We have a steady rise of Tanya, any real threats have to wait till more of the climax as a major defeat or heavy loses would take Tanya out of the action for awhile. This a war story not a action adventure tale, military units get withdrawn and leaders sidelined after heavy action slowing plot progression. Only a Tanya caught without her unit would allow any near equal battle right now otherwise to many of her unit would die putting us in another training pause.

    RedRocket
  9. Wow, it’s been ages since I posted on something here.

    Weapon that is the literal Chekhov’s Gun is the SIG MKMS. Possibly chambered in 9mm Parabellum. Telltale signs is the groove underneath to facilitate its folding magazine party piece, the lenght of the straight-box magazine, the diagonal cuts on the stock, and location of the sights.

    https://rightwingotaku.wordpress.com/2017/02/26/quick-thought-youjo-senki-weapons-mix-vol-1/

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  11. Not sure if anyone’s noticed it but I love how this anime is not just about war, loli and all the other ideas but what I enjoy the most is Tanya’s thinking process. It’s a 100% reflection of an average Japanese salaryman’s way of working and thinking. And I guess it’s not a coincidence that that very Japanese salaryman’s soul is in Tanya’s body. As a person working at a super standard Japanese company in Tokyo I can’t help but marvel at how accurate this anime is at depicting a salaryman’s way of thinking and working.

    Kanade

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