By Carlo Zen and Shinobu Shinotsuki. Released in Japan as “Youjo Senki” by Enterbrain. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by James Balzer.

It’s been quite a while since the last volume of these in English, even though in Japan, the two volumes came out only one month apart. That said, this is also the final volume of the series to date, as we have not yet seen the 15th volume in Japan as of this date. I don’t really blame the author, as it can be rather tricky to get the right tone for this series. It’s an anti-war but pro-military series, and it has to show us that war is hell while also managing to convey that reading about a good firefight is a hell of a lot of fun. It also can’t really kill off too many named characters – for all that we hear about people dying in this book (including, possibly, the greatest comedy character in the series, who returns in this book), the core of Tanya’s unit are still around. Even if they’re tired. So very, very tired.

The bulk of the start of the book is the aftermath of Tanya’s faked retreat orders, and how everyone seems to be disbelieving – not surprising, given everything we hear about the Empire. Fortunately, after Grantz flies all the way back to the capital and tries to avoid various court-martials and treason accusations as he barrels along, Zettour gets the message and is able to confirm – carry out those orders. Of course, that’s easier said than done, and Tanya and her group don’t even have that luxury – while the army retreats, they’re tasked with flying into the Federation attack, stopping supply trains, hitting disguised air bases, and trying not to die. And then after THAT, they get to take almost every mage in the entire not-German army on a suicide mission to take out various Federation strongholds. And then the worst possible thing happens – the enemy blows up their kitchen. (No really, think about it, surviving while exhausted on dry rations is TERRIBLE.)

I’m mentioning the exhaustion a lot because it really comes across here. By the end of the book Tanya’s comrades are dead on their feet, and even she sometimes gets to the point where fatigue is making her a little loopier than she normally is. They’re doing things that shame soldiers, as while they’re advancing on the enemy, they have to leave their own fellow soldiers to die – they cannot save them and attack at the same time. it’s frustrating, unless you’re Tanya, who coolly explains why it has to happen. The only one who seems firmly in her camp all the time is Visha, who is more worried about Grantz, who’s gotten more to do lately, replacing her as adjutant. Tanya reassures her. Weiss, meanwhile, thinks they’ve both “turned rotten”, and he’s not wrong. By the end of the book, they’re being sent off to fight again… but not in the East! Tanya may finally get an opportunity to defect.

Assuming we get the next book, of course. For now, the Empire still hangs on. We’ll be waiting to see if it makes it through Book 15. For fans of… well, the light novels, really. Fans of the anime should probably try the manga first. And fans of Isekai Quartet may just hate this.

By Carlo Zen and Shinobu Shinotsuki. Released in Japan as “Youjo Senki” by Enterbrain. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by James Balzer.

It’s been 15 months since the last volume of this series in English, and this one has a new translator as well. That said, it was 42 months between the 12th and 13th volume in Japan, so I think we lucked out there. To reverse this luck, Japan got the 14th volume only one month later, whereas we have to wait another six months or so. That said, after everything happening in this volume, I’m exhausted, and don’t mind a wait. I don’t think we’re quite in the final arc of the series – the Unified States haven’t fully joined the war yet – but we’re nearly there, and this volume throws us back at the Federation/Empire conflict, with not-Russia having a very cunning plan to win the battle and possibly win the war. It’s so cunning, in fact, that even Zettour doesn’t pick up on it, which leaves Tanya and company in a bit of a pickle, since they’re soldiers, and it’s bad form to do things without actual orders. Unfortunately, without orders, they’ll all die.

The Empire (including the Emperor and the royal family, who we’ve seen little of in this series) are expecting a fantastic victory from the Empire’s glorious military. The glorious military, unfortunately, is rapidly realizing that everything hinges on Zettour, and that’s bad, because if anything happens to him, the entire war collapses. Meanwhile, Tanya and her crew are back on the Eastern Front, and are somewhat disturbed by how… quiet it is. Technically this is good, right? It means that, as they thought, the Federation is not going to attack till at least spring. They *do* find a mage battalion, but they’re all weak and are taken out super easily. Everything’s coming up roses… so why is Tanya’s danger sense tingling? As it turns out, she’s 100% correct, and the Empire is now facing an unprecedented attack along the ENTIRE front. They need immediate orders to retreat or they’ll all be slaughtered. Unfortunately, the general at the front is MIA. What can Tanya do?

I was delighted to see a lot of Visha in this book. Let’s face it, I can do without Tanya talking about military history and what a good, kind person she is for 380 pages a pop, but give me some of Visha being the happiest adjutant around and I’m fine. I still suspect that all of Tanya’s unit except Tanya are going to die before the series ends, but hope springs eternal. As for the plot itself, well, not to spoil too much, but the climax of this volume relies on Tanya having to essentially do something that would normally get her court-martialed and executed (Bruce McCandless is mentioned) but, because she’s surrounded by people who trust her utterly, she’s able to do it. Given the whole “The Evil” designation for this series – and don’t get me wrong, she’s committed atrocities – it’s startling how she’s (presumably, hi, cliffhanger) able to survive here because her command group have all been with her for years and know what she’s capable of. Now – will it work?

Probably, but things are STILL going very badly for the Empire. Assuming you can get past the dense prose, this is still interesting. If you can’t, the manga reads better and also has more than two women in it.

By Carlo Zen and Shinobu Shinotsuki. Released in Japan as “Youjo Senki” by Enterbrain. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Richard Tobin.

As we get to the beginning of the end of this series, it’s worth looking at something we’ve discussed before: which world war is this? Tanya states clearly in this book she thinks she’s still in “the first war”, but is also very much fighting communism of a Stalinist rather than Leninist vein. We also have a clear Churchill analogue, as well as Lavrentiy Beria, who remains easily the most disturbing of all of Tanya the Evil’s disturbing villain characters. That said, given that this is a war fought with magic, I perhaps should not worry about it too much. In this particular war, the Unified States have finally entered the fray – at the behest of Ildoa, which the Empire is currently toying with. Given that the Empire is on its last legs, and the Unified States are a juggernaut of money and endless weaponry, you’d expect this to be bad news. You’d reckon without Zettour, though, who has decided to drag this entire war down into the gutter, to the point that even Tanya is aghast.

We pick up where we left off, with the Empire’s forces, including Tanya and company, in Northern Ildoa. Ildoa is not particularly worried about this – after all, they have far more manpower than the Empire, and the US is also now there. In addition, Colonel Drake’s international forces are told to leave the Federation and head there as well, which is incredibly aggravating for him, but that’s politics for you. That said, Ildoa and the US are not prepared for the Empire’s definition of war, which has changed tremendously over the course of the last few years. They still believe in things like honor and reason. The Empire has forgotten all that. Of course, given that Tanya keeps getting directed by Zettour into situations where she’s lucky to survive, she’s not worrying that much about this yet – and honestly would agree anyway.

I always enjoy seeing our heroes actually have to try a bit in the “military” part of this book. For all that Tanya’s attempts to escape this war have always failed on a political scale, there’s no denying her and her mage company are almost impossible to beat. Note the almost – Colonel Drake is in town, and not only are he and the Unified States using shotguns (which are supposedly banned, and Tanya gets so angry about this she literally writes a letter to the enemy in protest), but they also have Lieutenant Mary Sue, whose name may or may not be intentional, but if it is it would not surprise me. Tanya calls her a “bull” several times, and it fits – none of her company can even put a scratch on her, whereas Mary Sue nearly kills Tanya. The end of this series is going to have to have a final battle between these two, mano a mano.

The next books in the series are a two-parter, with the second due out in Japan in a few days. Given how long each Tanya book is to begin with, that’s sobering news. Still, I’ll always be hear to watch Tanya desperately try to figure out how to defect before everyone in the Empire is killed or executed. Also, kudos to the artist for that Mary Sue picture, which is hilarious and not remotely patriotic.