Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.0

Saga of Tanya the Evil: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie Review

Evil arrives.

Saga of Tanya the Evil is an anime series exploring the underpinnings of evil and the unexpected forms that evil can sometimes take – such as a blue eyed and innocent looking girl without qualities that appear to be anything outside of the ordinary. The series features animation from studio NUT (FLCL Alternative, Blue Giant). The production was broadcast on television in Japan on Tokyo MX. Created by Carlo Zen, Saga of Tanya the Evil is a dark series aimed at fans of mature anime productions with twists and turns.

Tanya Degurechaff (Aoi Yūki) is a girl who appears as ordinary as most girls. Yet she hides something beneath the surface of her appearance: a dangerous thirst for evil. Tanya is the reincarnation of a Japanese corporate man – someone who wanted success and fame at any cost. Now thrust in to a strange new world of war, it appears that Tanya has more damage to bring to the world. Can those around Tanya survive her dark deception?

The central protagonist leads the series. Tanya is not a typical central lead and serves the series as a type of anti-hero. The characterization explores evil and the shape is takes. These elements are the forefront of the story for Tanya. These components provide the series with an ambitious style that explores the character in a more unique way.

The series features acceptable animation. Though the animation is not as remarkable as some series display, the production still had decent art and the effort is slightly above average. The series chief animation direction by Yuji Hosogoe (Calamity of a Zombie Girl, Blood-C: The Last Dark) provides a reasonably engaging sense of scale and scope to the series. Given the war time elements within the animation, the animators did a solid job of showcasing these components and the grim realities of these situations. For those with an interest in a war-setting anime, Saga of Tanya the Evil is a series that shows these elements.

Darkness awaits.

The cinematography by Shinji Tonsho (FLCL Alternative, Seraph of the End: Battle in Nagoya) is one of the elements that helps the production to shine. The visuals enhance the dark and grim elements. A series that highlights the morbid elements of the series and its concept. The cinematographer helps showcase the war environment and these components provide a deeper sense of darkness to this production.

The character designs highlight that sense of darkness within the story as well. The character designs by Yuji Hosogoe (Blue Exorcist: Kyoto Saga) add to the series tone and sensibility. These designs add to a sinister darkness within. The characters are bleak and disturbing – even when appearing common. Something unique. It adds an interesting effect.

The score by Shūji Katayama (After School Dice Club, Knights of Sidonia: Love Woven in the Stars) is nothing to write home about. The music doesn’t add much to the production. The score simply is mundane. The music sounds lackluster and doesn’t impress. Unfortunately, composer Katayama doesn’t manage to provide the production with a greater sense of scope or scale. The music simply serves as background music at best.

Written by Kenta Ihara (Tomodachi Game, Handyman Saitō in Another World), Saga of Tanya the Evil is an average series. The scriptwriting could have fared better and demonstrated more creativity. This is certainly not as ambitious a storyline as one might hope to find for a genre production. The script is underwhelming and disappointing. It could have been better and it simply fails to live up to its full potential.

Directed by Yutaka Uemura (FLCL Alternative, FLCL: Shoegaze), Saga of Tanya the Evil has some reasonable direction. The director understands the concept and its need to showcase darkness. Something about the directing works and clicks in place – the characterizations being an example of how that managed to come together. However, director Uemura still could have done a better job and made the series even more compelling. This is a bit disappointing given the work the filmmaker did on the FLCL sequel. Nonetheless, fans of dark and gritty anime will find it worth checking out.

Saga of Tanya the Evil: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Arriving on Blu-ray from Funimation, Saga of Tanya the Evil is presented in 1080p MPEG-4 AVC encoded high definition in the original television aspect ratio of 1.78:1 widescreen. The series presentation looks reasonably engaging. The colors are well reproduced and highlight the darkness inherit in the storyline. The encode is impressive and capably handles the action. The war setting is showcased in a way that is certainly effective. The results are worthwhile. There is little in the way of banding or other compression woes.

Saga of Tanya the Evil: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The release includes a selection of audio options: English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 surround sound and Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0 stereo (with English subtitles). The lossless audio quality is engaging, providing the series with a greater sense of depth and scope. The score is mixed in with the sound effects. The English dub is particularly noteworthy for including a more immersive surround sound presentation (that bests the 2.0 stereo track provided on the Japanese language option). Purists of Japanese dubs will still prefer the original language option but it is nice to see that the release has a selection of options available.

Saga of Tanya the Evil: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Textless Opening Song "Jingo Jungle" (HD, 1:32)

Textless Closing Song "Los! Los! Los!" (HD, 1:32)

Promo Videos (HD, 7:37)

Commercials (HD, 00:34)

Trailers (HD, 6:03)

Saga of Tanya the Evil: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Saga of Tanya the Evil is a series exploring the darkness of war and hidden evils. The series has dark and gritty animation. The production could have used a better screenplay and this is one area in which the production wasn't as good as it could have been. The direction is decent enough nonetheless and the effect is a reasonably compelling creation set against a backdrop of war. Even though the series isn't perfect, Saga of Tanya the Evil has some dark fun for genre fans. The Blu-ray release has a solid video and audio presentation. The release includes a small selection of extras. Fans of the series will find the release satisfying.