Saga of Tanya the Evil (Review)

Reviewed by Alfred Campbell 

It is June of the year CE 1923. A young girl with blond hair and blue eyes, Tanya Degurechaff, has entered the final curriculum of the Imperial Military Academy and is training at the third patrol line in the northern military district, the Norden Theater, as part of her service to the force. Her training, the first step toward a brilliant career as an aviation mage, should have gone off without a hitch... but things took an unexpected turn.

An anime released in winter 2016, one of the first anime to come out to top off the new year and boy did it top the new year off right. The Saga of Tanya the Evil was one of those gems that if you didn't give it a chance you may have over looked it. The art style was something that was different in it's own right, and pulled off some interesting style differences from character to character. If you cannot tell already, I will say this before I go into any more details. This is a highly recommended series, and now I will explain to you why.

The story revolves around a little girl named Tanya, at the time of the story she is around ten. She was born in an orphanage in an age reminiscent to the era of World War One. The orphanage that doubled as a church often lacked food so she knew what hunger was and suffered as she was growing. Only by the good graces of god that she was gifted with amazing aptitude for magic, and because of that she was able to enlist in the army at a ripe young age. She was a prodigy and showed it, and moved up the ranks fast. There was however, a lot more to Tanya then meets the eye.

This is what makes the story so compelling. Tanya is a reincarnation of a man who died in modern day Tokyo. The middle aged man lived his whole life apathetic and believing in rules and regulations. Doing only what you need to survive and if you cannot follow that order then you cannot blame anyone else but yourself for your actions. This man was a rational and logical man but he lacked empathy and fired a man who was unproductive to the company, it was just a regular day to him.. Until the same man pushes him into the train tracks.

The train was a second from striking him as he was falling, when the world around him came to cease. And a voice came and appeared to him, and asked him a series of questions. The dialog carried on and the man defied the god and condemned him. He condemned this entity and explained why people lost faith, because there was a lack of struggle. To which the godly like figure in the most pettiest of manners declared to him that if that is how you feel, I will put you in a situation and you will come to worship me. This is your last reincarnation, so be sure to live it right.

The whole concept of the story at this point, changes to not one of only survival but defiance as well. This is what caught my immediate attention, that and it's pretty wicked to see this ten year old faux prodigy use her knowledge of her previous life to raise the ranks and develop plans and tactics. The animation is spectacular and amazing to look at, the characters are all well rounded and their personalities matches them. And Tanya herself, is one of the most cold and calculating protagonist I have seen in a long time.

You become confused on if you want to root for her or not, and that in itself is good writing. This is a must watch and as for the first season, it gets a full 5/5.

Lenni Reviews: "Tartarus" by Eric Andrews-Katz

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*This book was sent to me in exchange for an honest review and is rated for 18+

The Titan, Echidna, has escaped from her underworld prison and vows vengeance on the Olympians who put her there. But the power of the old gods now resides in their descendants. Twins Adrian and Annelise have been unaware of their godly lineage until Echidna attacks them and an artist named Zack reveals himself to be another descendant of the gods. They must defeat Echidna before she destroys them and takes back the world under her rule.

While an interesting concept, the beginning felt so slow, I had trouble getting into it. I also had issues believing these characters were in their late 40's. The way they speak, you would think they were in their late 20's or early 30's. And this applies to all three of our main characters. If you want a believable set of older characters, Deadlight Jack is a perfect example. When I am reminded of their age in this book, they all seem terribly immature.

The best parts of this book for me were how the mythology is intertwined with real life. I have always been a huge fan of Greek Mythology so seeing the legends brought to life was cool. As for the romance elements, they are an afterthought. Zack and Adrian have this love/hate relationship with these random moments of intimacy as if to say "B.T. Dubz, they're in love now."

All in all, it was cool to see the mythic creatures and characters again but the rest is oddly framed. 3 out of 5.

Lenni Reviews: "Better with Bacon" by Matthew Lang

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*This book was sent to me in exchange for an honest review and is rated for 18+

David, Patrick, and Li Ling have been a trio for years; with Patrick and Li Ling dating since high school. Two weeks before Valentine's Day, Li Ling dumps Patrick and ends up in David's bed. But Li Ling calls the next morning and she's pregnant. Assuming Patrick will go back to her, David takes a job assignment out of town to drown his sorrows in work and random hookups. Will these friends turned lovers come together or is all hope lost?

What's great about this book is having a collection of decent people. It is such a trope to have randomly bitchy or manipulative people in order to make the main characters look even better but here, the characters act SO rational, I almost didn't believe it at times. I think I have gotten too used to massive irrationality in my love stories...

It's also great to see a more multicultural cast. More stories need more non-white characters.

Now, I will freely admit I requested this title to review because, bacon. Bacon is amazing. So, my biggest gripe is that bacon wasn't shamelessly crammed into the plot as much as possible. But that's just because I'm silly. Other than that, my only other gripe is how some characters are too rational in some areas and not rational enough in others. David runs off without talking to Patrick AT ALL. He could have waited 10-20 minutes but then again, the rest of the book wouldn't have happened.

All in all, this was a cute read! I enjoyed it and give it a 3.5 out of 5.

Boruto: Naruto Next Generations: Episode 1 Boruto Uzumaki (Review)

Reviewed by Justin D Williams

The Hidden Leaf Village is located within the Land of Fire, one of the Five Great Shinobi Nations. Boruto Uzumaki lives here and he's the son of the village leader, Naruto Uzumaki, the Seventh Hokage. One day, Boruto saves a boy named Denki Kaminarimon, who's being picked on. Denki is physically weak, so he is unable to stand up to the bullies. On his way to the entrance ceremony at the Ninja Academy, Boruto sees Deki again. He notices that his chakra is warped and that he is acting strangely.

Boruto: Naruto Next Generations is off to a great start. Fans of Naruto and Naruto Shippuden series are going to love Boruto. The first episode is a nice reintroduction to The Hidden Leaf Village. In episode one we get a feel of who Boruto is as a person. The term like father, like son is clear here. Boruto gets into trouble as much as his father but deep down has a good heart just like his father Naruto. However there is something that really kept me intrigued. Boruto and Naruto are not in the best of terms. Boruto has resentment towards his father because he is always working and has responsibilities to The Hidden Leaf Village. Hopefully later in the series the seeds planted of this resentment will be further explore. The conflict of a son who father is a hero and the son not really caring about that legacy is something I'm hoping to see. While Boruto has the same beats of previous series I think the tone is refreshing that he is a character that isn't just little Naruto. He is more fun to watch, more charsamatic and as stated the dynamic of his resent to Naruto is going to make an interesting watch.

Fans will also enjoy to see what happens to some of their favorite characters. There is some characters that Boruto interacts with at the Academy that will have fans go hmm who kid is that they look familiar. There is tons of easter eggs, callbacks to the previous series and it is a feel good watch. In episode 1 we get introduced to Boruto and his new friend Denkai. Denkai is being bullied by some kids and Boruto comes in to save the day. The two really hit it off and Denkai feels weak and wants to get stronger after his encounter with Boruto. Denkai relationship with his father is always not ideal. However Denkai is not as rebellious as Boruto. He is a character that is a push over but you can see layers of something darker which I hope gets explore later.  Overall episode 1 was a great start to the series. The animation, music is a little lighter in tone but still holds the core of Naruto mythos. Fans of Naruto will easily sit back in. New fans to Naruto this will be a good start for you to get into the world. Great episode with plenty of humor, some seeds of conflict, a hint of the first arc nemesis and tons of easter eggs.

Final Rating 4.5/5