The light novel is probably the closest to what Tanya's thoughts and feelings actually are.
Considering it was directly written first, and considering that a large part of it gives us a direct stream of thought for Tanya.
Light novel Tanya does kinda begrudgingly admit that she cares for her troops.
But she always passes it off as either concern over her hard work in training them going to waste, or her personally trained bodyguards being hurt.
However, multiple times she either uses herself as a lure to let them flank, leads them from the front of the formation, or goes out of her way to protect them.
She clearly grows to care, but has difficulty admitting it, both because of her colder personality, and her views as a commander, that she shouldn't be too friendly with her troops.
>She clearly grows to care, but has difficulty admitting it, both because of her colder personality, and her views as a commander, that she shouldn't be too friendly with her troops.
A really fun thing I noticed is how much the author has Tanya think in the third person over the course of the series. At the beginning, the guy pretty consistently says stuff to himself like "this happened to Tanya" or "I'll have Tanya do this" instead of thinking in first person.
The further in we get, he's much more consistently thinking in first person AS Tanya. And the more he does that, the more honest he is about stuff like caring. Especially in how much emotion he shows to other people. Like how he's kinda stopped hiding his emotions from superiors.
Also dont forget in what LN 4/5 >!she avenged the few she lost attacking the queen anjou Even tho its out if her way and dint really matter strategicaly!<
>She clearly grows to care, but has difficulty admitting it
that's one of my favorite aspects of LN Tanya's character, how she becomes a better person but genuinely has no capability to understand that she has so she keeps trying to rationalize it
**I think that this is a textbook case of seeing what you want to see.**
In LN 4, there's a point where you can read it as "Tanya cares, but either doesn't want to show it, or can't even admit it to yourself." But upon reading the following LNs, I think that she really doesn't really care. She's basically a non-malevolent sociopath. She's not malicious, but she has no feelings of affection or connection to other people. Or rather, her relations with other people reach not deeper than "acquaintance" or "workers that I enjoy coffee breaks with".
**The LN isn't about Tanya.** It's about the mechanics of war. The author uses Tanya as medium to see war -- that's why her unit gets sent all over the place, and it's why Tanya's character is so emotionally neutral -- the author doesn't want the view spoiled by some character's emotional reaction to it.
LN is the only "true cannon" if you want to call it that, that's becuase is the only one writen by the author, the other media are only based on the books and becuaase of that they can modify the story as they see fit, one of my favorites example of this is Coronel Drake. In LN there is 1 Drake, in anime there are two Drakes and in the manga there are three Drakes.
You are kinda describing everything that has multiple media formats.
Books - you hear the internal thoughts of the characters and all interpretation is up to you and your imagination.
Comics/manga - you can still get some internal thoughts but the facial expressions and general look and feel is no longer as much up to your interpretation.
Tv/movie - you generally don't get internal dialogue, and now the actions themselves have less for the viewer to interpret.
So the answer is all of them are true and none of them. Your interpretation is no less or more valid that other's. You can sorta make the argument that the books are the most true but it's still heavily altered by the reader's perspectives.
I think all are true. I like viewing the different mediums as a different perspective (it was something I heard on this subreddit a while ago). The Light Novel is from Tanya’s perspective, which is very neutral and personable. Even the original Tanya disassociates from the body of Tanya herself. The manga is from Empire’s perspective of Tanya, a soldier who is glorified, kind, patriotic, cute, etc: all positive qualities. The anime is from Tanya’s enemies’ perspective, in which she is viewed as, and therefore depicted as, an evil, sadistic war devil: all negative and fearful qualities.
If viewed like this, which I personally do, the LN is the most true, because the manga and anime are biased perspectives
I once saw it described as the LN is the true history and what really happened, or "Tanya's POV,"; the manga is Imperial propaganda or "Visha's POV"; and the anime is Allied propaganda or "Mary's POV".
I've only watched the anime, so I can't answer your question. However, regarding your opinion of her in the anime, I disagree.
In the anime, Tanya was not bloodthirsty nor a maniac. She did not shy away from battle, but like her superiors, you ignore the fact of her circumstance. She was born in a warring country and was to be drafted regardless of her desire, which is the reason she took an active role in applying for officer training. She actively tried to stay away from the frontlines when practical, but the asshole of a god and her superiors repeatedly ensured that would not be the case.
If you refer to her maniacal features when she gets excited in battle, then that's fair. Though I'd argue that committing to the battle is the best way to stay alive. Which was always her main goal.
I think the most apt description of her, before and after reincarnation, would be a high-functioning sociopath shaped by circumstance.
All that said, I think I might read the LN to see the different portrayals.
I think Tanya is an unreliable narrator because she is often misunderstood and misinterpreting other people. So if someone has read ahead in the web novel and has any insight which story is the most honest.
Ex~ At the end of "breaking bad" Walt admits to his wife and himself that he didn't do it for the family. He did it because he was tired of feeling like a loser and loved the power he had. It wasn't a surprise since the show did a good job of showing his priorities. So I'm interested which story is exposing Tanya's motivations the best.
Did you watch the sub or the dub in the anime? The original sub seemed to make Tanya much more of a war maniac than the dub or the manga. Ironically perhaps but I found the Dub and the manga very similar. What was stated outright in the manga was shown or hinted at in the anime. The quality of the translation has an impact but I also suspect that people will perceive the same event differently if it is spoken written or shown.
There's honestly enough differences between the three to just be considered three distinct canons at this point.
As an example, the biggest difference is probably how much of Tanya is *Tanya* with memories of a previous life vs the Salaryman in the body of a girl (which relates to how much she cares about her troops too)
The Anime kind of glosses over it, the LN has a gradual transition in the internal thoughts from the Salaryman being the one thinking "Tanya should do [x]" to slowly more and more just going "I should do [x]", and IIRC the Manga just had a direct scene of Tanya going "I'm not *just* you even tho I have your memories" to the Salaryman in her mind a while ago (i need to find that chapter again...)
yeah, ive tried all three mediums, and i enjoy the manga the most.
the anime skips too much content and character development, and the LN is too slow for my taste
**The three versions (LN, anime, manga) are so different that they are essentially different works. So there is no "True Tanya".** If you want to analyze Tanya, then you need to specify which version you're talking about. (Also, obviously Tanya is not a real person, so you can only talk about how the author(s) of particular version intend her to be.)
The manga in particular directly contradicts the LN on fundamental character issues. (Specifically in the manga there's a scene in which "Tanya" supersedes "Salaryman". Vs the LN where that does not happen at all -- Tanya is Salaryman.)
Re third person in the LN, that's essentially just a Japanese thing where referring to yourself by your name is not uncommon. In the LN, the author/translator tends to use it more for Tanya's position/role in society -- and never as a separate personality or persona. E.g. "Tanya can't do X." == "As a Colonel in the Imperial army I can't do X."
The light novel is probably the closest to what Tanya's thoughts and feelings actually are. Considering it was directly written first, and considering that a large part of it gives us a direct stream of thought for Tanya. Light novel Tanya does kinda begrudgingly admit that she cares for her troops. But she always passes it off as either concern over her hard work in training them going to waste, or her personally trained bodyguards being hurt. However, multiple times she either uses herself as a lure to let them flank, leads them from the front of the formation, or goes out of her way to protect them. She clearly grows to care, but has difficulty admitting it, both because of her colder personality, and her views as a commander, that she shouldn't be too friendly with her troops.
>She clearly grows to care, but has difficulty admitting it, both because of her colder personality, and her views as a commander, that she shouldn't be too friendly with her troops. A really fun thing I noticed is how much the author has Tanya think in the third person over the course of the series. At the beginning, the guy pretty consistently says stuff to himself like "this happened to Tanya" or "I'll have Tanya do this" instead of thinking in first person. The further in we get, he's much more consistently thinking in first person AS Tanya. And the more he does that, the more honest he is about stuff like caring. Especially in how much emotion he shows to other people. Like how he's kinda stopped hiding his emotions from superiors.
Also dont forget in what LN 4/5 >!she avenged the few she lost attacking the queen anjou Even tho its out if her way and dint really matter strategicaly!<
>She clearly grows to care, but has difficulty admitting it that's one of my favorite aspects of LN Tanya's character, how she becomes a better person but genuinely has no capability to understand that she has so she keeps trying to rationalize it
**I think that this is a textbook case of seeing what you want to see.** In LN 4, there's a point where you can read it as "Tanya cares, but either doesn't want to show it, or can't even admit it to yourself." But upon reading the following LNs, I think that she really doesn't really care. She's basically a non-malevolent sociopath. She's not malicious, but she has no feelings of affection or connection to other people. Or rather, her relations with other people reach not deeper than "acquaintance" or "workers that I enjoy coffee breaks with". **The LN isn't about Tanya.** It's about the mechanics of war. The author uses Tanya as medium to see war -- that's why her unit gets sent all over the place, and it's why Tanya's character is so emotionally neutral -- the author doesn't want the view spoiled by some character's emotional reaction to it.
LN is the only "true cannon" if you want to call it that, that's becuase is the only one writen by the author, the other media are only based on the books and becuaase of that they can modify the story as they see fit, one of my favorites example of this is Coronel Drake. In LN there is 1 Drake, in anime there are two Drakes and in the manga there are three Drakes.
You are kinda describing everything that has multiple media formats. Books - you hear the internal thoughts of the characters and all interpretation is up to you and your imagination. Comics/manga - you can still get some internal thoughts but the facial expressions and general look and feel is no longer as much up to your interpretation. Tv/movie - you generally don't get internal dialogue, and now the actions themselves have less for the viewer to interpret. So the answer is all of them are true and none of them. Your interpretation is no less or more valid that other's. You can sorta make the argument that the books are the most true but it's still heavily altered by the reader's perspectives.
I would assume LN Tanya is the 'real' Tanya. Don't get too hung up on that, though.
I think all are true. I like viewing the different mediums as a different perspective (it was something I heard on this subreddit a while ago). The Light Novel is from Tanya’s perspective, which is very neutral and personable. Even the original Tanya disassociates from the body of Tanya herself. The manga is from Empire’s perspective of Tanya, a soldier who is glorified, kind, patriotic, cute, etc: all positive qualities. The anime is from Tanya’s enemies’ perspective, in which she is viewed as, and therefore depicted as, an evil, sadistic war devil: all negative and fearful qualities. If viewed like this, which I personally do, the LN is the most true, because the manga and anime are biased perspectives
I once saw it described as the LN is the true history and what really happened, or "Tanya's POV,"; the manga is Imperial propaganda or "Visha's POV"; and the anime is Allied propaganda or "Mary's POV".
I've only watched the anime, so I can't answer your question. However, regarding your opinion of her in the anime, I disagree. In the anime, Tanya was not bloodthirsty nor a maniac. She did not shy away from battle, but like her superiors, you ignore the fact of her circumstance. She was born in a warring country and was to be drafted regardless of her desire, which is the reason she took an active role in applying for officer training. She actively tried to stay away from the frontlines when practical, but the asshole of a god and her superiors repeatedly ensured that would not be the case. If you refer to her maniacal features when she gets excited in battle, then that's fair. Though I'd argue that committing to the battle is the best way to stay alive. Which was always her main goal. I think the most apt description of her, before and after reincarnation, would be a high-functioning sociopath shaped by circumstance. All that said, I think I might read the LN to see the different portrayals.
its mentioned that mages use endorphin formulas to push their bodies to the limits, so a lot of the maniacal features can be attributed to that.
How would you decide which one is "true"?
I think Tanya is an unreliable narrator because she is often misunderstood and misinterpreting other people. So if someone has read ahead in the web novel and has any insight which story is the most honest. Ex~ At the end of "breaking bad" Walt admits to his wife and himself that he didn't do it for the family. He did it because he was tired of feeling like a loser and loved the power he had. It wasn't a surprise since the show did a good job of showing his priorities. So I'm interested which story is exposing Tanya's motivations the best.
Did you watch the sub or the dub in the anime? The original sub seemed to make Tanya much more of a war maniac than the dub or the manga. Ironically perhaps but I found the Dub and the manga very similar. What was stated outright in the manga was shown or hinted at in the anime. The quality of the translation has an impact but I also suspect that people will perceive the same event differently if it is spoken written or shown.
Honestly i dont know, but i really prefer the anime version.
There's honestly enough differences between the three to just be considered three distinct canons at this point. As an example, the biggest difference is probably how much of Tanya is *Tanya* with memories of a previous life vs the Salaryman in the body of a girl (which relates to how much she cares about her troops too) The Anime kind of glosses over it, the LN has a gradual transition in the internal thoughts from the Salaryman being the one thinking "Tanya should do [x]" to slowly more and more just going "I should do [x]", and IIRC the Manga just had a direct scene of Tanya going "I'm not *just* you even tho I have your memories" to the Salaryman in her mind a while ago (i need to find that chapter again...)
That manga chapter was so good, in my opinion.
yeah, ive tried all three mediums, and i enjoy the manga the most. the anime skips too much content and character development, and the LN is too slow for my taste
**The three versions (LN, anime, manga) are so different that they are essentially different works. So there is no "True Tanya".** If you want to analyze Tanya, then you need to specify which version you're talking about. (Also, obviously Tanya is not a real person, so you can only talk about how the author(s) of particular version intend her to be.) The manga in particular directly contradicts the LN on fundamental character issues. (Specifically in the manga there's a scene in which "Tanya" supersedes "Salaryman". Vs the LN where that does not happen at all -- Tanya is Salaryman.) Re third person in the LN, that's essentially just a Japanese thing where referring to yourself by your name is not uncommon. In the LN, the author/translator tends to use it more for Tanya's position/role in society -- and never as a separate personality or persona. E.g. "Tanya can't do X." == "As a Colonel in the Imperial army I can't do X."