Saga of Tanya the Evil

[Dr. Otto]

So...I've recently been getting into the anime show, SAGA OF TANYA THE EVIL. I know Japanese cartoons have no inhibitions about using really "out there" concepts, but this one takes the cake: A ruthless, amoral Japanese businessman from our era is sentenced by a mysterious entity referred to as "Being X" to be reincarnated as a little girl in an alternate reality where the Germans won the first world war.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8Gx2_sHMRI

If she dies a natural death, or continues to refuse to have faith in him, his pitch-black soul will be thrown down to Hell to burn for all eternity. Yes, I know it's stupid that she proudly continues to deny God's existence (i.e. "Being X") WHILE SHE'S ACTUALLY TALKING TO HIM, but modern atheists would deny a unicorn is real even after getting impaled on its horn.

Oh, and magic also exists in Tanya's new world, which is why people can fly around like birds.

One creative decision by Carlo Zen (creator of the original manga) that baffles me is his choice of protagonist. Zen makes it clear right from the outset that this guy is a raging douche long before he gets "girled," and she only becomes MORE of a douche in the form of a militaristic little she-demon. He's the kind of atheistic Darwinian a-hole who justifies his brutality by claiming it's just pure pragmatism. In his very first scene, we watch him fire some miserable bastard for alleged incompetence, although the particulars are kept vague. ("Missing work multiple times" could easily translate to clocking in maybe three minutes late twice in one month, no matter if you're living on the other damn side of Tokyo and have to be at the office impeccably dressed by 6 in the morning. The Japanese are a notoriously unforgiving bunch when it comes to work ethics.)

Please note this is the same kind of sociopathic personality who evicts families out of houses so they can happily rot on the streets.

Look, I get it: The title is Tanya the EVIL, and she's intentionally meant to be an anti-hero, but even Tony Montana from SCARFACE had a diabolical charisma that made us want to root for him. Aside from the perverse thrill of watching a little girl march around in a soldier's uniform, there's nothing even remotely likable about Tanya as a lead character. All she's got going for her is the stereotypical "cuteness" that the Japanese love so much (to the point where it gets a little creepy). And we're stuck with this piece of shit for the entire show.

Here's how I would have done it: I'd make the fired employee the one who gets reincarnated as Tanya. Financially and emotionally at the end of his rope, he jumps in front of an oncoming train, figuring that death is the only way out from his dead-end existence. But to his horror, he discovers that "God" has the exact same intolerance for failure, life essentially being a workplace where souls are promoted to Heaven or tossed down to Hell based on their career performance, that is, becoming someone famous or finding a way to reverse global warming, as opposed to simply living out your life as a nobody. Performing "good" or "bad" deeds is largely irrelevant.

"God" gives the employee one last chance to shape up: He either becomes the absolute epitome of elite proficiency in his next life, or he BURNS. On top of all that, "God" deliberately reincarnates the employee as a girl in an extremely patriarchal society, just to make things twice as difficult for him.

So now the employee would still be fulfilling her reputation as "Tanya the Evil," while simultaneously being tormented by her inner conscience.

Would that version be any better than the show as it is? Maybe, maybe not. But I know I'D watch the hell out of it.

[Prof_Sai]

How many atheists have you met?

[Rick_james]

Tons of them. That aside, what’s the point of planes if people can fly?

[Dr. Otto]

Originally Posted by Prof_Sai

How many atheists have you met?

Not many in person, but a lot online. The online ones tend to be more narcissistic and obnoxious.

[thelurker]

I'm pretty sure you've met more of them than you realize, It's just that many of them don't feel that they need to bring up the subject of their religion (or rather, the lack of one) unless asked.

The term you probably meant to use is "social Darwinist".

[Jake]

As an Athiest I find that description to be offensive

[Prof_Sai]

Anyone who goes around saying that their spirituality is better than other people's spirituality is going to come across as narcissistic and obnoxious.

[thelurker]

Which spirituality has the best TG process though?

[Prof_Sai]

Originally Posted by Dr. Otto

Yes, I know it's stupid that she proudly continues to deny God's existence (i.e. "Being X") WHILE SHE'S ACTUALLY TALKING TO HIM,

Of course it is stupid; no real Atheist would do this. The point of atheism is that this never happens and there is no historical evidence that it ever has.

[transformative]

Originally Posted by thelurker

Which spirituality has the best TG process though?

probably anything with reincarnation.

[thelurker]

Judging by Ovid's Metamorphoses, the Greek/Roman pantheons are definitely in the running.

[Dr. Otto]

Originally Posted by Prof_Sai

Of course it is stupid; no real Atheist would do this. The point of atheism is that this never happens and there is no historical evidence that it ever has.

There's a French lady called Joan of Arc you might have intentionally or unintentionally forgotten about. Now, it might not be your kind of evidence, but it qualifies as "historical evidence" whether you like it or not.