Afterword
Hello, good evening, or to you valiant heroes who’ve been up and at ’em since sunrise, good morning. This is Carlo Zen with a greeting on the occasion of Volume 7’s release.
Viva caffeine! And ramen!
Frankly, my greetings have been too formal. I have to make sure I don’t forget my personality and uniqueness, my own color. I’ve engaged in some self-criticism and concluded that I have to stay true to my roots and goof around with confidence.
Now that I’ve reflected a little bit, on to the meat of this afterword. Some people might read this section first, so I’ll refrain from spoilers. I value peaceful harmony.
The Saga of Tanya the Evil is about the misery of people stuck in the system and the absurdity of war. It’s a tribute to labor wherein a young girl bites back her tears and works hard, facing the stress all working folks deal with daily at their jobs (huge lie). I hope that, with a cup of coffee in one hand, you’ll enjoy Degu’s struggles as if they have nothing to do with you. Or if, with a cup of coffee in each hand, you sympathize with moments that make you go “I totally get it. The higher-ups are always making us bend over backward with their plans!”—that’s fine, too. Ah, for some reason, I keep finding tears in my eyes.
So, completely ignoring the demons lurking within the word plan, I’ll assume that this has gone on sale at the end of December. Before this new novel arrives, Volumes 1 and 2 of Chika Tojo’s manga adaptation will have already been released at a furious pace. And the anime should be starting in January.
Regarding the anime production… I’ve been able to observe the recording, and all I could think the whole time is that pro voice actors are amazing. I can’t say anything other than that, so…please look forward to the anime!
Last but not least, I’d like to thank everyone who lends me their strength. Readers, it’s thanks to you that I’ve come this far!
And also, to the people who help out with the books. To illustrator Shinotsuki, the designers at Tsubakiya Design, the proofreaders at Tokyo Publishing Service Center, and my editor Fujita, thank you as always.
December 2016 Carlo Zen
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References:
1 Adam Smith The extremely moral author of The Theory of Moral Sentiments. He probably never dreamed the phrase invisible hand that he used once in The Wealth of Nations would get the words of God tagged on… He’s also known as the father of modern economics.
2 lend-lease Literally a leasing service for lending! Could be weapons and ammo, battleships, tanks, or fighter planes! Don’t confuse this with weapons sales—it’s merely a service to lend out extra materials. Or at least that was the logic that was used to explain away furnishing countries at war with weapons.
3 Potemkin Well, it definitely looked good. Window dressing is an awful way to put it. He just did what he could for his own benefit.
This is a classic example of glossing over the truth with unrealistic results. But you know, if you can’t trick the inspectors, you never get promoted. What choice did he have?
4 Rossbach A battle that broke out during the Seven Years’ War.
Frederick the Great led the outnumbered Prussian Army with some weirdo operational finagling and managed to win. The loss ratio was about 1:20. Frederick the Great was a weirdo, but he was strong.
5 Hoyerswerda The Prussian Army (led by Frederick the Great’s younger brother) and the Austrian Army fought with about equal numbers. After the battle, the Prussian Army estimated their losses at no more than a hundred. Meanwhile, 600 Austrian troops died and 1,800 were taken prisoner.
6 The Peter Principle A paradox where if ability is the criterion for promotion in a meritocracy, the end result is extreme incompetence.
For example, say there’s a capable company employee. He’s capable, so once he is promoted to section chief, if he has abilities beyond that position, he’ll probably be promoted to head of the department. But if he hits his ability ceiling, he’ll stay an ordinary, useless section chief forever. That’s the principle governing all organizations! Doesn’t that mean they’re actually full of people who can’t do their jobs?!…is the horrific discovery that was made.
7 tank desant The utterly natural result of people riding tanks. It’s a special tactic where putting soldiers on tanks allows them to keep up better with the mechanized rate of advance. It also allows the tanks and infantry to support each other more closely, which is perfect.
And you put them on the outside, not inside. It’s a harsh job, getting rained on by enemy attacks targeting the tanks. Whether this is true or not is unclear, but some say the average survival of tank-desant troops is two weeks.
8 Dyrrhachium A balding, womanizing king heavily laden with debts managed to encircle a great and just senator’s army that was much larger. Then the king lost. Of course he did. The king with debts was Julius Caesar, and it was one of his few defeats.
9 nomenklatura Privileged individuals who exist in an equal society that has done away with classes. They’re just on a list of those who work for the people and are not unlike anyone else in any other way. Of course, anyone who doesn’t make that list will never get anywhere in life…
10 Treaty of Brest-Litovsk The peace treaty between Germany and Russia (the Soviet Union) in World War I. Of course, Germany’s victory in the east is often ignored, since they failed to win in the west…
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