Depends on how it's presented, but why not? These are all pretty simple tropes. Some authors deliberately make it a bit subtle so that readers feel like meta-experts after "predicting" a particular development.
I haven't read the original LN, but at this point it doesn't seem like Zen has any real intention of adding any real romance to this real politics. But then again, I don't know what's coming, especially if the original story isn't finished yet.
My believe is that Mary Sue is there to fuckup everywhere beside where Tanya is, first. So that Empire is weakened and Tanya is slowly pushed into reality where Empire have no means of winning (as per some part chapters that show Empire as losers/back to their original borders).
Do you think that the Empire will lose at some point anyway and we will not see the ceiling of this local version of "Deutschland is the best country in the world" in the end? Yes, Zen was never subtle about Tanya fighting for, to put it mildly, not the best side, but I had already gotten used to all this Reich satire.
I read a whole bunch of the books and the manga and the LN is different and in my opinion the LN is bad. Like this manga has takes with Tanya going off about commies but the LN does it 200% more and adds how great capitalism is. Think like 5-6 pages about going on and on how bad comunist are and how great capitalism is.
You mean the most serious talk about evil commies and good capitalists without any irony? Just like Gates with their ridiculous pro-militarist tirades and regular pacifist beatings? I know Zen has some complex and idiosyncratic political views compared to the traditional left and right, but judging from his Twitter, he has always been critical of capitalists and communists beyond the pure ideals of both sides. Not on the level of Miyazaki with his belief in ideals rather than parties, but still.
The real answer is that yes, when commies are involved it becomes personal as Tanya feel a call of duty to strike them down with the hammer of civilization. But it also could be framed as not being a battlefield, because the useless pigs can't put up a fight for the love of them.
tis but a scratch
All of this may seem quite funny and ironic, given Zen's own political views in real life. It's probably something like the devout Catholic Tom Araya singing about how religion is the rottenness of society.
Eeliejun nailed it with their explanation and I agree the LN is the weaker version. Huge tangents about economic theories abound within the novels. I made a comment about this topic earlier when the translators let everyone know that Troubadour was manga original, so I'll just stick it here for you:
Back then I mentioned they added many characters but didn't explain further so some might have thought I was talking about just people like Troubadour. Nah lol. As an example, in her battalion there's Weiss, Grantz, and Serebryakova that have names. That's it. Neumann and his strength enhancing magic to chuck a building this chapter? Nope. Koenig? Never heard of 'em. Rotten potato boy? Who now?
So, if I understand you correctly, ultimately the anime adaptation relies more on the manga version due to the significant deepening of the story and the absence of long and tedious authorial philosophizing? It sounds like a bit of a reverse Mahouka situation, where the anime and manga were forced to fight off tons of authorial technobabble in an attempt to make the story simpler and more action-packed.
Quite the contrary, aren't those armor thingy actually a "broom"? It helps prolonged flight but has bigger mana signature than good ol' raw dog flight spell.
Someone would have to check receipts for if the folks involved with the anime production got that direction from Toujou Chika's drawings or not. I just remember the early manga chapters only had some very minor visual additions. Regardless they both leaned into the visual benefits of their mediums to grow the world, so great adaptions in that regard.
I don't think that has ever been spelled out explicitly, but I think it's a reasonable guess. They were ordered to be stealthy after all. I can get behind that interpretation too
Well, I haven't read LN, so I can't complain or praise it. But if the author himself doesn't mind it, then maybe he himself considers it an improvement. The only question I have left is, does the manga remain a separate alternate continuity after all this as an adaptation, or do all three versions of the story fully complement each other in a canonical manner?
There are some minor continuity things (iirc I think the volunteer force ride brooms in the anime movie not the car-like devices here ect.) Overall I would say it's all one timeline at this point.
