Tactics

Publisher
Geneon
Director
Hiroshi Watanabe
Production
Media Net, Studio Deen, TV Tokyo
Country of origin
Japan
Format
Series
Running time
25 episodes
Year
2004

Tactics DVD V. 1

By David Rasmussen
6th Aug 06

Well, well, well. I was going to save this review until Halloween… but since it’s taking this side of forever to get that copy of Hellsing UMD V. 1 for review, and I might as well pick up Hellsing V. 7 and a few more things in the time between now and Halloween… well, I have loads of time to pack up for THOSE reviews.
So, since we have time to pass on reviewing let’s take a look at Tactics DVD V. 1 then, shall we?

For a minute there I thought this was going to be a gruesome supernatural horror, but in fact it’s not (while it does have some supernatural horror like elements it’s not sickeningly “let’s paint the set blood red” horror so heck I can stand watching this!)

Everyone? Say hi to supernatural writer, book deadline procrastinator, and part time “meddlin’ adult” sleuth Kantaro Ichinomiya. When he was young he used to talk to the demons, and wanted everyone to know how great they were… so he eventually got talked into going on this lifelong quest to find this Demon Eating Goblin so that he’d become stronger or something like that, which lasted him abit of time (until the start of this series). Along the way he became an expert on the supernatural, got a scar slashed into his chest that causes him a buttload of pain everytime he’s near a demon… ugh… writer sense… AGH THE PAIN! THE… uh, sorry. Oh, and he became a writer of the supernatural in order to suppliment his lifestyle of searching the Japanese countryside for his obsession (the Demon Eating Goblin -- demon eating goblin… that could go either way if you think about -- uh… never mind.)

Oh, and somehow the (bleep) found himself an ultra cute female spirit fox gal (complete with human female form) that he named and thus got to be his servant… bastard. Except he was not to very bright as he called her Yoko… as in Yoko the Yohko (spirit fox)… yeah, such a genius with names.
But on the bright side, nature balances that out by sticking him with the mother of all naggy manipulative female editors who constantly lures him into episodal “jobs” while nagging him in a not so subtle way about the deadlines to finish his books.

As the story opens he’s paying an unsuspecting family a housecall as they are lamenting over the block of human ice in the center of their house… during a time of year when it’s NOT snowing nor is the room in question a walk in freezer…

Episode 1
OK, did you hear the one about the Demon Eating Goblin? No? Then how about the people lamenting over the block of human ice in their house that was containing an evil demon spirit? Well as the episode starts our walkabout Kantaro (who is out following up the latest lead on the Demon Eating Goblin after blowing off his cute yet kinda frustrated servant fox girl Yoko at breakfast) is confronting demon spirit on ice as he exorcises the demon (Japanese style, not “MAY THE POWER OF CHRIST COMPEL YOU” Exorcist style) only to realize he might not have done the job right… oh, wait, looks like his visit to help this family is about to pay off as he is going to find the resting spot of the Demon Eating Goblin and set free -- some hunk of beefcake dude with black angel wings who wears black… why the hell do they have to look that good anyway -- and do goblins really look like evil sith angels?!?

Well, uh… thoughts of the Yaoi side of this situation aside it looks like having this goblin (Haruka) become his latest sidekick servant assistant is good as he has to use his power to help stop an out of control icicle woman infected with a demon possession from destroying the woman she’s in love with… ooh, lesbian relationship feelings and we’re only in Episode 1!! (Nothing comes of it though, damn.)

Episode 2
Now that Kantaro has got a new partner in his travels (the one he’s been looking for for awhile now) it’s back to writing that book (deadline approaching), doing more articles, paying the bills, making moves on Yoko and NOT on Haruka since this isn’t a Yaoi thing and… what’s that knock on the door?
That knock is the arrival of Suzu Edogawa, the young girl from the first episode who thought Kantaro was a total fraud, but who has now followed him all the way back to his house because she has the hots for Haruka… too old for you miss!

But a great evil has come also to the house, that evil in the form of Kantaro’s female Editor Reiko, who manages to talk Kantaro into writing an article about a haunting of a certain kind of business establishment. Just as well, since Haruka (ever since last episode) has been brooding over why he couldn’t deliver the fatal blow to the demon that was possessing the icicle woman from last episode.

Turns out though that Kantaro will need all the help he can get since his Editor failed to tell him that the “job” is in the redlight district, at the local brothel, and concerns one of the “courtesans” (provide own “a.k.a.” here) who is the victim of a tragic love story… and also she’s possessed by a demon that has fused itself with her flesh and… eww… begone demon face staring at me from her knee! Begone!
(Stay tuned for the creepy (bleep) ending!)

Episode 3
Children are vanishing from a mountain village (that used to be Kantaro’s old hangout when he was young), he needs another job and yet another excuse to dodge writing his book, and the gang needs a “mini vacation” so it’s as good an excuse for the foursome of Kantaro, Yoko, Haruka and little Suzu to head over to the village where mishaps and strange happenings will occur, not all of them connected to the problem of the disappearing children… one, for instance, involves hot springs and the appearance of a Poke’mon looking thing but more on that later.

It looks like the village once had a “god” that had to be replaced because he became violently anti social due to the fact it couldn’t grasp hard times with lack of offerings. Well, it looks like the god of the mountain is now making children vanish and -- hmm -- which god? Turns out it’s the old one because the new one is a goblin guy who looks like Haruka only dressed in white (because he’s a white goblin and Haruka’s a black goblin because he wears black and -- urgh… never mind).

Anyway the bad god of the mountain, which looks like the Chinese version of a dragon (who was kidnapping kids with special powers which, yes, Suzu happened to be one of them which explains why she is going to make a good team member in this series), has to get smacked down even if Kantaro keeps trying to spare the rod and spoil the god deity thing… give it a rest, man!
Oh, and that Poke’mon sighting in the hot spring? Looks like it got attached to Kantaro which is bad since it happens to be a she and she is the wife of the now former god of the mountain (Sugino) who has left his post to follow his wife to Kantaro’s place (and become yet another mouth to feed).

Episode 4
Today it’s the evils of photography as, yes, old world people really weren’t crazy when they said cameras stole your soul… and put 10 pounds on you… because they do! Photographer with female fetish steals the souls of women by taking their pictures, which gets Kantaro involved because it turns out his female Editor (Reiko) was just the latest victim to have her soul stolen by the evil photo-- yes, Editors do have souls… yes, even ones who work for the New York Times.
Anyway Kantaro has to save his Editor even if no good deed goes unpunished once he’s done… it’s his fault for procrastinating on that book anyway so what’s he whining about!

Episode 5
That’s that. Let’s wrap here since you should be watching this for yourself.
Last episode has a Puppetmaster twist as some puppetmaster dude wants to put a certain somebody’s essence into one of his dolls… more when you watch. Now the breakdown.

Tactical Breakdown the 1st
What’s Hot?
When reviewed by Anime Source.com, it was said that Tactics is “…a stunning blend of water color washes of brillant hues and well drawn characters”. Yeah, that’s all well and fine and probably true… but if that was your criteria then I can recommend a good anime artbook for you to look at.

Beautiful visuals will not alone save the day. The series has to excel on more than one front, which Tactics does. Yes, the artwork is fine but the music and storytelling also excels (being supernatural without being gory horror, being humorous and dramatic without being cliché or repetitive of the same plots and drawn out scenarios seen hundreds of times) which is a good thing. The characters are finely drawn, but they are also characters you’ll get into and want to see more of (my favorite being Yoko… but I’m being biased here). The voice acting is solid… on the Japanese side, I haven’t heard the English dub yet (sorry).

Overall the package as a whole is strong by it’s many parts, which makes this a worthy series for those looking for some action and supernatural bite that you might be missing in your collection of late.

What’s Not?
I honestly can’t think of a downer. I like this series, and you should find joy in it too.

Moments to Remember?
More than I can count. Check it out and see for yourself (nice blend of action, drama and humor).

What to Ignore?
Why is it everytime Kantaro and Haruka are together I’m thinking something Yaoi is going to happen? Stop that! Stop that! Bad thought! Bad thought! Evil evil evil -- uh… sorry, got carried away.

Overall?
A nice package with everything going for it, and a nice series worth checking out if you want a little more kick to your viewing (without it being God of War oh dear god what the hell just happened kind of kick).
Let’s give this a positive start, and label it a 4... Out of 5.

-- David Rasmussen 6th Aug 06

Tactics Images