life line by line

Finally getting back to what I consider the best (if only actual) arc, Tactics 17 starts the prelude of the eventual showdown between Raikou Minamoto (Swordman Dude) & Ibaragi (Vine Lady) and Kantarou & Haruka. Once again, I’ll refer people over to Tensai11 for her words of wisdom on this episode as well.

The episode mostly surrounds a new girl, Rosalie, who can see spirits and such like Kantarou. She was adopted by Ryoukan Hasumi (remember: Kantarou’s “rival” who doesn’t believe in the supernatural) while he was a special convoy in England. Really not much is known about the girl except this creepy priest dude (name: Edwards) is using her as an medium to bait evil spirits and somehow has control of her “freedom.” Everything leads up to Kantarou, Haruka, Muu-chan, and Sugino saving Rosalie after Edwards uses her in one of his exocrism but failed to get rid of all the evil spirits; Rosalie basically going all Exocrist on them. The good guys win thanks to teamwork, Rosalie is saved, and Hatsumi shows he’s actually an caring person but amiss the “happy” ending, we find out some truths about the priest dude.

Apparently Edwards is working for Raikou Minamoto as Minamoto taught him the ritual creepy priest dude used on Rosalie. Minamoto also helped Edwards, who is actually a special convoy from England, to gather more information about spirits and get an Aradama. No clue what Edwards is going to do with it but one can tell it won’t be good… Minamoto also off-handily ask Edwards what he thought of Haruka, with Edwards commenting he’s like Lucifer. Minamoto just smirks at that and one doesn’t need to be an genius to figure out he has plan for Haruka. There’s something about liking that with a quick shot of Ibaragi but currently, I have no clue what they’re talking about. Odds are it’ll be something that’ll haunt Kantarou and the crew in the near future knowing their string of luck.

Oh, how can I forget to mention the funniest parts of this episode? Kantarou being drunk! The reason? Hatsumi one upped him again, as I mentioned before, becoming an special Japanese convoy to go to England (where he met Rosalie). However, what I think really got to Kantarou was the fact their sensei picked Hatsumi over Kantarou. It’s similar as if a father chose between two sons, picking the “lesser” one even though he has admitted to the other one he’s “better.” Kantarou shock~desu! Anyway, it was just comical watching and hearing drunk-mad and hungover Kantarou. The best was when Reiko dropped by and made Kantarou’s hang over all the more worse

I know Tactics 17 seems like a filler episode but it was not. We have hints of actual forward movement to something bigger and better; like for example, Rosalie questioning if Haruka is Lucifer or how Minamoto is implying something about Haruka’s past. There’s also the obvious scene towards the end of the episode with the conversation between Edwards and Minamoto. There is no way that’s just idle chit-chat! Even if this was a filler episode, I still think it was one of the better ones with the introduction of Rosalie, the return of Hatsumi (makes for an awesomely funny rivalry with Kantarou), and camero by Yumeyako. No weak-sauce stuff like the Suzu stalker or Kantarou testing Haruka BS. Looking over at seiyuu.info, I’m pleased to see that Minamoto, Ibaragi, and Rosalie are in the next couple of episodes so I have hope for something good to happen!