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!

Jealousy and mis-trust in loved ones is the center of the episode. Interesting enough, Sugino and Muu-chan are the stars of the show amiss the Kantarou and crew “case of the week” mystery.

For an actual synopsis, swing over to Tensai11’s anime blog site. She does an awesome job, and I’m just too lazy to really blog this episode of Tactics anyways. =P

All I’m willing to say about this episode is the ending is kind of ironic, if that’s the word I’m looking for. Reminds me a lot of episodes 10-11 with the twin mikos as the ending isn’t always peaches and cream like other anime series. Probably one of the few reasons I’m still sticking with Tactics as my interest in the series has been decreasing ever since they stopped with the Evil Vine Lady and Swordman ‘arc’.

BTW, Muu-chan totally had me laughing with her various antics!

I can sum up this episode in one relatively short paragraph:

Suzu and the crew go to a friend’s summer villa where various strange things are happening. The wife of the owner, who had an somewhat unhealthy obsession of Suzu, passed away a few years ago but that’s odd… since Suzu just saw her! Eventually leads to Suzu confronting the lady’s dead spirit after it “kills” Kantarou, Youko, and Haruka. The spirit wants Suzu but she doesn’t want to go, which after much yelling the spirit gives up and sends Suzu back. Apparently 3/4 of the episode was an dream as the crew is still at the river bank that were at in the beginning of the episode. We find out that the villa is in ruins and through the dream/flashback Suzu had while the spirit had her, learn that after the wife died the husband hung himself right after. So what is the whole point of the filler episode, and what does Suzu get out of this? Suzu learns how to play the leaf whistle thanks to the dead wife, and gets some praise from Haruka. =P

Short summary right? I like Suzu’s character and all, but Tactics 15 was one weird filler episode. Maybe because it didn’t really deal with Kantarou or Haruka defeating “an monster-of-the-week” but I just didn’t like this one that much. I really can’t explain why, but yea. I will note, howerver, that it was interesting that this and the previous episode dealt with the supporting cast’s daily lives and how even they have to deal with demons every now and then. I can’t really think of anything else favorable to say, so I’ll leave off with the hope that the Main Villians show up again and get the ball rolling back to some actual good plot development.

Surprisedly, instead of continuing on with the Main Villian Arc the staff decides to go with two filler episodes. Not that I don’t mind some Reiko and Suzu goodness, but I think they should have gone with the villians arc instead of going back to these episodic “case of the week” stuff. I hope this will not ruin the “main” arc later on cause of these two filler episodes…. but oh well. Tactics 14 deals with the not-so daily life of Reiko and her struggles as an female editor.

The general feel of the episode is that of everyday modern life, with the same problems and like females deal with now… except with no demons of course Reiko getting drunk after another hard day’s work or dealing with sexual harassment from an drunken male writer are situations any female has to go through (me thinks, since I’m an male), so it was nice to see some “modern day problems” in the past. Props by the way, goes to Haruka when he has to deal with a drunk Reiko and take her home… Drunk Reiko r0xs!

Anyway, the “meat” of the story comes in the form of a demon that possesses Reiko while she was reading through various old books in her publisher’s basement storage. First we think it’s “bad” as the sexual harassment writer gets his just desserts when wanting to go with Reiko to some spa for “research.” Later on, when Kantarou and the crew investigate, we find out the spirit actually likes Reiko and transports her into the various books so she can thoroughly enjoy reading them. In a sense, the demon/spirit becomes Reiko’s guardian spirit as it watches over her making sure nothing totally bad happens (i.e. explains why it did what it did to the writer, since he’ll never truly write any good books). So Kantarou and Haruka leave the spirit alone and go on their merry way…. including Kantarou hauls arse to finish the manuscript that was due two days ago!

One more important, if slight note, is the mentioning of demons and humans co-existing. The topic has been brought up in the past and is once again, as when Haruka runs into Sugino and later on, talking with Youko. Interesting to note that Sugino doesn’t think humans and demons will ever truly be together while Youko (and Haruka, from what it seems) think the opposite. Also interesting, if the translations were right, about how the demons might be(come) human.. I think? Not exactly sure what that could mean but thought worth pointing out.

Overall not a bad filler episode as it does hint on the whole “humans and demons” thing here and there, but I could have done without this one. Not that I don’t like a drunk Reiko or anything, but I was seriously hoping for more Vine Villain Lady and Swordman Dude from the previous two or so episodes ago. Hopefully after the Suzu filler episode, Tactics will get back on track and resume the actual plotline it was slowly creating.

In my great laziness, I’m not really going to summarized this episode but do check Kawaii Tensai’s review on Tactics 12 & 13 instead. Almost like the majority of the anime bloggers, she does an better job than I usually do, so it worth an look or two. Instead of the summary, I’ll just give my quick commentary as per the semi-norm.

More vines, shipwreck, soldiers getting n00bed, yaoi hints, Haruka’s past foreshadowing, and the villians have a third partner in crime pretty much sums the episode up nicely. ‘Tis not bad as the “main” villians continue to wreck havor against Kantarou and the crew, eventually leading to Haruka’s defeat. Moving, if not yaoi intended, scene where Kantarou says he’ll always protect Haruka… ain’t that sweet? Add in the way they were drew (yes, animation still messed up) and we have the making of Kannazuki no Miko the male version in the works.

Also have to note that honorable mentions goes to Youko and Suzu for the comedy relief in the episode. The whole bathroom scene was just funny as hell, plus gave new meaning to the use of rope. hehehe.