This show is just great! It is very funny and entertaining. When I watch one small scene, I watied for more later on and bought the box set of this show, and it quickly became a favourite of mine. The animation was very fascinating and I really liked the characters, especially Youko. There is no show like it, it made me inspired from start to finish. It should have gone on for longer since it was such a great anime. Some people haven't seen this show, but it should be more known, it's pretty underrated from what I can see. It would be cool if they brought this show back, it is one of the best anime I've ever seen.
2 Reviews
Tactics... Really not all that.
lucasmunnich18 December 2011
Warning: Spoilers
Where to start with this anime? That is the real question. I think I'll go through the good and bad of each topic, starting with the plot as thats what I have the most problems with.
PLOT: The "GOOD": Unsure with this one. It wasn't anything special - Kantarou (protagonist) is a young exorcist with the ability to see demons. He goes around helping people out with their problems by getting rid of their ghosts and helping those who are possessed and so on. He has the ability to "name" a demon (call it by its real name) and assume command over it. One day he finds the shrine (/prison) of a very powerful demon known as "The Demon Eating Goblin". Again, he takes control over the demon and uses him to help on his daily demon expelling errands. Eventually we find that other demons become interested in the newly arisen demon eater, and want to awaken his old powers... etc etc... several small fights ensue... good guys win... + mediocre, unsatisfying ending to finish it all off. SO. Nothing too special of unique in regards to plot.
The "BAD": Consistency - The flow of the plot line is all over the place. For the first half of the series you basically get a typical scooby-doo like scenario; good guys turn up at house, victim wants help, good guys find what is causing the problem and get rid of it. Towards the end of the first half of the series, we get the interesting plot development of some powerful demons appearing and trying to do things to the goblin-eater (named Haruka). Put in your next DVD disc and the cool demons are gone, we are back to scooby-doo and I swear the entire cast have forgotten everything that happened. We barely see these antagonists again until the series is nearly over where a quick attempt at wrapping everything up is made.
The "FIGHTS" - HAHA. Fights. Kantarou obviously starts the majority of the fights but he isn't really a fighter. The fights are all pretty much the same; Kantarou will try and use some of those typical magical scrolls you see in every anime to weaken a demon... I think he fails EVERY time. Then he will realize this is failing and use his magical prayer beads whilst chanting the most ridiculous chant I have ever heard. The cut-scene for said prayer beads, is exactly the same every time and if you can watch it without cringing then your idea of cool is quite flawed. I believe the chant works...once? Maybe twice? When it doesn't, the demon eater comes along, shoots some red lightning at the demon of the episode and everyone is happy. Did i mention that shooting red lightning is the demon eater's only attack?... ONLY attack.
The CHARACTERS - Kantarou: I found it hard to like Kantarou. His voice is annoying in both the dubs and his battle chanting is also cringe-worthy in both. What really annoyed me was the fact that the anime likes to make a point of telling us his specialty is be-friending demons BUT doesn't do much to prove this. In fact, back at his house he has a female fox demon working for him and despite her supposedly being his friend, I remember an episode or two in which the only way of describing how he behaved towards her was "asshole". It really put me off liking him (especially as the fox demon was so likable). - Haruka (Demon Eater): Although I understood the need for demons to look like humans whilst in the presence of other humans, I felt the lack of Haruka showing viewers his real form was a bit of a cop-out. Also for a demon eater, he doesn't do much eating. AND oh my god, there are several moments between Haruka and Kantarou that are a bit... questionable... if you get my drift. It was all very strange and unnecessary.
Woop! Random Depression: Suzu, a young, likable, rich girl that be-friends the group of main characters is one of the more appealing people in the anime. I found she provides some needed insults towards Kantarou; which I was happy about. She is sweet as sweet can be and you grow accustomed to having her around. However, completely out of the blue and in no further development to any plot line, they kill her off! She just dies of illness in one of the episodes and it's BLOODY depressing. I'm all for sad films and anime (try Wolf's Rain) but it just felt too random and unnecessary.
The Ending: From what I remember, Haruka gets angry at Kantarou because he finds out Kantarou kept things hidden from him (it was his ancestors that imprisoned Haruka in the first place). Haruka chooses to leave the main characters and go off on his own journey. The end. Really not worth all the other episode viewing time to be honest.
Other: * The music is alright although nothing special. If you want epic anime music check out anything with music by Yoko Kanno. * Muu-Chan: a semi-main character. Is a small green colored demon that provides a couple of laughs throughout the series. One of the only good things about the anime in my opinion. * Lore: I read up about Tactics and it turns out many of the demons in it are originally from traditional Japanese folklore which might give the series some merit.
Overall: I really can't recommend this series to anyone as there are so many better ones out there even with similar themes. If you want ghosts go for "Ghost Hunt". If you want demons and fighting go for "Bleach" or "Inuyasha". If you just want pure all-round epicness go for "Cowboy Bebop", "Trigun" or "Wolf's Rain".
PLOT: The "GOOD": Unsure with this one. It wasn't anything special - Kantarou (protagonist) is a young exorcist with the ability to see demons. He goes around helping people out with their problems by getting rid of their ghosts and helping those who are possessed and so on. He has the ability to "name" a demon (call it by its real name) and assume command over it. One day he finds the shrine (/prison) of a very powerful demon known as "The Demon Eating Goblin". Again, he takes control over the demon and uses him to help on his daily demon expelling errands. Eventually we find that other demons become interested in the newly arisen demon eater, and want to awaken his old powers... etc etc... several small fights ensue... good guys win... + mediocre, unsatisfying ending to finish it all off. SO. Nothing too special of unique in regards to plot.
The "BAD": Consistency - The flow of the plot line is all over the place. For the first half of the series you basically get a typical scooby-doo like scenario; good guys turn up at house, victim wants help, good guys find what is causing the problem and get rid of it. Towards the end of the first half of the series, we get the interesting plot development of some powerful demons appearing and trying to do things to the goblin-eater (named Haruka). Put in your next DVD disc and the cool demons are gone, we are back to scooby-doo and I swear the entire cast have forgotten everything that happened. We barely see these antagonists again until the series is nearly over where a quick attempt at wrapping everything up is made.
The "FIGHTS" - HAHA. Fights. Kantarou obviously starts the majority of the fights but he isn't really a fighter. The fights are all pretty much the same; Kantarou will try and use some of those typical magical scrolls you see in every anime to weaken a demon... I think he fails EVERY time. Then he will realize this is failing and use his magical prayer beads whilst chanting the most ridiculous chant I have ever heard. The cut-scene for said prayer beads, is exactly the same every time and if you can watch it without cringing then your idea of cool is quite flawed. I believe the chant works...once? Maybe twice? When it doesn't, the demon eater comes along, shoots some red lightning at the demon of the episode and everyone is happy. Did i mention that shooting red lightning is the demon eater's only attack?... ONLY attack.
The CHARACTERS - Kantarou: I found it hard to like Kantarou. His voice is annoying in both the dubs and his battle chanting is also cringe-worthy in both. What really annoyed me was the fact that the anime likes to make a point of telling us his specialty is be-friending demons BUT doesn't do much to prove this. In fact, back at his house he has a female fox demon working for him and despite her supposedly being his friend, I remember an episode or two in which the only way of describing how he behaved towards her was "asshole". It really put me off liking him (especially as the fox demon was so likable). - Haruka (Demon Eater): Although I understood the need for demons to look like humans whilst in the presence of other humans, I felt the lack of Haruka showing viewers his real form was a bit of a cop-out. Also for a demon eater, he doesn't do much eating. AND oh my god, there are several moments between Haruka and Kantarou that are a bit... questionable... if you get my drift. It was all very strange and unnecessary.
Woop! Random Depression: Suzu, a young, likable, rich girl that be-friends the group of main characters is one of the more appealing people in the anime. I found she provides some needed insults towards Kantarou; which I was happy about. She is sweet as sweet can be and you grow accustomed to having her around. However, completely out of the blue and in no further development to any plot line, they kill her off! She just dies of illness in one of the episodes and it's BLOODY depressing. I'm all for sad films and anime (try Wolf's Rain) but it just felt too random and unnecessary.
The Ending: From what I remember, Haruka gets angry at Kantarou because he finds out Kantarou kept things hidden from him (it was his ancestors that imprisoned Haruka in the first place). Haruka chooses to leave the main characters and go off on his own journey. The end. Really not worth all the other episode viewing time to be honest.
Other: * The music is alright although nothing special. If you want epic anime music check out anything with music by Yoko Kanno. * Muu-Chan: a semi-main character. Is a small green colored demon that provides a couple of laughs throughout the series. One of the only good things about the anime in my opinion. * Lore: I read up about Tactics and it turns out many of the demons in it are originally from traditional Japanese folklore which might give the series some merit.
Overall: I really can't recommend this series to anyone as there are so many better ones out there even with similar themes. If you want ghosts go for "Ghost Hunt". If you want demons and fighting go for "Bleach" or "Inuyasha". If you just want pure all-round epicness go for "Cowboy Bebop", "Trigun" or "Wolf's Rain".
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
