Ok, please raise your hand if you like the following. Panties? Check. Girls with guns? Check. Secret agents? Check. Frequent camera shots of bare asses? Check.

It's a good thing if you enjoy all of those things, because Najica Blitz Tacticsis a series that is wholly comprised of every one of these components. This futuristic espionage thriller spends as much time gratuitously showcasing its nearly entirely female cast as it does letting the bullets fly. Yes, this is an interesting series that may not be for everyone, but proves itself to be highly entertaining.

The series takes place in a not too distant future where the oceans have enveloped a good portion of the Earth, thanks to a severe series of quakes. Many locations lay beneath sea level now, but thankfully the show isn't as bonkers as the Waterworld concept was and it's played off as more of a background story. The globe is also drowning in political corruption, underworld power, and a race of androids known as Humaritt. In order to maintain harmony in the world, a secret organization named CRI collects information and uses special agents to help keep the balance. Najica Hiiragi just happens to be one of the star operatives on the field and is the main character of the show.

By day, Najica works for CRI in their public cosmetic company alter ego, where she is developing a line of perfume. By night, however, she pulls out the big guns whenever she is assigned to a mission and turns into super secret agent woman. Instead of self destructing letters, CRI doles out the orders via red roses, which not only keeps in step with their perfume angle, but also with the female exploitation of the show.

At first I was flabbergasted while watching the show. I had heard about there being a lot of panty shots and the like, but I honestly didn't think they would be used to the extent that they actually are. Every single scene, in some form or another, has a shot of women's panties. Camera angles are placed slightly askew so they can see up a skirt and characters let their crotches be on public display thanks to ridiculously short skirts. In fact, I don't recall seeing a single woman wearing pants while watching the show, but I digress.

Najica, sporting white cotton panties, gets assigned a mission in the first episode whose outcome will change her fate. Her objectives are cryptic at best and all she knows is that she has to recover someone or something from an island mansion. To her dismay though, the place is crawling with guards. Well, if you count French maids sporting assault rifles guards, that is. The panties and bullets start to fly as she makes her way to a hidden room where a woman is about to have her way with a young girl. After subduing her, Najica brings the girl back to her headquarters only to find out that the pink haired lass is going to become her partner.

The girl that she rescued isn't any ordinary human; she's a Humaritt android and also happens to be a highly trained warrior. Her codename is ZZZ (which is imprinted onto her ass), but we come to know her as Lila. Najica is reluctant at first to accept this new waif as a partner, though after seeing some of her skills she quickly realizes her potential. First things first though, Lila needs to work on her personality. Since she's not human, she can't really emulate human emotion and reaction very well. This leads to the old cliché of Najica trying to teach her how to be more human, express emotion, blah, blah, blah.

In between all of the human teaching of Lila, the two get assigned to various missions and the action really picks up. Their first job together is to prevent a mob assassination of a judge's daughter. The tension picks up as the zero hour approaches and the two find the trail of the suspected sniper. Things aren't always what they seem though and a twist near the end proves that they may have made a near fatal mistake. After this episode the show degenerates into the Humaritt of the week syndrome and it seems that the antagonist to every mission is an android with strange powers.

No real plot surfaces for the rest of the series and the show slips into singular episodes, with a new mission in every one. There characters get developed fairly well, especially Lila, but the show just doesn't feel like it has any real direction or purpose. That being said, Najica Blitz Tacticsis still highly entertaining and a worthy distraction if you're into Bond type adventures and girls with guns. You also need to have a real appreciation for panty shots, because like I said, there is one worked into every single scene whenever possible.

One thing about the show that particularly grabbed me (aside from the panties that is) was the musical direction. Every episode has a subdued saxophone or piano track that gives it an old school espionage and intrigue feel. I was partially reminded how Cowboy Bebop implemented interesting music to set the tone, and felt that this show followed the same trend.

Najica Blitz Tacticsis presented with its original full frame broadcast aspect ratio of 1.33:1. Despite a few occurrences of aliasing and grain here and there, the show looks absolutely gorgeous. Colors pop from the screen and there is a great deal of contrast between lights and darks. The animation is very fluid and fast paced, plus the show has a very slick look about it, thanks to the design. With a great emphasis on weaponry (and panties) there is a lot of detail in the construction of the guns (and panties).

Naturally there are two separate audio tracks available for this release as is standard with most anime. For my primary viewing of the show I watched it with the 2.0 Japanese track with optional English subtitles. I was very pleased with the sound quality and didn't notice any flaws with the presentation. There is also an English 5.1 track available that provides a good channel mix that is free of distortion or flaw. The quality for both selections is very good; though I would have appreciated it if more directionality was implemented than was actually done. There is a done of action in this show and it's represented well, but I just feel it could have been done so much better.

Nada, zip, zilch. Apart from some ADV previews on the first disc there is nothing present on this set as far as bonus material is concerned. It's fairly disappointing because on the individual releases for this series, it was spread out over the same amount of discs and offered character sketches and commentaries.

In order to appreciate this show you have to be really into the secret agent thing, exploitation of female undergarments and tons of action. Fortunately, I appreciate all of those things, though for my personal taste the panty shots are just a smidge over done. The only problems that this show encounters is that each episode is a stand alone mission, so the series doesn't feel as fluid as it should. It's still highly entertaining though with a lot of funny bits and some great character development.

The video and audio quality is very good for Najica Blitz Tactics and I truly appreciate these thinpak collections from ADV. My only gripe is the lack of bonus material that was available on the individual release of the series. Even so, this is still a good bargain for a good show. Recommended

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