Studio DEEN is no new comer when it comes to producing anime. The list of shows that they have had some part in is daunting and their latest creation proves that there is no end in sight. Tactics was originally a manga by Sakura Kinoshita and Kazuko Higashiyama the concept has been fully realized in the animated sense. The show ran for 25 episodes and ended last year in Japan but the DVDs have just started arriving here in America. Published by Manga the introductory volume features the first five episodes of this bizarre yet interesting series.

The last "exorcism" anime I sat down to watch was Ghost Talker's Daydream and to be honest it left a bad taste in my mouth. Fortunately the Approach for Tactics is much different, though the fact that the characters have more room to develop (Daydream was only four episodes long) definitely helps things.

The show focuses on a young boy named Kantaro who specializes in exorcizing demons of all shapes and sizes. He's made something of a career and hobby out of doing just that even though he writes fantasy novels on the side. Ever since he was young he has just always had the gift of dealing with the supernatural though a scar on his chest pains him every time he gets too close to a powerful one. Penniless and on a quest to find a certain "demon-eating goblin" Kantaro takes on any job that will get him some cash and further his goals.

Joining Kantaro is a fox demon named Yoko who kind of acts like his servant. Since her master gave her a name she's bound to him and has to do whatever he tells her to do. It's kind of convenient when the whole cooking and cleaning thing comes into the picture but she can be kind of pushy sometimes. In the first episode Kantaro also fulfills his life's ambition and breaks the seal on the demon-eating goblin. By naming him Haruka he locks the tengu into his servitude as well even though he's really just out looking for a friend.

Together the three team up and go through the motions of living their lives. The show plays lightly with the demon's relationship with Kantaro but nothing really evolves into anything during these five episodes. Well, I shouldn't say nothing. Haruka has issues with the fact that since Kantaro is now his master he isn't allowed to kill demons. Being a mean powerful demon-eater is all well and good but if you can't use your powers for what they were meant to be used for, what's the point?

The episodes here are stand alone stories and really boil down to the age-old monster of the week formula that so many shows have utilized before. There is an episode that involves an ice demon who has fallen in love with a young girl and gets jealous of another love. Another adventure features a demon living on top of a mountain who villagers refer to as a God. There's even an episode that features a possessed geisha in the red light district. Memoirs of a Geisha it's not.

Probably my favorite episode from this first disc involved a shadow demon who was using a familiar to take photographs of beautiful women. The victims of the picture would begin to have portions of their body disappear and get swallowed up by the photograph. This particular story showed a good deal of development for Kantaro's character and Haruka's as well. Yoko proved once again that she's the comic mischief of the show. The last episode on the disc is a twisted story about a doll maker and a particular creation that gets possessed by a demon.

Tactics is a very interesting show and something that I'm going to keep my eye on as it develops. The premise is cool even if the monster of the week thing has been proven to kill some shows. I guess we'll see what future volumes hold for this unique cast of characters and concept.

The best way to describe the visual presentation for Tactics is "absolutely stunning." From the 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer to the beautiful image quality, this is a show that defines anime as a work of art. The animation is stunning, the artwork is breathtaking and the backgrounds resemble Japanese watercolor paintings. It helps that there is virtually nothing to complain about with this digital transfer either. The picture is sharp and there is very little aliasing to get in the way and muck things up.

Beating the par set by most other anime releases Tactics offers a whopping four audio selections before you start watching. Two of them are 2.0 tracks for English and Japanese. The other two are 5.1 surround tracks. The quality for both types is remarkably good though the 5.1 is the winner here. Both the English and Japanese language tracks offer roughly the same experience from a technical standpoint. The stereo track offers the limited diversity that you'd expect but the surround option doesn't seem to hit all of the points that it should. Don't get me wrong I wouldn't call it bad by any stretch of the imagination; I guess I was just hoping for more.

On the supplemental side of things the first volume of Tactics offers textless opening and closing animation as well as a Japanese TV commercial and merchandise ads. Some "Player Cards" are featured in the extras menu as well though all they are is basically a profile with a quite and the episode that they first appeared in. An image gallery is present with some clips from the show and on the meatier side of things there is a ten minute collection of interviews with the Japanese voice actors.

I have to admit that going in I knew very little about Tactics. I haven't read the manga and quite honestly I didn't know what to expect. Fortunately I was completely blown away by the show and absolutely loved every minute of it. The air of drama, mystery, and fantasy comes together to form a unique series with a creative atmosphere. I'm not too wild about the whole monster of the week set up but maybe that will change with future episodes. Keep an eye out for this one; it could be a sleeper hit.

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