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Reviewed by Lori Henderson When Kantarou helps a young couple exorcise an evil spirit from their son, he learns a stunning secret about the boy. Later, sensing that Haruka is feeling down, Kantarou offers to accompany the demon-eating tengu on a trip. But their journey to a mountain resort leads instead to a nearby village where children have been disappearing! As an over arching plot has not been introduced yet, tactics continues it’s collection of stand alone stories, but not without reason. As most of the main characters were introduced in the first volume, more time is devoted in this one to developing Kantarou and Haruka, and their relationship. Haruka is the more troubled of the two. Still adjusting to his new freedom, it’s not the new world he has come into that bothers him. He has great reservations about himself, and his abilities. He has yet to eat a demon, as his name suggests, and is finding that he doesn’t want to eat one. But he really seems shaken after encountering Sugino, a mountain god that knew him from before he was sealed, and he realizes he can’t remember anything from that time. Kantarou seem oblivious to Haruka’s feelings, as he treats the tengu as more of a friend than something to be feared. He shows Haruka around his home town, and tells Haruka again and again how he has faith in him. But as is shown at the end, even Kantarou has his fears for Haruka. At its heart though, this series is still a comedy. There are plenty of light moments, especially between Kantarou, Haruka and Youko. Haruka is really starting to fit in with this new family, and commiserates a lot with Youko over Kantarou being their master. The addition of Sugino-sama, the mountain god and his “wife” Muu-chan, a small expressionless creature, also add to the humor. Sugino hates humans, but Muu seems to have taken a liking to Kantarou, making Sugino REALLY hate him. So, of course they decide to stay at Kantarou’s, under the pretense of wanting to watch over Haruka. The chapters build nicely on each other, and the art is beautiful and clean. Kinoshita-sensei and Higashiyama-sensei make a great team, making this a fantastic read. The balance between the comedy and more serious moments are perfect, with neither seeming out of place. Great characters and interesting situations make this a title to be read. |
31 October 2007 30 October 2007 29 October 2007
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