Line #78 Manga/Tactics


1	[[quoteright:225:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/13893.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:225:A DeadpanSnarker, a {{Tsundere}} {{Meido}}, and a BunnyEarsLawyer. Hence: your ''doom''.]]
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4	A {{shounen}} manga and anime series by Sakura Kinoshita and Kazuko Higashiyama, which was serialized from 2000-2013 in 15 volumes, and resumed serialization as a sort of sequel on Website/{{Pixiv}} as ''tactics 新説'' without a larger associated publisher in 2018. It follows a [[UsefulNotes/{{Onmyodo}} spiritually sensitive]] folklorist, his enthralled servant [[AsianFoxSpirit fox]] Youko, a bratty little girl, a demon eating tengu named 'Haruka', and their various escapades all throughout demon country, until the major GenreShift in the anime kicks in and everything gets a whole lot more depressing.
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6	The anime, produced by Creator/StudioDeen and airing from 2004 to 2005 for 24 episodes, made a major departure from the plot of manga roughly halfway through, which was not apparent to many English readers because the English license through Creator/TokyoPop only translated the first 8 volumes.
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8	Not to be confused with ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'', ''VideoGame/TacticsOgre'', or other strategy games.
9	----
10	!!Provides examples of:
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12	* AFoolAndHisNewMoneyAreSoonParted: Somehow, Kantarou's newly earned cash always runs out quickly...
13	* TheAgeless: The youkai never seem to age.
14	* AGodAmI: Kantarou gets like this when a ''religion'' is devoted to him. [[spoiler: Turns out he's just putting it on for show to make his BatmanGambit work.]]
15	* {{Ahoge}}: Kantarou has one, although it's curled and isn't very noticeable.
16	* AlbinosAreFreaks: Unfortunately, Kantarou never seems to have grown out of this as a kid, although people don't usually comment on his coloration as an adult.
17	%% * AnyoneCanDie: In the anime, at least.
18	* AxCrazy: Haruka has a hell of a temper when he feels another youkai disrespects him and gets rather unhinged.
19	%% * TheBarnum: Youko.
20	%% -->(talking about Haruka)"He's so...pretty. Maybe I can whore him out!"
21	* BadBoss: Kanatarou. To again quote Youko on this:
22	-->"Welcome to hell, Haruka-chan. Even a badass like you will ''crumble'' under that guy."
23	%% * BatmanGambit: Kantarou is quite good at these...
24	* BridalCarry: This seems to be Haruka's favorite way to carry Kantarou around when he's flying. Maybe it's just convenient. Maybe it's just for the HoYay.
25	* BerserkButton: Do ''not'' try to take Haruka's rice bowl.
26	* BitingTheHandkerchief: Well, biting his robes; Sugino does this when he sees Muu-chan clinging to Kantarou.
27	* BunnyEarsLawyer: Kantarou is a hell of an onmyouji and clearly quite a talented writer but he never quite appears that way because he's always off pursuing various whims.
28	%% * ButterflyOfDeathAndRebirth: Done with [[spoiler: Miyabi]]'s death.
29	* ChickMagnet: Haruka. There's even a hilarious sound effect played when another girl falls for him.
30	* ChildhoodFriends: We meet one of Kantarou's childhood friends working as a geisha...who proceeds to tell Haruka all about Kantarou's childhood obsession with breaking the seals on a certain demon-eating tengu he'd like to name Haruka.
31	* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Kantarou appears like an idiot, but it's usually a gambit to hide his clever plans.
32	* DarkIsNotEvil: Haruka might have black hair and black wings and dark eyes and a moody, grumpy personality...but he's not evil.
33	%% * DeadpanSnarker: Haruka.
34	* DeityOfHumanOrigin: Sugino was a human in his former life, a priest much like Kantarouk, who eventually ascended to being a tengu and the local god of the mountain.
35	* DudeWheresMyReward: Frequently, seeing as Kantarou is a grade-A money grubber.
36	* ElegantGothicLolita: Rosalie is always dressed like this. She's from Edwardian England, but it's still quite over-the-top.
37	%% * EmotionlessGirl: What Rosalie appears to be at first.
38	* {{Fangirl}}: Basically every female character on the show, save for [[OnlySaneMan Youko]] is like this towards Haruka.
39	* {{Fanservice}}: Haruka is just. Very pretty.
40	%%* FestivalEpisode
41	* FriendlessBackground: Kantarou had...basically no friends growing up. He talked too much to youkai no one else could see and got teased mercilessly for it--so he made friends with the youkai instead.
42	* GenderBlenderName: When Kantarou names Haruka, he specifically states that his name is to be spelled with the kanji for "spring flowers." (As Haruka can be [[AlternateCharacterReading alternately said]] as "being distant").
43	%%* GenreShift
44	%% * GlamourFailure: Despite being humanized by Kantarou, Haruka ''is'' a powerful youkai.
45	%%* IKnowYourTrueName
46	%% * ISeeDeadPeople
47	%% * ImTakingHerHomeWithMe: Kantarou can get like this with certain youkai...
48	* IncapableOfDisobeying: Youkai have an inborn trait that makes them obey the human who names them when that human calls their name.
49	%% * ItWasAllJustADream: [[spoiler: Episode 15.]]
50	%% * {{Jerkass}}: Hasumi.
51	%% * LargeHam: Kantarou, hoo boy Kantarou...
52	%%* LetsYouAndHimFight
53	* LightDarknessJuxtaposition: Haruka is a black tengu while Sugino is a white tengu. However, this contrast has nothing to do with their morality at all: they're friends, of a sort, and the difference only indicates that Haruka was a born tengu while Sugino was a human who became one. And their wing color.
54	* MagicalFloatingShawl: Sugino, a white tengu and the "god" of Sugino Village, wears a ''hagoromo'' that floats over his shoulders.
55	* MeaningfulName: Youko's entire name is Kantarou's way of making an IncrediblyLamePun: Youko is also the name of a type of fox demon, which is what Youko actually is, she is a youko named "Youko", a play on the female name Youko/Yoko.
56	* MeaningfulRename: Kantarou names the tengu he intends to keep around in order to hold them in his power (and to boost their own abilities in exchange). This is always meaningful to them, even if he tends to be a GiverOfLameNames.
57	%% * {{Meido}}: Youko, though her outfit is a rather odd combination of a traditional kimono and French maid apron.
58	* MysticalWhiteHair: Kantarou is a mystical albino with red eyes and white hair and powerful spiritual abilities.
59	%%* {{Obake}}
60	* OlderThanTheyLook: All of the youkai, obviously, but also Kantarou. At first glance, you think Kantarou must be eighteen-years-old, nineteen at most. But then you read volume three and learn that Hasumi is actually his ''under''classman, and one has to wonder just how old the money-grubbing priest really is...and he does mention his college degree.
61	--> '''Haruka''': Underclassman? How old does that make Kantarou?
62	--> '''Yakko''': ... ... ...
63	--> '''Haruka''': ... Why aren't you answering, Yakko?
64	* OnlySaneMan: Despite being the show's resident Barnum, Youko seems to be the one with the most amount of sense in her...
65	* PaperTalisman: Kantarou, as an onmyoji, uses these a lot to cast magic.
66	* ParentalObliviousness: Hasumi doesn't really seem to get that Rosalie can hold her own.
67	%% * PowersViaPossession: Rosalie.
68	%%* {{Plunder}}
69	%% * PsychoLesbian / {{Yandere}}: The {{Yukionna}} in the first episode (When she's possessed by an aradama, anyway.)
70	* PunnyName: Youko is a type of fox demon. She is a fox demon. Kantarou really seems to think he was being clever giving her the Japanese name "Youko" which is ''usually'' spelled differently.
71	* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: Haruka looks like a pretty young man around Kantarou's age, but he's an ageless tengu.
72	%% * RescueHug: Haruka once does this to [[HoYay Kantarou]].
73	* RunningGag: The odds are good that in any given drama CD, Raikou will be bathing in one scene, no matter how improbable.
74	%% * SecondLawOfMetafictionalThermodynamics: [[spoiler: Suzu, it would seem.]]
75	* ShirtlessScene: [[{{Fanservice}} Both Kantarou and Haruka get one in episode 3]]. Granted, it ''was'' the HotSpringsEpisode, so it's to be expected.
76	* SittingOnTheRoof: One of Haruka's preferred places to relax.
77	* SupernaturalSealing: Kantarou is a Shinto priest and exorcist with spiritual powers far exceeding that of most humans. He seals actual gods over the course of the series.
78	* TenMinuteRetirement: In the anime, Youko quits briefly and takes up work in a tea shop, but she's back to Kantarou by the end of the episode.
79	* {{Tsundere}}: Youko to Kantarou. [[BadBoss It's normally justified]]. She's quite fond of him, truly, but she spends most of her time yelling at him.
80	* WhiteAndRedAndEerieAllOver: Kantarou has white hair, red eyes, and was reviled as a freak growing up for being too weird.
81	* WingedHumanoid: Both Haruka and Sugino have humanoid forms with wings--although they're both capable of hiding the wings when they want to. Since tengu are based off ravens, they almost need them.
82	* {{Youkai}}: The series focuses on youkai and human relationships with them.

Context Manga / Tactics