Najica Hiiragi is a world-leading designer of perfumes for CRI Cosmetics company. She is the epitome of high fashion in her designer clothes. She enjoys all the finer things life has to offer, but that is just part of her cover. She is also one of the worlds foremost spies. Think James Bond but instead of a tuxedo, short skirts and Manolo Blahniks.
The series takes a twist when Najica rescues a girl who subsequently becomes her partner. Lila, Najica's ditsy new partner, is not human. It turns out she is an android called a Humaritt. They are similar in some ways to the replicants in the film Blade Runner. Thereafter, Najica and Lila circle the globe in their efforts to protect the world from nefarious criminals and terrorists. All the while making sure that panties are shown whenever possible.
Story & Characters
What do you get when you mix James Bond with "female", jazzy music, flashy action, and androids then top it
all off with a generous (generous doesn't even begin to describe it) helping of... PANTIES?
Glorious missions more lovely than a bullet and more dangerous than love itself; these make up Najica Blitz Tactics!
I was first attracted to this series because I heard everywhere, and even read on the collectors box itself, that Najica
was a mix of Noir and Cowboy Bebop. Well, those two are in my Top 5 Favorite Anime Ever list, so it was only natural
that I pick it up, right? (Technically I saw it fansubbed first, but let's not split hairs) I can only say that it
borrows themes from those anime. Specifically, female beauties with guns, from Noir, and jazzy music from Cowboy Bebop.
The thing is, Najica doesn't do them as good as the respective series. So why did I put down the $35 for the
thin-pak? Simple. Najica is pure fun.
Najica Hiiragi is a perfumer by day and a secret agent by night. She's pretty good at what she does too. Her
perfume line(s) (does she have more than one?) are incredibly popular, and everyone looks up to/wants to go out with
her. As an agent working for CRI, she is just as accomplished. CRI turns to her when there's a mission that seems
impossible, and she completes it with style. But things get complicated quick.
This is a 12 episode series, so there isn't much wiggle room for development. Good thing Najica doesn't dwell
on plot too much. Each episode is like a heavily condensed spy movie; just with girls, and tons of panty shots. Najica
gets a mission, she carries it out and completes it. On to the next episode. The episodes mesh together with the only
plot connection being Humaritts.
Humaritts are highly advanced androids. In the first episode, Najica is tasked with rescuing a Humaritt named Lila from
a, bear with me, depraved socialite and her army of machine-gun wielding maids (I still can't figure out where they
were hiding the guns...). After rescuing Lila, she is assigned to Najica as a "partner". This adds a lot of
fun since Lila is an incredibly agile/strong/advanced android that doesn't know the first thing about anything.
Najica does her best to "teach" Lila how to act and be her own person. It's charming watching Lila learn
about everything, and make mistakes along the way. But where she lacks in cognitive abilities, she more than makes it up
with loyalty and combat skills.
The partners are sent a mission to retrieve another Humaritt every episode. And this is where Najica shines. From
stopping a mob boss assassination, to uncovering a pop idol hypnosis scam, to posing as jet fighter "models"
to recover a stolen jet, Najica has an individual style in spades. There are a lot of flashy fight scenes; the kind
where there are 20 enemies firing submachine guns at the heroines, and missing, while the heroines effortlessly take
them all out. Add in the battles with Lila against the Humaritts they're trying to catch, and you get great action.
Overall the series is just plain fun to watch. Don't watch this expecting depth, watch it to be entertained.
Rating: 6
Art
Now on to the real star of the show: panties. I've refrained from talking about this too much because I don't
quite know which category to put it in. There's one thing that sets Najica apart from pretty much every other anime
series. In nearly every shot, you see panties. The majority of the cast of Najica is female, and the creators spared no
expense in showing you their undies. The camera hangs low during most of the series, just below the skirt-line,
providing a clear view of the females' panties. And with most characters fainting/falling/dying/jumping/kicking in
ways that expose their underwear, this goes way beyond fan-service. It's gratuitous to say the least. I've
never seen a show that has a shot with the camera going in-between the main character's legs as she walks. If there
is a star to this show, its the white cotton panties that all the female characters wear. Every now and then Najica and
Lila will wear a bathing suit on a mission (I guess for variety...) but the majority of the female cast wears short
skirts and white panties. Some might find this level of "exposure" unnecessary, but its just part of this
series' stylization. I'm just amazed at how many times/many ways the creators got a panty shot into the
series.
Everything is animated well. The animation is mostly fluid, and the characters are well designed and fit the series. The
action is choreographed nicely; from the gunfights to the battles against the Humaritts. This is a fast paced anime, and
the backgrounds and animation portray it well. There are a few "speed lines" shots, but they're done
well, so it isn't really noticeable. I liked the action because it reminded me of the old James Bond movies;
completely unrealistic, almost contrived, but extremely entertaining.
Rating: 7
Sound
Ask someone besides Yoko Kanno to make music for Cowboy Bebop and you get the soundtrack for Najica. It tries hard, but
comes off a little cheesy. It doesn't hurt the series though, since the whole series is more flash than substance,
more entertainment than art. In the opening theme, there's lots of horn, and its reminiscent of those action movies
from the 70's where the guy gets out of his convertible, takes off his sunglasses and smiles at the camera just in
time for the freeze frame. Cheesy? Yes. But it just adds to the entertainment. The rest of the music for the series has
the same feel as the opening song, and it mostly fits although there are a few times when "jazzy" just
didn't seem like the right choice.
The sound effects in Najica are straight out of an old action movie. The guns and explosions sound like a summer
b-movie; loud and over the top. Yet, again this fits the feel of the series. The overall quality of the effects seems to
fluctuate. The action has all the bells and whistles, but I noticed a few calmer moments with some missing ambient noise
or a background sound like footsteps, or cloth rustling. It doesn't really take away from the series, but it
could've added something if they included it. Nothing noteworthy, but nothing missing that would cripple the
show.
The English and Japanese voice actresses/actors do a good job. None stand out, but they're all pretty spot on with
what little development they were given in this series.
Overall this is just like the rest of the series, flashy and over the top, a little unrealistic, but fitting.
Rating: 6
Presentation
Again, what made me buy Najica was its entertainment value. A bunch of over-the-top action with cute comedy, a few
touching moments, and hundreds of panty shots makes this a fun anime to just sit back and watch. There's no deep
plot to keep up with, nor an underlying (or overly apparent) philosophical message for you to ponder. Its just two
beautiful ladies going on action packed spy missions while flashing their panties and the panties of their enemies. In
this regard, Najica shines and it delivers a fun time from beginning to end. Everything in the series blends together
well, Some might say the gratuitous up skirt/crotch shots makes this less credible or raunchy, but I think in the
context of this series its just another part of Najica's entertainment value (just try to keep count of all the
panties, its like a game). When you combine the music and animation style with the episode content, it creates an
enjoyable, purely fun experience that I can watch when I just want to see something fun. And I think that's exactly
the audience the creators were going for.
If you absolutely HAVE to have a well written plot, and deep or meaningful messages in your anime, then this isn't
the series for you. But if you want to just sit back and be entertained sometimes, then give Najica a try. Some would
say that ladies wouldn't appreciate the series, but the females that I've watched this series with thought
mostly the same as I did. If nothing more they had a good laugh at the obvious panty fetish the creators satisfied in
this series.
As far as a rating, it was given TVMA. There's the action; standard action series fare, although Najica
doesn't kill unless she absolutely has to, so it's not overly violent. There are a few scenes where Lila is
topless or naked, but remember she's not human, and she has no concept of modesty so it fits with her character
that things like that happen every now and then. Still, this series is not for little kids.
An extraordinary scent and the fragrance of destiny; Najica Hiiragi special agent for a secret organization receives her
mission assignments along with a single rose. Glorious missions more lovely than a bullet and more dangerous than love
itself; these make up Najica Blitz Tactics!
Rating: 8
Final Verdict
6.8333 (above average)
Reviewed by NovaProspekt, Feb 22, 2006