I love the message of Tactics Advance and it's the story that solidifies my love of this game and my love for Matsuno as a writer and director.

Madonna: While I agree Marche faces some terrible issues in his game, I probably wouldn't place it on the same scale as Ramza who ultimately loses everything for the sake of his sense of justice and his sister, whereas Marche actually walks away with his friends and his own life better than it was before. Ramza himself is technically a child as well when he is recruited into military services and unlike Marche, Ramza didn't have Judges and magic laws protecting his life. Not to mention Marche and his friends actually enjoy the swashbuckling adventure of being in a clan brings, so I don't feel the idea of adults exploiting/bullying kids is really an issue for TA.

With that said, I really like how the story explores the idea of escapism and I feel it's just made more heartwrenching by having the cast as young kids, had Marche and crew been older teenagers, I feel the message would have been weakened, because it's far more alarming to have people who are still just starting out life in the real world, wanting to escape it in favor of a fantasy world. I feel it says a lot about the state of the real world.