[KissBlade]

I'd have to chime on that sentiment. Jomon has limited pretender choices (the main standouts being the Wyrm, the cyclops and the Ghost King which are standard) No Prince of Death! =(
Magic isn't as great as the manual claims either. I've pretty much highlighted what archae terms the "RNG" weakness of nonsacred mages. And the fact that they're only move 1 really is fail.
SC chassis? Well one can argue that Dai Oni's are safer than Tartarians in that they require no GoR's, have handy paths (nothing like cyclop tarts though! =( )and no shattered souls. The extra cost makes it suspect if they're worth as much as tarts but I wouldn't say it really puts them over the top since Jomon has no innate death magic access. (And since you need your pretender to do some heavy lifting, him being limited to site searching really kicks you in the pants.)