Tactics Volume 1

From the shelf of unread books.

Title: Tactics
Issue: Volume 1
Date: 2007
Publisher: Tokyopop
Writer: Sakura Kinoshita, Kazuko Higashiyama, Lianne Sentar
Artist: Sakura Kinoshita, Kazuko Higashiyama
Letterer: Star Print Brokers
Editor: Lillian Diaz-Przybyl

Kantarou is a folklore scholar who's not exactly making the big money off of his publications. Fortunately, he moonlights as an exorcist of sorts who deals with problems caused by youkai. These beings are usually invisible, but Kantarou has the ability to see them. To really get ahead in his business, though, he's been searching for Haruka, the legendary demon-eating tengu.

But once he finally gets Haruka on his side, it only adds lots more complications to Kantarou's life.

This series is episodic with something of a mystery-solving vibe. Each situation that Kantarou and Haruka encounter seems to break the rules of the supernatural as they understand them at first, and it's up to them to figure out what is really happening.

The dialogue flits all over the place, especially in the midst of the action, and the stories tend to rely on an epilogue-like bit toward the end to help the reader make sense of it all. The world does have good internal consistency and enough variety of supernatural beings and effects to keep things interesting, and the banter between the characters is fun in places.

Rating: 5.5/10