Fresh off the shelves, comes Tactics Volume 1 that follows Kantaro Ichinomiya, a young man living in the Taisho times who has the uncanny ability to see the “other world” such as demons and goblins. Although similar to some other tales, Kantaro uses his unique gift to write books and attempts to befriend these legendary creatures plus a little bit of exorcism on the way.

Best of all, the story is steeped in Japanese mythology which makes this story quite unique to Western readers. The stories revolve around Kantaro investigating various sightings of these creatures, however the first story is probably the most momentous as he befriends Haruka, a demon goblin.  

However as the story progresses, the characters become more open and interesting and as this is a light hearted Manga, the humour is quite entertaining to say the least. The writing has been translated well to English and Higashiyama has created a unique setting for these characters and the artwork by Kinoshita is adorable to say the least.

Even though the artwork is that clichéd Manga style, it suits the light hearted story perfectly and will definitely put a smile on your face, especially the banter between the characters only adds to the experience. The power Haruka has some great lines!

At the end of the day, Tactics Volume 1 is a good read and it's great that this title does not try to set itself in the West or some other mythical renaissance period but rather with good old fashioned story telling and Japanese mythology to boot, Tactics is ideal for those looking for some light hearted entertainment.