Tactics, Volume 5

A fun series with interesting characters & ongoing plots & mystery!The tokyopop translations are good- ignore bad reviews talking about a different book(ADV)!!!

This ongoing manga series (currently at 7 volumes) has a historical (Taisho-period) Japanese setting. Humor, magic, and mild drama ensue in this loveable series. The Tokyopop translation is quite good, with helpful notes and everything, in stark contrast to ADV's attempt. The main character, Kantarou, is a clever and mischevious writer and folklorist who can see youkai and other magical creatures. Haruka is an extremely powerful (and handsome) tengu who has been named by Kantarou, and is therefore required to obey him. The art style is quite lovely here, and the characters are really fun. There is also an associated anime series.

Tactics chronicles the ghost-busting adventures of Kantarou and his goblin friends. Volume 1 offers 3 seperate stories, in which we're introduced to all the major characters: the sly, youthful-looking Kantarou, Youko--the foxy maid, and Haruka, an extremely powerful, handsome, and elegant "goblin-eater". I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this manga. There's a cheerfulness and cuteness about the art and characters that is extremely engaging. The target audience is probably 10-16 year-olds; I am past this age bracket, being a university senior, but that didn't stop me from liking the series. Fans of the Tactics anime should definitely check out the original manga. Okay, now for the bad. There is something seriously screwed up about ADV's editing: text-over-images have not been edited at all, nor the sound effects. The result is rather messy: there will be one bubble in Japanese, and another bubble in English. I don't see the same things happening in my TokyoPop, Viz, or Darkhorse mangas, so I've got to wonder what ADV was thinking.