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tactics #1
tactics, Volume 1
Kantarou, a folklore scholar living in the Taisho period, has various and sundry adventures. But Kantarou moonlights as an exorcist solving the problems of ghosts and demons, all with the help of Haruka, the legendary demon-eating tengu!
192 pages, Paperback
First published September 10, 2002
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
July 16, 2020
It was time for a re-read of this series. I have read and seen the show many years ago and I thought it was high time to start again. I have to say that I wasn't enjoying it so much. How did I forget what a little twerp Kan-chan is? At times he does some really amazing things, but how he treats Haruka and Youko, how lazy he is... and some other things, it just went against everything I like.
I do love Haruka (sooooo sexy), I love the Youkai and learning all about them, I do like that Kan-chan is trying to protect and rescue the youkai, I love the time period and the outfits, I love the setting. So there is plenty I like thankfully and that means I will continue with my reread! I am just not in the mood to write long reviews for this one.
I do love Haruka (sooooo sexy), I love the Youkai and learning all about them, I do like that Kan-chan is trying to protect and rescue the youkai, I love the time period and the outfits, I love the setting. So there is plenty I like thankfully and that means I will continue with my reread! I am just not in the mood to write long reviews for this one.
October 16, 2016
Kantaro Ichinomiya is a student of folklore who is particularly interested in goblins. His lifelong dream is to capture the tremendously powerful demon-eating goblin, who, we find, is a bishonen. This whole thing comes off as an odd mix of Gegege No Kitaro, Pokemon, and Puppet Master Sakon. The standard story template seems to involve Kantaro needing money, a mystery presents itself, some aspect of the Japanese supernatural proves to be a key component, Kantaro puts things right with the help of his associates--Yoko, a fox spirit, and Haruka, the aforementioned demon-eating goblin--, all is well, rinse and repeat. I've certainly seen worse concepts for ongoing stories.
What holds this back from achieving its full potential is Kazuko Higashiyama's art (which does improve over the course of this volume, so there's hope.) Character designs, figure drawing, backgrounds ... all are perfectly fine. It's the storytelling aspect where things start to fall apart. Higashiyama relies too heavily on white space and abrupt transitions. The story jumps around and we wind up with quite a number of story points being handled in dialogue or captions when we really should SEE them instead. To be fair, this could also be inept scripting on Kinoshita's part, but the general sense I get is of a writer trying their best to cover story points that were meant to be handled in the art.
Also worth noting is an error in the back cover copy, "... Kantaro--flanked by his own ghoulish sidekick--roams the streets of feudal Japan ..." Nope. Not feudal. Not even close. In the background of one panel, we see a movie marquee mentioning a James Cagney film. And there are automobiles that look to be from the 20's or so. My sense of Japanese history isn't the greatest, but I'd say late Meiji, early Showa, somewhere around there. I'd say "feudal" is off by at least a century or two ... The ADV edition is what I read, so hopefully they fixed that for the Tokyopop rerelease.
All in all, it's kind of a fun series. Just don't go in with overly high expectations.
What holds this back from achieving its full potential is Kazuko Higashiyama's art (which does improve over the course of this volume, so there's hope.) Character designs, figure drawing, backgrounds ... all are perfectly fine. It's the storytelling aspect where things start to fall apart. Higashiyama relies too heavily on white space and abrupt transitions. The story jumps around and we wind up with quite a number of story points being handled in dialogue or captions when we really should SEE them instead. To be fair, this could also be inept scripting on Kinoshita's part, but the general sense I get is of a writer trying their best to cover story points that were meant to be handled in the art.
Also worth noting is an error in the back cover copy, "... Kantaro--flanked by his own ghoulish sidekick--roams the streets of feudal Japan ..." Nope. Not feudal. Not even close. In the background of one panel, we see a movie marquee mentioning a James Cagney film. And there are automobiles that look to be from the 20's or so. My sense of Japanese history isn't the greatest, but I'd say late Meiji, early Showa, somewhere around there. I'd say "feudal" is off by at least a century or two ... The ADV edition is what I read, so hopefully they fixed that for the Tokyopop rerelease.
All in all, it's kind of a fun series. Just don't go in with overly high expectations.
June 28, 2012
This rating and review are for 7 volumes of Indonesian published edition.
Tactics bercerita mengenai Kantarou, seorang sarjana folklore, yang mencari sebuah tengu yang hebat untuk dijadikan pelayannya. Banyak orang menertawakan ambisinya, namun ia tetap berjuang mendapatkan tengu tersebut. Hingga akhirnya ia mendapatkan informasi mengenai keberadaan tengu itu dan membebaskannya. Tengu itu pun menjadikannya master dan Kantarou memberinya nama Haruka.
Saya sangat menyayangkan keputusan on-hold pada manga ini baik dari penerbit Indonesia maupun Tokyopop Amerika (karena jadi tidak ada update lagi di mangascan manapun). Kisah ini sangat indah dan gelap dalam balutan mitologi jepang dan misteri seputar Kantarou dan Haruka. DAN KENAPA ON-HOLDNYA PAS DI SAAT CERITA MULAI BANYAK MISTERINYA???
M&C, tolong terbitkan lanjutannya please! Saya mati penasaran di sini sama nasib Haruka dan Kantarou. ;A;
Tactics bercerita mengenai Kantarou, seorang sarjana folklore, yang mencari sebuah tengu yang hebat untuk dijadikan pelayannya. Banyak orang menertawakan ambisinya, namun ia tetap berjuang mendapatkan tengu tersebut. Hingga akhirnya ia mendapatkan informasi mengenai keberadaan tengu itu dan membebaskannya. Tengu itu pun menjadikannya master dan Kantarou memberinya nama Haruka.
Saya sangat menyayangkan keputusan on-hold pada manga ini baik dari penerbit Indonesia maupun Tokyopop Amerika (karena jadi tidak ada update lagi di mangascan manapun). Kisah ini sangat indah dan gelap dalam balutan mitologi jepang dan misteri seputar Kantarou dan Haruka. DAN KENAPA ON-HOLDNYA PAS DI SAAT CERITA MULAI BANYAK MISTERINYA???
M&C, tolong terbitkan lanjutannya please! Saya mati penasaran di sini sama nasib Haruka dan Kantarou. ;A;
November 26, 2025
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.
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.
September 4, 2025
Review for volume 1+2 together:
I love the concept of the onmyoji and their spirits, however this one didn't treat his spirits well. The quests are decent, solving some mysteries, helping some people, trying to make money when the baseline is being broke and trying to write folklore manuscripts but failing. It gets a little more interesting when Hakaru might recover his memories.
The art style is decent, without strange anatomy and with some lovely pictures of Hakaru the winged "demon eating tengu" who just happens to be a bishi.
So in summary: some nice pictures, uncomplicated plot, and rather forgettable.
I love the concept of the onmyoji and their spirits, however this one didn't treat his spirits well. The quests are decent, solving some mysteries, helping some people, trying to make money when the baseline is being broke and trying to write folklore manuscripts but failing. It gets a little more interesting when Hakaru might recover his memories.
The art style is decent, without strange anatomy and with some lovely pictures of Hakaru the winged "demon eating tengu" who just happens to be a bishi.
So in summary: some nice pictures, uncomplicated plot, and rather forgettable.
February 16, 2018
Meh. I loved the art style and all the lore, but my issue with this manga is that it's a little all over the place, a bit hard to follow if you're not used to that. Cute manga for sure, but not my favourite that I've ever read.
June 28, 2022
Tactics! I love the anime and the manga has a lot more to it but somehow it came across better in the anime. Having said this though its still worth a read and I would like some things answered that were not wrapped up in the anime.
August 4, 2018
A fun, quick read. I definitely need more manga in my life.
April 10, 2019
This was an enjoyable read. I have seen the manga previously so I knew roughly what to expect and wasn't disappointed.
December 26, 2021
|4.5 Stars|
May 29, 2025
interesting take on goblins and other fantasy creatures. I'm guessing it's just very Japanese. I'm just not sure if it's my kind of story.
June 8, 2013
(comment on series --> vol 12.) i couldn't in good conscience recommend this series, but i did enjoy it and i'm frustrated that i can't finish it for the time being (because my japanese is still at the yes/no/thank you level). i bought these from JManga which is sadly deceased and had only translated to vol 12.
the first 4 vols or so are messy. events seemed to happen and locations switch without preparation, and i got lost more than once. (although i had no trouble telling characers apart. yay! possibly something to do with two authors drawing?) it's episodic, which i'm less fond of - though that's personal taste - and seemed unsure about whether it was a youkai comedy or a drama. but round about vol 4, a more substantial plot starts to appear, with the sinister but goodlooking "Minamoto Raikou" (it's a name from Heian history) and his strong and anything-but-silent subordinate Watanabe, who gets all the girls (to the bafflement of the male characters but probably not the female readers). the story is still more roundabout than it needs to be and there's an *awful* lot of filler, which i would have preferred collected in two or three vols at the end of the series, but i presume this is the way the tankobon were published. the Minamoto plot more or less wraps up by vol 12, but it looks like the rest of the series reveals the essential mystery around Kantarou (just how old is he anyway?).
the characters are mostly pretty great. i loved Haruka and thought it was a shame nothing was done with Youko. Hasumi and his rivalry with Kantarou was a lot of fun. also, it's set in the Taishou period, if you like that era (I do, a lot). it's definitely one to read for the good bits, but maybe wait until someone succeeds in publishing the entire run.
the first 4 vols or so are messy. events seemed to happen and locations switch without preparation, and i got lost more than once. (although i had no trouble telling characers apart. yay! possibly something to do with two authors drawing?) it's episodic, which i'm less fond of - though that's personal taste - and seemed unsure about whether it was a youkai comedy or a drama. but round about vol 4, a more substantial plot starts to appear, with the sinister but goodlooking "Minamoto Raikou" (it's a name from Heian history) and his strong and anything-but-silent subordinate Watanabe, who gets all the girls (to the bafflement of the male characters but probably not the female readers). the story is still more roundabout than it needs to be and there's an *awful* lot of filler, which i would have preferred collected in two or three vols at the end of the series, but i presume this is the way the tankobon were published. the Minamoto plot more or less wraps up by vol 12, but it looks like the rest of the series reveals the essential mystery around Kantarou (just how old is he anyway?).
the characters are mostly pretty great. i loved Haruka and thought it was a shame nothing was done with Youko. Hasumi and his rivalry with Kantarou was a lot of fun. also, it's set in the Taishou period, if you like that era (I do, a lot). it's definitely one to read for the good bits, but maybe wait until someone succeeds in publishing the entire run.
March 30, 2008
I was really looking forward to this manga series because the anime was awesome. And I must say that even though so far, it's been more comedy driven than the anime, the manga is truly engaging - especially since it lacks the annoying character Suzu.
I love Kantaro. He's cute and he loves the youkai so much, he's very tender but at the same time a bit evil and opportunistic - he practically drools when it comes to money. But because he had been looking for the demon eating tengu Haruka his whole life, he's determined to be Haruka's friend no matter what now that he found him and there are some quite tender moments when Kan-chan surprises Haruka with his care. Though not even that can stop Kan-chan from manipulating Haruka and the fox youkai Youko into doing what he wants.
All in all, the manga is much fun!
I love Kantaro. He's cute and he loves the youkai so much, he's very tender but at the same time a bit evil and opportunistic - he practically drools when it comes to money. But because he had been looking for the demon eating tengu Haruka his whole life, he's determined to be Haruka's friend no matter what now that he found him and there are some quite tender moments when Kan-chan surprises Haruka with his care. Though not even that can stop Kan-chan from manipulating Haruka and the fox youkai Youko into doing what he wants.
All in all, the manga is much fun!
December 31, 2012
I got the first two volumes of this as a Christmas present :-)! And it has great potential I think.
Kantarou is a folklore researcher that is able to see youkai, and has been searching all his life for the demon-eating tengu. When he finally finds him, he names him Haruka, and becomes his master.
This is a really light-hearted manga with very likeable characters and I look forward to reading more.
Kantarou is a folklore researcher that is able to see youkai, and has been searching all his life for the demon-eating tengu. When he finally finds him, he names him Haruka, and becomes his master.
This is a really light-hearted manga with very likeable characters and I look forward to reading more.
March 28, 2010
I have this in the ADV published version before they sold it to Tokyopop, which is before they started calling Haruka a Tengu(mountain spirit) which makes no sense seeing as Haruka was in a stone.
But I quit after the second volume becaue of this. But it is still one of my favorite mangas, and brings back good memories.
But I quit after the second volume becaue of this. But it is still one of my favorite mangas, and brings back good memories.
November 9, 2015
A fun series, to be sure, with lots of humor mixed in with a growing severity as the plot thickens. The art is pretty good and the story is interesting. My only lament is that the English translation was never finished (as far as my knowledge goes) Still, it's no excuse not to read what is available, as you can still enjoy the characters and 'episodes' that make up these volumes.
August 19, 2007
Thoughts:
For those who loved the character design of Mythical Detective Loki Ragnorak, they might be interested in this as well. Also made into an interesting anime which focuses a bit more on the dramatic side of this story.
For those who loved the character design of Mythical Detective Loki Ragnorak, they might be interested in this as well. Also made into an interesting anime which focuses a bit more on the dramatic side of this story.
March 13, 2015
I was really disapointed, I've read Mythical Detective als by Kinoshita, the first part at least, it was really good and flowed well.
This this manga was just a confusing mess, it didn't really seem to have a real thread/storyline. Even the panels didn't really mesh right.
This this manga was just a confusing mess, it didn't really seem to have a real thread/storyline. Even the panels didn't really mesh right.
October 26, 2007
(I picked up both versions to compare the final adaptations.)
October 26, 2007
(I picked up both versions to compare the final adaptations.)
October 16, 2008
So I decided to pick this up after I had been watching the anime for a few weeks. Wow. I loved it.
Great art, interesting storyline, different from the anime, but still the same.
Great art, interesting storyline, different from the anime, but still the same.
May 3, 2018
I forgot how funny this was! I love Kan-chan :)
August 12, 2014
I'm very happy with this main character who is smart enough to trick the enemy into thinking they are his friend and then pounce when they least expect it. Very very cool!
March 5, 2015
Kantaro-chan, meet more goblins!
March 28, 2015
I love the storyline and characters but the fact that humour is used so frequently and shoved down people's throats, it sort of becomes a parody more than a story.
January 22, 2010
its really good and happy to thats good its like a romance books.
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews