Action thriller Tista gives a glimpse into Spy x Family author's manga origins

Tista Vol. 1
By Tatsuya Endo
Releasing: April 4, 2023

Tista is the first serialized manga of powerhouse writer/artist Tatsuya Endo, the man behind the smash hit series Spy x Family (which I have conveniently reviewed in its animated capacity here). Manga publisher Viz is offering up some interesting releases by delving into the prior works of mangaka of currently mega-popular series. But while Tista is a piece of historical interest for fans of the author, whether it’s a necessary read for Spy x Family fans is the big question.

Tista Lone is a teenaged orphan trained to be an assassin by a church who interprets divine wrath in a extrajudicial way. Following a hit on the parental figure of a young man she has grown smitten with, she begins to question her handlers, her worldview, and herself as she reaches toward the light of a normal life. The problem is, she's hampered by her killer eyes, one of which was transplanted into her by her deceased father.

This plot is nothing new and the inclusion of the eyes as some sort of impetus for Tista's emotional breakdowns and need to kill is lame. Rather than be at least marginally grounded, the eyes make things a little too silly. Not to say that this isn’t a silly (unintentionally so) manga. The first target, an Italian mobster, has the last name Frappucino. The boy who becomes Tista's center of gravity is named Arty Drawer (get it, because he's an artist!). There’s a certain level of amateurish storytelling and craftsmanship here that is funny in some ways but makes for a rather uninteresting product overall.

That extends to how these characters act. No one, not even Tista, is fleshed out or interesting. Her grappling with the violent situation of her life never offers any moments of true emotional depth and the fledgling romance between Tista and Arty isn’t explored enough for their minor acquaintance to feel like it would be enough impetus for the events of the manga. In these regards Tista feels like the prototype of a better story that needed more time to cook before being served.

Endo’s art has developed quite a bit from Tista to Spy x Family and you’ll see that in how busy and overstuffed some of the pages are. Endo’s pages in Spy x Family can contain quite a few panels but an abundance of dialogue isn’t jammed in and there is a clear emphasis on character placement and ensuring the reader has a simple time navigating the page. By comparison I found Tista to be a tad too indulgent. The character designs are obviously Endo’s and the details make for a lushly noir-tinged world but something about it felt overbearing page-to-page and less pleasant to read because of that.

Tista is interesting to read for fans of Spy x Family but I don’t think it has many merits outside of that. While the art is good the pages get a little too claustrophobic. The plot, though derivative of tropes I enjoy, never gripped me in any way. Not bad, but not good either, Tista is a minor curiosity but not a necessity for the manga shelf.

Publisher provided a copy for review.