A bit of a melodramatic mess, and a bit too dark for some of its absurdities, but I liked the action scenes.

In this manga we follow Tista, a long range sniper who takes out the criminals of New York City. As we read this volume we find out that the Catholic Church has experimented on Tista, giving her amazing eyesight. This is why she's able to make such amazing long distance shots. But the police are looking into all of these murders and trying to figure out who's doing them. Will the police catch up with Tista? You'll ahve to read to find out!

This was certainly interesting. Children assassins, experimentation, and a sense of loyalty combine into this tale. Tista was raised in an orphanage by the Catholic church in modern day NYC. Her job is to execute criminals that cannot be touched by the law, however her life gets upended when she meets Arty at school and begins to crave more than her isolated existence. It was good, however I was not entranced by the story. I found myself a little lost at parts but the overall concept is engaging.

*Thank you NetGalley and VIZMedia for the advanced reader digital copy of this book.

I received an eARC of this title through NetGalley in return for an honest review.

I liked the beginning of this. It mixes some religious themes with questioning morality and following orders blindly. There are also some cool aspects of science fiction involved. I think what makes this first volume so interesting is the fact that it is not just a story about a girl who is an assassin, but a girl who believed that was her purpose until she met someone who started changing the way she thinks of the world and her original beliefs.

In the end, I feel like this story is about people struggling to find themselves while questioning the world around them. It's not just a story about an assassin, it's a story about humanity.

The art in this manga is well done. I honestly like not seeing all of the crazy movements that some action mangas try to use. Most of the time it causes me to not understand what is happening. In this, it was clear what was going on even though there were some short cuts and transitions.

It gives a similar feel to stories like Gunslinger Girl and I enjoy the protagonist and the setting that really stands out in the first volume. Characterization was executed well for the most the part.

Spy x Family took the world by storm last year, and Tatsuya Endo became a household name due to the manga a few years back. It’s with this success that we’re granted a look at his earlier work, 2007’s Tista.

By day, Tista Lone is an unremarkable wallflower who is like any other schoolgirl. She wants to teach kids when grows older. At night, however, she becomes the deadly Sister Militia, an efficient assassin raised from childhood to purge the corrupt. She has unnaturally skilled vision and kills her targets with unique precision, though it starts failing throughout the volume. Tista meets Arty, an artist who takes a liking to her. However, he’s also tangentially involved in a drug smuggling plot, which summons Sister Militia in a conflict. What follows is a harrowing journey that explores Tista’s degrading mental state while juggling faith and her heart.

If I’m being honest here, Tista feels like a prototype of Spy x Family. In a way, Tista feels like a composite mix of Loid and Yor. However, as the only main relationship is between Tista and Arty, there isn’t a third child-like relationship in which to factor. While the latter is a lighthearted slice-of-life, this dives deeply into a film noir setting. Everything is much more serious, and even the lighter moments have a grim undertone. It feels overly dark and could use a little fluff.

I appreciated the American setting for the manga, which feels like something out of Part 2 of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure. It also helps that it justifies the presence of gangsters and seedy characters. That said, overall the series always feels like a lesser Spy x Family. It doesn’t have anything remarkable, and the dark tone feels like most grimdark media. This series is short (running two volumes long), so I’ll check out volume 2 to see if the situation improves.

Best known for his work on “Spy x Family”, Tatsuya Endo's “Tista” predates the popular manga by more than a decade. With such a large gap between the projects and ending its run after two volumes, the reason behind the lack of release for this series until now starts to make sense as one digs into the project. Notably, the title becomes a note of intrigue for its tie to the now-popular mangaka and showcasing his early workings and direction. Beyond this element, the series is unlikely to entirely meet the expectations of readers.

However, what is undeniable from this project is Endo's talent as an artist in conveying motion and crafting expressive characters. “Tista,” if anything, is an enjoyable experience on art alone, as the book is extremely sleek and stylized in a way that makes it utterly absorbing. In particular, Endo's depiction of assassination from sniper fire is equal parts shocking and explosive, capturing that kinetic energy that helped define a lot of the 90's aesthetic of anime/manga that was heavy on violence. Though originally released in 2007, the work does seem heavily inspired by the sensationalism of the previous decade, even down to a plot that feels vaguely familiar (Kite).


The explosive artwork may ensure the reader will enjoy their time with the work on aesthetics alone, but this is the only appealing attribute of “Tista”. The story is generic, the characters are rather dull in personality and there is a lack of depth or attempt at a greater narrative. Every element of the story, essentially, is utilized to lead into heavy action sequences that wow the readers. There are hints of charismatic personas that Endo would be known for later in his career, but the small cast falls far below the bar set by the fan favorite in “Spy x Family”.


At only two volumes, readers will gather all they need to know about the direction of the series in this inaugural volume. This can be a blessing or a curse, either the lack of depth will dissuade readers or they will be enticed by the explosive artwork and content to have a completed series of two volumes. Alternatively, the book serves as a companion piece for fans of “Spy x Family” for those who like to support their favourite mangakas'. The existing fandom for Tatsuya Endo, undeniably, won't be disappointed with this release if they approach it with curbed expectations.

There is no getting around that “Tista” lacks the story depth to make a lasting impact on readers, as an ideal series has both visuals and narrative work to craft an unforgettable experience. Add in the two-volume release and it is hard to get enthused or recommend the title outside of fans of Endo. Ultimately, the sleek visual direction and the name value alone will make it worthwhile for many to grab, but it does make sense why the series has only been released at this point as it would not stand without the name value behind it.

I enjoyed this first volume of a very classic storyline. It gave me the feel of stories like Gunslinger girl and the like from my viewing of these animes during the early 2000s. The art style is very nice and I think I will definitely take a look at the next volume. Thank you to Viz Media & NetGalley for a chance to review this manga~

An interesting blend of The Boondock Saints and a melancholic teen romance. The mid-2000s NYC vibe is a huge asset to this story, and it’s honestly shocking how much happens in volume 1 (of course there are only 2 volumes of this), because there were plenty of opportunities to leave the audience hanging. I like the artwork, the minor characters (especially the FBI’s ditzy but brilliant psychoanalyst and Arty’s unrequited crush), and the overall doom and tension of the Catholic assassin ring. I don’t love the depiction of black New Yorkers in the last act and I do think a little more could have been done to explore Arty and Tista's feelings for each other.

Tista was Endo's first serialization and while it's not terrible, it comes off awkward, like a teenager who hasn't figured out if they want to be a punk, an emo kid, or one of the artsy kids. I thought the title character was way younger than she turned out to be; the wildly fluctuating character design did not help. I admire Endo's commitment to drawing guns properly, but he was definitely still finding his footing as an artist and storyteller in this book. (I received a free ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.)

Such a classic storyline for a manga! However, reading about sharp shooter child assassins can fall a little flat. However, fans of Spy X Family will find that they will like the storyline as well as the art work. Tista is entertaining, unpredictable and has a very nice art style. I'll be looking out for the 2nd volume.

Tista is an earlier series created by Tatsuya Endo, the creator of the Spy x Family manga.

Tista Volume One
Written by: Tatsuya Endo
Publisher: Shueisha Inc.
English Publisher: VIZ Media
Release Date: April 4, 2023

The main character of the series is a girl living in New York City named Tista. She’s a university student studying to be teacher, who is also secretly an assassin who works under the name Sister Militia. Thanks to her extraordinary eyesight, she can make long-range shots with extraordinary accuracy. As a child, Tista was orphaned and taken in by a religious organization and put under the tutelage of an adoptive “father.” When he died, his eye with the extraordinary eyesight was implanted into her. As we see her in her regular day-to-day life, she’s a gloomy young woman who is standoffish and doesn’t have any friends.

One day, Tista is so wrapped up in her thoughts that she steps out into the street and is almost hit by a car. She’s saved by a young man on a bicycle, who turns out to be a student at the school she attends. She runs into him at school and learns that he is an aspiring artist named Arty Drawer. These two characters start to develop a friendship, but that friendship is put to the test when Arty finds himself wrapped up in Tista’s next assignment. The director of a museum in the city took Arty in after his father died, and it turns out the director is involved in a shady deal that he tries to force Arty to help with. Arty refuses, and is at the location when Tista executes her mission of assassinating the director. Normally, Tista works in the shadows, but when she sees Arty is in danger, she shows herself before completing her job. Unfortunately, now that Arty knows that she’s Sister Militia, she keeps away from him… which includes skipping school. For most of the rest of the volume, Arty is trying to locate Tista.

It comes out during this volume that Tista’s eyesight is starting to fail, which makes some in the organization wonder if perhaps her body is rejecting the implant after all this time. Others think it could be psychological in nature. However, it seems to be that there are those in the organization who want to abandon Tista and move on to the next candidate.

Tista is a complicated character. After losing her parents to murder, she was taken in by the religious organization. While she seemed to be a sweet girl, the organization was using how her parents were killed as a way to motivate her to become the assassin she is today. It’s hinted in here that her adoptive “father” halted some kind of process, which kind of raises the question if this could be, at least in part, affecting her and her eyesight now. While Tista may not really talk much about her adoptive “father,” she holds on to a stuffed rabbit that he gave her as a child and she obviously holds sentimental value toward it. During this volume, we see that she’s able to become friends with Arty, so a part of her retained at least some of her humanity. Perhaps her conflicted feelings, especially in the wake of Arty discovering her secret, is also impacting her eyesight. But this seem to be a mystery that will continue to be covered in Tista.

The only work of Tatsuya Endo’s I had any familiarity with prior to reading Tista is Spy x Family. I was curious to see what he had done prior to his big success, which is why I grabbed a digital review copy of Tista Volume One when VIZ Media made it available. As I read this volume, I discovered that Tista is very different tonally from Spy x Family. Unlike the mixture of comedy and drama presented in Spy x Family, Tista is grittier and more dramatic in nature. Considering that this series is set in New York City, a grittier feel is realistic both for the environment and the story that Endo is trying to tell with this series. The comedy that’s so integral to Spy x Family just wouldn’t work with this.

When it comes to the art, it has a rougher feel to it than Spy x Family does. In part, this can probably be attributed to the fact that Tista came before Spy x Family, and that Endo’s skills had improved over the intervening time. But again, considering the setting and tone of the series, this rougher-looking art could have also been intentional on Endo’s part to help convey the atmosphere that he wanted to present to the reader.

When it comes to the character design, one thing that really stood out to me is the fact that Arty looks a lot like pre-timeskip Zoro from One Piece. It’s not just in how his face was designed though, it’s also in how he carries himself as a character. I don’t know if Endo had been intentionally trying to mimic Zoro with this character design, but I kept having to remind myself that the character I was seeing here wasn’t Zoro.

It’s a little unfortunate that Tista is being released outside of Japan after Spy x Family, because English speaking readers are likely going to compare and measure this series against Spy x Family, since that’s the main thing most of them will know him for. For me, personally, I found Tista to be a decent read. The first volume of the series didn’t grab me like the first volume of Spy x Family did, but I can still see some potential for this series going forward. I’m hoping to have the chance to read a digital review copy of the next volume to see if this potential is realized.

If you’re curious about work that Endo did before Spy x Family, then I would recommend giving Tista a chance. However, I would advise you to go into it without thinking you’re going to get something like Spy x Family. If you don’t, you’ll likely be disappointed.

New York has a vigilante on its hands. Someone is killing, mainly at long range, gangsters, criminals, and others who are guilty of various crimes. The police are baffled regarding the identity of Sister Militia. But some folks at a Catholic orphanage know all about her. Tista was raised there to become "Sister Militia" and trained to believe that she needed to suffer so that others could live. But as she attends a local university and interacts more with a boy named Arty, she starts to wonder. And that wondering is starting to affect her mindset and eyesight. Can she continue to carry out the missions she is given or is she starting to question her life. Tune in for the next volume of Tista to find out the answers!

Thanks Netgalley for the chance to read this volume.

Before there was <i>Spy x Family</i> there was <i>Tista</i>. Tatsuya Endo's first serialized work definitely shares some themes with his latest - heroine Tista is an orphan who became an assassin after the Catholic Church experimented on her and transplanted her adoptive father's eye into her head; you might notice that really only the "Catholic Church sponsored assassinations" is missing from Yor and Anya's combined pasts. Taking place in modern day New York City, the story follows Tista as she begins to have a dual crisis of faith/mental breakdown, both of which are 100% understandable in her situation. She's largely kept herself aloof from others until she meets the unfortunately named Arty Drawer, a third-year art major at her university, and as she begins to want to be with him, her life begins to fall apart from within. It's a difficult story, replete with themes of what we owe those who "save" us and just how much power any one person (or organization) should have. It's only two volumes long, so I'll finish it out, but honestly, just because you enjoy the Forger family's escapades does not mean you'll like this - in fact, it may be the opposite.

I'm not usually in to these kinds of "girl with guns" stories, but I saw the author's name and decided to give it a shot. Spy X Family is one of my favorite currently on-going manga, after all. This story is a bit rougher and the tone is darker, but that mix of action, intrigue, and heart are still present in this earlier work. I liked Tista as a character, she isn't just an emotionless doll or killing machine, she still has some heart and humanity in her, despite all she's been through. The action scenes were great, and there's some really good scene composition in here, but it was the heart that kept me going.

I requested this title when I saw it was by Tatsuya Endo. I absolutely love his Spy x Family series. Unfortunately, I can't say the same for Tista. When I read the summary, I was expecting something similar to his Spy series. Nearly stripped of the humor and fleshed out characters that I enjoyed in his more popular series, Tista is the story of a young assassin with deadly accuracy. I'm not sure where the plot is headed for this manga. At first Tista seems to be establishing a relationship with a classmate, but just as quickly breaks it off. The artwork is sketchy and unfinished looking through most of the story, especially during action sequences. It's much darker and heavy than his other series. Maybe I wasn't in the mood for this type of story, but I felt it wasn't as well written as Spy x Family.

Tista is the first serialized work by Tatsuya Endo, the creator of Spy x Family. Tista is an assassin who makes difficult shots using her extraordinary eyesight. By day, she's a university student who mostly spends her time alone until fellow student and artist, Arty, tries to befriend her. However, there are many people trying to discover her identity and she starts to question the organization that provides her with her targets. A solid opening to this series, featuring a rougher art style than in the later series Spy x Family, but with the same slightly offbeat vibe as most of his works.

Thanks NetGalley and Viz Media for this arc!!

This is a solid four stars. It was entertaining, unpredictable, and I'm not sure where it's going to go! I liked the art style, when her glasses were off/when her eyesight was acting up were drawn really wobbly and I liked how it looked, as a glasses wearer who can't see a few inches past her face 🤣 I can't wait to read further in the series and see how this all plays out!

I picked this one up because I love Spy x Family and was interested to see how the story would play out. The plot is pretty straightforward, Tista is an assassin, using her extraordinary eyesight to kill targets from such a long range it baffles most people. She's also a university student studying to be a teacher. Volume one features Tista having a bit of a crisis, with her ability to complete her jobs getting worse after befriending a guy in her class. I'm not sure where the plot is going with this, but there's the sort of vibe that Endo likes to put into their series that is present, and you can tell a lot of thought went into the story. The art style is not what I was expecting, it's pretty different from SxF, and is often sketchy and unfinished looking. These parts seem to increase as Tista's problems do, so the connection between the art style and her vision is interesting.