Koukoku no Shugosha (Imperial Guards) 1-21
An elite military unit conducts its duties alongside sabertooth tigers trained to assist their human masters.
The Imperial Guards manga was a runner-up in the 9th Japanese Media Arts Awards, the 11th Tezuka Cultural Prize, and the 1st Manga Taisho Awards.
This story takes place in a fictional Japan with elements of fantasy such as the sabretooth tigers, dragons and magic.
The main conflict is of the invading Royal forces (apparently russians?) against the Imperial army (Japanese). Due to a blunder of the commander, the Japanese forces retreat and its up to the Sabretooth squad to hold the enemy so that they can retreat.
Undeniably, all the odds are stacked against them (they are pretty much fucked). So they have to use all the tactics available to them. Thats where Shinjo Naoe, one of the best main characters I have seen enters.
He is a ruthless and efficient soldier who carries his orders and makes the best choices available to him in order to achieve the objectives. But thats just what it looks like to his soldiers, he pretty much has a lot of mood shifts (as seen in the images above) and questions himself a lot of times. Sometimes he can be arrogant and even enjoy war as it is. But thats what makes him human and what makes him shine.
The enemies are well developed too, we see how they are organized, their motivations and backstory. The tactics and logistics displayed are top notch making it one of the best military manga out there.
