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Captain Momo's Secret Base Volume 1
New manga from the creator of Emanon and Wandering Island!
Moshi-Moshi Momo works from home like many people—in a den crowded with books and papers, shared with a cat that's got its own agenda.
Except Momo truly does possess office space—because she lives inside a starship, and relativity means Zoom meetings need half an hour just to ask a question!
In the year 3019 AD, humanity has gotten even more work most of the time, Momo doesn't bother to wear her captain’s uniform—or anything at all—onboard the cargo vessel Blue Chateau, as she struggles against interstellar tedium, company directives, low battery strength, and her ever-underfoot cat John. But fear not, for equipped with plenty of reading material and a crate of peach liqueur, in the long haul past Proxima Centauri space slacker Captain Momo will at last prove Newton correct—a body at rest will remain at rest!
Presented shrink-wrapped with Mature Audiences advisory notice.
Moshi-Moshi Momo works from home like many people—in a den crowded with books and papers, shared with a cat that's got its own agenda.
Except Momo truly does possess office space—because she lives inside a starship, and relativity means Zoom meetings need half an hour just to ask a question!
In the year 3019 AD, humanity has gotten even more work most of the time, Momo doesn't bother to wear her captain’s uniform—or anything at all—onboard the cargo vessel Blue Chateau, as she struggles against interstellar tedium, company directives, low battery strength, and her ever-underfoot cat John. But fear not, for equipped with plenty of reading material and a crate of peach liqueur, in the long haul past Proxima Centauri space slacker Captain Momo will at last prove Newton correct—a body at rest will remain at rest!
Presented shrink-wrapped with Mature Audiences advisory notice.
140 pages, Paperback
First published March 31, 2022
About the author
Kenji Tsuruta
55 books54 followersKenji Tsuruta (in Japanese, 鶴田謙二) is a Japanese manga artist. Among his most famous works is the science fiction series Spirit of Wonder, which has been adapted into an anime series and brought him much acclaim.
During his years in university as a student of optical science, Tsuruta, initially wanting to be a photographer, encountered works of Yukinobu Hoshino, which had inspired him to create manga. Soon after graduating, he wrote numerous dōjinshi and was an assistant to many manga artists, prior to making his debut as a professional manga artist in 1986.
Tsuruta received the 31st, 32nd, and 44th Seiun Awards for outstanding artist of the year in 2000, 2001, and in 2013. He also received the Hayakawa Award for best illustrator in 2000.
During his years in university as a student of optical science, Tsuruta, initially wanting to be a photographer, encountered works of Yukinobu Hoshino, which had inspired him to create manga. Soon after graduating, he wrote numerous dōjinshi and was an assistant to many manga artists, prior to making his debut as a professional manga artist in 1986.
Tsuruta received the 31st, 32nd, and 44th Seiun Awards for outstanding artist of the year in 2000, 2001, and in 2013. He also received the Hayakawa Award for best illustrator in 2000.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
September 8, 2024
Captain Momo is a young woman who pilots a spaceship with cargo. She's alone in the ship, more like a caretaker really, and has apparently chosen to almost never wear any clothes. She also has a cat.
Nothing much really happens, but the art is very pretty. The cat is drawn especially well. Whether you might enjoy this book does depend on whether you are bothered by a continually naked main character - I do have to make the point that her nudity is never ŕeally sexualised, but it's still a male mangaka self-indulgently drawing a perpetually naked young woman, there's just no denying that, guys!
(Thanks to Dark Horse Books for providing me with a review copy through Edelweiss)
July 18, 2024
Moshi-Moshi Momo is the captain of a space freighter on a three-year journey with first mate Grandpa John, a tuxedo cat. Since there are no other humans on the ship, she is naked almost all of the time. (She throws on a jacket when she has to check in with her boss.) I mean, why not. A naked woman going about her daily tasks and recreation while ruminating about her situation. Would this introspective, slice-of-life story still work without all the nakedness? Probably, but it would be a little less funny, and a little less charming. A relaxing, yet arousing read.
April 27, 2024
More reviews (and no fluff) on the blog http://surrealtalvi.wordpress.com/
Maybe this is just something you are either going to 'get' or not get. It's by a respected mangaka and it feels like an indulgence piece - where the publisher lets an artist do whatever he wants and we get something meaningful to the artist/author but not to anyone else. Honestly, after you have read this ask yourself if this would have worked with all the nude provocative poses if the protagonist had been male?Story: Momo is a captain of a long haul freighter along with her first mate, a cat. She has a LOT of time for introspection and long ago stopped wearing clothes since there is no one else on board. Every once in awhile she checks in with the company HQ to give a progress report. Otherwise, she reads a lot of books and maybe occasionally deals with space debris in her way.
So yes, nothing happens. There's not a lot of depth to the dialogue and most of it is what feels like meaningless, ennui-filled inner conversations about various things on how Momo spends her time. I tried looking for a philosophical angle here but honestly the entire volume 1 felt like an exercise in how to draw female anatomy - no two poses are the same. There wasn't much to be found in the words. But let's face it, so many panels feature extremely suggestive poses that makes the whole story seem like a sad excuse for fan service.
The illustration work is fine - certainly Tsuruta knows how to draw female anatomy. The art is as languid as the plot and I found little joy reading about/looking at a young woman who is extremely bored. The work on the cat was well done but even he looked incredibly bored and aloof.
It was hard not to feel disaffected myself while reading - can watching paint dry be done in an interesting and philosophical way? Perhaps so if you put a naked young woman on it and rotate various suggestive poses while she comments on replicators. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.
July 2, 2024
This could've been a good sci-fi manga except for one glaring issue: the nudity.
Of the 142 pages of the digital ARC I received, I counted a total of 88 pages with nudity of this young girl. That's more than half the book. And I would even go so far as to describe the nudity as gratuitous because what does it add to the story??? Absolutely nothing. In fact, it detracted from the story because I couldn't even focus on the actual space plot while Momo's hairy cooch was staring me right in the face. The fact that this was written by a male manga creator makes this whole issue even more creepy and unsettling. A woman would never dedicate so much page time to showcasing a female character's tits and ass, especially when her nudity doesn't have anything to do with literally anything.
Of the 142 pages of the digital ARC I received, I counted a total of 88 pages with nudity of this young girl. That's more than half the book. And I would even go so far as to describe the nudity as gratuitous because what does it add to the story??? Absolutely nothing. In fact, it detracted from the story because I couldn't even focus on the actual space plot while Momo's hairy cooch was staring me right in the face. The fact that this was written by a male manga creator makes this whole issue even more creepy and unsettling. A woman would never dedicate so much page time to showcasing a female character's tits and ass, especially when her nudity doesn't have anything to do with literally anything.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 18, 2024
hmmm... if the cat humor had started sooner and gone further I might not have minded the focus on her nakedness, but as it is, it feels like an excuse to just draw a naked chick? I almost get her vibe but it doesn't go any deeper. she doesn't understand the cat and it's touched on when she doesn't realize he's asking her to play with him, there should be more of that. most of the parts with the cat and her interacting are cut short. when she let him in the space suite, I wanted to see them space walking together!!! but it just cuts to the next random part. I also wish the cat replication had been expanded on since that was so quick and could've really been funnier.
July 18, 2024
The opening scene in full color was certainly a plus. I enjoyed the story. It's exactly how I've pictured such a long space journey. Captain Momo's adjustments to such a life are interesting. So many people wouldn't be able to cope alone for such a long journey alone. But, many people do this every day in real life, living alone.
July 18, 2024
No plot, just background on the mind-numbing aspects of a naked astronaut hauling freight through space on a minimum of battery capacity with her stowaway cat. So, unless you're a 14-year old boy, there's absolutely nothing of interest in this graphic novel.
July 23, 2024
This woman is living the dream??? Just chilling out naked on her spaceship alone with her books and her cat??? Her tuxedo cat named Grandpa John????? What more could you want?
August 22, 2024
For the rot girl summer and the romanticized ennui girls. For femmes like me.
September 17, 2024
The vibe of this book really got the "alone in space for 500 days and I've started to go mad" vibe, to the point that I was literally on edge reading this, lol.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews