COSMOS 1

コスモス / Cosmos #1

by Ryuhei Tamura, 田村隆平

『べるぜバブ』作者…新境地、SFドラマ!


人の嘘が見抜ける
高校生・水森 楓はドライに生きてきた…
謎の女子高生・穂村 燐に出会うまでは。

失踪した水森の友人・相澤を
地球外生命体と言い放つ穂村。
彼女が語る…宇宙人専門の保険会社
「COSMOS」とは―――!?

『べるぜバブ』の田村隆平…最新作にして新境地!

“未知との遭遇”が織り成す、
鮮烈SFヒューマンドラマ…開幕!

【編集担当からのおすすめ情報】
『べるぜバブ』、『腹ペコのマリー』、『灼熱のニライカナイ』の田村隆平先生が次に描くのは…

「宇宙人×保険調査」のSFヒューマンドラマ!!

これまでの作品とは一味違う、まったく新しい面白さに、
サンデーGX(&サンデーうぇぶり)で掲載直後より大絶賛の声があふれた本作……必読です!

Genres: Manga, Science Fiction, Comics, Graphic Novels, Japan, Japanese Literature

208 pages, Paperback

Published November 17, 2023

About the author

Ryūhei Tamura,born April 19, 1980 in Gifu Prefecture is a Japanese manga artist.He is best known for being author and illustrator of the manga Beelzebub which was first published as a one shot in Weekly Shōnen Jump, 2008. It was then serialised in 2009. Tamura was formerly assistant/student to Toshiaki Iwashiro, the author of Psyren, also serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump

See also: 田村 隆平 (Japanese name)

Reviews

[Meg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very MIB, with a human lie detector assisting an intergalactic insurance agency in sniffing out fraud schemes. Fun and a little philosophical. Would definitely read more.

[Susanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Men in Black x Associate Professor Akira Takatsuki’s Conjecture. High school student Kaede has a special skill: he can smell lies. And everyone lies, so he keeps his friendships shallow and wide. He’s therefore a bit surprised to find himself helping a classmate to locate her missing boyfriend when he knows she’s just using him to make the guy jealous.

What they find is something completely different. The guy’s in trouble with moneylenders. And he’s an alien wanted by his insurance company, Cosmos. Rin, the insurance investigator, finds Kaede’s skill useful and asks him to work for Cosmos. She proceeds to show him wonders he’s only seen in manga he always reads.

But not every case is an insurance fraud, as Kaede discovers to his sorrow.

This was a good start to a series. Kaede was good-hearted, but not a fool, thanks to his special skill. Rin was Wednesday Addams with a tendency to extreme violence. Together they make a good team. Cases were interesting and moving. Art was great. I’d read more.

I received a free copy from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This graphic novel was unique. Aliens live here on earth. And just like humans, they lie, lie, lie. But our main character can smell when someone lies. And that would make him a perfect new recruit to the Cosmos Insurance Agency. There are parts of this book that are hard to figure out, but it is just volume one. I’m sure and hope that volume two will put the story on an easier to understand arc.

[Michelle Graf · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley and VIZ Media for the ARC.

As much as I hate the insurance industry irl, this one is pretty fun, and not as detestable. I love the character design for Rin. I'm curious as to where the series will go.

[last · Rating 5 out of 5]

Men in Black manga Men in Black manga

[Xirimoya · Rating 3 out of 5]

deberes de mononokers pero tiene buena pinta me hizo chiste

[Nicole · Rating 2 out of 5]

An interesting concept, but overall it's giving "Bleach" vibes and can be confusing to follow along with. Meh overall for me, but I'll give it to my teens.
contains violence

[Ron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kaede is a high school student with a special ability. He can smell whether someone is lying or not lying. When he assists a classmate in tracking down her missing boyfriend, he learns that there are aliens living among us and is recruited by Cosmos, an intergalactic insurance agency to assist them on their investigations. But what he learns on the job has implications for his life and health. So what will he end up doing in the end? It will be interesting to see what is revealed in the next volume!

Thanks Netgalley and Viz Media for the chance to read this title!

2nd time - December 8th - Thanks Crunchyroll for the sale! Now I can reread as often as I want!

[encore_un_manga · Rating 4 out of 5]

Franchement, Cosmos a été une très belle surprise.

On suit Kaede, un lycéen capable de sentir le mensonge, un don aussi pratique qu’handicapant, puisqu’il complique énormément ses relations avec les autres. Sa rencontre avec Rin va complètement bouleverser son quotidien : elle travaille pour COSMOS, une compagnie d’assurance… spécialisée dans les extraterrestres vivant incognito sur Terre. Oui, dit comme ça, c’est déjà intriguant.

Ce que j’ai vraiment apprécié, c’est cette vibe très “Men in Black” : des aliens cachés parmi les humains, des affaires à résoudre, des situations parfois absurdes… le tout avec une bonne dose d’humour. Mais là où le manga se démarque, c’est dans sa façon d’apporter aussi des moments plus sensibles, presque contemplatifs.

Le concept est à la fois simple et riche, et permet d’explorer plein de situations différentes. Chaque “cas” met en lumière des problématiques très humaines, ce qui rend l’ensemble encore plus prenant.

Le duo Kaede / Rin fonctionne super bien. Kaede, discret et un peu en retrait, contraste parfaitement avec Rin, plus franche et directe. Leur dynamique apporte beaucoup de fraîcheur au récit.

Le manga jongle habilement entre légèreté et émotions, avec des thématiques qui commencent déjà à se dessiner, comme l’identité, l’enfance ou encore la difficulté de trouver sa place.

Côté dessin, c’est fluide, dynamique, avec des personnages expressifs et une mise en scène claire qui rend la lecture très agréable.

✨ Un premier tome accrocheur, drôle et touchant, avec une ambiance à la Men in Black très réussie.

Une excellente entrée en matière qui donne clairement envie de continuer !

[T.J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

People keep calling this Men in Black. Personally, I thought about the undercover dudes in Lilo & Stitch, especially when the guy with the dinosaur head showed up. The main girl uses a device that looks like horns to create her disguise, which essentially just changes her hair color. But she is so serious about everything. She's fun. I really liked this one. It wasn't on my radar, just stumbled upon it at the book store and decided to give it a try. Now I am hooked. Very cool and intriguing. And it has some empathy and heart to it, as well.

[Ace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ich bin ehrlich gesagt ziemlich überrascht, dass mir der Manga so gut gefallen hat, da ich zum einen mit Sci-Fi nicht sooo viel anfangen kann und zum anderen Aliens auch nicht wirklich meins sind.
Aber mich hat das Konzept mit einer Versicherungsfirma für Aliens irgendwie neugierig gemacht und ich fand den Plot gut gelungen.

Nur ab und an hatte ich ein bisschen Probleme, der Story zu folgen. Z.B. habe ich ehrlich gesagt nicht so ganz verstanden, ob der Baseball-Spieler jetzt gestorben ist oder nicht.

Der Humor war genau meins und ich mochte das Charakterdesign.

[The Book Dragon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extraterrestrial immigrant insurance investigators. Not a topic I’d ever thought I’d read about but here we are.

Kaede can smell lies. He accidentally stumbles into an active investigation when doing a welfare check on a classmate. He almost dies, but he finds out that aliens exist, and they offer him a job.

It’s a bit like Men in Black except Agent J has a minor superpower and Agent K is an alien disguised as a high school girl. The art is pleasant and the story is easy to follow. Nothing negative to report.

[cold brewnette · Rating 2 out of 5]

A cute start to the series, and I love me a men-in-black-storyline so I’m curious to see where this will go. Not that hyped on the insurance aspect but the characters are interesting enough, so.

I wish the final story in this volume hit a little deeper but since there was virtually no set up, the emotions didn’t really hit for me since I wasn’t entirely invested in the storyline. The ML keeps everyone at such an arm’s length that his sudden about face with his co-worker didn’t really hit. I think introducing things sooner would have helped create more investment into the emotions.

[Joanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kaede is a high school student who accidentally learns that his classmate is an... alien? And the person who reveals this is an insurance investigator who recruits Kaede for his ability to detect lies! While I have read manga about organizations who deal with aliens in everyday life and others where the protagonist can detect lies, "Cosmos" takes a unique turn that is also very refreshing to see. I do look forward to seeing what other aliens Kaede meets later on.

[Niche · Rating 4 out of 5]

A boy that can smell lies keeps his relationships shallow due to not being able to trust others until one day he gets roped into checking in on an acquaintance that turns out to be an alien in debt. He's soon roped into using his talent to aid an alien insurance agency investigating claims. There's some "gore" as the alien disguises that resemble human bodies get torn apart in fights and it also has a story line about dealing with life insurance and a terminal illness that's pretty bittersweet.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ah, insurance, that most literary and cinematic of professions. That this sci fi mystery about an insurance agency that insures aliens moving to or visiting Earth manages to be interesting while still being no Master Keaton ought to be considered high praise. I'll definitely give it a second volume.

[˙⋆✮ Anny ✮⋆˙ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a simple girl, I just fell in love with the girl on the cover. The story sounded intriguing so I decided to give it a go. Unfortunately, I had a bit of trouble following it, although the idea is really cool and I liked the main character aswell. Not outstanding but not bad either, but I don't know if I'll continue with this series cause there are so many others out there tbh.

[Casey Halvorsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks NetGalley and Viz Media for this arc!

4/5 stars

This was a pretty good beginning to this series. I can see where this could have a lot of heart and get emotional, but we aren't quite there yet, even after the few incidents in the first volume. I'm excited to keep reading and see where this goes!

[Samuel · Rating 4 out of 5]

76%

Pleasantly surprised by this one. Now, Insurance companies are scummy as hell in real life, but from a manga point-of-view, looking at alien insurance cases on Earth is an interesting concept. And the main characters are pretty likeable so far. The art’s also quite nice, especially in that double-spread page at the end of this volume.

Interested to see where this one goes.

[Sesana · Rating 3 out of 5]

MIB, but make them insurance adjustors? Which doesn't make as much of a difference to the stories that are told here as you might expect. This volume is a little odd. The first three chapters have a ton of over the top action, but then the tone swerves. The fourth chapter is a sincere, bittersweet, and charming. I really liked this chapter, but I'm not sure if it's an outlier in the series.

[PALARZ Franck · Rating 4 out of 5]

Les aliens sont parmi nous. Rin en est une autre mais elle est aussi chargée de faire valoir les polices d'assurances souscrites par ses semblables. Voire de lutter contre certaines tentatives d'escroqueries... Pour plus d'efficacité, elle va recruter Kaede, un adolescent capable de percevoir l'odeur du mensonge... Men in black ? Un peu...

[Elpis · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 ☆ arrondi à 5 ☆

J'y suis encore une fois allé un peu à l'aveugle, uniquement sur la recommandation coup de coeur de mon libraire. Très Men In Black, avec l'humour typique de Ryuhei Tamura bien dosé, des personnages attachants et une bonne dose d'action au trait punchy. J'ai beaucoup aimé !

[Bookie Wookie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A much more enjoyable and less crack heady version of Dandadan.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

a bit lazy in setup, but stylish & I could see it proving fresh

[Nomi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Men in Black say what? This was pretty interesting I’ll definitely be reading the next volume!

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This title makes for some great tabloid-type headlines:
Aliens live among us, and may be committing insurance fraud?!
This teenager can smell lies!

[Yan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Initially bought this cause the cover caught my eye… turns out I don’t care much about the characters nor the story, bummer

[Jill Hummel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting sci-fi read!

[Isel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Why'd they make the last chapter sad 😢

[Marcus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting idea about an alien insurance agency but not one that I’ll likely continue on with. So little time and so many stories.