モモ艦長の秘密基地 1

by Kenji Tsuruta, 鶴田謙二

「宇宙の運び屋」モモ艦長。
部下はいないが艦長。
お供は猫一匹のみ。
なので艦内ではほぼ全裸ーー。
鶴田謙二が描く前代未聞のスペースコメディ第1巻。
2022年3月刊

Genres: Manga, Science Fiction, Comics, Graphic Novels

136 pages, Paperback

First published March 31, 2022

About the author

Kenji 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.

Reviews

[Alexander Peterhans · Rating 4 out of 5]

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)

[James DeSantis · Rating 2 out of 5]

The art is good but no story.

Basically we have our main girl just walking around a spaceship, naked, and....that's it. No plot really to say. Some fun hijinks with her cat but not enough. I really don't know what the point of this book was other than seeing a naked girl and even then it doesn't feel sexualized, just kind of lifeless book IMO. A 2 out of 5.

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[Online Eccentric Librarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.

[Roshan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Captain Momo's Secret Base Volume 1 (2022)
By Kenji Tsuruta
Genre – Comedy, Sci-Fi, Manga

Synopsis: Momo is a captain of a space freight on a 500-day delivery route.

Captain Momo's Secret Base is something that is either a quick read or something that you can drop in and out of at any time due to having not much plot. Following the titular lead, she shares with the readers her thoughts on her daily solitary life along with her pet cat. This isn’t very much plot centric and the urgency appears in the second half when Momo tries to reserve power. But aside from it, there is very little going on.
The artwork is simplistic but really good. It captures the messy life inside the freight. The dialogues are easy to read and has just enough substance to enjoy the reading.
On the downside, the lack of story or having any kind of subplot is annoying. These are just meant to be one off chapters, stand alone in some ways. The ending is abrupt with no conclusion (not even to the power supply issue). And there is no news of a volume 2 as of date.
The novel is slightly adult oriented as the character is portrayed without any clothes for the entire duration of the book.
Overall, it’s a casual read but forgettable.

RJG Rating – 2.75/5
Goodreads – 3.49/5

[devynreads · Rating 2 out of 5]

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.

[Fraxica · Rating 2 out of 5]

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.

[BenBen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I actually like the slow story, it made think about teleworking, the pandemic, and what automation means for work. The art captures the ambience of a bibliophile in space and I loved the panels of Grandpa John squeezed into her spacesuit. That being said.....GIRL PUT ON A SHIRT FOR GODS SAKE. I get Tsuruta has a thing for it but PLEASE KEEP IT STRATEGIC, USE THE CLASSIC OVERSIZE TEE AS LOUNGEWEAR. THERES A REASON BEYOND PROPRIETY THAT HUMANS WEAR CLOTHES, UNDERWEAR DOES HAVE A FUNCTION. Its really unfortunate that this specific uh...fetish was a priority because its way more of a distraction than it is a help to the work as a whole.

[Niche · Rating 2 out of 5]

She's just naked and bored

This weird, it's pretty much just a naked woman and her cat surrounded by junk on a spaceship. The slice-of-life of life aspects aren't really cute, cozy, heartwarming, or introspective enough to be a selling point. The heroine's constant nudity is pretty "casual" (she doesn't have things like leg stubble, so there's some level of gaze, but she's not really in provocative poses or angles).

I was kind of bored with it, but at least there was no romance, so I can't say I disliked it.

[Mal · Rating 3 out of 5]

i feel like they wouldve put her naked on the cover if they couldve. is this some kinda nudist colony??? its weird she naked all the time and were never given a reason.

momo is boring, i get there doesnt need to be a plot but we only learn about what shes even doing till halfway through. kinda late fam.

yeah maybe ill read the next for entertainment value, female long haul truck drivers are great. but only 3 characters and one is a nudist in space.

like nothing ever even happens????

pretty forgettable

[Whisper · Rating 3 out of 5]

I randomly picked this book off the shelf at the library and when I opened was shocked to see that the main character is drawn naked for a majority of the story. It’s never addressed and I didn’t feel like it was sexualized so it’s an interesting choice. There isn’t much plot here, a little sci story about one girl and her ship. I thought the way this first volume ended was intriguing and would pick up a second volume. But I don’t think this is something I would ever recommend.

[Terry Mulcahy · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[kaitlphere · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like the creator's previous work Wandering Island and I like the chill vibes of this lady alone with her cat surrounded by books on a long-term space flight. But she's naked the majority of the time and frequently stretches and falls at male-gazey angles that detract from an otherwise nice slice-of-life story.

[Peter Connolly · Rating 1 out of 5]

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.

[Meaghann · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5☆

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

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?

[Kat Attack. · Rating 4 out of 5]

For the rot girl summer and the romanticized ennui girls. For femmes like me.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Milda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nothing particularly interesting, won't pick up the next one.

[Grg · Rating 2 out of 5]

I usually really like stories where nothing happens. but this is too much nothing, even for me.

[bry:3 · Rating 4 out of 5]

very cute manga, excited for the next volume. i love the concept!!!

[Carla A]

DNF I tried but could not get beyond the fact that Moshi-Moshi Momo has to be naked almost the whole time. Not really relevant to a plot just fan service.

[Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

The art is beautiful and I envy Captain Momo's day. There was not a bunch of dramatic plot, but the problems that do arise are very relatable to an average person.

[Sean Wilkinson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting premise, but I found it rather boring.

[Sabrina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Femme ennui in the midsts of space~

[Brett Marcus Cook · Rating 4 out of 5]

will probably do a full review for Planet Nude later but yeah, that's exactly how I'd be on a long space trip in a giant ship with few resources and only a cat to keep me company.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Less impressive than "Wandering Island" and "Emanon," but still fun.

[YuiHirasawaFan · Rating 4 out of 5]

walkin round the space ship buck naked hell yeah