COSMOS Vol.1 Review

It's been some time since we've done a manga review. As such, I'm aiming for the stars with a review of the hotly anticipated release of COSMOS by Ryuhei Tamura. Big shoutout to Viz Media for providing us a review copy! Let's go.

The Author

Ryuhei Tamura

Tamura-sensei was born in Gifu Prefecture, April 19, 1980. He debuted in 2000 as a finalist in the Story King Awards for his oneshot Red Brothers. He then went on to win the special Jury Prize for the 79th annual Tenkaichi Manga Awards in 2003 --of which Hiroyuki Takei of Shaman King fame was the judge. That year was good to him, as he went on to win a top twelfth Shonen Jump Newcomer Award place --this time judged by Yu Yu Hakusho/Hunter X Hunter creator Yoshihiro Togashi for his oneshot URA BEAT. This went on to be featured in Weekly Shonen Jump. 2003. In 2008 he then went on to create the prototype for the series he's most known for Beelzebub which won the Shonen Jump Gold Future Cup. Beelzebub then went on to be serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump from 2009 to 2014. This was followed by Hungry Marie which ran in Jump in 2017, and Shakunetsu no Nirai Kanai (known as Hard Boiled Cop and Dolphin in English) from 2020 to 2021. He served as Toshiaki Iwashiro's assistant (best known for his series Psyren as well.)

Beelzebub

Hungry Marie 

Hard-Boiled Cop and Dolphin

So to get this out of the way-- it's criminal (but understandable) that Beelzebub hasn't seen an official release in any capacity in English. Letting my bias show for a bit, but I'd say aside from today's subject, it's Tamura-sensei's best work. See, the thing with Tamura-sensei is he has such an offbeat, over the top while simultaneously dry sense of humor. Think the highflying straight-man routine from series such as Gintama with an “oh-that-happened” deadpan of something out of a Rumiko Takahashi work. Beelzebub represented both halves of the Tamura whole wonderfully, and I wish more people could own it officially. Though, hot take --while Tamura is very capable of drawing characters throwing arms at each other, I think his specialty is dialog based situational humor. Though hey, it's worth reiterating he can draw some amazing looking fights, as well as emotionally driven stories as well. You can read his most recent series (pre Cosmos) over at Viz Media if you want an idea of what I mean.

The Series

COSMOS 

Cover of issue #5 of Sunday GX featuring the first chapter of COSMOS

In Japan, COSMOS makes its home in Shogakukan's seinen manga anthology Sunday GX  (or Sunday Gene X). It has been serialized since April 19, 2023. The tagline describes it as a series that “Takes a step into an unknown world.” 

The Premise

---Even Shogakukan saw it fit to advertise Beelzebub rather than Tamura-sensei's more recent work, which really does say a lot. That aside, in this series, Kaede is a boy who has the ability to smell lies. While this sounds like a handy ability, it instead makes it difficult for him to fit in with his friends who fib liberally --heck, in society where getting through a day means telling a white lie or two (to either yourself or others. 

In spite of this, he involves himself in the search for a classmate that takes on a bizarre turn when said friend turns out to be an alien! More than that, he's an alien who's got an investigator after him --cue Rin Homura, a small woman with a big job, alien insurance.

Aliens? In my manga? It's more likely than you'd think, and Tamura-sensei knows it. So rather than a series about how bizarre aliens are in deference to humans, he takes a surprisingly more mundane path in Cosmos, instead focusing on alien money trails. In a way, this financial focus reminds me of Takashi Shiina's Ghost Sweeper Mikami (another series that's sadly not available in English) in that the supernatural is viewed through the lens of a more capitalistic approach. In GS Mikami Ghost problems came from the Japanese social-economic bubble bursting. However, in Cosmos aliens have been with humanity for over a century, living among humans. They have but one rule to follow --don't bring alien currency to earth. 

It's due to this that the stories told in COSMOS feel more human than alien in their conception and execution. From this first story about finding a friend to a later one about a terminally ill alien's last wishes, one shouldn't expect to find a battle manga about ridding earth of an invasive species. Rather, it's a work about how similar the aliens are to us. Nothing says this more than Kaede being headhunted by Rin to join the agency COSMOS because of his ability to sniff out lies, be they human born or alien. Aliens have reasons to lie and break the rules ---because they're just as fond of Earth as we are, maybe even more than us. In that way, the stories in this first volume have a sympathetic vibe to them, even when the aliens are up to no good.

Again, Tamura-sensei's work shines when he's able to brandish his otherworldly (heh) yet dry sense of humor. Casey Lee's translation keeps the quips and dialogue nice and snappy, while Stephen Dutro's out done himself with the lettering. This dynamic duos ensure that readers get a release on par with the Japanese version on both translation and lettering fronts. 

The manga has been recommended by the greats in Japan, From Tite (Bleach) Kubo, Kazuhiro (Ushio and Tora) Fujita, Hiromu (FMA) Arakawa, Rumiko (MAO) Takahashi and Hiroyuki (Letter Bee) Asada. 

Like Snowball Earth before it, COSMOS has been recommended by artists all over, and I see why. Tamura's always had a way with writing engaging scenarios, be they of bravado or something more thoughtful.. The first volume hums along at a great pace, giving readers three different scenarios to enjoy, all of them broadening the scope that is the world of COSMOS. Perhaps the one downside to this inaugural volume is that by the time it ends, it's hard to get a grip on the auxiliary characters. The initial premise of this being about alien money feels like it goes to the wayside slightly, but I think that's more of a feature than a bug. Tamura has a story to tell and while it would be convenient if the first volume could contain it to give readers an idea of where he's going with it, eagerly anticipating another volume is a good problem to have.

Kaede's introduction into the world of aliens is more human than sci-fi, and COSMOS (the agency) is filled with colorful characters (his boss is basically Ultrama--, oh yeah can't say that without getting in trouble). Those who are expecting an alien exorcism or battle manga might be put off at first, but if they keep reading, they'll find something just as good (maybe better) than battles. This has the potential to be a treasure trove of stories, no…a cosmos of them.

Translation: Casey Lee

Touch up and Lettering: Stephen Dutro

Editor: Annette Roman