Captain Momo’s Secret Base Volume 1 Review

Mangaka Kenji Tsuruta might be best known in the West as the artist behind Emanon: Memories of Emanon (with author Shinji Kaijo), but today I’m here to take a look at a work that’s entirely their own: Captain Momo’s Secret Base. This Dark Horse release promises a “slice-of-life tale from the far future”, but does it prove interesting? Let’s find out!

Our story follows protagonist Momo, captain of the cargo vessel Blue Chateau. The year is 3019AD and humanity has taken to space with the kind of technological advancements that mean a ship like the Blue Chateau is completely automated. Momo reasons that the only reason a ship like hers is manned at all is so there’s someone to blame should something go wrong.

So Momo spends her time in a leisurely way during each trip; she’s got a special microwave-type device that can replicate any food (and, as she’s discovered, anything else she might want!). On this particular trip, she shares her space with a stowaway cat named First Officer John. As long as she effectively manages the electricity use as her ship is battery-powered, she’ll be absolutely fine and can slack off as much as she wants.

This volume is made up of 14 short chapters, all giving us brief glimpses into Momo’s everyday life aboard the Blue Chateau. These are largely spent reading, wandering around naked (putting her uniform on is deemed too much work) and playing with John who gets himself into all kinds of trouble in the cramped and cluttered living space. It’s not all plain sailing either as Momo realises she’s using up too much electricity and may not make it to her destination at this rate…

This is a somewhat whimsical tale where the stakes aren’t particularly high at any given moment. Momo is a likeable protagonist who has found herself in a comfortable job, the profile sheet for her in-between chapters even states she never leaves her beloved ship! Watching her go around completely in the nude for the majority of the work is distracting to start with (also why it’s shrink-wrapped with a parental adviser sticker), but as the work goes on you come to appreciate that it reflects how little Momo cares about what’s expected of her or what others may think. After all, here in the depths of space, it’s only her and the cat she needs to worry about, besides checking in with headquarters occasionally.

This is a fairly short release coming in at just 130~ pages, but I think that helps prevent it from overstaying its welcome. In the detailed postscript, mangaka Kenji Tsuruta talks about how it took five years to produce enough of Captain Momo for a single volume (due to only appearing in the magazine Rakuen three times a year). Given this only came out in Japan in early 2022, I can’t see there being a Volume 2 anytime soon.

We may not yet know if Momo is going to make it to her goal safely, but that’s not really the point. The enjoyment of this series comes from watching her journey and I think in that department this is a satisfying read. As long as you’re okay with the leisurely pace at which it conducts itself.

Captain Momo’s Secret Base Volume 1 comes to the West thanks to Dark Horse and has been translated by Dana Lewis with lettering by Betty Dong and Susie Lee. The release reads well with no issues. It’s been presented in one of Dark Horse’s bigger formats, which gives the art plenty of room to breathe. There isn’t a lot of dialogue here (besides some exposition early on) as Tsuruta opts for a ‘show not tell’ approach to Momo’s daily life in lavish large panels. There are several colour pages at the beginning too, which are a treat.

Overall, the first volume of Captain Momo’s Secret Base is a leisurely read as we watch over Momo and her feline companion. It might not be exciting or action-packed, but there’s a joy to be found in spending time with a book that’s not afraid to take it easy. It won’t be for everyone, but certainly, if you like the sound of the premise, I’d encourage you to give it a chance.

Our review copy from Dark Horse was supplied by Turnaround Comics (Turnaround Publisher Services).