Cosmos · review
Spoiler warning
This review may discuss plot details.
I dont usually post a full review of mangas here (because of the absurd rules) but i think cosmos deserves it. I am not quite familiar to Tamura sensei's work (i have never read beelzebub). So going into cosmos i was practically blind diving into a whole new world. The first hook of the story for me was definitely the slight tinge of romance between Rin and MY GOAT MIZUNORI. But as i kept on reading the manga kept giving more reasons to why i should continue reading it. The Art: 6/10 I think the art is fine, its not some unique art style or has anart that is so pretty you just gotta keep on reading. It's quite generic to be honest with you. However, the generic art definitely allows for more space for the story and character dynamics to grow from.
The story: 9/10
A short synopsis of this would be, a boy born with special powers got scouted by an intergalatic "insurance" organization and goes on bountiful missions to solve the galaxy's inner most secrets!
While that may sound like the most generic 90s or 00s style of stories possible, Cosmos definitely feels like it has more soul than the generic weekly problems type of stories. Somehow each arc continues to the next one, with hanging threads of the story left for future chapters. It keeps you reading by making you question how much deeper does the underlying story here goes. It gives you a payoff for unhealthy readers like me to scrutinize over the little details and having those little details pop up again on future arcs. As of writing (chapter 33), Cosmos is entering of what appears to be it's biggest arc so far, but due to how abysmally slow the release schedule of this manga, it still got a lot more shelf life to cover.
For the stories that are written though, they are incredible.
Slice of life stories amuse me more than the battle shonen type that Cosmos could be attributed too. But the stories of the alien mangakas are incredible. It reminds me of incredible works like Mushi-shi or Natsume Yuujinchou or even Frieren for how the stories are written.
Its the small stories which builds the world slowly that breathes Cosmos's its life. And as an enjoyer of the little things, i humbly request 100 more chapters of this.
The characters: 9/10
Here is where Cosmos is fun. With a grandieur world building of the entire universe, of course a manga like this would have a spectrum of characters to showcase. Our main protagonist (mizunori) is a kind hearted soul that is soul searching for a purpose to life, his partner Homura also is his mirror image, a wandering soul still looking for what purpose she serves while actively serving it. Soprano, a tragic character that doesnt let those tragedies get to her despite being oh so horrifying. Sunagami a badass aligator who's a great senior mentor to our protag. These are just the main ones, however what i like about cosmos is that these characters cannot shine so much without the plethora of other characters this manga brings.
The overarching antagonist the so called "Pied Piper" group are also an interesting foil to cosmos. A generic villanous organization whom by what the story is for now, just that. Evil just for the sake of evil (ik its for money but they are CARTOONISHLY evil). However, this big antagonist are written with threads hanging from them. Almost every encounter our main duo comes by has a connection to them, so the story eventually builds up to a big reveal of what they are.
Conclusion:
I think i yapped enough, go read cosmos, its hella underrated and im sure youd have fun with what the universe of this manga is offering to you. Or maybe you might think the story is too generic for you who knows.