Pokemon

Publisher
Viz
Country of origin
Japan
Year
1997

Magical Poke’mon Journey Volume 7

By David Rasmussen
7th Jun 08

If there is a problem with the Poke’mon franchise as a whole it’s that the series seems to (for the most part) have an allergic reaction to change or variation. Ash is still the lead of the Animated front (sad since this series came out you’d think eventually they’d shift gears and let the cast of this series take the reins), the best Poke’mon games are still the 100+ hour RPG games that has the same format (and the same solid gameplay), and the best Manga… breaks the mold by shifting gears and formats with surprising results.

Now sit back, and watch the wonder of Shoujo Manga at work!
Let the power of Shoujo compel you!
Here, in a world with a new cast that all seem to have tasty food names.
A new Poke’mon cast that, at times, can talk (some of the Poke’mon have that Meowth ability to speak human)! Oh, and besides that they can also fall in love, date, get married, grow old, and have complex relationship dynamics… unlike Poke’mon the regular series.

As you can see from the above the usual normal Poke’mon mange format is thrown out into the trash with Magical Poke’mon Journey, as a new series with a more female leaning format yields new surprises, new ways of seeing the same Poke’mon, and thus new experiences (including a few that seem rather disturbing for some reason).

In this series Ash is replaced by a female lead named Hazel. She and her pals Coconut and Almond (and all their Poke’mon both of the English speaking and non speaking like a Pikachu, Squirtle, Eevee, Clefairy and so forth), and that brings new challenges and new stories. Starting with a strange grandpa (related to Coconut and apparently replacing Professor Oak or whoever) who makes the worst inventions… too bad his “Ginger” (hot female character) has come back to take the little old Sith Lord black cloak hooded failure back to the family compoud to take his place once again as the head of the family business.

Now he isn’t too hot on doing that… why, considering the “facts” of the situation, I don’t get… but if he can make an invention that can with this inventor’s competition then he can continue to live away from home and “invent”. So what does he do as his one and only inventive chance to stay “free”? Build goggles that allow people to eat Jigglypuff’s food!

Oh, did I mention that Jigglypuff gave up her attempts at a musical career, and changed gears towards baking food that make people explode? She did, she did.

A trip underwater (with the use of a special substance to allow everyone to breath underwater) goes badly as Pikachu and Clefairy are nearly eaten by a Omastar… maybe the grumpy bitter Qwilfish can help them out of their bind and the trouble they get into when Clefairy is accidentally poisoned by well meaning yet kinda retarded Shellder.

Next up it’s Poke’mon in LOVE as Eevee and his beau Lu (another Eevee) experience the ups and downs of love as Eevee rushes to meet the returning Lu (visiting for a week) for their first date, only to end up getting into abit of trouble, then Eevee finds out that this title actually allows the spirits of the dead to appear regularly as he is visited by the spirits of a female trainer and her Raichu (old friends) while Eevee’s body is hijacked by a bitter spirit of a Golduck in love. Quick! Somebody call the cast of Ghost Whisperer! The Golduck needs to be led to the light! The light!!

Clefairy struggles with her talent for drawing, and her self doubt, as she finds herself in a drawing competition as her self doubt over her talents begins to erode her former enthusiasm for her new found talent in drawing.

Villainy (the first villains of the series according to the book) arrive and threaten the dreams of Almond, and maybe his ability to love as well… maybe the power of love can overcome… maybe.

The creepiest story of the lot, featuring an elder water Poke’mon (a Quagsire) suffering from the Poke’mon version of Alzheimer’s… which isn’t creepy in itself, except he is looking for a female Charmander (a fire type) and we find this out when he jumps on top of a male Charmander calling him by his love’s name… WHAT ARE YOU DOING ON TOP OF THAT GUY POKE’MON!! CREEPY!!
(Oh, and if you guessed the story has a bittersweet end you’d be right).

Finally a few shorts (more of Jigglypuff’s acidic new “hobby”) and we’re done.

Stepping out of the proverbial box, Magical Poke’mon Journey provides a fresh way of telling Poke’mon tales with a better emphasis on things like love, romance, whimsical new fun adventures, good humor, Ghost Whisperer style supernatural, creepy things… oh, and a bonus section that is really a bonus! Information on both the Asian and European translations of names as well as how the title of the series looks in Japan, China, Taiwan, etc. That’s a plus, by the way, a really special special section.

Round it out and you got a fresh breath of creative innovation in a mostly stagnant manga area of the Poke’mon franchise. A new way to view things, with fresh writing, beautiful artwork, and stories that really take you well past what you’ve seen in “Ash”’s adventures and gives you a fresh taste of good manga content.

4 creepy Ghost Whisperer Poke’mon that are NOT Ghastly, Haunter or Dengar out of 5.

-- David Rasmussen 7th Jun 08