Invasion from the ancient past! Creative Staff
Story/Art: Momota Inoue
Translation: Tetsuichiro Miyaki
What They Say
After being gone for 300 million years, the Pokémon Genesect reappears in the world! When a group of Genesect try to take over the home of other Pokémon, Mewtwo engages them in a fierce battle! Will super speed be enough to win this fight?
Technical:
The front cover here is an image of Ash and Pikachu running while Red Genesect is in its flying form, all placed over an image of Mega Mewtwo Y. It’s a decent cover, though it’s worth noting that the composition could lead you to believe that Ash is surfing on Red Genesect, which would just be silly. The back cover shows an image of Pikachu, Genesect, Sableye, and Axew hanging out, as well as a quick summary. The paper quality is solid, honorifics aren’t used, sound effects are translated, text reads smoothly, and English names are used for Pokémon and characters.
The art style used here does a good job of capturing the look of the anime, and fortunately none of the Pokémon look out of character. The book does a solid enough job of displaying emotion, and there are even a few surprisingly nice action shots. Backgrounds appear frequently and look quite nice. It’s also worth noting that the art does a good job of distinguishing between the Red and regular Genesect despite lacking color, which could’ve been a real issue considering the plot.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
As the volume opens up, we find a group of four Genesect and their red leader looking for their home, only to find nothing where they thought it should be. Mewtwo then appears to offer a hand, but they decide it’s an enemy and go on the attack, forcing Mewtwo to retreat and mysteriously comment that they are Pokémon that came back to life after 300 million years. Meanwhile, Ash and company arrive in New Tork City, where they visit the fancy facility meant for housing Pokémon known as Pokémon Hills. A park employee named Eric shows them around, and they get to observe how the Pokémon are able to live peacefully in the middle of the city.
While staring at some flowers with Pikachu, Ash ends up meeting (and surfing on) one of the Genesect from before. It manages to have a peaceful conversation with Ash, expressing its desire to return home. Ash promises the lost Pokémon that he’ll help out, but before he can do so the other Genesect appear, and the Red Genesect forces them to attack. Fortunately, Mewtwo appears and shields our heroes from the blast, explaining in the process that the Genesect were modified by humans after being awakened from their long slumber. As a result Mewtwo feels a kinship to them, but it’s unwilling to trust humans enough to work with Ash and company, and ends up departing. Back in the Pokemon Center, Ash notices a picture of the flowers he saw earlier, and Eric explains that they’re called “Ortus,” an ancient type of flower that they’re successfully growing at the park.
Back at Pokémon Hills, the Genesect invade and start to build their nest, driving the other Pokémon out in the process. This has the added nasty effect of gumming up the city’s power supply, which is located in Pokémon Hills. Though our heroes run into a Genesect while in the complex, it’s the kind one from before, and it explains that it cannot reject Red Genesect’s orders. It just wants to go home, which it nostalgically remembers as containing Ortus flowers. However, Red Genesect soon appears to mess things up, and Mewtwo shows up to confront it. When words don’t work and Red Genesect’s Extreme Speed proves to be a rather powerful attack, Mewtwo Mega Evolves (which is weird since it doesn’t have a Mega Stone nor a bond with a trainer). An intense battle ensues while the other Pokémon and human characters try to keep the collateral damage under control. Finally, with some determination and heartfelt words from Ash, the other Genesect, and Mewtwo, Red Genesect sees the error of its ways and stops trying to blow everything up.
As the volume wraps down, Ash thinks to ask Eric where the Ortus flowers came from, and uses that information to find the Genesect’s home, where they can finally live in peace.
In Summary
For an adaptation of a movie for the Pokémon anime, this book actually does pretty well, and doesn’t just feel like an empty cash in. I unfortunately can’t speak for how well it adapts the movie as I haven’t seen it, but as a standalone work it’s a decent read. Ash’s friends don’t really have much of a purpose here, but Ash’s relationship with the Genesect is a nice touch. Furthermore, by allowing Red Genesect to act as a “villain,” this volume still allows for rather awesome clash between two Legendary Pokémon. Mewtwo even gets some pretty nice characterization, and the setting of Pokémon Hills makes for a solid backdrop. It’s nothing outstanding, but this book makes for a nice little read for fans of the series, and it does a pretty good job of telling a self-contained story in the space of a single volume.
Content Grade: B
Art Grade: B+
Packaging Grade: B+
Text/Translation Grade: B
Age Rating: All Ages
Released By: Viz Media
Release Date: December 3rd, 2013
MSRP: $9.99
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