Are the DVD and Manga worth a look? Take a look at the review to find out.
New Pokemon movies are like the seasons; one is going to be released every year and will revolve around a legendary Pokemon. Genesect and the Legend Awakened sticks to that formula with the stars of the movie/Manga are Genesect and Mewtwo. This was the first Manga that I actually sat down and read and didn’t know what to expect from it. I was pleasantly surprised with the results and enjoyed every minute of it.
Without giving away too much of the story, the Genesect had been revived after millions of years to a time that was tough to adjust to. All they wanted to do was go back to their home and they thought it was New Tork City (since Unova is based on the USA, it makes sense that a New York City like city would be the setting for the movie) Ash befriends one of the Genesect and promises to get it back home but the leader Genesect has other ideas which involve not taking orders. Mewtwo feels sorry for the Genesect and tries to help but the Red leader doesn’t take orders from anyone. Mewtwo isn’t too friendly around people but leave it to Ash to convince him humans aren’t the enemy. How will Mewtwo use that information to get Genesect to stop destroying things? You’ll just have to watch the movie or read the Manga to find out.
The Manga starts out with a minor guide on how to actually read it because it assumes that Americans or whoever is reading it won’t know that written works are read from right to left in Japan. Like I mentioned before, this was the first Manga that I have sat down and read and I really enjoyed it.
The animation was great and some of the scenes look like they could jump off the page. The part where Mewtwo and Genesect are in outer space, fighting, has a great illustration to go along with it. Action moves much faster in the book compared to the movie and is a little darker than the animated series. When the power goes out in Pokemon Hills, the image of someone having surgery performed on them and then possibly dying is something the animated series doesn’t hit on too much, except in the movies. Compared to the movie, most of the animation looks great as well, like the scene where you first see the Genesect nest in Pokemon Hills.
The Manga also has to go a good job in drawing character features like facial expressions to express mood/feelings. Scenes where the Genesect are fighting Mewtwo show this very well as for the part where Pikachu gets hurt and Ash looks like he is losing his best friend show facial expressions very well. Ash and Pikachu are best friends so Ash should look devastated as well as scared. The book doesn’t have the luxury of music to help set the mood. You don’t notice how much the animated series relies on music and other things besides looks to set the mood and that was a nice touch.
The Manga also does the little things well too. It has Misty and Brock make a minor cameo when talking about the world and everyone in it. When Ash, Iris, and Cilan are having “a side conversation” they get a little head/ small illustration and have their dialogue just written, not in a dialogue balloon. I was also surprised by how much action gets into something that is a quick read. I thought it would take a while to read but I flew through it, I just couldn’t put it down.
In terms of the DVD, Genesect and the Legend Awakened fits in with all the other Pokemon movies. It has action and great music. It has Ash saving the day, yet again but did you expect anything else. It has legendary Pokemon and great fight scenes to go along with them. The DVD starts out with the menu and the traditional dramatic Pokemon theme plays on a loop and that lets you know right away that this movie means business. The movie also comes packaged with a limited edition Pokemon card for the trading card game as well as a special card to commemorate the movie.
The DVD also has the trailer for the movie as well as typical DVD menu stuff like scene select and set-up so you can have captions and the right language to watch the movie. The Manga is basically the movie so the story details apply as well but has the luxury of music to help set the mood as well as verbal dialogue instead of written. The way you read something and hear it are two different things. You start to feel for the characters when you can hear their voices, like the young Genesect that Ash befriends.
The lack of special features on the DVD is really the only thing I would say could have been better or for a lack of a better term, even exist. Even if a trailer for the next Pokemon movie would have been nice to see but wasn’t meant to be. The movie has just the right amount of action and drama as well as suspense, all things that add up to a good movie. The DVD of Pokemon: Genesect and the Legend Awakened gets a 9/10 and the Manga gets a 10. The DVD’s lack of extras didn’t help it in the long run but the trading card included is a nice touch. The Manga, for it being my first foray into Manga, was great. I went in with a blank slate and was blown away. It was interesting to see another side of the Pokemon franchise, this time through illustration and didn’t disappoint.
SCORE: Manga: 10
DVD: 9
Score: 9 / 10
