Reviewing comics great and small since 2006
This massive epic was created by Madras_Eclipse/Dattix2 and it’s a Touhou/Pokemon fan fiction I read some time ago and never got around to reviewing sooner.
The chances are if you’re reading the content on this site you probably have experienced Pokemon and possibly know what Touhou is but for those who don’t know Pokemon aka pocket monsters is a Japanese game/anime/comic/insert whatever merchandise here franchise. I’ve watched Pokemon since the late 1990s and have seen almost all of Pokemon (somehow).
Touhou is a Japanese game franchise, another product of the 1990s, the main protagonist is a young miko (a shinto shrine maiden) my the name of Reimu Hakurei. Touhou was and still is to a degree extremely popular in Japan and had generated a massive amount of fanworks in the form of doujinshi/fan comics, some of what are as fine as any work I’ve seen. In the west it has and still has a following amongst fans of manga and anime and gamers. I got into Touhou because of the ridiculously high quality fanworks. Just like this that I’m about to review.
Both Touhou and Pokemon borrow heavily from the shinto religion and Japanese folklore, Touhou aka the eastern wonderland is full of Youkai (think like Inu Yasha), and Pokemon basically are Youkai and these concepts play a huge role in the is fan fiction. They go together like bucket and spade.
The concept is simple enough, Reimu is doing her thing and then an ultra wormhole sucks her away to Pokemon land. That should be a major clue as to where in Pokemon land and when things will be happening. This as you can imagine isn’t much good for the denizens of Gensokyo, and Reimu has to learn how to do things the Pokemon way. This latest incident is most vexing indeed.
This fan fiction is very long, and would certainly appeal to those who like a good long read, it may discourage more casual readers. I read this one chapter at a time as it was released and for me it was a regular thing I read for nearly 3 years. I really enjoyed the story as she travelled about utilising her various skills to aid her in her Pokemon battles, the interplay between her and her favourite Pokemon was usually quite amusing to boot. All the while she just wants to get back to her life in Gensokyo, but she doesn’t dwell too much on her lot, she makes the best of her time in this strange world and adapts quite well to her life there.
The outlook of this fic is quite positive in contrast to the many darker offerings I’ve seen. It explores much more than just Pokemon battles often digging in to the more fundamental aspects of their respective universes themselves often borrowing from spiritual concepts common to both universes and at times it can be a thought provoking read.
Overall I enjoyed reading this work, it was a well written and put together crossover that stands out to me as being fairly unique with it’s positive and likeable character depictions and compelling world building. This being said though like many fan fictions it can fall into the usual traps that fan fiction often falls into which you’ll no doubt discover when you read it.
Review by ukmangaxl.com