Pixie Pop: Gokkun Pucho, Vol. 3

Pixie Pop: Gokkun Pucho #3

by Ema Tōyama, Aska Yoshizu (Translator), Hope Donovan (English Adaptation)

For Mayu, things are getting a Little fruity! Pineapple Juice turns her into an arrow-toting Cupid, and melon makes her the most sought after Girl in School! But she's still not happy! When a serious new love rival enters the picture, Mayu will have to choose between the perfect man and her long-time crush... who's leaving for America!

The juicy conclusion to Pixie Pop will be sure to leave you thirsty for more!

Genres: Manga, Romance, Fantasy, Shojo, Graphic Novels, Magic, Manga Romance

208 pages, Paperback

First published July 6, 2005

About the author

Japanese Name: 遠山 えま

She made her debut in September 2003 in the monthly manga magazine Nakayoshi with her story, Tenshi no Tamago ("Angel's Egg", no relation to the anime movie of the same name). Gokkun! Pūcho is considered her best representative work. Tokyopop has licenced it under the title Pixie Pop. All of her works are published by Kodansha, and they are enjoyed mainly by preteen and teen girls. None of her series have yet become anime.

Reviews

[Elizabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Saccharine, silly, and juvenile, but still a harmless way to pass the time. It helps that it's such a short series, because I was able to read it in one sitting, but I am a sucker for fluffy shoujo manga, however absurd they can be.

[Bibliothecat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review for complete series



Mayu finally finds the courage to tell her long-term crush Amamiya that she likes him - unfortunately, it seems he doesn't even know who she is! Trying to tell herself to get over him, Mayu heads off for a drink at her parents' café where the drink fairy Pucho appears. It seems Mayu drank a fairy potion by accident which now transforms her depending on what she drinks.

If you are looking for a deep and meaningful manga - this is not it. But that doesn't mean it isn't a good one! It is unapologetically soaked in cuteness and uses it to its advantage. I found that many cutesy manga take themselves too seriously which is often awkward in the face of all the sugar. One look at Pixie Pop will tell you it's a cutesy manga: it screams pink, has hearts and glitter and extremely pronounced eyes. But if you're willing to go along with the ride, it is simply fun. It pokes fun at its over the top cuteness, it is silly but most importantly it intends to be silly.

There are lots of clichés but I feel as though Touyama knew what she was doing. They're not there because she couldn't think of anything better, they are there because they're such commonplace in this genre and Pixie Pop both embraces and makes fun of it. If you've read a couple of manga by Touyama, you'll know that she dabbles in all sorts of genres and they definitely don't all suit the same reader. If you have enjoyed other works of hers, it doesn't mean you'll like this one, nor should you read it with the expectation that it has a similar feel to her other works - it won't, unless you're picking up Mamacolle.

I think Pixie Pop receives a lot of undeserved criticism from people who are either not the target audience or simply had different expectations based on the author's other works. The protagonists are very young and this is definitely for the younger manga readers. Where others have found this perhaps shallow and lacking, I thought it was absolutely hilarious. Mayu is a fun protagonist whose reactions to all the silly situations she gets herself into are just to laugh for. It's pretty unrealistic such as Mayu staying away all night without so much as a word to or from her parents, Amamiya's past crush simply dragging him off to the USA and so on. But let me repeat, this manga is not trying to be serious or realistic.

Although I said that this is not the right manga if you are looking for depth, at times, I was surprised by some of the more thoughtful moments. Amamiya is pretty down to earth with how he explains he doesn't want to go out with someone he doesn't even know - shoujo female characters can be quite obsessive and it's one of the things that

Pixie Pop likes to poke fun at. I also like that when it comes down to it, Mayu seems to give her friendship with Pucho at least the same value as her feelings for Amamiya.

One of my personal main downsides to this manga is that Amamiya is ultimately a pretty boring male character. He may be down to earth but he's also pretty cold and the story only briefly touches on the reasons why. Beyond that, we don't ever really get to know anything about him. But hey, this is Mayu's story and she's so hilarious and enthusiastic about winning Amamiya's affections that I can root for her regardless of how little we know about him.

The art is cute although I know that quite a few people no longer like this style of shoujo eyes. I'm perfectly happy with it, though I do prefer Touyama's more recent style. It's not everyone's manga and I do think it'll be harder to read the older one is. But I stand by what I said: this manga receives a lot of undeserved backlash for something that is so good at deliberately being over the top.

[Rereader · Rating 4 out of 5]

I cried. I fucking cried. Holy fuck, I didn't think I'd cry at the end, but I did.

I don't want to spoil too much as this is the final volume, but what I will say is that I loved the friendship between Pucho and Mayu. I honestly liked their friendship dynamic more than Mayu's relationship with Amamiya, but the romance was good too. The ending was too much for me, I'm so glad it ended the way that it did.

That's all I want to say to avoid spoilers. Final thoughts regarding the series: this was a cute, fun, and funny series. I loved the artwork/art style, the story was okay, but I LOVED the friendships and relationships. This series won't be winning any awards for creativity or storytelling, but it was a thoroughly enjoyable read and I hope others will give it chance.

[Alexandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a heartfelt finally. Tears guys, tears.

[Soobie is expired · Rating 3 out of 5]

The was probably the best volume in the series: the one that flows better, the one that makes more sense, the funnier one.

I still think that the best parts of the series were Mayu's weird transformation. From an old woman to Cupid to a super-athlete. The concept could work way better with another target in mind: this is a sort of middle-grade series.

Maybe sacrificing the romance part would have made a better series too. I mean, the romance part was boring. Amamiya is one of the least interesting male character I've ever read about in a shōjo manga. In the end, all he always does is making poor Mayu cry.

Well, now I'm ready for some more Ema Tōyama, maybe with something a little more mature than Pixie Pop.

[Rizkyuhae · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mayu, the daughter of a cafe owner, is unlucky in love until she meets Puchou, the magical fairy of beverages. Now, whenever Mayu drinks something, she transforms accordingly! Milk makes her grow large, water makes her invisible, pork soup turns her into a cute little piglet. But what will help her win the man of her dreams?

waaah so cute (*^0^*) kenapa cuma sampai vol 3??? tambaaah Ema Toyama Sensei. Saya masih ingin melihat banyak adegan Amimaya dan Mayu >0< Saat Pucho menghilang, tadinya saya menduga kalau endingnya Pucho akan menjadi anaknya Mayu dengan Amamiya, tapi ternyata tidak seperti itu. ah... coba endingnya seperti yang saya duga, pasti perfect!! (bagi saya hehehehe :p)

[xXQueenofHeartsXx · Rating 5 out of 5]

They get married and Pucho reappears. So Adorable

[Maud · Rating 3 out of 5]

Check out my short series review here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfo_m...

Love the art style and all the different transformations whenever Mayu drinks something. Wasn't crazy about the love interest though, he was a bit too cold for me. But other than that it is a fun, cute and short manga series that I definitely recommend!

[Alice · Rating 3 out of 5]

*3 or more is good for comics, manga or graphic novels. I never really know how to rate some of these. There are some where I'm totally in love, know automatically it is a 5 star, but then some I am just not sure about in the first couple volumes.*

Cute.

[Helena · Rating 5 out of 5]

BEST BOOK IN THE WHOLE SERIES!!!!!! (obviously)

[The Third Place A Teen Library]

F TOY pp v.3

[Crystal]

Great series! Very cute!!

[Ana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute series and a light read.

[Evie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think my teeth are going to rot right out of my skull after all that sugar. I regret nothing.

[Samantha Ewasiuk · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very childish sweet cute lovely pretty nice simple easy going manga great for kids/teens/preteens really. I did enjoy the art/story/characters. I found it to be really short and fast sadly. I wish it was longer and had more to the story/characters really. I did like her. I did not find it to be really a magic/transforming magic girl manga at all really.

She did not really do much with her transformig at all but really stalk her crush. I found her too be really too childish for love/married/relationship. It did not seem like it should have been a romantic manga at all or have romantic between the characters at all.

Her friend did not seem helpful at all for helping her gain her crush at all. I felt they rush into the marriage part at the ending too fast/soon it did not make sence at all. It did not fit with the story at all.