Graphic Novel Review - 'Pocket Peaches' by Dora Wang

I don't know why, but I really like 'Pocket Peaches'.

Usually with comics like this, that aim to be cute, but especially comics like this that aim to be cute and are for young children - that aspire for nothing further than to teach one particular lesson, and be about emotional education - I can go, "Yeah, it's cute, but what else is there?", and I can easily move on and forget about it. But with 'Pocket Peaches', which is as cute, cartoony, and targeted towards tots as you can get, I find I adore this eighty-page, unabashedly cutesy critter tale that's light on conflict and is about friendship.

It's... so warm and fuzzy and fluffy and funny, and lovable, positive and earnest.

Set in a lovely little town called Pocketon, 'Pocket Peaches' is like 'Bluey', 'Miffy' (not so much 'Hello Kitty'), 'Bing', 'Hey Duggee', and 'Cult of the Lamb' (animal design wise, although...), and it stars a white rabbit named Peaches, a bear named Cream, a purple cat interested in the occult named Taro, and other cats, plus dogs (including Peaches' pet dog Sesame... uhhh), wolves, pigs, cows, elephants, tanukis, and foxes. There is also a book club, a 'Book of Monsters', carrots, a café, pastries, a hotdog, snacks, cookie making, frosted cupcake making, a movie night/slumber party, fluffy blankets, extra heavy blankets, super soft blankets, and shoulder angels.

It's a simple friendship fable, a tale as old as time, about accepting each others' differences, being honest, opening up, and becoming best friends. It is so cute, cartoony, charming, feminine and funny (I'm repeating myself, aren't I? Goddess I can't help it!), that I find it to be irresistible and unforgettable. It was obviously made with love, passion and compassion; like I stated above, there is an earnestness to it; to the whole little pocket universe of 'Pocket Peaches'. It's endearing in its sweet, cutesy-pie simplicity.

Children will gravitate towards 'Pocket Peaches', and I welcome it. It should be made into a TV series; heck, the comic volume is already a pilot episode put to print. If you are in the mood for cuteness, lightness and all-shining positivity in a world that desperately, vitally needs it, I recommend 'Pocket Peaches'.

Or maybe I like it because Peaches and her friends are fans of an in-universe magical girl cat TV show, 'Mew Mew: Dream Guardian'. Magical girls all the way! And book clubs, cafés, slumber parties, baked goods, and (possible) gothic witchery.

Scrumptious!

Final Score: 4/5