Manga: Pokémon Adventures
Story/artwork: Hidenori Kusaka/Mato
Publisher: Viz Media
Unlike the original anime, the Pokémon Adventures manga presents an adaptation of the original Pokémon games. The main character in the first arc of the series is Red who leaves his home in Pallet Town after losing a battle to Fucking Gary Oak… er, I mean Blue. After an encounter with Professor Oak, Red receives a Pokédex and sets off on his journey to see all the Pokémon in the world and become the world’s best trainer.
As the story begins Red repeatedly meets Blue and their rivalry continues to grow. With each encounter Red becomes more and more determined to become better then Blue and eventually show him that he is the best trainer in the world. The story starts to follow a similar path as the first generation games and Red challenges Brock in his first gym battle. After defeating Brock, he journeys through Mt. Moon where he fights Team Rocket with his new companion Misty. Red then battles for two more badges before the first volume ends.
In Lavender Town Red attempts to defeat Team Rocket in the Tower, but discovers that Blue has been held captive by team rocket and controlled by a Gastly to fight against anyone who enters the tower. Red defeats Blue and frees him from his captivity. The pair team up to defeat Koga who has joined team rockets elite squad.
In general, I would have liked to see a lot more detail put into the story. It jumps around quite a bit and Red just appears in new towns and we don’t see what happens to him while he travels. Random side stories, such as a bicycle race take away from the story and distracts away from the main story. More battles with wild pokémon and trainers would be a welcome addition. However, it is still a Pokémon manga, and as such I love it anyway. I had the same complaint about the Pokémon Origins Anime, but really I like that they made an attempt to make a manga which reflected the story of the original games.
Anyway, I just received a big shipment of manga which includes the rest of this arc of the Red and Yellow arc of Pokemon Adventures. I look forward to reading the rest of the arc and writing reflections on them soon.
Let me know what you think about the Pokémon Adventures series in the comments section below and whether or not it was good the way it is or could do with a few changes.
Turtle
Check out the Pokémon Adventures manga for yourselves. Available from bookdepository:
Vol. 1: http://www.bookdepository.com/book/9781421530543/?a+aid=turtlemanga
Box set: http://www.bookdepository.com/book/9781421550060/?a_aid=turtlemanga
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