@ Nova Brunswick: Cilan in the anime has the benefit of being involved with an entire series rather than not much beyond the first gym town.
I'm half and half with whether the anime did Giovanni better. Initially yes, since in his debut generation he was a far more intimidating and mysterious figure than the games. Game Giovanni was a tough mafia figure, but Anime Giovanni was a G-rated Blofeld. However later games, long after Giovanni lost most his relevance in the anime, made Giovanni a more charismatic figure and expanded his character more than the anime did
So for me the best Giovanni is without a doubt the Pokemon Adventures version. Now Giovanni of the anime? He's not really that good of a character in my opinion. All he does is sit in that chair, petting his Persian and talks to the trio from time to time. It feels like after Gen 1, the writers really had no idea what to do with his character any more ever since GameFreak looked past Team Rocket in future generations. Giovanni of the Pokemon games? Okay, okay, interesting first-time antagonist. Since his Gen 1 debut we have the charismatic but ruthless leader of Team Rocket who is continually explored character step-by-step from different angles such as fatherhood or through the perspectives of his followers. To this day, he remains a fan-favorite and one of the easiest Gym Leaders to beat unless your playing USUM.
Now Giovanni of Pokemon Adventures? Holy @#$% where do I begin with this guy. Adventures Giovanni captures everything GameFreak envisioned for the character while also going beyond that, just showing how ruthless, smart, calculating and charismatic this character really is. Never have I seen an adaptation like Pokemon Adventures that truly captures Giovanni as the kind of man who recognizes the talent and potential in others, offering a deal you cannot refuse while also saying to those who dare challenge his authority that they are going to be in a world of pain and unlike his game counterpart, such a threat feels very real. There is an actual sense of intense dread and fear to those who dare battle him revealing that he's always ten steps ahead of you, that he isn't messing around. As a friend once told me, she would be afraid of challenging such an intimidating yet charismatic villain. If he shows his sly smile, be afraid! If he shows his silent anger, still be afraid! Whenever this man appears, you know shits about to go down so run.
However what makes him arguably a better Giovanni than GameFreak's very own Giovanni is how the manga handles his mystery, who is the Leader of Team Rocket and who is the Leader of the Viridian Gym. In the manga, at some point of the story you get a sense that Red feels like he's being watched from every corner, that you start to realize that Team Rocket's presence in almost every town and city as a random coincidence is slowing emerging as a facade, that the mystery of who the Leader of the Viridian Gym and Team Rocket is still on your mind ever since you've encounter his grunts and the empty Viridian Gym. Step by step, you start to realize there is a bigger conspiracy in the works and when Red finally meets the Viridian Gym Leader, he realizes just how dangerous Team Rocket truly is, how much is at stake here, that this is no longer a simple gym battle.
