Japanese Fan Comic: "Festival of Champions"

[Yuugis Black Magician]

I'm not sure how this forum likes to handle doujinshi, so I figured I'd post this thread here and then let a moderator move the thread where they deemed necessary.

Yesterday I was introduced to the Festival of Champions fan comic created by Tonbo Seijun. Tonbo posts the comic on their account and fans have been translating it. All nine chapters released so far have been translated, too (Google it).

The series is a mix of multiple official continuities (the games, the Satoshi series, the comics) and Tonbo's own ideas. I especially enjoy his original battle techniques, which add a level of flair the animated series cannot have for various reasons. I also love seeing the fan theory about Green's Ratta worked into the story.

 

[Ryousha]

I think it's pretty great. It feels very My Hero Academia-like with how Red and Green contrast, too much in fact. The way Green's smug *** face is drawn reminds me a lot of Bakugou.

I still very dislike the Green x Blue pairing that everyone seems to be into, but that was a solid character development for both Green and Blue when he tells her that the Espeon is now her's, etc.

I like how they worked the dead Ratticate idea, but not in the way fans thought it'd be played out. It wasn't dead in S.S. Anne, but still died regardless. I suppose it was intentional to make it so that Green has never lost to Red to continue playing on Green's ego that he will always be better than Red at everything, which might actually end up staying true in this comic.

I like how the Red vs. Misty battle was handled too, and how Misty was handled as both a mentor and friend to Red. Makes me really miss the Red/Misty dynamic in Pokespe, and I wish that came back.

The latest chapter was good too, very brutal with the stabbing of Umbreon. I expect a Mega Evolution next chapter for Houndoom because Alexa was shown a few chapters prior.

 

[Yuugis Black Magician]

A Mega Evolution would be nice. The comic has run for so long that Tonba could definitely have time to change his initial plans and start including the elements from newer games. I have to wonder if we'll see Green unleash a Mega Kamex in his next battle?

I love how Red is recognized by Wataru and the others for his role in defeating the Rocket Gang, too. What I really love, though, is how the battle affected him. The flashback to the time he was ready to abandon being a trainer was so powerful. I love how the flashbacks are used to highlight moments in the present story, but also give voice to the Pokemon themselves.

 

[Maxim]

I don't want to be accused of mini-modding, but I'm not sure if it's a good place to discuss doujinshi. Illustrated fanfiction is still fanfiction. I wish people talked more about all those official manga titles that simply get ignored.

 

[Yuugis Black Magician]

I don't want to be accused of mini-modding, but I'm not sure if it's a good place to discuss doujinshi. Illustrated fanfiction is still fanfiction. I wish people talked more about all those official manga titles that simply get ignored.

I addressed this in the opening post. That the thread has yet to be moved either means nobody cares or nobody is paying attention.

As for paying attention to official comics, quality is quality. Festival of Champions is quality work and deserves just as much if not more attention considering it's free from production committees that dictate what it can and cannot do.

 

[Kein]

I think it's better than Special ever was. It deserves far more recognition, and the fact that it's unofficial says nothing about its quality. And an illustrated doujinshi is a manga that can be taken very seriously in Japan, sometimes becoming official. Whereas an official manga can be nothing more than a marketing tool.

And Maxim, people would probably be talking about the other official manga titles if they were more interesting or accessible. I do like Golden Boys, which was sadly never completed or released in the west.

 

[Yuugis Black Magician]

Doujinshi are technically just 'self-published works', they can be both original comics that are sold through online stores or the Comic Market or they can be fan parodies (also known as 'side stories' or 'SS'). The way the fan parodies work in Japan is that so long as the title of the work doesn't use official names it's okay. This is why, if you look closely at this comic, you'll see the title pages refer to it only as Festival of Champions, not Pocket Monster or Pokemon. Similarly, when Toyble was drawing his Dragon Ball fan comic he called it DBAF, not Dragon Ball AF. The popularity of doujinshi has made it a viable market for recruiting talent for original and official works, too. Both Ooishi Naho and Toyble (now Toyo-tarou) drew Dragon Ball side stories before being recruited to draw official comics. As a result, the original licensors typically look the other way so long as a work doesn't make too much of a ruckus. Heck, even the creators will make their own doujinshi and sell them at the Comic Market! There are also creators who started out making fan parodies before switching to doing their own original work, like ShindoL. ShindoL was drawing 18+ parodies of Yotsuba to (under the title Four Leaf Clover) before being published in a magazine for original works. Heck, even now he still publishes fan parodies despite creating original works for publications. This is the strength of the Otaku market.

Nevertheless, Festival of Champions is a brilliant mark in the franchise's legacy and I wanted to post a thread in this sub-section because I thought it would garner more attention.

 

[lolipiece]

This thread is only up because I literally have no idea how we handle Doujins here. This place hasn't had any threads about the subject since before I was ever modded.

Anyways, I did some searching and here's Juptoru's opinion on the subject.

I'm fine with people posting about doujin manga as long as they don't involve anything that would break site rules(this means no explicit sexual content/extreme violence/etc).

Just don't go crazy, people.

...That being said, I'm going to remove those links. While you need an account to actually see any explicit material on that site, it's always good to be safe.

 

[Yuugis Black Magician]

Something I don't think I touched upon before was the liberal amounts of two-page spreads that Tonbo employs. I can't imagine how long it takes him to draw single pages, but the fact that he's going through all of the effort to draw even one or two spreads is amazing to me. I wonder if he uses any assistants? Surely this project is just something he does on the side while doing an original comic, so perhaps he asks for help here?

This thread is only up because I literally have no idea how we handle Doujins here. This place hasn't had any threads about the subject since before I was ever modded.

Anyways, I did some searching and here's Juptoru's opinion on the subject.



Just don't go crazy, people.

...That being said, I'm going to remove those links. While you need an account to actually see any explicit material on that site, it's always good to be safe.

Like you said, the 'explicit material' is filtered out. Now there's no link to the author's home page and whenever his name is searched through a internet search engine it will only bring up links to his work as hosted websites that upload original comics illegally. My direct download link to a .rar file on my Google Drive account was to get around that sort of thing.

By the way, the author goes by @seijyun09 on Twitter, in case anyone wants to follow his updates there.

 

[Kein]

Here's another link. There is no explicit content of any kind.

 

[Izanagi]

I recently did a binge on Festival of Champion and its really good. Probably the best Pokemon-related I've read in a long time. I didn't like Origins much at all really. It is really nothing more than clip show with pretty animation but there isn't much there. It was pure fan-service. I felt similarly with Generations but at least that had no pretense of being a story. This is what I wanted from Origins to be.

 

[Kein]

There was no way Origins was going to pull something like this off in 90 minutes. A shame that it wasn't a 13 or 26-episode series.

I do think that Origins could have done a much better job with Red's characterization and interactions. Adding Blue/Leaf would have spiced things up.

I've just finished reading the Red vs. Misty battle. Lapras' flashback is amazing, but I do have some reservations about the battle itself:

Spoiler: Spoiler

Why didn't Starmie use Thunder to begin with? It has Rain Dance and Misty did seem to command it to use Thunder at one point, but nothing happened and she ended up just ordering Thunderbolt again, which Lapras shrugged off despite not taking the first one well.

Also, Lapras mimicking Pikachu's Volt Tackle... is just cheap when it doesn't have access to Assist. It should have used its own Thunderbolt/Thunder had Red prepared for the battle.

 

[Yuugis Black Magician]

Mimicking Volt Tackle is more of a visual spectacle, not to mention it's taking part of the signature move of the main character's main Pokemon and using it on their own for a special moment. As someone who writes fiction, it's good to be able to write outside of the confines of logic for the purpose of emotion.

 

[Kein]

In that case, the flashback should have highlighted the connection to Pikachu.

Anyway, my interest in this manga doesn't stem from the battles, much like how my interest in the original anime series had nothing to do with them.

 

[Master_Tyrell]

I'm loving this original story, it really brings forth a lot of the emotions and drives of the characters. Also, it's great how the author decided to show characters from other regions.

The battles have been wonderful and I like the liberties he/she has taken with the mechanics of the battles. I did notice that the moveset might not be limited to 4 moves per Pokémon. I swear Alakazam and Umbreon used more than 4 moves.

There's also Karen, I think her character is wonderful and I love how she is trying to break the misconceptions of Dark type Pokémon. She brings a very good argument.

Spoiler: Karen

I also agree that she should have a Mega Houndoom, all of what she's doing just screams at her being able to achieve mega evolution. She uses Pokémon she loves and bonds a lot with them in an emotional level, which is the opposite of Gary. However, if she does have a Mega Houndoom,
I can't see how she would lose against Gary when he has a weakened Arcanine and a Rhyhorn as his usable Pokémon. Unless he finally taps into his emotional bond with his Pokémon (most likely Arcanine) and manages to win even against a mega.

 

[Yuugis Black Magician]

I also love how we see trainers from other Pokemon. I feel like making this tournament the Sekiei League probably wasn't the best idea, though. This should definitely be a little more like a 'National League', allowing trainers from all regions of Japan. Speaking of which. I love how Isshu is mentioned to be in America. That was a nice nod.

The Pokemon definitely use more than four moves. I think this adds an extra level of unpredictability to the fights as well as realism.

Karin is also great. I hope she uses Mega Evolution, but I suspect Green will overcome it, too. Tonbo is definitely setting the story up to conclude with Red being the one to defeat Green. Nevertheless, I love how Karin is trying to repair the damage done to the Evil-type name.

 

[Kein]

It was set in Indigo Plateau because there are three core characters from just Kanto, in addition to Misty and the Elite... Seven from both Kanto and Johto. So Tonbo threw in Steven from Hoenn, Volkner and Flint from Sinnoh, and Skyla and that random guy from Unova. Did they even collect Kanto/Johto badges or did they qualify via some honor/transfer program?

 

[CrimsonCourage]

So I just happened to stumble upon this thread and now I'm absolutely obsessed with this doujinshi. Could someone tell me how often this series gets updated with new content? I'm really eager to get more.

 

[Kein]

Apparently it started in 2011, so an average of 1.5 chapters per year... Quality takes time when it doesn't pay your bills.

 

[Yuugis Black Magician]

They probably don't have assistants, either, so that makes things slower if they want to release inked pages with backgrounds.

I guess we'll have to wait until next year for an update.