Pokemon Diamond & Pearl Adventure! Discussion Thread

[Juputoru]

Pokemon Diamond and Pearl Adventure(often abbreviated as DPA) is an eight volume manga following the adventures of a Pokemon trainer named Hareta. Hareta is on a quest, given to him by Professor Rowan, to meet the legendary Pokemon Dialga. He is accompanied on his quest by Professor Rowan's assistant, Mitsumi, and the wandering trainer Jun will occasionally join their group as well. Hareta also encounters Team Galactic, and has several conflicts with them as their evil schemes begin to unfold.

DPA is notable for its heavy focus on Team Galactic, to the point where Hareta's encounters with Team Galactic are the driving force behind the plot. Although these encounters often result in serious situations, the manga is, at its heart, a comedy - even the most tense situations can be(and often are) interrupted for a gag. It also tends to be very sappy at times, which flows naturally from Hareta's tendency to assume that everyone is(or can be made into) a friend & his dedication to helping anyone who needs it.

Viz started releasing DPA in English in April 2008, and it just released the final volume in November 2010. It was the first multi-volume manga Viz released since it stopped releasing Pokemon Adventures in 2003(although Viz's translation of Adventures has recently resumed).

As this manga has been finished for several months, I will not require the use of spoiler tags for discussing its plot points in this thread. Be aware of this if you haven't finished reading DPA for yourself!

 

[Blackjack Gabbiani]

In all honesty, with this series' heavy reliance on friendship as a plot point, I expected them to use the Rotom history in dealing with Charon. Especially if it didn't work, considering he'd already sold out said childhood friend in the name of science and money.

And also I was disappointed in the ending. It would have been so much better if it was just one chapter longer, expanding on the last battle. Honestly as a final confrontation in a series with so many awesome characters and battles, the final battle was a real letdown. We didn't even get to SEE it, for the most part, and the main villian was never truly confronted.

On the villian note--I love what they did with Team Galactic. They're HUMAN, and even their most reprensible of actions is based on human flaws. Even down to something that went entirely unaddressed--the commanders' loyalty to Cyrus even though he had tried to kill them. From a personal standpoint it makes sense, even if it doesn't from a storytelling standpoint. They have loyalty issues to him, and that overrides everything else, although it would have been nice for them to touch on that.

 

[chamo-chan]

Man, DPA! was really enjoyable.
Hareta is probably one of the most interesting, funny, diabetes-inducing boy ever. I wish he was my brother. ;w;

the whole Team Galactic focus on the manga was pretty cool too. This is only the second Pokemon manga series I've read (the other being Special), but it was good to see some more focus on the bad guy's interaction with each other rather than confrontations with the protagonists.

In all honesty, with this series' heavy reliance on friendship as a plot point, I expected them to use the Rotom history in dealing with Charon. Especially if it didn't work, considering he'd already sold out said childhood friend in the name of science and money.

I know what you mean. It would have been cool to see his backstory, but at the same time, Charon's a jerk. :c

And also I was disappointed in the ending. It would have been so much better if it was just one chapter longer, expanding on the last battle. Honestly as a final confrontation in a series with so many awesome characters and battles, the final battle was a real letdown. We didn't even get to SEE it, for the most part, and the main villian was never truly confronted.

I would've been content if it ended at Vol.5, or if Ihara expanded more on the ending to Vol. 8.
I really wanted to see Hareta and Giratina VS. Everyone else.

Also, not enough Volkner. :'c (or Sunnyshore)

On the villian note--I love what they did with Team Galactic. They're HUMAN, and even their most reprensible of actions is based on human flaws. Even down to something that went entirely unaddressed--the commanders' loyalty to Cyrus even though he had tried to kill them. From a personal standpoint it makes sense, even if it doesn't from a storytelling standpoint. They have loyalty issues to him, and that overrides everything else, although it would have been nice for them to touch on that.

You hit the nail on the head BlackJack.
Cyrus and the commander's interactions were pretty cool. Cyrus himself is probably one of the more interesting characters. I think what made him more interesting was his interaction with Mitsumi. He raised her in a similar way (I think) that he was raised, but unlike him, Mitsumi managed to mostly break free of his whole "emotions are bad and you are never gonna have friends" stuff he tried to cement into her mind. Hareta, Prof. Rowan, and her pokemon's friendship made all the difference, but in Cyrus' case, I don't think he had friends. Because he was lonely his entire life (or so his in game backstory says) he pretty much thought this way too, but there was no one there to save him. Poor guy.

Anyway.
Great Series.

 

[Blackjack Gabbiani]

Hareta, Prof. Rowan, and her pokemon's friendship made all the difference, but in Cyrus' case, I don't think he had friends. Because he was lonely his entire life (or so his in game backstory says) he pretty much thought this way too, but there was no one there to save him. Poor guy.

I'm so glad this canon exists for that reason.

I was talking with a Japanese fanartist who does a lot of Galactic art over the summer, and she said that when she played the Distortion World scene in Platinum and Cyrus went on that tirade about spirit, she said to herself "Why can't I be Hareta?" If one person showing him compassion could make that much of a difference, the fact that your character, who is supposed to BE you, is incapable of doing so is just unspeakably tragic.

And I do think it would have had an impact in the games. Even in DPA he had to get his *** kicked before he could consider that what Hareta had told him had a point, so likely it wouldn't have played out IN the games, but there would have been a hint at it being his potential future. You know? Like what was said about if DPA had ended at volume 5.

What I think is most telling about Ihara's interpretation of Cyrus is the rant in volume 5, in particular the part where he says that "hatred, jealousy, and burning anger are the only TRUE emotions of humanity!", then later when he says "Worthless! Emotions only cause pain!" ...and then flip back to in between those points to the scene where he waited for Hareta for several hours, putting off putting his entire life's work into action simply so he could have the chance to see this kid again.

Of course, by the time Hareta gets there, Cyrus is already power trippin', but there's still breaks. And that's ultimately what winds up saving everything--Hareta's overwhelming positivity was what got through to Cyrus enough to get him to tell the secret to controlling Dialga.

I think overall the series is more about him and Mitsumi than it is about Hareta. Certainly Hareta is the main character and we see him the most, but he doesn't really change. The storyline most impacts Mitsumi and Cyrus, and both are able to come to terms with themselves.

Although I wonder if the Galactics would be permitted to just live their lives without conflict. Not only are the issues of what drove them in the first place not really settled (Cyrus never really repented about the world, only realized that creating a new one was impossible and friendship actually matters. Saturn still has his violent impulses, as demonstrated in volume 7. And so on), but I find it hard to believe that only Charon could get arrested for his crimes.

Granted, it's somewhat true to the game, where Saturn is permitted to linger in the HQ for as long as you play, but it still doesn't really make any sense.

And I've TLDRed for too long.

 

[Lorde]

Ah, the Diamond & Pearl Adventure manga series was a joy to read. I actually got into the manga by accident. I had purchased manga online and when the package arrived, I noticed that they had sent me the wrong manga. Instead of returning it, I read it and I enjoyed it quite a bit. It wasn't until a few months later that I bought the second volume and I continued on from there. I recently purchased the final volume of the series, so I've officially finished the story. I think the thing I liked most about this manga series was its focus on Team Galactic as well; I couldn't relate to characters like Cyrus until I read this manga. Hareta was also an enjoyable character since he was just random and funny. I wish the series hadn't ended :c

 

[matt0044]

Ah, the Diamond & Pearl Adventure manga series was a joy to read. I actually got into the manga by accident. I had purchased manga online and when the package arrived, I noticed that they had sent me the wrong manga. Instead of returning it, I read it and I enjoyed it quite a bit. It wasn't until a few months later that I bought the second volume and I continued on from there. I recently purchased the final volume of the series, so I've officially finished the story. I think the thing I liked most about this manga series was its focus on Team Galactic as well; I couldn't relate to characters like Cyrus until I read this manga. Hareta was also an enjoyable character since he was just random and funny. I wish the series hadn't ended :c

I wish that Ihara-san didn't skim over most of Sinnoh and made it longer, expanding on all that Sinnoh had to offer.

 

[Blackjack Gabbiani]

Yeah, it would have been nice to see more of an in-depth look at things, but on the other hand, it was really nice to see a villian plot given the forefront over a badge quest, with the villians humanized and fleshed out.

 

[Lorde]

I wish that Ihara-san didn't skim over most of Sinnoh and made it longer, expanding on all that Sinnoh had to offer.

Yeah, I get what you mean. By the second volume of Diamond & Pearl Adventure, I noticed that things were going way too fast compared to some of the other Pokemon manga I had read. I had actually sort of noticed that in the first volume, but I had expected things to slow down so that important details wouldn't be skipped over. While I am a bit disappointed with the pacing, Shigekatsu Ihara still managed to add just enough material into the manga to make everything run pretty smoothly. Anyway, 8 volumes is better than nothing I guess.

 

[Blackjack Gabbiani]

Indeed, although it would have worked a lot better if the finale wasn't so rushed. Although I think that was probably out of his hands. It seems like he set up for something far more epic, but was probably told that he had fewer months to work in than he had planned on.

Hmm. He has a Twitter account and apparently loves fan mail. Anyone write Japanese here? We could ask him.

Although even if it was longer, I doubt it would have given Volkner any larger of a role. Some people are just doomed.

 

[Nyarth]

I love Diamond in this series. He's so adorable. ^-^

 

[Blackjack Gabbiani]

Except there's nobody named Diamond in the entire series.

 

[lolipiece]

His name is Hareta

Ha-re-ta

Not Diamond

 

[Nyarth]

Except there's nobody named Diamond in the entire series.

I know, I know. I made a mistake. I mis-read the title of the thread. I didn't know it was that big of a deal. :C

 

[Blackjack Gabbiani]

Well, it's a big deal because Diamond is in a very different series, and it's tiresome to see people think that Special is the only manga out there. I like Special, but I'm tired of seeing discussion of it slop over into other discussion areas because of things like that.

 

[Nyarth]

Well, it's a big deal because Diamond is in a very different series, and it's tiresome to see people think that Special is the only manga out there. I like Special, but I'm tired of seeing discussion of it slop over into other discussion areas because of things like that.

I know he's in a different series...I mis-read the title and thought that this thread was about Pokemon Special Diamond and Pearl. Sorry, it was just a mistake.

 

[lolipiece]

This is the reason why Viz is calling the Diamond and Pearl Chapter "Platinum"

 

[Nyarth]

This is the reason why Viz is calling the Diamond and Pearl Chapter "Platinum"

Yeah, you're right, I just forgot. Everyone makes mistakes now and then. ^^

 

[JB2448]

Actually, VIZ is now calling it Pokémon Adventures: Diamond and Pearl/Platinum, along with the induction of this lovely new cover (which they haven't seemed to roll out over the old one yet, since it's a VIZ Kids publication (this is the biggest I can find of it)):
[IMG200]http://www.viz.com/sites/default/files/products/pd/pd9636.jpg[/IMG200]

Anyways (in a silly attempt to make this a little more relevant to DPA), is it possible that Ihara could make a sequel series?

 

[Blackjack Gabbiani]

Direct sequel, doubtful. I can see him referencing the characters in an otherwise unrelated work, though.

 

[chamo-chan]

^
It would be pretty interesting to see another series written by Ihara again, even if it's not a sequel to DPA!, it'd be pretty cool.

Also, Blackjack, didn't you say that Ihara drew another Pokemon manga before DPA!?