Pokemon Manga Review Thread

[Faerie]

Welcome, all, to the one and only Pokemon Manga Review Thread!


What is this thread?
It's a place where fans of any of the Pokemon mangas (or just people who've read them) can gather and write reviews for any of these mangas. This is different from a "Which manga is your favorite?" thread in a variety of ways:

1. You don't necessarily have to pick one you like the most or least to write a review for.
2. Reviews always provide reasons behind the opinion stated; in a favorites thread, no reason is necessarily required.

You can write a review for any manga at all that is within the Pokemon franchise. Anything from Dengeki Pikachu to Golden Boys is accepted! Also, for mangas that come in different arcs (ex. Pocket Monsters, Pokemon Special), you may write a review for only one part of the series (ex. a review for Pocket Monsters RS or the RBY arc of PokeSupe).


What's the point?
There are a variety of reasons for a thread like this.

For one thing, it's fun (in my opinion) to post your opinion about a manga and to be able to read other people's words on it, too. Also, instead of just seeing "i liked it," you can read real reasons behind the opinions. On multiple occasions, my opinion about something has changed because of a review I read that pointed out many things I haven't thought of.

It's also a good way to learn about mangas you haven't read yet! You can come here and read reviews for manga without having to hunt around the internet for reviews. This is especially helpful when you're looking for reviews of obscure manga. If you can't buy it online, how else are you going to find a review for it?


What are the rules for posting in this thread?
I'm pretty lenient when it comes to rules, but I do have a few guidelines I'd like everyone to follow:

1. Don't just say, "I liked this manga." or "This manga was really dumb, I hated it." This is a review thread. Please try to write at least a brief paragraph about why you liked or didn't like it. Discussing high and low points is very good.
2. You don't have to use a spoiler tag, but please warn us if the review you have written contains spoilers for the manga! For that matter, don't write manga synopses, either.
3. Follow all Serebiiforums rules. This one's a no-brainer.
4. This one should go under #3, but it's so important that I will stress it in its own rule: no flamewars! If someone posts an opinion you don't agree with, don't get angry at them for it.
5. On that note, discussion is OK also, but try to post mostly reviews.
6. This one should be obvious: don't post reviews for mangas you haven't read (ex. "I haven't read this one, but it looks dumb/good.").


Reviews Index
PokeSupe GSC Review by vtommy1 (Incomplete)
Pokemon Special/Adventures First Arc Review by chamo-chan
PokeSupe All Arcs Review by kawaii-lurve (Incomplete)


Links
Serebii.net's Manga Section (PokeSupe only)
Dogasu's Backpack's Manga Guide


Happy reviewing!

 

[vtommy1]

Spoiler Alert: Pokemon Special (Adventures) Review

Updated 8-12-2008 WARNING VERY LONG RANT!!!
Pls. don't bash it's not fun... doing this in Sum. School. Just an informal review. will update later. To be frank there's going to be SPOILERS!!!

My views on the between the Manga and Anime.

I’ve decided to do a review (More like a summary of what I remember) of the entire PokeSpe Saga since it’s one of the most excithing manga series I have ever read. It solidifies my position that “There’s more to Pokemon than the anime” *Bashed and Flamed to death by Satoshi-tachi fans* HELP!!! (No offense) You do have to admit that the anime could take some cues from this rendition of Pokemon. (I know, I know and I admit that me alone can’t write more than 500+ episodes of an anime while maintaining things like “plot continuity or kid-friendliness) I just can’t help watching the Pokemon anime without laughing (due to childish reasons) But things are starting to look somewhat good with the DP Season, like the introduction of Hunter J (now that’s a villain) for instance…. Oh well on with the review…

An overview of Pokemon Special

Pokemon Special (Adventures) is about the various Trainers and Coordinators who hold Professor Oaks PokeDex- An encyclopedia-like device. Unlike the game and anime versions owning a Pokedex in this rendition is quite a distinction. (You probably have a special trait or somethin’) These ‘Dex holders as the Fandom calls them attempt to complete the PokeDex for Professor oak (or the region’s respective Professor) while eventually trying to thwart the plots of the “Evil” organizations or groups in their respective region. (I think that people in the Pokemon World are a bunch of radical progressives compared to ours.) Has anybody noticed that all the “Evil” organizations have either an environmental or humanistic reason for being “Evil”? Oh and don’t get me started with the Pokemon Centers (It's Universal Health-Care in disguise!!! Talk about the so-called bad things about socialized medicine. Imagine having to pay everytime you go to the Pokemon Center “Free Healthcare for everyone and all Pokemon” –that’s my mantra)
This series has Governmental structure, Action, Drama, Romance for Pete’s sake, they actually age!!! What else do you want????!!!!

PokeSpe RGB Saga
The start of a new chapter in Pokemon
Now this saga is a bit slow at first but bear with it. (It’s sad on how people rarely finish a book cover to cover, including me (;_; ) We are introduced to Red the so called stereotypical PokeLoving protagonist (Yet not as close as being a shonen-tard as Gold is) A few chapters ahead … Bang! Mew comes into the fray… Team Rocket tries to catch it but Red sees it first and is badly mauled …Mew escapes… after Green (the quiet-tactical type) sees that it was a losing battle, he lectures Red on the strength difference between them blah blah… Then Red continues his journey to become the Kanto-Johto PL Champ… along the way he meets a young girl named Blue which turns out to be quite the con artist…yet they become the best of friends. His journey led him to some of Team Rockets plans such as the use of the Pokémon Tower as a base (Loved the Gastly Possesion concept) Red gets to thwart most of Team Rocket’s plans with Green and Blues help (The ‘ZapMolCuno” concept was nice yet the Eevee experiments was sad but Red gets the Eevee!) and Silph Co. (Team Rocket’s Headqurters in this rendition) gets destroyed and Team Rocket “disbands.” Surprisingly all of the Gym Leaders are either part of Team Rocket or against them (Justice Gym Leaders anyone? LOL.) Then the Pokemon League Tournament starts. The semi-finals was between Oak (In Disguise) and Blue in which we are treated with blues flying-Pokemon phobia… Oak disregards his win against Blue and the battle between Red and Green becomes the Finals. Red won in a very close final move, kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time and is now the Kanto-Johto Pokemon League Champion!!! Now who could those four watching Red be…


PokeSpe Y Saga
A few months later….
Yellow a “Boy” comes into the scene searching for the missing Red!!! With the help of Bill and the Two other ‘Dex holders they uncover the Shitenou’s (Elite Four, will use this name instead for Dragonguard's reasons) plot to destroy the world with Lugia and rebuild it into an environmentalists WET-DREAM!!! I absolutely loved the Inter-Regional War between the Gym Leaders and the Shitenou. Yellow, the ‘Dex Holders (Red turns out to be battling Bruno but was frozen by Lorelei… Freed by… Giovanni???) and the TR Gym Leaders (What a surprise…) go to Cerise Island which was the Shitenou’s Headquarters. There they battle the members of the Shitenou and culminizes with the amazing battle between the children of the Viridian Forest (Yellow-Lance???). the End???
You know what I call the Shitenou? A bunch of “Radical Misguided Environmentalists.” Send them to our world and see how they’ll react to the massive environmental damage we have caused… I mean the Pokemon World might not be Pendragon’s Third Earth but the harmonious society is enough to send the average person to tears!!!

PokeSupe GSC Review
First of all this arc represented a high point in the story line of PokeSupe along side PokeSupe RS usually considered a coin toss. The fact that the Main Antagonist has humanistic reasons for doing "things" that could be considered selfish in the end. Going through great lengths such as scarring little kids life and leading them to the path of "darkness" is quite surprising.

Will update later....

 

[chamo-chan]

Oh boy, reviews!

Well.....I'll review the first arc of Pokemon Special/Adventures.
It's good that the writers of the manga started off with making a manga based on the first games of the Pokemon Series (Red, Blue, Green-japan only-).
I loved how each character, even Blue, who was introduced in the second book, develop along the first arc.
I especially liked the parts of the arc when Legendary Pokemon were introduced.
Also, the manga's introduction of Team Rocket was good too. Instead of just showing them as regular thieves, Team Rocket was given a more menacing role.
I can't really think of any real low points, but I might later.
Anyway, that first arc of PokeSpe can get anyone into the manga.

 

[kawaii-lurve]

I shall review all of the Arcs.

First Arc: R/B/G

When you first read, you might think “Oh no! Another journey?” or “Is it going to be like the anime?”
But when you continue reading, you would realize that it’s better than the anime. But why?
It has an awesome story plot and something we have never seen before. Examples are the Safari Zone tour – the breeding ritual. You would never imagine that the pokémon would actually fee on other kinds of pokémons. And also the combination of the three legendary birds into one single pokémon.
The battle with Giovanni is just awesome. Not only do you have to beat him, you still have a race against the time.
The last battle is the best of all. There are big changes in the characters’ personalities – something not in the anime. Red’s skill in battling impresses me the most. First are the water vapors, then electrical charges and lastly, lightning strike.

Second Arc: Y

The Elite 4 has this crazy plan of eliminating the entire human population. The dex holders team up with their ex-enemies – Team Rocket. More tricks from Blue such as the floating jiggypuff in the smokescreen and the broken arm. The battle against Lance and all of Yellow’s pokémons evolving at the same time are just so awesome!

Third Arc: G/S/C

Started with a reckless kid named Gold trying to get a pokédex from Professor Oak in order to beat Silver and meet the Mask Of Ice a few times during his journey. Something unexpected - Lance working behind the scene to help Silver.
The battle of the 2 region’s Gym Leaders and the selfish plan of Pryce.
The last battle is just awesome with all the dexholders battling against the Mask Of Ice and Yellow is revealed to be a girl.

Fourth Arc: R/S

The most emotional arc. Started with an unpleasant encounter between the two main characters. Ruby’s battle with his father, Norman. The fight between Ruby and Sapphire and their journey to the cave of origin. Not to forget the confession. The return of Mimi and it evolving. Celebi came to save the day!

Fifth Arc: FR/LG

Continue later… Need to go out now!

 

[Shadow Dream]

I'm actually amazed at the lack of replied to this... I think I'll throw in my cents for Special/Adventure. Minor spoilers contained below since some of these traits are plot related.

Overall

I would say that the Special/Adventure manga introduces whole new dimensions to Pokemon! No one "has" to get badges. In fact, in some cases, the Gym Leaders aren't even leaders yet! But there are fights in which each character grows and develops. And, as mentioned before, they do literally age. What I would like to look are are the elements introduced into Pokemon itself from each arc... though I've read very little of the arcs, I've only just finished the first one recently and just started the second one.

Elements of RBY

I truly have to applaud the creativity introduced into this one. Right off of the bat you can see the differences. Pokemon can see and interact with people through the Pokeballs, and the people can interact right back with them! It makes a lot more sense than carrying a Pokemon around, blind to its environment, and have it randomly snap out of its ball to save the day (anime reference). Another thing, the release triggers can be broken off. Pokeballs in the anime are scarcely ever broken, and the seals are never seen as things to target, but it answers the question of "hey, that looks like it's not attached very well, can it break off?"

Another thing is trainer involvement in battle. I mean, how do you expect to not get blasted by that scorching hot Fire Blast? Unless you're in a trainer box specifically elevated to protect the trainer, aren't you in harm's way too? In manga, Pokemon and trainer seem to actually fight side by side, rather than the person being a helpless bystander that miraculously never gets struck because an attack just "happens" to always fall short of being threatening to the trainer.

I also like the "rogue" element they added to certain characters, such as Green, who actually learns from his rival (as opposed to Gary who is just aloof), and the same for Giovanni (who is never really involved in the anime).

Elements of GSC

I'm just barely into this arc, but I can say that I truly am already in love with some of the new ideas released into here. Once again, it shows a true side-by-side fighting style with Pokemon, and for once, the "heat and cool down quickly" element isn't overused to the point of "oh, I know what happens next". I was actually surprised when it was finally introduced, and since I'm also up to date on the anime, that's pretty astounding, don't you think? Even to catch one fan off guard from the lack of constantly overused solutions. Also, it was introduced as a close comradeship between two Pokemon with a close bond rather than "oh, anyone can do it".

Another thing is how the special balls were introduced and used. To have them actually only work when you hit a certain spot on the Pokemon, which varies between species, is brilliant and actually makes sense. For some Pokemon, finding that sweet spot might be harder than others.


...


And that's all I've got to comment on so far. I'll add more as I progress in my reading (promise! I'm enjoying reading the series quite a bit!).

 

[Latias 24]

My turn, I always wanted to post here, but I have no mood and time...until now.

[Might contain spoilers!]

R/B/G Arc
Actually, I never started with this arc. My first book is book 14 {Chinese version}, which was accidentally bought, and I can't believe I threw it to one side at that time. I have to thank Coronis for writing the manga section in the main site, therefore, explaining to me what book it is, and attracting the story to me.

Mostly of the first arc, I read from Coronis's summary, or either I downloaded them from the internet. I know the story, but I can't remember the details much. >_<

I have to say, I am quite impressed with the beginning of the story. How often do you see a story that has Mew in the starting point? It attracted the reader's attention right away. At least, it was nothing the same as the anime {No offense to anime lovers}.

There are also events that we would never have thought. Such as what Kawaii-Lurve had said, the breeding ritual. There are also legends about the Vermillion harbor evolution stones, which Red obtained three out of four of them. It's actually not hard to get addicted to this manga.

They also have a very interesting way to end things, at the last volume of each arc, there will be a little preview of the next arc.

Yellow Arc
We started of with Yellow disguised as a boy. Even we all are fooled till the end of the arc. Who would have thought? We are also told of her powers, which might have placed her as a Mary sue, but yet, the writer negated that by letting her have little knowledge of Pokemon, and have a team of pokemon which is rarely use. Like, who starts with a Ratata anyway?

Then there is the evil elite four, and we actually got an idea how a pokedex stops evolution. That's it for this arc I guess.

G/S/C arc
Interesting, but personally, I don't favor this arc much. But it still got me hooked, why? Because the author constantly introduce new things to the manga. We have the breeding center, how they train and stuff. Also and idea on why Suicune is running around the region, which is what we all thought to make the video games harder, but now have a story. And there is the train crash. The only part I like is the final battle.

Not only they actually care to put more detail to WHY the villian is doing his deed, his history is strong enough to make you actually rethink again, and may forgive his bad deeds.

Ruby/ Sapphire Arc
We have a small story at the past, we also get to know the Elite Four deeper. The Elite Four actually did something, and Steven uncovered the braille code, to open the entrance to the three regi's. Makes things more realistic no? We even see how dreadful the effect from Kyogre's constant rain, and Groudon's drought ability.

Then, Celebi is brought back, giving a totally shocking ending. Not to forget, the romance scene in it is unexpected too, which is quite satisfying. Even if you are not interested with the story line, I think the two main character's personality is interesting enough.

Firered/ Leafgreen arc
This is probably the only arc which have a sad ending, sad for us. Statues, petrified to stone, our favourite characters. But that simply proves that some villians can be really, coldhearted, and good guys don't win all the time. Giovanni get's a better spotlight in this arc, and we get to know him better.

At the end of this arc, the author succeeded in keeping the readers in suspense, and provide a good ending as well.

Emerald Arc
Yay! We get to know the fate of our favorite characters, and we have a new character! Emerald is particularly interesting because he is a midget, and no one expected that. We also get to see what the older characters have been doing, and not all will continue to be a pokemon trainer, like Crsytal who is now working with Professor Oak.

We also know why the Battle Frontier is built, they gave us a quite detailed explanation, and guess what, they use an old villain! That makes the whole series quite exciting, especially to those who had been reading since the beginning of all the arcs.

Jirachi's wishes, we get to see how they are use, and the limit. Three wishes, because of its tags. Quite explainable no?

Well, I can's say anymore yet, because the whole series has not ended yet.

Overall Conclusion
I say, this is one of the most interesting manga I ever read, and it is quite commendable. I love the series, it is so real, and at leats we know trainers aren't as useless as they look like. The Pokemon get to show their abilities and attacks, not only we get an image on how it was done, we get the image of the effects too. I say, it is not hard to rate all the series 10/10. ^^

 

[crystal hikari]

Hello I'll reveiw the parts of the manga I think refers to Sinnoh and the #29 of Emerald; there might be some spoilers.

Personally I always thought it was neat when something was said which might have to do with Sinnoh, for example when Green was talking to SIlver about Rhydon's evolveration.
Well, mostly I enojyed the the Emerald series and [on a side note I thought that FR/LG was awesome too. Because it was suspenceful and when I learned of the seniors being petrified I just had to read emerald.]
So, anyways I thought it was a mysterious twist when it turned out that Emerald knew the Lati's, and I want to know how and why he knew them.
Also, I liked the predictable parts, like Silver staying "concious"," Gold's bluffing about the Faraway Isle sand, and of the conversation of "peskygirl" and "..." it sort of made me feel happy because it made me remember the good, bad, and far-out there times.
I also had a lot of hop for a connection of the 10 dex holders and Sinnoh.
Because, when Guile/Archie said "Gal..." when Crys was remembering I thought ? Galaxy, then Galatic, as in SInnoh's evil team.

As well as that I loved the moments of suspense, for a second I even thought Scott was evil because he wanted that last wish, and for what? more tourism.
Also, I liked the hint about Gulie's weakness; towards the end, definatly predictable, exploiting the famous 10 for tourism, but I would have liked maybe a full-detail description and possible a little more reaction from everyone, if there could've been an add scene.
Lastly, hearing about all those people on the boats gave me nostilgia [I think that's what its called.]
& I liked how it ended with the "gal" "mystery" and talk of Prof. Rowan.
I think I can sense another, time-absorbing, epic, suspensful, kinda romantic, awesome story coming up

 

[pika_97]

Hi! I'm a new member. Anyway, I'll try to review some of the Pokemon Manga I own.
Pokemon Adventures (Special in Japanese):
RGB Saga: It's kinda good. I think Mato draws the characters a bit too young. Red's starting to look like an 8 year-old in there. So's Green and Blue. Pika's very cute in there, though. The battle strategies devised by the characters are a bit obvious. That 'Zapmolcuno' part is a bit weird, considering that it never happened in the games. Hidenori Kusaka is stretching the truth a bit too much, so we can think it really did happen in the games. But the messages of this series is really good.
Yellow Saga: My most hated series. I really don't like Yellow. I don't get how Giovanni managed to free Red from the ice (since they're supposed to get the ice shackles from Lorelei first). The 'send the energies of the attacks by the fishing line to beat Lance' is soooo passe. It's kinda like the GSC saga, but worse.
GSC Saga: Really great series. The concept and plotline of this saga is really good. At first I don't like Mato's style of drawing but Satoshi Yamamoto's is awesome! In all of the issues, I like Vol. 13 and 14. I don't like Silver in this series. The battle with Pryce is quite quick.
RS Saga: Funny at first series. This used to be very funny in volumes 15-18, but lost its touch in Volume 19. The fallout Ruby had with Sapphire was quite suprising. I didn't know it'd be that serious. I hate Ruby's personality after he realized what he's doing wrong. I think it's called 'Too Serious'. Kinda like Crystal's personality. Ruby still appreciates beauty, but he's not showing it in some not good-looking Pokemon. I like Sapphire (of course, she's my 4th favorite character) but her sniffing things is pretty gross. I really didn't expect Celebi to appear in this series. As I've said, this series has a lot of unexpected events.
FRLG Saga: A great comeback for RGB. Red looks super hot! (My favorite character) Blue doesn't seem herself in here though. I also hate Silver in here though, his hair has grown longer. He's horrible. The petrification in here is quite suprising.
To be continued...

 

[Latias 24]

I guess I am here to finish off the Emerald Arc review.

[Spoilers]

Emerald Arc
This is my favorite arc so far. Honestly. When the last book was published, I was one of the first ones in this forum to get it, and it was really interesting. They managed to keep the ending satisfying, yet full of suspense. Those who wants to know what happened to the statues were really satisfied by the result, no surprise, but the way they defrost [literally] them was expected, yet enjoyable all the same.

They also managed to gently introduce Sinnoh in, with the appearance on Riley's arrival to the battle frontier, much like other cameos in this series. His appearance was really important, since he introduced the fact he visited the Emerald Battle frontier to the Sinnoh one, during the platinum arc. This might mean the appearance of the old characters, cheers to all!

However, they could have put some romance in, and the lacking of that genre in Ruby and Sapphire's part was rather disappointing. Let's hope that the Dppt series would satisfy us with more couples.

Overall, the book was rather good. 9/10 for the lack of romance. ^^

 

[pika_97]

Continuation:
Emerald Saga: Sorry, I only got volume 28 so far. Anyway,this one is pretty good, but I hate Emerald. Too bad he lost to Tucker... anyway bla bla bla, Archie reveals himself,bla bla bla, sorry for my limited review about this arc.
Other manga:
Pokemon Diamond and Pearl Adventure! Volume 1: This is a bit good and a bit not. Hareta and Mitsumi's hair are very different from their game reference. Team Galactic makes... 2 appearances, none according to the game. Hareta gets 2 badges, bla bla bla, though I wonder what Hareta's age is, he seems like a young child, but doesn't think like one.
Pokemon Diamond and Pearl Adventure! Volume 2: The same as Vol. 1. This one is irritating, it didn't show Hareta's gym battles for the 3-5 badges. And Cyrus doesn't seem too cold, unlike in Pokemon Adventures. And why is Riley's other eye covered by a shadow? Is Shigekatsu trying to make a mystery out of him?
To be continued...