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When I was around 11, my parents took me to Disneyworld (weird, I know)
and, in God's creation: the Epcot Center (Japan) they were selling a
combo box of Pokemon Special mangas, specifically, the
Gold/Silver/Crystal generation (also known as GSC)
these ones! The box isn't the real one I got, I found this one online. I used the box for my 3ds games until it broke lol
I got so obsessed with these things, that it got to the point where I ended up learning how to write (and read) in english just so I could interact with these mangas as much as possible, so thank the Pokespe mangas for the blog you're reading right now, they did a good job.
The mangas also came with this image as a poster. Wow! Look! It's all the characters from the first 2 gens! (I couldn't find the poster :( )
However, it wasn't until 2020-2021 where I started interacting with the surrounding fandom of the mangas, and found out how small is the dedicated group to it's stories and characters, so I decided to make this blog! Therefore, maybe, if you like them, you can check them out :-) they're kind of difficult to find online, but I promise it's worth it! And here, I'll talk about why!
The Pokemon Special mangas are good, actually.
And why you should read them right now!
The Pokemon Special mangas- also known as Pokemon Adventures or Pokespe by fans- are a separate Pokemon-based release in the shape of comics! Specifically, Pokespe is mostly takes inspiraton by the titular games- since there's mangas based on the show, with Ash as a protagonist-, however, Pokespe loves to play on the formula stablished by said games, but I'll get to that later.
The Pokespe mangas were, originally, written by Hidenori Kusaka, and illustrated by Satoshi Yamamoto. They deal with more centered stories and heavier themes than the Pokemon games or shows, and said stories are all interconnected! Hidenori loves to bring back characters from older generations, and, since the mangas aren't connected to an in-game canon, they're pretty much their own thing! This makes the stories of each generation easy-to-get-into, while simultaneously allowing old readers to get some time with their favorite characters!
I personally love this way of framing the story. For example, in the GSC mangas (the ones that got me into Adventures on the first place), there's the comeback of characters from the first generation (Red, Blue, Green and Yellow, known as RBGY). At the time of reading, I had no idea who Red was! But the way the story is framed- making a higer focus on the protagonist of each generation- made me understand his specific importance to the GSC storyline, while simultaneously not taking focus away from Gold, Silver and Crystal's personal journies in the universe. It made me want to read Red's story, so I could understand what lead him to appearing on the GSC mangas!
Another example of this is Green (one of my favorite characters btw), who, if you read RBGY before GSC, you'd know is Silver's sister, and you'd be familiar with her storyline. However, if you start with GSC, you'll quickly understand that Silver and Green are siblings! It's explained at some point in the mangas, since Silver's arc depens a lot to his relationship with Green, and how he grew to be the trainer he ended up being! This way of framing the characters (both inviting to new readers and interconnected between gens) makes the story accesible, but also rewarding! You can pretty much start reading at any generation, and will still be in for a treat! The only exceptions to these aspects are the sequels to some specific mangas, like FireRed/LeafGreen and the HeartGold/SoulSilver special chapters.
But like, cmon, they're basically called the Gold And Silver And Crystal 2 mangas, it's kind of obvious that it's a sequel, if you know anything about Pokemon lol
Alright, cool framing. However, we all know what Pokemon is about! It's basically the same story over and over again, without many changes.. even the show does this after each gen!
"If you played one Pokemon game, you've played all of them" -me, booting a new Platinum savefile after playing Pokemon X, Pokemon White, Pokemon Soulsilver and Pokemon Showdown in the same day. If you see this, should I make a pokemon game haul??
That's where Pokespe shines the most, I believe! By giving each one of the protagonist characters (also known as Dex holders!), well, characteristics, each of the stories that the manga follows per gen becomes unique on it's own way! For exemplifying this, what's best than the first of the protagonists' storylines, which is the simplest of them all
Red, from RBGY!
Red, from RBGY, with Pika (his Pikachu), Poli (his Poliwag) and Saur (his Bulbasaur). I hate him because I want to be him and also run with a Bulbasaur everyday. Life sucks.
I honestly expected Red's storyline to be the most boring one, but it ended up being quite fun! The Red & Blue mangas follow his growth as a trainer, and his eventual victory at the Pokemon League! Red is quite the well-stablished character, for being the first one of the mangas' stories, and it shows on how mature he ends up being at the end of the RB two-part manga; starting as quite the unknowing kid, and ending as an amazing, quick-thinking trainer, with a heart of gold and such fun strategies up his sleeve! He's maybe the typical Anime protagonist, but he's MY typical anime protagonist <3
The first jump from the game formula we see on Pokespe is Red's starting team. Usually, the games kick off with the protagonist having no pokemon, and getting one from the professor of the day. In this case, we see that Red begings with Poli, his Poliwhirl, with whom he's been raised, and considers to be part of his family. This characterization sells the idea of how much Red truly cares about Pokemon, he's lived with them his entire life, after all! It's so cool to have an author that recognizes the prior knowledge of the audience, trusting the readers to be able to understand a faster, not-so-explanatory story, that can jump from theme to theme without breaking the world that's already stablished!
Adventures is at it's best with stuff like this, where we get to know the world of Pokemon in a more emotional way, making us care about it's characters and stories! Pokespe doesn't tell us how important the relationships between Pokemon and humans are, it shows us.
For an IP that tends to repeat the same tutorials, the same ideas, and the same themes over and over again, I really appreciate a story that's not afraid to push a little further the implications of the already-set world.
This is just adorable. I cry every time I read this.
Speaking about pushing a little further..
If you have interacted with Pokemon in the late years, it's probable that you've seen those weird ''The DARKEST scenes ON THE Pokemon Mangas'' type of contents, they usually show images like these:
Oh My God! Did Charmeleon really KILL an Arbok??? No. That's not what happened.
That's a corpse. That's a Psyduck corpse on lavender town. Also I'm just now noticing that some of these images are probably spoilers. woops.
Because of panels like these, Pokespe won the reputation of being ''the darkest Pokemon media'' or something. As if children read these things... like, children aren't real..
In all seriousness, I can see why these kind of contents can be surprising to people that are used to other Pokemon medias; the games and the show(s) are quite harmless, since they're mostly marketed towards children. However, I believe that only focusing on these aspects of the comics takes out the amazing writing and character moments that the mangas can have; the spooky dark stuff should be considered a part of the big cake! (the icing is the art and the cherry on top is the queercoding).
Pokespe shows a bigger maturity with many of it themes than the rest of the Pokemon media - at least what I've experienced-. Most of them are simple stuff, but there were things that deeply resonated with me as a kid! For example, there's Crystal's story on the GSC generation.
(I'll try to keep it spoiler free)
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Godamnit. I cried so bad over this as a kid, like, I get you, girl.
Crystal
is a capture specialist! She, well, specializes in capturing Pokemon.
This makes her to be extremely perfectionist, and self-demanding to an
unhealthy degree. After failing to understand a certain Pokemon's
emotions (which costed her the capture), Crys stops being able to catch anything, and reprimends herself for not being able to do anything as perfectly as she should've.
This leads her to rediscover why she likes capturing so much, once again, and the Pokemon of her team that helped her get where she is. It's a heartfelt, emotional bit of story, that also shows Crys' backstory and how her current team came to be. It's so cool that something such as catching Pokemon (one of the most basic concepts of Pokemon media) is played to be an integral part of one of the protagonists' stories, and how it works into the themes the writer wants to express with said protagonist so simply! Crys grows, changes, and learns to love what she likes to do once again.
I remember being so obsessed with this character, because her story spoke to me. I've always struggled with finding ways to keep doing what I, ultimately, love to do. Writing has been such a big part of my life, and I've had to learn to like it over and over again. Burnout, and the expectations you put into your own work, can really mess up the way you experience it. We tend to forget how amazing it is to just do whatever we like to do, specially when we set goals or turn those things we like into a job.
It's just so, so sweet that Hidenori took the time to write about this- maybe even putting some of his own experience into it!-, since it made 12-year-old-me keep writing, and loving all the things I do! He also made me name my cat Cris. It was his fault I have long-lasting brainrot from this manga.
My cat, Cris. Yes, she is beautiful and perfect and the best cat in the universe
(Hidenori Kusaka said so)
As a less-personal closing point I can say that, well, I love the Pokespe mangas! They were a central part of my childhood, and now they're a central part of my young adult...hood! I believe that anyone can (and should) read them at least once. I would give more reasons why, but this blog is getting way too long, and I really want to go to sleep
Anyways! Read the Pokespe mangas, please!
- Lettuce (bug lover) (Pokemon lover)
Comments
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cannolicritter
im not as into pokemon as i used to be but reading this was so fun!! i find crystals story to be especially intriguing aswell, i can get very fixated on something and it leads to burnout, but its important to just focus on enjoying the process ^_^ thanks for writing this!! ill have to check out your other blog posts
OOOO tysm for the comment WAHH!!!! POKESPE IS MY FAV THING EVER :33 I want to write a part 2 of this blog (soon..) BUT YEAH!!! TY FOR READING IT TT Cris' story is probably one of my favorite things from the GSC arc wowzers!!!!
by c0lin_l3ettuc/e; ; Report
lmk when you make part 2!!!! thats so hype ^3^
by cannolicritter; ; Report