Nia Sapphire's Otaku Life: Nia Sapphire's Manga Review: Pokemon Special

So the manga that I review now is:

BEST. POKEMON. SERIES. in my opinion.

Don't try to search for Ash.

What it's about:

Pokémon Special known as ''Pokémon Adventures'' in the official English releases is a manga set in the Pokémon universe with a storyline more similar to the Pokémon games than the anime and creator Satoshi Tajiri has stated that it is more faithful to his original idea than any other adaptation.
The primary difference between it and the anime is that instead of the main character going to a new region with different companions, the protagonist (who usually travels without any other human accompanying them) changes every time the previous protagonist's story is through. It's also somewhat violent, as it is one of the few adaptations where you actually see Pokémon and people get badly wounded and even killed.
While there are multiple other Pokémon manga, this is the most well known (at least in English-speaking circles). If you see a Pokémon fan talk about "the manga", this is probably what they are referring to. (Some of the other manga are listed on the main Pokémon page.) (via TvTropes.org)

So here's the cast (the dexholders):

This is not Ash.

So this one is Red, 12 years old, from Pallet Town. He's a pokemon freak and an expert in pokemon battling. He's the main character of the first arc of this series, which is the Red/Green/Blue arc, and returns again as a main character in FireRed/LeafGreen arc. Reckless and immature, but brave and kind-hearted. He matures as the story goes on. He is no longer a reckless and immature kid in FireRed/LeafGreen arc. His starter is Bulbasaur. (y u no choose Charmander??) Also, he gets more stronger in pokemon battles.


Red in FireRed/LeafGreen arc, 16 years old.

Red in Emerald arc. Looking better without his hat.

And this is not Gary.

This is Green, 12 years old. The grandson of Professor Oak who is a calm and cold person. He is Red's rival. But he turns nicer as the story goes on and acts as a comrade for Red. His starter is Charmander.


Green in Yellow arc, 13 years old.

Green in Gold/Silver/Crystal arc, 14 years old.

Green in FireRed/LeafGreen arc, 16 years old.

Don't forget a female counterpart too.

This is Blue, the female counterpart, 12 years old. A cheeky and a cunning girl, but caring towards others. She also matures as the series goes on, from a naughty and playful girl into caring big sis. Her starter is Squirtle.

Blue in FireRed/LeafGreen arc, 16 years old. BOW CHIKA WOW WOW.


So freakkin' big straw hat he's wearing.

This is Yellow, the main character of Yellow arc, 11 years old. He's a pokemon lover who hate pokemon battles. She also dislikes hurting pokemons, even his enemy's pokemons. Every 10 years, there will be born a child possessing supernatural powers, and Yellow is one of it. His powers consists the power of healing pokemons, mind-reading pokemons, turns his pokemons level 20s into level 80s when his spirit rose and moving stationary objects with psychic. Will fall asleep if he overused his powers. Spoiler: He's actually a she.


Rule anime/manga no. 27: Always close your eyes whenever you're using your supernatural powers.

Yellow in FireRed/LeafGreen arc, 14 years old.

Oh look, another one!

This is Gold, 12 years old, the main character of Gold/Silver/Crystal arc, from New Bark Town. His starter is Cyndaquil. He's a really sarcastic, reckless and immature kid, and he's more immature and reckless than Red. He also loves girls. Even of his sarcastic personality, he have his nice side, more notably towards his friends.

Gold in HeartGold/SoulSilver arc, 16 years old.

LIKE A BOSS.

This is Silver, 12 years old, Gold's Rival. His starter is Totodile which he obtained by stealing it from Professor Elm. He's a dark and mysterious guy. He loves Blue as if his own sister and overprotective towards her. Spoiler: He is Giovanni's son.

Silver in HeartGold/SoulSilver arc, 16 years old.

*Cuts one of her ponytails and make it a boomerang*

This is Crystal, the female counterpart, 12 years old. Her starter is Chikorita. Her nickname is Chris or Crys. She's a pro catcher, as she throws pokeball by kicking it, this results that the pokemon will be caught in high speed and accurately. She's a tsundere towards Gold, and always arguing with him like a married couple. She becomes Professor Oak's assistant in Emerald arc.

Falcon Kick!!!!

Crystal in Emerald arc, 14 years old, after she has became Professor Oak's assistant.

Crystal in HeartGold/SoulSilver arc, 16 years old.

This is not Brendan.

This is Ruby, the main character of Ruby/Sapphire arc, 12 years old, the son of Norman, one of the gym leader in Hoenn, which is said that he is most formidable gym leader. His starter is Mudkip. He's a feminine boy (but he's not gay) as he love beautiful things, and he's good in sewing clothes. He dislikes pokemon battles, because he doesn't like his pokemon getting dirty. He takes part in pokemon contests, and his goal is winning them all. Despite disliking pokemon battles, but he's actually really strong in pokemon battling, that his skills might be a rival to Red's. But sadly, he only will have a pokemon battle if no one is looking.

Whenever Ruby is serious, his face is as scary as his father.

Ruby in Emerald arc, 13 years old.

This is not May.

This is Sapphire, which acts as both the rival and the female counterpart. She's 12 years old, the daughter of Professor Birch. Her starter is Torchic. She is tomboyish and wild, and she is aggresive and have natural instincts like a wild animal. She likes pokemon battles, so she challenges the gym leaders in Hoenn and her goal is to win them all.

Sapphire in Emerald arc, 13 years old.

I expect people saying "WTF" now after looking at his hair.

This is Emerald, the main character of Emerald arc,. 12 years old. His starter is Treecko. His goal is to defeat the Frontier Brains in 7 days. He dislikes Pokemon, but loves Pokemon battles. His only pokemon is Grovyle, and he challenges the Frontier Brains with borrowing some Pokemons from Crystal and Professor Oak. He is actually a lonely boy, as he before has no friends and always being bullied by people who are taller and bigger than him.

Now people will say "AWWW SO CUTE" at his hair.

You must be wondering how many characters actually in this manga now.

This is Diamond, or just Dia, 12 years old and the main character of Diamond/Pearl arc. His starter is Turtwig. He is a kind-hearted boy, a very persevere boy and capable to control his feelings as he is never seen being angry, and he's actually more intelligent than he looks. Arguably, he is the maturest dexholder compared to them all. He loves to eat, as he is rarely seen without eating something. He is talented in cooking and making poffins.

Dia in Platinum arc.

This is not Barry.

This is Pearl, Dia's childhood friend, 12 years old. He, altogether with Dia, forms a comedy duo where he acts as the straightman and Dia's the funnyman. Pearl is an energetic boy with a fiery spirit, and he always physically abuse Dia in his comedic performances, until Dia pointed out that he can't tolerate any longer for that. His starter is Chimchar.

Pearl in Platinum arc.

Is this Dawn? N-O spells No.

So this is Platina, 12 years old, the elegant daughter of the rich guy Mr.Berlitz, the assistant of Prof. Rowan. Her starter is Piplup. Travelling while being accompanied by her mistaken-to-be-bodyguards, Dia and Pearl., her goal is to defeat all the gym leaders in Sinnoh and win all the pokemon contests. She is Dia's and Pearl's mistaken-to-be-tour guide. But in the end, they glad that they travelled altogether, as they have learned a lot from each other. She is now the main character of Platinum arc.

Aww look at her, what a cutie.


Platina in Platinum arc.

This is not the handsomer version of Ash.

This is Black, the main character of Black/White arc, 14 years old. His starter is a male Tepig. His goal is to be the best in pokemon battles. In order to achieve that, he studied hard since he was 5 years old.

Black studying about pokemon battles when he was a kid.

(Read from right to left) Black's dream.

And Black got a girlfriend tagging along.

This is White, an agent for a pokemon talent agency, the "BW Agency", and is a manager for her female Tepig which is an actor. She's 14 years old. She never have a pokemon battle, but starts training after knowing that her Tepig have been wanting to be in pokemon battles for a long time.

White when she was little.

White with her hair down. Looks prettier, isn't she?

And more character will come next, because this manga is still ongoing...

My thoughts:

Wow. This manga is awesome. It has many points that the anime is lacking. One of them is absolutely blood. Words enough cannot describe how awesome this manga is. For the romance freak, don't worry, apart of providing great characters, this manga provide a fair amount of loveable romance between the dexholders above, no matter it is het, yaoi or yuri. But the beginning may seems boring at first. For the pokemon freaks out there, I highly reccomend this manga, because it is a worthy reading. Warning, I may provide some spoilers.

My favourite character:

Omg. All of the dexholders are damn likeable. And all of them are attractive too. So hard for me to choose between all of them. But there's only one non-dexholder that I like:

Don't know who is this? This is Riley aka Mr. Ladykiller.

Favourite Pairing(s):

Sigh, now, where to start? So many ship tease. There's too many, so I just put some of them. So I guess I'll start with het pairings first.