James and Will talk about volume 4 of the Pokémon Adventures manga. Including the new and original "Yellow" who is perhaps the first gender neutral looking character we have seen in an otherwise shonen manga. Skip summary of the plot @ 5:15
Email: WeAppreciateManga@Gmail.com
119: Pokémon Adventures vol. 4
Chapters 41 to 52, 'Ponyta Tale' and 'Growing out of Gengar'
Story by Hidenori Kusaka
Art by Mato
English Translation by Kaori Inoue
Lettering and touch up by Wayne Truman
Two years have passed since the events of Volume 3 and the protagonist Red is now missing. A concerned Misty contacts Professor Oak and their talk is interrupted by Red's Pikachu, a bruised, bloody Pokémon dragging its feet as it enters Oak's place. A new and mysterious protagonist arrives to pick the Pikachu up and take it with them as they journey to find Red. Much to Oak's dismay.
Red was last seen after he was invited to Battle with Bruno of the Elite Four. A group of Pokémon trainers who are stronger than the Pokémon gym leaders. It is not long until Lorelei of the Elite Four tracks down the Pikachu it's new trainer. The trainer proudly states their name as Amarillo, the Spanish word for Yellow. Lorelei also learns that Yellow has telepathic powers towards Pokémon, a sort of Pokémon whisperer that can heal Pokémon with a touch and express great empathy for them, even seeing through them.
Eventually Yellow escapes Lorelei and along the journey meets Red's friends, whom only want to see Pika (Red's Pikachu) be reunited with its owner. Albeit they do not have faith in Yellow. Questioning if Yellow is fit for being Red's substitute. During such a conversation, Pika hears that Red is nearby and tracks his old trainer's scent. In a twist of fate, Pika falls for an imposter Red. A "Super Nerd" who works for the Elite Four. Desperate, friends of Red and Pokémon gym leaders call Blaine for help. Yellow with the help of the gym leaders defeats the nerd but in doing so a Gastly Pokémon appears to spirit the nerd away. Blue appears and makes a decisive strike that ends the Gastly. Blue tells everyone that the ghostly gas Pokémon most likely belongs to Agatha of the Elite Four. He also tells them of his previous encounter with Agatha and how he found the strength to fight a ghost Pokémon. Blue even criticises Yellow for saving a Caterpie (caterpillar Pokémon) during the battle with the super nerd. Saying that Red could have saved it without putting his own life at risk. Blue decides to take Yellow with him and train but not before Yellow is gifted two new Pokémon for protection. Brock's Graveller and Misty's Omanyte.
Topics:
· A criticism of volume 4 is how the villains are perhaps too mysterious for their own good. Their motives remain hidden and not having any context for their behaviour we do not know what they are willing to do to achieve their goal. This does not make an entertaining read since by making the villain mysterious you risk making the stakes too vague to understand. It is not enough to know what characters fight for, we also need to know why. Understandably the villains are trying to cover up something but we do not know what as of this volume.
· Writing mystery is a good way to entice readers and keep them stuck to the story. But Hidenori reveals information too soon, making the sense of mystery trite.
· Yellow as a character is first time we see a gender-neutral looking hero in the franchise. Although addressed as male by others in the story, there is no signifier or trait to tell us that they are male, they also lack traits that tell us there are female. The straw hat and tunic add to this warm, innocent and naïve appearance of a child, a contrast to someone like Lorelei who has a more mature and effeminate appearance since she wears high heels and glasses that comb away her thick hair.
· The origins of Game Freak from fanzine to game design company and Ken Sugimori's journey from mangaka to designer. For more information on the history of Game Freak and Pokémon creator Satoshi Tajiri there is the article, The Ultimate Game Freak - TIME and Dr. Lava's twitter as well as their amazing blog on Nintendo History.
Differences and Comparisons to other Media:
· The Super Nerd appeared as a trainer class enemy in the original '96 game, having a personality between the Pokémon maniac and the Scientist. They are really Geeks who specialise in Poison and Electric Pokémon. They usually have Voltorbs that do the self-destruct move, which in and of itself seems like a commentary on nerd culture. From the original Japanese text their name translates to "Science-man" with the in-game scientist class having a name that translates to "rouge researcher"
· The Elite Four are the last bosses of the original '96 game and called the Pokémon masters in some cannon. In the anime Lorelei was named Prima, this was so that she would have the same syllables as her original Japanese name, Kanna, which is written using the Kanji for the word cold and/or dread The name Loreilei comes from a slate rock located on the Rhine River at Sankt Goarshausen in Germany, believed to have been haunted by a siren that lured sailors to their death. The etymology behind the name has the words Lurein and the Celtic word Lei, which means murmuring, or whispering rock. Agatha may have possibly got her name from Agatha Christie, the famous murder mystery writer and creator of Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. Agatha's Japanese name is Kikuko, and is spelt using the kanji for devil, demon or ghost. Bruno, the fighting type Pokémon master gets his name from the words brawn and brute, his Japanese name, Shiba, is derived from the word, "Shibaku", which means "to strike"
