Pokemon has many different adaptations, with one of the most popular being the anime. A lot of children grow up watching Ash and Pikachu's adventures as they travel to many region, and become the most iconic duo in the franchise along the way. Even still, fans that have been interested in the franchise from the beginning still love it. However, that doesn't make it the best adaptation.
Pokemon Adventures is a manga series that, unfortunately, doesn't get as much credit as it deserves. It's one of the best adaptations ever made and should have more readers. Here are some reasons why fans prefer or should start reading these books, rather than only watching the anime.
Updated on January 23, 2023, by Ben Painter:Pokemon constantly remains relevant, and discourse around the new games Scarlet & Violet is more prominent than ever. Original fans of the franchise go back to the 90s when Red & Blue first hit shelves in North America in 1998. With that was a tie-in for those games a manga known as the Pokemon Adventures Manga, following Red & Blue from the games but giving them a lot more depth.
An interesting fact to note is that the manga was released before the anime meaning it was the original tie-in story to the beloved handheld games. As the anime follows Ash Ketchum, a character not present in the games this means the manga is a much more faithful companion to the games. The anime was loved by all Pokemon fans, but in some areas, the Pokemon Adventures Manga has the edge on its silver screen alternative.
15 The Manga Has More In Common With The Games
The Pokemon manga and the Pokemon anime are just two of the many adaptations in the Pokemon franchise. The series began with two video games on the Game Boy, with the anime and manga releasing shortly after. Comparing the manga and anime to the games, fans can easily see that the manga is the more accurate adaptation of the original material, while the anime told its own story.
The anime still has a lot in common with the games as it introduces characters that players fought and settings that players traveled to. However, there are many original aspects as well, most of which aren't as enjoyable as the story in the manga or as fun as the games.
14 There Are More Main Characters In The Manga
Despite how popular the anime is, a lot of fans have gotten tired of Ash. He's been the main character of the series for over two decades and hasn't had much development. He doesn't age, he still makes many mistakes, and many think that he should have accomplished his goals much earlier in the series. Luckily, the manga doesn't have this problem.
Red, the main protagonist in the beginning of the series, does have a lot of similarities to Ash. However, there are other characters that play just as big of a role as he does. If readers don't like Red, they won't have to wait long until another character, such as Yellow or Gold, takes his place.
13 Red's Pokemon Are Equally Important
As Red is the character with the most in common with Ash, it shouldn't be a surprise that one of his Pokemon is a Pikachu. Pikachu is the most popular Pokemon and the mascot of the franchise, but is equally important to some of the other pocket monsters Red gained.
In fact, Pikachu wasn't even Red's first Pokemon. He received a Poliwag and a Bulbasaur, who he uses just as much, before he even encountered a Pikachu. It's nice to see that the manga give a spotlight to other Pokemon, while still keeping Pikachu in the story.
12 Brock And Misty Were Still Gym Leaders In The Manga
Though the earlier seasons of the anime were made better because of Brock and Misty joining Ash in his adventure, it would have been better if they were original characters instead. Like in the games and manga, Brock was introduced as a gym leader. At the time, he was taking care of his younger siblings after their parents abandoned them. Once his father returned, Brock left his family and duties as a gym leader, not knowing how well his father would take care of the children.
As for Misty, rather than being a gym leader herself, her older sisters filled this role in the anime. This resulted in Misty being very different than she was in other adaptations. If the writers of the anime had created new characters instead of changing Brock and Misty so much, the story would have made a lot more sense.
11 The Anime Treats Team Rocket Like A Joke
Like Brock and Misty, the members of Team Rocket acted very different in the anime compared to their manga counterparts. In the manga, they are serious threats to the main characters and have done much crueler and more dangerous things than anything Jessie and James did.
The Team Rocket members in the anime never did anything too evil, despite being the main antagonists Ash and his friends encountered in most episodes. In fact, they had actually helped each other many times and gave fans a lot to laugh at, making it hard to see them as villains after a while.
10 There Are Actual Consequences In The Manga
In addition to actually doing bad things in the manga, Team Rocket's actions actually impacted the plot. Besides getting a little upset that they were fooled by Jessie and James yet again, the characters in the anime weren't directly impacted in a negative way when encountering them. In the manga, however, Team Rocket actually hurt the characters. They threatened their homes and loved ones, and traumatized their Pokemon.
At the same time, the heroes' actions also have consequences in the manga. Things that happened earlier in the series come back to haunt them later on, rather than forgiving and permanently forgetting like Ash and his friends usually do.
9 The Characters Learn From Their Mistakes
Because characters' decisions impact the story, there's a lot more development. In the beginning of the series, Red and Blue had their strengths and weaknesses. Red was very caring towards Pokemon, but didn't have a lot of experience as a trainer. Blue was very smart and knew what he was capable of, but got reckless and didn't make strong connections with other trainers or his own Pokemon.
Throughout the series, they gain the strengths that the other had when they first met. They grow into two of the best trainers in the entire franchise. There are many other examples of characters learning from their failures throughout the manga, and not just the protagonists.
8 The Manga Has A Better Art Style
When the anime began, the art style was really good and appealed to its audience. Fans could easily tell the difference between the anime and other adaptations just by looking at character designs and scenery for years.
However, the art style changed a few years ago when the anime adaptation of the Generation 7 titles came out, and again in the newest season. Neither of these versions are received as well as the original art style. Meanwhile, any changes with the manga's art style have been much more subtle, and don't look inferior to when the series began.
7 The Manga Isn't Too Long, Unlike The Anime
As mentioned earlier, the anime has been around for over two decades. Because of this, there are over 1,000 episodes. Many of these are filler, and it can be hard to watch 'em all! Though the manga came out a month before the anime did, there isn't as much to read as there is to watch. There are less than 100 volumes, and they are all very quick to read.
With the exception of people that enjoy experiencing incredibly long stories, the manga is better for most audiences. It doesn't have as much filler and fans can catch up quicker.
6 The Manga Is Darker
The Pokemon manga vs anime is an age old debate of Pokemon fans and one of the deciding factors that turns fans to the manga is that the plot of Pokemon Adventures is much more mature and serious than most of the Pokemon anime. Characters constantly betray and deceive each other, people get hurt more, and some Pokemon actually die. This makes the plot much more interesting and exciting, especially for older fans.
Of course, there are still many happy moments in the Pokemon AdventuresManga. Nothing too bad happens to the main characters, so it's still suitable for children. But with a darker storyline, things aren't as predictable, and readers will be on the edge of their seats during the more intense chapters.
5 There Is More Character Depth In The Manga
The manga breathes more life into the characters of Pokemon an example of this would be with Blaine, the Cinnabar Island gym leader has a rich backstory in the manga that better ties to the lore of the franchise.
Blaine is a former Team Rocket scientist that used a part of his own DNA to create Mewtwo but upon realizing what he had done, the fire-type expert left the evil team and worked to try and stop them. This is just one example of the backstory and depth that the manga added. In the anime, these types of characters are kind of a one-episode deal and (apart from Brock & Misty) the gym leaders are just what they say on the tin, gym leaders.
4 Gym Leaders And Elite Four Are More Of A Threat
The Elite Four act as the series' main antagonists in the Pokemon manga, as members of Team Rocket their goal is to take over the Pokemon World using the power of gym badges as their weapon. Lance, Agatha, Lorelei and Bruno use their designated Pokemon types to cause problems for the series' heroes.
Gym Leaders have split down the middle to who is good and who is evil with Lt. Surge, Koga, Sabrina and of course Giovanni are members of Team Rocket also, giving the evil team much more strength than opposed to the Anime (which largely consists of just Jessie, James and Meowth).
3 Interesting Takes On Pokemon
The anime has a few different variations of Pokemon, that are not shiny, including the most famous example of the Crystal Onix. However, the Pokemon manga takes this one step further giving Pokemon different powers as opposed to physical changes.
Red's Eevee, known as Vee, has the ability to change into and back into Vaporeon, Jolteon and Flareon thanks to some Team Rocket experimentation. Other examples include Agatha's Gengar which can move in the shadows and Bruno's Hitmonlee which can extend its limbs to seemingly limitless distances. Pokemon are special creatures and the manga gives them more life, enhancing their powers and making more than just pets that the anime appears to do.
2 Pokemon Moves Are Deadly
As explained earlier in this list, the manga has consequences, Pokemon battles can be dangerous. If a Pokemon can create a whirlwind or an earthquake in reality it would cause some great damage, which isn't quite described in the games or anime.
In the Pokemon manga, however, this is different an example of this is Jynx, Jynx uses Ice Beam to incase Red and Red feels the effect of this for some time, he doesn't just heal overnight. In the anime, people are shocked by Pikachu many times but always seem to be good in the next scene, taking away how powerful Pikachu is.
1 Nicknames Add A Personal Element To The Characters Pokemon
On a more positive note as to why the Pokemon manga is better than the anime, each of the main characters nicknames their Pokemon in their own ways. Like how fans can do this in the games to make that specific Pokemon their own.
Red shortens the name of his Pokemon, Poliwhirl becomes Poli, Pikachu becomes Pika and Bulbasaur becomes Saur. This makes each of his Pokemon unique and not just another one of the same species. Ash, on the other hand, doesn't nickname any of his Pokemon, although they are all now iconic having them with nicknames could have made them even more of a staple.