Pokémon: The Electric Tale of Pikachu
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| Pokémon: The Electric Tale of Pikachu | |
 | |
| 電撃!ピカチュウ (Dengeki! Pikachū) | |
|---|---|
| Manga | |
| Written by | Toshihiro Ono |
| Published by | Shogakukan |
| English publisher | |
| Magazine | CoroCoro Comic |
| Demographic | Children |
| Original run | April 1997 – December 1999 |
| Volumes | 4 |
The Pokémon Graphic Novel, more commonly known as Pokémon: The Electric Tale of Pikachu (電撃！ピカチュウ, Dengeki! Pikachū, "Electric Shock! Pikachu"), is a Japanese
The manga was published in English in North America by
In Singapore, the manga is published in English by
Development
Toshihiro Ono, the author of the series, said that he began drawing the series after Mr. Saito, Ono's editor, asked Ono to draw a manga to go along with the anime. During the production of the manga, Ono received scripts of the anime series. The author then altered the stories to fit the desired amount of pages used per storyline.[4]
Ono said that his favorite manga chapter was "Clefairy Tale" from the first volume and that he was "embarrassed that I can't say why." According to Ono he did not find any particular chapter to be more difficult than any other chapter. He said that when the episode "Clefairy in Space" ("Subway no Pipi") was going in manga form, Ono had to redraw many of the pages, a time-consuming process. Ono encountered difficulty in drawing
Characters
Japanese names in Western order (given name before family name) are given first, followed by the English name. For simplicity, English language names will be used in this and other articles in Wikipedia about Pokémon, unless explicitly referring to the Japanese version.
- Satoshi / Pokémon Leaguecompetitions.
- Kasumi / Misty - A Water-Type Pokémon trainer and the Gym Leader of Cerulean City. She is the youngest of four sisters. Like her anime counterpart, she joins Ash on his journey after he "borrows" her bike and Pikachu destroys it. Although critical towards Ash, she develops feelings towards him, who appears to reciprocate.
- Takeshi / Brock - A Rock-Type Pokémon breeder and the Gym Leader of Flint City. Unlike his anime counterpart, he never joins Ash on his journey and the only time they meet is during Ash's battle with him for his second badge.
- electricaljolts from its cheeks. Unlike the games or anime, Ash finds this Pikachu chewing on the electrical wiring in his house, and keeps it as his first Pokémon when he qualifies to be a trainer.
- Shigeru / Gary Oak - His name in the Japanese version (Shigeru) is named after famed video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. Unlike his anime counterpart, this version of Ash's rival does not hang out with a pack of cheerleaders, nor does he travel by car. In fact, about the only thing this Gary has in common with the anime Gary is his antagonistic attitude towards Ash. In the manga's epilogue he travels with Ash.
- Team Rocket- A chaos causing 'gang' that has many goals, mainly conquering the Pokémon world.
- Musashi / Jessica "Jessie" - The female half of Team Rocket. In the manga's epilogue, she marries James and are expecting their first child.
- Kojiro / James - The male half of Team Rocket. In the epilogue, he quits the gang, marries Jessie, and are expecting their first child.
- Nyarth (ニャース Nyāsu) / Meowth- The talking cat of Team Rocket. One of very few Pokémon that can speak a human language.
- Sakaki / Giovanni- The seldom-seen boss/leader of Team Rocket.
Volume and comic list
| No. | Title | Original release date | English release date | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Electric Tale of Pikachu! | October 28, 1997[5] 4-09-149341-6 | September 5, 1999 (United States)[6] 978-1-56931-378-7 | ||
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| 2 | Pikachu Shocks Back | June 27, 1998[7] 4-09-149342-4 | December 6, 1999 (United States)[8] 978-1-56931-411-1 | ||
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| 3 | Electric Pikachu Boogaloo | April 26, 1999[9] 4-09-149343-2 | April 5, 2000 (United States)[10] 978-1-56931-436-4 | ||
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| 4 | Surf's Up, Pikachu | January 28, 2000[11] 4-09-149344-0 | August 10, 2000 (United States)[12] 978-1-56931-494-4 | ||
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The series was originally released in the United States in an American comic book format. Part 1, Issue #1 was released in November 1998, and the subsequent three issues of Part 1 were released in December 1998, and January and February 1999. Part 2 #1 was released in March 1999 and the other three issues were released in April, May, and June of that year. Part 3 #1 was released in July 1999, and the other three issues were released in August, September, and October of that year. Part 4 #1 was released in November 1999 and the other issues were released in December 1999 and January and February 2000.[13] In 1999 extremely low print samplers which were only available in the Pokémon Video Suitcase promotional set titled Pokémon Electric Tale of Pikachu Special Signature Edition was also released which contained the printed signature of Toshihiro Ono on the cover. The Special Signature Editions were available in a Red Version and a Blue Version.
Toshihiro Ono
Toshihiro Ono was born in
Reception
Jason S. Yadao, the author of The Rough Guide to Manga, wrote that "the story was predictable" and that "narrative complexity never was a defining trait of the franchise."[1]
References
- ^ ISBN 1405384239, 9781405384230. p. 48.
- ^ "The last million-selling comic book in North America? It's Batman vs. Pokémon for the title". Comichron. May 8, 2014.
- ^ "Available Issues for THE ELECTRIC TALE OF PIKACHU Archived 2008-12-11 at the Wayback Machine." Chuang Yi. Retrieved on December 1, 2008.
- ^ VIZ Media. May 10, 2000. Retrieved on May 31, 2009. An interview was published in Animerica in Volume 8, Issue 1 (Archive) (2000)
- ^ 電撃!ピカチュウ 1 [Surprise! Pikachu 1] (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Retrieved September 28, 2009.[permanent dead link]
- ISBN 1569313784.
- ^ 電撃!ピカチュウ 2 [Surprise! Pikachu 2] (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Retrieved September 28, 2009.[permanent dead link]
- ISBN 156931411X.
- ^ 電撃!ピカチュウ 3 [Surprise! Pikachu 3] (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Retrieved September 28, 2009.[permanent dead link]
- ISBN 1569314365.
- ^ 電撃!ピカチュウ 4 [Surprise! Pikachu 4] (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Retrieved September 28, 2009.[permanent dead link]
- ISBN 1569314942.
- ^ "in the news" (Archive). Viz Kids/Pokémon. Viz LLC, June 8, 2003. Retrieved on March 27, 2015.
See also
- Magical Pokémon Journey (known in Japan as PiPiPi's Adventures)
- Pokémon Adventures (known in Japan as Pocket Monster Special)
- Ash & Pikachu(known in Japan as Satoshi to Pikachu)
- Pokémon Gold & Silver
External links
- "Animerica Interview Toshihiro Ono" (Archive) VIZ Media.
- EX.org vol 1. review
- "Pokemon #1 Hits 1 Million Copies" (Archive) -(Viz Media)
- Mania vol. 3 review
- Mania vol. 5 review
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