Pocket Monsters Zensho

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Pocket Monsters Zensho is a very faithful adaptation of the original games of the franchise, Pocket Monster: Red/Green, probably the most faithful thinking about manga. In this manga our main character is called Satoshi and the story follows his journey from Masara Town to the Pokemon League.

Each chapter is named after a town (except the last one), showing one of the main events of the games. Chapter one shows the introduction of Satoshi and his Rival, named Shigeru. Chapter two to nine, all the gyms leaders and other side event like the St. Annu, the Safari Zone and the Sylph Company. Chapter 10 shows the ... conclusion in the Pokemon League, which is extremely rushed.

This manga is competent enough to remind the reader of the order of progression of the games and also manages to be creative at some moments, but everything here is very robotic and weak. There is nothing really exciting to read. The characters are very bland, without any charisma or development, even about the Pokemon. There are not many battles, everything is easily and quickly resolved, in the case of battles, they are like one-hit KO’s. It is pretty short, so there is not much how to expect much build up. It’s not really recommendable, because it’s nothing that someone who already is familiar to the franchise hasn’t seen before and better in other titles of the franchise and for someone who don’t know the franchise, is not really a good first impression.

Pokemon Zensho is a pretty straightforward adaptation of the first pokemon games. It follows the main character on his journey around the kanto region over the course of 10 chapters. The first and last chapters depict the beginning and end of Ash's journey and rivalry with Gary, while the 8 chapters in between and fairly episodic in nature with each featuring one of the gym leaders. It's short and sweet. There isn't much of a story, aside from Ash's rivalry with Gary and his encounters with team rocket. The major focus is on the adventure around the region, and it fulfils its purpose.

If you're heading ... into the series for a bit of nostalgia or you don't know anything about pokemon, this manga should suit you. If you're expecting fun battles like pokemon adventures or the anime, you'll be disappointed as there isn't much action. The lack of action is probably the biggest gripe about the series, but it's not really the focus. The art is decent, the characters aren't bad considering the length of the series and the pokemon are quirky. Ultimately it's not a long read and it's good for what it is. If you're reading this then you're likely a pokemon fan anyway so you might as well try it.