POKEMON Fans Should Read the Manga in the New Collector's Editions

VIZ Media is currently releasing the Pokémon manga in Collector’s Editions. These collect 3 volumes of the manga in each book and have been a great read. VIZ was kind enough to send me the first one recently and I loved it. If you’ve never read the Pokémon manga before, I highly recommend you read it, and these Collector’s editions are the way to go in my limited experience.

So, the manga follows the character Red as he goes about trying to become a Pokémon Master and fill up his Pokedex for Professor Oak. This may sound familiar as the anime has a sort of similar premise, but it’s completely different from the anime and I prefer the manga’s story personally. It represents the story that I think many Pokémon fans wish Red and Blue had incorporated. It follows much more closely to the game in my opinion and that just adds a little bit of icing to the cake.

Now, the first Collector’s Edition book features the first three volumes which show Red’s complete story or at least a complete story starring Red and therefore you can read just this and be done. I was left wanting more, but not because the story wasn’t done, but because I had enjoyed the story so much. The story had a satisfying conclusion and I just wanted to still follow the characters and world. Just like when you finish Book 3 of Avatar: The Last Airbender. You want more, but the end is very satisfying. That’s why I love this book, I don’t have to buy another to complete the story.

One thing to note about the story is that there are some pretty dark moments. At one point a zombie Arbok (under the control of the evil Koga) has its head gets cut in half. Lt. Surge tries drowning Red. However, don’t worry as it has light moments as well. It’s mostly high, but it doesn’t shy away from being dark when it decides to.

I also find it really interesting that roughly half of the Gym Leaders are bad guys. They’ve allied themselves with Team Rocket and it’s a cool idea. They abandon everything they once stood for in order to pursue power. It’s an interesting concept.

I highly recommend picking up the Collector’s Edition of the Pokémon manga if you’re a fan of the games. The first two books are currently out with the third book releasing next month.