ThePokémon Graphic Novel, more commonly known asPokémon: The Electric Tale of Pikachu (Japanese:電撃！ピカチュウ,Hepburn:Dengeki! Pikachū;lit.'Electric Shock! Pikachu'), is a Japanesemanga series written and illustrated by Toshihiro Ono. It was serialized in thechildren'smanga magazineBessatsu CoroCoro Comic Special andCoroCoro Comic from April 1997 to December 1999. Individual chapters were collected into fourtankōbon volumes byShogakukan, who released the first volume on October 28, 1997, and the fourth volume on January 28, 2000. The characters and storylines are all drawn from thePokémonanime series, although some events and depictions of characters diverge slightly from the anime,[1] and the world itself has a visibly higher level of technology.
The manga was published in English in North America byViz Communications in a"flipped", left-to-right format.[citation needed]The Electric Tale of Pikachu marked the first time that any of thePokémon manga series were translated to English.[2] In 1998 the company released the series as individual single comic book issues; the collected volumes came afterwards. At the time of its release, Issue #1 was thebest-selling manga issue, andbest-selling comic book of any type, in the United States.[3] The issue sold 1.001million copies, the highest for a singlecomic book since 1993.[4] The first volume,The Electric Tale of Pikachu!, was released on September 5, 1999. The third volume,Electric Pikachu Boogaloo, was released on April 5, 2000.
In Singapore, the manga is published in English byChuang Yi and translated asPokémon: The Electric Tale of Pikachu! for all four volumes.[5] The Traditional Chinese edition in Taiwan of the manga is published byDa Ran Culture Enterprise andChingwin Publishing.
Toshihiro Ono, the author of the series, said that he began drawing the series after 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.[6]
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 drawingDragonite in the final chapter, as he struggled to "get a face that cute to look powerful." His favorite human characters to work with wereAsh Ketchum andJessie and James. In particular he liked Jessie and James because they are minor characters and "have much more freedom" than main characters. Therefore, minor characters are "more fun to draw." Ono's favorite characters to draw wereAsh Ketchum,Ditto,Nurse Joy, andOddish.[6]
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 /Ash Ketchum - The main character, whose name in the Japanese version (Satoshi) is named afterSatoshi Tajiri, the creator of the Pokémon games. Ash aspires to be a Pokémon Master, and together with the various friends and Pokémon that travel with him, embark on many adventures. In a similar fashion to the game, Ash does this by entering various Pokémon League competitions.
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.
Pikachu, a little, yellow, mouse-like creature with a lightning bolt tail and the ability to create electrical jolts 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 designerShigeru 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 ofTeam Rocket. In the manga's epilogue, she marries James and are expecting their first child.
Kojiro /James - The male half ofTeam 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.
18. Pikachu's Plan (ウイナーズカップ②,Uinaaazu Kappu (2); "Winner's Cup (2)")
19. Side Story: Ash vs. Gary (ヤドン,Yadon; "Slowpoke")
Epilogue: ""Type: Wild" - A Possible Future"
The series was originally released in the United States in anAmerican 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.[15] 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.
The Electric Tale of Pikachu! sold well in the United States. In 1999,Comichron reported that series had sold more than a million copies;The Daily Oklahoman stated that most of those sales were sets purchased through large retail chains.[16]
Jason S. Yadao, the author ofThe Rough Guide to Manga, wrote that "the story was predictable" and that "narrative complexity never was a defining trait of the franchise."[3] Jeff Kapalka reviewed the series in its entirety forThe Post-Standard, giving it three and a half stars out of four. He praised the series for its story and art, also noting that some knowledge of Japanese culture would be needed to fully understand some humor and references.[17]
Rachael Brown reviewed the second volume forThe Hamilton Spectator, citing its humor as a highlight and recommending it for children ages eight and up.[18]
^Ono, Toshihiro (1999).Pokemon Graphic Novel, Volume 1: The Electric Tale Of Pikachu! (Viz Graphic Novel) (0782009049937): Toshihiro Ono: Books. Viz Communications.ISBN1569313784.
