Thread: Pokemon Adventures/Special: Good, Bad or Both

When I posted a thread asking people to express their overall opinions of Pokemon Adventures/Special by Hidenori Kusaka here, I was surprised to find that there were more people who dislike the series than people who like the series. Before I posted it here, I started it on Serebii where there were more likes than dislikes. I was surprised how a series I thought was great could have so much hate and so much love for it. But then again, I probably shouldn't.

This thread is so that haters and likers of Special can come together and debate if Special is good, bad or a mix of the two. I'm doing this because my last thread on Special was practically turning into one.

So, discuss, disagree and debate to your heart's content. Just make sure that you're all mature enough. Should things go awry, the mods may close this thread.

^ Your thread probally got a lot of dislikes because people who don't like come and complain, while those who do like it think enough people will say they like it for them~

I think it's both...but more towards the good side.

Like I love the battles, plot lines, the things that seperate it from the anime, etc etc....but what I don't like is that they are the allmighty choosen ones! That's about it for me~ :3 I don't have a huge opinion.

I definitely agree with everything Autumnbreeze said above, but I have one more thing to input. I love how the Gym Leaders, Elite Four, and Champions are characterized. This is especially true for the first three generations (in my opinion), where their game counterparts were purely static character bosses you had to beat in order to go further in the game.

I like how they take game elements and give everything a backstory. For example, the elite 4. In PokeSpe, they are shown as somewhat evil, where in the games all we know is that you must beat them to win the game and see the credits. Each Gym leader is also shown more in depth.

While the Anime did this to an extent, by using leaders as characters-of-the-day (and sometimes main characters), and while later games did the same too (BW and RSE), the Manga also ties it together into one plot, and also managed to do something some of the game fans always wanted: It ties together all the regions.

Also, the manga has far less filler then the Anime, you don't have to sit through 50000 character-of-the-day episodes or other pointless shit just to get to the plot.

I haven't read RS, FRLG, Emerald, or anything newer, though, but I've seen summaries. Maybe I will eventually get around to reading them sooner or later.......

Also, if death is included in Special, then why not? If it's played well, it could be very effective and memorable.

I think it's good! From when I first read it when I was little, I personally thought it was better than the T.V. show. I especially like that the trainers actually fight side-by-side with their Pokemon and actually take damage with them as opposed to just ordering them from the sidelines.

Hmm...is Pokémon Adventures good?

As a Pokémon story, I would say it's good, especially when compared to the anime. The cast just feels more 'natural' in the way they are connected and the way the game characters are incorporated into the story has definitely been an influence on my fanfiction (especially Bright World). For example, who would have guessed that in the GSC arc

Pryce was the one pulling the strings

? The battles are far more engaging than the anime, with Koga and Blue vs Agatha definitely being my favourite; the involvement of the trainers adds a lot more action to the screen (instead of the anime's "Stand there, pointing your arm out and shout".

Saying that though, the series has definitely gone down in quality. I've only read that Viz Media has translated, but I feel that the RBGY/Y/GSC arcs are so much better than the DPt and BW arcs.

Originally Posted by Joshawott

the involvement of the trainers adds a lot more action to the screen (instead of the anime's "Stand there, pointing your arm out and shout".

Though I have to wonder if that should be allowed in official matches since the Trainers could get seriously hurt or worse... I can understand battles against Team Rocket or other baddies since they never play by the rules.

Special is pretty damn good. Like I've said in previous posts on the matter, it takes advantage of almost everything from the games, from minor characters and trivia to the full blown storyline from the games. Plus it gives everything it's own unique twist yet stays rather true to the source material.

Some things here and there are off to me. Like Emerald, but I cannot really give an opinion as I've not read the third gen arcs.

Originally Posted by matt0044

I started it on Serebii where there were more likes than dislikes.

Isn't it in part thanks to Serebii taking interest in the manga around 2004-2006 that there was a boom in it's popularity in the first place? I'm not surprised it gets more likes there. =/