March 2011 "Pocket Monsters Reburst" Review Thread

[Dogasu]

Chapter One comes out today. Let's talk about it.

[Eitarou]

Eh...it looks like any other Shonen series

But with Pokemon! And by Pokemon, I mean Zekrom...Seriously the girl had a Poke Ball but the only time we actually see any Pokemon are in the first page...

I've read enough series like this so nothing's really surprising

[Dogasu]

I just read the first chapter during my free period today. Here's a bunch of thoughts, in no real order.

• First of all...wow, the printing quality of Weekly Shounen Sunday is terrible. The paper is worse than newspaper quality and the blacks are all super faded. Yuck.
  
• So anyway, it's a pretty decent first chapter. It doesn't feel very "pokemon," but I actually find that to be a refreshing change of pace. There's a lot of fighting - Ryouga kicks quite a bit of ass in this chapter - but no pokemon battles. The comic hasn't really done anything more "mature" than what you'd find in CoroCoro, but then again, no one ever promised that it would.
  
• The girl with the Monster Ball is Miruto (ミルト). The villain of this chapter is a guy named Commander Yaza (ヤザ司令), and he appears to lead a bunch of grunts from an unnamed organization. The grunts do have the letters "G G" on their hats, instantly reminding me of the Red Ribbon Army from Dragon Ball. I'm sure we'll find out what those initials mean later.
  
• I find it pretty interesting that the members of Ryouga's village have to pass a trial before they're allowed to leave on a pokemon journey. Judging from Miruto's comments later on, it seems like Ryouga's hometown is unique in this regard.
  
• This comic doesn't really seem to take place in any of the regions from the games. Ryouga's home village is unnamed, and the place he goes to in the second half of the chapter is a place called Madoro City (マドロシティ).
  
• Like others have said, the only pokemon who appear in this story are Zekrom, a few pokemon on the first page, and a few pokemon in the back of Yaza's truck.

I'm interested to see where this series goes from here.

[The Outrage]

While I have become interested in this series from what I've seen, mostly due to a change of pace (i.e. not rehashing the game's story) I am wondering how they'd factor other Pokemon into this.

[War]

Chapter 1 looks interesting. I like how they are first focusing on the human characters.

[Smoochum & Pal]

I am surprise that nobody is mentioning the main hero transform or fuse with a legendary Zekrom. I was also shock with all the guns shooting and deadly weapons being use in against people then using pokemons. It was like the old days in the Pokemon anime and manga before it become more child friendly. It remind of the Digimon Frontier where the main heroes transforms into digimon then have them as partners. I thought it was a interesting plot but a little bit of stupid because it was so different from the Pokemon franchises.

[Dogasu]

The transformation thing was brought up in the speculation thread.

And the guns are the same type of energy shooting wrist things Freeza's henchmen use in Dragon Ball. No one has been shown with a regular handgun yet.

[Joshawott]

I just read your synopsis, and if anything, it sounds like a bit of fresh air when you think of other Pokémon manga. Shame I read Shonen manga though, as this opening chapter does sound a tad cliché.

[The Outrage]

I'm surprised Ryouga actually knew what to do with that jewel. I am glad they jumped right into the action right away and established what a "Burst" was. Also when he carried that girl on top of the giant boulder, all I could think of was my perception class and just noticeable differences, and that he technically wouldn't feel the additional weight unless she was >1/10th the weight of the boulder.

[捷克羅姆]

Looks promising. I don't usually read mangas, but it looks intriguing, (even though it does look a bit like the Pokémon manga version of Digimon Frontier). Just wondering, did they change Ryouga's eye color? Compare:

. Miruto does look a bit different from the poster. (No pictures available).

Also

What does Madoro mean? City names usually have meanings. (Mador? Madro? Matroo? Maduro? 魔泥?? まどろっこい???)

It certainly is faster-paced - Transformation to Zekrom in only chapter one!? I would like to see more on Ryouga's relationship with Arcades. And, also other characters doing "Burst" (Will see more of it anyway). Any idea on the possibility of Miruto doing it in the future?

[Galactic Tomahawk]

I liked the first chapter, looks like it has potential to be a lot of fun.

I hope Commander Yaza sticks around because he looks hilarious.

[Joshawott]

Wasn't Commander Yaza shown in the promotional art? Why would they bother showing him if he was only meant to be minor villain in chapter 1?

[Galactic Tomahawk]

I'd assume so.

Since this is basically shounen cliche central I figure he'll probably bungle around for several chapters never doing anything effectual and then just kind of become an ally by default.

[Sanic Hegehog]

Am I the only person that is bothered by the fact that the main character Ryouga has the ability to transform into Zekrom? I don't know, it just sounds way too "terrible fanfic"-ish for my taste, but I won't mind too much as long as there is some sort of limit implemented.

[The Outrage]

How is this anymore fanfic-ish, then let's say all the other Pokémon manga that rehash the game's plot with some twists and turns like most people's journeyfics?