Pokémon: The Electric Tale of Pikachu

Pokémon: The Electric Tale of Pikachu
電撃!ピカチュウ (Dengeki! Pikachu)
Genre	Action-adventure, Fantasy
Manga
Written by	Toshihiro Ono
Published by	Shogakukan
English publisher	Viz Media Chuang Yi
Demographic	Shōnen
Magazine	CoroCoro Comic
Original run	October 28, 1997 – January 28, 2000
Volumes	4
Anime and Manga Portal

Pokémon: The Electric Tale of Pikachu (電撃！ピカチュウ, Dengeki! Pikachū^?) is a fantasy action-adventure manga series created by Toshihiro Ono and serialized in the Children's manga magazine CoroCoro Comic. Individual chapters were collected into four tankōbon volumes by Shogakukan, 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 the Pokémon anime series, although the world itself has a visibly higher level of technology.

The manga was published in English in North America by Viz Communications in a "flipped", left-to-right format. The first volume, The Electric Tale of Pikachu!, was released on September 5, 1999, and the third, Electric Pikachu Boogaloo, was released on April 5, 2000.

In Singapore, the manga is published in English by Chuang Yi and translated as Pokémon: The Electric Tale of Pikachu! for all four volumes.^[1]The Traditional Chinese edition in Taiwan of the manga is published by Da Ran Culture Enterprise and Chingwin Publishing.

Development

Toshihiro Ono, the author of the series, said that he began drawing the series after Mr. 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.^[2]

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 he 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 drawing Dragonite in the final chapter, as he struggled to "get a face that cute to look powerful." His favorite human characters to work with were Ash Ketchum and Jessie 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 were Ash Ketchum, Ditto, Nurse Joy, and Oddish.^[2]

Characters

Japanese names in Western order (given name before family name) are given first, followed by the English name. For the sake of 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 after Satoshi 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

• Takeshi / Brock
• 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 designer Shigeru 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.
• Musashi / Jessica "Jessie" - The female half of Team Rocket.
• Kojiro / James - The male half of Team Rocket.
• 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 leader of Team Rocket.

Volume list

No.	Title	Japanese release	English release
1	The Electric Tale of Pikachu!	October 28, 1997[3] ISBN 4-09-149341-6	September 5, 1999 (United States)[4] ISBN 978-1-56931-378-7
Bonus 1. "Tales Of Pikachu In The Wild" 01. "Pikachu, I See You" 02. "Play Misty For Me" 03. "Clefairy Tale" 04. "Haunting My Dreams"
2	Pikachu Shocks Back	June 27, 1998[5] ISBN 4-09-149342-4	December 6, 1999 (United States)[6] ISBN 978-1-56931-411-1
Bonus 2. "I Am Ditto!" 05. "The Human Race and the Pokémon Race" 06. "To Evolve Or Not to Evolve, That Is the Question!" 07. "Pikachu's Excellent Adventure" 08. "You Gotta Have Friends" Bonus 3. "I am Porygon." Bonus 4. "Suddenly It's Questioning Time!"
3	Electric Pikachu Boogaloo	April 26, 1999[7] ISBN 4-09-149343-2	April 5, 2000 (United States)[8] ISBN 978-1-56931-436-4
Bonus 5. "I Am Hungry!" 09. "I'm Your Venusaur" 10. "Clefairy in Space" 11. "Days of Gloom and Glory" 12. "Welcome to the Big Leagues" 13. "The Indigo Finals" 14. "The Orange Islands"
4	Surf's Up, Pikachu	January 28, 2000[9] ISBN 4-09-149344-0	(United States)[10] ISBN 978-1-56931-494-4
Bonus 6. "The Ultimate Pet Of The 21st Century" 15. "Attack of the Demon Stomach" 16. "You Bet Your Wife" 17. "Orange Crew Supreme Gym Leader" 18. "Orange Crew Supreme Gym Leader (2)" 19. "Pokémon Side-Story Ash vs. Gary" Epilogue: ""Type: Wild" - A Possible Future"

Toshihiro Ono

Toshihiro Ono was born in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture on February 27, 1965. He moved to Chiryū, Aichi Prefecture when he was one year old. Ono said that he began drawing in elementary school and junior high school. He drew illustrations for advertising agencies, men's magazine columns, and English language dictionaries. In addition to his freelance jobs he also was an assistant for Glass no Kamen, a manga by Suzue Miuchi. In August 1999, after the publication of Pokémon: The Electric Tale of Pikachu, Ono appeared at the San Diego Comic-Con. Ono said that he likes American comics because the artwork and storylines have "such a different flavor" than artwork and storylines of Japanese comics. His favorite artists were Walter Simonson and Mike Mignola.^[2]

References

1. ^ "Available Issues for THE ELECTRIC TALE OF PIKACHU." Chuang Yi. Retrieved on December 1, 2008.
2. ^ ^{a b c} "Animerica Interview Toshihiro Ono." VIZ Media. May 10, 2000. Retrieved on May 31, 2009.
3. ^ "電撃!ピカチュウ 1 [Surprise! Pikachu 1]" (in Japanese). Shogakukan. http://skygarden.shogakukan.co.jp/skygarden/owa/sol_detail?isbn=4091493416. Retrieved September 28, 2009. 
4. ^ "Pokemon Graphic Novel, Volume 1: The Electric Tale Of Pikachu! (Viz Graphic Novel) (0782009049937): Toshihiro Ono: Books". Amazon.com. http://www.amazon.com/dp/1569313784. Retrieved September 28, 2009. 
5. ^ "電撃!ピカチュウ 2 [Surprise! Pikachu 2]" (in Japanese). Shogakukan. http://skygarden.shogakukan.co.jp/skygarden/owa/sol_detail?isbn=4091493424. Retrieved September 28, 2009. 
6. ^ "Pokemon Graphic Novel, Volume 2: Pikachu Shocks Back (Viz Graphic Novel) (0782009054634): Toshihiro Ono: Books". Amazon.com. http://www.amazon.com/dp/156931411X. Retrieved September 28, 2009. 
7. ^ "電撃!ピカチュウ 3 [Surprise! Pikachu 3]" (in Japanese). Shogakukan. http://skygarden.shogakukan.co.jp/skygarden/owa/sol_detail?isbn=4091493432. Retrieved September 28, 2009. 
8. ^ "Pokemon Graphic Novel vol. 3: Electric Pikachu Boogaloo (Pokemon) (Pokémon Comic Series, 3) (0782009058434): Toshihiro Ono: Books". Amazon.com. http://www.amazon.com/dp/1569314365. Retrieved September 28, 2009. 
9. ^ "電撃!ピカチュウ 4 [Surprise! Pikachu 4]" (in Japanese). Shogakukan. http://skygarden.shogakukan.co.jp/skygarden/owa/sol_detail?isbn=4091493440. Retrieved September 28, 2009. 
10. ^ "Pokemon Graphic Novel, Volume 4: Surf's Up, Pikachu (Pokémon) (0782009056836): Toshihiro Ono: Books". Amazon.com. http://www.amazon.com/dp/1569314942. Retrieved September 28, 2009. 

Other Pokémon manga

• Magical Pokémon Journey (known in Japan as PiPiPi's Adventures)
• Pokémon Adventures (known in Japan as Pocket Monster Special)
• Ash & Pikachu (known in Japan as Satoshi to Pikachu)
• Pokémon Gold & Silver

External links

	Pokémon portal
	Anime and manga portal

• "Animerica Interview Toshihiro Ono." VIZ Media.
• EX.org vol 1. review
• "Pokemon #1 Hits 1 Million Copies" -(Viz Media)
• Mania vol. 3 review
• Mania vol. 5 review