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The Pokémon shōnen manga series, known as Pocket Monsters: Dengeki Pikachu in Japan, was made by Toshihiro Ono. 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 released in four volumes, or tankōbon.

The manga was published in English in North America by Viz Communications. The English manga is flipped to the Western left to right format. In this adaptation, the four volumes are named: The Electric Tale of Pikachu, Pikachu Shocks Back, Electric Pikachu Boogaloo, and Surf's Up, Pikachu.

In Singapore, the manga is published in English by Chuang Yi and translated as Pokémon: The Electric Tale of Pikachu! for all four volumes.

Editing in the North American version

The initial printing of the manga in North America drew ire from parents who read the manga, so the graphic novels were edited for American audiences, while most of the monthly issues were for the most part unedited.

In the original Japanese version, Toshihiro Ono drew most of the female characters with busts considered by some to be "oversized" along with "revealing outfits". There were a few scenes that could be construed as risqué by extremely conservative individuals, including one involving Misty relaxing in a hot tub, only to be interrupted by Ash clumsily bursting in. Such scenes are common in many anime and manga, and are not seen as being overly sexual by the Japanese, and those in many other countries where such are published (Ranma ½ is an example of a series that has not been overly censored from its original form, even in America). Any excess skin was covered up by the Viz Media adaptation team, while the Chuang Yi-Translated version still uses the original art. Most fans are disgusted by this "butchering" of the manga, and sites were created on the internet requesting the removal of these edits.

Characters

Japanese names in Western order (given name before surname) 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 Misplaced Pages 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.
• Pikachu, a little yellow mouse-like creature with a lightning bolt tail and the ability to create an electrical jolt 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 cheerleading girlfriends, nor does he travel by car. In fact, about the only thing this Gary has in common with the anime Gary is his mean attitude towards Ash. Nevertheless, he ends up traveling with Ash in the manga's epilogue.
• Musashi / Jessica "Jessie" - The female half of Team Rocket.
• Kojiro / James - The male half of Team Rocket.
• Nyarth (ニャース Nyāsu) / Meowth - Team Rocket's third member. One of very few Pokémon who can speak a human language.
• Sakaki / Giovanni - The seldom-seen leader of Team Rocket.

Other Pokemon mangas

• 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 (manga series)
• Pokémon (anime)

External links

• Dogasu's Backpack page on the Pokemon manga series
• Pokemon Dengeki Pikachu Uncensored - site telling differences between Japanese and American versions of the manga

• Shōnen
• Pokémon manga
• Viz Media manga