Pokémon Diamond and Pearl Adventure!, Volume 3 Review Thread

[Blackjack Gabbiani]

So the third English volume of Diamond and Pearl Adventure! came out today, and so of course I had to snatch it up.

The primary focus of the volume, save for a two-part side story, is a battle between Hareta and Team Galactic...and some Gym Leaders tossed in to the side. Honestly they don't do much, which is kinda a shame.

The battle is pretty cool, although I wish there was more to the volume (the side story takes too long, and while it's interesting by itself, that's print that could have been devoted to more plot). Ihara plots and writes very interesting battles, using abilities and staging as if they were for live-action, using the entire setting. Azelf gets to use its ability to control/heighten willpower, but I think there was a missed opportunity there in that it doesn't do so against Cyrus, which would have been FASCINATING.

The basic battle plot can be summed up by saying "it REALLY sucks to be Saturn". Seriously, he gets his butt kicked by Magikarp, he gets FIRED, and can only get back in the gang by demonstrating that he's willing to die for Cyrus (which he very nearly does).

And oh yeah, Roark seems to think Saturn is a girl, calling him "she" twice on one page. This is never corrected, so it may not be Roark but rather the translator. And since Saturn is drawn so feminine as to make Bashou look like a macho man (see the waist-to-hip ratio, the moobs, and the distinct eyelashes in the attached picture), this may be a rational conclusion, albiet a blindly incorrect one. I'll probably write to Viz and ask them if it was meant to be Roark being a dumbass or if the dumbass was the translator.

More later. For now, share your thoughts!


Also damn Byron do you even OWN a shirt?



(side note--Ass Grunt, whose swelling seems to have spread to his legs as well, refers to Saturn as "sir", but some military people use "sir" as a gender-neutral address to a superior officer, so it's really hard to tell)

 

[Dogasu]

Re: DPA3 (spoilers DUH)

Amazon.com doesn't have this coming out until the 4th. Huh.

I really, really need to start reading this series, but I just haven't had the time lately.


Also...I hope it's OK with the mods that I stickied this thread.

 

[Blackjack Gabbiani]

That's strange...it's been noted as the second for quite some time, and someone on tgcomm on LJ got theirs several days ago.

 

[Joey]

My local Borders actually had this out as early as last Friday, but I didn't pick it up until today. Just read it the first part, and I really like the battles in this series. Like you said, using the entire terrain is really awesome. I find myself really getting into the action.

As for Saturn's gender... I think I mistook him for a girl in the games anyway, so I don't even know anymore. It'll be interesting to hear Viz's take on it. I'm wondering if they'll do anything more with his Gallade.

I kind of want to refer to the gym leaders as the Dork-Brigade, they were really useless.

 

[Blackjack Gabbiani]

Saturn confounds people. I always thought he was a guy, even with the Japanese voice and all. But then, this is the only source where I've actually seen him drawn feminine as opposed to "fair".

Well, people have compared him to Bashou for ages now and there's another thing to toss on the pile.

 

[Mooites]

Saturn looked like a guy in Volume 2...

 

[Blackjack Gabbiani]

Here's something that puzzles me, and it's got nothing to do with Saturn. Hareta spends all the bonus story convincing Mars not to kill Kangaskhan...but the very last image we see of the beast, it's caught in an explosion. Now, odds are that it was just knocked out, but still, what happened AFTER that? Because I can very much picture Mars cramming it in another pokeball and having it exterminated once Hareta leaves.

It also says a lot about the Galactics that commanders have access to giant bombs more readily than they do to things like tranquilizer guns. Must be that whole "forest for the trees" mentality they have.

 

[Lil Brother]

Came in the mail today.

Yeah, I raised a brow at Saturn being called a "she" too, but now I'm conviced that had to be intentional. Anyone who's read the original who can clarify? '_'

Now the main battle was fine and everything, but the Gym leaders showing up to do... nothing outside of take care of a few Grunts was a pretty obvious hole in the story, Hareta's "I'm the main character so let me battle alone" insistence aside. They're kinda taking Azelf, guys, do stuff. A couple high points of it for me were Gallade's attacks and the barrage of Magikarp, heh. Also liked Cyrus's "To become a god... I'll crush anyone who gets in my way!!" quote, possibly because of the accompanying visual.

Am I crazy, or did the scene with the fisherman seem to be a shout-out to Electric Tale? ^^;

Ha, Mitsumi's team is awesome. It's really too bad she doesn't receive more focus. Well, not for now, anyway.

I was rather fond on the side story, actually. Of course, I am a Dexoys fanboy. Guess I just liked seeing a more light-hearted story amongst all the drama (um, despite Mars trying to blow up Kangaskhan, which was pretty badass). Seeing the baby Kangaskhan mimic its parents was weirdly funny.

Also damn Byron do you even OWN a shirt?

I thought he was wearing one...? o.o Or do you mean Wake?

 

[Blackjack Gabbiani]

No, I mean Byron. He has the cape, but it's not over anything but skin.

 

[Lil Brother]

No, I mean Byron. He has the cape, but it's not over anything but skin.

Huh? I coulda sworn... *flip flip flip flip* Yeah, he's shown putting the cape over an a-shirt in volume 2. And looking through volume 3, I'm seeing a bunch of panels with what looks like wrinkles in fabric.

Unless maybe I missed a nipple or belly button shot somewhere. '_'

 

[Sato]

Yeah, I raised a brow at Saturn being called a "she" too, but now I'm conviced that had to be intentional. Anyone who's read the original who can clarify? '_'

Hyouta: Wh-what's this tremor...?
Hyouta: That's, the Ginga-dan...?
Saturn: They won't be escaping from there...!
Hyouta: No way, those two...
Natane: They've been beaten!?

 

[Dogasu]

Yeah...the thing about the Japanese language is that gender-specific personal pronouns can often be omitted without it feeling forced or contrived at all. Where with English, going pages and pages without using either the word "he" or "she" makes it seem like the writer's intentionally trying to keep things ambiguous.

 

[Blackjack Gabbiani]

I know people scream at this because it's apparently not "grammatically correct", but in everyday dialogue people use "they" as a gender-neutral pronoun, so I don't see why they can't use it in print.

It could have easily been "They're from Team Galactic?" and "Did that person really just" etc.

Heck, I know of a series that went two volumes without identifying a character by name OR gender, even though we saw pictures and it was obviously a man (Sakura Ganbaru refers to Ryu as "that person" up until the time he actually shows up, and by then it's the end of the run).

 

[gunnernarron]

I bought Pokemon Diamond and Pearl Adventure Volumes 1&2 today. And i ordered 3 from Booksamillion.

 

[gunnernarron]

Also i found out Volume 4 is coming out June 2, 2009!

 

[Sketch]

Stop double posting...and your first response has nothing to do with Volume 3.

 

[Starlight the ampharos]

Yeah, I wonder why they called Saturn a she. I didn't have the games yet when I first read it, and I forgot about his cameo in the anime, so I believed it XD.

Edit: Not to mention they made him look like a girl. Especially with the eyeliner.

 

[Blackjack Gabbiani]

The disturbing part is that they might have *checked* with the anime, because if you hear his Japanese voice you might come to the same conclusion. Granted it's a horribly incorrect one, but still.