Books like Desperado Pikachu

I think y’all can probably relate to this: I was minding my own business in Costco the other day when I came across box sets for the ENTIRE first 30 books in the Pokémon Adventures series… and I just had to have them. So I happily blew my grocery budget on them and went home.I’ve read maybe a handful of manga over the years, and although it’s not a genre I’m well versed in, I liked everything I picked up. I think I feared diving in further for two reasons: 1. I’ve enough to read as is, and 2. My book budget is already a problem.I’m also not suuuper well-versed in the Pokémon universe aside from having a huge card collection from when I was a kid (I have ALL the original cool shit from the first 151 Pokémon), and I’ve watched Indigo League and a few other series/movies. And I still love playing Pokémon Stadium 1&2 and Pokémon Snap on Nintendo 64. And that’s it. I don’t play the pocket video games, I chose time for other things over Pokémon Go! (Because I would’ve HAD to catch them all to satisfy my completionist attitude), and I stopped collecting cards after the next generation of Pokémon came out.From my experience, this series is most in line with the Indigo League tv series. And actually, the storylines are parallel so far, but they are told so differently that it’s like reading a whole new series. The biggest improvement is the Pokémon interaction in the manga. I was super disappointed that the “gotta catch em all” thing wasn’t represented in the tv series (like, hardly any at all…wtf?) so reading this feels like getting a second chance to satisfy my cravings: the more Pokémon caught, the better.Another difference is the grittiness. The tv show kind of bubble-gummed it up with how they portrayed Team Rocket and how they tamed down the interactions with the Pokémon (much less violent). The manga takes itself much more seriously. There are still plenty of funny moments, but overall it’s darker, and because of that I’m liking it a lot more.Series status: I don’t think I’ll be doing reviews for every book in this series because there’s not a ton of depth within each one (limited by the word count and general nature of the format), but I’m definitely looking forward to working my way through them. I feel like a kid again! Recommendations: I love Pokémon and have always wanted a little more story than I got while watching the Indigo League. This manga fits the bill perfectly. Since I’m a manga novice, I can’t really compare it to other manga series, so I’ll satisfy by recommending it just to fellow Pokémon nerds like me.Via The Obsessive Bookseller at www.NikiHawkes.com