Pokémon Adventures: Black 2 & White 2, Vol. 1

ポケットモンスターSPECIAL #53

by Hidenori Kusaka, Satoshi Yamamoto (Illustrator)

Two years have passed since Team Plasma was defeated and Trainer Black was sucked into the Light Stone along with Legendary Pokémon Reshiram… Now Team Plasma is back to its wicked ways, controlling other people’s Pokémon and even wild Pokémon with technology. Luckily, a new young hero and Looker of the International Police are on their trail…

Colress, the new leader of Team Plasma, is attacking the Unova region. His machines control Pokémon, wielding their powers for evil instead of good. Fortunately, a way to jam the signals is stored on a memory card. But who has the card…? A girl at the Pokémon Trainers’ School! Maybe that’s why our hero is such a flirt—he’s just doing his job gathering intel. But he’d better stop playing the field and find that card fast before someone beats him to it!

Genres: Manga, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Comics Manga, Childrens, Fantasy

200 pages, Paperback

First published December 26, 2014

About the author

Created the Pokemon Adventures series.

Also made a Pokemon Rangers/ Almia manga. It is based on the game Pokemon Rangers, Shadows of Almia

Also known as : 日下秀憲

Reviews

[Jessi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay, from now on in Pokemon reviews, I'm really going to try to complete them in a timely manner and stop summarizing. The summarizing does help me remember what happened and with what I want to say about this or that event, but it also takes me about 5 million years to finish. I'm already slightly failing because I finished this book days ago and started a new one already, but here I go.

I do not care for Blake. He's supposedly "good with the ladies," but really he's just harassing Whitley, and shamelessly flattering the other girls in the class. In the authors note, Yamamoto claims that he finds it difficult to draw Blake because he (Yamamoto) is not "good with the ladies" himself, and it's clear why if this is the kind of behavior associated with being "good with the ladies." Also from the way he draws girls and women, he is clearly objectifying them. So, that doesn't help either. Well, it's possible the publishers are pushing him to draw them like that because that's what they think 8-12 year old boys (the straight ones) will want to see, buuuuut I highly doubt it. Side note: I am far too familiar with Whitley's butt cheeks for my own personal comfort.

Also, Blake is a clear cut Gary Stu character, more so than any other Pokemon protagonist we've seen so far. The pre-teen wish fulfillment is strong with this one.

I'm not sure yet how I feel about Whitley. She didn't want to go to the school, she doesn't want to use the pokedex or pokeballs because she has been told all her life that these are wrong. She hates the attention that Blake is giving her. She is just quietly uncomfortable all the time. I hope to see her grow as character and start standing up for herself as the manga goes on.

This story is set two years after the end of Black and White. Colress is the new king of Team Plasma and is using technology to control powerful pokemon and make them do his bidding. Inspector Blake (gag) and Looker are investigating Team Plasma together, and Looker is constantly looking to Blake to tell him what to do. He was always kind of inept, but in previous stories he could think and investigate things for himself just fine.

Anyway, Blake knows that a girl (of course) from the school is in cahoots with Team Plasma and that's the reason he's getting cozy with all of them, ya' know, besides the fact that he is just clearly a creep. There's a bit of a timing issue here. How long was he infiltrating the school before Whitley showed up? It's long enough for him to know none of the other girls are suspects. How can he know a Team Plasma member goes to the school before one is even there?

I think my favorite part of the story, so far, is Hugh's side story. This guy's got a lot of pent up rage and a vendetta against Team Plasma that is very interesting to watch unfold.

I also was excited to see Bianca and Cheren rejoin us on our journey, and the little teaser that we will be seeing White in the future.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute schoolyard yarn in the Pokemon universe. This was the first Pokemon manga I have ever read and it was adorable and enjoyable. Clean, cute artwork and an exciting story. Of course, there's a bunch more volumes for me to read.... 😅

[Nic · Rating 3 out of 5]

The school-life stuff is fun. Not a big fan of protagonist Blake, though. The fact that his method of investigating his female classmates is to flirt with them - even to the point of dating them and having to "break up" when he's done investigating - is slimy. The fact that he doesn't change tactics when investigating Whitley, even though the flirting makes her intensely and obviously uncomfortable, is even slimier. Also, he's kind of laughably obvious wish-fulfillment: a twelve-year-old secret agent martial artist elite Pokémon trainer who's a hit with (most of) the ladies? A little over-the-top.

My full review is up at No Flying No Tights.

[Ben Nealis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sub par and will never stand up to the original adventures series.
It felt like it could add to the main manga story-line but wouldn't be worth it.
All around a time killer that was sitting on the shelf and would have been better staying there.

[David Doel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I started with only 2 of the 4 volumes from this series. I liked it enough that I have ordered volumes 3 and 4. This is a continuation of the Pokemon Adventures: Black and White 9-volume series. Ideally, they should be read before starting these.

[Flowergirl · Rating 5 out of 5]

The start of Black 2 and White 2 was really good. I really love Whitley, she's so sweet and shy. She's a really interesting character considering who she is and her history.
Blake is hilarious, and really well written, him and Looker get along hilariously, I love that Blake is Looker's superior.

[Daniel Lane · Rating 4 out of 5]

I needed a Pokémon fix as I am in the midst of a media fast. It did exactly what I hoped! Very cute, quick read!

[Ohivon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really great manga and I really enjoyed it

[Jaden John · Rating 5 out of 5]

one of the best pokemon books I have read

[ReadingFrog · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.5 stars.

[Chelsea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid arc. I wish Lack-Two was developed more. He is an interesting protagonist, and so is his dynamic with Whi-Two.

[shane ॐ . · Rating 5 out of 5]

good

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

It must be a bit tough to try shifting gears. This starts off with a decent amount of continuity. "Blake" catches Genesect right away which I think is lame. But the pacing is snappy.

[Eli]

I love this Colress guy!

[Raymond Brooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice to finally see this Series return to updates in Continuity. Been too long since we jumped to Gen 6 and 7. I prefer to finish off Gen 5. Especially after the cliffhanger at the end of Black and White "Adventures" Vol.7

[Miguel Vega · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this one; it's really refreshing to be able to follow main characters who have goals besides becoming a Pokemon Master, trainer, or coordinator. In this series, following the Black and White Chapter two years earlier, the Unova region is being plagued by Team Plasma once again. Blake, a member of the International Police is on the hunt for the evil team. Whitley, a former member of Team Plasma who was forced into hiding, arrives at the trainers school and longs for the return of her former King.

I liked the storyline, but I did not love it because this volume was released in Japan in 2014 and just only hit the U.S. this January, making what happens to me spoiled and no longer that interesting.