Pokémon Zensho

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

A one volume manga based off of Pokémon Red and Green released in April of 1998.

A Shonen manga. It stars "Satoshi", an average boy as he adventures through Kanto. Usually considered the most true of manga to the games, it delves into more scenes from the games then the other manga and a majority of characterization is true to the games. Some info is even taken from the manuals.

It had a Scanlation project but only the first chapter has been released in over a year.

Tropes used in Pokémon Zensho include:


  • Author Appeal: Satoshi never catches a Poliwhirl onscreen, yet it appears in an artwork with him. It's the creator of the Pokémon franchises favorite Pokémon.
  • Cool Big Sis: Daisy, though not to the degree of her Pokémon Special version. Arguably an Onee-Sama.
  • Covers Always Lie: An omake, seen above, has Satoshi surrounded by Pokémon. He never catches the Pidgeot, Diglet, or Poliwhirl.
  • Crowning Moment of Heartwarming: Pikachu evolving for his master to fight the Elite Four
  • Exactly What It Says on the Tin: "Zensho" roughly translates to "good book", "complete book" or "complete set". It's an one volume manga about Pokémon that holds a complete story.
  • Expy: Accidentally Satoshi to Ash. They both have Pikachu, both have Charizard, and both have had Lapras. They also have the same names, often do not even beat gym leaders yet win, and when his hat is removed Satoshi looks exactly like Ash without his birthmarks; which is because Satoshi looks exactly like his game counterpart with an art style change, and Ash is an Expy of Red. Scenes even parallel to the anime at times. For example, Ash got a badge from Erika by helping her during a fire. Satoshi got a badge from her by helping her when her Charmeleon accidentally set her kimono on fire.
  • Eyes Always Shut: Satoshi's mom rarely opens her eyes.
  • Gratuitous English: Lt. Surge noticeably speaks with random English thrown in.
  • Jerkass: Shigeru. He beats Satoshi's Pokémon out of the blue, in midair, when they were already injured. He also lacks empathy for his Pokémon.
  • Hot Mom: Satoshi's mom.
  • It Was a Gift: Satoshi receives most of his Pokémon as gifts for helping gym leaders, and uses most of them.
  • Name's the Same: Coincidentally the protagonist and antagonist have the same names as their counterparts in the anime. Both names come from the games, as homages to producers.
  • No Export for You
  • Parental Abandonment: As with most of his counterparts, Shigeru lacks parents. They're revealed to have been hit by a car and killed Also, Satoshi lacks a dad for some reason.
  • Psychics Are Not Evil: This manga quite possibly has the most kind version of Sabrina, which borderlines Moe
  • Ship Tease: When Misty saves Satoshi from drowning, and when Satoshi and Shigeru become friends and go to fight Mewtwo. Also a majority of times people give Satoshi Pokémon.
  • Shown Their Work: Personalities, roles, and designs are kept more intact then any other continuity, Pokémon have their original designs (ex: Charmander has spikes), scenes and items excluded from other continuities are kept, and little details are kept. Some of Satoshi's first lines are paraphrased from the manual of Red and Blue.
  • Walking Shirtless Scene: Brock.