Released on the Nintendo DS over 15 years ago, Pokémon Diamond and Pearl have been beloved by many in the Pokémon fanbase, especially (and particularly) the enhanced third edition Pokémon Platinum. In response to nostalgia for these games reaching an all-time high, The Pokémon Company recently released two games for diehard Sinnoh fans—Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, a "faithful remake" of the original games, and Pokémon Legends: Arceus, a whole new open-world reimagining of Sinnoh set in the distant past. However, instead of revisiting generation 4 through these games, I personally chose to revisit a little-talked-about but related manga series that I had reada bit of back then but never finished... until now.

The core Pokémon games are somewhat odd cases of JRPGs in that they were more about the adventure you make with the team of monsters the player decides—especially in the first two generations—rather than a concrete narrative that spans over a cast of (usually) well-defined characters. Even though the games started to go harder on story since generation 5 (which is arguably considered to have the best-received plot out of all the generations even to this day), plot was honestly never really much of the core series' strong suit. Naturally, many older Pokémon fans actively look for not just more difficult gaming experiences, but also more well-defined and/or mature story experiences with all the potential the franchise has to offer—I mean, there's a reason why Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time/Darkness/Sky has such a devoted cult following! Those types of Pokémon fans tend to enjoy the long-running manga series Pokémon Special (aka Pokémon Adventures), and perhaps also want something aimed more towards their demographic, such as a traditional shounen manga, with the closest example of that actually existing being Pokémon RéBurst.
Despite its English title, Pokémon Diamond and Pearl Adventure is not related to PokéSpe at all, offering its own interpretation of Diamond and Pearl's story that features and mainly follows the original characters Hareta and Mitsumi. And in my honest opinion, DP Adventure and its shounen-esque approach is the Sinnoh adventure that the original DS games should have had from the very beginning. Many including diehard "Sinnohfetuses" (yes that's a real term, look it up) consider the plot to be the weakest part of Diamond and Pearl, with some of the main criticisms being flat characterization (mainly Akagi/Cyrus), the wacky but very aimless and random Team Galactic, and the inconsistent pace of exploration and Gym Badge collecting. But DP Adventure's take on this plot is fairly refreshing and exciting, which is fairly impressive because the general plotline doesn't actually stray that much from the Sinnoh games—the main character must stop Team Galactic and its power-hungry boss from summoning the Legendary Pokémon. Despite that, this is more of a character-driven affair of a young boy beginning his Pokémon Trainer journey, fueled by the desire to meet the "god-like" Pokémon Dialga. It's not really even about collecting Gym Badges like you might expect from the original TV anime with Satoshi/Ash; it's seriously more about Hareta's comedic travels that eventually go into threatening territory as Team Galactic reaches levels of being a legitimate threat far higher than in their original appearances. But even though the story does go there, much of this story is all still somehow fairly light-hearted and hopeful enough for a kid to still be able to enjoy. Of course, this manga's not perfect; for all its changes it's still not TOO different from Diamond and Pearl's story, and I feel like there could have been more interesting changes and story directions, as well as a more firm-feeling ending. But simply put—this series' manga-ka remembered and stuck to the basics of storytelling, tucking their interpretation into the original storyline well enough that characters ended up fairly enjoyable and somewhat memorable in a good way.

Speaking of characters... there are only four original characters added alongside much of the Sinnoh cast (unless you count K-2/B-2... ah that guy lolol), and while they're not the most original of characters, they were certainly fun to follow. Hareta may be the clichéd hopeful shounen protagonist with a hidden stroke of genius, but boy, does he make for a simple but good example of why that archetype is still popular.... such an innocent and cheerful, fun-loving kid. He really does make you root for him, and the manga-ka made good use of his background of living in the forest with Pokémon his whole life by creating many goofy scenarios where he often misinterprets common things and terms in human society and unintentionally acts unexpectedly against typical social norms. Hareta's female companion, Mitsumi, is also a great straight-man to his newbie and/or animalistic habits, and is far from a "useless shounen female character," but I can't really talk about the true nature of her epicness without spoiling the crap out of this manga... you REALLY SHOULD read this manga for yourself if you're intrigued. There's also two other original characters, but those characters are introduced in volume 6 of this 8-volume series, so I will not mention them in this review.
As for the Sinnoh cast, they're not as developed as the main duo and one of the later original characters, but they do certainly make a presence. The Sinnoh rival Jun/Barry is made as a recurring character who meets up with Hareta and Mitsumi every now and then, and while he doesn't show up as often as he does in the original games, any time Jun appears is a fun time. As I've said earlier, Team Galactic is far more threatening than pretty much any of their video game portrayals, but they also show some new sides and can even be somewhat sympathetic—which is certainly a plus! Several of the Sinnoh Gym Leaders show new sides as well, especially Tougan/Bryon and Suzuna/Candice, which is a bit crazy to me since the former was already pretty cool and somewhat popular. Sure, not all of them got this treatment and I definitely wish they did and showed up more (hell, Denzi/Volkner LITERALLY NEVER SHOWS UP in this story, yet his buddy Oba/Flint did lol), but hey, at least they definitely show up enough to justify their extended inclusions to the story and I do appreciate whatever amount of screentime they got regardless.

Now... the art. Let's not mince words here, the art in DP Adventure is CLEAN. Line art is consistently crisp, and looks amazing whenever the manga-ka decides to combine it with gradient screen-tone! Proportions are somewhat cartoony, but it looks great (especially whenever characters grin) and adds a lot to the goofy nature of this gag manga. Backgrounds look good too, even though sometimes crazy perspective shots can look a bit too warped in my opinion. I don't mind it as much for battle/action scenes though, which are definitely highlights and reasons enough to read the whole manga alone. Tons of action lines are everywhere, and actions such as Pokémon attacks and explosions are drawn to be appropriately striking to the eyes... and yet it's all clearly presented so one shouldn't have too much trouble figuring out how action scenes are played out.
Much of the story and panel layout are arranged in a way that the story feels fast-paced, often featuring a bunch of information within a single page. This fast pacing doesn't feel off to me though, probably because the whole series is mainly a comedy manga through and through; I mean, there's comedic chibi panels even within climactic, ultra-serious fights, but they somehow don't detract much from the scene. It's almost like what Akira Himekawa tried to do with the more shorter volumes of The Legend of Zelda manga series, though the panelwork in DP Adventure is nowhere near as stylized yet (tbh) more appropriately consistent pacing-wise.

Overall, Shigekatsu Ihara's Pokémon Diamond and Pearl Adventure is an interesting reinterpretation of the Sinnoh games, with the main story making up the first 5 volumes and the last 3 volumes being what Iharu calls this manga's "Platinum Version." Those seeking to revisit Sinnoh but don't feel like picking up either of The Pokémon Company's current offerings should consider giving this manga a read; the story is remixed enough to feel like a new experience, but not so much that it would feel super out-of-place to veteran Trainers. In fact, there's lots of references to things like actual Items, Type advantages, and even Abilities, all of which were pleasant surprises to me as a long-time "Johtoddler" (yes, another real fan term, look it up dude idk lol). The characters are simple but effective, and there's some sweet dynamics and new sides to the Sinnoh cast here. Sure, there's a ton of really kooky and/or juvenile humor, but that's kinda to be expected for a kodomo/kids' manga and I think it all works... and besides, at least the art should still be a treat! All of these elements make DP Adventure a simply solid and really out-there entry to the overlooked world of Pokémon manga... a world I hope will continue to grow bigger and into newer directions in the future.