More on Ali (and the Early Manga)

A year ago, I discussed some of the names that the protagonist of the Pokémon anime goes by. Of the three names I mentioned, one (Ash) is familiar because it's the one I grew up with, and another (Satoshi) is familiar for those well-versed in the Japanese side of Pokémon. The last one (Ali) is an oddball, for it is apparently something entrenched yet unfamiliar. The source of that entrenchment is, as odd as it seems, actually and most likely the earliest Pokémon manga and its adaptation in Indonesian.

The manga is the creation of Kosaku Anakubo, and as I've noted in the post about Pikachu speaking, it is quite different. In it, all the Pokémon talk in human language... except for one, which just happens to be Pikachu, and this strangely becomes a counterpoint to the other situation. Another thing is that the manga is quite exaggerated: Pokémon do inconceivable things, the people do improbable things, and mayhem ensues everywhere. All of these are directed for humor, and a lot of it, sometimes tending towards crude; I read half of the first volume and it felt like I couldn't stand to continue reading, but after some time, I had to continue reading even at least a little bit more so that I could understand the situation a little further. Though the story progression is interesting to say the least (it's episodic, much like the anime), I'm not sure if I could continue to enjoy it, a rarity for me and anything Pokémon. I may or may not try to read more when presented with the opportunity.

As for the Ali thing, that becomes its own perplexing thing. Names in the Indonesian adaptation of this particular manga seem to be directed toward the English names, but many are also quite odd, especially for those who know the English names very well. Some names of people are correctly referred in form (Gary, as the rival of "Ali", and even Gym Leaders Erika and Sabrina), but others are deformed ("Brok" and "Misti"); the same is true of Pokémon, where Clefairy becomes "Kleferi" and Charmander becomes "Karmander". Quite a few of these names seem to appeal to the phonetic side of the English names, though how this came to be is a question in itself. And of course, there's the name "Ali", which is only related to "Ash" by the initial letter, and seems to be the only one that is a true adaptation. It might have been this connection that led to the usage of "Ali" in the Indonesian dub of the anime, or at least very early on, as the dub I saw used Japanese names, though some English names did creep in later on. Even so, it's only a wonder that the names "Red" and "Blue" - or variations thereof - weren't used instead in the adapted manga, as the manga seems to figure into Red and Blue more than Ash and Gary.

Whatever the case, the name "Ali" has an established presence of its own thanks to the Indonesian adaptation of this particular Pokémon manga. This isn't exactly the name that colored my early days with Pokémon, but it may well very have colored the early days of my colleagues. This makes it understandable why some people consider it a "legendary" name, no matter how odd it seems. That's still not half bad for a protagonist who still has different names in different parts of the world.

One year ago: A Pikachu Wall Hanging