Editing Medarot 2 (manga)

====Medarot Volume 01====

On Sunday, the fake Phantom shows up with two minions to steal the medals from a boat and start a Robottle with a Select Corp officer. Hidden in the boat, Ikki, Erika, Sailor-Multi and Metabee watch the battle until the moment the officer and his [[Drakonfly]] are defeated and throw in the water. Metabee and Sailor-Multi enter the fight and are able to defeat the [[Gaufbullet]] who attacked the Selected Corps, but a flying [[Baifish]] counter-attacks. After a fierce battle, he is thrown in the water and without his special legs for swim, he drowns.  

====Medarot Volume 02====

On the next morning, Ikki and Arika meet Karin, Kouji's friend, who is searching for Eggplants. Revealing she is the grand-daughter of [[Dr. Medarot]], Medarot's creator, she invites the kids to meet him. They arrive at the Hotel Nimusaku, where he is conceding some interviews. While the gang waits him, the RoboRobo Gang plans to rob Dr. Medarot's briefcase, imagining he holds something special on it.

Later, in a conference room, Dr. Medarot would announce a new Medabot ([[Ambiguous]], unnamed in this chapter) he developed with the team of Medabots USA. However, during the presentation, the Medarot attacks Metabee, knocking him out. It is then revealed he is in under RoboRobo Gang control, who changed his Medal and Tinpet before the presentation.

The gang steals the briefcase of Dr. Aki and went to the rooftop to flee, covered by a troop of [[CoffinBat]]s. Even though knocked out earlier, Metabee shows up to fight again, fully recovered by [[Saintnurse]], Karin's Medabot. The Gang then tries to make Dr. Aki as a hostage, but they are stopped by the Phantom Retort. Metabee is able to completely remove the Ambiguous's arm, making it nonoperational. The RoboRobos fled with the Medarot and Dr. Aki's briefcase… which has nothing more than a eggplant.  

During the convoluted fight, the Screws shows up to challenge Ikki, but are quickly defeated by Metabee, Rokusho and Smilodan. Because of that, Metabee is disqualified from the Robottle and to not lose, Sailor-Mate should substitute him. Arika then summon a different set of parts, converting her into [[Pretty Prime]]. Inflicting a surprise attack, she defeats then Smilodan. Using the fight as smoke screen, the RoboRobos tried to capture Karin, but their ambush fails due to Koji's guards.

====Medarot Volume 03====

The chapter ends with an infiltrated [[Sakekaasu]] in Medabots Corp entering a room and running in despair, since he found Dr. Aki and Phantom Retort dinning together, confirming he is the mysterious figure from the previous chapter.  

Metabee body then starts to overheat and his metal parts starts to boil. The gang tries to catch Metabee but their Medabots are obliterated by a strong field emmitted by him. Dr. Aki explains that Metabee is manifesting the [[Medaforce]], a psych power that controls any other medal nearby, letting them destroying itself.

====Medarot Volume 04====

|colspan="4"|The chapter begins with [[Dr. Hebereke]] recalling the events so far. It is implied that the failure attempt of the 10 Days of Darkness were not succeed because Typhoon and the other members did not follow his rules strictly. But he has a new plan ongoing with many infiltrated in the Medabot Corps.

|colspan="4"|Ikki and his friends, including Dr. Aki, went to the Island to fight RoboRobo Gang. In another place of the Island, the Select Corps and the press are waiting for action. The RoboRobo Gang are watching everyone and decide to ambush Ikki and the others, summoning their Medabots, starting a clash against Metabee, Smilodan, Brass (with a Valkyrie sword), Neutranurse and a reformed / improved Beast Master controlled by Koji.  

During the clash, Dr. Hebereke reveals himself in person, reinforcing his phylosohpy that Medabots should be treated as tools, not as friends, claiming superiority of his way. The results though prove he is wrong. Brass and SaintNurse mention that it is because his Medarots attack without thinking, in opposition of the other Medarots.

|colspan="4"|All people involved in the fight start to rise up in a lizard-shape flying disc. The battle between Belzelga and Metabee finally begins. Belzelga mentions that he is not like the other Medabots who just follow orders but has his own goal to surpass Metabee in order to become free, showing some 'human' aspect behind it, making Metabee happy about it and joining the fight fully.

Meanwhile, Dr. Hebereke and Dr. Aki discuss about the nature and secret origin of Medabots and how dangerous AI and robots they could be. Dr. Aki refuses Hebereke's hypothesis, saying that he believed Medabots and humans can be friends. Hebereke then calls him hypocryte, saying he's uncapable to tell the world the true origin of the Medarots and why they were created, because his world would be upside down.  

Different from the usual production workflow, Medarot (anime) is not based in the manga, but both works as tie-ins to promote the game Medarot 2, released by Kodansha in July 23, 1999.  

Even though they follow the same guidelines based on the game's main story, they are completely independent products, with distinct continuities. For instance, while Ikki's adventures starts in May 2022 in the manga, the is set 100 years later, in 2122.  

Some of the plots presented in anime and manga does not exist in the original game, but there are still a connection between then. This can be perceived in the manga, when RoboRobo Gang mentions Ikki's Meda-Parts so far, and most of them are from fights not showed in the manga. However, he has the same parts won in the anime in episodes 2 ([[Peppercat]] arm, [[Dr. Bokchoy]] and [[Bankaran]] leg), 3 ([[Megaphant]] arm), 5 ([[Kanehachi]] legs), 6 ([[Mistyghost]] head), 8 ([[Kuraba]] arm) and 12 ([[A-Burage]] arm). This panel comes from File 07, originally released on November 1999, two months later the episode 12, originally aired on September 1999. That may suggest that Horuma Rin provided some guidelines to the anime team to develop further episodes or he decided to bring these events to the manga, after the episodes were released. This hypothesis may be confirmed by the introduction of Rintarou in the file 11, originally released on March 2000, one month after the character is introduced in the anime in episode 31, on February 2000.

Because the manga follows a faster pace than the anime, many of these shared stories are not fully explored. For instance, the story of Medarot 2 ends when Ikki and Metabee defeats Dr. Hebereke, which match in plot and motivations with episode 39 of the anime. On the other hand, the anime still follows for more 13 episodes showing Ikki in the World Robattle Championship. It is possible that the manga preferred to avoid this plot, since this was exactly the same story already told in Medarot 1 final chapters, with Hikaru ascending to the tournament. That being said, the anime used the first manga as inspiration also for some of the battles in the championship.

The manga fast pacing also affected characters presentation and exposition. Many of them have a small participation or even just as a brief cameo, as the Screws, Banchō, Rintarou or the Chick Seller. While these characters have better development in the anime, Sailor-Mate and Arika have more chance to shiny in the manga, at least in the Robottles.  

The manga also reintroduces [[Kirara]], Hikaru's best friend, as a Medarots Corp. employee. This character was replaced by Karasumi in the anime, probably to avoid unnecessary exposition of Hikaru's past. On the other hand, the anime brought characters from the previous manga for the World Robattle Championship, as [[Tawarama]] and Joe Suihan. In the anime, they are portrayed as adults, even though the flashback scenes show them with similar designs and Medarots as in the prequel.

The Select Corps in the manga are pretty much a comic relief, represented by [[Captain Awamori]] and Tokkuri. In the anime, the Corps are portrayed in a more serious way and these two characters are never mentioned. Also, in the manga, we know since the first chapter that Ikki's father works for the Corps, while this is only shown in the episode 39 of the anime.  

The anime also took some liberties to create exclusive characters for its own, most notably Victor and Vermouth. Both characters are never mentioned in the manga or even in the games, but also serve as a connection to events described in the previous manga. The first one, to the [[10 Days of Darkness]], covered in the final chapters of Hikaur's adventure and second one, covering the relationship between Medarots and an ancestral [[Alien]] race.  

The [[10 Days of Darkness]] is also portrayed in different ways in each media, having a dedicated article for that.  

Hikaru is presented in both manga and anime as the store clerk who sells the KBT model to Ikki, but the manga acknowledge since the beginning his previous adventures, as when Mr. Uruchi shows up for Ikki's first Robottle and greets Hikaru with joy. The anime meanwhile completely avoid to mention his past, until the story reaches the arc of the World Robottle Championship.  

Hikaru's Metabee has also a different destiny in both continuities. Even though he's not mentioned in Medarot 2 manga, we know by the previous volume that he was severely damaged in his fight with Beast Master, but fully restored in mind and spirit afterwards, finding a happy ending with Hikaru. In the anime on the other hand, Hikaru mentions a more dramatic destiny, saying he had to destroy Metabee's medal to save the world, and even though he was able to restore the medal, his heart was never the same.

Also, because Select Corps is a comic relief in the manga, Phantom Retort figure has a less dramatic / serious approach in this version as well. The manga has a running gag of people finding that Hikaru is Phantom Retort real identity, even though this is never officially revealed. This plot is barely touched by the anime until the World Robottle Championship, where at some point people are calling him by his real name without restrictions.

Some Medarots have slightly different designs when transported to the anime. That was especially noticeable with Peppercat, Sailor-Mate and SaintNurse, who received more rounded and soft shapes, in contrast of the original designs used in the manga. These new designs were inherited in some of the following games.

Another stark change is regarding the Medaforce. While the manga portrays the attack as a psychic field that consumes the Medarot's body in a brutal and painful process, the anime version is a more soft, showing the Medarot's overpower as a colored aura followed by a boost of energy.

The manga is also more brutal regarding the Medarot's damages. While the anime usually shows the non-functional part in a grey color, the manga shows a big variety of damages, showing broken and cut parts, sometimes even showing the Medarot's oil, as it is their blood. The only exception for the anime is during the final battle between Team Japan and Team Kenya, where Belzelga is completely destroyed and disassembled into pieces and we see Smilodonad severed damaged.

Medarot 2 was the only manga from the series to be officially translated into English.

In France, the manga was released by Pika Edition following the original name Medarot 2 in 4 volumes between Jun 2003 and Dec 2003.