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On Monday, February 27, 2023, the new Pokémon Concierge stop-motion animated series was announced by streaming giant Netflix. The announcement comes in the wake of multiple information about the franchise’s new anime series, which is set to debut in April 2023, as per the latest reports.
The inception and announcement of Pokémon Concierge suggest that the franchise’s eponymous company is looking to expand their television presence beyond anime series. The new genre take on Concierge also suggests that company is aiming to move beyond the formulaic battle-shonen-like approach of its current television and film offerings.
Pokémon Concierge’s inception indicates a new approach to storytelling for the franchise
Pokémon Concierge is set to be produced in collaboration by the eponymous franchise company and dwarf studios, best known for their work on Rilakkuma and Kaoru. An English-subtitled trailer was released alongside the announcement of the series. Unfortunately, no release information was given beyond the fact that the series is “coming soon.”
The series will follow Haru, a worker at the Pokémon Resort, and Psyduck, who will meet trainers and their companions while they vacation. The trailer features Haru’s voice, who explains that at the Resort, the Pokémons are the guests. She claims that the story is one which follows that of the Resort’s concierge, likely being Haru and Psyduck themselves.
The trailer briefly shows off some of the stop-motion animation as Psyduck is seen walking along a beach. Although brief, the stop-motion animation seems to be of high quality, which is expected from the franchise. While it's unfortunate that the series is currently announced as a “coming soon” show, fans can expect it to premiere sometime in 2023, given Netflix’s typical release cadences.
Also premiering in 2023, but not on Netflix, is the franchise’s first anime television series without Ash Ketchum as its protagonist. Fans will instead meet two protagonists, Liko and Roy, who will be accompanied by ninth-generation starters Grass-type Sprigatito, Fire-type Fuecoco, and Water-type Quaxly. All three have already appeared in the Scarlet and Violet video games released for the Nintendo Switch in 2022.
The anime series will seemingly have an overarching plot focused on Liko, given that key visuals describe her as a girl with a “mysterious pendant.” However, this is purely speculative, with no official release of information beyond the aforementioned tease suggesting this. What is confirmed is that fans will see the Legendary Dragon-Flying-type Rayquaza, first popularized in the Destiny Deoxys film, in its Shiny form.
Follow along for more anime, manga, film, and live-action news as 2023 progresses.
