TV Review | Pokémon Concierge - Future of the Force

“Pokémon Concierge breathes new life into this beloved franchise. It is a soothing and sweet slice of life that explores the Pokémon world from a different perspective. It tells an engaging story about Haru who embarks on a self-discovery journey as the new concierge of the ‘Pokémon resort.’ And the stop motion animation is absolutely adorable!”

Pokémon Concierge is the first collaborative production between The Pokémon Company and the critically acclaimed stop-motion company dwarf studios. The series consists of 4 episodes ranging between 14 to 20 minutes. It premieres globally on Netflix on December 28th.

STORY

This series is totally different from previous Pokémon works. There are no trainers capturing Pokémon, or trying to become champions, or participating in leagues. Pokémon Concierge follows Haru, the new concierge at the ‘Pokémon Resort.’ Her job is to take care of the Pokémon alongside the senior staff as she learns how to make these special guests happy. This is actually a slice of life. I find it so refreshing to have a Pokémon series that tries something different. And I think the results are delightful! Indeed, it is a soothing and sweet series that explores the Pokémon world from a new perspective.

The Pokémon are the guests of this resort so it is adorable to see them just having fun in this environment. It is literally cuteness overload especially with this stop motion animation! Fans will be happy with all the Pokémon who appear throughout the episodes. This is definitely a feel-good series. But, it is not just about the Pokémon going on a vacation to this island. In fact, this is an engaging story about this human character Haru who decides to change jobs. With this new job at the ‘Pokémon Resort’, she embarks on a journey of self-discovery.

It’s so interesting to have an adult character as the lead instead of the usual kid. Indeed, with an adult character the series is able to explore different themes. For adults like us who love Pokémon, an adult character is someone who we will identify with more. A character overwhelmed by their life/work who decides to change jobs is a trope I have seen before in Japanese drama and films. Having it applied to the Pokémon world is quite exciting. All in all, Pokémon Concierge breathes new life into this beloved franchise. This series may only be four episodes long but by the end of it, you will not want to leave the ‘Pokémon resort’ and you’ll be asking for more!

VOICE CAST

Moreover, this series has gathered a talented voice cast. Non delivers a sincere performance as the main character Haru. You can see the evolution of her character through her performance. There are small intonations and line deliveries that indicate the change in her character. It’s really sweet to see the growth of her character over these four episodes. Non hadn’t done a lot of anime voice work before but it actually feels like she has been doing this for a long time. She knows what she is doing. Additionally, she is joined by Fairouz Ai as Alisa, Eita Okuno as Taira, Takemura Yoshiko as Watanabe. Eita Okuno is definitely an highlight of the secondary cast, he is so much fun as the cool guy Taira.

VISUALS & SOUNDTRACK

Even though I think four episodes isn’t a lot, when I see what has been done on this series, I understand why they didn’t make more. Stop motion animation requires an insane amount of time. They had to build all these sets, make the models for all the human characters and Pokémon and then film each episode. It is a daunting task. Undoubtedly, dwarf studios are amazing at what they do. The stop motion here feels seamless. They have created something that is visually beautiful. And the setting of this ‘Pokémon Resort’ is so relaxing, you just want to go there with the characters and play with the Pokémon. Honestly, all these Pokémon in stop motion look adorable! It is an absolute joy to watch this series.

The music score has that Pokémon vibe allied to the style of music you find in slice of life. It goes well with the series. The end credits feature the theme song ‘Have a Good Time Here’ by Mariya Takeuchi. It is the type of song you would hear when going on vacation. Indeed, it is a relaxing and feel-good song. You’ll want to keep the credits rolling for each episode just to listen to this song again and again!

VERDICT

Pokémon Concierge breathes new life into this beloved franchise. It is a soothing and sweet slice of life that explores the Pokémon world from a different perspective. It tells an engaging story about Haru who embarks on a self-discovery journey as the new concierge of the ‘Pokémon resort.’ And the stop motion animation is absolutely adorable!