After a series of misfortunes, the stressed-out Haru quits her corporate job in favor of working as a concierge at the Pokémon Resort. Managed by the cheerful Watanabe, the Pokémon Resort is a place where both people and Pokémon come to unwind. While Haru finds it difficult to abandon the priorities of her past life, this new job is just right for learning to relax and focus on what matters the most in life: companionship.
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
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Comentários
Biisoo
As someone who loves Pokémon but has never really commited to watching the entire series, I randomly decided to watch this after seeing it on Netflix and it was a cute little surprise for sure. I have no idea what sort of technique they used for making this but it seems to reminds me of that Old Pingu cartoon or stopmotion animations. The idea is really creative and no doubt a lot of effort went into this. It certainly looks and feels so refreshing that the Pokémon almost pop out of the screen lol. The world looks so beautiful yet you can tell it's made ofclay and even the Pokémon have that soft dough like texture to them which increases the aesthetic appeal of this.
Basically even if you're not a fan of Pokémon, or just want a cutesy show to watch along with some tea and snacks then this is a good watch tbh.
My only reasonable complaint is that it's too short but I can only imagine how much work must've gone into making this as compared to a traditional anime, I guess the episode count is low for a valid reason. I hope this gets even more episodes down the line.
Thanks for reading!
Firechick12012
It really cannot be understated how great it is that in the 2020s, we're getting so many different Pokemon anime in very different animation styles. For decades, the only animated Pokemon property we got was the main TV anime starring Ash Ketchum. As popular as the games and the overall franchise is, and for all the innovations it provided across its associated media, the TV anime was pretty static and formulaic a lot of the time. But starting in the mid-2010s and into the 2020s, the Pokemon animated canon got to expand beyond just the TV anime. We got stuff like Pokemon Origins, followed byPokemon Generations, which are animated retellings of various notable events in the games, and later, we would get short web anime such as Twilight Wings, Hisuian Snow, the PokeToon shorts, and Paldean Winds. Pokemon would later dip its toes into the world of stop-motion, with the subject of today's review, Pokemon Concierge, which was announced in the February 2023 Pokemon Presents video. I thought "Ooh! This looks cute! I'd love to watch it!" And just this December, Pokemon Concierge finally dropped for all to see. I'm glad to say that Pokemon Concierge is a pretty good short anime on par with the others I mentioned in terms of overall quality, but I feel like it could have been something more.
So what's the story? A young woman named Haru has been having a tough time of it, and nothing's been going right for her. To get away from it all, Haru decides to take a job at the luxurious Pokemon Resort, a resort that caters exclusively to Pokemon guests and isn't the stiff, stuffy work environment that Haru is used to. Through trial and error, Haru manages to carve out a place at her new job, doing everything from befriending a shy Psyduck to helping a Magikarp that can't swim to save its life. Every day is fun and filled with new discoveries as Haru comes to enjoy her new life at the Pokemon Resort. Oh, side note: This is gonna be my last review of 2023, and I'm glad that this is the series I get to end the year on, because it's a pretty cute, wholesome little romp.
For anyone who's only familiar with stop-motion animation via Tim Burton and the Rankin-Bass Christmas specials from back in the day, fun fact: A lot of the earliest stop-motion animation was done in Japan, including said Rankin-Bass specials. It's much harder to produce because unlike 2D animation which is just drawings made to move with technology, stop-motion is extremely intricate and labor intensive due to the level of technical skills needed for it being much higher than what's needed for 2D, such as prop setup and photography, among other things. Stop-motion as an animation form has actually evolved quite a bit and seems to be coming back into the limelight, what with stuff such as Pui Pui Molcar, Mad God, Guillermo Del Toro's Pinocchio, everything that Laika puts out, and so on. The animation for this was done by Dwarf Studios, who also worked on the Rilakkuma and Kaoru anime. As someone who's not familiar with their work, I have to say that the work they put into Concierge's animation is amazing. All the characters are made from different materials, and depending on the Pokemon, they can be either sleek plastic or soft felt. The fact that the animators put actually captured tiny details like the texture of a Pokemon's fur really helps the immersion. There's a lot of thought and care put into things like body movement and facial expressions for both humans and Pokemon, with some details about that being mentioned in a cute making of video that Netflix put up on their YouTube channel. Definitely check out that video if you can. The set pieces for the backgrounds are also very well done. I don't have as much to say about the soundtrack, as its cute and I did enjoy the Mariya Takeuchi song. I do appreciate that they made a remix for the evolution music at one point.
I admit, I'm kinda mixed on the characters. They're not bad or anything, but I feel the series' short length of four ten-minute long episodes didn't allow the creators to let their characters to grow, nor do we really get to know any of them on a personal level. Because of the series' short length and focusing more on Haru learning about how the Pokemon Resort works, the side characters all feel very one-note and bland. Tyler is just a laid-back surfer dude, Alisa is just Haru's helpful senior, and Watanabe is just the nice boss. I'd very much like to learn more about this cast of characters and what they're like, but again, the series is so short that it's unable to do so. There's so many unanswered questions about all of them, such as: Is Watanabe the founder of the resort, or does she just work there? What are Tyler and Alisa like when they're off the clock? What made them decide they wanted to work at the resort? Do they all have lives outside the resort? How do they go about dealing with the guests? How do they handle stress? Seriously, there's so much potential with them and I do like them, but they really deserve to be fleshed out more. On the other hand, the Pokemon characters are all very expressive and full of personality, and the animators did their absolute damndest to bring them all to life.
Actually, speaking of questions, there's a lot that I really want to know about the show's setting. Who founded the Pokemon Resort? Do Pokemon get designated rooms in the hotel, or since they're on an island, can they just go wherever they want? How do they accommodate big Pokemon like Metagross and Dragonite? Since Watanabe doesn't want her employees to treat working at the resort the same way as an office job based on how she reacts to Haru making data charts in the first episode, how does Watanabe handle the business side of things with the resort? How do they even get funding? As much as I like this short series and the idea behind it, its short length both in episode number and duration leave no room for fleshing out the concept and the characters more. Hell, it wasn't even revealed that Pokemon Concierge would even get just four episodes until it dropped on Netflix! The previous series Dwarf Studios made, Rilakkuma and Kaoru, had 13 episodes, so I was under the impression that Pokemon Concierge would have the same amount of episodes. Like...who decided it should just be four episodes?! And they could have at least mentioned this from the start!
I hate to go on about Concierge's short length, and don't take this to mean I didn't like the show, because I did. I genuinely enjoyed Pokemon Concierge for what it is, a charming, wholesome, laid-back Pokemon series making use of stop-motion animation to bring the Pokemon world to life in a new way. It's a great new entry into the Pokemon animated canon, and I honestly wish there was more. Who knows, maybe they'll make another season in the future? I hope so, but if not, it's still a cute show for what it is. Whether you're a Pokemon fan or not, Pokemon Concierge is a nice kick-back-and-relax kind of show that's short, sweet, and to the point, and man do I wish there were more of it!
mangoiee
As someone who grew up watching all verisons of the original Pokemon anime and played Pokemon games on the Nintendo... this show brought back a lot of nostalgic memories for me. First off, can we just applaud how well-detailed each character's and pokemon's expressions and motions? Stop motion is a challenging art, and you can tell how much efforts and time everyone involved put in. Now this show isn't your typical trainer collect pokemon, train, defeat gym leaders, etc.. No, this show is a light warm, fuzzy, and just overall cute. It's meant for kids, and honestly, the childhood me would've loved this just asmuch as the adult me (now). Cute family show. I'd recommend this if you're looking for a short show that embodies both friendship and cuteness in one.
whiteflame55
Yeah, it’s cute. The stop motion looks pretty good, albeit some of the Pokemon themselves only have glued on expression changes. It’s fluidly animated and its human characters look good. That being said, the narrative is nothing to write home about. Little lessons are learned by our lead each episode as she picks up the concierge craft, but it all feels very safe. I give this some credit for just letting us sit in the Pokemon world for a bit without battles or major stakes, but it feels just like a day in the life of a neurotic young woman as she seeks to fit inworking in a Pokemon resort. That’s fine, and it does pretty well at it, but that’s a low bar for success. Worth the watch if you like the world (I do, well enough anyway), but nothing special.
myheartsegg
9/10 Stars! Definitely would welcome more of this series or any stop-motion slice-of-life Pokemon (mini) series! My only complaint would be that it wasn't longer! Story: It's a simple story about a hardworking and serious girl that is looking for employment and learns to relax and have fun on the resort! Her fun is directly tied to the fun of the pokemon, and ultimately, she ends up doing her job - making sure both her and the pokemon are having a good time! Art: Stop-motion animation is NOT an easy art, so I have soooooo many compliments to the art direction and the way they animated themotions and varying states of the characters' faces! Very impressive.
Characters: This was so cute. Too cute. It was difficult to not stop the episode 2 minutes and and coo over the latest pokemon that was darn stinkin' cute. 100/10 recommend for those that love seeing pokemon doing stinkin' cute things!
LovelyTekki
Another really cute show by Dwarf in the same vein as Rilakkuma and Kaoru, however rather than being about the struggles a working woman faces, this show is more about relaxation and nurturing. This show is one part viewer wish fulfillment, one part reminding us to take things easy once in a while, and enjoyable throughout. The stop motion animation is gorgeous here. The human characters have that same sort of look as the previously mentioned Rilakkuma and Kaoru, but the real highlight was how the Pokemon themselves were adapted into this style. I love the use of textures on the models, which can differ fromfluffy and plush-like to sleek and clay-like, depending on the species. There was so much attention to detail on all these models, and each Pokemon looked perfectly like their in-game counterparts. The music is was also lovely and perfectly captured the vacation vibe they were going for. They got Mariya Takeuchi of Plastic Love fame to record the main theme for this series, and all these years later she's still got the voice of an angel.
I also really like the handling of Psyduck, it feels like we finally got some form of Pokemon media where it gets to be a main star in a way that's not backhanded. Plenty of migraine sufferers tend to find Psyduck's headaches relatable, so it was pleasant to see the human characters treat it kindly and find ways to help it with the problem it faces. The episodes sort of face on helping Pokemon with their problems and what lessons Haru can learn from the situation rather than the battles of most typical Pokemon series media, so it's definitely something different and a show I could see parents enjoying with their kids.
My only issue with this series is that it's a tad too short. I mean, right as I was getting into it, it ended. Here's hoping we can see more from it soon.
k-0da
Y'know what, it's ok. The animation is fucking so beautiful and meticulous, it deserves a recommendation on that alone. Everything looks and is beautiful, and every pokemon is so damn cute. The art is as cozy as the show is, everything makes you feel warm and fluffy. Great show to watch with your parents. Story wise, it's pretty milquetoast, but it is damn cute. The characters are.... there, and theyre just as cute as the pokemon, and therefore aren't super interesting. But this really didn't need to be a high octane drama, so I can't be too mad. They were serviceable and I was neverannoyed or pissed off at them making dumb decisions, but I can't say I remember any of their names.
If you're super into pokemon i don't think you'll have any issues loving this, but if you're less into it, like me, it's ok. I would still recommend it as cozy watching. I do want a psyduck plushie now..... Dammit capitalism!!
Raiusu
When I started watching this I wasn’t expecting much and honestly it didn’t Bring much I like the design of the characters and pokemon especially that some are doll and sewn like and others aren’t it works really well The show itself is nothing special but was enjoyable and a quick watch too it’s what you’d expect from a. Pokemon mini series I’ve heard season 2 is coming out which is good too so I’ll watch that It also shows that Pokemon isn’t always about the main series and everything in the franchise can be enjoyed Overall it was decent nothing ground breaking but exactlywhat you’d expect from a Pokemon mini series
6/10
G-Chavez
Oh my gosh this miniseries is so beautiful and wholesome. The main character is adorable, and is such a strong driving force in every episode. I really like how she stays motivated despite her harsh upbringing. Definitely a good message to give to any audience. This may not be the battle-centric Pokémon we've become so used to, but we still have a very good and light-hearted scenery with all sorts of fun human characters, as well as all the adorable Pokémon filling this world. The character design is really good. I love how they get around to each Pokémons's design and the felt textures some of themhave. This little anime is just one big good vibe and I love it for that. It's a very easy show to jump into, even if you're not familiar with the franchise
Yemi_Hikari
Pokemon follows Ash, sometimes to the detriment of the franchise. In this, there are definitely fans of the series who are looking for something following a different format, at the very least a series that doesn't involve Ash, the never-aging Pokemon trainer from yesteryear, not because there is any lack of love for the franchise or Ash, but simply because there is a want for something new. This, of course, can mean a series within the franchise that doesn't follow the never-aging Pokemon trainer, but there's also something to breaking away from the formula of not following another trainer on the journey to become oneof the greatest.
Pokemon Concierge is in the latter when it comes to breaking the formula in that it doesn't just follow Ash; it follows nobody wanting to become a trainer and instead takes a more slice-of-life direction. Of course, in saying this, going in this direction in breaking the formula, this particular addition to the franchise is slice-of-life with no battles. There is a calm to it, a mellowness, but the episodes are also on the shorter length, making the series something that's definitely meant for relaxation purposes, not so much turning off ones brain, but more of sitting back and enjoying the day-to-day slice-of-life antics that happen at the resort.
Which, yes - slice-of-life isn't everyone's cup-of-tea, I admit, but to say, "Oh, I've mixed feelings about recommending this because someone doesn't like slice-of-life" really isn't fair to the series, as a slice-of-life series isn't meant for those who don't like slice-of-life, but anybody reading the review should be aware of whether they like the sub-genre or not. And for those who do like the sub-genre, this was certainly a pleasant series, one that I'd even argue would appeal to those who aren't fans of Pokemon because it fits the genre so well.
