Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
“Dumped over text, young working professional Haru decides to take up a new job at a beautiful island resort and discovers that being happy doesn’t have to be too difficult in the 2023 animated series Pokémon Concierge. Maybe not the best origin story for a children’s show, but it feels like the series is made for nostalgia enthusiasts who grew up watching Pokémon in the early 2000s.
Set in Satoshi Tajiri’s Pokémon universe, “Pokémon Concierge” (Original title: Pokemon konsheruju) has been animated by Dwarf Studios and spans four episodes. The show utilizes stop-motion animation, and many of the characters, especially the Pokémon, look like dolls and stuffed toys, giving the whole story a childlike magical charm. There are no fights, battles, or competitions in this show; it’s all about Haru learning about her new job as a Pokémon concierge, which mostly involves keeping their Pokémon guests happy with games, food, and fun activities.
Since the whole series is set against an island resort, the color palette is consistently bright, with sunny yellow, grass green, and pleasant blues dominating the screen. The background score is very subtle; the creators use a lot of ambient sounds and focus on dialogues instead of relying on music to enhance their storytelling. The stop-motion animation is smooth, and it almost looks like the characters were digitally animated.
Full disclosure: I used to watch Pokémon with my younger brother when we were in school and even owned a bunch of Pokémon-themed playing cards. Also, I haven’t seen anything Pokémon-related since the 2000s, so I found the colorful, dreamy world of “Pokémon Concierge” very cute. The episodes are less than 15 minutes long, so it takes less than an hour for viewers to finish the show, making it easy to enjoy without demanding much of your time.
You can stream the series on Netflix.
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