A surprise announcement last week had Pokemon fans caught off guard, as the Pokemon Company announced the creation of a new online series of animated shorts set within the main game series canon. Today, episodes one and two released, the first of a series that will be running weekly till December 23rd. How does the series stack up now episode one and two have been released?
In 2013 the Pokemon Company released the delightfully faithful Pokemon Origins series. This was a retelling of the story of the first generation of games, (Red/Blue) with elements from the then recent Sixth generation games as well. That series was designed to build hype for the soon to be released games. With a distinctive animation style and liberal usage of dialogue lifted straight from the games, they were an enjoyable trip down memory lane for fans of generation one.
Pokemon Generations could be considered a sequel series of sorts, going through aspects of the games canon for narrative. Made up of very short, 3-4 minute episodes, it would be unfair to expect epic dramas, but the series is designed to illuminate those moments that fans of the series might consider unappreciated.
Episode one is functionally a montage episode to set tone. It begins with an homage to the games, similarly to Pokemon Origins, with the in game main menu, and footage of Red catching a Pikachu in Viridian Forest. From there, you follow that Pikachu as it fights legendaries and generational mascots across the generations (get it?) of the Pokemon world. It’s got some charming moments, with lovely remixes of the main battle themes to go along with it.
Episode 2 however is a much clearer guide to what you can expect from this series. It focuses on the fan favourite side character, Looker, international detective. He is hunting Giovanni, leader of Team Rocket, in parallel to Red’s actions within the games. The action centres around the police assault on Viridian Gym to capture him, featuring some of my favourite uses of Pokemon in the canon to date. Seriously, every fan theory about using pokemon as tools and partners in life just went far further than using your Lapras for surfing.
Overall, the art style, while similar to Origins, feels a little mature and muted, especially compared to the Hyper Brightness of the recent games. This isn’t a bad thing per se, but might not be to viewers tastes. Personally I’m fine with it.
In terms of flaws, it really is just duration. If the episodes were a few minutes longer, maybe five minute total lengths, I might feel slightly more satisfied with them. As it is, there’s time for one central idea to be shown off, so if an episode doesn’t take your fancy immediately, there’s very little chance to redeem it.
Saying that though, it is a series of anime shorts. Complaints about length feel rather spurious. This series is one that fans will get the most out of in terms of referencing and nostalgia, especially if you’ve seen Origins.
Which is good advice for anyone actually. Go watch Pokemon Origins. Then watch this series. By that point you should be well back in for the release of Sun and Moon.