My heart was firmly in my throat whenNetflixappeared on today’sPokemon Presents. I was expecting the world of pocket monsters to follow in the footsteps ofCowboy BebopandOne Piecewith live-action adaptations that recreated existing stories with a bizarre mixture of familiar actors and garish visual effects. The latter isn’t out in the wild yet, but fans have already drawn the conclusion that it will be impossible to adapt in live action without some serious concessions. I admire Cowboy Bebop’s campy execution, yet it lacked the original anime’s fierce character and humour, often seen as a big mess of cringe.
Pokemon Concierge is heading into a distinct new direction, with the episodic series set to embrace the forgotten art of stop-motion as it follows the cutesy life of a resort worker and their relationship with Pokemon. It’s an adorable, simple, and creative premise that will be perfectly suited to stop-motion - even more when it already has a universe filled with great designs and storytelling to draw from. It can compliment the love for Pokemon we already have instead of potentially bastardising it with bizarre renditions of existing characters.
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Corporations have proven themselves to be obsessed with adapting video games in a way that feels ashamed of the medium that spawned them. Shows likeThe Last of UsandHaloare big budget renditions of stories and characters we already know, pitched in ways that for some reason love to treat the source material as a lesser form of media. Netflix is guilty of this too, yet it’s also responsible for groundbreaking adaptations likeCastlevaniaandArcanethat exist outside the video games that spawned them while simultaneously acknowledging them at every turn. It’s the right direction to take, leaving behind annoying cliches that traditional media has always felt beholden by. Pokemon seems to understand this too.
Detective Pikachu exists obviously, spurred forth by the plasticine potato charisma of Justice Smith and his talking Pikachu as they work together to save the world. It’s a fun little film, but highlights how Pokemon will never quite work in live action without serious concessions. So many creatures we once viewed as adorable were now horrifying, while the threadbare story and dull characters felt much too serious for me to buy into any of it. There’s no plan for a sequel, and I’m relieved, much preferring to see quirky ideas like Concierge get greenlit.
It could be rubbish, but even if the writing isn’t up to par we still have a stop-motion collection of Pokemon adventures to look forward to. That visual alone is enough to inspire confidence in how some serious budget and talent is working on an underappreciated form of animation in one of the biggest media franchises on the planet. Netflix also achieved success with the release of Guillermo del Toro’s Pinnochio, coming to realise that stop-motion offers a fresh blend of visual creativity and unorthodox storytelling that is so rare in the here and now. With any luck, Concierge won’t be a repeat of Cowboy Bebop and will treat Pokemon with love it deserves.
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