Pokemon Legends: Arceus took the world by storm earlier this year. Perhaps unsurprisingly, The Pokemon Company isn't content on just releasing a game that is based on the Hisui region. Pokemon Legends: Arceus will be receiving an anime adaptation of sorts.
Upon release, Pokemon Legends: Arceus was immediately praised for its new take on the Pokemon formula, which had been criticized by some for being too safe for a series that could afford to take risks with its massive fanbase. With few other major releases in January and early February, it was hard to avoid hearing about this newest iteration in the Pokemon series. Pokemon Legends: Arceus was an instant success, with its sales numbers easily breaking into top-selling lists on various websites and retail stores.
The Pokemon Company announced that it is releasing a three-episode special anime series based in the Hisui region called Hisuian Snow. This series will focus on a young boy named Alec, who becomes friends with a Hisuian Zorua in an era when humans thought of Pokemon as simple wild animals. These episodes will be produced by Japanese animation studio Wit Studio, which is famous for creating the first three seasons of Attack on Titan. The first episode will be posted on The Pokemon Company's Pokemon TV service, as well as its official YouTube channel, on May 18th.
The Pokemon Company previously announced that it would create some kind of anime special based on Pokemon Legends: Arceus, but didn't go into any details besides posting one piece of key art on social media. The key art featured the protagonist, who has now been revealed as Alec, as well as a shadow of the Pokemon Zorua, likely the Hisuian variety as seen in the game. Hisuian Zorua was also prominently advertised in the leadup to Pokemon Legends: Arceus' release. In Pokemon's lore, Zorua has the ability to disguise itself as a human, which could create an interesting scenario for the anime.
The Pokemon Company has been making more one-off special series focused on specific regions in recent years. When Pokemon Sword and Shield released, The Pokemon Company put out Twilight Wings, an 8 episode series based on the Galar region as a prequel to the games. The series focused on characters like Chairman Rose, Bea, Hop, Nessa, Alister, and Leon.
With a big-name animation studio at the helm, it should be interesting to see what direction The Pokemon Company takes with this anime series. It'll be just under a month until gamers can see more of the Hisui region in anime form.
