With Pokemon Legends: Arceus smashing sales records on the Switch and a recent 4-part story in Pokemon Journeys that references it heavily but doesn't directly adapt it, many fans began to wonder whether the game will receive its own full-fledged anime.
Those fans have been proven half-right, as in the last Pokemon Presents broadcast, it was announced that Pokemon Legends: Arceus will be receiving an ONA (that's Original Net Animation) releasing this summer in Japan. So far, an English release date has not been provided. That shouldn't be too disappointing however, as previous Pokemon ONAs have all eventually been dubbed for Western audiences. Those previous entries shed some light on what we can expect from this latest series.
A Vibrantly Adapted World
Previous Pokemon ONAs have made up for their shorter times with some of the franchise's best animation and set pieces. The Pokemon Legends: Arceus ONA should breathe much-needed life and spectacle into the Hisui region and its people, the way Pokemon: Twilight Wings did for Galar with its distinctive bright colors and flashy visuals or Pokemon Evolutions did with its more somber and intense visuals. Whatever art style Legends: Arceus ends up with, it will almost certainly be an improvement over the game's poor graphics, by far its biggest weakness.
The ONA should also give voices and new depths of personality to Hisui's colorful cast of characters, all of whom are subject to the curse of text-box speech still endemic to Pokemon games. Hopefully more attention will be given to the Wardens of the Diamond and Pearl clans, who are all unique yet rarely appear in the game outside their respective trials (Arezu being an exception).
Additionally, this will be a chance for HIsui-exclusive Pokemon and regional variants a debut in anime form. It's heavily implied that since Hisui is the Sinnoh region but in the distant past, the Hisui-exclusive Pokemon and variants no longer exist in the present day, and are thus difficult to introduce into Journeys. The ONA would give these creatures a chance to shine properly, and once again with improved visual quality.
Finally, the ONA could potentially add a voice and personality to the main character as was notably done for Red in Pokemon Origins. Legends: Arceus's story is often a sad one, especially when you consider that so many of the elements that make it wonderful no longer remain in modern Sinnoh, and the main character is bridge between those two times. Having them speak and feel that disconnection is a major opportunity.
How Long Will it Be?
As of right now, it's yet to be announced how many episodes the Pokemon Legends: Arceus ONA will contain, nor how long individual episodes will be. The answers to those questions have major implications for the adaptation's tone and quality. Episodes in most ONAs typically have a much shorter length than anime made for TV. That said, the fact that this is a web series also means that episode lengths don't have to be static, and can be adjusted based on the amount of time it takes to tell a given story.
Pokemon Generations comprised 18 episodes which rarely exceeded 5 minutes and often ended up closer to 3 minutes. Pokemon Twilight Wings and Pokemon Evolutions each contain 8 episodes, all 6 to 10 minutes in length. Which pattern the new ONA will follow is anyone's guess.
Story Structure and Tone
A big unanswered question about the Pokemon Legends: Arceus ONA is how tightly it will stick to adapting the game's story. The previous Pokemon ONAs, as well as Pokemon Origins, a series of TV specials with similar themes, had episodes with self-contained stories, some more light-hearted than others. In any case, none of these entries fully captured or attempted to replicate their games' plots without deviation.
Based on that history, it might be reasonable to expect that the Legends: Arceus ONA will not strictly adapt the game's plot but may instead feature episodic vignettes of Hisui. If there is an overarching plot based on the game, the ONA may be forced to skip or gloss over certain elements and show the highlights, as was the case with Pokemon Origins. Whichever path it takes, the Legends: Arceus ONA will probably not be a comprehensive adaptation lest it become that game's replacement.
When and How Will it be Released?
While there is no confirmed release date for Western audiences, it can reasonably be expected that the ONA will receive a dub at some point following its release in Japan over the summer. Of course, the quality of that dub could be questionable, as in the case of Pokemon Origins' Professor Oak, who sounds more like a Muppet than his anime counterpart.
In terms of distribution, the path forward is fairly obvious. Pokemon Generations, Pokemon: Twilight Wings, and Pokemon Evolutions are all available for free on the Official Pokemon YouTube Channel, and it seems fair to expect that future ONAs will eventually find their way onto the site as well.
Whenever the Pokemon Legends: Arceus ONA is released, it can already be said that it deserves fans' attention, if only to get the best-looking view of Hisui yet. And with Pokemon Scarlet and Violet versions, this upcoming adaptation is only icing on the cake of an intense 2022 for Pokemon fans.