Highlights
- "Pokemon Concierge" stands out with its approachable length of episodes, making it accessible even for viewers with little free time.
- The show offers a new perspective on the familiar world of Pokemon, showcasing a light-hearted side and utilizing a unique stop-motion animation style.
- The low stakes of the story provide a cozy escape from the overwhelming world, and the relatable and normal main character makes it easy for viewers to connect with the show.
Netflix released a lot of great original titles in 2023, and it saved one of the best for last. On December 28, 2023, Netflix gave the world a new Pokemon story called Pokemon Concierge. The show was a totally new style for Pokemon, and different from other shows on Netflix as well. And the results of this experiment were overwhelmingly positive.
Pokemon Concierge has a rating of 7.6/10 on IMDB, and an 82% Google approval. So what made Pokemon Concierge so good, and why did everyone like it so much? There are a few reasons that made this show really stand out and shine, and they are exactly the kinds of things that other media can learn from when producing new content.
Why is Everyone So Excited About Pokemon Concierge?
After over thirty years of Pokemon on our screens, what is it about Pokemon Concierge that has fans so excited?
The Episodes Are an Approachable Length
One of the best things about Pokemon Concierge is the length of the episodes. So many shows that are streaming now are 1 hour long, minimum. Of course, anime and sitcoms remain between 20 and 30 minutes long, but everything else needs a lot more time to watch. And even anime and sitcoms often have multiple seasons with a minimum of 12 episodes each, which is still a serious commitment of your time.
Pokemon Concierge is only 4 episodes long so far, with episode lengths of around 15 minutes. That means you can watch the whole thing in about an hour, if you want. But it also means that if you are strapped for time and cannot commit to watching an hour-long show every day, let alone for days or weeks on end, you still have time for Pokemon Concierge. That makes the show a lot more accessible to everyone because even people with very little free time can still watch and enjoy it. People are busier than ever these days, and Pokemon Concierge gives them something to watch, even if it's just while eating dinner.
It Shows a New Side to a Familiar World
One of the reasons that Pokemon Concierge was able to have such a reasonable episode length is that it did not have to do any major world-building. People who are watching the show likely already know about the Pokemon franchise at least in some capacity, and you don't have to know much anyway to understand what is going on. The show could spend less than five minutes of the first episode setting up the "why" of Haru moving to the island, and then could jump right into the fun.
Whether you are a deep Pokemon fan or someone with just a little bit of knowledge, Pokemon Concierge still brings something new to the table. The games and anime series are focused mostly on battles and action, and capturing wild Pokemon to train. Pokemon Concierge shows that not everyone who lives in the Pokemon world is constantly training and fighting Pokemon; some of them are just happily living alongside them, and going on holiday.
Of course, we cannot talk about Pokemon Concierge without talking about the animation style as well. Pokemon as a franchise has seen hand-drawn animation, 3D computer animation, and even live-action mixed with CGI. But Pokemon Concierge is something new - it uses stop-motion. The result is Pokemon that actually look textured and soft enough to touch, especially fluffy ones like Eevee and Furret. Again, we get to see an all-new side to a world we already know and love with the show using a new medium to tell its story.
How a Pokemon Concierge Game Adaptation Could Work
Pokemon Concierge's risks and deviation from the series' tradition would make it work well as a much-needed video game adaptation.
The Stakes Are Beautifully Low
Most shows and movies are high-stakes - the fate of the universe hangs in the balance, people are risking their lives, the world needs to be saved, et cetera. We have become accustomed to these huge stories, and while there is a time and a place for epics, there is also a time and a place for stories like Pokemon Concierge. Right now, you just have to turn on the news to get overwhelmed by everything going on in the world, let alone the stress you may face in your own life.
Pokemon Concierge offers an escape from that. The stakes are beautifully low - Haru just needs to make the Pokemon on the island happy. Nothing is ever more important than that. Everything that she does affects her and those directly around her, not the world at large. No one's life is at risk. The Pokemon Resort is not under attack, or about to go bankrupt. Instead, it just follows very short stories like Haru learning her job role, or trying to make Psyduck happy.
When the world is trying to constantly overwhelm you, sometimes you just need a cozy escape where you can feel good without having to really feel anything else. Or maybe you're feeling too tired to even think anymore, let alone try to follow a complicated plotline through to its conclusion that you may or may not understand. Pokemon Concierge doesn't make you do any of that, letting you just curl up, smile, and enjoy yourself for 15 minutes of your long day.
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The Main Character is Wonderfully Normal
One final praise we have for Pokemon Concierge is how normal the main character, Haru, really is. She is not a chosen one, gifted with special skills. She is not super smart, super strong, or super beautiful. She is a very ordinary, normal girl. And she does not end up learning that she is something more as the story progresses - she remains wonderfully normal. While Haru would not make for an interesting heroine in an action story, she is perfect for Pokemon Concierge.
Watching Haru's interactions with the world and how she handles situations is very believable. It is easy for the viewer to empathize with her, or put themselves in her shoes while imagining they are at the Pokemon resort themselves. Even Haru's over-enthusiasm at the start of the show and her struggle to just relax have fun at her job and find happiness is something that people are likely to empathize with.
Haru struggles to understand what she needs to do and has to rely on other people and learn from them. She is clumsy sometimes, not great at doing art, and awkward when talking to other people. She is not athletic. And all of these things make her a very believable main character, and easy to replace with ourselves when we are watching the show if we want to. Haru's life is not beyond our reach, with just a little imagination.
With so many new shows coming out every month across multiple streaming platforms, it is hard for any one program to really stand out and capture the attention of audiences around the world. Pokemon Concierge managed to do just that, by giving everyone exactly what they needed right now. It is cozy, comfortable, funny, and light-hearted. People are stressed in a stressful world, and want to watch media to relax.
Pokemon Concierge lets people dream about something nice, and imagine themselves also relaxing on a beautiful island and having fun with Pokemon. It can be enjoyed by children and adults alike, with both being entertained by different aspects of the show. And it is a great length for busy people to feel like they can commit to, regardless of their schedule. Will other shows learn from Pokemon Concierge's model?
Watch Pokemon Concierge now on Netflix.
