'Pokémon Concierge' on Netflix: What to Know
A brand new Pokémon series is coming soon to Netflix, but details on the production are still scarce. Last month, Netflix and The Pokémon Company announced Pokémon Concierge – a light-hearted show about a resort for Pokémon and their trainers. Read on for a breakdown of everything we know about the series so far.
The Pokémon Company announced Pokémon Concierge as part of its "Pokémon Day" presentation – a virtual press conference held on the anniversary of the release of the first Pokémon video games. The new show utilizes a stop-motion animation style and a fresh premise that steps back from the battling and adventuring of the main anime series. Netflix Asia executive Minyoung Kim explained: "Netflix is looking forward to delighting fans in Japan and around the world with Pokémon Concierge, an entirely new visual and storytelling experience featuring ground-breaking stop-motion animation set in the Pokémon world in close collaboration with The Pokémon Company."
"We're also excited to reveal this new series on Pokémon Day and provide fans with even more things to look forward to on this special holiday celebrating the popular franchise," Kim went on.
According to Netflix, the show will center around a character named Haru – the concierge responsible for a unique resort for Pokémon. The storylines will be about Haru's interactions with the Pokémon themselves as well as their trainers and owners, though it's not clear if humans stay at the resort too.
Plenty of other questions hang over this series as well. While Kim confirmed that it is "set in the Pokémon world," it's unclear which "region" it takes place in. This will heavily influence the style and elements of the setting. Some Pokémon media has portrayed regions like Jhoto with less technology, while regions like Galar can have sprawling cities and advanced systems in place. On the other hand, new shows could offer a chance for The Pokémon Company to expand its worldbuilding and bring some of these regions closer together in scope.
Monday's "Pokémon Presents" livestream included many other big announcements – particularly about the video game franchise. After the presentation was over, new downloadable content for Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet was immediately available, and more will be coming later this year. However, many fans on social media were disappointed that the presentation did not mention the mainline anime series, nor the older video games now that the Nintendo Switch has a Game Boy emulator on it.
Pokémon Concierge is in the works with Netflix and Dwarf Studios, but so far there is no release date in place. Netflix has several other Pokémon titles available to stream now.