English Dub Season Review: Pokémon Concierge Season One

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Haru (Karen Fukuhara), a concierge at the Pokémon Resort, interacts with Pokémon and their owners who visit as guests.

Our Take:

Pokémon is a cultural anime phenomenon that showed no signs of slowing down anytime soon. While I haven’t been keeping up with the franchise now compared to my childhood days, I still appreciate the longevity it brings, which is hard to imagine given its concept of pocket monsters battling each other. Recently, the franchise saw Ash finally reaching the end of his 26-year-long journey of becoming the greatest Pokémon master in history with “Ultimate Journeys”. However, that doesn’t mean the world of Pokémon is also concluding, as its 26th season, “Horizons”, continues to expand the universe with new protagonists and new Pokémon to discover.

But before we can get to this latest season in English dub form next year, the franchise has released a peculiar series on Netflix that’s vastly different in tone and presentation. Consisting of four episodes, Pokémon Concierge is a stop-motion animated show representing the tranquil and inconsequential side of the Pokémon universe. The main focus is Haru, a down-on-her-luck and timid woman who takes the job as a concierge at the Pokémon Resort after a string of stressful events. The Pokémon Resort is an island hotel where Pokémon and their owners can live and play stress-free. With the help of part-time employee Alisa (Imani Hakim), fitness trainer Tyler (Josh Keaton), and a shy Psyduck, Haru strives to help the guests relax and have fun during their stay.

If there’s one major issue I should address about Pokémon Concierge, it’s the length of the season. Each episode is fifteen to twenty minutes of tranquility and kid-friendly shenanigans that don’t involve any good vs. evil battles we’ve seen in previous adaptations. They focus on Haru helping Pokémon and their guests with their stressful problems, which allows Haru to learn to be herself and relax. While the series is short and sweet, it could’ve been better off as a feature film based on the episodes’ runtimes, as four episodes aren’t enough to be considered a full season. From my perspective, they could’ve released it as a movie or added more episodes to fit the seasonal limit and showcase Haru’s development further.

You might think I’m stating this flaw due to not liking the series, but that’s not the case. I’m saying it because I enjoyed this refreshing and adorable take on the Pokémon universe, and I would like to see more of it. The episodes can be repetitive, but their presentation and charm kept the series going for me. The scenarios appeared to have a kid-friendly flair, but they also provided moments that would likely appeal to older fans of the franchise.  

One of them is the characters, mainly Haru, who’s wonderfully voiced by Karen Fukuhara from The Boys fame. Regarding her timid yet determined personality, Haru is easily the most relatable character in the Pokémon universe. She strives to ensure she does her job well, only to realize that the best thing she can do is enjoy herself, and the rest will follow. I believe anyone on that similar path can quickly relate to this character. The rest of the English voice cast were also decent in their respective roles, including Lori Alan as Watanabe and Imani Hakim as Alisa.

Unlike the main installments, Pokémon Concierge is created through stop-motion animation by Dwarf Studios. It has the appeal of an old-school stop-motion short complete with realistic fur but also retains the simplicity of the franchise’s anime presentation. The result is a unique and suitably animated approach that matches the adorable appeal of the Pokémon and the series’s harmless scenarios. It’s also another example of how creative and magical stop-motion animation can be with the right effort and even a good concept.

Overall, Pokémon Concierge takes the iconic anime franchise in a new and refreshing direction, resulting in a charming delight from start to finish. It’s similar to staying at an actual resort. It’s a fun and relaxing vacation that takes the stress away but leaves you wanting more when it’s over. The short length can be problematic depending on your expectations toward Pokémon Concierge. However, it hardly matters when it uses it wisely to provide a feel-good essence powered by its animation and heartfelt messages. If it gets a second season, I’ll be the first to check back in, assuming it increases its number of episodes.