Not a Day Without Pokémon: Pokémon Concierge: The Resort of Fun

Friday, April 18, 2025

Pokémon Concierge: The Resort of Fun

It took a while, but I'm finally able to compose this post. That would be a review of the stop-motion Pokémon feature titled Pokémon Concierge, which appears on Netflix but also temporarily appeared on YouTube on official Pokémon channels. Through viewing them as intended, I'm now able to compose this review and furnish my thoughts on this novel take on a Pokémon feature, something that is indeed different from what fans are used to.

The currently existing four episodes of the miniseries - with more of them in production as divulged earlier - are approximately 15 minutes long, allowing all of them to be seen within the span of an hour. They're short, but then stop-motion animation tends to be short because of their production method and associated quirks. As such, the new episodes will take some time to be released, but that's all the more reason to enjoy the currently available ones.

Meanwhile, the story is just that: it's about those who work on a place to stay, here an island resort. Further, it's about the efforts of one such person, named Haru as the main character of the series. Being a Pokémon series, certainly the creatures are of concern, and so is a particular one that will become the "partner" for the main character. As with any reviews, I'm keeping the details wrapped up for viewers to be able to enjoy them for themselves.

For the quality of the feature, the look of the animation is well-done, including for the Pokémon species that are not anchored to land, something that might present problems for stop-motion in general. The diversity of the featured Pokémon is also impressive in that regard with a few representative generations, including for the Pokémon that will become key to both the main and supporting characters. Likewise, they're all more to be seen and less to be told.

By the way, the production of this miniseries is a global effort, as evidenced by the credits sequence for all the currently available episodes. Much of the effort is Japanese, certainly, but there's a bit of European and other Asian effort for music and visual effects respectively, both of which are also well-done for this Pokémon feature. While these are not too pertinent for the content, at least some people might be happy to find out when they find out regardless.

Overall, Pokémon Concierge is truly unique for its production and content, making it something great to watch for those who possess the means. Its renewal only affirms that - but there's no need to wait for that when the current episodes are great and deserve to be watched right now.

As is the norm, I also composed some brief summaries for each of the episodes for those who might like a further preview or a guide for the episodes to be watched.

Episode 1