On Monday, February 27, 2023, the new Pokemon Janitor The stop-motion animated series was announced by streaming giant Netflix. The announcement comes as a result of multiple reports about the franchise’s new anime series, which will premiere in April 2023, according to the latest reports.
The start and announcement of Pokemon Janitor suggest that the franchise’s namesake company is looking to expand its television presence beyond anime series. The new genre assumes Concierge it also suggests that the company is aiming to move beyond the formulaic, battle shonen-like approach of its current TV and movie offerings.
Pokemon Janitor The opening signals a new approach to storytelling for the franchise.
Pokemon Janitor is scheduled to be produced collaboratively by the franchise company of the same name and dwarf studios, best known for their work on Rilakkuma and Kaoru. An English subtitled trailer was released alongside the series announcement. Unfortunately, no release information was provided beyond the fact that the series is “coming soon.”
The series will follow Haru, a worker at the Pokémon Resort, and Psyduck, who will meet the trainers and their companions during their vacation. The trailer features the voice of Haru, who explains that at the Resort, the Pokémon are the guests. She states that the story follows that of the Resort’s janitor, who is most likely Haru and Psyduck.
The trailer briefly shows some of the stop-motion animation as Psyduck is seen walking along a beach. Though brief, the stop-motion animation appears to be of a high quality, which is expected of the franchise. While it’s unfortunate that the series is currently billed as a “coming soon” show, fans can expect it to premiere sometime in 2023, given Netflix’s typical release cadences.
That Psyduck is standing on the beach with Haru the janitor!? The Pokemon Janitor Arrives… https://t.co/Ttzdyc69V9
Also set to premiere in 2023, but not on Netflix, the franchise’s first anime television series without Ash Ketchum as the lead. Instead, fans will be met with two protagonists, Liko and Roy, who will be joined by the ninth-gen starters-type Grass Sprigatito, Fire-type Fuecoco, and Water-type Quaxly. All three have already appeared in the Scarlet and Violet video games released for Nintendo Switch in 2022.
The anime series will apparently have an overarching plot centered around Liko, given that key visuals describe her as a girl with a “mysterious pendant.” However, this is purely speculative, with no official release of information beyond the aforementioned tease that this suggests. What is confirmed is that fans will see the legendary flying dragon-type Rayquaza, first popularized in the Fate Deoxys movie, in its brilliant form.
Follow for more anime, manga, movie, and live-action news as 2023 rolls on.