Pokémon Concierge is the Best Pokémon in Decades 

"It's rending my body" "Aw there's an Eevee" Amazing reaction from Ellen to Luke being savaged.

4:20 "Pokémon are like human toddlers, in that they need everything explained to them and they're quite emotional..." *And* they'll happily fight each other if you put them in a pit! I'm not allowed to babysit my nieces and nephews anymore.

Pokemon has so much untapped potential, and I think Concierge is a glimpse into what the games and anime can be if they moved away a bit from trainers and battles. Imagine pokemon media about a researcher/breeder, with the MC learning their habitats and behaviors. Or a ghost story series.

If there's two people I trust to know what a cute Pikachu look like, it's these two

It’s so nice to have a show with zero stakes. It reminds me of Legends and Lattes.

Slice Of Life Pokemon content feels like such a home run. Having Pokemon use their powers for co-existing with the humans and each other seems so much more funny than having battles, imo. Also WOW mariya takeuchi is an absolute legend in city pop!! I did not expect to see her in this context but that is a welcome surprise I hope theres more of this show!

The pokemon shorts are also very chill, like the one with the little girl trying to be friends with a Slugma that heats her grandparent's home.

What made Concierge work was it avoided all the battle mechanics which can bog down both games and the various series. More slice of life pokemon content please

With as big as some fandoms get, I’m surprised more don’t make a “this what life is like in this world” slice of life like show. For most it would be interesting and would sell pretty well.

Nemona's waking nightmare, a resort where there is no Pokemon battling allowed whatsoever XD

If they made Concierge a VR game, I would never emerge from my home again.

I’m not even a Pokémon fan, even just knowing this exists makes me happy. Things that bring joy and peace are too few and far between (and while I’m here, SOTW brings me joy.) Glad this exists.

My favorite part of Saturday mornings used to be cartoons, now it's show of the weekend!

Delighted to hear Ellen is a Digimon fan. To quote a video I saw last week, "now Digimon, that's a thinkin' man's game!"

Ellen has never seen "Bye bye Butterfree" clearly 😭😭😭😭😭

To sum up Pokémon concierge in one word… wholesome. Best little short series I’ve ever watched. Very well written and just great!

Literally after watching this video I went to see the show… I have never felt so much joy. I actually cried a little! It was wonderful and I demand more Psyduck adventures! Thanks guys for introducing me to the show :D

The only bad thing I can say about this show is the fact that it was just too damn short even for netflix standards. Now I just hope that there would be another season with longer episodes.

Now i want a farming game like Stardew Valley or Animal Crossing, but with pokemon

I actually really appreciate Luke bringing up that the quiet Pikachu can be read as autistic coded! I definitely see that too as someone who is autistic.

Luke discovering City Pop is like the time I stumbled over Vaporwave playing Paradise Killer and immediately made it my entire personality

Ellen is becoming one with the purple sofa. Soon she will be rendered invisible.

Elder millennial here. Went and watched the first episode right away and it’s exactly what I need these days! Thanks for sharing!

something about Luke and Ellen talking about random things combined with that outro music just makes me feel like everything's gonna be alright

Welcome Luke to the City Pop fandom! Soon enough he'll be desperately looking for songs by artists whose names he doesn't know because they were written in kanji when he listened to them on Spotify, just like the rest of us

Never in my life after watching this show did i think i NEEDED an episode of Pokemon where a Pikachu had social anxiety and was taking the first steps to try and overcome it's shyness. My freaking heart melted and i've been dead inside for years!

Imagine a chill, wholesome, casual Concierge game. No stress, no battles, no grinding. Just looking after Pokemon 😍

Ellen talking about the family dynamic. It was my mum who got me into watching Yu-Gi-Oh because my nephew watched it. Context my nephew would have been 4-5, I'd have been in my mid 20's and my mum in her 50's. I used to find her sneaking games of rainbow islands and bubble bobble when I was in high school

One of the reasons I adore the Detective Pikachu movie so much is it just feels like a chance to exist in the world of pokemon-- not the battle circuit, but the general environment with all the pokemon just living their lives. (Also one of the reasons I enjoy Pokemon Snap.) This series looks like a distillation of that feeling

Each pokemon was a freaking plushie and I was all for it…

Bidoof's Big Stand is free on Pokemon's RU-vid channel and is a rollercoaster 8 mins of brilliance.

Took an 80-minute break in the middle of this video to watch Pokemon Concierge. I didn't cry at the shy pikachu; I just had something in my eye.

Next season, a Pokémon becomes concierge of the resort from Dead or Aluve Xtreme.

I love pokemon spin offs so much more than the whole catch-battle system. Snap and Ranger felt like being in the world. I wish they would make a cozy management sim like this. Doesn't have to be massive or complicated. They had some stuff early on that let you play with your Pokemon but they were all very obviously aimed at tiny children. imagine a Pokemon resort game where you run it, care for them, gradually build it up Animal Crossing style...

The last episode may have made me weep twice.

I was sad it was only 4 episodes. Definitely need more of it

Thought you were going to talk about a game where you work as a concierge at a pokemon hotel 😄 helping the guests, booking activities for them, just hotel life

Stop motion is the perfect medium for Pokemon media.

This is basically what growing up on the show, but without the games, was for me. Battling for me was always second to the mix of adventure and kinship with the Pokemon.

Thank you so much for including this in show of the weekend. I had remembered wanting to watch this, but then forgot about it. I hadn't realized it was out. So after your video, I went and watched the whole series. It was so much more sweet and charming than I was expecting. I just wish it was more than 4 episodes! Also, I think i liked it for the same reason New Pokemon Snap is my favourite pokemon game. I just really enjoy watching pokemon be pokemon, more than battling. (Also chill vibes)

I remember going as a kid to see the first animated Pokemon movie, Mewtwo Strikes Back. I got a shiny Mew card for showing up. I also watched the second movie Pokemon 2000 with the legendary birds. And later I saw the Detective Pikachu movie.

Pikachu has pudgy little arms?! AAAHHH!!! Pudgémon is very very important

This is the sort of Pokémon content I need more of. I need a Concierge style game where I can go look after Pokémon and just generally have a good time

Thank you guys so much for covering this. I probably wouldn't have watched it and thought it was probably going to be kiddy but I saw it and loved it. 😅 You guys are great! 😊

Loved it. Really hoping for a (longer) season 2. Psyduck has always been one of my favorites, but this show really elevated them.

I really liked that the background music was based on music from the games

I put on the first episode of Pokémon Concierge one evening and knew immediately I'd made a mistake. I turned it off until the following evening, when I enjoyed all four episodes back to back with my daughter and son. We all adore it! My kids asked for more, and over the following week, we watched every little documentary piece Netflix put out on their RU-vid channel about how it was made! Utterly magical!

Pokemon Concierge kinda remind me of Pikachu's Vacation, it's just seeing pokemon chillin'

You said stop motion and my brain automatically decided it was Wallace and Grommit with pokemon, I’m definitely going to have to watch this now

As someone currently in daily toddler battles this doesn't sound as perfect a job as you made out

Is no-one going to reference Luke's stop motion Pokemon short from show of the weekend a few years ago (starring Mewtwo and the Pikachu Brothers)?

If you want to see Pokemon interacting with each other you should play the Snap games, they’re incredible

I love stop-motion animation.

Completely understand the appeal. My child regularly asks me what fictional city I'd live in, which I think he asks just so I'll explain why my answer is Ryme City because it's Pokemon without battling (second is Mêlée Island, which takes more explaining). Also, I'm sure Eisner would be pleased with that cool bit of cross-promotion streetwear vibe, Luke.

"Autistic coded Pikachu" was a sentence I never thought I would hear, but yeah now that you mention it! That's sweet. :)

It was delightful! So well produced. Karen Fukahara's voice work was excellent as well!

My only criticism is that there are only 4 episodes. I want more

Got some delightful mood whiplash from the english voice cast, the main character is voiced by Kimiko from The Boys and her boss is also The Boss from MGS3.

I went and looked up some examples of City Pop, and sure enough, it's basically the soundtrack of every 1980s anime. Pretty dang familiar to me, in other words. Luke should listen to the opening and closing songs of an anime called Kimagure Orange Road. It's full of it. Natsu no Mirage and Fire Love in particular. (I never gave much thought to the term, it's just "that music I like from the era I grew up in.") Also, I usually translate iyashikei as "comfort food anime".

This show has similar vibes as a CBeebies shows ‘Sarah and duck’. Which is a drawn show about a kid called Sarah and their duck called duck going around their life and there is so many details in the background and the stories are very sweet.

Pokémon have done a couple of amazing shorts in the last year or so….Bidoof’s Big Stand and the Hisuian Voltorb shorts are great, definitely worth a watch 👍… Just a few minutes each, but outside the norm for Pokémon, as you described with concierge

"aww, its an Eeevee!"

So based on your description of this show having immaculate wholesome vibes, can we assume that none of the terrifying Pokemon you've made several videos about are allowed on the island?

The worst part of Pokémon Concierge is honestly that it's only 4 episodes! 😭😭😭

I'm sure the next season will be soft earthquakes that have to be soothed b/c the island is actually on the back of a torterra that's crying or something... and i'm here for it

Ellen and Luke losing it over cute Pokémon is just what I needed.👍😃💜

The "city pop" music reminds me of the Love Boat theme

It reminds me of one of my favorite pokemon media, Pikachu's Vacation.

Luke correcting Ellen's Pokemon misnomers, but he misidentified a Panpour as an Aipom.

Thank you for recommending this! I watched all 4 episodes earlier today and it was exactly as you said: so sweet and relaxing.

Well this sounds delightful ^^ The no-stakes vibe is similar to the mainstay of Hayao Miyazaki's film-making; to take in the environments and enjoy being in the world...As he would put it 'the gap between the claps' in a story ^^ Also I can very much see the Aardman similarities; Aardman still do great background gags and details to this day...Must be a thing with stop-motion animation XD

Other Pokémon media that is definitely worth it to check out are the poketoon short videos on the official pokemon channel. They are all so unique and emotional

6:05 Same, actually... as a kid, sure, it would have been cool to become a kickass trainer and all that. Now, as an adult, if i lived in the world of Pokemon, all i'd want to do is come home after a day of work, sit on my couch petting a pet-pokemon like an Eevee, a Litten, a Lycanroc or a Growlithe...

Well as I don't have Netflix, I won't be watching it, but it does very much look like it's totally up my alley. Glad to know it's out there.

I had no idea this existed until this video so I went and watched it and it was amazing! I’ve watched some of the Pokemon TV shorts but it’s so awesome to see a dedicated series!

13:00 Until about twenty minutes prior to watching this show I had never heard of the 'City Pop' genre. John ( _Plainly Difficult_ ) mentioned Ken Kobayashi's 'Sizzle' album in passing during his latest video. Two completely different channels releasing unrelated videos yet linked by a style of music I knew nothing about at 9pm this evening. It's now 10pm and I'm shivering slightly.

I love digimon too Ellen.

Thanks for talking about this show and introducing me to it. Such a sweet and simple show that is very enjoyable and helped me in a stressful time. Exactly what I needed at this moment.

There is something that reminds me of traditional British children's programming like the properly stop-motion Postman Pat. In the episode "Postman Pat and the Hole in the Road", about 8:30 in, there's a scene Pat and Alf - the farmer - are talking about a road closure. P.C. Selby starts wandering over to them, and Alf says to Pat "Look out, here comes trouble." In the context of a show for children, it is an innocuous and very human moment. Pokemon Concierge feels like that. Feels like the very human and real heart of the story. The games are fun, sure, but I imagine that vanishingly few of us grow up wanting to battle Pokemon. No, we want to be their friends, and to live life with them. Aardman is a good shout. Creature Comforts is a bit too sarcastic - it is after all using an animal lens to highlight human absurdity. But there is something in Pokemon Concierge which resonates with my Wallace and Gromit loving heart. It has the same whimsy and idealism of that first jaunt to the moon. Is is serious? No. But it matters to those involved. The story has heart through-and-through. I would love to see an Aardman/Dwarf Studios collaboration. I mean, Gromit is practically a Pokemon in function in so many ways already...

I mean, you had me at "stop motion animation"- but it also has a nice, calm vibe AND an Oxtra-grade Pikachu drawing? Ok, I think now I have to watch it!:D

Oh come on Luke… the super volcano will only activate is someone brings a Heatran to the island.

I'm not a Pokemon fan but on your recommendation I checked this out. It's a good show and great stop motion. I also love 80's music so I checked out a city pop playlist and it's good stuff.

Yes Luke! 'Plastic Love' is a stone cold city pop bop/banger, I got properly excited when i saw Mariya Takeuchi was involved! All i can say about the show is when Psyduck wakes up and looks all sleepy with his hair messed up my soul left my body and ascended to a higher plane of existence ELLEN IS A DIGIMON FAN CONFIRMED 🥳

I had not heard about this, thanks for highlighting it! 😊

The digimon shade was uncalled for 💀

I have an Eevee and a Munchlax plushie... These look just like the Pokemon I have if they were moving. That is impressive. I held them against the screen. Yes. They are the same. That is crazy. This is a really good job excellently done. Props to the makers. Before only Pokemon Snap was able to do this. And Detective Pikachu. But this bumps it up by another level.

Man, the budget for special effects must have skyrocketed for Oxtra to be able to do that ending scene

I loved every minute of this show. But excluding the intros/outros, there were only 42 of them.

After watching this series, i just want more slice of life Pokémon stories, no battles, no trainers, no Pokémon confined to pokéballs, no high stakes. Just normal people and pokémon being like normal animals and pets.

Luke, Ellen, Thank you so much for this video and sharing this. Ellen, your lovely words at the end about swinning the break up really landed in 'the feels' for me. Thank you!

It's a lovely show. Bad mood coming up put the show on. Even the snippet they gave on how they animated the "plushies" very cool. Labor of love i would say. ❤ Yeah some crying happened.

I feel like these reason's Ellen and Luke gave is why Pokemon Adventures is such an amazing season, who knew Lugia's skin was rough like sandpaper!

9:53 the anime and games have a lot of chill cute moments too tho

Slice of life anime is genuinely awesome and perhaps one of the biggest genres of it. Seems like you guys are new to it, so I would strongly suggest watching some. Stuff by KyoAni is a pretty good shout, especially K-ON!. K-ON! is a really good place to start. It's an anime about a bunch of high-school girls who form a music club and just their daily lives in general. It's really sweet and wholesome! And yeah, Mariya Takeuchi is incredible. I mean, Plastic Love is legendary!

Luke is wearing a Mom Can't Cook Shirt!

Thank you for hooking me in. Watched it. Tis awesome. 😋

I don't have Netflix, nor am I that into Pokémon, so I probably won't see it, but this was a lovely charge of wholesome energy for my battery.

My only complaint about Pokemon Concierge was that it was only four episodes.

It's such an adorable wholesome show, I hope they create more episodes in the future as it is so adorable and I like that it isn't about battles and gym badges. I LOVE the art/animation style too! I'd also love if they created some Pokemon Concierge game like the slower paced, cosy Animal Crossing style games that so many of us love. I would totally play a Pokemon game like that!

My weekend is not complete without hearing the intro and outro music of SotW at least once! 💜