Pokémon Concierge Director On His Favourite Pokémon In Stop-Motion Animation

Pokémon Concierge is out now, and it’s an all-ages romp filled with stop-motion animation cuteness. Also, Pokémon relaxing and not fighting; that’s basically the slice-of-life gist of it and does that really well.

How was this all achieved? How did this get off the ground? Well, we talked to director Iku Ogawa about his thought process when making the stop-motion all-ages animated series.

How did you feel when you were first approached to join this project?

I played Pokémon Blue when I was a little kid and watched the anime series growing up. I also watched the live-action Detective Pikachu film and enjoyed that. When I was approached to do the stop-motion animation project involving Pokémon, I thought it would be interesting.

What’s it like working with the Pokémon brand to make a new story come to life? What were the challenges?

Usually for games and anime, it’s the battle scenes that are the main point of these creations. The stop-motion title has no battles. What I did was imagine how the lives of people would be if there were Pokémon in the world. It was gearing towards a slice-of-everyday-life type of story, so I started to think from that point.

I guess Pokémon in a way are pets compared to dogs and cats that are normal. Sometimes Pokémon are much bigger, and they have special powers. So I asked myself this question “if Pokémon were to exist in real life, how would people interact with them?” So I started to think from that point on and then how we can make that life be portrayed realistically. I wanted to make Pokémon Concierge feel real to the viewers.

What’s it like directing a stop-motion series like this and Rillakuma? Why do you like the medium?

The stop-motion animation process is extremely difficult to revise what’s on display and on the set after shooting. I won’t say this is the most efficient creative process out there. So therefore for that reason, the intent of the creators are well-reflected.

I’m a director, but I’m not the kind who wants to control everything. So when you’re engaging in creative works, there will be set designers and animators (and so forth). they have their own preferences and I want these kinds of people’s intents and preferences to mix. Stop-motion is the perfect medium to make that happen.

Who is your favourite Pokémon and why?

Before directing Pokémon Concierge, my favourite is Gengar. But now, it’s Mudkips. And no, I didn’t change my favourite for the purpose of this show’s promotion. He’s much cuter; that’s all.

Pokémon Concierge is out right now on Netflix.