While it's easy to love adorable Pokémon like Pikachu and Eevee, seeing the underappreciated 'Mons get a moment in the spotlight warms my heart. A recently released Japanese animated short focuses on the grumpy pig-monkey Pokémon Primeape. While the short hasn't been released in English yet, the Japanese version is worth watching for the animation alone, because it might be the best thing Primeape and the other Pokémon featured in it have ever seen.
It's a classic story about the power of friendship and the joy that comes when you accept the people (or Pokémon) around you as they are, instead of trying to force them to be a certain way. It also looks beautiful.
In the final battle, there is a moment where Primeape almost loses, but gets back up. He comes to life as he fiercely charges at his opponent for one last attack. The Pokémon moves forward, the ground around it bends and an aura of energy surrounds it. And while that action sequence is pretty impressive, I also appreciated the slower parts of the animated short. In particular, the animators created a rich and colorful image of Primeape and the trainer walking away from another victory. This shot pops off the screen with its combination of pen and ink art and vibrant painted colors.
The short's credits confirm that The Pokémon Company hired several veteran animators for this project: it was directed by Seishirō Nagaya, who did the key animation on chainsaw man and worked on multiple projects for the Shadowverse lively. Kyuta Sakai did the character design and is credited with multiple roles in beloved series such as Steins;Door. The Pokémon designer of this short, Susumu Matsunaga, has worked on several Mobile Suit Gundam series and previous Pokémon movies.
In the end, the team was able to pack a huge amount of personality and movement into a bite-sized short. So even if you're not the biggest Primeape fan, I recommend you check it out.
Polygon senior editor Kallie Plagge contributed reporting and translation to this story.