Pokémon: Hisuian Snow

A perfect portrayal of the human and Pokemon relationship in the past. I just love how calming and at the same time intense the storyline of this mini-series is. Alec was a timid young individual but after meeting Zorua, who later became his long-distance friend, he grows with a heart for Pokemon unlike the older people in his village. At some point, when Alec became an adult who treats Pokemon with care, he manages to be courageous and be the stepping stone for his fellow villagers to open up their hearts to these Pokemons. It was a short yet captivating animation specially for those who playthe game. I wish they lengthen the duration of each episode and hope to see things like this in the near future. My only craving from this is I want Alec to catch or battle at least one to two Pokemon. Pokemon anime isn't complete without catching and battling. Nevertheless, it was still a cute and well-executed show for Pokemon fans out there!

Easily one of the best animated works the Pokémon franchise has ever put out. The story, though nothing too unprecedented, is extremely cohesive and effective. We follow the main character, Akio (Alec), through two parallel lenses: his childhood growing up in Hisui and his return to Hisui in the distant future as an adult. With very little exposition, we're let loose into a vast, snowy world of humans and Pokémon where we can watch Akio's experiences a child sow the seeds for his development toward adulthood. The rather short length of the series may be disappointing to some, but three episodes is ultimately a perfect amountof time for the narrative they achieve. Not a single moment is wasted. There's no excessive dialogue or setup: just pure storytelling through characters and their interactions with one another, guided by strong moments of suspense and brilliant motifs. The art and animation are outstanding, with gorgeous scenery throughout the series and some extremely fluid fight choreography toward the end. The Pokémon in particular are flawlessly expressive; the gentle innocence of smaller Pokémon is contrasted beautifully with the imposing terror of larger, stronger Pokémon. The artstyle is also excellent at unifying the human character designs with the Pokémon. Where many pieces of Pokémon media in the past have often failed at striking a balance between human and Pokémon designs, the characters of this series are pulled away from the usual tropes of Pokémon artwork and into a unique visual style with its own masterful flair. It all makes for an experience that is immersive as well as all-around just enjoyable to watch. All in all, an absolute delight of a web series and a perfect little glimpse into the world of Hisui.

Man, Pokemon's really been going all out on the animation front in the past few years, hasn't it? We've got Pokemon Twilight Wings, the PokeToon shorts—which as of this writing are finally getting dubbed into English this summer!—Pokemon Evolutions, and now, a recently finished web series from Wit Studio called Pokemon: Hisuian Snow, based on the video game Pokemon Legends: Arceus. Hisuian Snow was first announced in a Pokemon Presents video released in February 2022, alongside the reveal of Legends Arceus DLC and Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. Needless to say, considering how good Twilight Wings and the various PokeToon shorts turned out, many fans werehyped for this, me included. Plus, unlike what happened with Yoru no Kuni, TPCi made it clear that Hisuian Snow was going to only have three episodes straight up and not be a full-on adaptation of the game, which was about what I expected. I mean, considering the pattern the Pokemon animated shorts have been going with, I had a feeling Hisuian Snow was going to do something similar to what Twilight Wings and the PokeToon shorts did, i.e. be more low-key, atmospheric character focused pieces. I'm glad to say that Hisuian Snow met my expectations and is still pretty amazing on its own. Hisuian Snow focuses on a young man named Akio (named Alec in English, but I'm going with his Japanese name so as to be more accurate to the setting) visiting the Hisui region to see his father. He hears rumors of violent Pokemon wreaking havoc in the nearby forest, which makes him reminisce on an encounter he had when he was a child. As a kid, he wandered into a snowy forest and met a shiny Hisuian Zorua against his father's warnings. After some mishaps, Akio winds up hurt, but the Zorua helps him out. But humans are wary of Pokemon, seeing them as hostile monsters, and Akio has been told that there's no way Pokemon and humans can ever really coexist. Years later, Akio wanders how that Zorua is doing, hoping to see it again. Much like with what Colorido did for Twilight Wings and their PokeToon shorts, Wit Studio really went all out in the animation department here, not just with the character motion and the little details, but the beauty of the environments as well. From the white snowy peaks to the setting sun bathing everything in its light, the whole short is just brimming with warm colors, from gentle yellows to harsh oranges. That contrast empathizes the story's main theme, that Pokemon are both beautiful and dangerous in this world's era, and Pokemon and humans haven't learned to coexist yet. The fact that there are characters who outright say that Pokemon are dangerous and shouldn't be messed with isn't exactly a sentiment you normally get in a franchise like this, and we, the audience, already know it's going to be disproven based on the story beats and...well, the franchise itself. It makes sense, as the time period both Legends Arceus and Hisuian Snow take place in is during a time when Pokemon were still alien to humans rather than the constant companions they are in the main series proper, but it is refreshing to see a different take on the idea of befriending Pokemon, and even the source game leans heavily into this mindset and disproving it. Granted, the animation isn't as dynamic as, say, Yume no Tsubomi or I Became a Gengar, but what the series lacks in kinetic motion, it makes up for with its usage of colors, light, and shadows, and keeping true to the visual style of the game its based on, along with some stark, trippy visuals at the beginning of episode one. I don't have as much to say on the soundtrack, but it's pretty nice and gets the job done. Based on what the various Pokemon short animations have done with their previous shorts, Hisuian Snow is very much a character study at heart, with a fairly small cast to follow. Most of the development goes to Akio, and we get to see first hand how his experiences with the Hisuian Zorua change his view on Pokemon and himself as a person, along with how this experience inspires him to convince others to do the same. The side characters don't get much to do, especially the ones who appear in the final episode, but they all serve their roles nicely and their beliefs towards Pokemon are presented as understandable without coming across as antagonistic, nor does the series try to portray Akio as being wholly in the right. You're not exactly going to find much in the way of complexity or grandeur in Hisuian Snow in terms of its plot or characters, but the things it is able to offer are not too much, not too little, just the right amount needed to do what the show wanted to do. Even the Hisuian Zorua has a surprising amount of personality and depth to it, and it's literally an animal. Basically, Hisuian Snow wonderfully succeeds in being a character study and for being entirely dedicated to its lead character learning new things and changing significantly because of his experience with Zorua. If I had to name any flaws Hisuian Snow has, it's mainly in the minor details. For one, the short intro bit at the very beginning of episode one, showing a Zoroark going berserk after seeing its dead child, doesn't really get followed up on. We never find out the context behind it, what happened, or if the Zorua or Zoroark in the story is the same one Akio encountered. I don't know if that scene is just there to establish the fact that humans view Pokemon as dangerous or not, but I kind of wish more had been done with it. The final episode has some characters from the game make cameos and even help Akio out in the conflict for that, but one of them doesn't talk, and the rest of them just feel like plot devices. While Hisuian Snow does make an admirable effort, I think Twilight Wings did better in terms of fleshing out the rest of its ensemble cast, along with various episodes of PokeToon. But that absolutely does not mean Hisuian Snow doesn't have anything to offer by itself, as it's still a great, wholesome little character piece that really excels in what it set out to do. So yeah, whether you're a Pokemon fan or not, don't sleep on Pokemon: Hisuian Snow. While not without the occasional stumble, it's still an excellent web series that's full of just as much passion and heart as its contemporaries.

Great commercial for Pokemon Legends, following a curious and adventurous boy, set in a time-period where humans are scared of Pokemon and the mysterious/brutal powers they possess. Our protagonist come across a wild Pokemon, changing his life forever; as a person, his path in life and his perception of Pokemon. Pokemon and Human designs and character animation is very polished, naturally inhabiting the beautiful background of the Hisui region. Heads-up: - If you’re not a fan of Pokemon as a franchise or shorts impressive non-human character animation, it’s probably not going to do that much for you. Favorite aspect: - I love how brilliantly the short manage to capture the emotions,attitude and power of the Pokemon, whether they’re scared or cute / confident or enraged, its brilliantly portrayed through the body language and expressiveness of the Pokemon, together with a couple of sick sequences of background animation and/or style changes bringing not just the emotions but the raw power of the Pokemon to life. Least favorite aspect: - I did feel like there was a lot more stuff that could be explored, and the narrative didn’t feel as creative or tight as some of the Poketoon episodes either, making it hard for the show to leave an impression, outside of its visual splendor. Overall, if you’re a fan of Pokemon to any degree, especially if you’ve played Pokemon Legends, this is certainly worth checking out.