The Detective Pikachu movie proved that The Pokémon Company is more than capable of producing solid live-action projects for the big screen. And from the looks of TV Tokyo’s new upcoming Pokémon-inspired show PokéTsume, that’s true of episodic series, too.
Set in our own mundane reality, PokéTsume centers the life of Madoka Akagi (Nanase Nishino), a young woman from Japan’s actual Kanto region (which was the inspiration for the Kanto region from the Pokémon games). After graduating from college and doing a short stint working as a kamaboko-maker, Madoka finds herself moving to Tokyo for a new job at a small ad agency, and while the gig definitely feels like a step in the right direction for her, life in the city isn’t anything like what she dreamed. When Madoka winds up being tapped to take lead on a presentation that will determine her company’s future, she can’t help but feel out of her depth.
But just as it seems like life is becoming too overwhelming, Madoka receives a package in the mail from her mother containing an old GameBoy and a copy of Pokémon Red, and PokéTsume’s trailer makes it seem like the gifts are exactly what she needs. Despite it not being about people forcing their beloved animal friends to fight for glory, PokéTsume focusing on a millennial office worker who finds comfort in an old game is sure to speak directly to more than a few viewers.
Like The Pokémon Company’s other recent series about people being inspired by its nostalgic products, there’s little doubt that PokéTsume will see Madoka come out on top in the end. What’s going to be very interesting to see, though, is whether the show will at all touch upon how folks playing vintage Pokémon games only have a few more months before all their old monsters are effectively trapped on cartridges.
PokéTsume is set to debut on TV Tokyo on October 30th. Currently, no plans for an international release have been announced.
