When I heard about Pokemon Horizons: The Series, I was cautiously excited for it to drop in North America. I’ve been a Pokemon fan since 1998 when the original anime aired and I bought Pokemon Blue Version for my Gameboy Pocket. I have played every Pokemon game and I even still collect the cards. But the anime had lost its luster after watching Ash Ketchum travel the world with Pikachu and his rotating group of friends and Pokemon for over 25 years. The Pokemon franchise has been in desperate need of a refresh for a very long time, and even this die-hard fan had lost interest.
But that’s where Pokemon Horizons comes in, because Horizons is a wonderful and charming breath of fresh air. We are quickly introduced to Liko, a reserved young girl from the Paldea region on her way to attend a Pokemon school called the Indigo Academy in the Kanto region’s Viridian City. (For those die-hard fans, there is no doubt in my mind that this school is the “Pokemon Academy” we’ve seen in Viridian City since Generation 1 but upgraded to the scale of what we’ve seen from Pokemon in the Scarlet and Violet games).
Liko makes a lot about herself clear in an internal monologue in the opening scene: “I guess it’s not like a lot of people know me. I don’t even know that I really know me. How would I know? I feel like there’s something I’m supposed to know that I don’t know right now. But I just don’t know what.” Right away, we understand that Liko is relatively alone and unused to social interaction, that she is still figuring out who she is, and that she is searching for answers to questions she doesn’t know how to ask. Liko is primed for what is likely to follow: a riveting adventure as she travels with her Sprigatito across the world of Pokemon where she will discover mysteries about Pokemon, her world, and about herself.
The plot kicks in when Liko tells her roommate Anne about a special pendant that her grandmother gave her. Out of nowhere, a mysterious man named Amethio shows up, claiming to have a letter from her grandmother telling her to come with him and to bring the pendant. Liko can tell something is up and tries to escape, only for Amethio and some other strange people to try to engage her in battle. Then out of nowhere, another stranger named Friede flies in on the back of a Charizard to rescue her, and a Pokemon battle between Friede’s Charizard and Amethio’s Ceruledge breaks out. Not knowing if she can trust Friede, Liko runs away and almost gets hit by Ceruledge’s Psycho Cut, only for her pendant to activate and create a glowing shield around her.
The cliffhanger ending of “The Pendant That Starts It All Part 1” left me ready for the next episode right away, and my enjoyment of the new series grew with each episode I watched. The world of Pokemon is an incredible one to explore, and we get to see it from a whole new perspective through Liko. Although the marketing led me to believe this would feature a dual lead between Liko and a boy named Roy, we are only introduced to Roy at the very end of episode 3, which leads me to believe Roy will be more of a supporting protagonist.
On a technical level, Pokemon Horizons is quite good. The character designs are interesting and work well with the painted backgrounds. The animation quality is very good, with particular attention being given to the Pokemon battles. On that note, the battles are really enjoyable, especially a kick-butt Pokemon like the blue-violet flamed Ceruledge, or a Pikachu who goes by Captain battling on top of a giant airship in a thunderstorm. My only criticism is that the opening theme song leaves a lot to be desired. The song, animation, and duration differ between the Japanese and English versions. Although the lyrics seem to be connected to Liko’s character arc, the English opening theme is a mere 30 seconds, which is not enough to have an effective buildup musically when you cram a verse, pre-chorus, and chorus into such a small amount of time. You can tell the song was written to be longer but was cut down substantially. While this is true for most anime openings, this is cut so short that the editing is obvious and awkward. Each part barely gets going before moving on to the next. Whichever editor or studio executive made the opening of the North American version so short should rethink their decision and re-edit for future seasons.
Still, a subpar opening theme isn’t enough to detract from a strong show with interesting characters and great world-building. Whether you have been a die-hard Pokemon fan since the 90s like me, or you have a young kid who is brand new to the franchise, Pokemon Horizons: The Series is a great anime and is the most fun I’ve had watching new Pokemon episodes in many years. I look forward to watching and rewatching this series for a long time to come.
Pokemon Horizons: The Series is on Netflix in the US and BBC iPlayer in the UK.
In the UK it is being shown on the BBC iPlayer streaming service (free to anyone based in the UK).
Thanks! I’ll update the post
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