The forthcoming series was teased over the weekend with some chilly artwork set in the show’s fabled Hisui region.
Fresh off the success of the open-world video game, The Pokémon Company has announced that it will adapt Pokémon Legends: Arceus into an anime series, to be produced by WIT Studio, the animation outfit best known for delivering the first three seasons of Attack on Titan.
The news was first revealed on the game’s official Japanese website. According to that announcement, the online anime will be “an original story set in the Sinnoh region.” For those unfamiliar, the Sinnoh region is a staple location in the Pokémon franchise; the Arceus game takes place during the historical period in which it was discovered and settled, and was called the Hisui region.
Little is known about the series’ plot at this time, but it will feature an original story and is slated for a 2022 release.
The Pokémon Company also unveiled new artwork to tease the series, which depicts a bundled-up Pokémon trainer traversing a frosty forest, peering back at the shadow of a Hisuian Pokémon. The shadow’s shape indicates that the creature is Zorua -- a ghost Pokémon whose spirit haunts the woods after being left to perish by humans in the harsh winter.
Since the forthcoming anime has been confirmed as an “online series,” it’s reasonable to assume that it will debut on the official Pokémon YouTube channels, though that has yet to be confirmed.
We also don’t yet know the length of the Arceus series, but if prior releases from The Pokémon Company are any indication, there’s a good chance it’ll be of the miniseries variety. Pokémon Evolutions - a series that explored different Pokémon regions released in 2021 - consisted of eight episodes. Pokémon Twilight Wings, which was inspired by the Sword and Shield games in the franchise and released in 2019, had a total of seven episodes, with an eighth made available later as downloadable content for the games.
Max Weinstein is a writer and editor based in Los Angeles. He is the Editor-at-Large of 'Dread Central' and former Editorial Director of 'MovieMaker.' His work has been featured in 'Cineaste,' 'Fangoria,' 'Playboy,' 'Vice,' and 'The Week.'
