My First Impressions of Pokémon Horizons!

The new Pokémon anime series has dropped in Japan! and I have some mostly positive thoughts about it. Bear in mind that this post contains spoilers for the first three episodes. give our take.

First of all, I can’t believe that The Pokémon Company decided to end the last protagonist’s journey. I had long resigned myself to the fact that it would never happen, so I was happily surprised! A worthwhile change in my opinion, although I don’t feel it’s the only change to be made to make a suberb Pokémon anime; length and structure are also important, but I digress.

From what I’ve watched so far, the show has shattered my low expectations! I’ll start with the new cast, starting with Liko, our new protagonist. She is an introverted girl, which seems to cause her social anxiety. (I can relate.) and is enrolled in a new school in Kanto (yes, again), and she is originally from Paldea.

As for Roy, he seems to be in search of treasure and legendary Pokémon; if the opening is anything to go by, he had a chance encounter with a shiny Rayquaza and may be looking for it. I don’t have much opinion about him as of now because I’ve seen characters like him before, and he has a lot of similarities with the last deuteragonist.

Nevertheless, he has another likely plot device, and I wonder what they are planning with it other than a Pokémon residing within it because Liko’s pendant has that covered.

But with that out of the way, the other cast is just as interesting and, in my opinion, more interesting than the protagonists: we have the Rising Volt Tacklers, a group of five individuals led by Friede, who is a Pokémon Professor but keeps it under tight wraps.

So far, the show has given him a bit of the spotlight, and he feels like a more prominent character in the first two episodes. I’m not sure if it will continue like this, but I hope it does! He’s an intriguing character who seems to treat his team well, but he’s also flawed, which has all the makings of a good character, in my opinion. Let’s just hope they keep it this way; the other members are interesting as well and have a starting slate of personalities. I do hope they evolve from their basic traits (pun not intended), but so far, each is pretty interesting, in my opinion.

The evildoers this time around seem to be more multifaceted, which is nothing groundbreaking but makes it more enjoyable. Amethio is surprising young to be in this role, and Team Explorers have worked well to move the plot forward so far. Talking about the plot, there’s actually an overarching plot here so far, an improvement from the last series, which was very episodic.

This one can also become episodic later on, but so far, it looks like the writers are trying to keep it fresh. Other than the Brave Asagi being their home base, the story hasn’t had a static element that I have noticed.

But to wrap up, since this is already longer than planned, I’m quite happy with the new series so far! To be fair, a lot could still go wrong, but I’m enjoying the ride so far! If you like Pokémon, I recommend giving it a shot. It’s not my ideal dream Pokémon anime series by a long shot, but it’s enjoyable enough to watch, and that may be enough for you!