Netflix announced at this year’s Anime Expo that the upcoming stop-motion animated series, Pokémon Concierge will be streamed worldwide in December 2023.

The Pokémon Concierge anime is considered the first stop-motion Pokémon series, and it is much anticipated and highly under wraps. Since only one short teaser (of merely one stop-motion Psyduck) was released in February’s Pokémon Presents Showcase, fans were eager to speculate about the scale and scope of the stop-motion project. Now that Netflix has provided more details at Anime Expo, fans can expect a lot of colourful and warm exploration of Pokémon in an all-new medium.

Alongside the announcement, Netflix unveiled its first behind-the-scenes look at a filmed studio tour of the production at Dwarf Studios in Tokyo. This sees Rena Nonen also known as Non (the voice actor of Haru) visiting Dwarf Studios to get a glimpse of the Pokémon Concierge sets, figures and the team’s work process. Non provides further information on the production process where her facial expressions during recording were used as references for Haru. “It was really exciting for me because it’s the first time my body language was also recorded during voice acting,” said Non.

According to Gamerant’s interview with the lead voice actress, Pokémon Concierge tells the story of Haru, a newly appointed concierge. A tropical Pokémon resort will be the setting for the series, where Haru will be accompanied by her assistant Psyduck. Haru is described by Non as “a rhythmic thinker who always wants to make everything perfect,” but one of the show’s overarching themes revolves around her gradual shift to a more relaxed and satisfying demeanour, even when things don’t turn out as planned. In Non’s words, “Haru learns to grow with the Pokemon.”

Pokémon Concierge is a collaboration between The Pokémon Company and animation studio Dwarf Studios. The series is slated to release on Netflix in December 2023.