While it’s easy to love adorable Pokémon like Pikachu and Eevee, seeing lesser appreciated ’Mons have a moment in the spotlight warms my heart. A recently released animated short in Japanese focuses on the grumpy pig-monkey Pokémon Primeape. While the short hasn’t been released in English yet, it’s worth watching the Japanese version for the animation alone, because it might be the best that Primeape and the other Pokémon in it — have ever looked.
The 10-minute short is called “Angry Primeape Observation Diary,” and you can watch it on the official Japanese Pokémon YouTube channel. It follows a young boy as he shares his summer diary with his class, describing his adventures with a Primeape. At first, the young trainer struggles to play with the raging Pokémon, but eventually connects to it by fighting alongside it. Together, the two win battle after battle, until the short culminates in a televised fight against a Baxcalibur. In the heat of the challenge, the boy and Primeape connect, and the Pokémon wins the fight and evolves into an Annihilape.
It’s a classic story about the power of friendship, and the joy that comes when you accept the people (or Pokémon) around you for who they are, rather than trying to force them to be a certain way. It also just looks gorgeous.
In the final battle, there’s a moment where Primeape almost loses, but gets back up. It comes to life as it ferociously charges its opponent for one last attack. The Pokémon bursts forward, the ground around it bends, and an aura of energy surrounds it. And while that action sequence is pretty impressive, I also appreciate the slower parts of the animated short as well. In particular, the animators created a rich and colorful still of Primeape and the trainer walking away from another victory. This shot pops from the screen with its combination of pen-and-ink art and its vibrant painted colors.
The credits for the short confirm that The Pokémon Company brought on several veteran animators for this project: It was directed by Seishirō Nagaya, who did key animation on Chainsaw Man and worked on multiple projects for the Shadowverse anime. Kyuta Sakai did the character design and is credited for multiple roles on beloved series like Steins;Gate. The Pokémon designer for this short, Susumu Matsunaga, has worked on several Mobile Suit Gundam series and previous Pokémon movies.
In the end, the team was able to pack a tremendous amount of personality and movement into a bite-sized short. So even if you aren’t the biggest Primeape fan, I’d recommend checking it out.
Kallie Plagge, senior copy editor at Polygon, contributed reporting and translation for this story.
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