Watch Brand-New Pokemon Anime Short Featuring Detective Pikachu
The Official Pokemon YouTube channel has recently uploaded an anime short featuring everyone’s favorite mystery-solving, snack-devouring private eye, Detective Pikachu. The short, which stars Chinese-American voice actor Kaiji Von Tang in the title role, sees Detective Pikachu and his faithful partner, Tim, solving a high-stakes case regarding a serving of flan that has mysteriously disappeared.
A new Pokemon anime short sees Detective Pikachu trying to solve the case of a missing flan.
Fans seem to be responding positively to the animated short, with tens of thousands of views, along with hundreds of supportive comments amassed on the YouTube video fewer than 12 hours after the short went live.
With any luck, this marks the first of many anime shorts within the Pokemon franchise, as the brand has always been a step ahead of its competition when it comes to enticing fans from around the world with new and innovative takes on its classic IP. Detective Pikachu was previously voiced by Deadpool actor Ryan Reynolds in a feature-length film back in 2019, popularizing the talking Pokemon to a wide audience of younger fans. Earlier this month, the electrifyingly adorable character saw a return in the form of a Nintendo Switch game titled Detective Pikachu Returns.
Kaiji Von Tang voices the talking Pokemon in the new game, in a reprisal of the voice actor’s original portrayal in Detective Pikachu’s first game outing in 2016. Tang touts a highly impressive resume of anime voice work, appearing in over 300 credited roles on IMDb.
With any luck, this marks the first of many anime shorts within the Pokemon franchise, as the brand has always been a step ahead of its competition when it comes to enticing fans from around the world with new and innovative takes on its classic IP.
In addition to his voice work within the Pokemon universe in the Detective Pikachu series, Tang is best known for lending his voice to such massive titles as Demon Slayer, Jujutsu Kaisen, and Naruto, as well as a wide variety of video game franchises, including Call of Duty, Diablo, Resident Evil, and many more.
The YouTube short begins with Detective Pikachu starting off his morning routine and attempting to film a lifestyle vlog for social media. As the furry investigator begins his production, he is aided by a fellow Pokemon, Munchlax, who assists in setting up the camera and performing on-set production duties. Pikachu’s routine is quickly interrupted, however, when Tim enters the kitchen and realizes his favorite dessert has gone missing.
The shocking climax of the anime short delivers a perfect ending that allows Pokemon super-fans to put their own detective skills to good use while offering a satisfying conclusion.
After first accusing both Pikachu and Munchlax of devouring his flan, Tim eventually accepts their shared insistence that neither of them has eaten it. Of course, Tim finds it quite difficult to trust Munchlax, as the small but heavy-set Pokemon has already been caught smuggling a banana. Finally, Tim and Pikachu get on the case, scouring the kitchen for clues, as well as inspecting photo and video evidence of the refrigerator in order to establish a timeline for the missing treat.
The shocking climax of the anime short delivers a perfect ending that allows Pokemon super-fans to put their own detective skills to good use while offering a satisfying conclusion. With any luck, Nintendo will make shorts such as this a regular occurrence, as fans would be more than happy to tune into a series of Pokemon-related mysteries each week.
The YouTube channel, which frequently uploads promotional materials for new Pokemon games, touts an impressive following of over 5.5 million YouTube subscribers, providing the brand with a built-in audience.
