When Pokémon Legends: Arceus landed on the Nintendo Switch in January 2022, it was a game-changer, quite literally. In terms of both gameplay and story, it broke the rules and did it with style, while retaining just enough friendly familiarity to draw players into the beautiful, harsh world of Hisui. Now, The Pokémon Company is changing the game again with Pokémon: Hisuian Snow, a three-episode miniseries set in the coldest regions of Hisui, following a young boy named Alec who makes a startling emotional connection with the ghost fox Pokémon Zorua. Here's how you can watch this brand-new show.
What Happens in Pokémon: Hisuian Snow Episode 1?
We meet Alec on a boat traveling to the Hisui region, where he explains to another passenger that he’s going to meet his father in Jubilife Village. The passenger’s cheerful demeanor changes and he explains that a dangerous Pokémon has appeared in the region. Alec’s gaze drifts away from the speaker, as his childhood memories come to the forefront.
In this flashback, we see Alec as a carefree young boy being initiated into the family business by his father, a woodworker. Much more cautious and watchful than his son, he seems to regard the forest from which he gains his living as a mysterious and potentially malevolent place. In this episode, he stops his son from following a strange glow in the woods. That glow is Zoroark, he explains, a Pokémon who, in his words, “lost everything and became something else” due to mistreatment by humans. As he explains this, we are treated to a brief flashback from his point of view, looking terrified as he is menaced by a foxlike being who looks to be more of an evil spirit than a flesh-and-blood creature.
Back to the man and his son - young Alec asks why the Zoroark was mistreated, but his father refuses to explain. “People and Pokémon can never coexist,” is all he says. The story continues from there, but you’ll have to see the rest for yourself:
When Was Pokémon: Hisuian Snow Released?
Episode 1 was released on May 18, 2022. Episode 2 will be released on June 8, the same year. The release date for Episode 3 is yet to be announced, but if the pattern holds, it may be released three weeks later, on June 29.
Where Is Pokémon: Hisuian Snow Streaming Online?
Pokémon: Hisuian Snow is available online only on The Official Pokémon Youtube Channel on YouTube or on the Pokémon TV app for Switch, iOS, Android, and Kindle Fire. The good news is that Pokémon: Hisuian Snow, along with a lot of episodes from the mainline Pokémon anime, and other great Pokémon content are all available for free.
What's the Plot of Pokémon: Hisuian Snow?
The story of Pokémon Legends: Arceus and Pokémon: Hisuian Snow is set in the distant past of the main Pokémon series, much before the formalization of trainers, gyms, badges, and Champions was commonplace. In this world, Pokémon and humans are antagonistic to each other, with humans seeing even the most harmless Pokémon as threats to be either contained or driven away. It is in this world that Alec and a young Zorua kindle an unlikely friendship. Going forward, we can expect to see the attitudes of adult humans coming between Alec and Zorua, and uncover the mystery of what happened to the Zoroark that Alec’s father is so afraid of.
Who Are the Cast and Crew of Pokémon: Hisuian Snow?
Pokémon: Hisuian Snow is being directed by Ken Yamamoto and written by Taku Kishimoto, a Studio Ghibli alumnus who’s also done work for Bunny Drop, Erased, and the remake of Fruits Basket. The cast features the vocal talents of Chris Hackney (Mobile Suit Gundam SEED)/Kōki Uchiyama (The World Ends With You: The Animation) as adult Alec (or Akio, in the original Japanese script), Lizzie Freeman (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure)/Rie Kugimiya (Fruits Basket) as young Alec, and Steve Kramer (Akira)/Rikiya Koyama (Pokémon Origins) as Alec’s father. In both versions, Rikako Aikawa (Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon) provides the voice of Zorua.
More Anime Like Pokémon: Hisuian Snow That You Can Watch Next
Something of a spiritual predecessor to Hisuian Snow, Pokémon: Twilight Wings is a prequel and companion anime to Pokémon Sword and Shield. Taking place in the Galar region, a tribute to (or parody of, depending on your point of view) various parts of the United Kingdom, the eight-episode series is a series of vignettes centered on various characters from the game. Like Hisuian Snow, Pokémon: Twilight Wings is available on the official Pokémon YouTube channel and the Pokémon TV app.
Pokémon as a franchise draws a lot of inspiration from Japan’s rich folklore, especially its mind-bending variety of monsters and spirits, and Natsume’s Book of Friends delves into this historic folklore with an approach that’s more grounded in the real world. In it, a teenage boy named Natsume (Hiroshi Kamiya) is gifted - or cursed - with the ability to see spirits, an ability that isolates him from his peers and family but allows him to communicate with a wide variety of inhuman beings. Some are benign, others malicious; many have been wronged by Natsume’s grandmother, who bore the same gift as Natsume, and now seek restitution and healing from her grandson. Natsume’s Book of Friends is available on Crunchyroll, VRV, Funimation, and Tubi TV.
In How to Keep a Mummy, the main character, Sora (Mutsumi Tamura), is tasked with the care of a cute, adorable… mummy? The titular creature, called Mii-Kun, is about as far from the scary monster of popular culture as you can get, and it doesn’t hurt that it’s only 12cm tall. In this slice-of-life anime, Sora learns to care for and love this strange little creature, and in doing so, forges deeper connections with the people in his life, many of whom acquire strange pets themselves as the series goes on. How to Keep a Mummy is available for streaming on Crunchyroll and VRV.