Pokémon, new live-action series announced in Japan: starts in October

TV Tokyo and The Pokémon Company announced today that on October 19, Fill Your Pockets With Adventure, or Pokétsume, a new live-action series based on Pokémon.

The protagonist of this TV series is Madoka Akagi, a girl who grew up playing Pokémon Red as a child with her brothers in Mashiro, a town in the Kanto region. After graduating from college, Madoka began working at a company that makes kamaboko, a typical Japanese food, and then moved to the advertising agency ADventure.

This dream for Madoka turns into a reality different from what she expected, and one day she is tasked with giving a presentation that will decide the fate of the company. At one point Madoka receives a package from her parents that contains a Game Boy Pocket and the copy of Pokémon Red she played as a child: she starts playing and realizes that it contains something important for her life.

The show is billed as the world’s first “Pokémon human drama,” in which the main character grows through her experiences playing with Pokémon. Madoka is played by Nanase Nishino, a former member of the idol group Nogizaka46 who has had roles in other Japanese TV series and films in the past, also winning some awards.

This series is unlikely to make it to the West, but Pokémon fans, at least those who know a little Japanese, may be interested in this show.