Pokémon’s new live-action trailer is a little too relatable

By Ash Parrish, a reporter who has covered the business, culture, and communities of video games for seven years. Previously, she worked at Kotaku.

Regions play a big part of defining the series, but the games don't always do a perfect job of rendering their settings in a way that makes sense. Earlier titles all featured regions based on areas of Japan, while later entries have taken on a number of other cultural inspirations. Although the prevailing influence of one real-world environment can always be felt in a region, certain elements can feel anatopic in a way that ultimately doesn't make complete sense.

The first trailer for Onmyoji, a new anime based on the novel series by Baku Yumemakura, has arrived and it's sure to fill the Tanjiro-shaped hole in the hearts of those waiting for Demon Slayer season 4.

Persona 5 Tactica has looked promising in all that Atlus has shown of it so far, and the developer has now released another new trailer for the tactics RPG, with roughly a month still left until its launch. The trailer, currently available only in Japanese, was shared recently on Twitter, and is quite a packed one.

The Vincent Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam said Saturday it would no longer hand out a prized Pokemon card after the giveaway sparked crushes by "scalpers" reselling it for exorbitant prices. Launched with great fanfare last month to mark the museum's 50th anniversary, the collaboration with Pokemon aimed to inspire younger visitors and included exhibitions on the artist's links with Japan.

Bandai Namco has tapped into the hype surrounding the second season of Spy X Family, releasing the first full gameplay trailer for its upcoming PS5 and PS4 adaptation, Spy x Anya: Operation Memories. The game has Boku No Natsuyasumi vibes to it, as you’ll be accompanying the eponymous pink-haired heroine on holiday with her adopted family, and engaging in various minigames.

These Animal Crossing collectible toys look too cute, feel great, and have been discounted in the wake of Prime Day Round 2.

Bandai Namco has just filed a trademark for "Sparking! Zero" (Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 4's Japanese name), implying that we'll finally be getting news on the game in the near future.

Detective Pikachu isn’t the only live-action Pokemon offshoot in existence. There’s also a Japanese TV series on the way, but don’t expect to see more CG-animated Pokémon waltzing about in this one. Per Crunchyroll news, Pocket ni Boken o Tsumekonde — Pack Your Pockets with Adventure, or PokéTsume for short —is a Pokemon-inspired drama that aims to mine a very specific type of nostalgia. In particular, nostalgia aimed at folks who grew up on the original Game Boy and the first Pokemon games. 

When we first heard that Japan would make a live-action Pokemon series, we felt, “It was about time!” But then we listened more to what they had to say about what they were making, and admittedly, our eyebrows went way up. Because this wasn’t a series about a live-action trainer going around the world and catching Pokemon, this was a series set in our world about a young woman who needed the video game series to get through a tough period in her life. It sounded both very weird and “very Japanese.” And now, PokéTsume has gotten its first trailer.

By Charles Pulliam-Moore, a reporter focusing on film, TV, and pop culture. Before The Verge, he wrote about comic books, labor, race, and more at io9 and Gizmodo for almost five years.

TV Tokyo has released the first trailer for a new live-action Pokémon drama series called Pack Your Pocket With Adventure (literal translation), or Pokétsume for short.