HAKUMEI NO TSUBASA

DESCRIPTION

CAST

ANIME ActionPocket Monsters (2019)
ONA AdventureHakumei no Tsubasa EXPANSION: Hoshi no Matsuri

REVIEWS

• 

  Juliko25

  81/100
  It's not going to bring the house down, but Twilight Wings is a breath of fresh air for the animated Pokemon canon.

  When I say I love Pokemon, that's an understatement. I LOVE Pokemon. It's been an integral part of my childhood, and to this day, I still buy the games, watch the anime (even with its rough patches), read the Pokemon Adventures manga, and I'm currently writing a super long fan fic for Pokemon, which is my current pet project. It's a franchise that's had a lot of staying power and even now, Pokemon continues to have an iron grip on the world because of the sheer joy it brings to everyone of all ages. But many, like myself, feel the TV anime that focuses on Ash and his adventures could benefit from either taking more risks or focusing on a different protagonist. So when a new studio called Colorido was announcing that they were making their own short anime based on the Sword and Shield games at the end of 2019, titled Pokemon: Twilight Wings, many were shocked. What in the world brought this on? Each episode would be seven to nine minutes long, released monthly, focusing on not just the prominent characters in the games, but featuring new protagonists. It was very well received, and now that I've seen the whole thing in its entirety, I can agree wholeheartedly that this is the Pokemon anime we really need.

  Twilight Wings markets itself as primarily an ensemble drama, with the majority of its runtime focusing on episodic stories centered around various members of the cast, but the two real main characters are two young boys, John and Tommy, who are huge fans of the Galar champion Leon, but are stuck in the hospital because of unspecified illnesses. John in particular really wants to watch one of Leon's battle, and when Chairman Rose visits his hospital, he begs him to give Leon a drawing and a letter he wrote for him. The two kids really only appear in three episodes, the first one and the final two. Episode 2 focuses on the gym leader Bea training with her Pokemon, episode 3 focuses on Hop and his Wooloo and their quarrel, episode 4 is about Nessa learning to balance her modeling job and her duties as a gym leader, and episode 5 details Oleana's time with Chairman Rose. Episode 6 brings back Tommy and John, with the former reaching out to the ghost-type gym leader Allister to ask for his help. The only real overarching plot is John's wish to watch Leon battle, and that doesn't happen until the end, understandably, and a recurring characters who always appears in each episode is a Corviknight taxi driver, who is always taking the protagonists of each episode to their specific destinations. The "Twilight Wings" portion of the title comes from the fact that Corviknight is a flying type Pokemon, and sometimes it's prominently shown during the twilight hours.

  Studio Colorido has made a name for itself with their first feature film, Penguin Highway, and while I saw their movie A Whisker Away and didn't like it for a variety of reasons, I did genuinely like the animation. Twilight Wings is given the same care in the animation department, and I have to say, it looks gorgeous. Everything about it bursts with bright colors, from lush backgrounds to character animation that's as smooth as butter, really bringing the characters to life. But it can also be cartoony and zany when it wants to be, an example being episode 3. I also love the smaller details the animators put into every episode, such as various Pokemon performing little tasks in each episode, like Pumpkaboo serving as streetlights, or Mr. Rime doing a street performance, or an Alcremie sleeping on the counter in a cafe, a Sudowoodo sitting in a big PokeBall shaped pot, among other things. It really shows that the people who worked on this really cared about making Galar and its locales feel as alive and lived in as possible, and that they care about Pokemon's lore (Example from episode 6, a Pokemon called Lampent appears at a hospital, and the game's lore explains that they hang around hospitals to absorb the spirits of the fallen, able to sense when someone is about to die). I don't have much to say about the music, but it does sound nice, with airy woodwind instruments, energetic violins, soft piano tunes, and a whole array of versatile tracks that all stand out in their own way. There aren't any actual songs with lyrics and vocals, though.

  Now, when it comes to characters, you're not really going to find much in the way of actual development here. Nobody overtly changes over the course of the stories, nor are they particularly complex or three-dimensional. Seeing as all the episodes are 6-9 minutes long, trying to flesh out a character in that timespan is really tough. Nobody has layers upon layers to discover, but then again, every episode focuses on one or two characters, giving them their own time in the limelight, gradually and slowly showing us what a day in their lives is like. Again, the show markets itself as a low-key, grounded ensemble piece, content to just show the characters in certain situations, how they deal with it, and let the animation speak for itself, giving the audience a small peek into their everyday lives without trying to be more ambitious than is necessary. I think the characters, from what little we see of them, are perfectly fine, with just the right amount of background and personality to them that they're stil engaging. They're not particularly nuanced or multi-faceted, but at the same time, the show doesn't go too over-the-top with their quirks or personalities, so in a way, they still feel like people, and I commend the writers for that.

  All of the stories contained in each episode are low-key and grounded, but still heartwarming and nice, guaranteed to give you the fuzzies. The final episode decides to up the epic a bit, since it has a Pokemon battle and all, but that's to be expected. So, no, Ash Ketchum ISN'T the center of the universe like the TV anime tries to convince us he is. The Pokemon universe is open to so many different stories and interpretations, and many people's first exposure to it was the anime, and with it being notorious for focusing on just one thing, compounded with the anime itself being notorious for running way too long, dragging things out, and focusing on pointless side stories that diluted the experience, it's understandable that Pokefans would want something different. Twilight Wings picked the best parts of the game, the setting and the potential for character exploration, and brought it to animation. Pokemon deserves stories that aren't solely aimed at little kids, even though that's it's main demographic, and I think the creators are starting to realize this. We got the Pokemon Black and White games, which really pushed the boundaries of its storytelling, drama, character development, and the amount of genuinely disturbing things it could get away with, Pokemon Generations animated various parts of the games and added their own interpretations of important events in said games, and now, Twilight Wings offers a nice, standalone slice-of-life piece focusing on the people of the Galar region just living their lives. I'm not counting the Pokemon Adventures manga here, as it was made by different people outside of Nintendo, and that manga already pushed a lot of boundaries even as the anime was running. Considering how many people like Twilight Wings currently, me included, I think GameFreak/Nintendo could benefit from allowing content creators a lot more freedom with making their own stories in the Pokemon universe. Hell, they greenlit a video game entirely about working in a cafe, so I think they can afford to do that!

  It's not going to bring the house down, but Pokemon: Twilight Wings is a breath of fresh air for the animated Pokemon canon, and I hope more like it will be made.

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• 

  maddesppyrite

  70/100
  ... And Battle Revolution is Underrated

  

  The poke-rap and an occasional GO open on my phone aside, Pokémon isn’t a game or television series or collectable monolith I tend to care much for today. But some 15 odd years ago I wouldn’t ever believe I’d ever be referring to one of the “best things ever” so coldly, without batting an eyelash. I’m a bit of a reformed Poké-holic, as I assume many adults unfortunately become, when the franchise, doesn’t present anything new for them (and myself) to hold onto anymore. Fortunately, this cute little web-series gets to the heart of what I loved most about the pocket critters, and gave my wary, decrepit young adult a bit of genuine child-like heart murmurs again.

  Presented, in a style akin to the newer, more “rubbery” character design you’d find in Ash Ketchum’s newer adventures, but coloured more prettily with a sort of faux, painterly look, Twilight Wings is nothing less than easy on the eyes. That combined with any early, late and a bit of in the middle focus on younger kids simply existing in the world of Pokémon, make up a lot of my previous sentiment on, making me feel a bit starry-eyed again.

  

  I’d say just about anyone would be able to sit down and enjoy this. The v.a. performances (I watched in English) are very charming and suite each character quite well, as does the character writing and design. I really felt like in such a short time, I could easily attach and understand every main character.

  Although the show is criminally short, being only seven episodes long (and an eighth released later), each clocking in at an average of seven minutes, you’ll figure out quick if this show is going to work out for you or not (hint: if you never liked Pokémon, you probably have a good idea). At the same time, that length makes it all pretty palatable and hard to argue you’ve necessarily wasted that much time with it in the end.

  My only real complaint, besides a couple shots in it’s final episode, where some animation comes out a bit stiff compared to the rest of what was done, just comes back to the short series length. I really felt like each character who got the starring feature in an episode, deserved more than those seven to eight minutes of screen time. Such short episodes left a couple stories feeling cheap in their grander moments. And unfortunately that’s all in due to the true purpose of this series being a glorified advertisement for the game series newest titles. I was kind even strangely heart-broken when a more informed friend mentioned my favorite character and episode from the show, is “magically” the big bad of the video-game.

  

  This series really has some talent, coming from Studio Colorido. It’s a shame those folks didn’t just get greenlit to go off the cuff even more, and make this a proper seasonal series.
  And this passion is coming from someone who gets headaches from just looking at new Pokémon designs.

  
  
  ...wait

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• 

  SpaRkofFiRe

  85/100
  A love letter to the franchise, filled to the brim with the creators' own feelings of nostalgia.

  ———RESOURCES———

  Official interviews (the particularly interesting ones are 1 & 4): https://www.pokemon.com/us/pokemon-news/meet-mizutamari-higashi-the-illustrator-behind-pokemon-twilight-wings/?cid=

  • Note: For Interview 4 w/ yama and Yoh Watanabe, read the interview on Sakuga Blog for a slightly better translation, linked in the thread below.

  Blog posts (also includes translated credits (and spoilers)): https://twitter.com/Yuyucow/status/1309918154341130241

  Resources about specific episodes will be linked below under their respective episode #s.

  #1

  https://twitter.com/Yuyucow/status/1217439742150750208
  https://twitter.com/PurpleGeth/status/1217436738349608961
  https://artistunknown.info/2020/01/31/sakuga-week-in-review-11-jan-13-2020-jan-19-2020/

  #2

  https://twitter.com/Yuyucow/status/1229762751834226688
  https://twitter.com/PurpleGeth/status/1229785519959289858
  Goddamn... it just keeps getting better and better!!! There were so many details in this episode with how it portrayed Bea's tunnel-vision with how she left her phone in the cab, how she left in a sandstorm since she didn't want to put the Corviknight in danger (probably also for her own training), all the way down to the climax of the ep. when she found their way out of the cave. With the light shining on her face, the prospect of success blinded her and took her focus away from what was right in front of her. She was so laser focused on her future that she didn't realize her present mental and physical condition, but her Pokemon were able to snap her out of it with their kindness. 😭

  #3

  https://twitter.com/Yuyucow/status/1239920778826711046
  A Hop and Wooloo ep, lots of great tidbits here. A recurring theme is definitely the characters having big ambitions and looking too far into the future, and this especially makes sense with Hop considering his character arc in the game. Wooloo feeling inferior, thinking that Hop would rather it be big and strong like Leon's Charizard (This also ties in nicely with (EP. 7 SPOILERS) how this differs from Leon's goals of wanting to inspire his audience to pursue their own dreams, not for the glory of being a renowned figure). The scene of him looking down at Milo showing his love for his own farm of Wooloo was particularly good, making us believe that Hop's Wooloo was feeling envious towards them, when in reality it was just a needed reminder that Hop feels the exact same way towards it, that he wants to get to the Pokemon League with Wooloo as Wooloo, not posing as anything else. This is the good shit 😭
  kViN makes a great point here and Yamashita himself points out here the parallel between Hop and John—whereas Hop views Leon as an aspirational figure, as a goal for his own journey as a Pokemon trainer, John merely watches Leon's matches in awe, not really believing he could become a trainer himself—he states that his lifelong dream is to watch Leon's match in-person, not become a trainer himself.

  #4

  https://twitter.com/Yuyucow/status/1251132706714537991
  https://twitter.com/PurpleGeth/status/1251021038810468352
  This episode speaks for itself (but also read the two threads above), absolutely incredible... An ep by yama himself and AD'd by team iM@S legend Sunao Chikaoka, these unique creators led the production perfectly by letting each individual creator show their own idiosyncrasies, exemplified most notably by none other than BAHI JD.

  #5

  THE MAKARIA EPISODE!!!

  https://twitter.com/PurpleGeth/status/1268787537281200128
  https://twitter.com/Yuyucow/status/1268970459644690433
  Moaang... Especially with a character like Oleana, the technical proficiency to convey emotion through a character's movements is especially important without the straightforward dialogue that's usually relied upon. That montage is especially great with how busy these boards are and the variety of locations she finds herself in in the span of one day, and her outward appearance leads people to believe she's taking it all in stride. The part at 2:12 was especially great, where that stride is literally interrupted by an unforeseen mishap that she dutifully (and begrudgingly) fixes. Having the montage end with her wearilyingly take a seat that you can feel her throw her weight into at the end of a long day was such a great way to cap it off while being a reprieve from the energy for both the character and the viewer. The episode ends with the day's final ride in Corviknight, and we see with how she only allows herself to fully indulge in her interest in Dynamaxing around the chairman, that what drives Oleana is the way that he recognized her unique skills and ambition at a time when everyone else neglected her.

  Definitely read kViN's thread, the way he noticed these visual parallels and how they applied narratively to Oleana and the environment around her... I wish I could be that observant and be able to connect the dots like that.

  #6

  https://twitter.com/PurpleGeth/status/1278932973849542656
  https://twitter.com/AshitanoGin/status/1278940349923307526
  https://twitter.com/Yuyucow/status/1279119493940289541
  wowowow this episode... For it only being 6 minutes long, it's incredibly dense with information without feeling overwhelming at all. Kariya's supervision being expressive, varied yet deliberate, is a given (and you should read the threads above to see more about that), but this episode being both about Allister and continuing the threads introduced in ep 1 makes for an incredibly compelling episode. The first scene in the hospital is incredibly telling in how close Tommy is to John, even though it's of them getting into a fight. Just as he related to John's dreams of someday getting discharged from the hospital and becoming a Trainer, so too did he relate to John's feelings of stagnancy and frustration. And just as Allister overcame his fear of people to protect their shared dream (look at this good detail of his Pokemon pushing him along 😭), so too did Tommy overcome his own hopeless feelings towards his own dream in order to support John with his own dreams, to overcome his own struggles and weak physique. That shared connection between, not just with people, but with their Pokemon as well, having these figures on the same journey as them to support them on their own journey has always been the most compelling part of Anipoke, and in this little mini-series Yamashita was able to lead a team to convey that message more powerfully than anything else in the franchise.

  Also I'm not entirely sure about the implications here... The only thing that seems plausible is that Tommy is actually dead, which is why he had to ask Allister to indirectly make things up with John in his place by giving him an invitation to Leon's match (otherwise, why wouldn't he just go talk to John at any point during the day?). It checks out as well (if you ignore the dub...), since no one actually talks to Tommy himself except for John who seems to have a special connection to Tommy (or maybe he's just an imaginary friend of his). If this is the case, it completely changes things, because then John would've seen first-hand a case where someone had the same dream as him and wasn't able to achieve it. The series would then have this interesting new angle that you could look at it from, where Tommy isn't just a friend, but a symbol to John, a constant reminder of the possibility of failure and the constant, irreversible state of leaving the world with the regret of not being able to fulfill his dream... There is a resolution to this though that ultimately keeps the message positive and uplifting. With the ghost of Tommy encouraging John to reach for his own dream in spite of his own failure, to never give up on overcoming the obstacles that Tommy wasn't able to, and for John to view his journey as entirely as his own—he shouldn't compare himself to the unfortunate end of Tommy's journey, nor to the absolute ideal of his dream that Leon symbolizes for him.

  And ofc, this is just one interpretation of many that could be made. Remember, Yamashita made it intentionally ambiguous precisely to allow for different interpretations of the series that encourages each viewer to pay close attention to every detail on screen. You should always (re-)watch the series and decide what feels the most emotionally resonant to you. Personally, I like the simpler version where Tommy is alive bc it focuses on how close the two are, and how they share all the same feelings—both the positive and negative ones. And Tommy encouraging John being as much of a message to John as it is to himself is such a positive look on their relationship that I can't really think about it in any other way.

  #7

  https://twitter.com/PurpleGeth/status/1291415605137080320
  What a way to top the series off... To have the ambition to dream bigger, no matter the circumstances. This is what John saw in Leon the first time he watched him, that underneath the fact that he's an accomplished trainer in his own right, what he really wanted wasn't the fame nor the glory, but to inspire people just like John to never compromise on their own dreams. That's what makes this part so powerful—a visual parallel that has an actual narrative purpose behind it. So fitting, then, that John's first encounter with him in-person isn't in some grand stadium, but on an unplanned, random canyon that Leon found himself in after getting lost. This recontextualizes Leon's role as champion in John's mind—not as this unreachable figure, but as someone who has his own flaws and got to that point by overcoming the struggles on his own journey. By wearing his individuality on his sleeve, he leads by example, not by means of pedastalizing himself. And to have the final, after-credits scene be the player characters hitching the same ride to the same open blue sky that John shared with Leon, the message is clear as can be: through the immersive world of Pokemon, we're encouraged to do the very same in our own lives, whatever our ambitions may be.

  This is what makes the pure passion on display—exemplified through the utterly breathtaking and flashy action setpieces—narratively justified. This is coming from an entire team of artists & creators, most of whom have grown up just as we have in the "Pokemon generation", with Pokemon as a pivotal influence in their lives. This series is serving as a benchmark for their own accomplishments in their respective careers; they're all normal people who are striving for their own dreams, so there's no reason why you can't do the same. Pokemon is an escapist outlet for many of us, which in itself is now more important than ever, but even beyond that is able to inspire real, positive change in the lives of many, and no other installment in the series illustrates this more clearly than Twilight Wings.

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