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Ed Sheeran Gets Animated in Official Pokémon Music Video

Singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran let his Pokémon fanatic flag fly in the official music video for "Celestial." The track will be featured in the upcoming Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet Nintendo Switch games, set forrelease on November 18. In the video, Sheeran is shown sleeping in his room full of Pokémon memorabilia until a doodle version of Pikachu wakes him up. The rest of the video shows Sheeran going through his day while encountering fan-favorite Pokémon before transforming into a trainer himself.

The music video was directed by Yuichi Kodama with character designs by Yu Nagaba. The CG animation was directed by Koji Takagane and produced by MORIE Inc. (BELLE) with animation by ENISHIYA inc (BELLE production assistance). Kōtarō Azuma ( BELLE) is credited as lead animator with key animation by Moaang, Toya Oshima, Ren Onodera, Takashi Kojima, Shōta Goshozono, Shū Sugita, Shinsuke Ushiroda, Shigeko Tanbara, Riki Matsūra, Awoi Ohtani, Hiroaki Arai, Hiroaki Nakamichi, BONO, and MYOUN.

Some of the items shown in Sheeran's house could be his actual belongings. The singer previously posted a YouTube short of himself practicing "Celestial" surrounded by Pokémon stuffed toys. The video has the title "This is only half of the collection."

Sheeran joins popular game developer and composer Toby Fox on the game's musical line-up. Fox was confirmed to return as a contributing composer for the ninth generation installment after previously working on Pokémon Sword and Shield. Fox composed Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet's Terastal Raid theme.

The games will feature a new Terastal phenomenon, in which Pokémon can Terastallize, becoming a glowing gem-like version of itself and boosting its move strength.

Sheeran previously collaborated with the Pokémon GO mobile game last year. Sheeran performed songs from his album “=” (Equals) that were available through the app and his favorite Pokémon, Squirtle, will appear in the game wearing shades.

Sheeran's appreciation for Japanese popular culture has been evident in some of his other recent musical ventures. "Bad Habits" received an official Japanese animated music video in August. Manga artist and illustrator Rui Ikeda drew the artwork featured in the video.

In 2019, award-winning manga creator and artist Yoriko Hoshi animated a music video for "Supermarket Flowers." She also created stickers for his No.6 Collaborations Project album.

Source: Pokémon Official Twitter Account