Despite its incredibly short length, the first season of Pokémon Concierge was an absolutely charming delight that I could recommend to almost anybody. The relaxing atmosphere, the soothing music, and the simple yet incredibly relatable premise were something that just resonated with me deeply. In a lot of ways, it still feels hard to believe that something like this even exists; a stop-motion Pokémon series with a level of care that the franchise absolutely deserves. All this second season needed to do was be more of the same to get a glowing recommendation from me, and it absolutely delivered.

Granted, the second season isn't the same as the first, but the majority of what you might've loved with those early episodes is all present in this second batch of four episodes. Obviously, the highlight is the animation with dwarf studios once again being brought in to deliver amazing stop-motion animation. Despite the limited movement, everything still feels full of life and character. You get to appreciate finer details like walk cycles and the way that characters handle small items. The expressions are simple but still carry a lot of personality, and the voice acting does a phenomenal job of once again capturing some of the gentle nuances of the simple characters. Karen Fukuhara once again knocks it out of the park as Haru, being this cheerful personality that has definitely come into her own a lot more, given the new status quo of this character.

One attention to detail that I've always appreciated is the texture work on the Pokémon. Pokémon that typically have fur have this really fuzzy pelt-looking finish to them, while Pokémon with rough textures like Metagross look almost like plastic toys. It's also interesting to see how water affects the textures of the characters and Pokémon. There are even some nice little environmental details that make everything feel more lived in. I especially love the way the dirt looks, for example, in the garden scenes. It doesn't look smooth but rather constantly dug up and disturbed, like how a garden would be. I feel like this season also has the camera being a lot more dynamic compared to what I saw before. Some pretty fun and creative shots, atypical of what we've seen before. In general, everything feels a lot more lively.

Then there is the music, which once again brings us these tropical recreations of classic tunes from the anime and video games. This season was even able to work in a battle theme despite the setting and overall premise, which I thought was very clever. There is just this laid-back atmosphere to everything, even when some characters are going through stressful situations. It's almost like the music is lulling you into thinking that everything is going to be OK as long as you just take a second to let it wash over you. This probably has one of my favorite soundtracks in the entire franchise.

All of this sounds similar to season one, right? Well, what's different then? That would have to be the status quo. Season one focused on settling Haru into her new life as a concierge. She came to this island to get away from everything and was learning the intricacies of the island. Her relationship with Psyduck became the catalyst and metaphor for that character growth, and at the end of season one, she accepted her position. This season actually does the reverse, where now it's Haru's job to help assimilate other people into this new, relaxed way of life.

You see the episode where she suddenly has a lot more responsibilities, but on top of that, almost every episode introduces a new character who seems to be in a similar depressive place to where she was at the beginning of the series. She's not actively trying to change anyone's worldview; she's just doing her best to make sure that the guests at the resort enjoy their time. But here I get to see how Haru positively affects other people. She still doesn't always have the most confidence in herself, but she understands to take a step back and appreciate a lot of the little things that are taken for granted. Those things get appreciated by other people, and we get a nice cycle of happiness. Season one was about her; this is about convincing the audience that she made the right choice in becoming a concierge, and I fully believe her at the end when she says, “This is where I belong.” I know this animation style takes a while to produce, but I can really see an ongoing series of adventures with this type of format. It's such a simple format full of potential that it feels like a shame to just end it here.

I wish there were more shows like this. I wish I saw more shows that were just about nice, kind people helping other tired or misguided people through a rough patch in their lives. There is this subtle commentary about people overworking or burning themselves out to the point where they could potentially become very jaded. All it takes is a nice vacation with your pets to really give you a new lease on life. This is the type of show that puts a smile on your face, and when you look outside, maybe the sun will feel a little bit brighter. There's no shame, there's no overly depressing conflict, just a nice story at a resort that I really hope I'll be able to return to one day.