Japan is getting a live-action drama series based on Pokémon

A live-action drama based on Pokémon will be starting in Japan in October.

As detailed on the TV Tokyo website (via Serebii and Nintendo Life), the show’s title roughly translates to Fill Your Pockets With Adventure, and will start airing on TV Tokyo every Thursday from October 19.

The show follows Madoka Agaki, a university graduate from a small port town who decides to quit her job at a seafood manufacturer and moves to Tokyo to join a small advertising agency called ADventure.

Although she used to dream about living in Tokyo, once she gets there Madoka soon realises everyday life isn’t what she expected, and she starts to stress when she takes on a presentation that  could result in the fate of her company resting in her hands.

Then Madoka receives a package from her mother, containing the Game Boy Pocket and copy of Pokémon Red she used to play as a child. She starts playing the game and realises it contains something that’s important in life.

The show is billed as the world’s first ‘Pokémon human drama’, in which the main character grows through their experiences playing Pokémon.

Madoka will be played by Nanase Nishino, a former member of Japanese idol group Nogizaka46 who went on to become an actress, model and TV host.

In 2022, Nishino won a Japan Academy Film Prize – the Japanese equivalent of the Oscars – for Newcomer of the Year for her role in the crime film Last of the Wolves.

“I was surprised to receive this offer just days after I’d told a friend that I’d like to work on something related to Pokémon someday,” Nishino said in a statement.

“I’m very happy because I’m part of the generation that grew up with Pokémon, having played most of the series from the first to the latest.”

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She added: “As the title suggests, the theme of the game is adventure, so you will be able to watch Madoka and her friends evolve over the course of their adventures.

“If you’ve played Pokémon before, you’ll enjoy this show because it’s peppered with little tidbits that will make you think ‘this is nostalgic’. I think you will enjoy these little tidbits that are scattered throughout.”