As part of today's Pokémon presentation, which revealed the release date for the upcoming Crown Tundra DLC in Pokémon Sword and Shield, The Pokémon Company premiered a new music video featuring a song from Japanese alt-rock group, Bump of Chicken.
We know what you're all thinking – what an excellent name for a band – and you're right, but putting that aside for a moment, it's a pleasant surprise to see that the Pokémon fan community appears to be universally loving the new video.
The song is called 'Acacia' and has been coupled with a lovely animation from BONES, revisiting some of the fan-favourite characters from Pokémon Sword and Shield and past generations, too. It's filled with little nods to the series' history and the whole thing's going down a storm in the YouTube comments section – a place usually filled with a blend of hatred and despair concocted from the inner depths of Hell itself.
"This is our theme song. Not an anime adventure, but all the adventures we took since ‘98! This song makes me feel so incredibly nostalgic!" says one fan. "This is easily the most heartfelt and genuine love letter to Pokémon that has ever been made," says another.
We must admit, it's a pretty nice, feel-good way to end a presentation. But what do you think? Did you enjoy this surprise ending to the show? Should Nintendo Directs end with a big musical number going forward? Have your say below.
Comments 39
I'll admit, I left the stream when this started so I could cringe in a corner somewhere.
....but the video is kinda cute, it has some nice throwbacks that even I could recognise
When I heard the name, I legit thought they said "Rump of Chicken." Well, it's still an incredibly weird name for a band.
It's a cute video. Would be nice to get some of that same charm, character, etc. in the actual mainline games, right?
I thought they were called "Bum of Chicken".
Awesome music video, though.
The song is cool and the clip even better.
Yeah the idea of a music video was a bit odd, but the animation is actually very nice
Bumps on Chickens is a sign of diseases.
But now we know where the rest of the Sword and Shield budget went to.
When I read the headline, I thought "Haha! Bump of Chicken? What a weird name!" And then it triggered a faint memory of a song in my head, and I had no idea where it came from. After a brief youtube dive, I realized they did the song from Final Fantasy Type-0 (and I think I also had a song they had on One Piece?) way way back when my iPod shuffle was loaded with mediocre J-Pop.
I’m wondering when this song will be up for sale on iTunes or elsewhere. Bump of Chicken’s stuff has been sold on digital stores for a short while now, so it would be nice to get this.
"It's filled with little nods to the series' history and the whole thing's going down a storm in the YouTube comments section – a place usually filled with a blend of hatred and despair concocted from the inner depths of Hell itself."
I've rarely seen a better description for most YouTube comment sections in general.
Best part of the presentation and it's not even close.
Super super random but yeah, it's a nice video anyway.
I loved how Ishihara went out of his way to say "all news are over, there are no more news, this is just music now, no new news are happening" because he definitely knows his audience
Very well made video, congrats to everyone involved.
Wish I could say the same about the game.
It's an outstanding video! I love it!
Very ready for the DLC. SW/SH have already given me hundreds of hours of fun, but I expect to get a bunch more with this DLC.
It reminded me why I fell in love with the series over 20 years ago 😭
This makes me want a proper anime.
Charming. I think it's mostly that nostalgia magic, memories of our past journeys and expectations for the future ones that actually keep people playing Pokemon games. Because it's certainly not quality of the actual products nowadays.
i love the pikachu in this video.
Bump of Chicken are great - they did songs for the Blood Blockade Battlefront anime ^_^
I dont like the song.but the animation is pretty good as expected from bones studio
My favorite part was the like 2 second cameos of some extremely obscure characters my favorite of which were the subway masters in pokemon black and white from the battle subway just because they didn't need to include them. I bet even true fans don't remember them that much. That is the detail I want in the next pokemon that would be great (although sword and shield have been great games IMO)
Really dont like the song but the animation reminded me of when Pokemon had soul. Still funny that this was much better than the lame dlc. Can we please just pretend Gen 8 never happened and have a really really good Gen 9? Maybe slap Monolith next to Game Freak next time to make sure they dont screw up?
"Pleasant?" That's all you've got?!
Seriously, that was the best part of the entire "presentation".
Leaving the excitement aside, I'm planning to analyze the entire video to see the incredible animation more closely
The company behind Bump of Chicken (Toy's Games) claimed copyright infringement on Youtube which resulted in the instant takedown of any and all Pokemon streamer's reaction videos, including one from GameXplain among many others. Those same videos were then available again to view about an hour later. The Pokemon Company has been fairly friendly when it comes to YouTube streamers sharing their presentations, so I wonder if they get Toy's Games to back off.
Shows what an old man I am. Besides the Stand By Me reference I was just thinking what the heck is happening in this flashy deluge of images 😳
@Manah Whether you like it or not, we have one.
@Ralizah if I remember correctly, they stated in an interview that they wanted to call themselves something along the lines of "a blow inflicted by a coward", but, you know...they're Japanese so Engrish is what happens 😂
I believe "sucker punch" is what they were looking for lol
@sikthvash they must be very famous in Japan because I've heard their songs in many anime series, and if it's not them it's Ling Tosite Sigure lol
I really liked Sailing Day, it was used as the outro to the fourth One Piece movie, but that's pretty much the only song of theirs I like.
Edit: BBB was a huge letdown for me, unfortunately.
I loved the world, the urban fantasy, the blood thing, a lot of stuff really.
But the fact that it's pretty much episodic killed my enthusiasm, and I find the few overarching elements to be incredibly undercooked and lackluster.
It's really a shame cause I wanted to love it so much, I even rewatched it when the second season came out (something I never do for series I haven't enjoyed the first time around), but it left such a bitter taste in my mouth I never even bothered with the second season.
Exactly what happened after I watched FLCL Progressive, it killed all the interest I had in Alternative.
Now, this makes me want the pokemon anime to have this level of quality...
I was trying to remember who Bump of Chicken was, cos that name sounded familiar... and it's the same guys who did the theme song for Tales of the Abyss, "Karma!"
I get why there's such an affection for Gen 1. But I love anything that celebrates every generation. They're all equally as valid a part of franchise as the original 151 and all have their own worthy contributions to Pokémon. And not just the Pokémon themselves. But the variety of human characters and lore as well
I know this is nitpicky, but can you PLEASE leave the names of who made those comments instead of just "a fan". So many articles feel the need to leave that out for some reason
Bones is such a great animation studio, and this song is pretty cool as well. I dig it.
Really loved it , wished it was an anime
@clvr I know what you mean with BBB. It's like there's something missing in the story department and there's balancing issues with pacing. That said, because it's written by Yasuhiro Nightow of Trigun fame, I probably sugar coat my memories of the first season. The animation and the music are top notch though which helps. The second season actually improves on a lot of the issues you picked up on, so it's well worth a watch.
@sikthvash yeah the aesthetics are phenomenal, that's why the disappointment was so great.
I'll keep my mind open for Season 2 then, I'll watch it someday!
@Kimyonaakuma I'm confused. How is this more cringey than Pokemon in general? I mean, if you tuned into the stream one would guess you're some level of fan.
@KayFiOS This is the only comment I was looking for. Karma! Tales of the Abyss is fantastic and the song is amazing. KARUMA wo utsusu tame no! I could watch that opening all day.
@Deltath I never skipped the intro when watching the TotA anime, I love the song that much!
I was so good.
I love how it starts with four boys walking on railroad tracks.
I better get rolling too!
For those too young/never played to remember: this is from the movie that's playing on Mom's TV in Red's house in Red/Green/Blue/Yellow/FireRed/LeafGreen.
Where did u get that photo i want it lol
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