This Netflix Hidden Gem Reimagines What a World With Pokémon Would Be Like

While there are many franchises that have gone beyond video games to entertain fans with movies, TV shows, and more, arguably none have been as successful as Pokémon. Created by Satoshi Tajiri for Game Freak, this colorful game has engrossed players for almost three decades with its thrilling premise of training cute “pocket monsters” to fight one another and defeat evil. It’s an ingenious premise with a story that goes to creatively genius places, though it fails to ever really delve into the more serious effects of its concept. It goes to some relatively dark places now and then, and should not be critiqued for wanting to preserve its story’s innocence, but fans have long speculated about how its concept would actually fare in the real world — namely, if the bright and peaceful world of the series could exist in a modern society so prone to chaos.

Well, people no longer have to wonder, because the Netflix series My Daemon, written by Hirotaka Adachi, shows exactly that. This dazzling animated program offers a similar setup to that of Pokémon, but it goes far beyond the premise of a world filled with creatures and the people who train them. By constantly interrogating its own concept and being unafraid to explore mature themes, it creates a much more nuanced version of the narrative, offering valuable insights into the themes at its center while still featuring the fun and adventure that fans of the genre love so much.

‘My Daemon’ Delves Much Deeper Into Complex Themes Than ‘Pokémon’

The Pokémon franchise thrusts players into a world filled with the titular creatures, often adorable little monsters that they can train up to grow stronger and fight against similar beings. It creates the illustrious role of “trainer,” letting users devote massive amounts of time and effort into raising their superpowered pets in what has become a perfect formula for getting consumers to play the games nonstop. The creators have fleshed out the world these beings exist in through said games and the various projects that have spawned from them, an interesting setting that delves into themes of death and creation — but never with enough complexity that these themes deserve. It refuses to delve into these potentially mature elements, preserving the innocence of its fantastical world of adventure and nonstop fun — an astounding feat of storytelling, to be fair — and failing to create plots that more mature viewers can really resonate with. This inability fails to give these stories a gravitas that, if used correctly, could be pieces of media fans of any age could learn and grow from.

There have been countless games and series that have tried to replicate Pokémon‘s success, with projects like Monster Rancher and Bakugan trying (and often failing) to create a world filled with amazing creatures players can collect that is as enjoyable as the original franchise. At first glance, My Daemon seems like just another one of these knockoffs; it focuses on Kento Tachibana (Miyuri Shimabukuro), a young boy living in a post-apocalyptic Japan years after a nuclear explosion summoned strange beings called Daemons into the world.

These monsters range from cognizant trees to behemoth spiders that can tear apart entire cities, with audiences meeting Kento after he’s found and raised an adorable one named Anna (Kokoro Kikuchi). This world of beautiful beasts is already reminiscent to Pokémon, and once viewers discover that the people in this fractured society have discovered a way to control and utilize Daemons in battle, it’s easy to discredit this whole show as a cheap copy. But as the first episode goes on, viewers learn how far thematically this program goes from the original it draws comparisons to. Not only for the ingenious way it portrays the relationships between humans and Daemons, but for its ability to delve into complex, jaw-dropping topics and create an extremely relatable experience for all.

Daemons Aren’t the Only Monsters in Netflix’s ‘My Daemon’

Slightly obscured by the youthful lens of protagonist Kento, viewers quickly learn that the world of My Daemon is a sharp turn from the beautiful coexistence of Pokémon. Many years before Season 1 begins, a nuclear explosion opens a door to hell, summoning Daemons to Earth whose wild abilities eradicated entire cities and shrunk the areas where humans can live without fear. It builds off of the real, often negative aspects of human nature that similar series ignore, drawing on society’s tendency to demonize anything that’s hard to understand and showing that this world found unity through a collective belief that Daemons are sickening monsters with only two purposes: to be used, or to be killed.

They don’t address that it was actually humanity’s flawed experiments with nuclear energy — which are still being conducted during the show — that brought about these creatures. That culpability is completely ignored in favor of using inhumane torture collars to corral Daemons deemed useful and slaughtering all the rest. It creates a violent, complex world that mirrors the negative aspects of the one its audiences live in, showing that while Daemons can be dangerous, humans’ continued abuse of these creatures and failure to account for their own mistakes is what’s really dangerous to humanity.

Beyond the pitfalls of society, the series emphasizes the real stakes of its story by featuring some surprisingly effective horror. A series of events forces Kento and Anna on an adventure across the country with a large bounty on their heads, an inordinate amount of money that drives many Daemon users (this world’s version of Pokémon‘s trainers) to try and violently steal the boy’s companion away. This leads to some heartbreaking moments, as viewers see this child forced to fight for his life against adults driven by their own selfish wants, a human horror that is paired with the real questioning of just how much devastating impact Daemons could inflict upon the world.

The series doesn’t try and sugarcoat the impact of Daemons themselves; with some terrifying creature designs and moments of surprising gore (from dismemberments, to stabbings, to a grossly creative use of a teleporting Daemon), it clarifies that while they can be companions for humans, many are extremely dangerous — especially against those who’ve abused them in the past. The show refuses to paint humans or Daemons as completely good or bad, never falling into the black-white dynamics of other imaginative programs and instead showcasing how these creatures contain just as much depth and capacity as humans do. It grants them the wherewithal to serve as actual characters, not just support to the human main cast, and through this, adds a level of depth that somehow makes this story about monsters and the humans who use them a relatable watch.

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‘My Daemon’ Combines the Best of Its Many Genres

While My Daemon certainly makes some huge departures from the other series, it’s easy to see why so many people still write it off as a basic Pokémon clone. With its bright colors, cute creatures, and the people in its world learning to use them to fight, its basic elements are almost a complete replica of this mythic franchise. But while it may start off as similar, it’s My Daemon‘s ability to actually show how this beloved concept would function in a more realistic setting that makes it unlike any project fans have seen before.

It recognizes the nuances of its premise, delving into the societal impact of creatures filling the world and the complex response it would elicit from a human race so prone to panic rather than education. It isn’t afraid to explore more mature themes, but always does so in a way that enriches its audience, granting them the fun of its plot while endowing them with subtle messages on the importance of connection before demonization. It’s an astounding showcase of the realities a world like this would actually exist in, and shows that the true way to adventure and companionship is taking the time to understand each other along the way.

My Daemon is available to stream on Netflix in the U.S.

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