Detective Pikachu Gets An Anime Makeover

Detective Pikachu is an entirely original concept in the Pokemon Universe. A Pikachu who has mysteriously gained the ability to talk decides to become a gumshoe in order to solve the disappearance of his master. While the Pokemon series was founded on the backs of manga, anime, and video games, the Detective Pikachu movie was the first installment of this universe that was in live action. One fan decided to take the movie environment and characters back to their roots by re-imaging them as anime characters.

Reddit User IkyHayashi took Detective Pikachu and the human protagonist, Tim Goodman, and splashed a layer of "paint" on the pair that is somewhat reminiscent of the Academy Award winning film, Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse:

Pikachu wednesday wisdom. from r/pokemon

Detective Pikachu himself has yet to appear in any season of the anime, with Ash Ketchum currently attempting to scale the Alola League with his "regular" Pikachu. To boot, he hasn't made any appearances in the video games outside of an appearance in the popular mobile game, Pokemon Go. Based on the movie's critical and financial success, this most likely isn't the last time we'll see Detective Pikachu make an appearance, though the finale of the film will require some outside of the box thinking for his return.

In the finale of the movie, Detective Pikachu is revealed to actually be Tim's father, Harry Goodman, who suffered a near fatal car accident after freeing the fan favorite psychic Pokemon, Mewtwo. Seeing the good that Goodman did for him, Mewtwo transferred Harry's mind from his dying body into his Pikachu's body, creating the Detective we see today.

The film really put a spotlight on the relationship between Pikachu and Tim, as both were attempting to not only solve a mystery, but find out what their lives had in store for them. Tim Goodman may have started out as a junior detective here, but the actor behind Tim, Justice Smith, is hoping that the character can return as something of a combination between a detective and a Pokemon trainer in the future.

What do you think of this anime version of Detective Pikachu? Would you like to see Detective Pikachu return in the anime series? Let us know in the comments or feel free to hit me up directly on Twitter @EVComedy to talk all things comics and anime.

Pokemon: Detective Pikachu is now out in theaters, and you can read our spoiler-free review of the film here. The official synopsis for Pokemon: Detective Pikachu reads as such, "The story begins when ace detective Harry Goodman goes mysteriously missing, prompting his 21-year-old son Tim to find out what happened. Aiding in the investigation is Harry's former Pokémon partner, Detective Pikachu: a hilariously wise-cracking, adorable super-sleuth who is a puzzlement even to himself.