The staff of the Pokémon: Horizons anime announced on Friday new cast members and theme songs for the new arc "Rising Again." Eve performs the new opening theme song "Iolite," and Polkadot Stingray perform the new ending theme song "Netemo Sametemo" (Whether Asleep or Awake).
The series has cast Seiran Kobayashi as Lacey (Taro), Hiroyuki Yoshino as Drayton (Kakitsubata), and Shinya Ōwada as Cyrano (Cyano in Japanese). The first two are members of the BB League's Elite Four, and Cyrano is the director of Blueberry Academy (pictured above from left to right):
The anime will enter a new arc on October 31. In the new arc, the characters will go to Blueberry Academy, originally introduced in "The Indigo Disk" DLC from the Pokémon Scarlet/Violet games.
The anime premiered in Japan in April 2023 with a one-hour first-episode special. The show airs on Fridays at 6:55 p.m. JST. The anime started its second arc, "Terapagos no Kagayaki" (The Brilliance of Terapagos), with its 29th episode in October 2023 in Japan. The "Terastal Debut" arc for the anime debuted in April 2024. The fourth arc started in Japan last October, and it featured characters from Kitakami, a location in "The Teal Mask" expansion for the Pokémon Scarlet/Violet games.
The anime follows completely new dual protagonists, who are named Liko and Roy. The anime features Sprigatito, Fuecoco, and Quaxly from the Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet video games, and also the Legendary Pokémon Rayquaza in its Shiny form. The anime also introduces the new characters Friede and Captain Pikachu, who are a Pokémon professor and Pokémon partner duo who battle alongside Liko and Roy.
Saori Den (Mirage Queen Prefers Circus) is directing the anime, and Daiki Tomiyasu (Pokémon Sun & Moon, Pocket Monster Mezase Pokémon Master) is serving as creative director. Dai Satō (Eureka Seven, Wolf's Rain, Samurai Champloo, Cowboy Bebop) is overseeing the series scripts. Tetsuo Yajima is the action director, Rei Yamazaki is the character designer, and Kyōko Itō is the sub-character designer. Masafumi Mima is the sound director and Conisch is composing the music.
The Pokémon Company had originally announced that the anime would debut on Netflix in the U.S. in February 2024, but the series debuted instead in March 2024. Netflix premiered Pokémon Horizons: The Series—The Search for Laqua on February 7. The third part began streaming on June 27.
The Pokémon Scarlet/Violet games launched on Nintendo Switch worldwide in November 2022. "The Indigo Disk," the second part of the DLC, launched in December 2023. "The Teal Mask," the first DLC, launched in September 2023.
Pokémon Legends Z-A will launch for Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2 on October 16.