Pokémon Tales

I can’t shake Pokémon no matter what’s going on in my life. You think you grow out of it, move on to cooler things, but that feeling from showing off your Level-100 Charizard at school—that credibility, that stupid pride—never actually disappears. You just stop mentioning it.

In Japan, Pokémon still feels genuinely huge. Designer Shinzi Katohei released a product line called Pokémon Tales—bags, keychains, books, pencil cases, all with these Pokémon rendered in a soft illustration style that somehow manages to be cuter than the official designs. The work is clean, intentional, made by someone who clearly understands what they’re drawing.

There’s something disarming about how well-designed it is. It doesn’t feel like merchandise the way most Pokémon stuff does. It feels like actual design—considered materials, good color sense, shapes that work. The kind of thing you could pull out without feeling like you need to explain yourself.

I’m probably going to buy some of it anyway. The design is just too solid to resist.