We recently celebrated the extraordinary Pokémon TCG card art of Yuka Morii, and her immaculate clay models photographed in nature. But it would be remiss to stop there, and while pretty much every artist working on the cards deserves recognition, our attention is next drawn to Asako Ito and her 3D crochet Pokémon. Because they are stupendously adorable.
Over the last few years, Pokémon TCG has added all manner of embellishments, with ever-more special cards to pull featuring alt-art, full-art, Trainer Galleries, and the like. This has unquestionably made the cards so much more enticing to collect, with far more than a holo sheen to seek. However, it’s also had the side-effect of making the “regular” cards feel far more disposable. Sit through any YouTuber or real-life child opening packs and you’ll see them tossing such cards aside without even a glance, hoping to find that elusive rainbow rare Mewtwo or alt-art Aerodactyl at the end. And that’s a shame, when so many of those cards can be as beautiful as those made by Asako Ito.
Ito has made a total of 29 cards for the trading card game, starting with Sun & Moon’s base set, and then appearing regularly ever since. And since there are only 29 of them, let’s celebrate the whole lot! Using a technique known as Amigurumi (literally meaning crocheted or knitted stuffed toy), her Pokémon cards truly stand out from the rest.
Here is every single one of Asako Ito’s glorious hand-made Pokémon creations.
Poliwag – Sun & Moon – Base
Knocking it out of the park with the first card, Asako Ito’s initial creation for the decks was this awww-inducing Poliwag from 2017’s base set of Sun & Moon cards. It’s not just the lovely hand-made look of the little water beastie, but those felt lily pads, and the hand-stitched clouds in the background!
Goomy – Sun & Moon: Guardians Rising
It should be that getting the assignment for a part slug, part booger Pokémon should have been a real bane, but Ito’s rendition somehow makes this most unappealing of pocket monsters look like it deserves a cuddle. Clearly being yarn, and not snot, goes a long way with that. Also, again, check out that felt background.
Tynamo – Sun & Moon: Burning Shadows
Tynamo is once again getting a lift from incredibly creative Pokémon card design, much as with Morii’s clay fishy floating over the water. This most innocuous — dare I say “boring” — of Pokémon suddenly seems so very collectable when he’s woollen, and swimming in front of a felt-based underwater vista.
Marill – Sun & Moon: Burning Shadows
Marill is really playing into Ito’s hands, pretty much already being a straight play to kawaii aesthetics. But look at that lovely tail!
Drifloon – Sun & Moon: Ultra Prism
I’ve been celebrating these backgrounds, while conscious that some might suggest they’re extremely simple. To which I would respond: Exactly! The skill to keep these felt scenes so sparse is a huge part of what makes these cards so successful. If anything, this Drifloon backdrop is pushing at the edges of what could be too much, and yet just holds itself back enough.
Cherubi – Sun & Moon: Ultra Prism
A splendid pairing for Ultra Prism, I like to think that if you just kept walking through the woods where you saw the Drifloon, you’d eventually reach the sunnier area bursting with Cherubi.
Whismur – Sun & Moon: Celestial Storm
Crosses for eyes is the international symbol for DEAD, so I’ve always found Whismur to be a very objectionable Pokémon. Little zombie creep. Although it’s fair to say that such a corpse-like visage lends itself well to a woollen stitch. Someone evolve this into Exploud please.
Shelgon – Sun & Moon: Celestial Storm
I’ve been banging on about how the Amigurumi crocheting makes all these monsters so much cuter, but in the case of Shelgon it seems to somehow add a layer of menace I never normally notice. He looks furious! Don’t go in the cave, Susan! There might be Shelgon in there…
Luvdisc – Sun & Moon: Celestial Storm
Rounding out the trio of Celestial Storm entries, it’s what I have long thought is one of the laziest Pokémon ever designed. “Um, what about a heart on its side? And call it a fish?” Thankfully, Asako Ito can still make something lovely out of it, albeit mostly through the delightful background work, given the Pokémon itself gives her so little to work with.
Phanpy – Sun & Moon: Lost Thunder
Awwwwwww! AWWWWWWW! AWWWWWWWWWWW!
AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!
Is my official review of this card.
Litwick – Sun & Moon: Lost Thunder
The work on this Litwick is so precise that I had to double-take to be sure this was made of yarn, not a render. Those giveaway rougher edges on the purple flame almost feel vital, for it to maintain the cuddly ways of Asako’s creations.
Electrode – Sun & Moon: Team Up
The blow of failing to pull one of the elusive tag-team cards from Team Up is really softened when it’s this Electrode rare instead. And can we just spend the rest of the afternoon talking about this background? The computer! The cardboard tubes with sneaky Voltorbs inside! The cardboard cut-out bolts…
Pyukumuku – Sun & Moon: Unbroken Bonds
Earth’s hardest-to-spell Pokémon looks like he’s living his best life beside the seaside. It’s genuinely called “the sea cucumber Pokémon,” and let us never forget that one of its abilities is called “Innards out.” This card art is amazing, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to see the version where it’s ejected its insides.
Oddish – Sun & Moon: Unbroken Bonds
Oh my goodness, what the hell did we just catch Oddish in the middle of? A clandestine meeting? A drug deal? Oddish! What are you up to?!
Cottonee – Sun & Moon: Unified Minds
A little too on the nose? I think so. But so lovely all the same.
Gible – Sun & Moon: Unified Minds
That’s more like it! Not only do we have an absolutely furious Gible, clearly bellowing, “Don’t go in the cave, Susan! There might be Shelgon in there!” but we have those felt-made rocks and cave walls. There’s no cuddly toy I’d rather give to an annoying baby.
Azurill – Sun & Moon: Cosmic Eclipse
See: Marill. In fact, I think he’s so sad because his card looks quite so much like the one from two years earlier. We love him anyway.
Tympole – Sun & Moon: Cosmic Eclipse
A better person than me wouldn’t observe how much it looks like this Tympole just peed in the pond. Thankfully, I’m not that person. I love the mad mix of emotions on his face. I imagine it went something like this: “Oh no it’s raining! Oh but wait, I’m a tadpole!”
Muuna – Sword & Shield – Base
I wonder who sets the commissions for which card an artist picks up. Do they pitch? Are they just lucky to get given work in any given set? I really can’t imagine Asako Ito would have leapt at Muuna as a project. What I love when the Pokémon is just a round ball is how she ups the ante on the backdrops, here creating something so stunningly subtle with its matching pastels and minimalist detail.
Metapod – Sword & Shield: Rebel Clash
Never has the perpetually fed up Metapod looked more cheesed off with the universe. But then, you would too if your role was to be a Pokémon somehow more pointless than Magikarp. I love the choice of angle here, as it glares demoralisingly right at the camera lens.
Trapinch – Sword & Shield: Darkness Ablaze
It’s not often that anyone would cry, “Yay! I pulled a Trapinch!” But in this case, it would be so very rude not to. Look at that little fella! He’s so optimistic, so ready to take on the whole damn world. Just no one tell him that “10+” is only ever going to reach 20.
Chimecho – Sword & Shield: Vivid Voltage
I’d be a fool if I ever told you how long I spent calling this Pokémon a “Chimmy-cho.” So thankfully I never will.
Zubat – Sword & Shield: Battle Styles
The Gen I Pokémon has always been extra-creepy thanks to its lack of eyes, but somehow being rendered from yarn rather lessens the negative impact of that. Still though, those teeth…
Castform – Sword & Shield: Chilling Reign
This is such a splendid card. The Castform is so teeny, the background so cleverly bold in its stretches of colour, and then just the right number of clouds, trees and flowers. It’s a hell of a boring Pokémon, but given great service here.
Wigglytuff – Sword & Shield: Fusion Strike
I feel like Wigglytuff gets such a hard time, being an evolution of a Pokémon no one ever wants to see evolve. Psychologists call it Raichu Syndrome. His surprise here is to be featured on a Pokémon card anyone wants to get.
Grubbin – Sword & Shield: Fusion Strike
Somehow the larval unpleasantness of Grubbin is both perfectly realised, but also made adorable, in Asako’s work. And one day, those grotesque mandible things poking out his face will be gone, and he’ll be a bloody terrifying Vikavolt.
Blipbug – Sword & Shield: Lost Origin
This is the card that reminded me to write this very article. It’s sat next to me on the desk, this most ordinary of common cards, with its most ordinary of attacks, and yet it’s so extra-special. I think it really captures Asako Ito’s great skills: firstly just being able to so perfectly capture a Pokémon in crochet form, but then also complementing it with a simple, yet completely evocative backdrop.
Swirlix – Lost Abyss
It’s absolutely unconscionable that Asako Ito’s finest ever card didn’t get a translation to the English-language version of Lost Abyss/Origin. Surely the dream assignment for someone making woollen Pokémon, it’s the most splendid piece of art, and I just want to jump inside and snuggle. Hopefully we’ll see it in Silver Tempest, or there’s going to be trouble. Soft, fluffy trouble.
Espurr – Incandescent Arcana
The Japanese sets are always a step ahead, and this is Asako Ito’s most recently published card, from what will eventually become the West’s Silver Tempest collection this November. So let’s hope it’ll join that missing Swirlix in arriving on our shores by then. These two most recent cards seem to mark a step forward in how backdrops are being designed, the felt work even more refined, with a greater sense of depth. Which means I just cannot wait to see what Pokémon she gets to take on next, when next year’s Scarlet & Violet sets start to appear.
What a wonderful collection of cards, that I now feel fully obliged to own in their entirety. And thankfully, given they’re all from the last decade, this isn’t an especially over-ambitious target.
Leave a Reply