There are moments in the most recent Detective Pikachu trailer that we’ve already seared into our brains. Buff Mewtwo is a sight that cannot go unseen. We remain a little afraid of Mr. Mime. The most immortal imagery, though, is that of Detective Pikachu himself — when he’s lost, and downtrodden, and really, really wrinkly.
From these split seconds where we see the great electric mouse detective crying, his face scrunched up in adorable pain, a muse was born. Japanese viewers almost immediately started making fan art of the broken-down Poké-sleuth, dubbing their creation Wrinkled Pikachu, after his wittle face (aww, I wanna just pinch his cheeks, yes I do, yes I do!).
ダメだ、このクシャ顔じわじわくるwwww
— 桃月かすみ@3/17三毛猫歌劇団3周年ワンマン (@kasumimikeneko) February 27, 2019
好きwwwwww#名探偵ピカチュウ pic.twitter.com/b6fEHaWOgh
Maybe that name sounds mean, but it’s more accurate than anything else. Take a look at one of the first pieces to go viral, below, and you’ll see why.
あまりにも可愛くて描かざるをえなかった#名探偵ピカチュウ pic.twitter.com/jsdL6VuMMi
— 小田ハルカ (@aries_bug) February 28, 2019
What a perfectly furrowed brow. Other Japanese illustrators have also made plain the cuteness, the beauty, in Detective Pikachu’s melancholy.
絶対見たい。w#名探偵ピカチュウ pic.twitter.com/NPFFrEk0J9
— 夕燈 (@yvh1215) February 28, 2019
#名探偵ピカチュウ #DetectivePikachu pic.twitter.com/GXBlpHWfoV
— ラリアット (@rariatoo) March 2, 2019
しわしわポケモン #名探偵ピカチュウ pic.twitter.com/QOJHHUJ9m4
— ごま (@Dx_gori) March 3, 2019
しわしわピカチュウのこの顔好き。#名探偵ピカチュウ pic.twitter.com/DwzZqThw0r
— 卯月つくし (@0tsukushi0) March 3, 2019
しわしわピカチュウのフィギュア作ったから見て…#名探偵ピカチュウ pic.twitter.com/CnIbq4dLjH
— ねむい (@nemui_sleeper) March 2, 2019
Faces of #DetectivePikachuMovie #名探偵ピカチュウ pic.twitter.com/CsK3rNvVGT
— BIll ビレブン (@13ee_hongkong) March 4, 2019
Then there are other artists who work in different media and interpret Wrinkled Pikachu in ways slightly less ... endearing. There’s this felt figure, for instance, that haunts my nightmares instead of visiting my dreams:
しわしわのピカチュウが久々のドストライクだったので ⚡️
— らしゃ (@molmichi) March 3, 2019
1枚目は公式アングル意識。
芝に乗せたら可愛いのでは と思ったけど草野球のおじさん感がすごい。
4枚目は事件の調査で聞き込みに来た時に、正座してたら足が痺れてしまったという細か〜い設定つき。笑#名探偵ピカチュウ #羊毛フェルト pic.twitter.com/sDlgo1OTXX
What works better is a slightly deflated attempt at latte art, created by a barista at the Japanese cafe George. Kazuki Yamamoto first shared a photo of their foamy masterpiece on Twitter, and then followed it with the following making of video that shows how this drinkable Wrinkle Pikachu came to be.
I very much want to eat one of these cookies, too, which are frosted to look like our boy.
しわしわピカチュウのクッキー作った#名探偵ピカチュウ pic.twitter.com/NaNxgoFQdm
— 那島ナカヤ (@n_akaya) March 6, 2019
Other anime and manga characters are getting the wrinkly treatment now too. Check out this drawing of One Piece’s Chopper, similarly forlorn:
チョッパーも実写化したらこうなります#名探偵ピカチュウ #実写 #チョッパー pic.twitter.com/A0kv6s6KpS
— ぽにお Ponio (@nyaponi) March 7, 2019
Keep the devastated detective art coming as we ramp up to Detective Pikachu’s theatrical release on May 10.