Within the past few months we have seen a massive surge of new animated content. From additional seasons of popular series, returns of classic shows and new titles. One of those new titles is a kawaii series called “Kuu Kuu Harajuku” that looks super cute! Right now is a great time to be a fan of animation for sure!
I think we can all agree that lately Nickelodeon has been doing a great job of bringing some great and unique shows to their line-up. Saturday mornings we have a mini girl-power line-up with Rainbow’s “Regal Academy” and ZAG’s epic “Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir.” Both series filled with very distant characters and worlds that are both similar and different from what we know.
And it looks like we have another series following in the same vein, a brand-new animated series by the name of “Kuu Kuu Harajuku.”
Check out the press release:
Nickelodeon today announced superstar Gwen Stefani’s animated series Kuu Kuu Harajuku will premiere exclusively on the network in the U.S. beginning Monday, Oct. 3, at 4 p.m. (all times ET/PT). The 26-episode series, co-created and executive produced by Stefani, follows the kuu kuu adventures of the band HJ5 — Love, Angel, Music, Baby and G — through their super cute world of music, fashion and style. Kuu Kuu Harajuku will air at 4 p.m. through Friday, Oct. 7, and continue with premieres in its regular timeslot of Saturdays at 8:30 a.m. on Nickelodeon.
Said Stefani: “Partnering with Nickelodeon on Kuu Kuu Harajuku is a dream come true! It’s been incredible to see the Harajuku Girls and the world they live in come to life. The artwork is so beautiful and the whole series turned out better than I could have ever imagined. I love that this is an animated series for young girls that celebrates creativity, imagination and individuality. I can’t wait for everyone to see it!”
Kuu Kuu Harajuku follows Love, Angel, Music, Baby and their inspirational leader, G, as they form the super-talented band, HJ5. Thanks to their manager Rudie, angry aliens, NoFun politicians, hungry monster pets, and other obstacles, every gig is interrupted and the girls never get to complete a concert — but G and her friends never give up.
In the series premiere, “Totally Teen Genie,” Angel releases a Teen Genie with attitude and tries to use her three wishes to help HJ5 win a Totally Teen Awards Golden Hoodie trophy. Then in “Angel’s Flight,” Angel’s determined to restore her reputation after an unflattering picture appears online.
The original idea and inspiration for the 2D animated series came from Grammy® Award-winning musician Stefani and her love of pop art and life-long admiration for the street fashion and creative youth culture found in the renowned Harajuku neighborhood of Tokyo, Japan. It was while writing her first solo album that Stefani created the original Harajuku Girl characters as a celebration of the creativity and individualism she saw and loved in the Harajuku District.
Fans in the U.S. can visit Nick.com and the Nick App to learn more about the series and its characters. A full episode of Kuu Kuu Harajuku is available today on Nick.com and the Nick App.
The series is co-created and produced by Moody Street Kids (Australia), Vision Animation (Malaysia) and Gwen Stefani and commissioned by Network Ten with investment funding from Film Victoria (Australia) and MyCreative Ventures (Malaysia). DHX Media, the world’s leading independent, pure-play kids’ content company, handles international distribution for Kuu Kuu Harajuku, and licensed the series to Nickelodeon.
As noted in the release, Nick has already made one of the upcoming episodes live on their site, “Music Baby/Wanted Audience”. There is really no questioning that the series is low-key, slice-of-life idol series. Just watching the episode I seen a lot of things that reminded me of an array of idol and music anime titles. Plus there was just something about the series that made it feel almost like it was a series made in the early 2000s. I have no idea what, but it brings on a warm and fuzzy feeling.
Even though there was times when I felt like things where starting to go all over the place. It does a good job of coming together and perhaps it is one the series’ endearing factors.
The animation truly is kawaii (which does mean ‘cute’ in Japanese), again it does feel like an anime call-back.
I do recommend the series if you are looking for something very light-hearted and even possibly wanting to walk into the sparkling world of idols. I love the fact that we are seeing a lot of anime inspired shows coming to light. Who knows, this might start to open the door to have shows like “Love Live” on major networks.
Be sure to check out “Kuu Kuu Harajuku” on Monday, October 3rd on Nick!
Join the conversation: What do you think of “Kuu Kuu Harajuku”? Do you want to see more Japanese inspired series?
Facebook
Twitter
Google+
YouTube
RSS