Kuukuu Harajuku
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''Kuu Kuu Harajuku'' is a Japanese-influenced animated
children's television series Children's television series (or children's television shows) are television programs designed for children, normally scheduled for broadcast during the morning and afternoon when children are awake. They can sometimes run during the early evenin ...
created by singer-songwriter
Gwen Stefani Gwen Renée Stefani (; born October 3, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, fashion designer and actress. She is a co-founder, lead vocalist, and the primary songwriter of the band No Doubt, whose singles include "Just a Girl", "Spiderwebs ...
. It is based on her ''Harajuku Lovers'' merchandise brand, and the show doubles as a brand itself, with a line of tie-in products by
Mattel Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company founded in January 1945 and headquartered in El Segundo, California. The company has presence in 35 countries and territories and sells products in more ...
. The show follows a teenage
girl group A girl group is a music act featuring several female singers who generally harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female pop music singing groups, many of who ...
called HJ5 and their manager Rudie as they live in a fantasy version of
Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
called Harajuku City. HJ5 is a quintet: the four
Harajuku Girls The Harajuku Girls are four Japanese and Japanese-American backup dancers featured in stage shows and music videos for Gwen Stefani during her solo pop/ dance-record career. The women also act as an entourage at Stefani's public appearances. Th ...
(Love, Angel, Music and Baby) with their leader G. Episodes follow the band members and Rudie overcoming obstacles preventing them from performing.
Network Ten Network 10 (commonly known as Ten Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a division of the Paramount Networks UK & Australia subsidiary of Paramount Global. One of five ...
in Australia first commissioned an animated series based on the ''Harajuku Lovers'' franchise in 2013, but Gwen Stefani first had the idea to turn it into a TV series as early as 2004, when she introduced the brand. The cartoon is animated using
Flash Flash, flashes, or FLASH may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional aliases * Flash (DC Comics character), several DC Comics superheroes with super speed: ** Flash (Barry Allen) ** Flash (Jay Garrick) ** Wally West, the first Kid ...
by the Malaysian studio Vision Animation, and it was produced with investment funding from the Victorian government agency
Film Victoria VicScreen, formerly known as Film Victoria, is the Victoria State Government, Victorian Government’s creative and economic screen development agency. They function behind the scenes, supporting professionals, infrastructure, projects and ev ...
. The show's music style was based on Stefani's first two studio albums, '' Love. Angel. Music. Baby.'' and ''
The Sweet Escape ''The Sweet Escape'' is the second studio album by American singer Gwen Stefani. It was released on December 1, 2006, by Interscope Records. Having originally intended to return to No Doubt after her debut solo album, '' Love. Angel. Music. Baby. ...
''. The American toy manufacturer
Mattel Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company founded in January 1945 and headquartered in El Segundo, California. The company has presence in 35 countries and territories and sells products in more ...
launched the ''Kuu Kuu Harajuku'' merchandise line in spring 2017. The series is distributed by the Canadian media company
DHX Media WildBrain Ltd. (formerly known as DHX Media, Ltd.) is a Canadian media, animation studio, production, and brand licensing company, mostly associated as an entertainment company. The company is known for owning the largest library of children ...
(now known as WildBrain). It had its Australian debut on
10 Peach 10 Peach is an Australian free-to-air television channel operated by Network 10. It was launched on 11 January 2011 as Eleven. It is owned by ElevenCo, which was established as a joint venture between Ten Network Holdings and CBS Studios Inter ...
(formerly known as Eleven) on 1 November 2015. A second season premiered on 1 July 2017, and the third premiered on 11 August 2018. DHX Media's Family Channel airs the show in Canada. The series received a mixed reception, as some of the critics disliked the concept's apparent
cultural appropriation Cultural appropriation is the inappropriate or unacknowledged adoption of an element or elements of one culture or identity by members of another culture or identity. This can be controversial when members of a dominant culture appropriate from ...
, which has also been a criticism of Stefani's Harajuku Girls and the ''Harajuku Lovers'' brand as a whole.


Overview

The show follows a teenage girl based on Gwen Stefani, nicknamed G, and her friends Love, Angel, Music and Baby, as they form the up-and-coming band HJ5. HJ5's clumsy manager Rudie works hard to book performances for the band, but their gigs are always interrupted. The band always manages to overcome challenges using their combined strengths: G's leadership, Love's intelligence, Angel's creativity, Music's bravery, Baby's enthusiasm and Rudie's determination. A villain named General NoFun and his assistant, Commander Bo-Ring, often cause problems for HJ5 as they pursue a world without any entertainment. Other supporting characters include Twisty T, a famous music producer whom Rudie is desperate to impress; Say-Wah, an obsessed HJ5 fan who wants to join the band; Colonel Spyke, a stern soldier who dislikes pop music; and Mauve Madison, a talk show host who reports on HJ5.


Episodes


Characters


Main

* G (voiced by Maggie Chretien) is the leader of HJ5. She is trustworthy and level-headed, though sometimes she has her doubts. She's the friendly, honest, and humble one of the band. She keeps the band together, even through their tough times, and is not afraid of any challenge. Her signature colors are aqua, white and black, and she represents bows. She is based on Gwen Stefani and Gretel from the story book named:
ansel and Gretel ANSEL, the American National Standard for Extended Latin Alphabet Coded Character Set for Bibliographic Use, was a character set used in text encoding. It provided a table of coded values for the representation of characters of the extended Latin ...
* Love (voiced by
Daisy Masterman Daisy Masterman (born 6 April 1990 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia) is an Australian actress. Private life Masterman graduated from Methodist Ladies' College, Melbourne in 2008. During her time in high school she was involved in school play ...
) is the smart genius of HJ5. She is intelligent and creative, though sometimes she takes on too much. She has a knack for science, and often comes up with inventions, though some of them backfire. Her signature color is red, and she represents hearts. * Angel (voiced by Emma Taylor-Isherwood) is the resident fashionista of HJ5. She is bubbly and cheerful, though sometimes she can be a bit of an airhead. She loves fashions and trends, as well as cheering up others. Despite her cheerfulness, she can be very jumpy at some point. Her signature colors are yellow and blue, and she represents stars. * Music (voiced by
Sally Taylor-Isherwood Sally-Joy Taylor-Isherwood (born March 23, 1990
. URL accessed on November 3, 2009.
in Toronto, Ontario, Canada) ...
) is the second-in-command and active tomboy who is the lancer of HJ5. She is sarcastic, genuine, and strong-willed, though at times she gets easily annoyed. She is the sassy and fierce force of the band, as well as an exceptional fighter and dancer. Music can be somewhat grumpy at times. Her signature color is purple, and she represents musical notes. * Baby (voiced by Charlotte Nicdao) is the sweetest girly-girl who is the little sister of HJ5. She is loving and carefree, though sometimes this gets her in trouble. She adores everything that she thinks is cute, and also loves to give hugs. Her signature color is pink, and she represents cuteness. * Rudie (voiced by Danny Smith) is the enthusiastic manager of HJ5. He works hard to book them gigs; although his bad luck tends to get him and the band in trouble, he deeply cares about their safety. He is associated with checkered-themed colors, most notably in white, black and gray.


Villains

* General No–Fun – the short, serious and notorious leader of Nofunland. * Commander Bo-Ring – General NoFun's chief assistant and a high-ranking official in Nofunland. * Say-Wha – an obsessed HJ5 fan with an auto-tuned voice. * Madame Shhh – a woman who wishes to rid the world of music so that she can live in peace. * Sammy Starr – a music manager and Rudie's rival. * Moods Meow – a cat that was owned by the main antagonist, General No–Fun. * Stegosaurus Stan – an old children's show host who then wants to win back glory and revert everybody (including HJ5) back into toddlers. * Teen Genie – A rude teenaged genie who wants to use the phrase "whatever".


Recurring

* R.O.D. – HJ5's robotic personal assistant who speaks with a British accent. * Chewy – HJ5's pet Pomeranian. He is based on Gwen Stefani's pet of the same name. He was originally owned by G. * Jimmy – Rudie's nephew and an aspiring photographer. * Twisty – a music producer and millionaire. He loves to wear sneakers. * Mauve Madison – a popular talk show host and TV personality. She loves the color mauve (hence her name). * Zookeeper Smythe – A zookeeper that works at the zoo. * Sparkski – A hero virus who helps the HJ5 with the band's problems. * Morgan and Macy – A couple of twins that were managed by Sammy Starr. * Colonel Spyke – captain of the Harajuku Defense Squad who consists of red, yellow, and blue haired soldiers protecting Harajuku from strange creatures and animals. * Brodie – Rudie's younger cousin who works as an intern for the band.


Production

''Kuu Kuu Harajuku'' is co-produced by Vision Animation in Malaysia, Moody Street Productions in Australia, and Red Flags Fly in the United States. It was produced in association with
Film Victoria VicScreen, formerly known as Film Victoria, is the Victoria State Government, Victorian Government’s creative and economic screen development agency. They function behind the scenes, supporting professionals, infrastructure, projects and ev ...
for the first season and
Network Ten Network 10 (commonly known as Ten Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a division of the Paramount Networks UK & Australia subsidiary of Paramount Global. One of five ...
for the second. A third season of the series was broadcast in 2018. Gwen Stefani initially proposed a Harajuku Girls television show or movie after the release of her 2004 studio album ''
Love. Angel. Music. Baby. ''Love. Angel. Music. Baby.'' is the debut solo studio album by American singer Gwen Stefani, released on November 12, 2004, by Interscope Records. Stefani, who had previously released five studio albums as lead singer of the rock band No Doubt, ...
'' In Stefani's words, she "wanted to do an animated or live-action Harajuku TV show or movie since the conception of my
irst An infrared search and track (IRST) system (sometimes known as infrared sighting and tracking) is a method for detecting and tracking objects which give off infrared radiation, such as the infrared signatures of jet aircraft and helicopters. IR ...
dance record." Almost a decade later, Stefani pitched an animated series based on the Harajuku Lovers brand at Kidscreen's 2013 Asian Animation Summit. In an interview with ''
USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...
'', Stefani explained that the show was not meant to represent the real-life Harajuku district: "the show's DNA, its visual ideas, was taken from Harajuku land, or whatever, but the show is definitely not that. It's a make-believe world where anything can happen." During a January 2014 interview with ''
Women's Wear Daily ''Women's Wear Daily'' (also known as ''WWD'') is a fashion-industry trade journal often referred to as the "Bible of fashion".Horyn, Cathy"Breaking Fashion News With a Provocative Edge" ''The New York Times''. (August 20, 1999). It provides infor ...
'', Gwen Stefani first revealed that the show had been greenlit by Network Ten and that fifty-two episodes were in development. In December 2014, the show was given the working title ''KooKoo Harajuku''. Speaking to ''
Broadcasting & Cable ''Broadcasting & Cable'' (or ''Broadcasting+Cable'') is a weekly telecommunications industry trade magazine published by Future US. Previous names included ''Broadcasting-Telecasting'', ''Broadcasting and Broadcast Advertising'', and ''Broadcast ...
'' about the inspirations for her series, Stefani stated that she had a history with animation as her older brother and
No Doubt No Doubt is an American rock band from Anaheim, California, formed in 1986. For most of their career, the band has consisted of vocalist Gwen Stefani, guitarist Tom Dumont, bassist Tony Kanal, and drummer Adrian Young. Since the mid-1990s, they ...
founder Eric Stefani worked on ''
The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, ...
'' and ''
The Ren & Stimpy Show ''The Ren & Stimpy Show'' (also known as ''Ren & Stimpy'') is an American animated television series created by Canadian animator John Kricfalusi. Originally produced by Spümcø for Nickelodeon, the series aired from August 11, 1991, to Decemb ...
''. She said, "I grew up with tons of animation in my own life because my brother is an animator." When asked about her feelings on the renewal of ''Harajuku'' for a second season, she said "I still haven't digested that I'm even on Nickelodeon. It was a dream that I had a long time ago that came true later in life. I never thought it could happen." The art style for the show was inspired by the Harajuku district in Tokyo. Four of the series' main characters (Love, Angel, Music and Baby) were modelled after Stefani's
Harajuku Girl The Harajuku Girls are four Japanese and Japanese-American backup dancers featured in stage shows and music videos for Gwen Stefani during her solo pop music, pop/dance music, dance-record career. The women also act as an entourage at Stefani's p ...
backup dancers, with body adjustments in order to give them "a modern update for a younger audience." Also unlike the Harajuku Girls, the ''Kuu Kuu Harajuku'' characters were designed as "ethnically ambiguous." Gwen Stefani herself served as the template for the series' lead character, G. The series' theme music was performed by Gwen Stefani and was written to incorporate lyrics from some of her past songs. Other music for the show was produced in a style Stefani describes as "similar to the music on my first two records ... a cross between an '80s video game and pop music." Gwen Stefani officially announced a second season of ''Kuu Kuu Harajuku'' in March 2017. The season had been in development since October 2016. Compared to the first season, the second season was written to include more musical numbers and animated performances. A third season premiered in August 2018 in Australia.


Release


Broadcast

''Kuu Kuu Harajuku'' first premiered on
10 Peach 10 Peach is an Australian free-to-air television channel operated by Network 10. It was launched on 11 January 2011 as Eleven. It is owned by ElevenCo, which was established as a joint venture between Ten Network Holdings and CBS Studios Inter ...
(formerly known as Eleven) in Australia on 1 November 2015, and later premiered on ABC Me on 6 December 2016, and on Nick in the US on 3 October. Later, it was moved to Nick Jr. on 3 February 2017. The series also premiered on Family Channel in Canada on 1 November 2016. The series returned to U.S. streaming on the free live TV application Pluto TV. The series also aired on
SABC 3 SABC 3 (stylised as S3) is a South African free-to-air public television network owned by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC). It carries programming in English and, few in other South African languages. It has a number of its own re ...
in
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
from 2018-2020.


Home media

In February 2017,
Shout! Factory Shout! Factory is an American home video and music company founded in 2002 as Retropolis Entertainment. Its video releases include previously released feature films, classic and contemporary television series, animation, live music, and comedy ...
signed a deal with DHX Media to secure the North American DVD and Blu-ray rights to ''Kuu Kuu Harajuku''.


Reception


Critical response

Emily Ashby of Common Sense Media gave ''Kuu Kuu Harajuku'' a mixed review upon its U.S. debut. She praised Love and G as positive role models, stating, "Love stands out for her can-do attitude and her bevy of ideas to solve all kinds of problems, and G is known for her coolness under pressure." In summary, however, Ashby called the cartoon "pretty mindless, and there are better choices for role models for this age group, but it's entertaining nonetheless." Erica Russell of
PopCrush Townsquare Media, Inc. (formerly Regent Communications until 2010) is an American radio network and media company based in Purchase, New York. The company started in radio and expanded into digital media toward the end of the 2000s, starting wi ...
argued that ''Kuu Kuu Harajuku''s setting "is not Japan, but a culturally-empty, messily regurgitated Westernization of it. It's a whitewashed 'kawaii' fairy tale." Rae Alexandra of
KQED KQED may refer to: * KQED (TV), a PBS member station in San Francisco * KQED-FM KQED-FM (88.5 MHz) is a NPR-member radio station in San Francisco, California. Its parent organization is KQED Inc., which also owns its television partners, both ...
criticized the decision to portray the Harajuku Girls as racially ambiguous, suggesting that "it seems Stefani (or network executives) thought the best way to deal with the overt cultural appropriation was simply 'let's not have them be Asian anymore.'" Likewise, Teresa Jusino of Dan Abrams' '' The Mary Sue'' called negative attention to the characters' races, writing, "I notice that the Harajuku Girls are all different colors. Points for diversity, I guess, except that it seems that they appropriated Japanese culture only to just about erase it from this series."


Awards and nominations


References


External links

* * * on
Eleven Eleven or 11 may refer to: *11 (number), the natural number following 10 and preceding 12 * one of the years 11 BC, AD 11, 1911, 2011, or any year ending in 11 Literature * ''Eleven'' (novel), a 2006 novel by British author David Llewellyn *'' ...
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