November 1, 2015 – December 28, 2019
Kuu Kuu Harajuku is a Japanese-influenced animated children's television series created by singer-songwriter Gwen Stefani. 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. The show follows a teenage girl group called HJ5 and their manager Rudie who live in a fantasy version of Tokyo called Harajuku City. HJ5 is a quintet: the four Harajuku Girls (Love, Angel, Music and Baby) with their leader G. Episodes follow the band members and Rudie overcoming obstacles preventing them from performing.
Network Ten in Australia first commissioned an animated series based on the Harajuku Loversfranchise 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 by the Malaysian studio Vision Animation, and it was produced with investment funding from the Victorian government agency Film Victoria. The show's music style was based on Stefani's first two studio albums, Love. Angel. Music. Baby.and The Sweet Escape. The American toy manufacturer Mattel launched the Kuu Kuu Harajuku merchandise line in spring 2017.
The series is distributed by the Canadian media company DHX Media (now known as WildBrain). It had its Australian debut on 10 Peach (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 Channelairs the show in Canada. The series received a mixed reception, as some of the critics disliked the concept's apparent cultural appropriation, which has also been a criticism of Stefani's Harajuku Girls and the Harajuku Lovers brand as a whole.
Summary[]
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.