Kuu Kuu Harajuku

Kuu Kuu Harajuku
The show's logo, and featuring the characters left to right clockwise: Love, Angel, G, Music, Baby and Rudie.
Also known asKooKoo Harajuku[1]
GenreComedy
Animated series
Created byGwen Stefani
Based onHarajuku Lovers brand
by Gwen Stefani
Developed by
  • Steve Aranguren
  • Gillian Carr
  • Madellaine Paxson
ShowrunnerGwen Stefani
Directed byGillian Carr
Voices of
Theme music composerChristopher Elves
Opening themePerformed by Gwen Stefani
Composers
  • Christopher Elves
  • Mark McDuff
  • Keith C. Moore (season 3)
Country of origin
  • United States
  • Canada
  • Malaysia
  • Australia
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons3
No. of episodes78 (116 segments) (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers
  • Gillian Carr
  • Low Huoi Seong
  • Gwen Stefani
  • Frank Taylor (season 1)
Producers
  • Gillian Carr
  • Shelley Dresden (season 2[1])
EditorSean Morrison (season 2)
Running time22 minutes
Production companies
  • Vision Animation
  • Red Flags Fly
  • Moody Street Kids
Original release
Network10 Peach (Australia)
Release1 November 2015 (2015-11-01) –
28 December 2019 (2019-12-28)
Infobox instructions (only shown in preview)

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,[2] 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 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 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.[3]

The series is distributed by the Canadian media company DHX Media (now known as WildBrain).[4] 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 Channel airs 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.

  1. ^ a b "Upcoming Production Report" (PDF). ScreenAustralia.gov.au. Government of Australia. July 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 July 2015.
  2. ^ Milligan, Mercedes (12 April 2015). "Gwen Stefani's 'Kuu-Kuu Harajuku' Unveiled". Animation Magazine. Archived from the original on 18 December 2016.
  3. ^ Michalik, Maddie (6 October 2016). "Mattel to launch Gwen Stefani Kuu Kuu Harajuku fashion doll line". ToyBook.
  4. ^ "Kuu Kuu Harajuku Kicks Off Global Tour". Archived from the original on 18 May 2015.