It could be mistaken for an anime, were it not for the unmistakeable New Zealand accents. Sparkle Friends is a cartoon about a team of kids, their pet gorilla Camilla, and Gun-gi, a pinkish-purplish pet/companion. Gun-gi, so called because anything he spews his gungy vomit on obtains magical powers, is central to the show's premise. It's Gun-gi's vomit which turns the kids into action heroes (although most episodes are just about them having random adventures).
Created by Kiwi animation studio Mukpuddy to serve as an animated segment in NZ kids show What Now, the main human cast consists of anime-style younger versions of the hosts. Consequently, as hosts come and go, the cartoon characters change. Gun-gi, Camilla, and the kids Charlie and Serena are the only characters to feature in every single episode.
Sparkle Friends contains examples of:
- Animesque: A rare Kiwi example. The full title in the opening sequence, What Now Sparkle Friends High Score, is presumably further spoofing odd anime naming.
- Bigfoot, Sasquatch, and Yeti: The episode "Are We There Yeti" has the gang trying to get a photo of Bigfoot. Who turns out to literally be a single big foot.
- Cryptid Episode: The episode "Are We There Yeti" has the gang trying to get a photo of Bigfoot. Who turns out to literally be a single big foot.
- Digging to China: One episode has the friends dig to Japan. You'd think they would choose somewhere that wasn't in the same hemisphere, but that's pretty much in keeping with the absurdist bent of the cartoon.
- Parody: Many episodes contain pop culture allusions or parody.
- Toilet Humour: It's a show with magic vomit in the premise.
