Kappa Mikey as an Anime

Yeah. I know the show is clearly not an Anime, or even very Animesque for that matter (I mean they didn't even try to contact the animators on ATLA!) , as opposed to something that either tried too hard or didn't try hard enough to be one. I mean they actually had real anime voice actors and actresses to dub, and the concept of having a thick lined character in a Anime setting is easily the best idea for a Western Animation-Anime fusion show. But it just lacked the feel of an authentic anime, which is why I think the episodes were simply ok rather than awesome.

So my question is, what if Kappa Mikey was made as a 100% authentic anime series instead of a western animator's interpretation? I think that would have been a much better way of handling the show, especially if the animation was done by Shaft or J.C. Staff. They could even bring in a real Western Animator, like Steve Silver, John Derevlany or Genndy Tartakovsky, to do the WA stuff! Now that would be awesome.

Budget has more to do with a show's quality over anything else, in-house animation is incredibly expensive for the company doing it which is why things are shipped to places like Shaft in the first place.

Exactly. Because if in-house animation is actually more expensive, then there's no reason it shouldn't have been out sourced in the first place.

Speaking of which... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yLy1_iacvU

I love you for starting this thread, which I have only stumbled upon by chance, because Kappa Mikey was actually a funny show. ... for the kids watching Nicktoons. It's sad that it gets basically nothing but hate (...even, I hear, from professionals themselves), but I do remember it being extremely different than what Nickelodeon usually greenlights.

If it were more authentic, the only way to do that is if they had the budget and talent to animate it on paper. It's the only way. And it should've had more references to real anime!

Oh yeah, for what it was Kappa Mikey was definitely a pretty awesome show. The characters were engaging and hilarious, the plot was solid and I could definitely tell a several of the creators were huge anime fans.

It's just... and maybe it's just me, but when I hear of a western animated character being placed in an Anime show, I think of something like Fry meets the cast of Haruhi Suzumiya. Completely off the wall and genre breaking that utilizes concepts found in both Western Animation and Anime to create some kind of unparalleled fusion. Kappa Mikey was an interesting Slice of Life, but if it really played up the Japanese FLCL-style weirdness it would have been a masterpiece.

Really it would be like Kingdom Hearts, except with much more Art Shift! You got a great idea for a cartoon no one has done before. ... TAKE! ADVANTAGE! OF! IT!

But then, the fact it was in-house provided more opportunity for local artists to show what they were made of. ... but yes, in today's state, outsourcing should've been the way to go. I also hear the studio is only doing outsourcing from now on too. ..... what..... why did they think .... anyway ... too bad we never got a DVD release.

edited 5th Dec '10 7:51:32 PM by Shota

I'm still hoping the series eventually gets picked up by some other studio or maybe the Japanese decide to do something similar. Also, the DVD thing pisses me off as well. At least its on iTunes.

The Japanese already did.

Too bad it's NOT AIMED AT CHILDREN. :P

Oh yeah, heheh. What's up with that GIR Expy?

Anyway, PASWGB is really only Studio Gainax doing their usual weird stuff in Adobe Flash and Western-style animation (who occasionally go Animesque to power up), not exactly a fusion blend of Anime characters mixing with Western Animation characters. That's why I can respect Kappa Mikey for trying to bring out the best of both worlds together.

Also, just saw the Series Finale of KM "The Wizard Of Ozu" last night and honestly, They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot doesn't even come close to describing this show.

Nicktoons in general are not aired in the order that they are produced. It's evident that "Live Lily Mu" or even the Karaoke episode was supposed to be the series finale. That's the order they are presented in on the iTunes library anyway, last I checked.

As long as we have them on iTunes it will be watchable. Keeping with the times I suppose.

As for the Whole-Plot Reference, I love them if they are done well. But that episode was not funny, and if they wanted to spoof something, why not spoof an anime show for a whole episode!? It can be the most popular show kids love, and even I, a 20-something, will be fine with it! Why choose a 100-year-old-and-counting movie that everyone's tired of?

edited 6th Dec '10 3:12:10 PM by Shota

OK, so I just saw the Live Episode and yeah, I do think it works better as if it were the Series Finale than the actual last aired episode. It's still not a Grand Finale, but at least it wraps things up better. As for the Karaoke Episode...while it wasn't my favorite, I do like how the songs felt sort of like Anime Image Song, so I'll give them credit.

Seriously, if they're going to call the show "the first anime to be produced entirely in the United States" then actually use some @#$*@#%ing Anime Tropes!

Anyway before the show ended I always hoped that, and I know it's impossible now, that show would get to have a Movie or at least a TV Movie like Jimmy Neutron or FOP had. That way they could maybe get a bigger budget for animation.

edited 7th Dec '10 2:29:37 AM by Mattonymy

Here's one very obvious reason they didn't go with any anime tropes outside of the character designs: it's aimed at little kids. Little kids will NEVER get most of those references because most of the successful anime shows are aimed at teens and adults. They stick with Pokemon, DBZ, etc because those are pretty much the only shows they know. And that's unfortunate. 4Kids WAS the distributor after all.

The whole "1st anime Western show this, 1st animated thst" was all basically marketing target words. It really isn't an anime.

The Karaoke Episode is great, but the Christmas Episode is better, because it felt like the former had to try to be, while the latter just was.

I really think they should revive it for a TV movie, like Drawn Together had, but it will be way longer to do because of the studio's troubles and Viacom's reluctance to pay for shows produced in New York City. It would need to be done at another studio elsewhere, and maybe then, they'll grant your wishes.

edited 7th Dec '10 5:53:42 AM by Shota

Hmm, then I guess one of the main reasons for the show's failure is because it's target demographic is too stupid to understand the show.

Seems like Nickelodeon really doesn't have a very good track record for keeping some of their new shows recently do they? Besides the network's LongRunners, most of these new shows are either run for only one season or are immediately cancelled.

It's too bad Cartoon Network didn't pick up the concept sooner than Nick did. With the network's very very extensive history in Anime, I know they would've done the show justice.

Christmas Episode was pretty good though. I particularly enjoyed Ret-Gone Mitsuki and the three samurais of Christmas temporality.

edited 7th Dec '10 12:09:06 PM by Mattonymy

Fact: When getting picked up, all Nicktoons are given a set cancellation date! These days it is unusual and unheard of for a Nicktoon to continue beyond 2 seasons, and only the fortunate and most popular and most marketable (I DO NOT have to link to which) grow beyond that.

That doesn't sound that preposterous actually, but do you have a [[Citation ]] for that?

I only heard it once from someone and that was years ago.

The acting was really good though, and the theme song rocked!

Mitsuki is my favorite character on the show just because she's really sweet but could instantly snap your spine if she wanted. She was a very interesting dere-dere but I wish they'd play up on her Tsun moments.

Yes Man was also awesome.

YES!

Mitsuki is my favorite character too. She was the most normal, such an incredible woobie, and didn't make your ears bleed all the time. :3

I do, however, find her constant love for Mikey annoying at times especially since he was such a complete jerk to her in the beginning. And even though he did eventually notice her, their whole Will They or Won't They? was really left unresolved at the end of the series.

But....I'd be lying if I said that wasn't also one of her most attractive traits.

edited 7th Dec '10 10:45:39 PM by Mattonymy

You WOULD be lying. O . O

edited 8th Dec '10 6:09:04 AM by Shota

Ever seen the episode where Mitsuki is revealed to be a 99-esque secret agent? That was alway my favorite episode and see, something like that would've been very interesting if the show utilized it more. Or at least made it into a Spin-Off series.

"La Femme Mitsuki" is among my top favorite episodes. They never did anything with her Back Story, but she at least got to kick sum ass in Real Life several times after that without any comment by the others. They didn't even mention it in "Mitsuki Butterfly" with her Dadsuki, which would've been perfect. It just seemed like they shoehorned the espionage story in because every other cartoon did stuff like that regardless if it made sense.

Plus, Mikey was not the star of that episode! He contributed absolutely NOTHING except to be a dingus! And he's funnier like that.

edited 8th Dec '10 4:40:05 PM by Shota

I think Mikey's at his best when he's a supporting character honestly. I also really liked Mitsuki Butterfly as well as the body switching one, that was pretty interesting.

Someone should honestly write a Manga about this series. That might be a very interesting way of keeping the series alive.

Totally and completely agree. Someone should really produce a manga based on the show. A lot of canceled or old shows are getting new life in the form of comics anyway.

I hot re-interested in this thread since you linked to it elsewhere. :P