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Kappa Mikey
Format	Animated sitcom
Created by	Larry Schwarz
Starring	Michael Sinterniklaas Stephen Moverley Annice Moriarty Pete Zarustica Sean Schemmel Gary Mack Jesse Adams Evelyn Lanto Dan Green Wayne Grayson
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	52 in total, 41 aired as of October 28, 2007
Production
Running time	22 minutes approx.
Broadcast
Original channel	Nicktoons Network
Original run	February 25, 2006 – Present
External links
Official website
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

Common rating
Australia	G
Canada	PG
United States	TV-Y7

Kappa Mikey is an American Animated Sitcom geared toward families and is created by Larry Schwarz. The show premiered on the Nicktoons Network on February 25, 2006, and premiered on Nickelodeon on August 20, 2006. It is MTV's first global acquisition. In April of 2006, it was picked up for a second season, which is already airing its run as of June 9th. Even though it is shown on Nicktoons Network, its current status on the main Nickelodeon network is unknown. In Canada, as of September 9th, 2007, Teletoon has started to show the second season.

Kappa Mikey is marketed as "the first anime to be produced entirely in the United States", according to press releases from MTV, Nicktoons Network, and various other sources, as the term anime in English is generally reserved for animation originally produced for the Japanese market. It uses Japanese animation and culture as inspiration for its concept, rather than being "true" anime. It is produced by Animation Collective in New York City with voiceovers recorded at NYAV Post, and animated using Adobe Flash, with some moments of CGI rendered in Maya.

Contents 1 Title 2 Overview 3 Characters 4 Theme Song 5 List of episodes 6 DVD Release 7 References 7.1 Cultural Errors 8 External links

The show's title is a variation on the word kappamaki, a type of sushi. It is suggested that it was the inspiration for naming the title character Mikey, and uses the prefix kappa. Like Mikey, who is a 'fish out of water' in Japan, the kappa creature itself is a water demon who can live on land. The kappas first appeared on this show in the episode Mikey, Kappa, on August 5th, where the origin of the title was explained. Mikey also shares his name with the actor who supplies his voice.

The series centers around Mikey Simon, an 18-year-old kid actor who just graduated from High-School and is from Cleveland, Ohio. He embarks to Japan after winning a scratch-off card contest to star in the country's formerly popular anime series, LilyMu. In doing this, he rockets the show back to the top of the ratings, and becomes Japan's biggest anime star.

Segments of LilyMu are seen at the beginning and end of each episode, but the show focuses primarily on the actors' and producers' lives off-set and Mikey's adjustments to the new world he has entered (similar in concept to The Famous Jett Jackson). The humor comes from the fact that because Mikey is an American, he actually stands out visually from the other cast members. While most characters on the show are drawn in an anime-inspired style (thin outlines, big, detailed eyes, small mouths, and all ten fingers), Mikey (and all other American characters) is drawn in a retro-inspired American cartoon manner (thicker outlines, single black dot pupil eyes, a larger mouth, and only eight fingers). The humor is delivered in a rapid pace, and also consists of light satire, non-sequential cut-aways, slapstick, character quirks, and a fair amount of gross-out humor.

Each episode starts with the cast filming a LilyMu segment, but the take is ruined (with the exception of the Christmas special), sometimes revealing the conflict that they deal with through the rest of the episode, with a minor subplot running beneath the main plot. After the problem is resolved, the LilyMu segment will be shot again and successfully completed the second time, often changed to incorporate whatever lesson was learned during the main story.

The show has a large comedic overuse of face faults, such as a character's face and/or body turning into an exaggerated general appearance, or becoming much smaller. The show uses clichés common to anime, including the sweat drop, lines over the eyes or no eyes at all, big heads, flaming eyes, bodies becoming smaller (or super deformed). Sometimes Mikey will try to do these things, which are one of the show's running gags, but cannot, due to being drawn in an American style.

Main article: List of Kappa Mikey characters

Mikey Simon by Michael Sintkerniklaas

Gonard by Sean Schemmel

Lily by Anice Moriaty

Mitsuki by Evelyn Lanto

Guano by Gary Mack

Ozu by Stephan Moverly

Yes Man by Jesse Adams

These characters are modelled off of American and Japanese cartoon stereotypes, to varying extents. The show also features secondary characters and extras, mostly in crowd scenes, whose designs are directly inspired off of famous anime characters, but who are different enough to avoid copyright infringements. Sometimes this is done to spoof the films and television programs intentionally, such as the character Masaka Masako, whose appearance spoofs Yubaba from the film Spirited Away. Other times, it is done to continue the show's original concept, without any intention behind it.

The Kappa Mikey theme song is called "Hey (x2) Look (x2)" by Beat Crusaders.

Main article: List of Kappa Mikey episodes

A Kappa Mikey DVD was released on September 18, 2007 under Starz Home Entertainment. It includes the episodes Lost in Transportation, Easy Come, Easy Gonard, and The Man Who Would Be Mikey, all from the first season, as well as bonus material, including a music video of 'I'm Alright' from Battle of the Bands, wallpaper, a game called LilyMu Squares, and a How-To-Draw-Mikey tutorial. Since this DVD only includes a few episodes, it is possible that the studio is planning on releasing a series of DVDs, gradually putting every episode on DVD, instead of getting an entire season out at once.

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

• In Easy Come, Easy Gonard, the countdown clock shown is from the American television series 24.
• In the episode Sumo of all Fears, the Lilymu episode is almost identical to the climax to the first Spider-Man film.
• In the episode Lost in Transportation, when Mikey is in the coffee shop with the bikers, he tries to "dance his way out", so he jumps up on the counter and does a dance very similar to the Pee Wee Herman dance. The scene is a reference to "Pee Wee's Big Adventure".
• In the episode Ship of Fools The Videogame has graphics straight from Donkey Kong.
• Lily Punchbug's name comes from the children's game "slug-bug" or "punch-buggy", in which one child yells out "slug-bug!" and hits another in the shoulder or arm when they spot a VW Beetle. This is usually played as a car game (that is, played in a vehicle driven by an adult).
• During the theme song, there is a scene where it shows Mikey dancing in a white, button-up shirt, his underwear, socks, and sunglasses accompanied by a pair of Dobermanns. This is likely a reference to Tom Cruise in Risky Business. The parody is in Mikey Impossible, the title of which is a parody of Mission: Impossible, also starring Tom Cruise.
• The instructor in The Lost Pilot greatly resembles Simon Cowell. Also in the episode, the audition LilyMu has for a new actor is reminiscent to the Idol series. (Pop Idol, American Idol, Australian Idol, etc.)
• In the episode Big Brozu:
  • Brozu says that he has to "Trump" his younger brother and fire him. This is reference to the reality show The Apprentice in which Donald Trump uses the catchphrase "You're fired" to eliminate contestants on the show.
  • Brozu says to Gonard something like, "Sorry, Jazzy Jeff. You just lost The Fresh Prince!" This is a reference to the 1990s sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Will Smith's character of the same name is known as "The Fresh Prince." The character's best friend is Jazz, played by DJ Jazzy Jeff.
• Mikey's Orb in LilyMu appears to be based on the sentinel sphere from the Phantasm movies. It can fly around with no explainable means of propulsion other than having been thrown into the air (although it is possible that its saw blades act as lifting rotors of some sort). It also appears to have a limited intelligence, allowing it to do things like hover, navigate itself to cut multiple targets, and return to Mikey after it has served its purpose.
• In the episode "Uh oh, Guano" Mikey's horse is named Sea Cookie which is a spoof off of "Seabiscuit" an American movie.
• In A Christmas Mikey:
  • The title is a parody of the movie "A Christmas Story" (or A Christmas Carol). The story parodies both It's a Wonderful Life and A Christmas Carol.
  • Mitsuki's performance in the mansion scene is a parody of Gloria Swanson's role as Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard. Also in A Christmas Mikey, Mitsuki has a monkey named Professor Bobo, likely a reference to the Mystery Science Theater 3000 character of that name.
  • Lily's career doing voice-over work (to Mikey's and a passerby's disgust) is a meta-reference on the show itself.
  • Guano as a chimney sweep with a British accent may be a reference to the chimney sweeps in Mary Poppins - he is in fact whistling "Chim Chim Cherrie" when he first appears in this role.
  • When Mikey is upset over Ozu not giving him a new contract, Gonard says, "Don't worry, we'll get you that monkey assistant," and he puts on a yellow hat, which is a reference to Curious George.
• In The Good, The Bad, & The Mikey, at the beginning of the staged fight sequence between Kappa Mikey and Captin Impressive, the beginning to Beat It, a song by Michael Jackson can be heard.
• In Mikey Likes It(Garbage), when Lily is looking around in the restaurant, there are two familiar couples: One is the pirate from Ship of Fools and Vito's wife (with blonde hair), and the other is the balif from The Fugi-Kid with the old lady that sometimes makes a cameo appearance.
• In Saving Face, the newspaper editor looks almost exactly like Spiderman's J. Jonah Jameson
• Also in Saving Face, the man with the mustache in the crowd at the press conference yelling "The D- sticks!" almost bears a resemblance to Dr. Wily from the Mega Man game series.
• Wolf Boy, a character who appeared only briefly, references Kiba (From Naruto,) and Tsume(From Wolf's Rain) because of his facepaint and chest-scar, respectively.

• In the episode Ship of Fools, the video game boxes for the Lily-Mu video game have a rating of "E for Everyone" from North America's Entertainment Software Rating Board rating system rather than an "A for All Ages" rating from Japan's Computer Entertainment Rating Organization rating system.
• Raccoons, which appear in the show now and then, specifically in The Phantom of the Soundstage and The Man Who Would Be Mikey, are not found in Japan. They instead have raccoon dogs.
• Halloween is not observed in Japan, despite there being a Halloween special, where children trick-or-treat.

• Official Site
• Animation Collective site
• Amazon.com's Kappa Mikey DVD Page
• Nicktoons Network Show Site
• Teletoon show site

Kappa Mikey view • talk • edit
Characters:	Mikey Simon · Mitsuki · Lily · Gonard · Guano · Ozu · Yes Man · Other characters
Notable Episodes:	The Lost Pilot · The Switch · Mikey Impossible · Ship of Fools List of Kappa Mikey episodes
Other topics:	LilyMu Towers · LilyMu

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