Kappa Mikey Theme Song Mp3 Download
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Kappa Mikey was 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. As a matter of fact, the series is a homage/parody of the Japanese anime genre. On February 16, 2008, during their "Music Week", Nicktoons Network aired their first and only original television movie, an hour-long Kappa Mikey musical entitled "Kappa Karaoke". Officially, the episode's title is "The Karaoke Episode".
The show's title is a play 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 5, 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, a 19-year-old 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 on Disney Channel). The humor comes from the fact that because Mikey is an American, he actually stands out visually from the other cast members, similar to the mix of styles in Who Framed Roger Rabbit. 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, incongruity, slapstick, character quirks, and a fair amount of gross-out humor.
Kappa Mikey is different from other cartoons produced in the mid-2000s, in that the property was owned by the studio instead of an agency, the animation was not out-sourced, and the episodes were written by a full-time staff. After producing Internet-based projects and television spots, this was Animation Collective's first ever television series, and was produced in New York City starting from the summer of 2005.[1]
An early test pilot was made for a pitch to MTV Networks, where the character designs and backgrounds resembled more like those found in Perfect Hair Forever. Much of the current cast was voicing their characters even this early in production. When the deal didn't go through, Nickelodeon eventually picked up the project, and the show was tweaked heavily in order to be aimed at a younger audience.
Voice talents were usually local, and for the most part, the show was recorded at Manhattan-based NYAV Post, which Michael Sinterniklaas owns. Larry Schwarz, along with the other executive producers, oversaw all phases of production, but only had writing credits on the pilot episode, Mikey Impossible, and A Christmas Mikey. All the episodes were directed by Sergei Aniskov. The instrumental score was composed by John Angier, who also wrote the lyrics to The Recycling Song, Ori and Yori's hits, Living With Mikey, How Did We Get Here?, and the songs in The Karaoke Episode.
It was animated in Adobe Flash, with some moments of CGI rendered in Maya. To further emphasize the contrast in animation styles, one group of animators was assigned to the anime characters, and another group was in charge of Mikey and the other American characters. The vehicles on LilyMu and around Tokyo, as well as the weapons, the Gonard balloon, Pirate King's ship, the Karaoke Genie Machine, etc..., were created in Maya and exported into Flash using the Toon Filter. The backgrounds were modeled in Maya, and texture, details, and clouds were added in Photoshop. Some of the backgrounds were inspired by actual locations in Tokyo.
The show's anime-style characters perform with large comedic overuses of face faults, such as a face and/or body turning into an exaggerated general appearance, or becoming much smaller. This allowed animators to have more control over how a character looks and acts than on many other Flash shows, and they didn't always have to be on-model. The show uses clichs 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 was one of the show's running gags, but cannot due to being drawn in an American style.
These characters are modeled on cartoon stereotypes, to varying extents. The show also features secondary characters and extras, mostly in crowd scenes, whose designs are directly inspired by 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 (or her twin, Zeneba) from the film Spirited Away, or Takashi Katashi, who shares a similar appearance and name with Kakashi Hatake from the anime Naruto (the person standing next to him could be Sakura, note the clothing). On another episode there is an anime version of Ami and Yumi from the TV series, Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi (which was running on Cartoon Network at the time). Also in the final scene of the episode entitled 'Reality Bites' there is a person in the crowd that looks like a persocom from the anime Chobits. Other times, it is done to continue the show's original concept, without any intention behind it.
In 2008, the Animation Collective site advertised a second DVD that was scheduled be released sometime later that year. It would've included the first season in its entirety, but no further announcement was made as the status of this DVD and it has likely been cancelled.
A spin-off mini-series of Kappa Mikey was made, called Dancing Sushi, and focused on the antics of the three main sushi beings that originally appeared in the bumpers of the show.[2] They are given names, and a fourth female sushi named Meep was added to balance out the cast. Twenty-six 1-minute episodes were made, with 3 web-exclusive episodes currently out now. The series is currently running on networks outside the United States, with no announcement for when this series will run in the United States.
- Awesome Music: The theme song rocks. The fact that it was sung by Beat Crusaders, a Japanese rock band (also known for doing openings for BECK and Bleach), certainly helps and is often what a lot of people remember about the show.
- Growing the Beard: Season two is where the series started having more of a grasp on itself (outside the parody aspect which was still hit or miss). Plots were more focused, the writing got better and characters got more bits of development.
- Harsher in Hindsight: Being a show within a show, the crew of Lily Mu frequently lampshades the bad points of the television and animation industry. Looking back, it's amazing how close Ozu's tendency to fire his employees and close the studio reflect what happened to Animation Collective in 2008!
- Ho Yay: Yes Man is just a bit too willing to obey Ozu's every whim, even if it's purely because he was practically bred to be his personal assistant by occupation. He also sleeps literally underneath him! Ozu seems to also return his affections at times. The subplot of "Mitsuki Vanishes" is essentially about a couple breaking up and making up again.
- Shallow Parody: Characters resemble famous anime stars, but the parody pretty much stops at appearances. They don't really do anything with them.
- So Bad, It's Good: The attempts to try and do the anime parodies and Japanese culture are utterly laughable in the Cringe Comedy sort of way. But at least enduring that some viewers least tuned in out of curiosity.
- So Okay, It's Average: Despite the lackluster execution of its premise, a general opinion for some is that at least the writing and characters are likeable outside the parody aspect.
- Spiritual Antithesis: Probably the closest we'll get to an American cartoon adaptation of Viewtiful Joe.
- Suspiciously Similar Song:
- The theme tune possibly parallels to The Rolling Stones' "Get Off Of My Cloud".
- In "The Good, The Bad, and the Mikey", a song plays that is almost exactly the same as Michael Jackson's "Beat It".
- They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: Kappa Mikey had the brilliant idea of mixing a Western Animation American in a Anime and Animesque Japanese setting to create a unique Fish out of Water story. The only problem? The show barely, if at all, utilized any real Japanese Media Tropes or Western Animation Tropes that would've made it a unique blending of the two mediums. Any Anime related things were restricted to the premise, certainly not the Genre-Busting concept it could've become. Though, most of that could be chalked up to the decision to use Flash which limited much of the potential.
- Unintentional Period Piece: The series was made during the the 2000s anime bubble, and it shows. One of the show's central jokes is about how American dubs of children's anime are edited to ridiculous levels. This practice would largely fade out by the time the anime bubble burst and 4Kids Entertainment went belly-up, with the majority of recent examples of "Americanized" dubs being from grandfathered franchises such as Pokmon and Yu-Gi-Oh!.
- Values Dissonance: Lily regularly uses "Spaz" as an insult. Americans wouldn't bat an eye at it, but the word is considered much more offensive in the UK and Australia.
- The Woobie: Mitsuki is the straight woman in a cast of idiots in a wacky world. Sometimes she needs a day-long pat on the head.