Anime gets an American twist in Kappa Mikey, a new animated series debuting on Nicktoons on Saturday, Feb. 25, at 8 p.m. Nicktoons’ first original series and the first global acquisition by MTV Networks, the action/comedy will begin rolling out across Nickelodoen’s international channels in May.
Being hyped by Nickelodeon as ‘the first anime television series created and produced in the U.S.,’ Kappa Mikey tells the story of Mikey Simon, an unknown American actor from Cleveland, Ohio, who wins a contest and becomes the biggest anime star Japan has ever seen. But fame comes with a price and our hero must deal with paparazzi and the other trappings of public life as he gets to know his TV costars and adjusts to Japanese Culture.
The Flash-animatd series, created by Larry Schwarz of Animation Collective, will premiere during Nicktoons’ Three-Headed Monster primetime programming block that runs from 7 p.m. until midnight. The block will feature interstitial appearances by Mikey, who will host a series of behind-the-scenes peeks and first-look clips from the show.
Kappa Mikey will debut with two back-to-back half-hour episodes. In ‘The Switch,’ we learn how Mikey goes from nobody to king of Japanese TV and almost burns himself out on the celebrity life before the first episode of his show. The installment will be followed by ‘Mikey Impossible,’ in which Mikey accidentally destroys a castmate’s 500-year-old bonsai tree and has to replace it before his new friend returns from vacation.
In addition to Kappa Mikey, Scharz is the creator and exec producer of such original Animation Collective productions as Thumb Wrestling Federation, Leader Dog and Tortellini Western for Nicktoons and Ellen’s Acres, HTDT and Princess Natasha for Cartoon Network.
If you miss the premiere of Kappa Mikey, Nicktoons will air encore presentations throughout the weekend. The international rollout in May will see the show debut on Nick Asia, Nick U.K., Nick Spain, Nick France and Nick Europe, among others.
