What’s the Story?

HI HI PUFFY AMIYUMI is based on the real Japanese pop duo Puffy AmiYumi. The animated version follows two tiny popstars, Ami and Yumi, who weather the storm of being typcial teens with a popstar persona. Clips of the live band's performances are shown briefly, but the cartoon draws heavily on other plots and ideas.

Is It Any Good?

Young audiences will like the show's rock-star element and the fact that the girls kick it in their cool tour van. But unlike other cartoons with people chilling in cool vans (Scooby-Doo comes to mind), no compelling plot drives the action. An over-zealous fan might follow the girls, or Ami might moonlight as a circus performer, but the typical junk television formula of lots of flash and no substance is the norm here. Too bad, since the music of Puffy AmiYumi -- the real band --is compelling and unique.

There are good elements to the look of the cartoon: the band, the tour bus, the adventures, the music, and the Japanese culture. But the characters are very simplistic foils of each other -- Ami is the cheerleader, while Yumi is forever the grump. Kaz, their manager, plays the father figure, but he has no authority over the girls' decisions or behavior.

Have you seen it?

TV Show Details

TV Rating

TV-Y

Network

Cartoon Network

Cast

Ami Onuki
Grey DeLisle
Janice Kawaye
Yumi Yoshimura

Genre

Kids and Animation

Where to watch

Cartoon Network, DVD

For Your Family