Kuu Kuu Harajuku

Gwen Stefani's Harajuku Girls of the stage transition to this animated series with modest success, clouding themes of individuality and friendship with iffier ones. On the upside, each of the five girls is a distinct entity, and as you watch, you begin to see their personalities come to light. Among them are an unfailing optimist, a brainy Ms. Fix-It, and a team leader. They are also culturally diverse and inclusive, despite their Japanese-inspired roots. On the downside, however, they often define themselves by their visibility and perceived "Kawaii" (or cuteness), which makes them vulnerable to vanity and image obsession.

Kuu Kuu Harajuku is visually enjoyable to watch, and there's always some sort of bizarre happening in Harajuku World that will keep kids' interest. There's also the comical villain General No Fun (Ian Bliss), who manages to steal the scenes in which he schemes against HJ5. The bottom line? This cartoon is pretty mindless, and there are better choices for role models for this age group, but it's entertaining nonetheless.