August 29, 2021

ED ASNER DEAD AT 91

 


You can read the full story here.


His long and prolific career in television and film expanded to voice acting in the late 80s. Among his Saturday morning credits was the recurring role of Roland Daggett in Batman: The Animated Series; Vern in an episode of Animaniacs (1993); Hudson in Gargoyles; J. Jonah Jameson in Spider-Man: The Animated Series; Sgt. Mike Cosgrove in Freakazoid!, which he would later reprise for an episode of Teen Titans Go!; General Araneus in an episode of The Magic School Bus (1994); Mr. Applegate in an episode of Life with Louie; Agent K’s father in an episode of Men in Black: The Series; Granny Goodness in Superman: The Animated Series; Thaddeus T. Third V in an episode of Recess; Chuck Marshak in Max Steel (2000); Fixer in an episode of Buzz Lightyear of Star Command; a guard captain in an episode of Duck Dodgers; Uncle Ben in an episode of The Spectacular Spider-Man; Kent Nelson in an episode of Young Justice; and an angry old timer in an episode of SpongeBob SquarePants.



















ROBERT STANTON DEAD AT 60

 


You can read the full story here.


He was a background artist and art director that worked on Alvin & the Chipmunks (1983), Histeria!, Digimon: Digital Monsters and SpongeBob SquarePants.

August 28, 2021

KUU KUU HARAJUKU

 *NOTE: The lyrics didn't appear in the broadcast version of the intro.


KUU KUU HARAJUKU
(10 Peach, Disney Channel Australia, November 1, 2015-December 28, 2019, AU
Nickelodeon, Nick Jr., October 3, 2016-October 12, 2018, US)
 
Vision Animation, Red Flags Fly, Moody Street Kids
 
 
MAIN CAST:
Maggie ChretienG, Mauve Madison (US) various
Daisy MastermanLove, various
Emma Taylor-IsherwoodAngel, various
Sally Taylor-IsherwoodMusic, various
Charlotte NicdaoBaby, Say-Wah, various
Danny SmithRudie Rhodes, Twisty T, various
 
 
            After a tour in 2004, the band No Doubt decided to take a break and explore some solo projects. Co-founder and lead singer Gwen Stefani released her first album, Love. Angel. Music. Baby., that year, which saw Stefani revisit and update the sounds of the music she grew up listening to. Initially not planning on having a tour to support the album, Stefani ended up going on one in late 2005 known as the Harajuku Lovers Tour. Harajuku is a district in Shibuya, Tokyo serving as the center of Japanese youth culture, teenage fashion and cosplay. Stefani had a self-professed huge interest and love for Japanese culture; hence the name of the tour, images of the area projected on stage backgrounds, and the inclusion of a song serving as an ode to the district, “Harajuku Girls”.

Gwen Stefani with her Harajuku Girls: (from left) Maya Chino, Jennifer Kita, Rino Nakasone & Mayuko Kitayama.


            Harajuku Girls was also the name she gave the group of backup dancers she hired for the tour, wearing make-up and clothing meant to be evocative of the Japanese aesthetic. The Harajuku Girls were comprised of Maya Chino, Jennifer Kita, Rino Nakasone and Mayuko Kitayama, who performed under the stage names “Love”, “Angel”, “Music” and “Baby”, respectively, after the album. Along with the tour, the Harajuku Girls served as Stefani’s entourage in public (it was alleged that they were contractually obligated to speak only Japanese in that instance), appeared with her on interviews (where part of her gimmick was that she considered them imaginary friends), and starred in 8 of her music videos (three of them would also appear in No Doubt’s “Settle Down” video, sans Harajuku styling). Stefani would go on to use the name “Harajuku Lovers” for a line of fragrances, which came in caricature bottles fashioned after her and the Girls, and fashion for Target also adorned with those caricatures. During this period, many critics would come to regard Stefani’s Harajuku Girls as not so much cultural appreciation, but more along the lines of cultural appropriation as well as reinforcing negative ethnic stereotypes.


An example of the kawaii design applied to the scenery.


            Fast forwarding to 2014, Stefani announced the next Harajuku-inspired product: an animated series. A desire to turn the Harajuku Girls into some kind of media project existed since the initial album’s release, but it wouldn’t be until 2013 that she pitched it at Kidscreen’s Asian Animation Summit. Australia’s Network Ten liked the idea and greenlit the production. Although this would be Stefani’s first involvement with an animated series, she had a familiarity with their inner workings through her brother, No Doubt co-founder and former member Eric Stefani, who worked as an animator on cartoons like A Pup Named Scooby-Doo and The Simpsons.

HJ5: Love, Angel, G, Music and Baby, along with their manager, Rudie.


            Initially titled Koo Koo Harajuku, the show was developed by Steve Aranguren, Gillian Carr and Madellaine Paxson and co-produced by Vision Animation, Red Flags Fly and Moody Street Kids, with DHX Media (now WildBrain) handling distribution. Animated in Flash, the series followed the adventures of teenaged band HJ5 as they often met with challenges that prevented them from playing their gigs peacefully; such as unruly fans, fun-hating despots, or inventions gone amok. HJ5 was comprised of leader G (modeled after Stefani, voiced by Maggie Cheretien), the glue of the band who kept them together through tough times and represented bows; Love (Daisy Masterman), the group genius whose inventions often caused more problems than they solved and represented hearts; Angel (Emma Taylor-Isherwood), a bubbly and cheerful fashionista that could be a bit of an airhead at times and represented stars; Music (Sally Taylor-Isherwood), the sarcastic and strong-willed second-in-command of the band who was both an amazing fighter and dancer and represented musical notes; and Baby (Charlotte Nicdao), sweet and carefree to a fault who loved adorable things and giving hugs (and was constantly hungry) and represented cuteness. Their manager was Rudie Rhodes (Danny Smith), who was enthusiastic but hard-lucked and clumsy, and tended to get the band into trouble through his antics and forgetfulness. Additionally, the band had a sassy robotic personal assistant and chauffer named R.O.D. (Robotic Obedient Driver), as well as several monster pets (cute little creatures that could be domesticated or wild) and a Pomeranian named Chewie (based on Stefani’s own pet). The characters, designed by Kyla May, were heavily influenced by the Harajuku Girls while remaining ethnically ambiguous.

General Nofun holds HJ5 captive.


            The series featured a number of antagonists bent on ruining HJ5’s careers any way they could. Chief amongst them was General Ira S. Nofun (Paul Heng, Ian Bliss in Australia), the leader of Nofunland who hated anything fun. His top man was Commander Bo-ring (Bliss), who led a double life as pop star Baron Von Melody. Nofun also had a cat, Moods Meow, who had designs on world domination. Other antagonists included Madame Shhh, who hated noise and wanted to soundproof everything through magic spells and bubbles; Sammy Starr, Rudie’s arrogant rival who used leetspeak and tried everything to sign HJ5 to him; Say-Wah (Nicdao), a technological whiz who wanted revenge on the band for not accepting her into their ranks; The Kimberlys, a rival band comprised of similar-looking girls all named Kimberly who wanted to be famous without doing any of the actual work; Tizzie Lizzie (Natalie Bond), the band’s biggest (and obsessive) fan and daughter of an incredibly wealthy man who attempted to subjugate HJ5; Angelica (Amanda Harrison), a young inventor and Love’s chief rial; Cici, the leader of a mermaid singing group who felt they had sole performing rights in oceanic territories; Panda Pete, a panda-obsessed businessman who wanted to make the whole world kawaii (the Japanese culture of cuteness); Mimi Di Pollo, an extreme fashion designer who wanted revenge on HJ5 for firing her because of her impractical outfits for them; and Bertrand, a smartphone modified by Love to never become obsolete that evolved into a sentient despot, among others.

Baby and the monster pets.


            Other characters included Colonel Spyke (Jaqueline Brennan), captain of the Harajuku Defense Squad who disliked HJ5’s music but didn’t hesitate to employ their services on missions when needed; Twisty-T (Smith), a prominent music producer Rudie always strove to impress; Jo Jo Jolie, a fashion designer and Twisty T’s wife; Mauve Madison (Brennan in Australia, Chrehtien in the US), a popular talk show host; Trixie La Trill (Bond), a hair stylist and Rudie’s aunt with a desire to be famous; Sparski, a sentient computer virus; and Krispin Krouton, a tabloid journalist, among others.

Say-Wah's holographic projection "haunts" HJ5.


            Kuu Kuu Harajuku debuted in Australia on 10 Peach on November 1, 2015, and then almost a year later in the United States on Nickelodeon on October 3, 2016 (moving to Nick Jr. in February). The art style was heavily inspired by the Harajuku district and kawaii with lots of unusual architecture, bright colors, and cute decorations dominated by smiling faces. Each episode was broken up into two segments, written by Tim Bain, Rhonda Smiley, James Hereth, Brendan Luno, Tania Lacy, Elizabeth Keyishian, Ann Austen, Obie Scott Wade, Adam Long, Becky Overton, Eddie Guzelian, Sue Rose, Mirith J. Colao, Kevin Nemeth, James Bates, Ray Boseley, Anthony Watt, Holly Lyons, Ken Pontac, Daniel Mansour and Amy Shindler, with Aranguren and Paxson, who served as story editor. Carr directed every episode. Along with serving as an executive producer, Stefani provided the theme song and voiced Gwen, a fashion designer from the confectionary-based city of Sweetropolis. The rest of the series’ music was composed by Christopher Elves and Mark McDuff, with Dani Iacovelli and Sophie McDuff providing vocals. The music was heavily inspired by Stefani’s first two albums, which she described as a mix between “80s video game and pop music.”


Music falls victim to one of Rudie's blunders.


            Much like Stefani’s Harajuku Girls, reception to the series was mixed and labeled as cultural appropriation. Reviewers pointed out the whitewashing and Westernization of Japanese culture while simultaneously eliminating anything remotely Japanese from the show. Despite that, the series was able to churn out 3 seasons and was nominated for an Asian Television Award in 2016. For the third season, HJ5 embarked on a world tour that took them out of Harajuku City to new and exotic locations with their own crazy themes--such as bubblegum, musical instruments or yo-yos--via a teleporting tour bus concocted by Love. The last five episodes of the series aired initially on Disney Channel Australia before airing on 10 Peach.
A G figure with the tour bus playset.


            Mattel acquired the license to produce toys based on the show, including fashion dolls and playsets, as well as packs of small charms to decorate the dolls or an included wearable ring. Shout! Factory struck a deal with DHX to release home media for the series. To date, they’ve only released 20 episodes from the first season across three DVDs. An official YouTube channel, KuuKuuTube, contained full episodes and clips. The entire series was made available to stream on Amazon Prime Video and Pluto TV, Apple TV+ and most of it on Google Play. In 2016, Nickelodeon uploaded a music video of Stefani singing an expanded and remixed version of the show’s theme.
 
 
EPISODE GUIDE:
Season1:
“Totally Teen Genie / Angel’s Flight” (11/1/15 AU, 10/3/16 US) – Angel discovers a sassy genie in a bottle of hair gel. / Angel is determined to restore her reputation when an unflattering picture of her is released online.
 
“Music Baby / Wanted Audience” (11/8/15 AU, 10/4/16 US) – A gig in Newfunland ends up with the band being arrested by General Nofun. / The band discovers that their gig is missing something: an audience.
 
“Game Over / Phony Ponies” (11/8/15 AU, 10/5/16 US) – The band ends up sucked into a computer game. / Baby enters her new ponycorn into the Ponycorn Cup which unfortunately has been targeted by a disgruntled former rider.
 
“Hello Puppy / G, This is Awfully Deep” (11/15/15 AU, 10/6/16 US) – G is given a new puppy that isn’t quite what he seems. / A sinkhole swallows the band and their stage and dumps them into an underground city.
 
“Baby’s Birthday / Labor of Love” (11/29/15 AU, 10/7/16 US) – Opening her presents early causes Baby to accidentally unleash one of Love’s inventions. / An advanced computer virus attacks HJ5’s headquarters.
 
“Bad Boy and Little Girl / Yummy Bear Nado” (11/29/15 AU, 10/8/16 US) – Baby ends up stuck in the cockpit of their mecha robot. / Love befriends a monster pet that helps upgrade her weather invention.
 
“Drums of Doom / Adventures in Housesitting” (10/15/16) – When Angel neglects her new drums, they take to playing themselves. / In order to audition for Twisty T, the band must housesit for him.
 
“The Kawaiifler / Super Kawaii Sunday” (12/20/15 AU, 10/22/16 US) – General Nofun is determined to spoil the Kawaiification Festival. / Things get out of hand when the band enters a contest to get on the cover of a magazine.
 
“Detectabubbles / Kablooey Chewie” (10/29/16) – A gig in Bubble Land is interrupted by the silence-loving Madame Shhh. / Chewie gets himself not only blasted off into space, but cloned numerous times.
 
“Water Baby / Music Zoo” (11/5/16) – The band’s gig is interrupted by an Octacorn attack. / Music becomes Muzaka and the band has to get her back to normal to salvage their zoo gig.
 
“The Dotted Line / Life is But a Dream” (11/12/16) – The band is offered a recording contract with one provision: they have to change absolutely everything about themselves. / Love invents a machine that will let the band share a concert dream to help G overcome her stage fright.
 
“Oh, G / Greenhouse” (5/7/16 AU, 11/19/16 US) – A painting comes to life and anything it touches turns into a work of art. / Rudie forgets to tell the band that he promised they would take care of Twsity T’s rose garden while he’s away.
 
“Control + Alt + Dimension / Angel Hair” (2/4/17) – Love’s latest invention sends her to another dimension where she encounters an evil HJ5. / A bad case of bedhair sends Angel to Trixie La Trill for a makeover.
 
“Inside Job / Sea Monkeying Around” (2/11/17) – Rudie accidentally shrinks the band and they get eaten by a monster pet. / Rudie’s promotional scheme goes wrong and ends up flipping an entire undersea mall upside down, threatening to break the dome that keeps the water out.
 
“Trust Your Inner Uniphant / Starr Power” (2/25/17) – Rudie lies to a zookeeper that the band knows how to handle Uniphants in order to get a gig at the zoo. / Sammy Starr wants to sign HJ5 by any means necessary.
 
“Zero G / Angel Food” (3/4/17) – Aliens take offense to an HJ5 song and crash their concert. / Dressing in food costumes for their gig has the band looking like lunch for a group of hungry monster pets.
 
“Happy Slam / Retro Fiasco” (4/7/17) – Baby uses one of Love’s rejected inventions to try and improve her dance moves. / Retro Day at the mall is spoiled by a shop full of retro clothing takes over.
 
“HJ10 / Waves of Love” (4/14/17) – Invading aliens resembling HJ5 land in Harajuku. / Love must choose between staying with the band and accepting a job at Harajuku University.
 
“Sand and Deliver / Moods Meow” (4/21/17) – A lightning strike brings sculpted sand bunnies to life. / The band must rescue a cat to save their gig.
 
“Yeti in the House / The Young and the Reckless” (4/28/17) – Music must overcome her Yeti phobia in order to help the band get him back home. / An old children’s TV host wants to reclaim his glory days by reverting his audience back to a young age.
 
“Brodie on Board / Womzilla” (7/9/16 AU, 5/5/17 US) – The band takes on Rudie’s cousin as an intern. / While making a film, Rudie accidentally unleashes a great wombat on the city.
 
“Emotizoms / The Big Time” (5/12/17) – Emoticuddlies with an advanced AI become vicious Emotizoms and disrupt the biggest wedding in the city. / Baby’s Queueby doll runs into some experimental fertilizer and becomes giant.
 
“Un-Bear-able / Snowy the Frostman” (5/19/17) – Rudie uses a bear that says uncomfortable things to apologize for hurting Angel’s feelings. / An event’s mascot tries to destroy Rudie.
 
“Kawaii Cake Mix Up / Angel Fever” (6/2/17) – The girls shrink themselves to find a micro-sized USB key with their latest song that fell onto a cupcake. / Angel’s new shoes puts the city under a spell.
 
“Candy Blossom Flower Festival / Princess Power” (6/9/17) – A kiss on the forehead transfers some of Shu Shu the Silver Shimmer Squirrel’s powers onto Music. / Rudie causes a mechanical dragon to go berserk during a gig.
 
“Hark! A Quarkle! / The Ends of the Earth” (8/13/16 AU, 6/16/17 US) – Love accidentally creates an energy organism that threatens Jo Jo Julie’s new fashion launch. / The band uses Love’s time machine to find a way to play their gig without ending the world.
 
Season 2:
“Training Day / Multi Tasking” (7/1/17 AU, 7/7/17 US) – Performing for passengers causes the band to miss their train. / The band tries to play the two concerts Rudie booked them for at the same time.
 
“Hot Rod / Over and Out” (7/8/17 AU, 7/14/17 US) – Love’s upgrade for R.O.D. makes him a hit with all the electronics in town. / A prank goes wrong when The Reversilator turns Baby into a bad girl that wants to leave the band.
 
“Stage Magic / The Sixth Wheel” (7/15/17 AU, 7/21/17 US) – Rudie decides to add magic tricks to the band’s act. / Rudie pretends to be the band’s leader to impress his grandma.
 
“Trash Talk / iTeeth” (7/22/17 AU, 7/28/17 US) – The band tries to stop Krispin Krouton from spreading lies about them on his blog. / Candy causes Baby’s retainer to pick up radio transmissions, making her unable to sing at an audition.
 
“Spies Like Spyke / The Fabulous Baron Von Melody” (7/29/17 AU, 8/4/17 US) – Spyke recruits the band to help catch a thief at Jo Jo Jolie’s winter ball. / HJ5 learns their opening act has a double identity.
 
“Game Show Offs / Monster Mash” (8/5/17 AU, 8/11/17 US) – Rudie and the band are pitted against each other on a game show. / The band gets their minds swapped with monster pets right before an important concert.
 
“You Are What You Eat / Supersonic HJ5” (8/12/17 AU, 8/18/17 US) – Snacks from a vending machine gives the band new powers. / The band uses supersonic speed to keep Say-Wah from bombing their photos.
 
“Tizzie Lizzie / Caught in the Web” (8/19/17 AU, 8/25/17 US) – Playing a private concert for their biggest fan may become a permanent gig when she refuses to let the band leave. / A computer malfunction causes the band to become trapped on the internet.
 
“57 Channels (and Nothin’ On) / Getting’ Kinda Late with Mauve Madison” (8/16/17 AU, 9/8/17 US) – Rudie and the band get trapped on the airwaves and must navigate various channels to get to their gig on time. / Rudie takes over Mauve Madison’s talk show.
 
“Ladybug Power / Wrestle Pop” (9/2/17 AU, 9/15/17 US) – Rudie’s game uses up all the electricity for the band’s benefit concert. / A gig at a wrestling match reveals Music’s wrestling past.
 
“Angel Changel / Coulda Been” (9/9/17 AU, 9/22/17 US) – A desire to quit the band takes Angel on a journey through her history. / Love’s unfinished invention traps Rudie in another dimension.
 
“Catnapped / Roundabout Roundup” (9/16/17 AU, 9/29/17 US) – When HJ5 gives Moods Meow an experimental voice chip, he announces his plans to conquer the world. / Nofun sabotages a mechanical bull at a Wild West theme park, causing it to rampage out of control.
 
“Meerkatz / Pandamonium” (9/23/17 AU, 10/6/17 US) – Angel goes undercover to put a stop to the city’s villains teaming up together. / A toy maker plans to make the whole world into Kawaii through Baby’s cuteness.
 
“Kawaii Fidelity / Rocky Road” (9/30/17 AU, 10/13/17 US) – The band has to figure out why their new song transforms people into kawaii monster pets. / On their way to meet an influential producer, the band’s van breaks down in a small town they can’t find a way to leave.
 
“This Place is a Zoo / Wacky Wednesday” (10/7/17 AU, 10/20/17 US) – The band is tasked with taking care of zoo animals while vying for a contract. / A lightning strike causes Rudie and Music to switch bodies.
 
“Dream Escape / The Kimberlys” (10/14/17 AU, 11/3/17 US) – Creatures from Baby’s dream escape into the real world thanks to one of Love’s inventions. / Rudie manages a new band determined to replace HJ5.
 
“Cecil G. Demille / Sky High Kawaii” (10/21/17 AU, 11/10/17 US) – Rudie informs the band that they have 6 hours to film a new music video before it airs. / HJ5 competes against The Kimberlys to get the most-liked video on the internet.
 
“And the Winner is… / The Trouble with Trillbys” (10/28/17 AU, 11/17/17 US) – The band is unaware that the contest they’re in is rigged to make them look like fools. / Looking for his birthday present causes Rudie to unleash chaos with one of Love’s incomplete inventions.
 
“Who Are You Calling Cupid? / Beach” (11/4/17 AU, 11/24/17 US) – When Cupid loses his contact lenses his arrows hit all the wrong marks. / Love’s competition with Angelica gets out of control.
 
“Maxi-Mini Golf / White Glitter Glider” (11/11/17 AU) – G is asked to throw a golf game to get a music contract. / Angel desires a white glitter glider.
 
“The Fantabulous Five / Mist-ery Guest” (11/18/17 AU) – A meteor gives the band superpowers. / The band’s tropical island adventure on a reality TV show is going to be anything but a vacation.
 
“An Imaginary Friend in Need / Snowbound for Greatness” (11/25/17 AU) – Love’s new invention accidentally brings the band’s childhood imaginary friends to life. / G takes the band back to where they wrote their first song, disturbing a giant snowman that just wants quiet.
 
“The Gnome Ultimatum / G Force” (12/2/17 AU) – A failed singing duo from the 90s take over the band’s home so that they can relaunch their music careers. / Angelica joins with The Kimberlys to help them beat the band in a competition.
 
“KuuKuuBall Run / Feline’s Finest” (12/9/17 AU) – Love and Angelica compete against each other in designing an eco-friendly car. / Rudie has the band enter Twisty T’s cat into a local cat show to get him to notice the girls.
 
“Debut Album / Love’s Lamentations” (12/16/17 AU) – Using Twisty T’s studio to record the band’s first album turns to chaos when Rudie causes everything to come to life. / Unable to come up with a special kind of lip gloss, Love gives up on science.
 
“Studio No-No / The Gig is Up” (12/23/17 AU) – Getting to record in a prestigious studio turns out to be a trap for the band. / The band plans to broadcast their best concert ever and Nofun is determined to make sure it ends up being the worst.
 
Season 3:
“Kawaii to the World Tour / Mind Games” (8/10/18 US, 8/11/18 AU) – The band rushes around to try and prepare for a world tour within two hours. / When the Bubblegumburg concert goes poorly, G has Love invent a mind-reading device to find out how to reach their audience.
 
“Bye Bye Baby / Super Awesome Galacto Rudie” (8/17/18 US, 8/18/18 AU) – The band not only leaves Baby behind but Nofun decides to steal their home. / When Rudie sends out the bands’ costumes to be cleaned he gets a super hero’s super suits back by mistake.
 
“Family Affair / It’s All About Mimi, Me” (8/24/18 US, 8/25/18 AU) – The band learns that Rudie’s family has been having a music feud with another family. / A rift forms when Angel hires a fashion genius to make their wardrobe for the tour whose designs the rest of the band doesn’t like.
 
“Monkey Business / Southern Sparkles” (8/31/18 US, 9/1/18 AU) – Getting lost in a jungle ends up getting the band captured by cute creatures that want them to stay forever. / The band’s cruise concert is interrupted by a mermaid group who claim dominance to perform in the water.
 
“Monster Pets on the Bus / Kawaii-Saurs” (9/7/18 US, 9/8/18 AU) – G tells Mauve how they came to have monster pets staying with them on the tour bus. / Getting lost after a concert leads the band to find three Kawaii-Saurs eggs that Baby intends to make dinner, but end up hatching first.
 
“Oh, Boya! / Rudie’s Law” (9/14/18 US, 9/15/18 AU) – Music ends up stuck to a pop star she can’t stand via a virtual leash. / Rudie messes with a device to enhance his gaming experience causing it to be projected in the real world while shutting down the city’s internet.
 
“The High C / Aller-G” (9/21/18 US, 9/22/18 AU) – The girls try to relax to help G get over being sick, but their cruise ship ends up trapped in the Harajuku Parallelogram. / G ends up developing an allergy to Rudie that causes her to sneeze into various monster pet forms.
 
“Groovy Beach Goes Bonkers / Smart Phone” (9/28/18 US, 9/29/18 AU) – The band accidentally goes back in time and ends up replacing the star of their favorite old beach movie. / Love decides to upgrade her smart phone so that it’ll never go obsolete, causing it to come to life and declare humans obsolete.
 
“Hotel Kawaii-fornia / Boo Boo Harajuku” (10/5/18 US, 10/6/18 AU) – The band checks into a strange hotel that they can’t seem to check out of. / Angel discovers an alternate universe inhabited by perfume scents that are big fans of the band.
 
“Future Tense / Pamperlona” (10/12/18 US, 10/13/18 AU) – When Rudie knocks Love’s new camera drone into another invention it begins producing recordings from the future. / Mimi Di Pollo lures a tired HJ5 to an automated spa to enact her revenge for their firing her.
 
“My Way or the Kawaii Way / Tinselfest” (10/20/18 AU) – A deranged hair stylist sets out for revenge against the band when Angel asks for a slight modification to her new hair style. / A decorating mishap as a child causes Nofun to seek to destroy the Tinselfest celebration.
 
“Planet of the Rudies / Fan Fun Day” (10/27/18 AU) – A directional mishap lands the band on a planet inhabited entirely by Rudies. / A fan wins a chance to spend a day with the band for some fun, but no matter what they do they can’t seem to put a smile on her face.
 
“Happy 100th / The Sweet Life” (11/3/18 AU) – Rudie convinces the band to go all-out for their 100th live show. / Rudie promised the band that legendary fashion designer Gwen would make their costumes, not knowing she retired after an unfortunate incident at the Ponycorn Cup.
 
“Must the Show Go On? / Lights! Camera! HJ5!” (11/10/18 AU) – When Nofun learns Bo-ring is making a musical about HJ5, he orders him to wreck the show on purpose. / The band heads to Kawaiiwood to discover Nofun is directing a nasty exposé film about them.
 
“Marshmallow Madness / Social Media” (11/17/18 AU) – Baby rescues a living artifact to send back home, but decides to have a day of fun with him first not realizing he’s turning people into marshmallows. / Angel becomes obsessed with increasing her social media follower count.
 
“That’s So Five Minutes Ago / Messy Magic” (11/24/18 AU) – Angel is determined to beat her rival during fashion week, but she somehow seems to keep ahead of Angel’s innovations. / A book Rudie gives G unleashes a cleaning magic that goes out of control.
 
“Lather, Rinse, Repeat / Sing Thing” (12/1/18 AU) – Love and Angelica get into a feud over who has the better super shampoo. / Love invents a robot to control the sounds and lights during their shows, which Rudie promptly causes to malfunction when he drops his phone inside of it.
 
“Baby Rudie / Rock Your Socks” (12/8/18 AU) – Attempting to grant their wish of letting the day last longer, Rudie messes with the teleportation device and turns himself into a baby. / Baby attempts to find out where socks disappear to in the dryer and ends up sent to another dimension.
 
“What’s in a Name? / Joy Ride” (12/15/18 AU) – G suffers an identity crisis when she discovers her name is “J” on her birth certificate. / Love’s smart phone kidnaps most of the band, leaving Baby and Rudie to rescue them.
 
“The Fabulous Baron Von Rudie / Mappy Birthday Music” (12/22/18 AU) – Using one of Love’s inventions, Rudie erases his memory and believes he’s Baron Von Melody. / Rudie gives Music a treasure map for her birthday that will lead her to the treasure she needs most.
 
“Hologrammed / Good Old Rod” (12/29/18 AU) – Say-Wah haunts the band as a hologram projection. / Believing G wants to replace him, Baby and Rudie attempt to make R.O.D. more kawaii so she’ll want to keep him around.
 
“Teen Genie Strikes Back / Clueless in Sweetropolis” (11/5/19 AU) – Angel ends up picking up Teen Genie’s bottle in a retro store, and she makes them grant her 3 wishes. / Baby is accused of eating the crown jellies meant to be worn by the new queen of Sweetropolis.
 
“Rumor Has It / The Princess and the Rocker” (11/6/19 AU) – When searching for her missing monster pet causes Angel to miss an interview, the rest of the band ends up misquoted and fake news about her is generated. / Music trades places with a lookalike princess for a day.
 
“G-Whizz / Mind Over Manager” (11/7/19 AU) – Angel tries to solidify their chances at winning a Bestie by hiring an unusual award-winning choreographer. / When Rudie breaks Love’s mental image projector, the band ends up trapped inside the happy place in his mind.
 
“Razzle Dazzle / Project Runaway” (11/8/19 AU) – The band mistakes Love’s quantum 3D printer for a graphics tablet, causing what they draw to become real. / The band meets an influential fashionista who’s dedicated to ruining the city’s fashion event.
 
“Run to the Sun / That Sinking Feeling” (11/11/19 AU) – The band must teleport around the world to make all the concerts Rudie booked for the same day. / Mimi supposedly funds a concert to make amends with the band, but frequent bad accidents has them suspecting an ulterior motive.