Kobushi (TV series)

—the official ZAG website in 2016

***Kobushi*** is a 2D animated television series under the ZAG Toon brand. It is a co-production between Zagtoon, 2 Minutes, Inspidea, and AB Productions.

The first episode premiered on September 30, 2012, on Gulli. The final episode premiered on April 12, 2015, on Mangas.

## Synopsis

*Main article: List of Kobushi episodes*

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> *After an episode of Kobushi, you’ll never see sushi in the same light again. When a fancy sushi restaurant, Kobushi, closes down for the night, the sushis come to life, spending the entire evening avoiding traps set by the famous white porcelain cat, Manekineko, who has also awakened, and with an appetite for fish! To the porcelain cat’s constant dismay, the mini-sushi heroes put up quite the powerful fight, as energy-packed and action-ready martial arts experts. So sit back with another cup of tea and enjoy the fabulous tales of crazy, funny BANZAI!*
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>
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>

## Main characters

*Main article: List of Kobushi characters*
### Toro

**Toro** (voiced by Matthew Géczy in the English dub; Martial Leminoux in the French dub) is a male bluefin tuna sushi and the youngest student in Master Tako's class. He is an egotistical sushi who often boasts about himself being the most expensive sushi on the restaurant menu and likes to think proudly about himself. However, Toro is also very impulsive, making irrational decisions and wanting to improvise his martial arts training instead of learning what he's been taught, which often puts himself and his fellow Kobushis in danger.

### Tamago

**Tamago** (voiced by Sharon Mann in the English dub; Latetia Lefebvre in the French dub) is a female sushi omelet. She is the most disciplined samurai and is Master Tako's best student. Unbeknownst to everyone, except her best friend Shaké, Tamago disguises herself as a male so that she can be Master Tako's student and become a samurai. This is due to the culture of Kobushi being based on feudal Japan which forbids females from being samurais and are treated as second-class citizens.

### Onigiri

**Onigiri** (voiced by Matthew Géczy in the English dub; Martial Leminoux in the French dub) is a male rice ball. He is Toro's best friend and often tags along with him during his crazy schemes. However, Onigiri isn't the brightest sushi in the village and he often causes trouble due to his lack of intelligence.

### Master Tako

**Master Tako** (voiced by David Gasman in the English dub; Martial Leminoux in the French dub) is a male octopus sushi. He is the leader of the Kobushi community. He is also the martial arts master of Toro, Tamago, Onigiri, and Hokkigaï, wanting to train his students to become samurais so they can protect the village from Néko. Master Tako is strict, yet caring and wise sushi. However, he is very traditional, wanting to preserve the tradition that only male sushis can become samurais. As a result of this practice, he forbids any female sushis (especially his granddaughter Shaké) and non-sushis in the village from ever being trained to become one.

### Shaké

**Shaké** (voiced by Lee Delong in the English dub; Nathalie Bienaimé in the French dub) is a female salmon sushi. She is the traditional arts teacher of Ebi, Toro, Onigiri, Tamago, and Hokkigai. She is also the granddaughter of Master Tako. Shaké is best friends with her student Tamago and she is initially the only one in the village who knows Tamago's secret identity as a female sushi disguised as a male. She supports Tamago in her decision to wanting to become a samurai. Having been raised in a society where female sushis are treated as second-class citizens, Shaké wishes that someday female sushis are given equal rights and be allowed to be samurais like the rest of the male sushis.

### Ebi

**Ebi** (voiced by David Gasman in the English dub; Franck Tordjman in the French dub) is the anti-villain of *Kobushi*. He is a male shrimp sushi who is a descendant of the Kudupus cursed with the Stinkypoo, a family curse that caused him to have a smelly odor that greatly repulses everyone around him. Despite being trained under Master Tako to become a samurai, Ebi is a skilled ninja. Unbeknownst to everyone in the village, Ebi is secretly a traitor to his fellow sushis. Because of his curse, Ebi makes a pact with Néko where he promises the porcelain cat that if he manages to lure his fellow samurais-in-training to his altar, then Néko can eat them all, including Ebi himself who is determined that being eaten can "lift his family curse". However, Néko constantly breaks his promise because he can't stand Ebi's smell. Whenever Néko does so, Ebi secretly transforms himself into a ninja vigilante named Ninjasmin so he can rescue his fellow sushis without getting himself caught. Ebi is guided by the spirit of his ancestor named Oni San, who would constantly pressure Ebi into getting himself eaten by Néko.

### Néko

**Néko** (voiced by Matthew Géczy in the English dub; Thierry Kazazian in the French dub) is the main antagonist of *Kobushi*. He is a battery-operated white porcelain cat who believes he is the "god" of the Kobushi restaurant. Described to be megalomaniac and egocentric, Néko is determined to eat every single sushis who comes to life in the restaurant. The only sushi he doesn't want to eat is Ebi because of his smelly odor despite they made a pact. Néko has three followers named Sho, Yu, and Ka, a trio of sauce flasks.

## Production

*Kobushi* is based on a 3-minute TV pilot that was originally pitched at SIP Animation, a French animation studio and a former subsidiary of Saban Entertainment. The pilot (known as "Miso-Rable") was co-produced with Inspidea and it was released in 2008. According to an article published by Animation Magazine, the series was originally going to have 78 episodes with a 3-minute length. However, plans for the SIP Animation version of *Kobushi* was cancelled following the studio's liquidation in 2009.

Following SIP Animation's defunct, one of its co-founders Jacqueline Tordjman later joined forces with Jeremy Zag and together they founded Univergroup (the original name for ZAG Entertainment) in 2009. Because Tordjman is also a co-founder of SIP Animation and various ZAG employees previously worked at SIP Animation (e.g., Nathanaël Bronn), the *Kobushi* project was revived at Univergroup.

In 2011, *Kobushi* was picked up to be a full series by Gulli and it was later broadcast in the following year.

At MIPJunior 2014, the series was available at the event. According to Jacqueline Tordjman, the crew was "convinced it will do well because several major broadcasters want it".

## International release

*Kobushi* first premiered in France on September 30, 2012, on Gulli. The series later aired on Mangas on November 1, 2014.

The English dub of the series premiered in Australia on December 31, 2013, on ABC Me. It was also released in several Asian countries on September 4, 2017, on HBO Family.

## Related media

### Feature film

*Main article: Kobushi (film)*
A CGI feature film of *Kobushi* was originally announced on the official ZAG website in 2012. The official full trailer for the film was released on director Stephane Juffe's Vimeo channel. However, as of 2017, it's implied that the film has been shelved since there has been news about its production process.

## Trivia

* *Kobushi* is the only released TV series from the ZAG Toon brand that ZAG owns the full rights to. As a result, it is considered ZAG Entertainment's first intellectual property. This is unlike its first television series *Rosie* which is fully owned by 2 Minutes.
	+ *Kobushi* was originally pitched as an original TV series for SIP Animation. But after SIP Animation was defunct in 2012, the rights for *Kobushi* got transferred to Univergroup (the original name for ZAG). This makes sense since Jacqueline Tordjman is a co-founder of both ZAG and SIP Animation.
	+ However, *Kobushi* is technically not ZAG's original project since the concept was originally from SIP Animation.
* Because *Kobushi* is fully owned by ZAG, there are instances when Néko makes a cameo appearance in other ZAG-produced TV series and in concept art.
	+ Néko appeared in a *Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir* episode "Copycat".
	+ He also appeared in a concept art for *Melody*.
* "Kobushi" (拳) is a Japanese word meaning "fist".
	+ In the original SIP Animation version, the pilot is spelled as "Ko-Bushi".
* *Kobushi* is the second television series co-produced by Zagtoon to reach past 100 episodes, after *Rosie*. However, unlike *Rosie*, *Kobushi* is also the first one to be fully owned by ZAG.

## Gallery

### Videos

Kobushi IntroOpening sequence for *Kobushi*.
## References

1. ↑ https://playtv.fr/programmes-tv/gulli/30-09-2012/
2. ↑ https://playtv.fr/programmes-tv/mangas/12-04-2015/
3. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20160919120632/http://www.zag-inc.com/brands/kobushi
4. ↑ https://www.animationmagazine.net/showcase/inspidea.html
5. ↑ https://issuu.com/mipmarkets/docs/mipjunior\_2012\_preview/39
6. ↑ https://playtv.fr/programmes-tv/gulli/30-09-2012/
7. ↑ https://playtv.fr/programmes-tv/mangas/01-11-2014/
8. ↑ http://www.abc.net.au/abc3/shows/guide/201312/20131231.htm
9. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nl0p5\_AcWck&ab\_channel=IndiHomeTV
10. ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20120406002215/http://www.zagtoon.com/
11. ↑ https://vimeo.com/243139840

## External links

* Official *Kobushi* website (Archive)
* *Kobushi* on the Kobushi Wiki

**Possibly cancelled/Status unknown:** **Arthur and the Book of Life** • **Balloons** • **Basile and Melba** • **Job Academy** • **Kosmic Dancer** • **Legendary Books** • **Powearth** • **Sweet Power** • **Touftouf & Kenotte** • **Transylmaniac**

**Films**: ***Kobushi (film)***
**Others**: **Kobushi trailer**