Stitch!
The first arc of the series, which serves as the first season outside Japan, was produced by Madhouse and aired from October 8, 2008, to March 25, 2009, with a post-season special on June 26, 2009, also known as "Stitch Day" in reference to Stitch's experiment number (626). A second arc of the original series, called aired in Japan from October 13, 2009, to June 29, 2010, with another post-season special on August 8, 2010, completing Madhouse's 56-episode run. A 29-episode sequel series from the original two-arc anime, entitled , was produced by  Shin-Ei Animation and aired on TV Asahi from July 6, 2010, to March 8, 2011, with a post-season special for this season on June 19, 2011. Shin-Ei then produced two more TV specials, known as Stitch! New Specials, that continued from the series. The first special, , aired on June 16, 2012. The second post-series TV special, , was announced on June 26, 2015, and aired on August 7, 2015. No further specials were produced after "Perfect Memory", as "Stitch!" would be succeeded in the franchise by the Chinese animated series "Stitch & Ai" in 2017. Production. In March  2008, Walt Disney Television International Japan started procuring its own animated shows with their first two debuting at Tokyo International Anime Fair 2008, producing "Stitch!" with Japanese animation studio Madhouse. Seasons one and two of "Stitch!" were animated by Madhouse, and season three was animated by Shin-Ei Animation. At the 2008 Tokyo International Anime Fair, the pilot for the series was showcased to attendees at the Madhouse booth. Information was also shown around Disney's booth, showing the cast of characters who would appear in the anime. Many of the past characters, such as Jumba Jookiba and Pleakley, appear , as well as five villains: Gantu, Dr. Jacques von Hämsterviel, Experiment 625/Reuben, Experiment 627 (in a second season episode), and (in the third season) a new villain named Delia. In addition, three of Jumba's genetic experiments, Experiment 624/Angel, Experiment 221/Sparky and Experiment 010/Felix, also appear in the anime's first season due to their popularity from the American series, although the latter two would appear less frequently in subsequent seasons while more experiments, both returning from the original series and its finale film, and new experiments made for this show, appear. "Stitch!" started on TV  Tokyo and following affiliates at 7:00 p.m. on October 8, 2008, and had an hour premiere of the first two episodes. Afterward, it aired every Wednesday after at 7:26 p.m. time slot, essentially replacing "Bleach". Where the Hawaiian culture was featured in the original version, the culture of Okinawa Prefecture and the other Ryukyu Islands are featured. For example, Yuna's karate has replaced Lilo's hula. The "Stitch!" anime is influenced by children's manga and originally aimed at young Japanese kids aged 4 to 14 years. Most of the main characters are young children ranging from 8 to  12 years old, including Yuna. However, unlike the American series, the anime contains darker and more mature content. The series was edited and localized for younger international audiences, especially those in the Western world and the Anglosphere, and a lower TV rating. The series's English dub used an American English-speaking cast that differed from the original cast of the previous films and "Lilo & Stitch: The Series". Cast. With the exception of Rocky McMurray reprising his "Lilo & Stitch: The Series" and "Leroy & Stitch" role of Clyde in the English dub of the second season episode "Stitchman Meets Bonnie and  Clyde", none of the original English voice cast from the "Lilo & Stitch" films or "Lilo & Stitch: The Series" reprised their roles for the English dub of this series. Music. Soundtrack. is a collection of opening, insert, and ending songs based on "Stitch!". It was released on April 28, 2010. International version. The international version features an entirely different score composed by Thorsten Laewe, who released his score on his personal website. Release. Broadcast. The series airs on Seven Network, 7mate, 7Two, and Disney Channel in Australia, on Disney Channel in Singapore and India, on Toon Disney in Italy, on TV3  and TV2 in Malaysia, on TV5 in the Philippines, on RTÉ Two in Ireland, and on Disney Cinemagic in the United Kingdom. The first season began airing in English on the Australian Disney Channel on 4 December 2009, and later on Disney Channel Asia 19 December 2009. The first season premièred on Disney Channel Latin America on 2 May 2010, in the American Spanish dub. The second season aired on Disney Channel Latin America on 6 June 2011. The third season aired on Disney Channel Latin America on 20 August 2012. The first season also aired on Finland's Disney  Channel beginning from 7 June 2010, subtitled in Finnish with the English dub. The anime has also aired in other Scandinavian countries on The Disney Channel, on Disney Cinemagic in the UK, and on Toon Disney in Italy. The Dutch version aired on Disney XD Netherlands and Disney Channel Netherlands as well as on the Disney Channel in Belgium. On October 24, 2011, the series began airing on Disney XD in the United States, but was removed from the schedule five days later for unknown reasons, leaving the series unfinished in the country. As a result, it has only five  episodes aired in the U.S. Home media. The series received several DVD box set releases in Japan. Video on-demand. In Japan, the entire series and both post-series specials are available on Disney+. It was previously on Disney Deluxe, which was later rebranded as Disney+ in the country but run separately from the main platform. After the Japanese Disney+ merged with the main platform in October 2021, "Stitch!" was added to the main platform, albeit still restricted to Japan. Disney+ has only the original Japanese version of the series and splits "Stitch and the Planet of Sand" and "Stitch ! Perfect Memory" into two two-part episodes each; both specials are listed as part of season three. Despite the geo-blocking for non-Japanese subscribers, metadata for languages other than Japanese (such as English) exist on the service, including logos, with episodes titles using either their official dub titles or translations of their Japanese titles; episodes that were shortened and merged with other episodes in the international version also use their combined titles for their respective languages. In India, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand, the first season of the series's international version is available on Disney+ Hotstar, with the English , Hindi, Telugu, and Tamil dubs available.