Yam Roll

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The Very Good Adventures of Yam Roll in Happy Kingdom was created by artist/animator Jon Izen [personal website] and writer Jono Howard.

Yam Roll (or the long title, The Very Good Adventures of Yam Roll in Happy Kingdom) is an animated television series airing on CBC Television in Canada, produced by March Entertainment. The series was first broadcast in January 2006. It can be viewed Monday to Thursday at 4:00pm and again at 4:17pm during The Void, and on Saturday at 10:00am and 10:17am on local CBC channels. The show premeired on November 20th on Cartoon Network's online video service.

[edit] Characters and Premise

Yam Roll features a cast of animated sushi characters, and other anthropomorphic instances of Japanese cuisine, all living in Happy Kingdom, a prosperous city which is upset quite often by monsters.

Yam Roll is the lead character, a taxi driver by profession who wears a cowboy hat and boots. He is portrayed as an orange yam wrapped in rice, his body being circular in appearance, with stick-like arms and legs. Yam Roll is bestowed with a certain degree of super powers thanks to his instructor Katcho and the powers of Mount Foopi. These powers allow him to fly, lift incredibly heavy objects, and change form (into a door, a table, a potato masher, etc). But despite his powers, Yam Roll leads a mostly normal life. Well, as normal as life gets in Happy Kingdom.

[edit] Other Main Characters

Ebi: Ebi-San is Yam Roll's best friend and confidant. He is a boiled shrimp, who wears a band around his "head" and sandals. Ebi is extremely enthusiastic and excitable, and always tries to force Yam Roll into some escapade or other, often with dangerous and embarrassing results. Ebi is never happy to sit still and is constantly bouncing off the walls with energy.

Edamame: Edamame Legume is another one of Yam Roll's best friends, a soy bean lightly dusted with sea salt. Unlike most of the characters in Yam Roll, Edamame has no arms. Instead, he uses his two legs as arms instead.

Tamago: Poor Tamago is forced to wear a very heavy and rare omelette on his back all the time. This unfortunate impedement leaves him bitter and emotional, and he constantly complains about the strain on his back (and any other issues that happen to be plaguing him). He tags along with Yam Roll, Ebi and Edamame on their adventures, but never without his fair share of complaints.

Minamiko: Minamiko is Yam Roll's main love interest, a spicy tuna roll who draws the eye of almost every man in Happy Kingdom. Unfortunately for Yam Roll, Minamiko is practically unaware he exists, even though he consistently saves her from the clutches of evil monsters. Her popularity nets her many dates around the city, and Yam Roll is often low on her list. Yam Roll's rival, Milk Man — a carton of milk — is usually Minamiko's main boyfriend.

Katcho: Katcho Miso is "an old lump of salty miso bean paste" and Yam Roll's Zen master, who lives atop Mount Foopi. He often has wise teachings for his only pupil, and occasionally a good whack or two from his magic staff. But most of the time Katcho watches from a distance as Yam Roll faces his daily tribulations, preferring to observe instead of interfering.

Spicy Tuna Cone: Another boyfriend of Minamiko, Spicy Tuna Cone appears to be mayor of the Happy Kingdom, and sometimes EmCees at Hakamaryoke's Karaoke's bar. He also seems to be a minor friend of Yam Roll.

Yam Roll also hosts a large variety of other sushi characters, including Yam Roll's friends, enemies, and random passers-by. Each character is wittingly named after their sushi names (e.g., Ebi, which means "shrimp" in Japanese).