The Adventures of Little Carp

Bubbles (小鲤鱼历险记 Xiǎo Lǐ Yú Lì Xiǎn Jì, a.k.a. The Adventures of Little Carp) is a Chinese TV series.

Plot

The story begins in the lake where Bubbles, a carp lives with his grandmother. The grandmother tells him about the legendary ruler of the seas and the rivers, the Dragon, who is believed to have become dormant after stopping an erupting volcano. Bubbles finds a kind of thorny weed, which spreads throughout the lake. To stop the growth, Bubbles searches for the dragon, and finds Evil Snake, who calls himself the Dragon king. He and his two accomplices accompany Bubbles to the lake, where the grandmother tells that he his not the dragon. No one believes her at first, but when his Dragon horns and fake skin slip from his body while fighting with Bubble's Grand mother, he is revealed to be a snake. In anger, The snake turns the grandmother into a bubble. Filled with anger, Bubbles searches for the true dragon to revive his grandmother, and avenge her death.

Characters

Protagonists

• Bubbles- The protagonist of the series. A curious young fish with the ability to blow bubbles. He has been living with his grandmother for an unknown number of years and he doesn't usually speak about his parents. When his grandmother got turned into a bubble, he promised to find the real dragon and to turn her grandmother back into a fish. He and Aku meets Mei-mei at a circus run by Mr. Octavio, who invited the two to perform in his circus. He is the first to gain a chip which is the golden chip. It is activated when the phrase "Courage in my heart that no one can destroy!". This causes his bubbles to gain strength and defensive properties.
• Aoqi of Aku - Sometimes called as simply "Aku" is a magician seahorse. He has a wand that he uses when doing magic tricks and sometimes used as a weapon. He is very smart, where when the gang is in a sticky situation he is usually the first to give suggestion or the first to be asked on what to do. He also shows in some episodes of his great speed. He is the second on to gain a chip which is the blue chip. The chip is activated when he says the phrase "The power in my fist is what my heart wants!" this upgrades his wand so that it can turn to what ever Aku calls for.
• Mei mei - A beautiful singer that works/performs in the circus Mr. Octavio run and is the main star. She met Bubbles and Aku when they were asked to perform in the same circus. She sometimes act like a diva but she is the most forgiving and sensible one. She also likes anything that is cute and beautiful and hates things that are ugly. She is admired by Erl because of here beautiful singing but she doesn't usually care, mostly because of Erl's braggy nature. She is the third one to gain a chip which is the emerald chip. She activates it by singing unlike the other three, but in some occasions she has been known to use the phrase "I am the voice of the ocean!". The activation of her chip causes here singing to be very powerful as it can calm down anything and stop it.
• Erl - He is a timid turtle that have the ability to remove his shell. He used to work for the evil snake but changed for the sake of his beloved Mei-mei and because he has grown to see Bubbles Aku as his friends. He can sometimes be impulsive because he brags(or lies) about things he has done and says thing like he's brave to new people they meet. In reality he is a scaredy cat that runs away from any kind of danger and usually does something wrong thinking that it will make Mei-mei happy but hat changes when he is given his own chip where he proves that he is brave. He is the last one to gain a chip which is the amethyst chip. He activates it with the phrase "By the power of fire, give me strength!". He gains the ability to control fire and every attack he does is strengthened by fire.

Antagonists

• Evil snake - Evil snake is the antagonist of the series. He is an anthropomorphic snake who calls himself the Dragon King. He usually wears a fake blue skin and the Dragon Horns to look like the Dragon. When he hears about the five magic chips and that maybe they could turn him into a real dragon he sets up to find them but he didn't expect that Bubbles and his friends would try to get all the magic chips as well. He gains a powerful item known as the Poisonous Fang that was passed down by his ancestors. He is helped by his two generals Lobby and Bogart and then by his cousin Ray. He used to work for the real dragon with Master Phoenix and Father Sea Monster before it died. He is finally defeated by Bubbles and friends when they tried to jump the Dragon's Gate.
• Lobby - One of the Evil Snake's generals, the other one being Bogart. He is a lobster which is the brains of the two as he is the one that makes up most of their plots to trick the gang. He and Bogart usually disguises themselves to trick Bubbles and the gang and gets a daily zap from their lord if they fail. He is also more deceitful than Bogart as he can be seen plotting a lot more to over throw the evil Snake. He attacks by throwing claw-like projectiles. He commands a group of small lobster(they could be prawns) to patrol the area.
• Bogart - One of the Evil Snake's generals, the other one being Lobby. He is a fat catfish which acts as the brawns of the two. he doesn't usually understands what Lobby is thinking but is very suspicious of him being a traitor to their lord. He commands a group of catfish to spy on Lobby and patrol the area.
• Ray - He is the Evil Snake's cousin and later his second-in-command after he helps the Snake get the Poisonous Fang that belongs to their ancestor. He appears to the Snake just moments after Bubbles and the gang leaves the snake in the Coral Forest.He had been eaten by the Evil Snake as he could not catch Bubbles and his gang.

Trivia

• This TV series is adapted from a Chinese folktale known as Little Carp Jumps over the Dragon Gate.

VCD and DVD releases

The Adventures of Little Carp has also been released on VCD and DVD.

External links

• "Hong Kong advantages in the booming Mainland movie and TV scene", Hong Kong Trade Development Council, Sept. 14, 2007