Stitch!

Stitch!

Logo for the first season of the series.
スティッチ!
(Sutitchi!)
Genre Science fantasy, Comedy
Anime television series
Directed by Masami Hata
Studio Madhouse
Licensed by Walt Disney Pictures
Network TV Tokyo
Disney Channel
English network
Disney Channel, Seven Network, 7Two, 7mate
Original run 8 October 2008 – 26 June 2009
Episodes 26
Anime television series
Stitch! ~ The Mischievous Alien's Great Adventure ~
Directed by Masami Hata
Studio Madhouse
Network TV Asahi
Disney Channel
Original run 13 October 2009 – 8 August 2010
Episodes 30
Anime television series
Stitch! ~ Best Friends Forever ~
Directed by Tetsuya Endo
Studio Shin-Ei Animation
Network TV Asahi
Disney Channel
English network Disney Channel Asia
Original run 6 July 2010 – 19 June 2011
Episodes 30

Stitch! (スティッチ! Sutitchi!) is the anime adaptation of the animated feature film Lilo & Stitch and the successor for the Lilo & Stitch series by Walt Disney Animation Studios. It takes place after Leroy & Stitch and debuted in Japan on October 2008. The show features a Japanese girl named Yuna in place of Lilo, and is set on a fictional island in the Ryukyus off the shore of Okinawa instead of Hawaii. The island is called Izayoi. A second season of the series, called Stitch! ~The Mischievous Alien's Great Adventure~ (スティッチ! ～いたずらエイリアンの大冒険～ Sutitchi! ~Itazura Eirian no Daibōken~) began airing in Japan on 13 October 2009, completing Madhouse's 56 original episodes of the show. A sequel series from the original two-arc anime, entitled Stitch! ~Best Friends Forever~ (スティッチ! ～ずっと最高のトモダチ～ Stitch! ~Zutto Saikō no Tomodachi~) aired on TV Asahi on 6 July 2010, with Shin-Ei Animation taking over production.[1] Then, a TV special, continuing from the sequel series entitled Stitch and the Planet of Sand (スティッチと砂の惑星 Sutitchi to Suna no Wakusei) aired on 16 June 2012.

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 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.[2][3]

The first season also aired on Finland's Disney Channel 7 June 2010, subtitled in Finnish with English dub. The anime has also aired in other Scandinavian countries on The Disney Channel, and on Disney Cinemagic in the UK. The Dutch version aired on Disney XD Netherlands and Disney Channel Netherlands as well as on the Disney Channel in Belgium. On 24 October 2011 the series began airing on Disney XD in the United States, but was removed from the schedule five days later, leaving the series unfinished. As a result, it has only five episodes aired.

Production

Logo for "Stitch! ~The Mischievous Alien's Great Adventure~," the second season of the series.

Season one and two of Stitch! were animated by the Japanese animation studio Madhouse, and season three was animated by Shin-Ei Animation.

At the 2008 Tokyo International Anime Fair, the pilot for the series was showcased for attendees at the Madhouse booth. Information was also shown around Disney's booth, showing the cast of characters who would appear in the anime. From the information available, many of the past characters, such as Dr. Jumba Jookiba and Pleakley, might appear, as well as five villains: Captain Gantu, Dr. Jacques von Hämsterviel, 625/Reuben, 627/Evile and Delia. In addition, two characters, 624/Angel and 221/Sparky, also appear in the anime due to their popularity from the English franchise.

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. Afterwards, it aired on 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 is featured. For example, Yuna's karate has replaced Lilo's hula.

The Stitch anime is influenced by children's manga. It was originally aimed in Japan at young kids aged 4 to 14 years. Most of the main characters are young children, including Yuna, and most of the characters are aged from 8–12 years old.

Unlike the movies and American series, the anime contains some darker and mature content, which is appropriate to children in Japan.

Like most other anime dubbed into English for TV by Disney (including the Studio Ghibli films, Pokémon 4Ever, Pokémon Heroes, Pokémon: Jirachi Wish Maker and Pokémon: Destiny Deoxys), the series is edited and localized for younger US, English speaking and western audiences and a lower TV rating. Every English-speaking country aired the US English dub (especially India, Philippines, and English speaking countries in Asia). Every country outside Japan (aside from China, and including Italy) receives or received the anime through the US English dub.

Characters

Major characters

Stitch (スティッチ Sutitchi)
Stitch (original name: Experiment #626), an alien from outer space, one day ends up falling to an island located on Earth, called Izayoi Island, off the coast of Okinawa. He discovers "The Spiritual Stone" on Okinawa, with the help of his new friend Yuna, and learns it can grant his wish of becoming the strongest in the universe...provided he does enough good deeds which is 43. Thus, with his Good Deed Counter made by Jumba, he is able to keep track of his good deeds, and keep track of his wish of becoming strongest in the universe. However, he has mischievous tendencies that often make him lose deeds due to his overabundance of such things.
Yuna Kamihara (加美原ユウナ Kamihara Yūna)
Yuna is a young Japanese girl; a tomboy at that, and is a 10-year-old 4th Grade elementary school student (11-year-old 5th Grade elementary school student in Stitch! Zutto Saiko no Tomodachi, albeit with her move to Okinawa New Town) who lives on a fictional island off the shore of Okinawa in the Ryukyus called Izayoi Island. Her personality is sweet and outgoing, while still tough and feisty all in all. Living on Izayoi Island, she learns and studies karate, having learned it from her grandpa. Her grandpa also did the honor of giving her a special type of starsand, as a good luck charm in her study of karate before he left. Yuna lives a rather normal cherished life with her grandma, Obaa. The other majority of her family are elsewhere, her father is out at work a lot as a marine biologist around Okinawa, and her mother died when she was an infant in a typhoon. Her life remained normal yet happy until one day, after a varied coincidence, she meets a strange creature that came crashlanding from the Turo system of outer space, Experiment 626, or as we know him, Stitch. From then and there when they met, the two became best friends and the duo go on various adventures on Stitch's quest in order to be "good". Yuna though, has a strong sense of justice and an overbearing attitude, which make her a tomboy, and that shows throughout the series. The creators of the anime got Yuna's name from the Japanese name of sea hibiscus out in Okinawa (known in Japanese as Yuna). Yuna's birthday is 25 February. It can be assumed that Yuna's favorite animal is a porpoise or dolphin from a few instances in the series. Yuna isn't good at mathematics, often getting low scores on math tests. Yuna's last name, Kamihara, wasn't unveiled until much later, although previous guesses were Chitama, after the dojo and the forest on Izayoi and Hanako, which was Yuna's previous name and design during development of the anime.
Dr. Jumba Jookiba (ジャンバ博士 Janba Hakase)
Jumba is an evil genius scientist, the one who created Stitch, and the other 625 Experiments. He is assigned by the Galactic Council to watch over Stitch, and lives with Yuna and Obaa. He is more friendly in this series than the original, and has less of a penchant for evil.
Agent Pleakley (プリークリー Purīkurī)
He is a one-eyed alien working for the Galactic Council and Earth expert. He is Jumba's best friend, and lives with him along with Yuna, Obaa, and Stitch.
Obaa (Grandma)
Yuna's grandmother whom Yuna lives with. She is one of the three characters that believes in the existence of yōkai.
Kijimunaa
He is a little yokai, who is Yuna & Stitch's friend. He is kind of a coward, but with the help of his friends, he can find the courage to best whatever he can.

Other characters

Angel (エンジェル Enjeru)
Experiment #624: A pink female experiment who is Stitch's love interest. Stitch is madly in love with her and she shares the same feeling. Angel travels a lot, but she stops at the island, at times, to visit Stitch and Yuna. It turns out that while Stitch is immune to Angel's song if sung by her, if it is in a different voice it still will turn him evil.
Piko (named Penny in the English dub)
A blonde girl, rival to Yuna. Piko/Penny is self-centered, impatient and in some cases, a bit snobby. She often takes great pride to mock and deride Yuna and Stitch in any case, often ending with Yuna and her fighting. There's rare occasions where she and Yuna can get along though. Her father runs the island's pineapple plants and her family runs the highest rated hotels and resorts on Izayoi. There's a habit with Piko/Penny where when she's angered, she'll often end her ranting with a comparison of something akin to pineapples. She is also a black-team karate leader. Piko/Penny may have been idealized after Hawaiian pop song Pineapple Princess. Piko/Penny dislikes Sae but secretly does believe that she dresses better than her.
Sae (Named Sasha in the English dub)
A young girl about Yuna's age who is introduced in the second season. A transfer student from Koube, she joins Yuna's class amidst the second season. She believes in good fashion and beauty, and is girly in spirit, often talking about fashion, love and all. She's also quite ditsy at times. She believes Yuna has a good fashion sense, and becomes good friends with her; as her fashion sense reminded her of her mother, a tropical fashion designer. Her father is a doctor. She not only has a rather brave personality, like Yuna; but she has a sweet and gentle personality too. Kouji (Kenny) has a crush for Sae, unbeknownst to her, and Piko (Penny) secretly dislikes Sae, but believes that Sae dresses better than she does.
Zuruko (Named Tigerlily in the English dub)
Yuna's mean, bullying cousin who appears mid-way through Season 2. Although she may seem nice at first look, once you get to know her you'll discover that isn't the case. While she's kind hearted to others she is harsh and cruel to Yuna for unknown reasons, and constantly blackmails her into doing all the chores around the house (Although she later claims that she's only trying to do a role-model for Yuna). But when Yuna and Stitch move off to live with her in season 3, she becomes more friendly with Yuna and treats her nicer, although she still forces her to do most of the house chores.
Takumi (Named Hiroman in the English dub)
A boy from Okinawa New Town introduced in the third season. A popular soccer player, and love interest of Reika, he often acts cool and calm. He bears a secret of acting as a maid to his sisters, and even dressing up in bishoujo-styled outfits for his sisters' enjoyment. His name is obviously a play on "hero man". It is hinted that he and Yuna have feelings for each other since Yuna often saves him from trouble; in the episode "Dorkifier", it was shown that Yuna blushed at him.
Reika (named Jessica in the English dub)
Yuna's rival in season 3. She has a crush on Takumi and friends who she bosses around. She, like Piko/Penny from the first two seasons, likes to mock and deride Stitch and Yuna. She also bears a trait of saying rather dull jokes and puns, often met with silent response.
Lilo Pelekai
A character mentioned in the English dub, she was Stitch's best friend in the past, but one day she left for college. However, her mention in the English dub is only due to Disney intertwining Stitch! from Leroy and Stitch for the English dub. The Japanese original bears little to no direct mention of Lilo, though they do mention a "bigger Hawaiian girl" in episode 2 similar to the main character in this series. However, episode 23 of season 3 had Lilo visit Okinawa in cahoots to reunite with Stitch, only for a while though. Lilo is now grown up, and has a daughter who looks like her when she was younger, named Ani.

Villains

Dr. Jacques Von Hämsterviel
The villain who was a college buddy of Jumba. Much like the rest of the franchise, he bears a waning to defeat Stitch, but this time, to steal Stitch's Good Deed Counter in order to gain ultimate power.
Gantu
He works under Dr. Hamsterviel, to steal Stitch's Good Deed Counter. According to the English dub, Gantu was dishonorably discharged from his Galactic Federation job due to bad karaoke singing. He bears an over-obsession to a television drama called "Red Rose Maiden", or "The Young and the Stupid" in the English dub, and bears a huge crush over the main character of the drama, Princess Michigo.
Reuben
Experiment #625: He has all powers of Stitch and works alongside Gantu, but he is lazy and eats sandwiches. Dr. Hamsterviel claims he doesn't do much beside make sandwiches all the time. During the series he isn't much of an enemy to Stitch, even coming to visiting him sometimes. During "Onigiri Rueben", he becomes fond of Japanese Rice balls, and even includes them among his sandwich liking.
Cyber
Experiment #000: He is an evil experiment that is a cyborg version of Stitch.
Delia/Dark End
An evil alien woman who is introduced in season 3. She is in a partnership with Dr. Jacques Von Hämsterviel to get the Neo-PowerChip that is inside of Stitch. Delia altered a majority of Experiments, which had caused them to become physically stronger and evil, and Angel which is rescued by Stitch. Delia usually calls Dr. Jacques Von Hämsterviel the wrong name such as Hamu Sama, or Hämusta Sama and then, when Hamsterviel's plans go wrong she eventually punishes him with various explosions or robots.

Episode list

Cast

The original English voice cast from the Lilo & Stitch movies and the television series did not reprise their roles for this anime.

Character Voice Actor (Japanese) Voice Actor (English)
Stitch (626) Kōichi Yamadera Ben Diskin
Yuna Kamihara Motoko Kumai Eden Riegel
Dr. Jumba Jookiba Shōzō Iizuka Jess Winfield
Agent Pleakley Yūji Mitsuya Ted Biaselli
Dr. Jacques von Hämsterviel Hiroshi Yanaka Kirk Thornton
Delia Romi Park Mary Elizabeth McGlynn
Gantu Unshou Ishizuka Keith Silverstein
Obaa (Grandma) Hisako Kyōda Gwendoline Yeo
Kijimunaa Kappei Yamaguchi Colleen O'Shaughnessey
Reuben Kōji Ochiai Dave Wittenberg
Yūna's father Kōichi Yamadera Keith Silverstein
Tarō Tomoe Hanba Stephanie Sheh
Taka (Ted) Hitomi Hase Laura Bailey
Masa (Marvin) Yuki Ishii Kari Wahlgren
Honda-san (Mr. Honda) Sōryū Konno Dave Wittenberg
Suzuki Kanji Suzumori Kirk Thornton
Piko (Penny) Miyako Ito Meghan Strange
Angel (624) Keiko Toda Kate Higgins
Kōji (Kenny) Yuka Nishigaki Derek Stephen Prince
Jun (JJ) Yuri Konno Laura Bailey
Tonbo Yūki Kaji Dave Wittenberg
Sparky (221) Yūji Mitsuya Steven Jay Blum
Felix Kappei Yamaguchi Steven Jay Blum
Kawasaki-sensei (Ms. Kawasaki) Ryōko Nagata Kari Wahlgren
Tachicchu Sōryū Konno Steven Jay Blum
627 Osamu Ryūtani Ben Diskin
Cyber Tomohiro Nishimura Ben Diskin
Pilolo Makoto Naruse Brian Beacock
Nosy Matsuno Taiki Roger Craig Smith
BooGoo Hitomi Hase Steven Jay Blum
Sae (Sasha) Tomiko Orikasa Melissa Fahn
Zuruko (Tigerlily) Rica Matsumoto Laura Bailey
Takumi (Hiroman) Hiroaki Miura Sam Riegel
Reika (Jessica) Yoko Hikasa Kate Higgins
Toyoda-San (Dolores) Yumiko Kobayashi Colleen O'Shaughnessey
Toriko Mai Katagari Ali Hillis
Makiko Komatsuna Sakato Laura Bailey
(Young) Lilo Pelekai Sumire Morohoshi Gwendoline Yeo
Lilo Pelekai Tomoe Hanba Gwendoline Yeo
Ani Sumire Morohoshi Melissa Fahn

Crew

DVD

A list of DVDs and boxsets of this anime.

Season # DVD/Boxset name Episodes Released Ref
1
 Stitch! BOX 1 1 - 13 5 August 2009 [4]
1
 Stitch! Kessaku Episode Shu / Sukisuki! Angel 6, 8, 11 5 August 2009
1
 Stitch! BOX 2 14 - 26 7 October 2009 [5]
1
 Stitch! Kessaku Episode Shu / Hi No Tama Boya Damacchi 15, 17, 18 7 October 2009
2
 Stitch! ~Itazura Alien no Daibouken~ BOX 1 1 - 15 23 June 2010 [6]
2
 Stitch! ~Itazura Alien no Daibouken~ The Best: Lovely Alien 2, 14, 15 23 June 2010 [7]
2
 Stitch! ~Itazura Alien no Daibouken~ BOX 2 16 - 30 20 October 2010 [8]
2
 Stitch! ~Itazura Alien no Daibouken~ The Best: Stitch Goes to Tokyo Disneyland 3, 9, 26 20 October 2010 [9]
3
 Stitch! ~Zutto Saiko no Tomodachi~ BOX 1 1 - 15 17 June 2011 [10]
3
 Stitch! ~Zutto Saiko no Tomodachi~ The Best: Stitch goes to New Town 1, 18, 23 17 June 2011 [11]
3
 Stitch! ~Zutto Saiko no Tomodachi~ BOX 2 16 - 30 20 July 2011 [12]

Soundtrack

Stitch!: Original Soundtrack
Stitch! OST Official
Soundtrack album
Released 28 April 2010
Genre Soundtrack
Label Walt Disney, Avex

Stitch!: Original Soundtrack (スティッチ！オリジナル・サウンドトラック Sutitchi! Orijinaru Saundotorakku) is a collection of opening, insert, and ending songs based on Stitch!. It was released on 28 April 2010.

Track list:[13]

  1. "Minamikaze to Taiyō" (南風と太陽, "South Wind & Sun") by Mongol800
  2. "Rodeo star mate" by The Pillows
  3. "SMILE" by Kimaguren
  4. "Ichariba Ohana" (イチャリバオハナ, "If We've Met Before, We're Ohana") by Begin
  5. "Aoi Arashi" (アオイアラシ, "Blue Storm") by All Japan Goith
  6. "TOMODACHI" (Friends) by Glean Piece
  7. "HERO" by Kiyotaka Ishikawa
  8. "Hitori Janai" (ひとりじゃない, "You Are Not Alone") by Bless4
  9. "Number One" by LoversSoul
  10. "Kagen no Tsuki" (下弦の月, "Waning Moon") by Chihiro Kamiya
  11. "Stitch is Coming" (スティッチ・イズ・カミング Sutitchi Izu Kamingu) by Bless4
  12. "Stitch Eisa" (スティッチ・エイサー Sutitchi Eisaa) by LoversSoul
  13. "Izayoi Yoi" (イザヨイヨイ, "Izayoi Evening") by Begin featuring Kanako Hatoma

Theme songs

Stitch! (Season 1)

Opening theme
Ending themes
Insert themes

Stitch! ~The Mischievous Alien's Great Adventure~ (Season 2)

Opening theme
Ending theme
Insert Song

Stitch! ~Best Friends Forever~ (Season 3)

Opening theme
Ending theme

Broadcast

The series airs on Seven Network, 7mate, 7Two, and Disney Channel in Australia, on Disney Channel in Singapore and India, on TV3 and TV2 in Malaysia, on TV5 in the Philippines, on RTÉ Two in Ireland, and on Disney Cinemagic in the United Kingdom.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2010-07-05/colorful-arrietty-stitch-evangelion-promos-streamed
  2. ↑
  3. ↑
  4. ↑ Haisai Stitch
  5. ↑ Haisai Stitch
  6. ↑ Haisai Stitch
  7. ↑ Haisai Stitch
  8. ↑ Haisai Stitch
  9. ↑ Haisai Stitch
  10. ↑ Haisai Stitch
  11. ↑ Haisai Stitch
  12. ↑ Haisai Stitch
  13. ↑ スティッチ！オリジナル・サウンドトラック
  14. ↑ テレビ朝日｜スティッチ！～いたずらエイリアンの大冒険～: 主題歌第3弾はMONGOL800＜モンパチ＞とスティッチのデュエット？！

External links

Official Japanese sites

International sites

Others