The worldwide popularity of Japanese anime has certainly served as inspiration for many who aspire to be illustrators or animators in the future. The rise of anime has also influenced big names in good old American animation industry, such as Disney and Cartoon Network. In fact, Cartoon Network Asia will debut an Australian-made anime production in December, titled “Exchange Student Zero“.
The only problem is, they seem to have taken the idea of ‘exchange student’ a little too literally…
Even though the Exchange Student Zero movie will only be aired in December, from what we see, it is going to be quite an unusual concoction, with a bunch of common anime tropes tossed in.
Firstly, the cartoon is themed upon a card game battle. If that doesn’t sound familiar, we don’t know what does. The main character, Hiro, is secretly a refugee from a “violent anime world” and is in fact The Prince of Karuta. We’re going to take a guess and say that his name is a blatant reference to the traditional Japanese card game of the same name.
▼ The Prince of Karuta complete with anime-style blue hair and a futuristic outfit
▼ He even has a suitably anime-looking pet whose name we can’t quite pronounce.
As the character description reads, “it’s clear that Hiro is not going to fit in at South Perth High School.” A quick glance at the rest of the cast confirmed this – everyone else is still drawn in American cartoon style, including the typical unpopular second protagonist who gets picked on all the time.
▼ Not to mention that super popular evil older sister.
At this point, the show’s makers seem to decide there isn’t enough anime in this, so they throw in an anime villain in the form of sexy, purple-haired Avere, whose name we’re also have difficulty pronouncing.
▼ Should we say Avere in the English, French or Japanese way…?
It seems like Cartoon Network may have messed up its Chemical X this time, but who knows – maybe Exchange Student Zero will turn out to be some wonderful mix of Dexter and Doraemon with an evil version of Na’vi from Avatar?
Source: YouTube, Cartoon Network Asia
Image: Cartoon Network Asia
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