Ten films from the popular Japanese franchise Anpanman will debut globally on Tubi Kids.
The streaming service Tubi announced that it would begin streaming ten films in the successful children's franchise Anpanman on Tubi Kids. "Anime fans of all ages can now enjoy the Japanese phenomenon Anpanman in English and Spanish for the first time ever," said Adam Lewinson, the Chief Content Officer of Tubi. "We can't wait for viewers to meet Anpanman and his lovable enemy Baikinman as they join our iconic roster of characters on Tubi Kids."
These films, which were never before seen outside of Japan, will now be available in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Mexico. The first Anpanman film, Apple Boy and Everyone's Hope, is already available for streaming. The other nine films, The Adventure of Happie, Star-Spirited Dollie, Purun the Soap Bubble, The Secret of Fairy Rin-Rin, Blacknose and the Magical Song, Revive Banana Island!, Nanda and Runda from the Star of Toys, Shine! Kulun and the Stars of Life and Twinkle! Princess Vanilla of Ice Cream Land have yet to receive official release dates.
The English dub will see newcomer Ghia Burns voice Anpanman and Jason Michael Kesser (A.I.C.O. Incarnation, The King's Avatar: For the Glory, Gintama) voice his foe Baikinman. Cristina Hernandez (Cardcaptor Sakura, Kiki's Delivery Service, Sailor Moon, Star Wars: The Clone Wars) and Eduardo Garza (Bleach, Dragon Ball, Naruto) will voice the roles of Anpanman and Baikinman respectively in the Spanish dub.
Although massively popular in Japan, Anpanman is largely unknown to Western audiences. Anpanman is a superhero with an anpan (a popular Japanese sweet roll) for a head who protects the world from his nemesis, Baikinman (Bacteria Man). There are five museums dedicated to Anpanman and the series holds the Guinness World Record for the most characters in an animated franchise. Anpanman is also one of the longest-running anime series, even inspiring the character design in animes like One-Punch Man.
