Sushi Pack

Sushi Pack is a Canadian-American animated children's action-adventure television series created by Tom Ruegger and Nicholas Hollander and produced by DIC Entertainment Corporation and CloudCo, Inc. that aired for two seasons and 52 episodes on the KEWLopolis programming block of CBS from November 3, 2007[3][4] to February 28, 2009. The series centers on a fictional superhero team of anthropomorphic sushi (wasabi, salmon egg, crab, tuna and octopus) as they use their wits and emotions to save the world from dastardly villains and educate young children. Quests throughout the series involve learning about friendship, social skills and teamwork.

Sushi Pack
Genre	Action Adventure Comedy Superhero
Created by	Tom Ruegger Nicholas Hollander
Developed by	Tom Ruegger Nicholas Hollander
Written by	Tom Ruegger Nicholas Hollander
Directed by	Pat Ventura (supervising)
Starring	Rick Adams Tara Strong Andrew Francis Chiara Zanni Scott McNeil
Theme music composer	Phofo (Season 1) Ron Wasserman (Season 2)
Opening theme	"Sushi Pack"
Composer	Phofo
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	52
Production
Executive producers	Andy Heyward Michael Maliani Jeffrey Conrad Sean Gorman Ryan Wiesbrock
Producers	J.C. Cheng Jim E. Lara
Editor	James Hereth
Running time	22 minutes (11 minutes per episode)
Production companies	Studio Espinosa Tom Ruegger Productions CloudCo, Inc. The Hatchery DIC Entertainment Corporation[lower-alpha 1] American Greetings
Distributor	American Greetings (US/Canada)[1] DIC Entertainment (Internationally)[2]
Release
Original network	CBS (KEWLopolis)
Picture format	NTSC
Audio format	Stereo
Original release	November 3, 2007 – February 28, 2009

This show, along with DinoSquad, were the final two series produced by DIC before their acquisition with Cookie Jar Entertainment.

Characters

Sushi Pack

• Tako Maki (voiced by Rick Adams) is a blue octopus who is the self-proclaimed leader of the team. He has six long tentacle arms and a fake eye patch and speaks in a British accent. Despite being part of the team, he would rather use his powers of shooting multi-colored ink to be a world-renowned painter than to fight evil. The series hints that he has a crush on Maguro.
• Maguro Maki (voiced by Tara Strong) is a purple tuna who is the backbone of the team. She possesses the ability to concentrate intensely, resulting in her gaining psychic powers, including levitation, mind-reading, telekinesis and getting "in tune with her inner tuna".
• Ikura Maki (voiced by Andrew Francis) is an orange salmon who has the power to shoot sticky fish eggs from his hands and who acts as the grunt of the team. He is usually calm, but tends to feel an urge to compete with his teammates, which causes tension within the group. This also leads him to be the target of whatever lesson the episode is explaining, but by the end of the episode, he has learned his lesson. The series hints that he has a crush on Kani. Ikura also has a fear of bears, including those that don't harm him such as gummy bears.
• Kani Maki (voiced by Chiara Zanni) is a tomboyish pink crab whose pigtails are tough crab claws, which she uses to give her foes powerful pinches. She is very grouchy and often claims that other people are "making me crabby". In spite of that, she has her fair share of kindness and usually acts as the mechanic of the team.
• Wasabi Pow (voiced by Scott McNeil) is a green wasabi creature who is the smallest and speechless member of the Sushi Pack, as well as the brute of the team. A spicy ball of hot mustard, he speaks hot sauce and can only communicate with unintelligible squeaky noises (despite this, his teammates have no trouble understanding him), as well as having the power to shoot fireballs at his foes.

Legion of Low Tide

• Titanium Chef (voiced by Adam Behr) is a mean catfish who not only orders the Legion of Low Tide to fight dirty and scheme evil plots, but also manages the sushi bar they live in, mostly using the Book of Cham Chop, which might be inspired by the Necronomicon.
• Fugu (voiced by Scott McNeil) is a blowfish who can puff himself up to many times his original size. He mostly acts as the leader of the team like Tako. He has an eye that also functions as a camera, implying that he may be a cyborg.
• Toro (voiced by Vincent Tong) is a very fat tuna who is not very smart. He acts as the brute of the team like Wasabi, and is strong but gullible and usually just follows along.
• Uni (voiced by Samuel Vincent) is an unstoppable sea urchin with a talent for scheming evil plots. He is one of the Sushi Pack's biggest threats, due to being apparently unbeatable and apparently being the mechanic of the team, like Kani. And he may be insane. He has the ability to shapeshift and speaks in a Jamaican accent.
• Unagi (voiced by Brian Dobson) is a mutated electric eel and slimy savage with an eye for detail. Possessing the ability of electrokinesis, he is the grunt of the team like Ikura. He helps the Sushi Pack on occasion.
• Mochi Macchiato (voiced by Jeannie Elias) is a mochi ice cream creature who freezes her enemies in their tracks. She is candy coated but cold as ice, as she can freeze anything she touches. She is the backbone of the team like Maguro. In relation to this, she befriended Maguro at one time and later Kani.

Other characters

• Ben (voiced by Samuel Vincent) is a close friend of the Sushi Pack, as well as the manager of the doughnut shop where they live. He always gives them advice or suggestions.
• Mayor Hack Martin is the mayor of Wharf City who calls on the Sushi Pack during emergencies.
• Jenny Flume is the chief of police who usually has something she'd rather be doing than talking to the Sushi Pack.
• Satel-Lightning (voiced by Michael Daingerfield) is a mechanical monster created via fusion of a meteor and satellite. He is initially hostile, but ultimately becomes a friend of the Sushi Pack.
• Hideki (voiced by Maryke Hendrikse) is Tako's cousin, who is a purple squid. She is very kind and charming to the Sushi Pack.

Villains

• Apex
• Sir Darkly
• Paradoxter
• Oleander
• The Collector
• The Hot Squad
• Sugar Jimmy
• Baron Von Loudly (voiced by Peter New)
• Dr. Naught
• General Anesthetic

Series overview

Season		Episodes		Originally aired
				First aired	Last aired
	1	26		November 3, 2007	February 23, 2008
	2	26		September 13, 2008	February 28, 2009

Episodes

Season 1 (2007-2008)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Original air date	Prod. code
1-2	1-2	"But is it Art?/Wassup Wasabi?"	November 3, 2007	101-102
But is it Art?: The famous paintings from the museum — Boo Boy, Groaning Pizza, Whistler's Goat and The Shrieker — are stolen and have come to life by The Collector, except for Tako's paintings. Wassup Wasabi?: Wasabi gets teased by his teammates to the point of running off crying and getting kidnapped by the Legion of Low Tide.
3-4	3-4	"No Clowning Around/World's Tastiest Heroes"	November 10, 2007	103-104
No Clowning Around: Sir Darkly is walking past the people in Wharf City and making a storm by collecting tears from everyone he meets in Wharf City. World's Tastiest Heroes: The Pack must save the day when the Superheroes from their favorite reality TV show are captured by an invading alien called Apex.
5-6	5-6	"Go With the Glow/Poached Salmon"	November 17, 2007	105-106
Go With the Glow: Maguro and Tako's bickering over the importance of art vs. meditation prevents them from stopping the Low Tide from causing a city-wide brown out. Poached Salmon: Ikura's impulsiveness causes the Sushi Pack to get caught up in a trap set by the evil gourmet Oleander.
7-8	7-8	"Deep Freeze/Satel Lightning"	November 24, 2007	107-108
Deep Freeze: Maguro befriends Mochi Mochiato, to which rest of the Pack challenge the Legion of Low Tide to an epic showdown in order to settle it once and for all. Satel Lightning: After an asteroid hits a satellite, it merges and becomes a robot monster. The Pack must decide what to do and how to save the day.
9-10	9-10	"Red Hot Chilli Planet/Sweet Tooth"	December 1, 2007	109-110
Red Hot Chilli Planet: After seeing a global warming video, The Sushi Pack end up meeting a group of heroes named the Hot Squad. Now they must stop this squad from turning up the heat and destroying the world. Sweet Tooth: After eating excessive amounts of Jimmy's candy, Wasabi becomes addicted and overweight, resulting in the Pack training Wasabi back into shape.
11-12	11-12	"Taming the Gaming/Rex Marks the Spot"	December 8, 2007	111-112
Taming the Gaming: Tako jeopardizes a mission when he becomes addicted to video games. Rex Marks the Spot: When Tako doesn't get a comic book ring from Ben, he becomes jealous and loses a mission for the Pack.
13-14	13-14	"When Will Ben Be Zen?/Wharf City on the Half-Shell"	December 15, 2007	113-114
When Will Ben Be Zen?: When a health inspector attempts to close down Ben's donut shop, Ben tries to prove his worth to the Pack by keeping his shop open. Wharf City on the Half-Shell: A giant space clam attacks the city and it's up to the Sushi Pack to save the day.
15-16	15-16	"Dough Ray Me/Sign of the Tuna"	December 22, 2007	115-116
Dough Ray Me: After Ikura leaves for family matters, the Sushi Pack must defend Wharf City from mutant cookies in search of the "White Treasure." Sign of the Tuna: Toro gets injured in a fight and Maguro decides that it would be a good idea to have him stay in the secret hideout.
17-18	17-18	"The Yam Yakkers/Dungeon of the Crab"	December 29, 2007	117-118
The Yam Yakkers: Sir Darkly, White Oleander and Titanium Chef become an evil group known as the Yam Yakkers. While the Sushi Pack try and stop their evil plans, Ikura and Wasabi focus all their energy on seeing the new Aquabot-Boy movie. Dungeon of the Crab: When a pearl is stolen from a science museum, the Pack split into two squads and get lost in a dungeon.
19-20	19-20	"Deep Sea Diver Dude/Fish Tales"	February 2, 2008	119-120
Deep Sea Diver Dude: Feeling upset that he has no family, Tako wallows in his self-pity. All of a sudden, he receives a mysterious invitation in the mail. Fish Tales: When Wasabi accidentally overhears Kani talking to Ikura about going to beach because she is molting, he misunderstands the situation.
21-22	21-22	"The Thing That Wasn't There/Starring Ikura"	February 9, 2008	121-122
The Thing That Wasn't There: Maguro loses trust in the Pack when they don't believe that she sees a monster attacking the city. Starring Ikura: When Ikura accidentally stars in a hit television show, the fame goes to his head.
23-24	23-24	"Give Peas a Chance/Chemicals Made from Dirt"	February 16, 2008	123-124
Give Peas a Chance: Ben gets stressed out over a big donut order and takes his anger out on Wasabi, hurting his feelings. This jeopardizes the Sushi Pack's mission where they must stop an army of evil frozen vegetables from freezing the city. Chemicals Made from Dirt: Titanium Chef makes a shoe cleaner that causes everyone to feel extremely cold. The Sushi Pack must then find a way to save the day.
25-26	25-26	"So Says Who?/Darkness and Spice"	February 23, 2008	125-126
So Says Who?: Tako and Maguro have different views on who screwed up an important mission. Now the Sushi Pack have to figure out exactly what happened in order to fix it. Darkness and Spice: Wasabi's fear of the dark causes problems for the Pack when they try to capture Uni at an amusement park.

References

1. https://www.licenseglobal.com/stub/creative-content
2. https://www.licenseglobal.com/stub/creative-content
3. Bynum, Aaron H. (August 24, 2007). "CBS & DiC Establish KEWLopolis, Saturdays". Animation Insider. Retrieved April 1, 2011.
4. Ball, Ryan (November 1, 2007). "Dino, Sushi Join CBS Menu". Animation Magazine. Retrieved April 1, 2011.

1. Animation outsourced to Suzhou Hong Yang Cartoon Company Limited.