Yam Roll

Yam Roll (or the long title, The Very Good Adventures of Yam Roll in Happy Kingdom) is a Canadian animated television series created by Jono Howard and Jon Izen airing on CBC Television in Canada, produced by March Entertainment. The series was first broadcast on February 6, 2006. It can be viewed on Saturday at 10:00am and 10:17am on local CBC channels as well as ABC2 (Australia) and HBO Asia.

Characters and premise

Yam Roll features a cast of animated sushi characters, and other anthropomorphic instances of Japanese cuisine, all living in Happy Kingdom, a prosperous city which is upset quite often by monsters.

Yam Roll is the lead character, a taxicab driver by profession who wears a cowboy hat and boots. He is portrayed as an orange yam wrapped in rice, his body being circular in appearance, with stick-like arms and legs. Yam Roll is bestowed with a certain degree of super powers thanks to his instructor Katcho and the powers of Mount Foopi. These powers allow him to fly, lift incredibly heavy objects, and change form (into a door, a table, a potato masher, etc.). But despite his powers, Yam Roll leads a mostly normal life. Well, as normal as life gets in Happy Kingdom. Voiced by Lee Tockar.

Quoting from March Entertainment's site :

Yam Roll tells the story of an exotic land of sushi and how one of its inhabitants, a super-powered cab driver named Yam Roll, braves monsters and bad guys all in the name of unrequited love. Despite being well liked in Happy Kingdom due to his good nature and sweet, root-vegetable flavouring, Yam Roll is still a frustrated guy. Why? Because he is hopelessly in love with the town sweetheart, a spicy tuna roll named Minamiko.

With the help of his wise Zen master, Katcho Miso (an old lump of salty bean paste), his sidekick and best friend Ebi-san (a severely hyperactive shrimp), and the rest of his motley maritime crew, Yam Roll's life is always an exciting ride.

Other main characters

• Ebi: Ebi-San is Yam Roll's best friend and confidant. He is a boiled shrimp, who wears a band around his "head" and sandals. Ebi is extremely enthusiastic and excitable, and always tries to force Yam Roll into some escapade or other, often with dangerous and embarrassing results. Ebi is never happy to sit still and is constantly bouncing off the walls with energy.
• Edamame: Edamame Legume is another one of Yam Roll's best friends, a soybean lightly dusted with sea salt. Unlike most of the characters in Yam Roll, Edamame has no arms. Instead, he uses his two legs as arms instead.
• Tamago: Poor Tamago is forced to wear a very heavy and rare omelette on his back all the time. This unfortunate impedement leaves him bitter and emotional, and he constantly complains about the strain on his back (and any other issues that happen to be plaguing him). He tags along with Yam Roll, Ebi and Edamame on their adventures, but never without his fair share of complaints. Voiced by Joe Pingue.
• Minamiko: Minamiko is Yam Roll's main love interest, a spicy tuna roll who draws the eye of almost every man in Happy Kingdom. Unfortunately for Yam Roll, Minamiko is practically unaware he exists, even though he consistently saves her from the clutches of evil monsters. Her popularity nets her many dates around the city, and Yam Roll is often low on her list. Yam Roll's rival, Milk Man — a carton of milk — is usually Minamiko's main boyfriend. Voiced by Sunday Muse.
• Katcho: Katcho Miso is "an old lump of salty miso bean paste" and Yam Roll's Zen master, who lives atop Mount Foopi. He often has wise teachings for his only pupil, and occasionally a good whack or two from his magic staff. But most of the time Katcho watches from a distance as Yam Roll faces his daily tribulations, preferring to observe instead of interfering.
• Spicy Tuna Cone: Another boyfriend of Minamiko, Spicy Tuna Cone appears to be mayor of the Happy Kingdom, and sometimes EmCees at Hakamaryoke's Karaoke's bar. He also seems to be a minor friend of Yam Roll.
• Genki: A girl who would be happy to date Yam Roll. She is kindhearted and loves stuffed animals.

Yam Roll also hosts a large variety of other sushi characters, including Yam Roll's friends, enemies, and random passers-by. Each character is wittingly named after their sushi names (e.g., Ebi, which means "shrimp" in Japanese).

Series overview

Episode list

Season 1 (2006)

External links

• CBC: Yam Roll page
• Yam Roll Blog official show blog site
• Yam Roll at the Internet Movie Database