''Jade Armor'' is a French

animated Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby image, still images are manipulated to create Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on cel, transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and e ...

television series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming plat ...

produced by TeamTO that premiered on 7 September 2022. It follows Lan Jun, a teenage girl who fights

supervillains A supervillain, supervillainess or supercriminal is a major antagonist and variant of the villainous stock character who possesses Superpower (ability), superpowers. The character type is sometimes found in comic books and is often the primary ...

as the legendary

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a fictional character who typically possesses ''superpowers'' or abilities beyond those of ordinary people, is frequently costumed concealing their identity, and fits the role of the hero, typically using their ...

Jade Armor. The series was renewed for second season.

Premise

Lan Jun, a teenager, inherits the mantle of the mystical superhero Jade Armor. She must battle an array of supervillains, including the Crimson Lord, while dealing with the challenges of teenage life. She is aided by four Beasticons, magical animals of legend.

Characters

Main characters

* Lan Jun Ye/Jade Armor (voiced by Elle Hallock) is the main character of the series. She lives with her father, grandmother, and great-grandmother and has recently become the new Jade Armor. * Alisha (voiced by Justine Putmon) is one of Lan Jun's best friends. * Theo Khan, Alisha's brother and another of Lan Jun's best friends. * The Crimson Lord is the primary antagonist.

Development

The show is inspired by

Chinese mythology Chinese mythology () is mythology that has been passed down in oral form or recorded in literature throughout the area now known as Greater China. Chinese mythology encompasses a diverse array of myths derived from regional and cultural tradit ...

. It was created by Chloe Miller and executive producer Corinne Kouper based on a concept by M. Pongo Kuo. It was co-developed by Mary Bredin, with M.J. Offen as head writer and Ghislaine Pujol as story editor. French animation studio TeamTO began developing the series in 2011, with the pitch bible and scripts being rewritten several times during development. The original concept for the show was an action series with a male protagonist. After Chloe Miller joined the show, Lan Jun, who was originally created as the male protagonist's best friend, became the main character. When creating Lan Jun, the showrunners wanted her to be an "ordinary girl" who was both feminine and strong, without relying on either gender stereotypes or a "

tomboy A tomboy is a girl or young woman who generally expresses masculine traits. Such traits may include wearing androgynous or unfeminine clothing and engaging in activities and behaviors traditionally associated with boys or men. Origins The w ...

" archetype. Miller and Kouper also sought to add more comedic elements to the story, and focus more on family and heritage. The series's inspirations include

kung fu movies Kung fu film () is a subgenre of martial arts films and Hong Kong action cinema set in the contemporary period and featuring realistic martial arts. It lacks the fantasy elements seen in ''wuxia'', a related martial arts genre that uses historical ...

magical girl is a Genre#Subgenre, subgenre of primarily Japanese fantasy media (including anime, manga, light novels, and live-action media) centered on young girls who possess magical abilities, which they typically use through an ideal alter ego into wh ...

anime, and

superhero comics Superhero comics is one of the most common genres of American comic books. The genre rose to prominence in the 1930s and became extremely popular in the 1940s and has remained the dominant form of comic book in North America since the 1960s. Supe ...

. The series is set in a fictional city inspired by

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

and a Chinese cultural consultant was hired to advise the showrunners on the representation of cultural elements like kung fu. Offen commented that the creative team had "gone deep" on the characterization of side characters and villains. The show is intended for viewers in the 3- to 12-year old age demographic. The art style of Jade Armor was intended to have a "graphic and minimalist look". It is animated using

2D computer graphics 2D computer graphics is the computer-based generation of digital images—mostly from two-dimensional models (such as 2D geometric models, text, and digital images) and by techniques specific to them. It may refer to the branch of computer s ...

, with sharp-edged linework designed by the series's artistic director Pierre Croco. The series was co-directed by Denis Do, a

Wushu Wushu may refer to: Martial arts * Chinese martial arts, the various martial arts of China * Wushu (sport) Wushu () (), or kung fu, is a competitive Chinese martial art. It integrates concepts and forms from various traditional and modern ...

martial arts practitioner. To help the storyboard artists visualize the show's action and fight scenes, the showrunners hired a stunt coordinator to film the action scenes on camera. Some stunts were performed by French Kung Fu martial artists. Miller said that the storyboard artists had to use their imagination to translate the stuntmen's work into the show's magical, "bigger than life" action sequences. The series's choreography was inspired by films like ''

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon ''Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon'' is a 2000 epic romantic drama wuxia martial arts film directed by Ang Lee and written for the screen by Wang Hui-ling, James Schamus, and Tsai Kuo-jung. The film stars Chow Yun-fat, Michelle Yeoh, Z ...

''. The show's producers had difficulty finding Asian voice actors, and voice actors who could dub the French series into other languages. As a result of the difficulty in finding voice actors with dubbing skills, TeamTO's École Cartoucherie Animation Solidaire partnered with Frog Box and Titrafilm to create a dubbing course. TeamTO released a pitch bible and trailer at

Kidscreen Brunico Communications is a Canadian magazine publishing company."Desktop tabloid publishing firm sports 2 publications and a profit". ''The Globe and Mail'', October 9, 1989. The company specializes primarily in online trade magazines serving medi ...

Summit in 2016. The series's second season began development in June 2023.

Episodes

Season 1 (2022)

Broadcast

The series is distributed by

HBO Max Max (known in other countries as, and soon to be reverted globally to HBO Max) is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. It is a proprietary unit of Warner Bros. Discovery Streaming on behalf of Home Box Of ...

and

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...

in Latin America,

Europe, the Middle East and Africa Europe, the Middle East and Africa, commonly known by its acronym EMEA among the North American business spheres, is a geographical region used by institutions, governments and global spheres of marketing, media and business when referring to t ...

France Télévisions France Télévisions (; stylized since 2018 as ) is the French national public television broadcaster. It is a state-owned company formed from the integration of the public television channels France 2 (formerly Antenne 2) and France 3 (form ...

in France,

Super RTL Super RTL is a German free-to-air television network owned by RTL Deutschland. The channel originally launched in 1995 as a joint venture between RTL Group predecessor company CLT-UFA and Disney's Buena Vista International Television Investment ...

in Germany, the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is Australia’s principal public service broadcaster. It is funded primarily by grants from the federal government and is administered by a government-appointed board of directors. The ABC is ...

in Australia, and Family Channel, Ici TOU.TV,

Télé-Québec The (; ), branded as () (formerly known as ), is a Canadian French-language public educational television network in the province of Quebec. It is a provincial Crown corporation owned by the Government of Quebec. The network's main studios an ...

and

Télémagino Télémagino is a Canadian French-language specialty channel owned by WildBrain. Launched on 5 July 2010, as a sister to an equivalent English-language service, it airs children's programming targeting viewers ages 2–11. The channel previou ...

in Canada. APC Kids distributes the series worldwide with the exception of China and the United States.

References

External links

* {{Cartoon Network co-productions 2020 French television series debuts 2020s French animated television series 2022 animated television series debuts 2022 French television series debuts Animated superheroine television shows Chinese mythology in popular culture French anime-influenced animated television series French children's animated action television series French children's animated adventure television series French children's animated drama television series French children's animated fantasy television series French children's animated superhero television series Magical girl television series Teen animated television series French English-language television shows