''Z-Squad'' (, ''The Fairies of Crystals Z-Squad'') is an animated television series created by Enpix+ and

Nelvana Nelvana Limited (; also known as Nelvana Enterprises, Nelvana International or Nelvana Digital; commonly known as Nelvana; stylized as "nelvana") is a Canadian animation studio and entertainment production company owned by Corus Entertainment s ...

Plot

''Z-Squad'' chronicles the adventures of three ordinary school girls turned super heroines and their newfound, cuddly alien counterparts, the Zoots, as they search for enchanted crystals to save the Earth and Z-Nation from a cast of bumbling baddies. It is aimed at kids aged 6 to 9 and there are 26 x 24-minute episodes available. Girls will cheer the competitive-spirited heroines; boys will back the sarcastic schoolboys called the Drop Dead Gorgeous Three (the DDG3), as well as the powerful Prince Aramis and a wise wizard Woolaf.

Characters

Main characters

* Chaney (; voiced by Chung Misook () in the Korean version, and Alyson Court in the English version) is the first member of the Z-Squad with red hair with yellow, pink, and orange streaks that is tied up with two pigtails, white sun visor hat with a yellow trim and a pink star, and red eyes (yellow in the pilot). Her theme colors are red and yellow. She is represented by stars with her alien counterpart, Zora, the red Zoot of Courage. * Haemi (; voiced by Eun Yeong Seon () in the Korean version, and Sunday Muse in the English version) is the second member of the Z-Squad with short magenta hair that is tied up in a blue headband with a ribbon, and magenta eyes. Her theme colors are pink and blue. She is represented by hearts with her alien counterpart, Zef, the pink Zoot of Love. * Jeanie (; voiced by Park Youngnam () in the Korean version, and Ashley Botting in the English version) is the third and final member of the Z-Squad with green hair that is clipped up in a yellow hair clip, and turquoise blue eyes (formerly green in the pilot) with rose round glasses (red in the pilot). Her theme colors are green and yellow. She is represented by four-leaf clovers with her alien counterpart, Zuma, the green Zoot of Hope.

Minor characters

* Jinu (; voiced by Kang Soo-jin () in the Korean version, and

Zachary Bennett Zachary Bennett is a Canadian actor and musician.Rita Zekas, "It was good to be King; Road To Avonlea prankster now an object of Desire". ''Toronto Star'', February 6, 2002. Early life He was born in London, Ontario. He is the second youngest of ...

in the English version) * Cal (; voiced by Kim Youngsun () in the Korean version, and Tyrone Savage in the English version) * Tae-o (; voiced by Son Jeong Ah () in the Korean version, and Lyon Smith in the English version) * Bernice (; voiced by Choi Moon-ja () in the Korean version, and Emilie-Claire Barlow in the English version) * Aramis (; voiced by Son Jeong-ah () in the Korean version, and Noah Cappe in the English version) * Woolaf (; voiced by Yoo Dong-kyun () in the Korean version, and Dwayne Hill in the English version) * Bakoo (; voiced by Noh Min () in the Korean version, and

Martin Roach Martin Jamie Roach (born July 15, 1962) is a Canadian actor. He is best known for his live-action roles as T. Abner Hall in the Disney XD television series '' Aaron Stone'' (2009–2010), Mike in the science-fiction television series '' Falling ...

in the English version) * Grindel (; voiced by Choi Moon-ja () in the Korean version, and Melissa Altro in the English version)

Production

The series' unique blend of traditional 2D

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

design with 3D

cel shading Cel shading or toon shading is a type of non-photorealistic rendering designed to make 3D computer graphics appear to be flat by using less shading color instead of a shade gradient or tints and shades. A cel shader is often used to mimic t ...

has earned many awards, including the prestigious Grand Prix Award at KOCCA's Star Project Competition in South Korea.

Episodes

Broadcast

''Z-Squad'' first aired in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

on SBS between December 2006 and June 2007. The series was later broadcast on Champ TV,

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 ...

, Anione,

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...

, and KT IPTV. The show had its English-language debut on

Pop Girl Pop Girl was a free-to-air children's television channel in the United Kingdom, owned by CSC Media Group (formerly Chart Show Channels), a company associated with the makers of '' The Chart Show'', a television programme that had previously ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and then on

Boomerang A boomerang () is a thrown tool typically constructed with airfoil sections and designed to spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of its flight, designed to return to the thrower. The origin of the word is from Australian Aborigin ...

, and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

in late 2008. Along with '' Di-Gata Defenders'', ''Z-Squad'' was introduced as part of the Syfy Kids block on the multi-national

KidsCo KidsCo was an international children's television channel active from 2007 until 2014. It was a joint venture between Corus Entertainment, DIC Entertainment (later part of Cookie Jar Group) and NBCUniversal whose content was mainly commission ...

network in June 2013. It was also one of the shows included when

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

ported Syfy Kids to Asia the following month. It was aimed at ages 6–10. Initial plans for a North American broadcast reportedly included YTV and

Teletoon Cartoon Network (formerly Teletoon) is a Canadian English-language discretionary specialty channel owned by Corus Entertainment. The channel primarily broadcasts animated series aimed at children and teenagers. It was launched on October 17 ...

in Canada, with

Disney Channel Disney Channel is an American pay television television channel, channel that serves as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company ...

on board in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. However, the show would never air on linear television in either market, instead being limited to

video-on-demand Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos, television shows and films digitally on request. These multimedia are accessed without a traditional video playback device and a typical static broadcasting ...

platforms. In Canada, the series was included as part of the Kids Suite service for Rogers Cable customers in 2014. In the United States, ''Z-Squad'' is available to purchase on

Amazon Video Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...

and is available to stream on Tubi TV.

References

External links

Official Korean website
at the

Wayback Machine The Wayback Machine is a digital archive of the World Wide Web founded by Internet Archive, an American nonprofit organization based in San Francisco, California. Launched for public access in 2001, the service allows users to go "back in ...

(archived February 12, 2007)
Z-Squad
at Nelvana.com * {{IMDb title, 0813977, Z-Squad 2000s South Korean animated television series 2006 South Korean television series debuts 2007 South Korean television series endings 2000s Canadian animated television series 2000s Canadian children's television series 2008 Canadian television series debuts 2008 Canadian television series endings Seoul Broadcasting System original programming Canadian computer-animated television series Canadian children's animated action television series Canadian children's animated adventure television series South Korean children's animated action television series South Korean children's animated adventure television series Korean-language television shows Canadian English-language television shows Magical girl television series Television series by Nelvana Canadian anime-influenced animated television series South Korean anime-influenced animated television series Canadian teen animated television series