Wakfu (TV series)


Wakfu: The Animated Series is a French animated television series produced by Ankama Animation, based on the video game Wakfu. The first season of 26 episodes began airing on 30 October 2008, and new episodes would continue to air into January 2010 on France 3. The show is animated with Adobe Flash software; all the production is done in France except the special episodes "Noximilien l'Horloger" and "Ogrest, la Légende", both produced in Japan. The series is directed by Anthony "Tot" Roux, and character design is directed by Xavier "Xa" Houssin and Kim "Tcho" Etinoff.
A spin-off called Mini-Wakfu, which features humorous shorts with characters depicted in super deformed style has aired since September 2009. The special episode "Noximilien l'Horloger", the origin story of the main antagonist, Nox, was produced in Japan and features a radically different art style made by the same team of animators who worked on Kaiba and Kemonozume. The episode was directed by Eunyoung Choi with Masaaki Yuasa on character design. A successful Kickstarter campaign to produce an English-language dub of the series was launched in January 2014. There were two prior English dub attempts. The first two episodes were shown for the first time in English during the 2009 London MCM Expo; this dub pilot is believed to have been recorded in France by expats, many of whom previously worked on the English version of Code Lyoko. A second English dub pilot recorded by Ocean Studios was shown at Anime Expo in 2011.
The third season of the series premiered in France on September 2, 2017. Season 3 premiered on Netflix worldwide on April 6, 2018. The release was originally planned for April 1, but was delayed to avoid conflicts with the Easter holiday weekend and the respective holiday event in the Wakfu game.
On May 7, 2020, Ankama announced that season 4, intended as the final chapter of the story, is currently in development and a Kickstarter campaign to fund its production was launched on June 8, 2020.

Characters

The Brotherhood of the Tofu

;Yugo
;Princess Amalia Sheran Sharm
;Sir Percedal of Sadlygrove,
;Evangelyne
;Ruel Stroud
;Adamaï
;Grufon
;Elely & Flopin

Secondary characters

Sadida

They are a humanoid species who are close to all things Mother Nature, and are most noticeable for being barefoot, green hair, dark skin, and wearing clothes made out of leaves. The males have their hair covering their entire heads. They are all connected to the Tree of Life.
;King Oakheart Sheran Sharm
;Queen Sheran Sharm
;Prince Armand Sheran Sharm
;Chamberlain Toufdrue
;Canar & Renate

Other

;Alibert
;Cleophee
;Grougaloragran
;Master Goultard
;Master Joris
;Phaeris
;Balthazar
;Ogrest
;Otomaï
;Elaine Narrowsmith & Captain Black Ink
;Prince Adale
;General Frida Mofette
;Soft Oak
;Kabrok & Miranda
;The Ugly Princesses
;The Puddlies
;Nausea
;Xav the Baker
;Ratafouine
;Tolot, Calben, & Posho
;Kriss Krass
;Jactance
;Botun
;Moon
;Master Drill
;Chibi
;Moumoune
;Justice Knight
;The Masked Gobbowler
;Tendynite
;Pandiego de la Vega
;Phil Harmonic
;Wa Wabbit
;Lenald
;Bordegann
;Alia
;Leon Zitrool
;Sho-Bubu
;Melo
;Aurora
;The Council of Six

Antagonists

Main

;Nox
;Qilby

ShuShus'

;Rushu
;Anathar
;Ombrage

The Brotherhood of the Forgotten/The Siblings

The main antagonists of season 3. A secret Guild where all the members are demigods or children of Dragons, thus they are semi-immortal. Their stated goal is to replace their parents and become the new gods of the World of Twelve, believing that the gods don't care about them and that the world has become horribly corrupt under their rule. They threw down the gauntlet against the Brotherhood of Tofu in Season 3 because their leader, Oropo, desires both the Percedal family children and Ruel to join their new pantheon. Furthermore, he has an unspecified need for Yugo's help as well in his plan. To that end, he is using the weaknesses and doubts in the characters to try to bring them to his side. However, later episodes reveal that not everyone in The Siblings fully trusts their leader and some begin to move on their own.
;Oropo
;Lady Echo
;Adamaï
;Sipho
;Count Harebourg
;Ush Galesh
;Poo
;Toxine
;Coqueline
;Dark Vlad
;Black Bump
;Arpagone
;Dathura
;Kali

Other

;Mandhul
;Vampyro
;Sybannak
;Breadnought
;Gonnard the Great
;Saule
;Smisse Monde
;Remington Smisse
;Dragon Pig
;Riglesse
;The Emporg
;The Voice Thief
;Felinor
;Bellaphones
;Cassis

Episodes

Netflix air

Netflix acquired the right to the show and started showing it on its streaming, according to Variety Ted Sarandos, Netflix's CCO, said "Animation has a very strong history in France and French animators are among the best and most innovative in the world." Sarandos added that Netflix expected "to further strengthen our relationship with Ankama and other French animation studios." The series started airing on Netflix in September 2014. The dub for Season 3 uses an entirely new voice cast based in Los Angeles.

Kickstarter campaign

On January 20, 2014, Ankama launched a Kickstarter campaign to produce an English-language dub of the series for release on region-free Blu-ray Disc in English speaking territories. The campaign had a target of $80,000 Canadian Dollars to dub the first season, with stretch goals to produce dubs of the second season and various original video animation episodes. The campaign's goal to dub Season 1 was met on January 21, 2014, and the campaign's goal to dub Season 2 was met on January 30, 2014.
On June 8, 2020, Ankama launched yet another Kickstarter campaign for the production of the fourth and final season of the series, with an initial target of €100,000; the target was reached within an hour after the campaign was started.