Ketogene

Ketogene (Albany English: /kɛtoʊdʒiːn/; other Hopelandian dialects: /kɛɾoʊdʒiːn/) is a Hopelandian animated series created by Jamani Rockson and Richard Donkor, airing on NBN and Kingson in English and TVMax in Spanish. Until its shutdown on March 31, 2022, Disney XD also aired reruns. The series debuted on February 12, 2011 (Cody's thirteenth birthday in the series) and so far 66 episodes over three seasons have been produced.

The animated series has a basic concept where the "two worlds" are seen in the episodes. The series later switched to action plots, as they are popular in Hopeland. This had made the series "difficult to export", even in countries where it is supposed to be sold to Disney+.

Aside those issues, Ketogene has been given good reviews from a few countries and has been hailed as a prime example of Hopelandian animation.

Premise

The series is set in a supposedly-fictional city around Albany. Cory is the smartest kid at Scott Elementary and High. Unbeknownst to his classmates is a portal to another dimension, where technological advancements have led to "a civilization of neon and knowledge", according to Cory.

The first episode is set on February 12, 2011 (Ketogene Day according to the fanbase). As described, a long time ago, a family was chosen to be linked to the undersea kingdom of Ketogene. The day arrived "on the day the young prodigy turns 13". Luck came to Cody and his family, but they seem to weather the best and worst of the situation.

Cory's counterpart from the other world is the titular Ketogene (also simply known as Keto). Little does he know that Keto's "father" is actually his great-grandfather of the fifth generation, who became a merman during the Akanian trade era.

Ketogene's themes are diverse. The series mainly satirizes Hopelandian life the other way around, seen from the point of view of a rich black family, interdimensional travel, Bulungian-Hopelandians in the medical and scientific sector, breaking family stereotypes like Cody being the welfare kid, love for merpeople (the series was created by a merman) and miscellaneous Hopelandian obsessions.

Characters

Cory's family

The Farley family is very wealthy. Cody and his parents are moneymakers despite Cody being underage. The family's skin complexion, as well as that of Keto's, is Ironstone, and at times the series played with the connection.

• Cody Farley-Tiroki (Jamani Rockson): the main character of the series, age 13. He comes from an upper-middle-class family, and is a straight "A" student in school, a quality both his parents have achieved as well. He has discovered the "alternate dimension", in reality a teleport to Ketogene, Keto's room. He plays video games and reads comic books like his other friends, in spite of his superior intellect. Upon touching the sea (specifically that), he becomes a merman. Sometimes he sleeps with Kahoot, mostly underwater. He is an honorary citizen of the kingdom of Ketogene, and his last name is Farley-Tiroki.
• Keto Tiroki-Farley (Jamani Rockson): the "alternate" Cody. He is a merman and was the complete opposite of Cory. He can easily travel between the two worlds. He has apparently learned more from the other world from Cory. He mostly lives in his underwater realm yet seems to like the surface world. Both Keto and Cody have teleport tunnels that take them to their respective rooms. Keto feels like he's a part of both families and has been giving details about surface world life to his king and servants. Since he sometimes spends time with the Farleys, he has been considered an honorary family member, therefore his last name is a mirror of Cody's.
• AJ Farley: Cody's younger brother. He is known for his erratic behavior and lack of understanding the world, often asking nonsensical questions. Cory often takes care of him. He was born a day before Christmas Eve (saying that he's "doubly satisfied" at Christmas) and him being a Capricorn, has an obsession with mergoats. Age 8.
• Cory Farley: The middle brother, one year younger than Cody. He is responsible for the family's welfare despite being age 12, as he goes shopping and does house tasks. He is sporty, athletic and the fastest of the brothers, loving PE classes at school, taking walks around town and aspires to be an Olympic distance runner. Cory also has a slightly muscular torso, strangely developed at such an early age, and more pronounced after the Ray of Immortality. He is also known as "the human cheetah" by Kahoot. He is also the "voice of reason", more so than his busy scientist father. He also has the same issue as Cody upon touching sea water, even as a merman he is also the fastest swimmer. Sometimes food is his weakness.
• Chelsea Farley: the oldest child, age 14. She has her own personality. Initially she is skeptical of Keto, but then she is aware of all the implications.
• Wayne Farley: A "serious scientist" who works half the week there. He suffers the same problem as Cory and Cody. He often sees Keto's father in dreams. His job is to try studying his son's portal and his connection to the merworld, writing thesis after thesis. He can't take awful jokes, he has an obsession with foreign cuisine (mainly Iterian and Sondrian) and doesn't have identity crises. As a merman his bond with King Ato strengthens.
• Shania Farley (Judith Warami): Cody's mom. A respected businesswoman, Shania divides her life between work and home affairs, something also done by Cody. As a mermaid during Cody's undersea expeditions, she mostly feels homesick and confused.
• Bagheera: Cody's mercat. He apparently found him in one of his interdimensional travels. He is known to act like Cory. In recent public interviews Jamani said that Bagheera was initially going to be a normal cat, but that changed into a mercat after stumbling upon this picture. Kahoot believes that he is a consequence of the colloquial phrase "rain like cats and dogs", where some of them are sent to the sea and become meranimals.
• Kahoot (Jamani Rockson): A talking root beer float (who is entirely solid and undrinkable) that was created "by accident" by executives of the M&K fast-food chain. According to Cory, he's an "imaginary friend gone real". He is static, meaning that he needs to be carried Cody (and sometimes AJ and Cory). He has a bizarre, skewed view of the world, largely due to his static nature. He also takes the form of a "merfloat", allowing him to move on his underwater tail, and sometimes, a cape gives him the mysterious power to fly, but out of control. In public interviews, he says that the character was inspired by his failed work experiences at A&W.

Keto's family

For Keto see above.

• King Ato: the king of Keto's kingdom. As the king he speaks in a formal, complicated manner few don't understand.
• Akwana: Keto's sister who is the opposite of Chelsea. She speaks in an upper-class accent and has a crown of flowers over her head. Akwana also has a stable relationship with Chelsea.

Supporting characters

• Tim: Cody's rival. He believes to himself that he is superior than Cody, but his understandings always fail.
• Sandra: Cody's girlfriend of Aphasenan background. In season 3 she's revealed to be a mermaid and they begin studying each other's families.
• Ava: Kahoot's secret girlfriend, an avocado in the same conditions as him. Her other half is her "bed", implying that she sometimes is "like a turtle".
• Sandy: Cory's girlfriend and sometimes frenemy, who fell in love with Cory at a school swimming competition. She finds Cory Farley attractive.
• Hoagie Miller: A fat, funny, smart white friend who shares some of Cody's interests.
• Jake Smith: The school bully. He doesn't like smart guys.
• Aquator: Smaller fictional character as a comic book hero inspired by Aquaman and Namor who has since become an actual merman.
• Poseidon: Has a physical appearance in the series, depicted as a merman, unlike mythological artwork where he was depicted with legs. A recurring backstory says thay he got stronger when he became a merman. Has strong relations with King Ato, his sons with Keto and Akwana, and from those two, Cody.
• King Triton (Atlantis)
• King Triton (Atlantica): Appeared in the Ketogene-TLM crossover episode. The two Tritons are considered canon.
• Timber: An anthropomrphic bear serving as M&K's mascot. Although there are thousands of copies of him, Timber himself is the only one who is sentient. One of his family members is hidden in Keto's kingdom.
• Huddies: Timber's cub and Keto's pet. He gets along more with merbears like him rather than with Keto, as Keto sides with Kahoot.
• Hank: Kahoot's "father" who appeared in a couple of episodes
• Timmy: DNA creation of Timber and Cody that first appeared in season 2. Initially the two wanted to name him Cody but Timber refused to do so.
• Louise: has a Sarian accent.

Locations

• M&K Restaurants: a take on A&W Restaurants (particularly its Hopelandian division) where the food is believed to have, at times, strange effects on the consumer. It is believed that Keto's family has shares, as evidenced in a few episodes.
• Ketogene: the titular kingdom that has a secondary role in the series, but plays a heavily important one. In times of surface world chaos, Cody calls the Tiroki Palace his oasis.
• Kahootia: A dimension frequently imagined by Kahoot that often appears in his dreams. There he is able to slide and jump, because he runs the dimension.

Episodes

Season 1

• 1 - So It Begins

Cory's family discovers a mysterious connection with Keto. (February 12, 2011)

• 2 -
• 8 - Search for the Dinosaur

Cory and Keto discover a dinosaur with a mermaid's tail that looked like AJ's soft toy, and that he was stuck for millions of years.

• 13 - Kahoot in Dangerous Waters
• 14 - Cory Safari

Cory and Cody teleport to a safari in Wajichazi, only to realize that they have travelled without mom's permission, in order to pay a childhood lawsuit.

• 18 - Playing With Fire

Season 2

• 1 (21) - Spiked in Flames

Cory and buddies have to fight fire with fire to counter the leaking of his father's investigation ahead of time.

Little Mermaid crossover

Taking advantage of Sofia the First's "crossover", Ketogene writers were forced to make their take on The Little Mermaid, using ideas from the television series. Something bad happens in Atlantica and it's up to Cory's family to settle the dispute. In a bizarre twist, here Eric becomes a merman.

Production

During development of the series in 2004, Rockson stumbled upon Kofi Jones, one of the creators of The World of Atlantis. Rockson quickly got the influence of the portal from Kofi, and that the other world would be a reverse society that was technologically advanced. Part of the show's setting was initially intended to be inspired by Jamani's past experiences trying to work for A&W, where the ideas for a potential comic emerged. While working there, he brought a notebook and began doodling caricatures of himself.

The concept of a six-member family with four children was created in response to pressure from Akanian Hopelandians, however Jamani wanted to take a more surreal approach, by creating a "sober father", working at a "serious scientific laboratory" and making the mother a businesswoman, as prevalent among black people in Hopeland. The four children were created in reaction to Jamani's personalities.

Apart from his experiences at A&W, Jamani cited a number of cartoons and live-action series that influenced his work: The Proud Family, Homestar Runner, A Rift in Time, The Fairly OddParents - in part for AJ's personality, The Little Mermaid (the series), Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends (in part for the concept of Kahoot and Ava), Phineas and Ferb, Gravity Falls and even The Simpsons - namely the personalities of Lisa and Ralph.

The first series was animated in Adobe Flash, yet during the hiatus that led to the second season, it switched to SmithMicro Software's Anime Studio (now Moho), for which SmithMicro paid H$40,000 to the animators.

The fourth season was a co-production with Advance Animation Pte Ltd, a rising local animation house, Mediacorp and was partially funded by the Media Development Authority. Years before, when Advance was set up, Ketogene animators and SmithMicro decided to give the program at a discount.

Reception

Upon the debut of the first season, Albany Times reviewer James Pearl said that "the series is truly Hopelandian", citing influences from The World of Atlantis.

Ketogene seen as a metaphor for the situation of Hopeland

A number of animation critics in Hopeland have praised the series for making a "somewhat accurate" portrayal of a few aspects of Hopeland, including the difficulty black and some Hakki people had

Merchandise

Toys

Toys featuring the main characters appeared at kids meals at A&W, Food Ninja and McDonald's. Some season 1 episodes have been adapted to a comedic book, while some season 2 episodes were rearranged to create a storyline for a second book.

Broadcast

Hopeland

The series is shown on Kingson with new episodes premiering simultaneously on NBN. TVMax broadcasts the series in Spanish.

The series also had reruns on Disney Channel and especially Disney XD. For the shutdown event of Disney XD Hopeland, the final day was designated as Ketogene Day 2022 with Cody Farley "picking" some of the best episodes. The channel's shutdown featured Cody Farley waving Disney XD's viewers goodbye as a merman.

Great Giana

The series airs on Channel 7.

Bensonia

The series airs on SBC and was shown on the local Disney XD a few times.

It was briefly shown on NTS to gain stamina before Disney World. When Disney entered a new partnership with SBC, the series moved back.

United States of Sierra

As is common with Hopelandian animation, the series was broadcast in the States unsuccessfully, on the local Disney XD. The series was plagued due to a dissonance between what's acceptable on kids TV on Hopeland and the United States and that the primary cause for concern was the "portal". Season 2 was pushed to Sunday nights and was eventually cancelled.

Ketogene was made available on Netflix in 2016, though Disney+'s launch moved it to the new platform. Episode descriptions carry a disclaimer saying that the series was made in Hopeland and is subject to "a dissonance in what's acceptable in the United States".

The series returned to linear television in June 2020, in the wake of unrest, the series unexpectedly increased Disney XD's fragile ratings (though very limited) and streaming of it on Disney+ increased about five times.

Omawate

In 2012 the series ran on a handful of local television stations in Omawate and became a success. An Omawatian-Hopelandian artist and Ketogene fan called lawlessvizionary discovered that the series was being shown on Tomoweru TV and Ajas Jasmo (AJTV-3).

Lenapore

The most successful Hopelandian television series in Lenapore, it debuted on Disney Channel yet was more successful on Okto. The channel stopped airing the series late in its third season.

Eurectipheria

Jamani Rockson stated that the series didn't air in much of Eurectipheria over the Kahoot character and how some countries translate "root beer" to "non-alcoholic beer" or just "beer", a fact that confuses the region because its consumption is limited. Likewise a test dub in Étienne for a French dub was tested, the results weren't satisfactory.