Mediawan Kids & Family world-premiered the new anime series Ki & Hi in the Panda Kingdom at MipJunior first day, drawing an audience of industry attendees. The 52-episode, 11-minute title is an adaptation of a bestselling manga by French YouTuber Kevin Tran, who is also serving as co-producer and showrunner.
The series follows the adventures of 10-year-old Ki and his 6-year-old brother Hi. The plot focuses on the boys’ bickering and bonding as they navigate the Panda Kingdom, a world where the everyday blends with the extraordinary. The character ages reflect the target demographic for the show.
Katell France, General Manager and CCO of Mediawan Kids & Family, noted the stability of the core audience, stating, ‘There’s still real strength in that age group’. She added that the 6-to-10 demographic is ‘deeply attached to animation, not yet ready to leave cartoons behind for live-action’. France explained the creative focus: ‘We really wrote the series for kids around seven or eight years old’, noting that this age group starts to ‘develop a sense of individuality, to take on a bit more responsibility, and to navigate small conflicts and confrontations’. The series reflects this daily life of school, home, family, and sports.
The project aligns with the rising trend of developing anime content closer to home. France described the unique appeal of the series, stating, ‘Kevin’s world mixes realism and everyday life with the imaginary’. This gives the show a whimsical quality often missing in Japanese manga, which typically tends toward either entirely imaginary or entirely realistic settings.
Kevin Tran’s domestic success, which includes nearly six million YouTube subscribersand over one million books sold, helped secure initial commissions from Canal Plus in France and RTBF in Belgium. France noted that while the IP made production easier, Mediawan is betting on the narrative’s universality for international appeal. She concluded, “The successful IP certainly made things easier—we were able to get it into production quickly, because the commissioning editors really supported us right away”.
