A total of 104 animated shorts of 'LK School Daze' will be made available to fans. Photos: Handout
If you grew up in the 2000s, you may be familiar with Kadokawa Gempak Starz’s (KGS) Lawak Kampus comic series.
Created by cartoonist Keith Chong, the comic follows the journey of three best friends and their schoolmates as they learn essential life skills at school.
It presents entertaining takes on Malaysian adolescent school life and explores themes of relationships, inclusion and self-acceptance during one’s school years.
Since its debut back in 2003, the beloved series has become a global hit in Asia, selling over 7.7 million copies in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand and China.
If you enjoyed reading these comics in the past, you are in for a treat this year.
In conjunction with Lawak Kampus’ 20th anniversary, creative animation production house Lil Critter Workshop (LCW) has launched LK School Daze, the animated adaptation of the comic.
According to LCW executive producer and co-founder Walid Omar, the aim of this project is to bring Malaysian content to the international scale.
“We wanted to take something local and make it global. Since this is a series about school life, tweens are our target audience,” he said at a launch event.
To ensure that the show is relatable to audiences in and outside of Malaysia, LCW has collaborated with both local and international talents to write the script.
A total of 104 animated shorts of LK School Daze will be released on TikTok. Two shorts are posted weekly.
An upcoming 52-episode series will also be released this September. Each episode is two-minute long.
The English version can be streamed on YouTube whereas the Bahasa Malaysia version is exclusive to Astro.
“Our digital-first strategy is to ensure that the content we produce is accessible to everyone, and that it is not restricted by a paywall.
“There’s no better place to release the animated shorts than on TikTok as it’s one of the fastest-growing social media platforms that’s also popular among youngsters today,” Omar added.
LCW has gained many positive reactions since announcing its launch of LK School Daze, with many expressing excitement about seeing their childhood comic come to life.
Since its establishment in 2015, the studio has produced well over 447 episodes of animation.
Among its works are Hogie The Globehopper, Buck And Buddy, the Emojitown YouTube series and, more notably, My Little Pony: Tell Your Tell – which earned the production house a Best Web/App Series win at the 2023 Kidscreen Awards.
With multiple intellectual properties (IPs) under its belt, LCW’s LK School Daze seems promising, and the people at Kadokawa Gempak Starz vouch this.
“Seeing each animated moment created in motion, sound and colour for audiences on TikTok marks an emotional new chapter for Lawak Kampus, its fans and also for the people of KGS.
“We are honoured to have Lil Critter Workshop breathe new life into (the series’) beloved characters and help the comic evolve and remain a cultural touchstone for years to come.
“We have full faith in the creatives at Lil Critter Workshop when it comes to transforming our legendary comic for TV audiences,” said CEO of KGS Chris Yew in a statement.
To watch the animated shorts, visit @lkschooldaze on TikTok.
