CARTOON NETWORK Yumi, left, voiced by Grey Delisle, and Ami, voiced by Janice Kawaye, bring their songs to the United States via their new cartoon "Hi Hi Puffy Ami Yumi" and a soundtrack album being released at the same time.

Say Hi Hi

J-pop stars Ami Onuki and
Yumi Yoshimura drop
into Cartoon Network

Is America ready for Ami Onuki and Yumi Yoshimura? Power pop fans like myself have known about the kawai Japanese duo Puffy AmiYumi for several years now through their previously independent U.S. albums, buoyed by the songwriting and production help of Andy Sturmer, formerly of the cult American band Jellyfish.

"Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi" Debuts at 5:30 and 7 p.m. tomorrow on Cartoon Network

Together, they wrote the title theme song for the Cartoon Network series "Teen Titans."

Now, with the enthusiastic backing of Puffy fan Sam Register, the network's vice president, the young women have become English-speaking rock stars touring the world in the new series, "Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi," which debuts tomorrow.

While the young women are veritable media J-pop superstars in their home country, they are virtually unknown here in the U.S., and if America doesn't get Puffy-licious, Ami and Yumi may go the way of previous one-hit wonders Kyu Sakamoto and Pink Lady.

But with the simultaneous marketing of a soundtrack album from the major Sony/Epic label, filled with mostly Puffy's native-language hits, "Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi" should develop into a popular staple on the network along the lines of "The Powerpuff Girls." That is, while the cartoon series is squarely aimed at kids first, a hipper, "older kid" audience could follow suit, captivated by both the duo's pop-star personas and sometimes deliriously chirpy songs.

Ami and Yumi appear as themselves, speaking in halting English, in each show's wraparound segments -- in the debut, they playfully fight over which of their home cities is the better of the two, Osaka or Tokyo -- and their hit songs (in Japanese) are featured during montage sequences in each cartoon.

SONY Puffy AmiYumi are immortalized in animated form on the Cartoon Network.

The animation is pure eye candy, done in broad strokes in an anime-influenced style. Ami is the sweet pink-haired one (voiced by Janice Kawaye) and Yumi the sardonic, purple-haired punker (the always reliable Grey Delisle). Behind the wheel of their tour bus is their ever-patient and frugal -- nay, cheap! -- road manager Kaz (Keone Young).

Tomorrow's debut is highlighted by the episode "Dis-Harmony," where Kaz introduces the girls to their No. 1 fan Harmony, a seemingly harmless if wide-eyed little girl whose obsessiveness gets a bit much to handle.

That half-hour is followed up with another show, with episodes about vampiric Goth groupies, Ami's possible secret solo career and magically possessed drumsticks.

Ah, the lives of pop stars are never boring!