Just Play Signs on as Toy Partner for Super Sema, The First African Kid Superhero Series

Brandora Editorial Staff - September 2021

Leading global consumer products company, Just Play, announced today that it has entered into a licensing agreement with the edutainment company Kukua for the YouTube Originals series Super Sema. Fueled by STEAM superpowers, the show follows the world-changing adventures of an extraordinary young African girl, Sema. Just Play’s toy line will embrace the show’s core messages of kid-powered curiosity and empower fans to recreate Sema’s adventures at home. The new Super Sema toys, including talking dolls and role-play sets, are expected to launch across North America in Fall 2022.

Africa’s first animated superhero series for children, Super Sema premiered on International Women’s Day in March 2021 reaching millions of kids around the world within the first weeks. The series is set in an African-futuristic world where Sema and her twin brother MB utilize science and technology, along with creativity and courage, to save their village from a heartless AI robot villain. Super Sema was created by Kukua, a multidisciplinary media and technology startup that combines entertainment and education to inspire today’s generation of children, helmed by a female leadership team, including Oscar-winner Lupita Nyong’o, who is a shareholder in the company and executive producer and voice in the series. The second season of Super Sema has been greenlit by YouTube Originals for release starting later this year.

“We were drawn to the empowering and inspiring messages of Super Sema and its role in bringing African role models to children around the world,” said Geoffrey Greenberg, Co-President of Just Play. “Sema and MB are exceptional heroes who engage their gifts of inquisitiveness and self-reliance, along with their knowledge of science and technology, to accomplish seemingly insurmountable goals. We are captivated by what Kukua has created and are looking forward to this new partnership.”

“I’m excited to see Super Sema come to life as dolls and dress-up role play, so that kids around the world can play out Sema’s STEAMpowered adventures at home,” said Lupita Nyong’o. “I’m deeply invested in making Black children feel confident and comfortable in their own skin, and, like the series, this will give them the opportunity to play, be creative, and invent with toys that look like them. Sema is the kind of doll I wish I had growing up!”