Mix Master: King of Cards (; ) is an anime series based on the massively multiplayer online role-playing game Mix Master that was launched in 2003. The show was a co-production between Sunwoo Entertainment and KBS of Korea, Chinese company Beijing Omni Culture Exchange and Japan's Nippon Animedia. The 39-episode series ran from October 4, 2005 to July 18, 2006 in South Korea on KBS2. It also aired on Cartoon Network in many Asian areas from the Far East to the Middle East. The story centers on the fantasy and adventure card game, Mix Master. A standalone sequel series, Mix Master: Final Force, followed several years later.
Plot The series takes place in the town of Gamebridge where, through the accidental opening of a portal from the fictional Mix Master video game world of Atreia, the peaceful little town is invaded by the funny and sometimes dangerous game creatures, known as "hench", as well as the game world's evil Prince Brad. The main protagonist, 11-year-old Ditt Lee, is given a card shuffler by the eccentric Dr. Joeb, and now must "mix" those hench (as learned from the fictional video game) to achieve peace and safety, while he grows into his destiny to become the one true "Mix Master".
The series presented over two hundred henches from different species. They can be fused or 'mixed' together to form a new, stronger hench. Henches are ranked from 1 (low) to 7 (high) depending on their power. Animals and plants are present. To be mixed, henches must be of the same rank and species. Henches are shown to be like humans, as they can sleep, eat, talk and tire out if they are overused. They bond with humans who show honesty and friendship. They have to obey the orders of the person who owns their card shuffler, even against their will. They seem to grow old and die.
Although Henches are ranked as high as 7, above level 7 one hench is known as the Ultimate Hench and is the most powerful. Ultimate Hench exists when all the 8 Henches of Rank 7 are fused with the help of the Mix Master and The Master Hench. According to legend, the Master Hench has to find one human friend whom it trusts above all else, and that human becomes the Mix Master. It appears that the Master Henches are somehow related, as Pachi's brother was the previous Master Hench. The Master Hench can be mixed to become the ultimate Hench that can defeat Giara.
Characters Protagonists Name Description Ditt Lee Ditt is the main character, a lazy 11-year-old with red hair who likes nothing more than sleeping and eating (his favorite food being donuts). However, he is a kind and courageous person with a noble and honest heart, and a good friend. When Gamebridge and Atreia are mixed for the first time, Dr. Joeb's plunger device detects that he is the most fitting person to wield the gun-like card mixer, which makes him the first real-life Mixer. He constantly bickers with Pachi, who lives in the same house with him, but they are very close friends. As time goes by, Ditt grows from a lazy boy to a true hero, and in the end, it is revealed that he is the true Mix Master, as several characters suspect from the beginning. Pachi Pachi is a hench from Atreia. He is cheeky, sarcastic and doesn't trust easily, and will make jokes at Ditt's expense whenever possible. However, he likes Ditt a lot and comes to think of him as his best friend. Pachi is actually the legendary Master Hench, but rejects this duty and doesn't show his true strength because his elder brother, the former Master Hench, died in the final confrontation against the Wraith of the Lost World. Penril Penril is Ditt's classmate and girlfriend, and the only girl in the Mixer team. She is kind and has a strong will, but is short-fused and rather over-sensitive. She is physically strong, as she trains at taekwondo at her father's dojo. She is the second to receive a heart-shaped card mixer, which works like a bow and arrow contraption. It appears that she is bossing Ditt around and mothering him, but deep down, she really cares about Ditt. Cheek Cheek is Ditt's classmate and friend, and an expert at the Mix Master game. Cheek is very intelligent, helpful and modest, and he is the team's best consultant in strategies for combining henches. Before Dr. Joeb's plunger device picks Ditt to be the Mix Master, he wants Cheek to wield the card mixer due to his expertise. He eventually gets a card mixer of his own, shaped like a taser. Jin Jin is Ditt's classmate and rival, but he doesn't befriend the rest of the Mixers until later. He is considered the lone wolf of the gang as Jin initially distrusts the henches, but later comes to trust them and the Mixer team, receiving his own gun-shaped card mixer. He constantly states his disbelief at Ditt being the true Mix Master. He is the son of Gamebridge Town's overzealous mayor, and is always quite embarrassed by his father's actions. Poy Poy is a young elf from Atreia, who was sent by her mother to find the true Mix Master. She always wants to help others and is very sweet. She is very knowledgeable when it comes to Mix Master lore, and believes she found the true Mix Master in Ditt, becoming his most staunch supporter. Dr. Joeb In his 63 years of life, the kooky Dr. Joeb came up with many bizarre inventions. He is partially responsible for the mixing of Gamebridge and Atreia, opening a portal in Gamebridge the same time Prince Brad opened a portal in Atreia. Despite all his eccentricities, he is very helpful to Ditt and his friends, providing them with mixing gear and gadgets.
Antagonists Name Description Prince Brad Prince Brad is a vain, egocentric dark elf who opened the portal to Gamebridge from Atreia in search of the Master Hench. He believes himself to be the true Mix Master, and wants to be the ruler of everything everywhere. He does not think highly of humans, especially Ditt and his friends. He is the boss of three bumbling dark elves that he often sends out to wreak havoc in Gamebridge. Mino Mino is one of Prince Brad's henchmen, a large, burly dark elf with a nose ring. He values power and strength, and doesn't think much of those smaller than he is. Deep down, however, he appreciates the softer, more delicate things in life. He is not terribly bright, and often misunderstands things. His card mixer is a large war hammer. He is the enemy of penril Jamine Jamine is one of Prince Brad's henchmen, and the only female. She is obsessed with beauty, thinking she is the fairest of them all. She has a huge crush on Prince Brad, and often makes futile attempts to try to get the self-involved dark elf's attention. Her card mixer is a cosmetics compact. Chino Chino is one of Prince Brad's henchmen, a small and skinny punkster who is rarely seen without his electric guitar. He is loud, energetic and arrogant, and truly believes he is the best of the three henchmen. He loves music and writes songs whenever he possibly can, and doesn't realize that he's terrible at it. His card mixer is his guitar. Giara Giara is a self-proclaimed white witch who offers her help to Prince Brad. She seems very loyal to Prince Brad and acts in a rather sycophantic manner when he is around, and is actually much crueler than Brad is. In the end she betrays Prince Brad and reveals her true nature; she is, in essence, the Wraith of the Lost World that was sealed away by Pachi's older brother years ago, and is only interested in the destruction of Earth and Atreia.
Episodes
Voice actors Character English KoreanDittKathleen BarrAn Kyeong-jinPachiTabitha St. GermainSo YeonGiaraHyeon-ju LeeDr. JoebDon BrownKim Jeong-hoMinoMoon Kwan-ilChinoSam VincentOh In-seongCheekJillian MichaelsCha Myeong-hwaPoyChantal StrandChoi Moon-jaPenrilJeong Hyeon-kyeongJinCathy WeseluckSeo Hye-jeongPrince BradScott McNeilHong Si-hoJamineLisa Ann BeleyCha Myeong-hwa
Broadcast Mix Master: King of Cards debuted in South Korea on KBS2 on October 4, 2005. It ran for 39 episodes before concluding on July 18, 2006. Reruns would air on Nickelodeon, Tooniverse and other channels in the country. The first episode from the series was screened in Japanese at the Korean Cultural Center in Tokyo in 2009. To celebrate its 20th anniversary, the series received a 16:9 high-definition remaster which began airing on Cartoon Network in South Korea in February 2025. It later ran on other channels (including Laftel) before being uploaded to its own dedicated YouTube channel.
Taffy Entertainment acquired the international distribution rights to the series from Sunwoo Entertainment in October 2005. In September 2006, the company sold the series to Nickelodeon in Italy, the United Kingdom and Spain. In the United States, the series debuted alongside the launch of the Kabillion service in January 2007. In the United Kingdom, it began airing on Nicktoons in May 2007. The series premiered that same month in Singapore on Kids Central. It also aired in Australia and New Zealand on Cartoon Network. An English subtitled version of the Korean series aired on KBS World from 2010. The HD remaster of the dub was initially uploaded to its own dedicated YouTube channel from January 2025 to January 2026. Kartoon Channel began streaming it (along with Final Force) on August 22, 2025.
Merchandise Following the debut of the series in South Korea, Sunwoo Entertainment had signed deals to launch over 100 different products tied to the show. This included a line of comics published by Jaemi Books from November 1, 2005. Hanbitsoft published a physical trading card game. Samsung released educational software themed around the series.
In September 2006, it was reported that Upper Deck had acquired the rights to print an English version of the trading card game. A year later, Taffy Entertainment clarified that this was erroneous as while discussions had taken place, nothing was finalized. Taffy would use Amazon's CreateSpace service to release the series across three manufacture on demand DVD sets in North America in October 2013.
Video games The animated series is based off of the Mix Master massively multiplayer online role-playing game. Originally developed by Xai Media and published by Samsung, the game launched as an open beta in South Korea on April 15, 2003. It debuted in Japan on April 28, 2004. In 2006, Japanese games publisher SeedC acquired all rights to the title. SeedC and successive rights holders would then directly launch or partner with local companies to run versions of the game in China, France, Germany and other territories. The English server, operated by SeedC's Australian division, launched on May 18, 2007. It had shutdown by early 2011. In July 2008, SeedC produced the Mixmaster QR app for au mobile devices in Japan, offering several mini-games.
Aurora Games, the then newly established video game division of Korean toy manufacturer Aurora World, purchased the property in 2009. SeedC sold off their Japanese publishing rights to the game in 2010 to BIGLOBE, before acquiring it back in 2012. Under BIGLOBE, that version of the game was renamed to reMix Master on December 21, 2011. SeedC then sold their gaming business to Global Systems in 2015. They operated the Japanese game until its closure in April 2017. In late 2014, Aurora Games was absorbed within its parent company and the game transferred duties to Joyple. Joyple would relaunch the English, French and Japanese versions in January 2017, August 2017 and February 2019, respectively.
In conjunction with the animated series, Sunwoo Entertainment and HiCocoon developed Mix Master TCG, an online trading card game that launched in open beta in South Korea on August 25, 2005. The game ended service in late 2006. SeedC published the game in Japan, with it launching on May 24, 2006 before it shutdown on June 30, 2007.