'Toon Reviews 19: OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes Season 1 Episode 29: A Hero's Fate

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A Hero’s Fate

One message I’ve been surprised to find in a lot of what I’ve reviewed is the importance of leaving room for leisure as well as hard work.  That’s something I’m a big advocate for since it’s really important to have a balanced life.  In the case of this show, with K.O. having big heroic aspirations, this feels like a good lesson for him to learn. 

To be fair, he seems to have good reason to put all his attention on becoming a great hero when his Pow card still won’t level up past .1.  Then, a hero literally named Hero shows up to offer K.O. to train with him in hopes of leveling up.   With K.O.'s lack of progress in mind, it’s worth going along with his decision to train instead of hang out with Rad and Enid on their self-proclaimed day off in a kiddie pool. 

As a character, Hero is as standard fighter character as you get.  He looks like a basic fighter and his primary weapon is a standard sword used to use against monsters.  Also, through expressing excitement of his heroic quest, his positivity sounds stoic and phoned in.  It doesn’t make for the most enjoyable character to follow. 

However, as K.O. does what he can to keep up with him and level up, there are some interesting things about Hero and his self-proclaimed quest.  He’s constantly fighting the exact same monster which reappears right after he defeats it.  There’s also a specific routine Hero and K.O. have to follow whenever they fight.  In addition, whenever they get hurt, they get better from drinking bottles of a potion that Hero purchased at Gar’s Bodega.  When they’ve battled enough monsters, their work still isn’t done when they have to go up a huge flight of stairs filled with insane obstacles.  At the top is the final boss, another warrior named Galgarion which Hero humorously can’t say straight. 

By now, it's clear that the aesthetic of this whole quest is like a video game.  I mean, the exact same monsters regenerating on the way to the final boss, injuries getting healed, random castle obstacles, and a staged final battle ring very true for video games' nature.  At the same time, K.O. constantly lags behind and realizes how focusing all his attention on training is not good on his state of well-being.  This is a believable look of an actual person living through a video game.  In fact, leveling up this much is the very reason why it’s hard for him and Hero to beat Galgarion at first since the final boss leveled up a lot too. 

Eventually, K.O. snaps at the prospect of doing the quest a bunch more times and admits that he needs a break.  As I mentioned before, breaks from action are more necessary than some people may think.  They get you feeling happy enough so that when you do go back to being productive, you’re in an appropriate state of mind.  Also, Hero and Galgarion, despite seeming to be part of a living video game, get the value of taking a break too, walking away from the fight seeming to be on good terms all along. 

The conclusion is also very satisfying with K.O. being welcomed to the fun of the kiddie pool by Rad and Enid. As for Hero, he returns to the realm of a comic strip which is a bit of a shocking change of pace, but I can’t really fault a creative way of delivering a message.  With an interesting message to get behind and unique aesthetics, this is a cartoon sure to enlighten you in many ways.

A

The Ranking

1. Face Your Fears
2. You Have to Care
3. T.K.O.
4. No More Pow Cards
5. Legends of Mr. Gar
6. We’ve Got Pests
7. I Am Dendy
8. You Get Me
9. Let’s Be Heroes
10. You’re Everybody’s Sidekick
11. Jethro’s All Yours
12. Know Your Mom
13. Everybody Likes Rad?
14. A Hero’s Fate
15. Plaza Prom
16. We’re Captured
17. My Dad Can Beat up Your Dad
18. Let’s Be Friends
19. We Messed Up
20. Presenting Joe Cuppa
21. Sibling Rivalry
22. Second First Date
23. Stop Attacking the Plaza
24. Just Be a Pebble
25. Do You Have Any More in the Back?
26. You’re Level 100
27. You Are Rad
28. We’ve Got Fleas
29. One Last Score

The next OK K.O. review features K.O. bond with his idol, Mr. Gar, and encounter Shadowy Figure all in the same stakeout.

Next time on MC Toon Reviews are lesser Star vs the Forces of Evil episodes "Heinous" and "All Belts are Off."

If you would like to check out other OK K.O.! reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.