Thank You for Watching the Show
Apparently
a huge showing of action and closure to long standing plot lines wasn’t good
enough a note for this show to go out on. What
it goes with as a grand finale instead, however, is what I, for one, call a
very creative and insightful scenario.
With so much care and thought gone into this show, its characters, and
its story, I feel it can easily invest anyone watching. For that, upon ending at three seasons, one
could feel that the show has just disappeared without warning just as it had
become as engaging as ever. In fact,
there’s a good feeling that the people behind the show couldn’t believe that
they had to wrap up so quickly. This
normally badly effects the quality, but the featured story allows
the circumstance to work splendidly.
It starts off uneventful with K.O. back to his life and embracing both his good and bad sides without trouble just as the previous episode showcased. Suddenly he finds one major life-altering moment happening after another, all marked by the series trademark element of title cards flashing over the scene. At first they mainly mark sudden missions, universes in peril, or the Plaza being attacked by Boxmore robots, one-off villains, or Professor Venomous and Fink. It’s a vast assortment of battles, and K.O. is the only one visibly aware of how sporadically everything is happening. As for everyone else around him, the events seem to be happening normally and have no trouble remembering how everything went down. It’s like K.O. is seeing beyond the fourth wall and feeling rushed through all sorts of plot points. Then again, this wouldn’t be the first time this was the case.
After much instances of blaming this on someone and thinking something’s wrong with him, it all makes sense as the passing events become emotional. They include Rad and Enid venturing out of the Plaza for career paths, as well as a few weddings, the biggest being one a long time coming of Carol and Mr. Gar. Now that’s a wedding I think the series could have benefitted from showing if it had more time. These character building moments get K.O. to realize an interesting philosophy on time. When you’re young, you feel like you have all the time in the world, but as you get older, time, including years, seems to go by much faster than you think. I know I can agree with that feeling.
With that in mind comes an honestly really
moving sequence of the rest of the lives of many characters playing out like a
movie. Passing by posters of all the
past cartoons, K.O. starts witnessing a years’ worth of big life-changing
events all shot from a first person perspective. Everything shows how far everyone in this
great show have come with several title cards and wholesome music all
around. You take in futures that fully complete character arcs like
Rad embracing his soft side when running a coffee shop, Enid living as a witch
and ninja, or Dendy running the Pow Card factory. There’s satisfying closure to the lives of Boxmore
robots as they take up a vast variety of career paths.
Lord Boxman and Professor Venomous reconcile quickly and easily, but it
works in this cartoon’s context. Several
side characters get quick appearances that pale in comparison to other moments,
but are still very welcome. As for K.O.,
he gets his satisfying future by growing up to be the new head of the Plaza in
his own muscular form fit for a hero actually at Level 100. Life now no longer goes too fast. It’s
playing out normally no matter how it may seem, and K.O. is now able to fully
embrace it. Within several fully defined
and healthy futures for nearly everyone in the cast, this is all the more
meaningful.
It’s
easy to feel that this show wishes it could have done more and is making up for being suddenly cancelled. However, it’s also admirable that something this
great was made out of the circumstances.
There’s satisfying outcomes for many great and imaginative characters
after three whole seasons, and it expertly works cramming several little things
in to its advantage. With creative
visual metaphors showcasing everything, and everything known about the
characters, this whole cartoon comes together as a smart way to close the
series. After the intensity of the
action has settled, the heartfelt character-driven element has gone out in
great style.
A++
Season 2
Rankings
1. Your World is an Illusion
2. T.K.O.’s House
3. Final Exams
4. CarolQuest
5. All in the Villainy
6. Dark Plaza
7. GarQuest
8. Dendy’s Power
9. Crossover Nexus
10. Lord Cowboy Darrell
11. Bittersweet Rivals
12. Beach Episode
13. Red Action to the Future
14. My Fair Carol
15. K.O.’s Health Week
16. Are You Ready for Some Megafootball?!
17. Boxman Crashes
18. Wisdom Strength and Charisma
19. Gar Trains Punching Judy
20. I Am Jethro
21. Mystery Sleepover
22. Super Black Friday
23. Point to the Plaza
24. Project Ray Way
25. Special Delivery
26. Seasons Change
27. The So-Bad-Ical
28. Monster Party
29. Sidekick Scouts
30. Whacky Jaxxyz
31. Rad’s Alien Sickness
32. Plaza Film Festival
33. OK A.U.! Alternate Universe
34. Let’s Watch the Boxmore Show
35. Be a Team
36. Plaza Alone
37. Soda Genie
Season 3
Ranking
1. Thank You for Watching the Show
2. Big Reveal
3. T.K.O. Rules
4. Let’s Get Shadowy
5. Let’s Fight to the End
6. K.O. vs Fink
7. Whatever Happened to Rippy Roo?
8. Red Action 3: Grudgement Day
9. Carl
10. Chip’s Damage
11. The K.O. Trap
12. We Are Heroes
13. Let’s Meet Sonic
14. Dendy’s Video Channel
15. You’re a Good Friend K.O.
16. Radical Rescue
17. Planet X
18. Deep Space Vacation
19. K.O., Rad, and Enid!
Final Thoughts
There’s
a lot to love about OK K.O.! Let’s Be
Heroes and you don’t just have to be into the superhero genre to notice
them. Seasons 2 and 3 effectively
continue the strengths set up by the first season when it comes to creative
world building, expressive visuals, and relatable themes. At the same time, each season has their own
way of expanding upon these strengths, broadening the show and its appeal.
For
the most part, Season 2 is mainly a vehicle to showcase any manner of creative
concepts of what can be done with K.O., his friends, and anything surrounding
their plaza setting. You often see
cartoons of certain characters taking part in a featured activity and putting a
clever spin on it. Events like film festivals, fashion shows, beach days, and out of town deliveries come with
helpful advice on how to craft quality material, or welcome character development. This way, the material consistently offers
greatness in whatever it presents.
That’s a real benefit when it comes to cartoons that are either
self-contained or have sparse mentions afterwards. Cartoons like “OK A.U.!” and “Whacky Jazzyz”
are mostly here for fun’s sake even if they offer interesting ideas on how this
world works. It’s the spirited execution
of the storytelling and world building that makes them work as well as they
do. That said, cartoons do leave a
lasting impact for the series, even if their effects aren’t as noticeable as
others. “Sidekick Scouts” is the best example of this for providing K.O. a
follow-up on discovering the truth of his idol, Chip Damage, and a way to
understand his hero capabilities. The
cartoon itself, however, is the only true time the likes of his ‘sidekick’
Combo Breaker has a big role, though he is shown to live happily as someone
else’s sidekick later. Ultimately,
regardless of how strong their connection to the grand scheme of things is,
there’s always fun to be had this season.
Even
so, the best parts of Season 2 can be separated into two categories. First, there’s a group of cartoons that
really take advantage of being an animated product, probably the most advantage
out of all cartoons of recent years.
Perhaps it’s firmly been established that this is just a basic part of
the overall aesthetic, but Season 2 is where it really starts going all out
with the feel. The season premiere kicks
this feel off with a clever commentary on the idea of change. It’s just funny to see random events like Rad
turning orange and Enid becoming a mime show up to shake the status quo for no
reason. The whole event soon makes its
point clear when the resolution shows how those changes have no real
benefit. They’re abandoned for a more
substantial change of Mr. Gar and Carol’s relationship taking its share of
focus. Beyond that, there’s other
notable instances of the show being self-aware of its cartoonish
existence. One major plot point of Lord
Boxman being launched into the sun is exposed as the funny visual gag it is
with him easily returning and eventually retaking his company. Crossovers with characters like other Cartoon Network stars and the cast of an obscure Scooby Doo movie suggest the idea of
taking place in an alternate reality.
While some could say the crossovers mainly cater to fans of those other
properties, I feel they’re executed well enough to be entertaining to even
non-fans. However, what really allows
the show to embrace its animated aesthetic is a little cartoon called “Your World is an Illusion.” It may be
self-contained, but it’s highly impressive how it runs with the idea of
breaking down the scenes to flat out say yes, this is just a show. It all comes with a variety of experiences
that are cleverly self-aware and funny, but also emotional when it makes K.O.
feel all alone when noticing all the tricks.
This is all very smart writing, and that makes it all the more pleasing
with the other best category of cartoons.
Amidst
all the fun of Season 2, a big section of it is also more plot-focused than
ever. True, some plot points like the nature of T.K.O. and the identity of Shadowy Figure are only slightly touched
upon here, but their inclusion is still welcome, small as it is. While those take the forefront in the
following season, the plot development that is prominently shown is well-executed
and brings effective status quo changes.
In some ways, the season kind of belongs to P.O.I.N.T. for how much it
comes up as a hot topic. “P.O.I.N.T. to the Plaza” sets a lot of subjects into motion from establishing hero worship
from some characters, complications for one former member, and future
development. In fact, several cartoons
all together make up an arc that brings all these little elements
together. There’s gradual development
for Enid as she attends the school and mend her past friendship with Elodie,
bold foreshadows, and a reveal that one hero, Chip Damage, is fake. While the focus is on a lot of one-off fun
afterwards, there are significant developments sprinkled in that tie into
feelings of the organization. There are
reveals that confirm Carol is still working for P.O.I.N.T. as well as two
cartoons related to Mr. Gar’s bad past experience and moving forward from
it. K.O.’s loss of trust Chip Damage is
the catalyst for “Sidekick Scouts” even if the cartoon itself is still mostly a
one-off. P.O.I.N.T.’s role this season
builds up to an exciting finale that is one of the best showings of the series’
strengths. It doesn’t hold back with
dark ramifications of P.O.I.N.T. taking over the Plaza and the emotional pain
that drives their actions with all the Plaza heroes in hiding for months. With great staging of action that also
seamlessly works in the show’s offbeat brand of humor, the finale lives up to
its potential and sets in motion events of the following season. The same can also be said for the other often
explored plot thread this season involving the management of Boxmore. At first, it honors the changes left by the
Season 1 finale with Darrell posing as the new villain in charge while the old
one, Lord Boxman has nowhere to go.
Giving past cartoons of him bonding with Professor Venomous a whole new
meaning, he rises back to power when forming an alliance. A few cartoons even showcase the team-up’s
potential covering upgrades for the robots, and new family dynamics. They may feel self-contained at first, but
it’s the following season that features the changes at Boxmore lead to
something.
Moving
onto Season 3, the growth in ambition almost instantly becomes clearer. Even the simplistic doodle-inspired art style
gets a bold upgrade with an increase in shading and a broader color
scheme. There’s still plenty of room for
the customs of exaggerated expressions and extreme gags, but at the same time,
you can’t deny a feeling of growth. Now,
a bold change in looks would especially be appropriate if there were a bolder
change in storytelling, and that’s more or less the case here. It’s easily the most plot-focused out of all
three seasons, setting out to give closure to all the important elements. Following the events of the Season 2 finale,
you’d think K.O. would already have closure as he starts off living his dream
as being a great trusted hero. Then you
consider one lingering thing that’s been an issue with his progress, T.K.O. After both sides showed great compatibility
in the Season 1 finale and two events in Season 2, you’d be forgiven if you
thought he really isn’t an issue anymore. K.O. demonstrates this feel in one
time when he trusts T.K.O. to take full control of the body. When a manifestation of negative emotions do
what negativity does, K.O. makes the ultimate decision of banishing T.K.O. to
his subconscious. T.K.O.’s pained rage
over betrayal is quite foreboding, giving the feel of a person who just got
their rights and free will taken away.
Throughout
Season 3, there are plenty of signs to reflect the pain of K.O. concealing his
negative side leading to something big.
In addition, they cross paths with the new Boxmore management angle with
just how much its dynamic changes with Professor Venomous and his assistant
Fink on the team. I’ve often explored
how the usual Boxmore setup was more in the name of a game, attacking Lakewood
Plaza Turbo with robots for no good reason other than fun. With Professor Venomous, the company’s
villainous ways actually become villainous, with K.O. feeling the most effects
of it. He’s mercilessly bullied by Fink
for having a great relationship with his mom, and is led to actively hate
someone when Professor Venomous puts him in a mind-messing trap. Speaking of Professor Venomous, you can only
imagine how much things turn when K.O. learns the truth about his father. He’s told that it was the famous P.O.I.N.T.
hero who mysteriously disappeared 6-11 years ago, Laserblast, which really isn’t
hard to guess. The same can be said for
the big reveal that Professor Venomous actually is Laserblast ashamed of his
loss of power and now more comfortable with being a villain. Through top-notch staging, he almost seems
like a very in-depth villain. It’s for
these reasons that K.O. actually sees benefit in going with Professor Venomous
to better understand his inner darkness.
As an exciting quest in “Let’s Get Shadowy” suggests, there may be
benefits for everyone out of this decision and seeing the good in a villain he
only recently grew to hate…
Then
comes the later part of the season where K.O. goes through a relatable side
effect to bottling up negative emotions and treating them like a monster. They only grow so much that they overpower
the victim to a disturbing degree. The
sight of K.O., just after events leave him emotionally overwhelmed, losing control of T.K.O. is a strong personification of this concept. This in turn leaves the very end of the
series to endure the darkest of all its storytelling. The carnage caused by the destruction of
T.K.O. and his alliance with the corrupted Professor Venomous is devastating as
is the crumbled spirits of K.O.’s loved ones.
Coming from such a fun, expressive, gag-driven show can be enough to
throw people off, being so dark, in spite of an abundance of the show’s
humorous trademarks. Still, the weight
of the events is effectively felt with grand-scale battles and character
chemistry at play. Plus, the final resolution of K.O. realizing that he and his inner darkness are one in the same
is well-done and refreshing for those struggling to grasp their true
selves. While all of this makes for a
strong climax of the series, there are a few things that hold it back. First of all, the emotional reactions to
T.K.O.’s rampage are fitting, but it gets concerning that no one even tries to
get the real K.O. back as if T.K.O. taking over never happened before. I simply find it hard to abide giving up so
easily. Second, while K.O. and T.K.O.
get good closure in all this, Professor Venomous feels a little wasted. His alias as Shadowy Figure is disposed of
very easily, but think of how powerful it would have been if he came to terms with everyone he knew as Laserblast.
It’s like any depth to his character meant nothing. There are also other disturbing factors like
T.K.O. needing to kill everyone before K.O.’s epiphany, and minor missed
opportunities with characters and new powers.
Ultimately, it’s no secret that K.O. getting over his conflict with
T.K.O. may come with a few concerns. Regardless, the whole arc of overcoming
one last obstacle towards ultimate heroism is satisfying and beneficial to the
experience.
To
make Season 3 still feel true to the series’ tone, it’s thankfully not all
about doom and heavy drama. The rest of
the cartoons may not have a strong tie to the grand scheme, but the fun they
offer is effective in balancing out any emotional toll. Some even resolve outlying subplots like
closure of K.O.’s conflicting feelings on Chip Damage, a present reveal of
Rippy Roo, and the truth to Enid and Red Action’s relationship. Also, like how Enid stands out a lot in
Season 2, Season 3 gives significant focus to Rad. His material might not be all that
interesting, and at times overly basic, but there are still benefits to his
starring roles. We get to see his home
planet in a two-cartoon arc which builds some decent background. There are also showings of genuineness to valuing K.O. as a friend and possible little brother figure. Becoming disturbed by becoming influenced by
his jerk friends and picking fights with Red Action over an embarrassing video
she posted of K.O. show a lot of respect.
With all these cartoons in mind, one can see that a lot of thought is
put into this season, so much so that there’s an impression that the show
really wanted to do more. This feeling
is perfectly represented in the ultimate fun cartoon that ends the season and
the series. It’s a brilliant showcase of
what it feels like for a show to be suddenly canceled and ultimately run out of
time to share its visions. Luckily, it
all works for tying into a very true message of time going by fast, and needing
to make sure to make every moment count.
The ending montage of different characters’ futures is the best kind of
closure this cast could get. The penultimate
cartoon may be a strong ending, but the actual final cartoon which technically
fits in the leisurely category really sends the show off in style.
In
the end, the last two seasons of OK K.O.!
Let’s Be Heroes do precisely what following seasons should do. They take what worked the best in the
beginning and take it to new heights when it comes to storytelling, character
development, and visuals. It may be very
sudden that it all ends after this, but for how well everything comes together, the
final results are commendable to say the least.
Highly Recommended
And
just like that, my look at all of OK
K.O.! Let’s Be Heroes is officially complete. Although its time with us has been brief, it
will forever stand as one of the most expressive, relatable, and creative
animated shows ever, standing as a landmark for those who see it. If you ever get the chance to check out the
series, take it, for if you enjoy shows about becoming heroes and animation in
general, this is the perfect one for you.
Add in consistently high quality all throughout, and this show shall no
doubt stand as a production unlike any other.
As for me, working off the show’s famous end tag, all I have to say is thank you for coming. Thank you for staying. Thank you for reading my reviews of the show.
As for what the future of MC Toon Reviews brings, be on the look out for more reviews of The Owl House and Amphibia, and with December upon us, you'll also see the occasional Christmas special review, until then:
Stay Animated Folks!
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