'Toon Reviews 19: OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes Season 1 Episode 22: Plaza Prom

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Plaza Prom

Even when a story is told similarly to how other shows tell it, it can still stand on its own with a certain brand of entertainment and distinct characters.  This show has tons of distinction from the characters' looks which is one reason to get excited when they get together for a party, or in this case a prom. 

Rad aims to throw such a prom fitting his aim to be the coolest hero around.  He wants to bring all of Lakewood Plaza Turbo together to boost his status, especially other cool guys like the alley teens Drupe, Red Action, and Gregg.  As is fitting for party stories, Rad has tight guidelines for how things should go, and insists following them.  You can probably guess that message will involve following guidelines not always being the best course of action for parties.  This is further fueled by the actual prom being very lackluster, and the guidelines of Rad’s prom scroll are no help. 

As I said earlier, basic and common plot points do not hurt the quality of a story since a show’s use of entertainment and character moments can make it its own thing.  A big reason for how this plot works well is from the characters we follow as opposed to just little bits of the guests and most focus on Rad.  It gives a sense of what the whole experience means for different characters.  K.O. acts as Rad’s cohost and sticks strictly to that scroll while having doubts about it.  Brandon and A Real Magic Skeleton have a falling out after lying to each other about having a date.  While chaperoning, Mr. Gar is once again struck by his fear of talking to Carol, though commendably makes a great effort to ask her to dance with him.  There are frequent shots of Enid struggling to play Rad’s suggested music. They're not too important but bring a hilarious interpretation of what it’s like to listen to bad music as she becomes hospitalized while playing it.  This isn’t even mentioning moments of many other guests getting up to mischief, showcasing the prom falling apart due to Rad’s stubborn adherence to the scroll. 

Ultimately, all these different scenes of the prom going wrong lead to an ultimate move to save the whole affair. The prom’s crashed by the perfect Boxmore robot for the job, the ever classy Raymond.  It’s his presence that gets K.O. to realize how flawed the scroll is, and he pushes Rad to take the intruder out in a dance battle.  Set to the lively acoustics of Enid’s music literally from her heart, the dance off is the very thing to liven up the prom.  It’s fun to watch and listen to, and brings a big shift in view for Rad.  He dances his own way, and his moves blow Raymond out of the competition.  After this, there’s a very nice moment of the prom going on as the great event it was destined to be, allowing the subplots to come full circle.  Rad impresses the alley teens. RMS and Brandon make up for their lying. Mr. Gar gets his dance with Carol.  Finally, there's a nice display of snapshots of the most prominent guests. 

Even if you can get a good idea of how things will play out, the story of this plaza prom and how it builds up to a memorable party is executed greatly.  It's a vast gathering of characters you won’t want to miss.

A

The Ranking

1. Face Your Fears
2. You Have to Care
3. Legends of Mr. Gar
4. We’ve Got Pests
5. I Am Dendy
6. You Get Me
7. Let’s Be Heroes
8. You’re Everybody’s Sidekick
9. Jethro’s All Yours
10. Know Your Mom
11. Everybody Likes Rad?
12. Plaza Prom
13. We’re Captured
14. My Dad Can Beat up Your Dad
15. Let’s Be Friends
16. We Messed Up
17. Presenting Joe Cuppa
18. Sibling Rivalry
19. Just Be a Pebble
20. Do You Have Any More in the Back?
21. You’re Level 100
22. You Are Rad

Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode which reveals some interesting information on the love lives of Rad and Enid.

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

'Toon Reviews 19: OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes Season 1 Episode 12: You Are Rad

If you like this review and want to stay updated for what else I have in store, become a follower of this blog, click here to like the official Facebook page, and click here to follow me on Twitter. Now on with today's review:

You Are Rad

I mentioned in the last review that there are several times in this show where the all characters act incredibly dense and lacking in logic in order for the plot to work.  Moments like this are often really dumb and lower the cartoon’s appeal with so many characters blatantly ignoring the obvious up to the point where it gets frustrating.  This cartoon to me is the worst example of this trope. 

K.O. comes to work realizing he doesn’t have a nametag, so Rad, deciding to bail out, nonchalantly tosses him his nametag.  Now, K.O. seeing himself as Rad just because he’s wearing his nametag is fine enough since he’s just being a cute little kid.  However, the setup becomes more stupid as the cartoon goes on when everyone else around Lakewood Plaza Turbo thinks K.O. is rad because of that nametag.  If it was just for one short moment, the ensuing stupidity wouldn’t be an issue, but this idea goes on throughout the entire runtime, resulting in persistent frustration that prevents the cartoon from standing as great.  Not only that, but unless you chalk it up to his typical headstrong persona, Rad himself escalates the issue by believing that K.O. is really him from the nametag and claiming that the “imposter” committed identity theft despite the fact that he himself gave K.O. the nametag in the first place.  I’m all for creative concepts, but the execution leaves no good reason for the characters to believe what they do, so it’s easier to be annoyed by the incessant stupidity. 

That said, there are still some worthwhile things to take from the cartoon.  While living the misconception that he’s Rad, K.O. ends up doing things that Rad would usually do such as heavy sporty games at the arcade, and he wins.  Since this is actually K.O. doing them, it subtly brings the idea that this little kid is stronger than he seems.  Also, while the main premise for the cartoon is dumb, it’s an interesting way to also show that Rad is more than what he seems.  He may look and act strong and act cool, but as K.O. walks about the plaza with Rad’s nametag, everyone mentions Rad having an interest in things like kittens and doing things like yoga and babysitting.  It’s nothing new for a tough guy to be much more caring unbeknownst to others, but I do have to give credit for the interesting way Rad’s soft side is revealed through K.O. living a misconception. 

Plus, the climax is a lot of fun where Rad and K.O. compete for who the real Rad is where K.O. keeps winning the competitions through doing things like burping and stocking less impressively while Rad comes up with convoluted reasons why K.O.’s ways of doing them were better. 

It all leads up to a rap battle to decide the true Rad where K.O. performs a mix between usual rap and traditional children’s songs, an adorable play on the less appealing musical style that lets the deeply cute attributes he learned about Rad.  In the end, Rad covers up these reveals while also dropping a hint that he is into being cute, but isn’t open to share that information with others.  This is what makes everyone realize the truth no matter how obvious it always was, and leaves Rad as more in depth than he lets on even if he chooses keep it as a secret. 

The cartoon is held back by incredibly overbearing denseness from most of the characters, but even with that, it’s impressive that it can still work in solid comedy and character development.

C

The Ranking

1. I Am Dendy
2. You Get Me
3. Let’s Be Heroes
4. You’re Everybody’s Sidekick
5. Jethro’s All Yours
6. My Dad Can Beat up Your Dad
7. Let’s Be Friends
8. We Messed Up
9. Sibling Rivalry
10. Do You Have Any More in the Back?
11. You’re Level 100
12. You Are Rad

The next OK K.O. review sees what K.O. gets up to when he finds a way to grow huge and be like all the big heroes he looks up to.

Next time on MC Toon Reviews is another Star vs the Forces of Evil review on "Game of Flags" and "Girls' Day Out."

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