'Toon Reviews 19: OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes Season 1 Episode 16: Legends of Mr. Gar

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Legends of Mr. Gar

When a show has a character that others look up to, that leaves opportunities to explore their influence on certain people.  Mr. Gar is one of those influential characters.  Sporting a high hero level, having strict authority over his staff, and fighting brutally during all attacks from the Boxmore robots, there's lots to admire about him.  In a cartoon exploring the impressions Mr. Gar leaves, we also learn how Rad and Enid got their key character traits from their awesome boss. 

As K.O. talks about how amazing he’s found Mr. Gar to be ever since starting his job, Rad and Enid share exactly how amazing they found Mr. Gar to be on their first days.  Rad started out insisting to Mr. Gar that he has no weaknesses at all apart from not knowing his own strength.  It was fighting a Shannon robot that put Rad’s skills to the test.  He tried using raw strength, but that wasn’t enough.  Eventually, it turned out that for all of Rad’s overconfidence, he was nervous and embarrassed about his special power from his fingers. They didn’t allow him to stand out from his family.  Mr. Gar’s guidance allowed Rad to use his finger power with no shame and beat Shannon. Now Rad uses this power to this day when fighting robots and stocking.  While Rad’s development isn’t usually the most engaging, hearing how he grew to appreciate his power says a lot. 

As has been the usual case however, Enid’s development from working with Mr. Gar stands out more.  Contrary to how she is now, she started caring about the customers a little too much.  She forced herself to smile at their estranged mannerisms at the checkout counter, sounding nervous all the way.  It wasn’t until she met an unruly snobbish sentient skateboard badgering her about wheel polish the bodega didn’t have.  Fortunately, Mr. Gar helped her by showing it’s ok to be firm when the customer is being a jerk, allowing Enid to shout loud to kick the skateboard out of the store.  What Enid learned is a rare message on how the statement that customers are always right really isn’t totally true.  It gives a believable reason why she’s unmoved by mobs of customers now. 

While these stories are big on character development, they close off with one simply being told in the name of fun by the local crazy old man, Crinkly Wrinkly.  In a fake dramatic voice, he gives a creative yet ridiculous story of Mr. Gar being a God-like figure with a robot companion, Plazamo.  Mr. Gar singlehandedly, with a few punches and kicks, laid the groundwork for Lakewood Plaza Turbo while Plazamo became the plaza.  It also explains how Boxmore came to be when Mr. Gar kicked a young Lord Boxman to that robot factory’s building site.  It’s a fun story to close things off, but it seems a little too far-fetched even for this show especially with what we later learn about Mr. Gar.  You have to wonder if Crinkly Wrinkly and Mr. Gar are valid when they say the story is true. 

Still, this whole cartoon is a great look into the inspirational side of idols with great looks into the backgrounds of some of the main characters, standing as one of the show’s best works.

A+

The Ranking

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

Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode where K.O. sets out to prove how much he loves his mommy, and learns about her past along the way.

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 11: You Get Me

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 Get Me

As many of these reviews will show, Enid is by far the more interesting of K.O.’s co-workers.  Her flaws are much more relatable and tolerable.  Her bored expressions, sarcasm, and clearly wanting to be left alone when dealing with difficult, impatient customers feel so common to workers in customer service.  However, through her relationship with K.O., she’s much more comfortable to break from her annoyed and uncaring state. This makes sense since K.O. is very likable and friendly who can allow anyone’s good side to shine. 

This cartoon’s opening scene of Enid happily performing a stunt with K.O. as she begrudgingly helps annoying customers greatly demonstrates this idea.  While most customers are unmoved by Enid’s deadpan attitude, one customer, a wizard called Wally the White, comes to the counter with long anecdotes about things Enid is clearly not interested in.  Because Enid brushes off his nonsense and ignores him, Wally gets upset and berates her.  Although Enid does ignore Wally, this is a case where the deviant one is more sympathetic.  It’s not right to ignore, but Wally was more inconsiderate that he didn't do anything that required Enid's attention, and he acts like what Enid did was a horrible crime which it isn’t.  Plus, considering his simple pathetic design, he doesn’t seem like he’s worth anyone’s time although K.O., sensitive and caring as ever, is affected by his words making him strive to get Enid to prove that she’s friendlier than Wally lets on. 

Both Wally’s persona and K.O.’s desire to get Enid take an interesting turn the next day when K.O. arrives to the shocking sight of Enid turned to stone.  The very idea of being turned to stone is frightening alone, although here, this occurrence is taken more lightly than normal.  At times it’s taken a little too lightly with K.O. being the only one to notice what’s happened to Enid while others say she’s completely normal despite something clearly off about her skin tone.  There are even more cartoons to show how dense the cast can be for the purpose of a plot just so you know. 

Even if it is through contrived means, it is still effective that K.O. being the only one to see what’s wrong with Enid suggests he truly does see the good in others that most people can’t.  That alone is one of the biggest signs of him being one of the most endearing main protagonists, and one of the biggest supports to him becoming a great hero. It grows even more in a heartwarming scene where K.O. laments about not getting Enid enough to turn her back to normal. 

As for Wally, this situation brings an interesting idea that even those who seem pathetic can turn out to be very dangerous. It’s revealed that he turned Enid to stone, and when his spell wares off, he swiftly does it again intending to take her home to work a permanent spell on her.  This leads to an entertaining chase of K.O. running after Wally who carries stone Enid away while quickly finding a way around the spells cast on him.  Although he ultimately needs help himself, it turns out to be enough for Enid to turn back to normal under her own power and tell off Wally for being so petty.  The wizard still may think badly of Enid, but the ending is satisfying enough with her being impressed that K.O. at least understands her true self. 

It leaves an interesting impression celebrating how in depth characters can be when given the proper care and made better by creative elements and genuine chemistry.

A

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

The next OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes episode features genuine development for Rad, but is held back by an even bigger display of denseness when everyone thinks K.O. is Rad all because of a nametag.

Next time on MC Toon Reviews from Star vs the Forces of Evil it's a review on "Goblin Dogs" and "By the Book."

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