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

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:

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.

'Toon Reviews 19: OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes Season 1 Episode 6: You're Level 100

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’re Level 100

Some of the most compelling stories have the main character work very hard to achieve greatness making for a rewarding journey.  It would be a pretty weak move for characters to achieve great strength and status early on or through doing nothing.  It’s for these reasons that this cartoon isn’t all that compelling. 

The main plot develops a main object of the series, Pow cards.  On the surface, they seem just like typical trading cards, but there’s a lot more to them.  They’re like specialized computers that calculate information on every hero in existence based on how much they advance through heroic acts.  The deepest thing about Pow cards is that their legit measuring tools for how much heroes grow through changing in level over time.  It’s a visual metaphor of developing a sense of worth, which is why it’s huge when characters get one. 

In K.O.’s case, getting a Pow card of his own is a huge deal for him with his desire to become a great hero made so apparent, and it is monumental when the bodega’s Pow card machine has one of him.  However, it’s a little too monumental when K.O.’s Pow card level is 100.  Right there, it’s clear that something is not right for many reasons.  First, it’s very early in the show’s run, so it’s a cheap move for K.O. to have that big a level at this point.  Second, K.O. has not done anything huge at this point to warrant such a high level, so it’s really unbelievable for him to get the status.  This leads to the next point where everyone is way too accepting of this through congratulating him and giving him celebrity treatment, never getting suspicious.  It’s a bit discomforting that K.O. is hailed so much despite it being so unbelievable for him to be a level 100 hero. 

His celebrity status lasts for so long that when he’s put to the test with Lord Boxman unleashing his latest robot, Big Darrell, specifically designed for level 100 heroes to face, you’re waiting for the truth to be revealed.  I mean, the unbelievability of the Pow card information and K.O. clearly being too weak stature makes it clear that he’s no match on his own and makes his overconfidence pretty stupid.  The ensuing battle does provide a good display of K.O.’s power fists though not seen since the second cartoon. 

Unsurprisingly, during a huge thrashing from Big Darrell, it’s revealed that K.O. isn’t a level 100 hero at all.  In fact he’s a level 0 which makes more sense, even if it’s still an issue that his disillusion went on for so long.  That said, the story does end up showing that K.O. does have to take his time to build up to a hero overall, and while most of the heroes who praised him are annoyed that he’s not who they thought he was at first, they still help K.O. beat Big Darrell.  This results in a highly creative solution to the battle with all the heroes becoming a literal big fist combining their Pow card levels that K.O. uses to punch Big Darrell to pieces.  Plus, even though it was technically all the heroes in the plaza who saved the day, K.O. is rewarded with a slight upgrade to a level .1 hero, showing that while he has a ways to go, he’s still making progress. 

While the cartoon is held back for focusing on the unbelievable for too long, the universal message of how true success is what you work towards and some creative moments help it stand strong enough.

B

The Ranking

1. Let’s Be Heroes
2. You’re Everybody’s Sidekick
3. Jethro’s All Yours
4. Let’s Be Friends
5. We Messed Up
6. You’re Level 100

The next OK K.O.! review follows K.O. strive to teach the importance of teamwork, even if it means helping the villainous Boxmore robots with their sibling rivalry.

Next time on MC Toon Reviews is a Star vs the Forces of Evil review on "Star vs Echo Creek" and "Wand to Wand."

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 1: Let's Be Heroes

Today, this blog is starting reviews on one of the more recent Cartoon Network shows offering a creative art style, charming childlike endearment to the normally action-oriented superhero genre, and a tone that’s hysterical as well as inspirational:

OK K.O.! Let’s Be Heroes (Season 1)

Basic Premise

I’m always looking for new animated TV shows to broaden my outlook on my favorite medium, and Cartoon Network has some of the most appealing, creative, entertaining, and even charming shows of this era.  Most of their acclaimed shows may not air a lot on TV, but there are other viable ways to watch them these days, particularly on their app.  That way, people can still get a good idea of how much respect the network has for animation, allowing talented and imaginative creators to open up and express their creative ideas in a medium where literally anything is possible.  If my frequent praise of its first two seasons wasn’t a clear indication, I feel that the show that best represents Cartoon Network’s current creative spirits is Steven Universe, so you can imagine that I’d be interested in whatever alumni from that show have to offer.  This set of reviews is on the first season of a show from such an alumnus, who happens to be Ian Jones-Quartey, the former co-executive producer of Steven Universe and boyfriend to its creator.  His show is called OK K.O.! Let’s Be Heroes.

Just from watching a clip, there’s genuine appeal to this show.  For one thing, it’s a big example of stretching animation’s endless possibilities through taking place in a world populated by uniquely designed characters with superpowers to call their own, mostly hanging out at a huge shopping center called Lakewood Plaza Turbo.  At the center of this show about a world of heroes learning to control their powers is genuine charm from the main protagonist.  K.O. is a young impressionable kid with big dreams of becoming the greatest hero of all.  Through cartoons of working at a bodega run by the plaza’s owner, Mr. Gar, with his co-workers, Rad and Enid, fighting opposing robots from the neighboring evil factory, Boxmore, or simply doing a fun activity, K.O. grows from each experience which gets him closer to becoming a hero, bringing a cute sense of childlike innocence along the way.  This makes for quite a setup for a show that not only is sure to give a healthy dose of action, but also astound with creativity and be emotionally pleasing to watch all at once.  So, just as K.O. is continuously eager to become a hero, I’m eager to look into Season 1 of one of the best shows Cartoon Network has currently created.  As the theme song says, “let’s start the show!”

Now on with the reviews:

Let’s Be Heroes

Some of the most impressionable premiere cartoons set the main events of the series into motion.  This premiere cartoon introduces all the prominent elements of the series as well as the overall tone and theme. 

From the first moment of studying his collection of Pow cards, trading cards that describe the hero levels of nearly everyone in existence, K.O. is instantly relatable through his interests and wanting to follow in the footsteps of his heroic idols like the highest rated hero of all, Mr. Gar.  It also helps that these relatable traits mesh well with his adorable eagerness and friendly attitude.  K.O.’s undeniable charm is present through all the cartoon’s introductions to the key components of what’s to come. 

He gets endless support from his mom, Carol, who is instantly one of the greatest mother figures in TV animation.  She has her own strengths while running the Fitness Dojo at Lakewood Plaza Turbo and is completely devoted to her son, especially when it comes to supporting him with advice on becoming a hero.  In fact, Carol sets K.O.’s path to becoming a hero in motion by deliberately giving him a reason to go to Gar’s Bodega, where he hopes the heroic qualities of the owner will rub off on him. 

All the way, K.O.’s heroic determination is given a nice depiction with an inner monologue describing what he’s doing as a step in his quest, and how he views the main players of the bodega, Mr. Gar, and his employees, Rad and Enid.  They’re all introduced with texts describing their strengths and weaknesses common on trading cards placed over a scene depicting their main personalities.  Mr. Gar is godly with amazing powers as he appears while also being a tough man in charge, though he’s bashful when Carol is around.  Rad is an egotistical alien with super powered fingers in charge of stocking while Enid is much more sarcastic and unsociable with the customers at the counter.  It’s through K.O.’s charm and cheerfulness however when they both show hints of having much more friendly aesthetics to them which grow a lot more throughout the series. 

As for K.O., his time at the bodega is also charming as he purchases various items to become a hero, though they really make him look the part instead of actually being the part.  It’s here where the story presents the downsides of his childlike mindset when he tries being a hero by fighting a Boxmore robot called Darrell.  There’s a lot of time on it seeming like K.O.’s powerful enough to defeat him which is hard to believe, not just because of his size, but also because it’s near impossible for people to be this heroic through not doing anything.  However, that’s the message the cartoon is trying to teach, and it shows when during K.O.’s fight with Darrell, we cut to him knocked out against a wall, and is told that he didn’t have a chance against him at all.  The reveal is unfortunate, but it is believable, and what follows is a nice way for K.O. to realize that becoming a hero means hard work and patience. Him deciding to work at Gar’s Bodega to do that and the last scene of Rad and Enid liking the idea of having him around set up this path for the series. 

K.O. might not have left a strong impression as a hero, but this cartoon leaves a great one by introducing a charming and creative world with relatable characters.

A

Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode where K.O. tries to apply for the job at Gar's Bodega and befriend Rad and Enid while we also meet the head of Boxmore, Lord Boxman.


If you want to stay updated for more reviews, become a follower of this blog, click here to like the official Facebook page, and click here to follow me on Twitter.

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 3: Peanuts 1960s Specials Part 2

Charlie Brown’s All-Stars

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the first of the four lesser-known Peanuts specials of the decade, but it’s also one that presents what would become one of the biggest conventions of the specials.  We all know that Charlie Brown’s shtick is that he can never find victory in certain activities of life, and most of the failures come from his attempts to win a baseball game.  This special really hammers this in with mentions of his team’s notorious streak of 999 straight losses and a big collection of big fails that come from the team during the first game of the season.  Those scenes of failed pitches, dropped balls, and clueless players make for some really funny gags but at the same time, it’s easy to feel the frustration that no one on Charlie Brown’s team seems capable of winning.  You might think that the reason the team can’t win is because Charlie Brown sucks, but the fact is, through watching the game scenes in this special, all the kids suck.  They don’t seem to pay attention to the game, spend their time commentating on the pitcher and expect Charlie Brown to catch all the fly balls.  With that in mind, it kind of leads you to wonder if it’s really appropriate that the kids direct all the blame on Charlie Brown.  Now, the meanness of the kids, especially of Lucy and the other girls of the team, does help give these specials some edge and it makes sense considering how much of an outsider Charlie Brown is to them since he fails a lot, but sometimes they go a little too far with their treatment of him.  It’s fine and tolerable at the start of the special when everyone is so frustrated with their constant losses that they end up quitting the team, even if they only acknowledge Charlie Brown’s faults and not their own, but I will say that their meanness does start to go too far when they bully him and ignore him even when they’re not playing baseball.  That said, this special does demonstrate the great appeal of Charlie Brown’s character.  Even with all the animosity he faces, he still considers all the members of the team to be his friends, so much so that he greatly accepts an offer that will get his team in a real league and a set of team uniforms to boot, and only turns the offer down when he learns that playing in a league means he has to get rid of the girls and Snoopy.  It also shows how determined he is to make things go his way despite always facing failure by being hard-pressed to keep his team together and win a game so that they’ll forget about being in a league and never find out he turned the offer down.  At first, the game he has the team play serves as quite a high point for the special, featuring all the kids actually playing their best.  Heck, even Charlie Brown himself gets a hit.  However, there’s shown to be a downside to Charlie Brown’s determination as his trying to be a hero causes the team to lose the game.  He ends up facing some more meanness from the team, but it’s far more acceptable here than earlier because if he just waited at third base for another hit, the team most likely wouldn’t have lost.  What follows though is a good-hearted moment that somewhat makes up for what we witnessed from the team.  The girls and Snoopy learn that Charlie Brown turned down the league deal to keep them on the team, and even get told off by Linus and Schroeder for being such jerks.  It’s just so rewarding to see characters actually get called out for their mean behavior every so often, especially when it leads to the girls making Charlie Brown his own uniform to show that despite what they say to him, he really is their friend.  This special really shows off the appeal of the baseball-focused stories of Peanuts.  There’s a lot of humor in the ways Charlie Brown’s team end up losing, examples of how strong of a character Charlie Brown is despite his failings, and fun interactions between characters which also make for some nice moments.  This particular special can get a little too mean at times, but it’s easy to look past it and get in on some big league entertainment from this little league team.

 

Recommended

Ranking

1)      A Charlie Brown Christmas

2)      Charlie Brown’s All-Stars

Be sure to stay tuned for the review of another popular Peanuts special of the 1960s, "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown."

'Toon Reviews 1: Hey Arnold Season 1 Episode 5

6^th Grade Girls

 

 

 

 

 

I think it’s a normal and somewhat charming part of youth to get infatuated with someone older than you, even if it can get awkward if you go too far with it.  In the case of this cartoon, it follows Arnold and Gerald wanting to impress two cute looking 6^th grade girls.  Their short attempts by acting cool in hopes to impress them actually gets their attention, and they even get asked to join them at a 6^th grade dance. So, for much of the cartoon, we follow Arnold and Gerald do literally every trick in the book to keep cool and also convince these girls that they’re 6^th graders just like them.  On the one hand, this is just an average crush-centric episode that doesn’t try anything new and doesn’t exactly qualify as a must-watch cartoon.  On the other hand though, since the main characters trying to impress these older girls are just kids, this can be seen as a nice little look at how kids really act.  It’s normal for them to want to be with someone who looks cute and for them to believe that acting cool is the way to get people to like them.  It only becomes an issue if they act this way when they get older.  Plus, Arnold and Gerald’s ways of acting cool around the 6^th grade girls make for some enjoyable sequences, my personal favorite where they show off some killer moves they learned set to a rocking piece of music while on the dance floor.  However, sadly for them, Arnold and Gerald have no idea that the only reason the girls asked them out is because they’re trying to make their jerky boyfriends jealous.  Speaking of the boyfriends, every scene of them in this cartoon portrays them as very unlikable and violent, especially when they eventually gang up on Arnold and Gerald for stealing their girlfriends.  It kind of makes you wonder why the girls even want them around as lovers.  What they have clearly isn’t healthy.  At least the girls later stand up to their boyfriends to get them to stop beating the 4^th graders who in turn for all their troubles get a kiss from those 6^th grade girls bringing a satisfying end to their part of this story.  This cartoon really isn’t for everyone, but if you’re like me and enjoy believable looks at the lives of kids, you’ll enjoy this one just fine. 8/10

The Baseball

 

 

 

 

 

 

We all have our heroes who have some impressive talents that connect to our personal interests, and we wish to be like them and, if given the chance, possibly see them in action.  When we do though, how do we go about the experience?  This is a question that this cartoon generously takes the time to explore and answer.  It reveals that Arnold is a huge fan of the baseball player, Mickey Kaline, and like anyone with idols, he emulates Mickey’s skills and mannerisms which help him become such a star player whenever he and his friends play baseball.  With that established, the plot gets going when Arnold learns that Mickey isn’t as good of a baseball player as he used to be and that his last game is coming soon.  Arnold once again shows off a lot of devotion to an idol like anyone in the same position would and does what he can to get enough money to attend Mickey Kaline’s last game.  Getting the money is a challenge in it of itself, and when he finally gets to the game, things still don’t go right.  His seat is too far up to see the game, there’s a pillar in the way, and plaster keeps falling on him.  However, it’s Arnold’s love for his hero that prompts him to do something about these conditions and see Mickey Kaline during his last game, even if it means breaking the rules.  We get an exciting fast-paced chase through the baseball stadium where Arnold runs to find a better seat while the guards chase him down for not sitting in his assigned seat which drags you in the longer it goes on.  Plus, the chase leads to the grandest moment of the cartoon where Mickey Kaline hits a home run, and Arnold catches it, with all his friends and family catching it on live TV too.  I can only imagine that it means the world to get a piece of your heroes knowing that it means you have a living relic of why you’re such a fan of these people.  That is what’s felt when Arnold gets his hands on Mickey’s home run ball, and you can easily see how proud he is to have gotten his hands on it.  However, the cartoon also shows what you getting an actual piece of your hero can mean for your hero who’s now left without it which is shown when Arnold notices Mickey sad that he has nothing left of baseball now that his last game is over.  I can really understand Mickey Kaline’s feelings in this scene.  For someone who was aging and losing his touch, it’s still great that he has love for baseball left in him, so Arnold having his home run ball must really take a toll on him for not having anything left of this pastime.  This leads to a strong nice moment from Arnold where he returns to the stadium to give Mickey his ball, and the cartoon ends with the two of them playing catch with the ball while Mickey tells talks about his history with baseball.  You don’t have to be a fan of baseball to like this cartoon.  It’s an insightful story of hero worship with memorable scenes and a lot of heart. 9.5/10

The Rankings

1.      Stoop Kid

2.      Arnold’s Hat

3.      Helga’s Makeover

4.      The Baseball

5.      Downtown as Fruits

6.      The Old Building

7.      Field Trip

8.      6^th Grade Girls

9.      The Little Pink Book

10.  Eugene’s Bike

Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the 6th episode of this season: "Heat/Snow."