Farewell OK K.O.! Let’s Be Retrospective!

so you want a realistic down-to-earth show that's completely off the wall and swarming with magic robots you can tell any story within the medium of animation and Cartoon Network's ok kayo let's be heroes feels like one of the few cartoons that embodies that sense of freedom it's the type of show that will have a climactic payoff to a season spanning story arc the one episode apart from a first circle crossover was Sonic the Hedgehog across three seasons and 112 episodes it touched on relevant social issues and constructive relatable layered characters but it did so through ultra goofy storytelling and a hodgepodge of references to animation and gaming from the past three decades on paper there's something of a disconnect between the narrative and presentation of this series it shouldn't work yet I've loved it since the beginning and I mean the very beginning [Music] in May 2013 Cartoon Network released six pilots online some would define the channel for years to come and others would not do that for a young lad who had an adventure time obsession and a cancelled subscription to Nintendo Power none of the pilots appealed to me more than liquid Plaza turbo centering around an aspiring young hero who works at a convenience store to defend a strip mall for Heroes from evil robots generated by a rival Factory across the street Raider Ian Jones QWERTY took influence from his childhood experiences tagging along to his mother's job and growing up and working around Columbia Maryland the central location was inspired by the Dobbin Center and Columbia Crossing shopping plazas the latter of which transformed a picturesque field into a center for big-box stores it was so big that they made a Columbia crossing - and this contrasted with the smaller communities on the other side of route 175 now I actually grew up near that area though this analogy was lost on me as in my time choosing between these two meant choosing between Target and Walmart still it was great to see my local area rated within the origins of this promising pilot I got just as much of a kick out of references to classic gaming like Pro Wrestling on the NES a Wii U in classic literature like sonic choo homage and parody were nothing new to me but it was cool to see something that wore its influences on its sleeve and was just as excited about animation as I was compared to what it would become the characters fit more neatly into archetypes and had much looser silhouettes complete with long skinny noses that would later be referred to with the affectionate nickname of noodles neuters 95% of the side and background cast looks identical to how they would be drawn in the series and it's amazing to think about how much material the crew would get out of such memorable mismatched character designs as simplistic as the Lakewood Plaza turbo pilot is considering what would spawn from it I still commend it for brimming with potential and just being a fun watch all the way through as this was being created Ian's helped Rebecca sugar develop some weird show what was it about again there's the fat kid with a sing a little wiener who's always got his hands in his pocket while serving as its supervising director for three seasons he continued to develop Lakewood in his spare time not as a television series but as a mobile app devil stallions okay Kay Oh Lakewood Plaza turbo it's a classic arcade beat him up but it's limited bytes touchscreen controls today it's noteworthy for acting as a transition point between the pilot and the show along with a set of a dozen shorts produced by different studios that tried to nail down the characters in town assisting ian would be future co-executive producer Toby Jones a regular show board artist the Hutus own pilot AJ's infinite summer it's got a great sense of humor and point of view so I was excited to see how its qualities would factor into what was already a wacky project around this time Cartoon Network wanted to blur the line between their programming and their mobile games seeing with how mighty magic sword started out as a series of interactive shorts and had a tie-in app that fans could use whenever episodes aired on TV this initiative is a solid explanation for why it took at least four years for this concept to get onto the air as the announcement that Lakewood Plaza turbo had become a series now completely retitled okay Kay oh let's be heroes came with the unveiling of let's play heroes by cabi Games a 2d platforming brawler for consoles that reimagines the world in a flashy circular and lineless art style I've yet to have the time to pick it up but I can appreciate how it strives to be its own thing in a world where licensed video games are becoming more of a rarity cheat codes to unlock extra cards for characters were even scattered around the backgrounds of a few episodes proving ok ko to be filled with floor at every turn including this sign here that just says lore Cartoon Network had a decent advertising push ahead of the series premiere in August of 2017 it was the main attraction of their booth at San Diego Comic Con that year recreating the central location of gars bodega and handing out masks pens pins and patches modeled after props from the show I got most of the stuff secondhand because basically no other merch was made for it outside of a DVD but I'll talk about that at a later date it's such a missed opportunity that there wasn't a line of blind box figures or trading cards considering that both were already present within the show so I hate how much of a slope it is for cartoons on major networks to get merged nowadays I mean I'm glad that we're far from the days of shows being blatant why commercials but I just want an easy way to show my love and appreciation for them without having to fight digitally or make a retrospective video looking at it season by season speaking of which as long of a wait as it was for okay ko to hit the air I think that all the time it's been in development paid off just as the pilot did the opening episodes dropped the audience into a world populated by a diverse group of heroes the difference is that these heroes and now the villains are significantly more fleshed out KO is still working towards his goal of becoming a great hero but he also has a mysterious darkness within himself that he struggles to control and understand CEO my nightmares rad is a macho beefcake but that's only a facade II boots on to mask his insecurities over his interest Brad isn't just some muscular jock my mind I know the truth Enid is snarky and apathetic to the world around her since she hasn't quite found her place within it I'm a witch who wants to be a ninja who maybe wants to be a hero but works at a convenience store I'll have anything figure out the focus of each episode always comes back to the characters peeling back the layers of their fears past and personalities just about every single background character is able to make an impact whether in their own spotlight episode for specific appearances that paint their lives in a somewhat unusual light I can imagine this being the main appeal of the show for some people as the ability to make me want to see more of a character that we know nothing about besides that he calls himself gerald nametag is quite a powerful one is this the end of Gerald nametag I think the first dozen episodes are so do a great job setting the scene for what's to come but during this rewatch I could not get over all the little inconsistencies that were tweaked in the rest of the series at first the lighting was all over the place sometimes being saturated or having a tinted hue as I guessed in my old first impressions video that aspect did eventually sort itself out Keo swaps between two different voice actresses up until a quarter of the way through the season and hearing Stephanie and oles slightly raspier take on the character after being accustomed to courtney taylor's performance for years was so jarring to me after a little while if the swamp it happened elsewhere in the series run i can assure you that there would have been a gag or even a one-off episode about this cage similar to what gumball did a few times Jim Cummings early version of the villain Ward box man was basically him channeling the version of dr. Robotnik that he voiced for the Saturday morning sonic cartoon fitting considering that he's a pretty bleak knockoff of the character even right down to the cybernetic elements in his design initially box man which shows small signs of being a petty villain but it didn't take very long for his wackiness to be turned up to 11 he would still prove himself to be a competent antagonist but I think he's at his best when pining for the respect of superior villain professor venomous there's absolutely no line the box man won't cross for this guy's validation and yeah it's pretty easy to read between the lines here I was always just as excited to see what the villains would get up to as I was with the heroes and lord boxman ranks among some of my favorite loser villains in animation the robot II make a machine you never guess what it does does it make robots about 26 episodes in we meet turbo ko the dark manifestation of chaos negative emotions he's introduced as a cross between an edgy teen and a dark doppelganger but I like how he evolved into less of an evil version of KO and more of an independent antihero trapped inside of him you know I'm always willing to support your choices but this face has gone - after his introduction in a strong two-parter season one takes its attention away from stories focused mainly on character development there's one dedicated to defending furry culture one where the cast watches the pilot as if they're actors who play characters on the show and one where rad and Enid make fun of chaos eighteen minute long countdown video crazy stuff right keeping the plot going are episodes that flashback 6 to 11 years in the past back when chaos mom Carol and mr. gar remembers him an elite superhero team called Point right before a traumatic event tore the two apart with the help of Dendi ko also makes an effort to control his new transformation and I'm glad to see a major development like this being frequently touched on instead of being left to be resolved in the season finale I like the second half of season 1 a lot but I found it to be the weaker part for episodes that had little to do with flushing out the universe to some extent on a few occasions that laser-like focus on characters felt like it was dropped in favor of some gimmick or message but there's only a few episodes that don't get my full recommendation until now face your fears was my favorite from season 1 as it gave critical development to four separate characters while still having an exciting amount of variety but I've come around to love back in red action it establishes a compelling personality and backstory for a character who was previously just a cool-looking grumpy teen in 11 compelling minutes it has storytelling and visuals that are just as cool I previously ranted and raved about why I find let's not be skeletons to be this season's worst but right now I just can't get over how mr. gar is referred to as daddy tobe sprinkles laser forks shaving beams where's the fire this disturbs me on a deep emotional level one thing I give okay ko a lot of credit for is going above what is expected with its presentation you can easily find the production code for each episode underneath their title card supervising animation director kimsen albert is credited with a unique nickname Ultraman episode quote the ending tag recreates hanna-barbera's production logo from the late 90s sound effects in all the credits that paid tribute to space patrol Lulu ko featured different characters and live-action locales although every now and then there's a special change even though the average viewer probably won't even watch the credits they still remain unique aspects of each episode and they're accompanied by Rebecca sugars soothing but satisfying fourth wall breaking ending theme on that literal note I really dig the soundtrack by shovel knight game composer Jake Kaufman in his studio mint potion many of the motifs are driven by disco a movement that symbolized people from different places in society coming together it sums up the themes of friendship and teamwork and is probably the main reason why a disco ball is the first thing that you see at the start of each episode this triumphantly funky score merges with the music of what influenced the spirit of the show creating a sound that can greatly differ from cue to cue but one that always comes back to it's disco roots and that consistency makes it stand out amongst most animated soundtracks I'm extraordinarily happy that the OST for over 30 episodes have been officially released online as of this video alongside loads of models and concept art on the official crew tumblr vlog the latter of which might be rather i opening for those on the fence about the visuals of this series a philosophy engrained into the look of okay KO is the idea that if a drawing from a storyboard made the crew laugh it would usually be retained in the final product even if it wasn't technically on model there's a misconception that the series has lazy animation because it doesn't use model sheets documents that define the look and proportions of a character to keep their look consistent but that couldn't be farther from the truth in order to stay loyal to the rock storyboards more special model sheets need to be created meaning that more needs to be designed compared to the average anime production at least that's what I know from the limited amount of information I have on this subject I respect the amount of effort put in to give the impression that each frame was drawn by hand and keep the little nuances that cover how each board artist draws the characters the moment it begins I can always tell when an episode was boarded by the team of Dave Alegre and hey Wang Lee just because they're slightly grotesque or exaggerated styles are so distinct I think the round and geometric character designs make them very fit for wacky expressions ones that blend together with the action sequences fairly well the art direction makes okay-kay out different from its contemporaries but I understand that others may find its staging to be amateurish or that it over uses its wacky expressions and barely ever brings things down a notch I believe both of these criticisms to be Belet but they barely crossed my mind when I'm watching an episode if the dialogue isn't making me laugh the animation usually is so I can give it a pass even if it might not be the best on an objective level maybe not every episode looked as great as it could have been but when it makes an effort to pull out all the stops its animation can be especially outstanding that's without even mentioning the intro which was storyboarded by a co-founder of studio trigger it's so quick and detailed that it has to be slowed down in Japan over fears of it causing seizures two decades after the infamous Pokemon shock crisis like any good opening should it immediately catches your eye and brings you into this world and the world of okay KO would only expand in the following season [Music] the mission statement for this season is made crystal clear and its premiere there won't be any major revisions to the show you know and hopefully love but in the background the gears are continuing to turn the first half of this season continues to give side characters their time in the Sun and provides sequel episodes two traits of the main trio one complaint I saw early on was that the universe felt too small now I think this was a deliberate decision to show how many heroes can be found in chaos local community before moving on to introduce more major heroes but I understand where this criticism comes from nearly every episode of season 1 primarily took place in the plaza it wasn't until 39 episodes in that we got to see what chaos house looks like season 2 makes a conscious effort to remedy this with a couple episodes taking place in the danger zone Lakeland Public School the glorp sanctuary and even a dedicated 5 episode arc at the hero academy point prep we see how the school operates their initiation day-to-day lectures sporting events honors program and final exams its structure and tone reminds me a lot of early Harry Potter although here it only feels like Enid is at point prep for a week instead of a whole semester that's Justin if ik - what is otherwise a refreshing change of pace filled with reunions and challenges for Enid and even its own credits screen it's after this art that we get knee deep into this series take on crossovers crossover Nexus unites for heroes from four of Cartoon Network's current hits in a massive tribute to nearly every show in the channels history the guest protagonists don't translate into okay chaos art style especially well and dozens of references overshadow how simplistic the plot is due to it originally being a 22 minutes special to many this episode was their first exposure to OK KO and it's led some to write the whole show off as being nothing but references but crossover nexus is the exception to the rule you can understand practically all of the series without even knowing that any given thing is a reference in the early episodes a key fluff link is cemented with a flashback done in the same style as the first scene of Cowboy Bebop and at first it's like that's the thing I know but with the sandwich but then when its significance is finally revealed and it turns out to be semi tragic the initial reference actually has some weight to it when it comes to the crossovers one of them is foreshadowed several times and it's linked to Enid's character arc monster party reveals that her classmates were students from cool school characters from a late 80s direct-to-video scooby-doo movie which is known today for featuring the elusive red shirt shaggy it's a bold move to give so much focus to something only the most hardcore scoobert do Purdue fans wouldn't know but they all feel like old friends and naturally slide into their new roles that weird guy with the Great Dane in its struggle of being afraid to reveal that she's known witch and no longer a vampire is a not so subtle metaphor for coming out to your friends and that itself is more interesting than most Scooby parodies and homage is on TV I never need to see another variation of the door chase sequence again a lot of these references service intertextuality for the stories but the references themselves are never a substitute for the story there's also loads of brief shout outs to random media in addition to this but tons of other cartoons have these - I never see the amazing world of gumball being scrutinized for having long cowboy bebop references and it's also got arcs and moments that are just as zany or a serious as what ok kayo is trying to do I've always thought these references to be the creator's just showing their respect for what inspired them and I don't think there's anything wrong with is that a Joe Joe reverence during a Captain Planet crossover for our heroes season 2 is business as usual but box more has fallen under new management Lorde box man's robot son Darrow kicks his father out of the company meeting the bumbling mad scientist to team up with Professor venomous to buy back box more and combine their business ventures I enjoyed the three episodes that directly covered these events but those that surround them are just ok this plays out like it's really switching up the status quo yet it barely impacts the interactions that the box BOTS have with our heroes we're very excited about debuting Jeff Rose news system I hate it a good chunk of these episodes could have taken place during season one and I wouldn't have known the difference we don't even get a proper resolution to Gerald's relationship with Fox man after he returns to the company with venomous by his side after the point prep arc season two delves back into the well of wackiness to deliver a yugioh parody episode an alternate universe episode in a beach episode that one's called Beach episode like the second half of season 1 but in character centric episodes are still here but there's more stuff like Plaza alone which has two minutes of utter nonsense that I find completely hilarious I consider this part of the season somewhat of a low point but that's because the worst thing that I can say about it is that I find some of its episodes rather underwhelming I couldn't find much to like in Brad's alien sickness it's just a tad gross and doesn't go anywhere but it's not something that I would ever have an iota of true hatred for I think season 1 was better as a complete experience but season 2 has higher highs not right I don't know how many kids will laugh at this joke about camera staging but this stuff here this is the exact reason why I watch upon further analysis kikyo's house now holds the honor of being my season 2 favorite as the gags development and visuals are some of the show's best all the way through a good episode made better by a great execution a close second would be the season finale dark please' which successfully proves that the show can be a little darker and a little more plot driven while still retaining all of its charm after all that ko rad and Enid do for their please' here they've proven themselves to be great heroes and are ready to take on all new challenges in the third and final season wait it's the final season [Music] how could Cartoon Network cancel okay kayo after only two years even though fans have been waiting twice as long for it was it because people didn't spread the word about it enough online maybe it's because of only 25 episodes premiered on TV and all the others were first available on Cartoon Network's app that no one uses I would have loved to see this series go on for a thousand episodes just to see more random stuff like I don't know weird al' visit the plaza he wouldn't have to play a character anything he would just need to show up you know things like that there were some actual crossovers plan that didn't come to be with Space Ghost and uh la la of space channel 5 the former did have a few direct audio references along with many other hanna-barbera sound effects used throughout back on topic with season 3 the creators were given 20 episodes to finish the story and tie up all their loose ends this brought the total number of episodes up to a respectable 112 and gives the series a definite beginning middle and end with a nearly consistent quality across the board I think it's better than the series was able to end before it lost its touch and if it had to end here I'm very happy about the way that it was all executed since this season is only two months old I'll do my best to avoid discussing spoilers but this one is definitely my favorite of the three would show you a new game we just made up we pull up a random photo on your phone and we decide if it's cool hey guys and welcome back to another episode of kick or cringed now more than ever there's confidence and purpose behind every story that is told building to a conclusion in a way that feels densely plotted but never rushed towards the end there probably should have been an extra episode or two to help the series adjust to a major shake-up but I probably wouldn't have changed any of their subject matter a lot of foreshadowing is paid off here whether it was intentional or not and the same can be said about the sonic crossover I that okay kayo got to do an episode with one of its biggest inspirations Ian Jake you sure has come a long way from posting tails gets trolled fan art on tumblr although this is another reference fest it specifically pays its due to the sonic franchises animated representation in the 90s a facet that Sega rarely acknowledges today I think Sonic and Tails have seen better days visually but you don't need to know a thing about them to enjoy this breather episode within the show's darkest season I'll tell you where he is Six Feet Under no I mean that it literally is the darkest as the color palette and coloring have changed to make the characters stand out against the backgrounds it almost feels like I'm standing in a field because look at all that grain this effect was semi distracting at first along with how half the cast wears eyeshadow now but I got used to it the more I watched it can add some nice texture to the world and it's neat that they swap back to the old style when revisiting previous events it goes to show how far the action imposing have come in just a few years it became harder and harder for me to find a least favorite episode as I went through this show because for this season I'm going with deep space vacation I like the motorcycle fight and intergalactic atmosphere but the message that some things will just naturally work themselves out isn't the strongest to conclude an episode with the conflict also revolves around an entire planet getting bored so keep that in mind too my personal highlight was let's get shadowy such a rewarding roundup of side characters and surprising team-ups and twists make it a great answer to one of the series biggest mysteries as for the final two episodes let's fight till the end has more heavy lifting to do and pulls it off with a few conveniences and quick resolutions but I think it's spectacle surprises and follow-up make up for it we're at Walters pretty much every single loose thread was tied up even the ones that barely had any time to be established beforehand this especially rings true of thank you for watching the show which crammed 'sons season's worth of new ideas into eleven minutes but all that takes further steps to conclude the series some of it is fanservice at its purest form but everything that made this show great is intact so it feels genuinely satisfying and less like checking off a laundry list of care and resolutions I understand the complaint that too much was answered too quickly and not enough was left up to the imagination similar to how Harry Potter fans feel about the final moments of that franchise because the future of the cast is only shown to us in glimpses and is underlined by amateur message it feels like there's still so much to explore you can also read into it as an argument for why the series never should have been cancelled in the first place but I see it as an explanation for why ok kyo let's be heroes was able to juggle so many radically different tones and elements at once you guessed it teamwork every artists approach this show a little differently but each of their ideas was blended with another's creating a product that's so much greater than the sum of its parts if you're gonna make a cartoon you might as well go all out and that mentality was brought to nearly every aspect of this production while I know that it won't be everyone's cup of tea it's already joined the ranks of chowder and Clarence in becoming a Cartoon Network cult classic and this is exactly the type of show that I would love to have a hand in making someday not only can its impact already be seen throughout the entire animation industry but it's also inspired some of what I do here like it's part of the reason why I always try to thank my audience at the end of each video I create and pronounce sorry the way that I do its tongue-in-cheek upbeat and sincere attitude is truly infectious I love and appreciate how supportive the crew behind it have been of the fan base it's helped to inspire including loyal and vocal fans like me it's not too often that you see a show launched alongside a crew endorsed OC template and that is a perfect extension of the message that's been behind ok kyo let's be heroes from the very beginning you can be a hero we can be heroes so let's be heroes [Music] isn't that amazing when you know every second that you see is 24 connected pieces thank you for coming thank you for saying thank you for watching this show

Channel: NICKtendo

Views: 268,047

Keywords: OK K.O! Let's Be Heroes!, OK K.O.!, OK KO, Let's Be Heroes!, OK KO review, OK KO Rant, OK KO Retrospective, Cartoon Network, Let's Fight To The End!, Thank You for Watching the Show, OK KO Finale, OK KO Ending, OK KO cancelled, OK KO Series Finale, Animation Review, Animation Analysis, Cartoon Review, Animation Rant, Cartoon Rant, Cartoon Analysis, NICKtendo, why are you reading these, PV, Professor Venomous, Venomous, Voxmore, Lord Boxman, Daddy, KO, Rad, Enid

Id: WCeyKMEEnwA

Length: 27min 40sec (1660 seconds)

Published: Thu Sep 19 2019

Reddit Comments

[u/Yaboiarb]

huh why'd it get renamed

scam