O.K. K.O.! Let's Be Heroes

[mr3urious]

I remember Drtooth bringing this up in a couple of threads, but Cartoon Network has actually greenlit this show that started off as a series of shorts and a mobile game under the title Lakewood Plaza Turbo, and is now bringing it to a full series. It's about the employees of a strip mall in a video game-like universe, and is created by Ian Jones-Quartey, writer of Adventure Time. Nice to see that CN is still producing new cartoons, and continuing the tradition of staff writers on current CN shows getting shows of their own.

https://www.regularcapital.com/2017...eries/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook

And here is the original pilot. I started to dig it about 2 minutes in when the plot began to get in motion. Doesn't K.O., the main character, look like a combination of Ryu and Ash Ketchum (in terms of personality) to anyone else? And Enid (the purple-haired one) looks so much like Shantae. Oh, and we've got Mike Haggar as the owner of the mall!

 

[mr3urious]

Overall, the 1st episode of the actual series gave us a much better introduction to the main characters and setting than the pilot, where K.O. has an end goal in building up his strength bit by bit to become the world's greatest hero. I also like the sketchier, thick-lined style it's going with, too, making it look a little more unique compared to the other current CN shows.

The 2nd episode, however, got me more into it. It introduces Lord Buttman Boxman, the Robotnik-esque, friendship-hating evil genius fittingly voiced by Jim Cummings, hamming it up as he usually does. He frequently sends robots to attack the friendship hub of Lakewood Plaza, and also has a pair of robot children whom he can apparently melt down and rebuild whenever they fail or disobey him, like he did to his son in the episode.

 

[Pig'sSaysAdios]

Haven't actually watched the show yet, but my little brother already loves it!

I really like the ending song. Also, Rebecca Sugar's the one singing it, so that makes it amazing!:

The whole show does look pretty unique compared to the others, especially the art style. The premise and KO's character remind me of the earlier episodes of Steven Universe if Steven knew how to use his powers and worked at The Big Donut.

 

[mr3urious]

Dendy the hacker girl is just too cute. She pretty much made up a quest to get K.O. to help her just to get him to spend time with her because she's too shy to simply ask. Also love how she's voiced by Melissa Fahn, who not only voiced Gaz from Invader Zim, but was the voice of Ed in the English dub of Cowboy Bebop, who was a girl with supreme hacking skills. Cute little casting gag there!

Also, Dendy is the name of an unlicensed NES clone released in Russia. Maybe because it was a platform for "hacked" games such as the infamous Somari?

 

[ConsummateVs]

I just started watching this show (I figured it'd be a good show to watch while I'm waiting for Steven Universe to finally come back), and so far, I really like it. It's very funny (the "DO YOU HAVE ANY GUM?" thing and the rap battle both had me in stitches), the overall concept is unique and creative, and K.O. is just adorable.

 

[mr3urious]

The latest episode was about Boxman holding a dinner party for his biggest client named Lord Venomous, all while holding the heroes captive, causing chaos to ensue when they decide to get back at him. I'm loving Venomous' minion Fink, an adorable mouse girl who takes obsessive delight in assisting her boss. And she's voiced by Lara Jill Miller, a.k.a. Lisa Loud.

 

[mr3urious]

The T.K.O. episode was pretty intense, subtext-wise. Tired of being talked down to, K.O. gets corrupted by a mysterious Palpatine-esque Shadowy Figure (which is also his name) into unleashing his anger, making him stronger but turning him all emo in the process. The Shadowy Figure may very well become an even bigger threat in the future, going by the way it ended.

 

[C to the J]

Fun fact: KO inspired the structure of the Ruby characters in Steven Universe. Did you know Ian Jones Quartey came up with the character before doing work on SU, and the other storyboard artists borrowed some of KO's design for the Rubies?

Anyone see No More Pow Cards? It has a very solid lesson on the issue of perpetuating stereotypes.

Spoiler: And about a minute into the episode...

...it shows that Dendy happens to be a kappa, which would explain the angular mouth shape and the lack of a visible nose.

 

[mr3urious]

Continuing the trend with weird crossovers on CN shows (Steven Universe with Uncle Grandpa, Powerpuff Girls with Teen Titans Go!), OK K.O. just crossed over with Captain Planet, of all things. Gotta love how Lord Boxman called out Dr. Blight on how ridiculous it is to destroy the only planet you can live on. The only Planeteer to appear was Kwame (with LeVar Burton reprising the role), with the explanation that the other Planeteers grew up and got real jobs.

 

[Pig'sSaysAdios]

Some pretty strange news:
https://io9.gizmodo.com/steven-universes-garnet-teen-titans-raven-and-more-jo-1827778481
Although, not as weird as them crossing over with Captain Planet, I suppose.