chaoticcosmos

70s disco-esque theme song. 80s influenced colors and visuals. Dragon Ball Z esque action/humor! What more can you say about OK KO?

Ian Jones-Quarterley's lovechild of 90s media nostalgia is a welcome antidote against Cartoon Network's otherwise abysmal programming. Consisting of the exploits of the naive yet eager KO(knock-out to the layman) and his more cynical teenage companions, Radicles, the picolo inspired alien show-off and Enid, the Shantae inspired slacker.

All three work for the overbearing commandeering shirtless Mr. Gar at Lakewood Plaza Turbo. Rounding out this offbeat group of heroes is KO's wrestler mom, Carol, who works as the next door judo teacher nearby. The series keeps at a very quick pace right from the get- go, anime-expressions galore, and wacky out-of-nowhere visuals. It's not exactly clear what type of world the characters inhabit, but it's main premise should be relatable to anyone. It's amazing how they get so much out of these rather simplistic character designs. It isn't exactly Adventure Time influenced, it's more Steven Universe/Bee and Puppycat influenced, yet has as much of a violent sadistic bite as the classic Powerpuff Girls. Another part that I like about it is that it's character outlines resemble the roughness of a pencil, as if they were actually drawn.

If you don't really play classic 16 bit video games, or 1990s Japanese anime, it's likely a lot of these references will go over your head. But if you want a kick-butt show on Cartoon Network, look no further than OK KO: Let's be Heroes.

Maybe I'm a sap who just likes schmaltzy happy endings in a valentine's episode, like in Gravity Falls or in Spongebob. But if you're looking for an episode destroying those expectations, look no further than this episode of TUFF puppy: Till doom do us part. I guess what ruined it for me was how Dudley and Kitty constantly fought like immature brats throughout the whole episode, when in other episodes, they clearly showed that they had the hots for each other, like in The Wrong Stuff, Dancin' Machine, A tale of two Kitties, or Dead or a lie and Iron Mutt. I hated how Kitty would just selfishly throw Dudley aside for Eric, and how savagely she insulted her own best friend like a jerk, just to get her face on a stupid island, and how Dudley just ruins everything for her just because hurr-durr, I'm a dog! She even ATE Dudley!! Our role model, everyone! Dudley doesn't show any mercy toward her either, and this torture just carries on through the episode, even at the ending, they fight! How sadistic is Butch Hartman's crew?! A better plot for this episode would be Kitty making up a fake mission blackmailing other villains to show Dudley the benefits of Valentine's Day, or Dudley sacrificing his own job so Eric could be with Kitty. At least any one of those would up this show's already low stakes and at least show how deeply rooted their bond is, and not this half-hour rage quit on romance! If you were going to use this plot, then couldn't you have Dudley just sniff out the bad guys in one of the presents, beat them up, and then have a long hard talk about why you can't just force two people in love like this. And then Dudley allowing Kitty and Eric to get married, handing back the bouquet and apologizing. I wouldn't even mind if Kitty kissed Dudley and didn't recoil in disgust because that is the moment where Dudley deserved it. If that were an actual ending, it would be a hilarious twist! Here, he only acts as a difficult obstacle with bouts of pointless filler in Kitty's life. These two are supposed to be BEST FRIENDS for goodness' sake!! I understand that comedy revolves around another's pain, but this is a VALENTINE'S episode; you couldn't have a subplot where Dudley stole the bouquet in order to build a much larger present as a surprise for Kitty? Wouldn't that put Dudley's character in a better light, and wouldn't that change Kitty's low opinion of him? In shows like Gravity Falls, they handle the concept that you can't just force two people to fall in love with more maturity, sincerity and sentimentality, and not knock us over the head with why the characters hate each other like a joke, and since TUFF puppy is none of that, this turned out to be a rather mean-spirited episode for me that I'm glad I will not be seeing again.