#src: ok ko lets be heroes

[argentdandelion]

Make Ralsei Say "Heck No!"## (Part 1)

(Part 1 of 2)

Ralsei is a very friendly, cooperative, polite person, who makes to make friends with everyone. Presumably to this end, his speech (much like an anxiety-ridden girl) is stuffed with affiliative (relationship-maintaining) tags and softeners. To be more specific, he doesn’t give even subtle, inoffensive commands, but always requests, and he frequently says “um” and “sorry”.1 Indeed, in one sequence he uses submissive/affiliative-sounding cues five times in 55 seconds. Furthermore, Ralsei almost never acts indignant, irritated, sarcastic or passive-aggressive.

There’s something very odd about the extremes of Ralsei’s “niceness”.

Context

One might conclude Ralsei is simply a sweet, polite pushover, but one should think about the context. He often acts friendly and forgiving (to the point of subservience) when talking to Kris or Susie. His speech pattern seems slightly more straightforward when talking to other Darkners (e.g., Lancer), but one never sees him interacting with other Darkners when a Lightner can’t hear him.

Sometimes, being with Lightners puts him in danger. Though he probably figures sealing the Dark Fountain would be dangerous, and therefore accepts the risk of pain and falling unconscious, sometimes he suffers more than necessary. He can be attacked over and over until he falls unconscious, repeatedly. If one assumes Kris’s SOUL literally exists in combat, rather than being an abstraction, then he can get hurt even if only Kris’s soul is hit, and he never complains about that.

Furthermore, he endures more discomfort and self-sacrifice than his destiny demands. He often obeys (or goes along with) Kris’ and Susie’s will without question, even if it makes him uncomfortable. If the option “Make Ralsei try it”2 is selected near the salsa-containing tree stump, Ralsei goes along without question. (although he only pretends to eat the salsa) During the second K. Round battle, Ralsei agrees to what Susie wants to do (assuming it’s an apology) but is instead unexpectedly thrown at the enemy. Though he doesn’t take damage from it, suggesting it’s not as painful as it looks, he nonetheless always looks uncomfortable or startled whenever Susie does this.

He even goes along with Kris’ and Susie’s will when they don’t explicitly order him to do something. Susie says Ralsei can make monogrammed track jackets for the team, and though Ralsei is baffled at this abrupt statement, he agrees. When Kris orders Susie to flirt with an enemy, she says: “Let's see Ralsei do it.” Ralsei says “I suppose if it can't be helped...!” and proceeds to give the best flirt he can manage, rather than saying “But, um, Kris ordered you, Susie”. When he considers the possibility Kris is jealous of Susie’s evildoing lifestyle, he submissively offers to find a nice leaf and fan them if they’re jealous.

Something compels him to be nice even to Lightners who are mean, hinder his goals, or refuse their destiny as Delta Wariors (i.e., Susie). For example, Susie and Lancer sell cookies, whose proceeds explicitly go to “kicking your [butt]”. If Kris declines to buy a cookie, Susie insults Kris and lies about buying cookies being for a good cause, and Ralsei says: "(Let's just buy one, Kris.)" (The parentheses suggest whispering.) In one of the few times he’s (relatively) straightforward and blunt about how he feels, he points out three instances of Susie’s un-hero-like behavior, but soon after that regrets it and says: “Perhaps I shouldn't have been so hard on her.” In those two instances, Ralsei still wants to please Susie, his loyalty is conflicted between Kris and Susie, or Ralsei, for once, is questioning Kris’s decisions.

Yet, there are still more worrisome parts of his behavior. Kris can stand very close to Ralsei until he blushes, but Ralsei doesn’t move away, nor does he even gently ask Kris to move away. Also disturbingly, if Kris repeatedly attacks the Ralsei dummy during the tutorial, Ralsei says: “W-well if... during our adventure... if you want to hit me that's OK too!”

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Other characters, such as Susie, say “um”, the similar “uh”, and “sorry” as well, but much less frequently. Usually, they use "uh" and "um" indicate shock or bafflement, rather than using it to couch a request or piece of advice. ↩︎

(Using "make" might also suggest coercion on Kris' part, although it could simply be the most compact way to get the message across. "Get Ralsei to try it" requires one extra word.) ↩︎

[bicth-and-in-that-order]

So to anyone who might be thinking of watching ok ko let’s be heroes, don’t come in expecting it to be like su because sugar’s bf created it. Ok ko is it’s own little slice of life/monster of the week show that’s an homage to shounen/martial arts manga. It’s silly and light hearted, and doesn’t take itself too seriously. Y'all should watch it if that’s your cup of tea, also im 99.9% sure Enid is gay. Bye.

[incorrect009quotes]

Nico: Marzi, do you know what's going on?

Marzipan: Almost never.