Young Writers Society

If you have not seen "The Aquabats Super Show!" first of all, shame on you, and second this will make almost no sense so I apologize.

Okay so, "The Aquabats Super Show!" (called "The Aquabats" for short) was the show that influenced me the most as a young child. And when I say young child I mean like from five to seven years old. It shaped the way I viewed superheroes and the way I wanted to sing (still to this day.)

For those of you who are lost, let me explain. The Aquabats are a real-life band of the same name with alternate superhero personas. They go around, playing songs and protecting the world from villains. Pretty simple, right? Well they're also dubbed, "The World's Most Incompetent Heroes." The Aquabats are made up of M.C. Bat Commander (commonly shortened to MCBC), the singer with no powers. Crash McLarson, the bassist who can grow up to 100ft when he gets EMOTIONAL. Rickey Fitness, the drummer who can go fast. Eaglebones Falconhawk, the guitarist and that guitar is weaponized. He also has eagle vision and an invisible bird called, "THE DUDE." And Jimmy the Robot, the keyboardist/sax player who is, coincidentally, a robot.

The main focus of this "review", if you can even call it a review, will be Ricky Fitness. More specifically, his braces. "Really Lauren? His braces? Isn't that nitpicking too much?" I hear you asking. No. No it isn't. In fact, his braces are a major plot point in one episode and episodic jokes are made about them.

In Season 1 episode 5, "Lady Fingers," there is a three-headed siren running around when the Aquabats are fighting mummies from the underworld. Ricky is the ladies man- who I coincidentally was obsessed over as a five year old- and he falls in love with one of the heads, Quara. A big plot point as to why Quara also likes Ricky is that they both have braces. Very shallow.

After all the shenanigans of the episode, Ricky facetimes with Quara in the underworld. So I suppose they are dating. He got a girlfriend basically from his braces. But there is no other mention of Quara because this obviously is an episodic show.

In Season 1 episode 2, "Mysterious Egg," the Aquabats find a, you guessed it, a giant mysterious egg and a giant chicken sprouts from it. So yadda yadda yadda chicken runs away and Ricky is sent to go looking for it. The giant chicken proceeds to peck at Ricky and he exclaims, "I think he's trying to eat my bracesssss!"

Ricky has the continuity of his braces and being the ladies man. This is also evident in the other characters. MCBC is characterized as impulsive and determined. Crash is always shown as easily made into becoming emotional and a little on the ditsy side. Eaglebones was firstly characterized in the series as cocky and independent. But as time in the series went on he has an arch and becomes more caring and empathetic. And Jimmy is still a robot.

"Okay okay, Lauren. But what does this have to do with Ricky's braces?" Sh sh sh. I'm getting there.

So where was I? Oh yeah. So as I said Ricky, and by proxy his braces, have continuity. Right? WRONG! In season 2 episode 5, "The Antibats," there is a close up shot of Ricky's face and he's smiling as he frequently does. But something was off about this smile. Could it be? Is there a *gasp* noticeable gap in his front teeth?

"Really? Is that our huge build up? You wasted all my time for this?" Okay first of all, you're mean. And second of all, I'm not finished.

Even though this is a mostly episodic show, there is grounding in the characters. It's needed for the show to still make sense and for character's conflict. Ricky's braces are somewhat a central part of his character. You'd describe him as the little ladies man who has braces. Just as MCBC is the commander with a chin strap to his helmet with a drawn on moustache and a missing tooth. But it's fine right? He still has his braces in the show, right?

If you've gotten this far into this really weird essay you'll know the answer. WRONG! The Aquabats revived their show with a bi-weekly YouTube series. But for the campaign, when we are getting Ricky back, he *gasp* doesn't have his braces anymore. The universe has crumbled and now we are left with a Ricky that has perfect teeth. It is here where I will also mention that in the pilot episode, Ricky is without braces. 

 "Lauren, you're insane." Shut up, I have my reasons.

In season 1 there is always a cartoon portion that has actual continuity. Those little cartoons are based on an overall story. But in the cartoon Rickey does not have braces. That does not annoy me. Shocking, I know. But here's the reason why. The "It's a Cartoon" portions are separate to the live-action majority of the episode. With Ricky, he is more timeless without the braces. There is no mention of braces in the cartoon or any 4th wall break jokes about him not having any. Characters that have braces in cartoon, think of Mabel from Gravity Falls, the braces are a part of the character design. But braces that are on live action characters do not translate so well.

Especially with an episodic show such as "The Aquabat Super Show!" braces and momentary things are not the best for a character to have. It only shows a specific period of time and when they are gone, that era is over. If that era is all we've known then the start of a new time period comes off as shocking and uncalled for. And because live-action things are not shot in order, the disorganization of gradual changes are more noticeable. 

But yes this was a whole essay review of why Ricky's braces are a detriment to his character. Well, detriment might be a strong word but I don't like it. While I acknowledge this is not an important thing and could not be avoided, it's important to me. Heck, when I was five I wanted braces so bad because I wanted to be like Ricky. But I hope you understand what has been bothering me for a few years. I also hope your attitude has improved too.