A Ken in Need, is a Friend Indeed

A Ken in Need, is a Friend Indeed is the twenty-fourth episode of Powerpuff Girls Z. It aired on Cartoon Network Japan on December 9th, 2006.

Synopsis[]

Ken starts going to The Powerpuff Girls' school, so he can start making friends.

Plot[]

Part I[]

At the professor’s lab, Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup realize they have a ton of homework to do — books are seen piled on top of one another. Maybe it would be best if one focused on one subject, and the other on another, like Buttercup on Math, Blossom on English, etc. Ken then walks in and ends up making the girls feel bad about how hard their school life must be, since he doesn’t have to go. But then Ken tells them that he’s a child prodigy and that he has already earned his PhD (his hakasegou). The girls’ mistake the word “hakesegou” for a cheer and begin their hurrah of yelling while wearing cheer leading outfits. But even as a graduate with all that knowledge, there’s one thing that Ken never really had a chance to learn about. And that’s the social skills needed to make friends at his age. The girls then describe how school is more than just a place of study. It’s a place to make friends and learn about others. Of course it doesn’t come easy. Ken then decides to do just that, but not without Buttercup having her doubts of him ever making friends at school. In the next day, Ken then puts on his grade school uniform, is handed a lot of food for lunch from Professor Utonium, including a hamburger, harumaki, chinjyao rosu, foagura steak, gyudon, butadon, and kimuchidon — he actually got up at around 4am to prepare all these dishes. And inside the school the sensei introduces their new friend Ken Utonium to the class. The kids clap and Ken finds his seat next to a rather odd but adorable little girl. The girl raises her hand and salutes Ken, introducing herself as member Akatsutsumi Kuriko. Ken found the salute and the “member” part in her introduction rather weird. Ken then gets hit in the back of his head by a small eraser piece. He looks over and sees that the kid across from him had a pair of rubber bands and an eraser sitting on his table. Ken’s conscience then appeared before him and tells Ken that it would be best not to snitch to his teacher, seeing as he’s trying to make friends here. Later on, the teacher puts up three math problems on the board to solve. She selects Kuriko, Ken and Jou — the kid that threw the eraser. Ken sees that the problem is way too simple for him. He then looks over to Kuriko, and she holds up a drawing of a red sentai ranger. Then later the sensei called Ken, Kuriko and Jou to solve. Both Ken and Kuriko solve their math problem easily. However the same cannot be said for poor Jou, who’s seen struggling to figure out 12 x 6 = ? … Ken’s conscience comes into play again and recommends whispering the answer (72) to him. Jou didn’t catch it and ended up writing 62 on the board instead. Next period the kids are in the science lab working on some projects. Jou is seen showing off his dino model, which can make its eyes glow, to his teacher. Ken then shows off his high-powered race car and grabs the attention of the entire class. This only made Jou jealous. Later the kids ask Ken where he lived. He tells them that he lives in the Tokyo Laboratory and that he’s the son of Professor Utonium. Kuriko overhears this and realizes that Ken knows her older sister personally. Outside of class, the kids are playing a game of dodgeball. Jou is seen playing really rough with Ken, as if he was taking out all his frustration from earlier at him. Meanwhile Mojo, dressed as a humble old lady, is seen just outside of the school ready to cause more trouble.

Part II[]

Mojo sneaks into the principal’s office and steals his brightly glowing trophy. He then runs off with it, all while being chased by the Principal who spots him. While making his escape across the playground, Mojo gets hit in the face by a incoming soccer ball, which knocks off his disguise, revealing to all the kids a strange talking monkey with issues. All the kids end up laughing yelling at Mojo and this only makes him angrier. Remember, he hates it when you call him a monkey. The kids asks what would he call himself instead. He tells them that starting today, with that trophy in his possession, he shall be known as Mojo jojo-sama, the most brightly intelligent monster ever that not even the Powerpuff Girls can stop him. Then out of nowhere the Principal pops up and takes his trophy from behind Mojo’s back. Afterwards he tells everyone how he could not live without his valuable bobby prize/trophy, Mojo was in total disbelief. The kids start laughing and pointing again, while Ken is trying to warn Jou and Kuriko to be prepared for what’s to come next. Now with a real pissed off Mojo arrives his Mojo Robo, scarecrow model, and the kids run off to safety. Kuriko sees this opportunity to play “hero” by unleashing her “Kuriko 5 Pink Broom Attack.” After the fail attempt, the true heroines of this story, the Powerpuff Girls, transform and prepare to take the necessary action to stop that crazy monkey. At one point Jou comes in to save Ken from being killed from Mojo’s robotic scarecrow, but ends up injuring his own body. However because of his heroic efforts, the two realize they can depend on one another, just like true friends. Mojo ridiculed their new found friendship and began to unleash another spin attack. But just then Jou thought of a clever plan. If Mojo claims to be as smart as he thinks he is, then how about trying his hands on a riddle that even a kindergartner can solve. The question? What walks on 4 legs in the morning, 2 legs in the afternoon, and 3 legs in the evening? Mojo thought long and hard but just couldn’t come up with a quick enough answer. The kids began to grow impatient saying they thought he was smart and everything. Finally the answer came. His response? Himself! He’s on all fours when getting up from bed. He’s standing on two legs by mid-day when dressing up for the part of the villain. And by evening he’s using a sturdy piece of wood to keep himself upright after being defeated by the Powerpuff Girls. Of course that answer was completely WRONG. Correct answer: a person. As a baby you crawl on all fours; in your prime you walk on two feet; when you get old you walk with the help of a cane. Morning is used to represent early life (baby), afternoon is used to represent midlife (child/adult), and evening is used to represent late life (senior). It is a metaphor for the stages of human life. Mojo has proven that he’s not as smart as thinks he is, and is therefore defeated, by kids no less. The Powerpuff Girls were not needed whatsoever. After all the excitement, Ken decides that the whole grade school thing was way below his level. Basically he found it to be a bit boring. However in the end he’s seen playing a game of soccer with Jou and a few other kids. So everything did work out in the end.

A Ken in Need, is a Friend Indeed

Contents

Synopsis[]

Plot[]

Part I[]

Part II[]

Characters[]

Major Roles[]

Minor Roles[]

Trivia[]

Cultural References[]