166a. The Way of the Sponge

[GrnLeafNinjaMnky22]

Of all the karate themed eps, this one is the best of all that ever made.
I actually like the part where Fuzzy Acorns "kicked" SpongeBob near his face with his smelly left foot, which made SB faint to the ground. And asked, "What was that stench?"
And Fuzzy called it the "SMELL OF DEATH"
My friend who trains with me in the same dojo, actually did that same move on me once during a sparring session and lost. So I had to rub his smelly feet after the session. lol

But the main thing about this episode is that after SB failed his belt test, he didn't give up. He had to "stick to what he's good at" and applied his karate moves to his fry cook skills at the Krusty Krab. And at the end, he earned his belt afterwards.
When I had to prepare for my karate belt exams, I use (and watch) this episode as an aid to help me prepare and keep myself cool, calm, and collected (less anxious) about my upcoming belt tests.
Especially now that I'm currently an ORANGE BELT with 2 BLUE STRIPES only 1 step (1 BLUE STRIPE) closer to being tested for BLUE BELT.

 

[SlipperytheTotodile]

This one is fairly interesting in my opinion. Its funny and fun to watch. It did have a lot of creepy close-ups though. My favorite part was the "smell of death"

Rating: Good Episode

Rankings:
Mermaid Man Begins (Perfect)
The Hot Shot (Perfect)
Oral Report (Great)
A Friendly Game (Great)
Accidents Will Happen (Great)
Sentimental Sponge (Good)
Frozen Face Off (Good)
Sweet and Sour Squid (Good)
Mooncation (Good)
The Way of the Sponge (Good)
Plankton's Good Eye (Good)
The Googly Artiste (Okay)
Smoothe Jazz at Bikini Bottom (Okay)
Patrick's Staycation (Okay)
Ghoul Fools (Okay)
Drive Thru (Alright)
Pet Sitter Pat (Alright)
The Other Patty (Meh)
Squidward's School for Grown-ups (Mediocre)
Barnacle Face (Bad)
Walking the Plankton (Bad)
A SquarePants Family Vacation (Inferior)
House Sittin For Sandy (Inferior)

 

[Pugs4Thugs]

"The Way of the Sponge" was not an episode I ever remembered having a strong opinion on. I think I felt overall negative about it, but I'm pretty sure that's because I had always associated it with "Karate Star" and "Squid's Defense", and I'll talk about that more later. Honestly, a SpongeBob and Sandy karate episode was sorely needed, especially after "Karate Star".

I kinda do wish that SpongeBob was on the same level as Sandy in karate though. I feel like some episodes imply that they’re on equal levels, like “Karate Choppers” or “Karate Star”. Though ones like “Karate Island” don’t. I at least like that Sandy is encouraging of SpongeBob here, because that would’ve been unpleasant for no reason. And I also love that Sandy is even mad at her sensei for how he did SpongeBob, and then how she takes him to the Krusty Krab so that he’ll be impressed by SpongeBob’s skills there.

I’m sorry, but the character design for Sandy’s master is butt ugly, idk what to tell you. But other than that, I do like him quite a bit. His voice acting is great, and he’s just such a funny jerk. At least until the end, when he of course gives SpongeBob a karate belt. This episode is very…Karate Kid. Anyway, like I said, this guy is such a jerk, but in an entertaining way, like when he snatches SpongeBob’s actual belt, or when he takes Sandy’s belt just because she introduced him to SpongeBob. Like dang sir, calm yourself. Also, his stubbornness about not wearing an air helmet is hilarious.

The humor in this episode is pretty good, it’s mostly visual gags and I can appreciate that. Like “split of your life”, or the random guy with the piano, those were some great ones. SpongeBob’s training montage was pretty good, again filled with tons of visual gags. And I liked the return of the stuffed animal weights, that was nice to see. SpongeBob being unable to open his door with his gloves was also funny, especially because it was Gary who saved the day there, and prevented it from becoming an actual plot point, not just a gag. I also loved the big with SpongeBob’s “I’m ready” catchphrase, at least that’s how I’m choosing to see it.

The actual match between Sandy and SpongeBob was pretty entertaining, though I think it could’ve been better. I think this shows that SpongeBob should’ve been around the same level as Sandy, and I think that would’ve helped a lot. At least it would’ve given the fight a lot more back-and-forth rather than a one-sided beatdown that ends with SpongeBob going to sleep.

The last bit of the episode (last 4 minutes) are pretty good, because I always love seeing SpongeBob just doing great at his job. Not to mention, this ends up impressing Fuzzy Acorns too. This whole bit reminds me a lot of “Karate Choppers” too, because of the merging of cooking and karate. And then we get the bit with Fuzzy Acorns trying to attack SpongeBob while he’s working (this is for sure a jerk move lol, because man is just trying to earn his wage and you’re trying to fight lol), but anyway I kind of love this trope of unintentional counterattacks, so this was fun. And y’all know I love an “everybody laughs” ending, so this was great.

“The Way of the Sponge” was definitely better than I expected, but I think the only reason I had low expectations was because I had associated this episode with “Karate Star” and “Squid’s Defense”, which are both episodes I don’t like (well, I didn’t like “Karate Star”, and I remember not liking “Squid’s Defense”, but the latter can change upon rewatching it next month). This episode was really funny, the story was good, and the guest character was very well-used. All things that I like to see.

Episode Tier: Amazing
Episode Score: 9/10

 

[SpongebobMaster]

as someone who actually went to a karate training dojo in 5th grade this is fairly accurate with the teacher being the worst like my karate teacher was just so mean for no reason also I the score of this episode is nice

1. Frozen Face Off (10/10)
2. Ghoul Fools (10/10)
3. A Squarepants Family Vacation (10/10)
4. Mooncation (10/10)
5. Mermaid Man Begins (10/10)
6. The Hot Shot (10/10)
7. Oral Report (9.5/10)
8. Drive Thru (9.5/10)
9. Plankton's Good Eye (9/10)
10. A Friendly Game (8.5/10)
11. The Way Of The Sponge (8/10)
12. Walking The Plankton (8/10)
13. Squidward's School For Grown Ups (8/10)
14. Sweet And Sour Squid (7.5/10)
15. Sentimental Sponge (7/10)
16. Accidents Will Happen (6.5/10)
17. The Other Patty (6/10)
18. Barnacle Face (3.5/10)
19. Mr Krabs Takes A Vacation (3.5/10)
20. The Googly Artiste (1.5/10)
21. Patrick's Staycation (1.5/10)
22. House Sittin For Sandy (1/10)
23. Pet Sitter Pat (0/10)

 

[zerocool]

Decent episode. 7.5/10.