Hulu’s “Koala Man” is a show about a middle-aged man who lives a double life which isn’t such a secret. Kevin, the protagonist, is a self-proclaimed superhero who wants everyone to live by the rules. The series will not make you laugh as much as you would have expected from an adult animated show; however, it is still a good watch. Let’s dive into what the series is about in detail.
Spoilers Ahead
What Is The Series About?
“Koala Man” revolves around the life of Kevin and his family living in a fictionalized town in Australia, Dapto. Now, the series starts with a description of Dapto: Dapto is the most backward and boring place on Earth. We see a lot of pop culture references in the show and the show, for the most part, hates America. There is an island in the show called “Hollywood” where all the cringe stars reside. Kevin is a self-claimed superhero of Dapto who wants the Australian citizens to love their town and worship him as a hero and abide by the rules. His normal life revolves around working in a boring office, and his character goes through a mid-life crisis. His wife, Vicky, is worried about his obsession with being a superhero.
In the quest of “saving” the citizens of Dapto, Kevin gets no real cases since the town is pretty normal and laid back. Kevin becomes so serious about becoming Dapto’s superhero that he keeps finding cases to crack to win the hearts of his fellow citizens. But he has no luck! His basic mission is to clean up the streets of Dapto and set every criminal straight. He is always responsible, so he takes out the garbage bin, and the citizens of Dapto follow him. One day, he notices that Big Greg (voiced by Hugh Jackman) gets famous with a theme song. He plans on making a theme song of his own, and while making the song, he forgets if he has taken out the garbage bin or not. The whole town gets upset with Kevin, and his dream of becoming a superhero is in jeopardy. He then tries to fight a lot of different weird creatures coming to attack Dapto, but he is always either saved by his family or just gets lucky. Although he is not a real superhero, he has an archnemesis who has been keeping an eye on him.
Who Is Kookaburra, And Why Is He After Kevin?
Well, we go back in time to Kevin’s childhood. His father was a noble man who always followed the rules, so he grew up the same. While he was in school, he did not let Christopher (a fellow classmate) go to the washroom because he did not have a bathroom pass. Unfortunately, the little boy peed in his pants, and he became a joke to everyone at school. Christopher’s father was embarrassed by him, and while scolding him in the car, the family met with an accident. In just one day, Christopher became an orphan, and since then, he has held a grudge against Kevin and becomes Kookaburra.
Kevin grew up and had a family, but Christopher was alone and did not use the washroom for more than 30 years (yes, quite literally). Christopher then disguises himself as the principal at the local school and lives a double life, much like Kevin. Kevin’s wife, Vicky, is unhappy with Kevin because he never listens to her. His biggest flaw as a family guy is that he only cares about his dreams. Vicky feels very unheard and constantly tries to seek attention from others. In one episode, the town gets attacked by an outer planet that gives validation to others, and when Dapto is under attack, we see that the entire town is giving validation to each other! It is an absurd scene that makes no sense but is very humorous. In this episode, there are a couple of “adult jokes” that are pretty ridiculous, but that is what an adult animated series is all about, isn’t it?
Well, in that episode, we see how low Vicky feels about her love life. So much so that she likes the attention she gets under attack. After witnessing so much pain, Kevin apologizes to Vicky and promises that he will listen to her. Together, they save the entire town from the hideous aliens, but Kevin is still not appreciated by the citizens of Dapto.
Why Does Kevin Choose To Become Koala Man?
In another bit of backstory, we learn why Kevin chose to become Koala Man. Well, Kevin had saved a koala from getting killed, and ever since then, he had grown very attached to the small creature. The only problem was the koala was too afraid of humans and was not eating. So, Vicky made a mask for Kevin that resembled a koala’s face. Kevin started feeding and taking care of the koala from that day forward until one day when he decided to let the koala go. The reason was simple; he wanted the koala to be independent and not rely on him. The koala followed him, nevertheless, but a car hit it. Kevin was devastated and decided to become Koala Man and save the citizens of Dapto.
Even though Kevin is a sweet man who is loyal to his family, his daughter, Alison, finds him irritating. She constantly nags Kevin about being the Koala Man and never supports him. He always tries to seek validation from Alison, but she has her own quest to conquer. She wants to be the most popular girl in the school. She frequently asks her brother, Liam, to help her become popular. Liam, on the other hand, loves his family unconditionally. He also has superpowers and can see into the future. When Dapto is under attack by emus, Liam has visions and saves the entire town and, along with it, saves his father too. Dapto was under attack by emus because Vicky had fed the Royal Emo’s egg to the school kids. But to save his wife, Kevin decides to take the blame for the “Emu War” on himself. He is exiled, and Kookaburra takes him to a stranded island.
In the last episode, Liam is in a coma, and Alison is in love with the most popular girl in town, Rosie. After trapping Kevin, Kookaburra becomes the town’s hero, but even he couldn’t save the town from the bush fire. Kevin is rescued by his friends, and he comes back to Dapto and finds out that his family has been kidnapped by Kookaburra. Kookaburra then tells Kevin he is Christopher and he has been seeking revenge all these years. He wants to take everything away from Koala Man, but Kevin talks sense into him. One would expect a great twist in a series, but Koala Man just gives a bathroom pass to Kookaburra and asks him not to hold his pee anymore! Yes, that is how they put out the bush fire too. In the end, Kevin does not care about seeking validation from the entire town; he realizes that his wife’s love is enough for him. Alison gifts a ticket to Hollywood to Liam, where she asks him not to be “cringe.”
Final Thoughts
You may not laugh out loud watching “Koala Man” because of the absurd references, but we guarantee a few chuckles here and there. The side characters are outstanding and have done a proper job. The animated series does not have much to offer, but since it is just the beginning, we can’t expect a lot. We surely will get another season of “Koala Man,” and we expect it to be better with more jokes. It would be unfair to say that the series was not up to the mark since it offered a good storyline. The message it conveyed was sweet and simple: be yourself, and the world will adjust.
