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Apple & Onion

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  • Accidental Innuendo: Beef Jerky's nickname is Beej, which is also a contraction of "blowjob." And considering he's in jail...
  • Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: This show has quite a few of these occasionally sprinkled in it's episodes.
    • In "Apple's Short", when Onion gets one more idea for how Apple can be taller, an satellite dish suddenly grows out of Apple's stem when he wants to listen to said idea. Said dish disappears in the next scene and is never mentioned again.
    • The ending of "Nothing Can Stop Us" has Gingerbread Cookie (who is wearing 2 wigs) come in the audition room after Hot Dog's audition is denied, after a few seconds of silence, he says "I am German Rat King!"
    • During the "Tips" song in the episode of the same name, there's a random shot of a tired Pizza having the camera repeatedly zoom in and out on his face while the screen changes colors.
    • In "Broccoli", when the duo think about how to wake up Hoagie's consciousness, Onion whispers into Apples ear about an idea to get Hoagie to fix their roof... via an hand puppet which looks like Onion. It's never explained how this hand puppet appeared on Onion's hand at all and it's immediately forgotten.
  • Broken Base: Some people in the fandom didn't like the second season's shift into a more depressing tone, as they preferred the wholesome nature of the first season, whereas another portion liked the former better for the comedy.
  • Crosses the Line Twice: Apple and Onion seemingly dying by falling through their (unfixed) roof? Saddening. Said death turning out to be a stunt they did in order to make Hoagie fix their roof? So morbidly wrong it becomes hilarious.
  • Cult Classic: Despite not being as popular as other Cartoon Network shows released at about the same time, Apple and Onion managed to find a small but dedicated fanbase, which allowed it to get picked up beyond a limited series.
  • Fandom Rivalry: Garnered a pretty quick one with Infinity Train, as this show ended up getting greenlit insteadnote .
  • Fridge Brilliance: The main characters are two basic organic foods (an apple and an onion) to represent their simple natures, their naivety, and their child-like personalities. In contrast, all of the other characters are man-made foods (a french fry, a hot dog, a burger, ice cream, etc.) to represent how they're more accustomed to the big city and that they're generally more mature than Apple and Onion. Basically, organic foods (fruits and veggies) live in the countryside, where they normally originate from, while hand-made foods are in the big city as they are modern.
  • Ho Yay: Sometimes pops up with the titular characters. Special mention towards the scene in episode 1 when the two jubilantly run down the sidewalk together as a rainbow trails behind them after getting inspiration from Street Dog to catch an ice cream truck. It doesn't help that the duo are mostly seen holding hands, hugging each other, even putting their foreheads together.
  • Magnificent Bastard: Jerk Chicken is one of the most bombastic, hilarious foes Apple and Onion have ever faced. After getting a free coupon from Apple and Onion’s pizza delivery business, he finds clever ways to always ensure that the duo come late to give him the pizza to make it free, constantly draining their finances while doing so. When Apple and Onion burn down his house to make the coupon void, Jerk Chicken uses the old scraps of their home that the two had to sell to make ends meet and is able to abuse the coupon again for free pizza. Returning in "Open House Cookies", he manages to bluff Apple and Onion into buying a seemingly great house that he hid the flaws of to make them unable to buy it back. When Apple and Onion attempt to scam him using chocolate coins, Jerk Chicken sees through the lie before Apple’s incompetence accidentally gives him real coins, and Jerk Chicken immediately runs off with the money while the pair are left destitute.
  • Moe
    • Onion, thanks to his cute design and somewhat meek personality. Especially when we see flashbacks of him as a child.
    • The cat "Sootie" from episode 2, thanks to... well, being an adorable, non-anthropomorphisized little cat.
  • Memetic Mutation:
    • Falafel being renamed and called "Faaf" has become a quite common inside joke amongst the fandom.
    • The scene in "Patty's Law" where Apple eats a moldy bread and promptly passed out became a meme around TikTok.
  • Nightmare Fuel:
  • Periphery Demographic: Although the show is aimed at young children, there exists a handful of adults who enjoy the show for its laid-back humor, sweet characters, and generally pleasant tone.
  • Tear Jerker:
    • Any time Apple and Onion look at pictures of their families, it's a bit bittersweet.
    • The song near the end of "Falafel's Fun Day" can be a bit of a sad one to hear, though it does get more bittersweet when the duo and Falafel consider themselves a “happy family” with their friendship.
    • Onion's persistent performance anxiety/stage fright when playing basketball in "4 on 1." His inner monologue in which different versions of himself berate him for freezing up is just sad.
    • While it's also undeniably funny, it's also pretty sad when Onion is fired in the show's first episode.
    • From the episode "Pancake's Bus Tour," Pancake reveals that her father, who discovered the meteor shower, passed away several years ago, and she sees the meteor shower every year to honor his memory. After she seemingly misses the meteor shower, Apple wishes for Pancake to be happy again... and she responds by saying "My dad would have liked you guys." Fortunately, it turns out they came too early and are able to watch the meteor shower.
    • This tweet from series creator George Gendi, which he posted shortly after the show's 10th episode.
    • From "Burger's Trampoline", Burger's speech to the duo on how much he appreciates them for hanging out with him and that he feels betrayed by Hot Dog, Cotton Candy, and French Fry coming to his house just to use his trampoline, completely unaware that the duo were doing the same thing.
      Burger: You know something? You guys are the only people who came to actually hang out with me. Not like my other so-called friends! All they ever did was use me for my trampoline! Not you, though. You two were the best. (Apple and Onion stop waving) I'll see you soon. Mi casa is su casa.
    • "Party Popper" has the revelation of why Kernel came to hate singing. He used to love singing when he was a kid, but was bullied by the other kids for it, so he stopped singing and became a loner.
  • Ugly Cute: Most of the characters can come across as this due to their human-like faces and at times, endearing personalities.
  • Unintentional Uncanny Valley: While most characters have human-like, yet still cartoony faces, Jerk Chicken’s face is noticeably a tad more realistic looking compared to the other characters, invoking this effect despite still being in the same cartoonish style.
  • Unintentionally Unsympathetic: There are many times in the show where you're supposed to root for Apple & Onion, but in a few cases, they can end up more antagonistic such as the episode "Za", where they change Pizza’s diner to be more “trendy” despite his wishes otherwise. Though they later realize what they did wrong and eventually revert his diner back.
  • The Woobie:
    • Arguably, the titular characters. Although they're good-natured and happy characters, they're also immigrants who deal with homesickness.
    • Falafel, Apple and Onion's long-suffering landlord. Like Apple and Onion, he's an immigrant who misses his family. His family is implied to live much farther away. English isn't his first language, and he's shown to watch a soap opera in Persian to feel closer to his home and culture.
    • The Pizza mother and son working at the diner in the episode "Tips." Because of the lack of employees, both of them are chronically overworked and exhausted.
    • Pancake, from episode 9. She organizes a meteor shower bus tour every year so she can honor the memory of her father, who discovered the meteor shower. At the end of the episode, she bursts into tears when she seemingly misses the chance to see the meteor shower.

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