Meanwhile, Star desperately searches for a hammer so she can use it to hang up a poster "the hard way".
Tropes:
- Basement-Dweller: Marco's Sensei turns out to still live with his mother, in a room "suspiciously like" Marco's bedroom.
- Big Little Man: The VHS store clerk at first looks short and dumpy, but then he stands up and he's incredibly tall and muscular.
- Broken Pedestal: Marco is frustrated to find that not only is his Sensei still a green belt himself, but he's a pessimistic quitter who still lives with his mom.Sensei: Bow to your... sensei?
Marco: I don't have a sensei anymore... - But I Read a Book About It: Turns out Marco's sensei is completely self taught, using only a series of rare "How To" tapes to learn Karate. He was stuck at green belt because the red belt tape got stuck in the VCR and trying to get it out destroyed the tape.
- Call-Back: Following the events of the previous episode "Mr. Candle Cares", Marco is still concerned about his future.
- Chekhov's Gag: "Clip the toenail!"
- Comically Missing the Point: During Marco's nightmare, he sees his apparently lifeless body in a locker, and is horrified. "I'm... I'm... I'm... wearing a suit?!"
- Continuity Nod:
- A lot of the symbolism in Marco's dream is taken from previous episodes: the purple hearts that covered Star's body in "Mewberty", the Blood Moon from "Blood Moon Ball", Toffee's suit from "Storm the Castle"...
- Mr. Candle shows up in Marco's dream to ask about his future.
- Crashing Dreams: Marco's nightmare at the beginning is interrupted by Star shouting his name... and he awakens to Star peeking out of a portal in his bedroom, trying to wake him up.
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass:
- The VHS store owner proves himself to be a formidable opponent against Marco, with a ripped body to prove it.
- Although Marco's Sensei was a quitter who never got past green belt, he still manages to quickly figure out how to beat the VHS store owner.
- A Day in the Limelight: Is a mostly solo adventure for Marco on his quest to get his red belt, while Star has a B plot about finding a hammer.
- Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life: Marco faces this in his nightmares, about being left behind while his classmates go off.
- Eye Scream: Marco keeps getting stuff in his eye during the "training" montage.
- Gonk: Despite having the figure of a bodybuilder, the VHS store owner has a flabby, unkempt face that makes him look like a stereotypical Otaku.
- Graceful Loser: The VHS store owner gracefully accepts his loss to Marco and hands over the VHS tape.
- Gratuitous Spanish: Sensei buys an ice cream bar from a cart with "Helados" ("Ice Cream") at the side.
- Here We Go Again!: After Star finally finds a hammer at the end of the episode (read: Mr. and Mrs. Diaz went to the hardware store, bought a hammer, and let Star think she found it), she mentions that she still needs to find nails. Mr. Diaz immediately heads back to the hardware store to get Star her nails.
- Know-Nothing Know-It-All: Sensei has taught himself up to the green belt level but takes great pride in educating others and telling them to do better, including Marco.
- MacGuffin Guardian: The VHS store owner fulfills this role by challenging Marco into a fight for the possession of the rare tape. This even fits in the usual symbolism, since the MacGuffin (the tape) is meant to allow Marco to progress to a greater level of heroics (the red belt).
- Mundane Utility: Star uses her dimensional scissors to cut into Marco's room when she could've just knocked.
- Oh, Crap!:
- Marco's parents when Star tears apart the house for a hammer. They don't even have a hammer, or nails.
- Subverted when Marco sees that the VHS owner is ripped. He doesn't bear the Oh, Crap! expression until the owner successfully deflects his blows.
- Rank Up: Marco has decided to really try for his red belt after spending five years as a green belt. It takes a bit of work, but he does eventually earn his coveted red belt, and now he, and his sensei, should be able to earn the rest.
- Rebuilt Pedestal: After Sensei helps Marco defeat the VHS owner and get the red belt tape, they both ascend to red belt, and Marco accepts him as his Sensei once again.
- Wax On, Wax Off: Subverted, Sensei has Marco do all sorts of chores as training for his red belt, but it turns out they were just chores after all. Double subverted when Marco manages to beat the guy at the video store by "clipping the toenail" and getting his big toe in a death grip.
- The Worf Effect: The VHS store owner is the first human that can match Marco blow for blow, while he has fought monsters five times his size.
