SQUEE TIME #1
Squee-Challenge, 1. Entry
Primer: Welcome to the -x- Fandom: A Guide for Newbies
Hello friends and welcome to my very first entry for the squee-challenge!
So get ready for lots of gifs, mindless squeeing, useless facts and most important of all, lots of ...
TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES!!!!!
I know. I’m sorry. But this show hit me like a fire truck full of mean green love and I spent the last week gushing about mutated, ninjutsu fighting turtles and watching all the episodes of the newest reboot thrice. In the last seven days. Yeah, let’s not talk about how much time I wasted on this a frigging unhealthy amount of time, so instead I’ll tell you everything you never wanted to know about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2k12 (<- we’ll get to that hideous number in a moment).
Ninja Turtles - isn’t that like from the 80’ies? And really silly?
Before we dive right into the green nun-chuck swinging glory that is the newest show, allow me to take you take you back in time for a quick lesson in “Useless Cartoon History Knowledge”! Don’t worry, we’ll keep it short.
In 1984, Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird had the idea for persiflage of the highly popular superhero franchises of Marvel and DC, filling the comic book shops of America with eager customers and the wittiest thing they could come up with were the “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” - four mutated turtles who were trained by a rat to be ninjas and fight crime in New York.
Self-published as a single comic book issue, the Turtles soon became an astonishing franchise as a toy company thought selling action figures with shells and colorful masks would be the gateway to a future full of many fans and millions of merchandise products just waiting to be turtle-ized. They were right - after all, these were the 80’ies.
Soon enough they decided the Turtles needed to be everywhere and since nothing makes little children pester their parents more than seeing merchandise on TV, the first incarnation of TV-Turtles were born in 1987 and lasted until 1996.
Jesus H. Christ, almost ten years worth of telly about mutated reptils?
Jap, you read that right. The first show lasted for 10 seasons spanning 193 episodes. This is the one that most 90’ies kids grew up with, especially since the reruns in Germany went on till 1999. Because of the TV-show being aimed at kids (selling toys was still the most important aspect of the franchise), the adaptation stepped away from the original comic source material which was way darker (trust me, I tried reading one of the books when I was younger and omg, people DIED in those! How appalling! D: ), toning down on the violence and even changing some of the characters’ back stories, e.g. making Hamato Yoshi not the owner of but the actual mutated rat that would later train the Turtles.
All in all, the 80’ies cartoon is a kid-friendly fun-ride on the back of cute stuffy round snouted Turtles who fight silly looking aliens and evil ninjas in good old 90’ies cartoon-silliness. I enjoyed the series as a kid but not as much as I probably should have because although I was the biggest fan of reptiles (and ninjas) I could never quite get behind the Turtle-mania - the stories were rather forgettable, the animation was choppy to say the least and the characters could have needed a bit more subtlety.
Why am I telling you all of this when I’m clearly not a fan of the original series? Well, the 2k12-reboot has a lot of references to the original series and uses many of the once established character facts, creating a nostalgic atmosphere for the older fans without shamelessly copying everything, and as always it’s great to know your roots. xD
Okay, I get it, the Turtles are old school, can we now talk about the 2012 version?
Of course!
Great!
Right after I told you everything about the reboot in 2003!
What?!
Sorry. But in 2003 the 4Kids Entertainment channel and Mirage Studios (the company responsible for the comics) decided that it was time for a reboot of the show - since one can’t cash in enough on toy-based franchises and because Mirage Studios felt the strong urge of re-darkening the series.
Which worked well in terms of style and story-telling: the Turtles finally got their own individual personalities making them more diverse and the slapstick comedy almost completely vanished, focusing more on the action and the violence - and snarky one-liners, but I’m all in for that.
The series covered 7 seasons with 156 episodes and although it stayed kid-friendly (toys, remember?) for the most part, we also got really dark episodes like “Same as it never was” (Season 03, episode 07) that shows a dystopian future version where Shredder is king of the world and the Turtles are no longer a team but fight all on their own (which doesn’t bode well for any of them and ends in tragic disaster. Tear-jerking tragic disaster!) or the whole drama in “Shredder Strikes Back” where Leo almost dies and Raph of all people is in tears and on the verge of a nervous breakdown
The design also got a bit darker, the Turtles put on some (really unnecessary) muscles and kept their completely white eyes during all episodes - and I still find that really off putting for some reason when I watch the 2k3-reboot. Yeah, shallow reasoning but still. xD Overall the show is highly enjoyable and especially rewarding in terms of character development because they take their time to explore the ups and downs of every character - season 4 e.g. has Leonardo deal with PTSD after his terrifying last battle against Shredder and they use about 20 episodes to show how it affects himself, his relationship to his family and how he finally deals with and overcomes his self-conscious fear of not being good enough for his brothers.
In a kids show about mutated reptiles with ninja weapons, mind you. HOLY WHAT.
Okay, we get it, just get on with the thing you actually wanted to talk about!
But we still have the three movies left...
No way!
or the live action series from 1997...
Oh please dear God no...
Yeah okay, that one was lame, but what about the CGI-movie from 2007? Which I’m merely mentioning because Chris Evans played Casey Jones (a masked vigilante and ally of the Turtles and dear God, I’m dying to see him in the 2k12-version) and the possibility of crossovers between the Turtles and the Avengers makes me giddy like whoa...
GET TO THE POINT, WILL YA!!!!
xDDDD Okay guys, here it is, the squee-worthy wonderfulness of the 2k12 version of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!
First of all, let’s start off with an introduction to the characters, then I’ll talk about the animation and everything else I can think of, but beware I’m going to play favorites here (that means I’m going to talk endlessly about EVERYONE and everything) and I probably should have done that before I bored you with the history of the entire franchise, right?
Yeah, you should have!!!
My bad. xD Anyway, the show started in September 2012 and it has 18 episodes so far (PRECIOUS FEW!). Every character is rejuvenated, so that April O’Neil is a 16 year old girl instead of a mid-twenty woman and Master Splinter is far younger than his 80’ies and 2k3-counterparts too. The main baddy is of course Shredder. He is the arch enemy of Master Splinter, but there are also the Kraang, an alien race whose motifs are still quite unclear but they fool around with the Mutagen turning unsuspecting people into...well, mutants, whereas the Turtles are trying to foil their plans.
So, who are our main guys?
Leonardo - voiced by Jason Biggs
”Really? You think I’m adorable?”
Oh my God, Leo. <3333 *is reduced to a puddle of flailing*
He is the leader of the gang and HE IS JUST THE CUTEST BALL OF RESPONSIBILITY EVER OH MY GOD. <333
Leo is great. He is quick-witted, level-headed, strongly disciplined and the second best fighter of the brothers in terms of raw strength, wielding his two katanas and using well rounded ninjutsu techniques.
Although he is the oldest and the sensible one, he is by no means perfect, struggling with the responsibility of leading his brothers into battle and trying to channel all their headstrong personalities in the right direction - aside from the fact that he looks like an anime princess (LOOK AT THOSE BIG BLUE EYES AND THIS SMILE OH MY GOD, THE MOE, I AM DYING!) most of the time.
He also tries to see the good in everyone, showing mercy and being compassionate at just the right times.
The best thing about him though is that he is as youthful as the others - don’t get me wrong, the show is called “Teenage” Mutant Ninja Turtles but especially in the old cartoons, the guys always behaved like they were in their early twenties (or that might have been the terrible German dubbing...) and Leo was in almost every incarnation the leader right from the start without much character development going on in their earlier teenage years (not that there wasn’t any fun in watching an older person struggle with the hardships of guiding a team (see my gushing about season 4 of the 2k3-version) but it’s so much better to watch it all from the start).
In the 2k12-edition however, he is appointed the leader when he is barely fifteen and has to deal with all the wonderful but also hard work that comes with being responsible, trying to live up to the faith not only his mentor Splinter but also his brothers put into him. I don’t want to spoil too much but the episodes “New Girl in Town” and “The Alien Agenda” deal with this perfectly for they show how easily Leo could become a villain, if he gave into the “fun” the evil side tries to seduce him with - only his iron discipline, his strong bond with his family and of course the fact that his brothers turn up to ruin the moment keep him from giving in into the temptation of going wild. His leadership qualities are what keep him on the ground and make him invaluable for the team.
Another great character trait is his utter devotion to a TV show called Space Heroes - and yes it is a Star Trek The Animated Series parody (they even have Tribbles!!) and the greatest thing ever - with cheesy over-the-top-lines and a morally ambiguous Captain Ryan who Leo aspires to become like one day. Which he really shouldn’t because Ryan is a terrible role model but thank God he has his brothers to keep him in check and to tell him that his battle cries really need improvement.
Raphael - voiced by Sean Astin (yes, Lord-of-the-Rings-Samwise-Gamgee-Sean-Astin)
“Oh you are gonna like this show, Spike. It’s called: Does Mickey bend that way?”
Oh, Raph. What can I say about Raph? He is obviously the hotheaded member of the team. Even the intro’s lyrics describe him as having “the most attitude on the team”, so when he goes into battle he doesn’t hold back, takes on every enemy full force and brutalizes them with his sais, preferring close-range attacks and favoring the “hit first, ask questions later”-kind of approach to solving a problem (“Turtle Temper” shows how this can go horribly wrong for him).
If all the others weren’t so incredibly awesome as well, Raph could easily be my favorite character. Yes, he is a hothead, yes, he is stubborn, mean even and quick in his judgment.
But he is also the best older brother ever, loving his family to bits, protecting them wherever he can (him looking out for Mickey or reprimanding Leo for not believing that he can confine in his brothers is absolutely wonderful). His relationship with Mickey and Leonardo especially is the best and most precious thing ever. They behave like brothers: getting angry, getting envious but also always having each others’ backs and complementing their respective strengths or weaknesses.
Raph doesn’t show his affection very easily but he knows when to let his guard down and cheer his brothers up - e.g. in “New Friend, Old Enemy” when he tells a devastated Mickey that he is an awesome guy and deserves better friends (and yes this sounds exactly like the aftermath of a bad break-up xD) - but he will beat the green out of him if he mentions to the others that he said that.
The obvious potential for arguments between him and Leo gets hinted at in the show but as there is only one season so far (or rather: only 18 episodes) there is still much left to explore - my feelings for this can be summed up with this gif:
Donatello - voiced by Rob Paulsen (who voiced Raphael in the 80’ies-show)
”I told you, there are not go-carts but patrol buggies!”
Donatello is the machine-savvy brainiac of the team, always coming up with new gadgets to help the Turtles fight off the evil guys (and to stuff the shelves of the nearest toy shop because). He is not the most agile fighter, but by using his bo staff (or naginata if need be) to execute wide range attacks he can bring even the biggest enemies to their knees. He is a lot calmer than Raphael, not questioning Leo’s leadership and being able to reason between his own interest and the group’s. Broadening his horizon wherever he can, his extensive knowledge spans chemistry, biology (especially the one about mutated turtles xD), physics, engineering, informatics, general knowledge - and everything the plot demands him to know about for reasons. xD Sadly enough, the others don’t share his enthusiasm that often, so although he tries to explain the finer details of the Kraang’s plans to his brothers they rarely listen to anything and Donatello has to make do with the things they don’t break while fighting the baddies.
He is not as interested in fighting as his brothers are and he tries to stay out of their rivalry as good as he can, but he doesn’t take any shit from them and when the mockery becomes too great he fights back and proves his worth effortlessly. Interesting enough he seems to be the most patient when it comes to Mickey’s shenanigans and often has to arbitrate between Leo and Raph to keep the team together.
Donatello also is responsible for the Turtles’ involvement with the Kraang in the first place since he decided that they needed to rescue April - because he instantly fell in love with her and tries to impress her constantly.
Admittedly, the plotline with the Donatello/April-relationship is kinda forced and I don’t really like it but thank God they don’t focus much on it. It’s mostly played for laughs and showing how awkward Donnie is when dealing with situations where he can’t rely on careful planning (although “The Gauntlet” shows that Donnie is prepared for pretty much anything). xD
Michelangelo - voiced by Greg Cipes
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”Maybe you just think you are a monster because that’s what everyone keeps telling you.”
Michelangelo is the team’s goofball, the naïve, hyper and most optimistic out of the bunch.
AND LOOK AT HIM BEING SUPERCUTSIE OH MAY GAWD!!! <3333
What he lacks in strength he makes up for in quickness, bouncing here and there, babbling all the time and making friends wherever he goes (or at least he tries to).
He is very compassionate, loves pranks and doesn’t really think anything through before he barges into action, which makes his brothers always look out for him. Although his constant chattering about everything often leads Raph to smack him over the head to get him to shut up, the others nonetheless enjoy his silly jokes and are in on it more often than not.
As far as I’ve gathered, many fans weren’t very happy with the way they turned Michelangelo into a bubbly, much younger and more naive person than in the other incarnations but again, as with Leo, this goes very well with the teenage-theme of the whole reboot.
Mickey is young, but not stupid at all. Hell, even Master Splinter says that in terms of raw talent he surpasses all his brothers - if he was focusing more on his training, even Raph would have a hard time beating him (don’t tell them!) - and it makes for a nice strong family bond that all of the others are so devoted to protecting him: not from physical harm alone (Mickey doesn’t use his nunchucks for rope skipping - Donnie does) but also from knowledge that they don’t deem suitable for him (“New Girl in Town” is awesome in that aspect).
Mickey is also the most compassionate of the four, always trying to see the good in the numerous creatures they meet and always believing in the good of people. That of course makes him gullible and it ends up hurting him, but sometimes as for example with Leatherhead, his compassion and optimism is the only thing that prevents people from going completely insane.
Secondary characters
April O’Neil - voiced by Mae Whitman
”Donnie, stop talking, I’m having a bit of a pest problem!”
April got involved with the Turtles when her father was kidnapped by evil aliens and the boys tried to rescue them but only got April out. She is sixteen years old, headstrong, a loudmouth and not so much a damsel in distress but a quick-witted, brave young woman who tries everything to help the Turtles and get her father back. There might be more to her as the story unfolds and I hope to see more of her in the future.
Master Splinter - voiced by Hoon Lee
”The ninja’s first rule is do not harm. Unless you mean to do harm. Then do lots of harm!”
As mentioned before, this version’s Splinter actually is a mutated Hamato Yoshi and as his sons a lot younger than in the previous incarnations. Which a) does wonders for his speech pattern and my sanity and b) is very good for his sassiness (see the quote above). He is much more of a father-figure than a mere sensei to his Turtles. It’s interesting to note that in this version, Splinter hasn’t really stated as to why he taught the Turtles the ways of the ninja (in the former versions he wanted his sons to be able to protect themselves whereas in the comics he prepared them for the battle against Shredder) - he is not even aware at the beginning that Shredder is alive and out to hunt his boys down, so again the family bond is emphasized a lot.
His nightmare at the beginning of “Panic in the Sewers” where he sees his sons getting killed by Shredder is amazingly well executed and terrifying and I’m soooo thrilled for the inevitable battle between the two arch enemies.
The Shredder - voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson
Oroku Saki, the arch enemy of Splinter, a martial arts fighter and his lifelong rival gets horribly distorted in a fire and is out for terrifying revenge. We don’t know much about him apart from the occasional tale that Master Splinter tells his sons but that doesn’t make him any less frightening. The way he pounds the boys into the ground during their first confrontation is literally nightmare material.
Karai - voiced by Kelly Hu
”Because you are the first thing in this city that doesn’t bore me.”
Shredder’s daughter and a very capable ninja fighter herself. As Leo she uses a katana and a wakizashi (shorter sword), challenging the leader of the Turtles and even besting him at times. Her motivation is still very unclear but she is rather in for the fun of being evil and not ecause
Okay, these guys sound cool. What else is there to make me watch this?
The artwork. I know, I know a lot of people complain about how the humans are not looking lifelike enough, how the animation of hair and clothing could be a lot better and smoother but those people can just kindly shut up please, as they seem to forget two most important facts.
First of all, this is a tv-show so of course they won’t have the budget to produce something as astonishing as the “Rise of the Guardians” in terms of animation and second of all - this is a show about ninja-turtles so who cares about the frigging humans anyway. ; )
The mix of CGI-animation with absolutely flawless choreography during the fight scenes and the incorporation of 2D-animation for backgrounds, flashbacks and anime-esque reaction faces is not only great for reaction gifs but also looks amazing. The style is fresh, fun, amazingly fast paced, the textures look amazing, there always is something going on in the background and just the expressions of the boys alone are well worth the trip!
Omg, how can you not fall in love with those dorks, they are so awesome and precious and GO WATCH IT NOW. <3
Another aspect that I really adore is that they take injuries seriously and whenever one of the guys gets a worse beat up than usual you can be sure that the injury will stay with him at least until the next scene.
Fabulous examples: the fight against Shredder and the crying-incident with Leonardo (it’s hilarious).
The humour Yes, this is an action-packed show full of talking reptiles but don’t let that fool you because the humor is brilliant. What impressed me the most is how genre savvy all of them are and how the snarky one-liners often have an underlying motif throughout the whole episode or scene, making clear that the writers care as much about these characters as the fans.
Every single one of the guys gives as good as he gets from his brothers and although Mickey is the prankster (calling himself Doctor Prankenstein) and therefore is responsible for most of the jokes (and sometimes the buttmonkey of them), he is nothing compared to the sassiness of Raph or Donatello. Even Leonardo who in earlier incarnations was much more reserved tries to squeeze in the occasional joke (and yes, most of them fall flat but it’s hilarious nonetheless).
Okay, yeah that looks cool. Where can I watch it and what about the fandom?
Well, the show airs on German tv-channel nickelodeon and the internet proves helpful as always e.g. lookie here. As far as I know the German Itunes-store offers the episodes too but since I don’t want to sell my soul to Apple I prefer to wait for the DVDs (there have to be some Q_Q).
As for the fandom, these are good places to start and I got most of the gifs and pictures from there anyway:
shellyeahtmnt2012.tumblr.com
Everything about the new series is on here: gifs, analysis, toys, links to other material... everything!
tmnt2k12.tumblr.com
The same as above and absolutely invaluable for the daily needed fix of shellheads.
There is of course a ton of fanfics and fanart out there and it would probably be for the best if you scouted the usual places for your favorite character as the tons of stuff in varying degrees of quality can get a bit overwhelming.
I personally found Rcaptain's fanart absolutey wonderful, especially her fancomic "Green Gang" with its setting in 1920's Shanghai is marvellous.
So put on your mask and go TURTLE POWER!
Omfg, this entry ate my whole weekend because I researched so much, re-watched my favorite episodes and got distracted every five seconds. Jeez. Next one has to be shorter (or I need to focus a bit more... yeah, that would do xD).
Primer: Welcome to the -x- Fandom: A Guide for Newbies
Hello friends and welcome to my very first entry for the squee-challenge!
So get ready for lots of gifs, mindless squeeing, useless facts and most important of all, lots of ...
TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES!!!!!
I know. I’m sorry. But this show hit me like a fire truck full of mean green love and I spent the last week gushing about mutated, ninjutsu fighting turtles and watching all the episodes of the newest reboot thrice. In the last seven days. Yeah, let’s not talk about how much time I wasted on this a frigging unhealthy amount of time, so instead I’ll tell you everything you never wanted to know about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2k12 (<- we’ll get to that hideous number in a moment).
Ninja Turtles - isn’t that like from the 80’ies? And really silly?
Before we dive right into the green nun-chuck swinging glory that is the newest show, allow me to take you take you back in time for a quick lesson in “Useless Cartoon History Knowledge”! Don’t worry, we’ll keep it short.
In 1984, Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird had the idea for persiflage of the highly popular superhero franchises of Marvel and DC, filling the comic book shops of America with eager customers and the wittiest thing they could come up with were the “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” - four mutated turtles who were trained by a rat to be ninjas and fight crime in New York.
Self-published as a single comic book issue, the Turtles soon became an astonishing franchise as a toy company thought selling action figures with shells and colorful masks would be the gateway to a future full of many fans and millions of merchandise products just waiting to be turtle-ized. They were right - after all, these were the 80’ies.
Soon enough they decided the Turtles needed to be everywhere and since nothing makes little children pester their parents more than seeing merchandise on TV, the first incarnation of TV-Turtles were born in 1987 and lasted until 1996.
Jesus H. Christ, almost ten years worth of telly about mutated reptils?
Jap, you read that right. The first show lasted for 10 seasons spanning 193 episodes. This is the one that most 90’ies kids grew up with, especially since the reruns in Germany went on till 1999. Because of the TV-show being aimed at kids (selling toys was still the most important aspect of the franchise), the adaptation stepped away from the original comic source material which was way darker (trust me, I tried reading one of the books when I was younger and omg, people DIED in those! How appalling! D: ), toning down on the violence and even changing some of the characters’ back stories, e.g. making Hamato Yoshi not the owner of but the actual mutated rat that would later train the Turtles.
All in all, the 80’ies cartoon is a kid-friendly fun-ride on the back of cute stuffy round snouted Turtles who fight silly looking aliens and evil ninjas in good old 90’ies cartoon-silliness. I enjoyed the series as a kid but not as much as I probably should have because although I was the biggest fan of reptiles (and ninjas) I could never quite get behind the Turtle-mania - the stories were rather forgettable, the animation was choppy to say the least and the characters could have needed a bit more subtlety.
Why am I telling you all of this when I’m clearly not a fan of the original series? Well, the 2k12-reboot has a lot of references to the original series and uses many of the once established character facts, creating a nostalgic atmosphere for the older fans without shamelessly copying everything, and as always it’s great to know your roots. xD
Okay, I get it, the Turtles are old school, can we now talk about the 2012 version?
Of course!
Great!
Right after I told you everything about the reboot in 2003!
What?!
Sorry. But in 2003 the 4Kids Entertainment channel and Mirage Studios (the company responsible for the comics) decided that it was time for a reboot of the show - since one can’t cash in enough on toy-based franchises and because Mirage Studios felt the strong urge of re-darkening the series.
Which worked well in terms of style and story-telling: the Turtles finally got their own individual personalities making them more diverse and the slapstick comedy almost completely vanished, focusing more on the action and the violence - and snarky one-liners, but I’m all in for that.
The series covered 7 seasons with 156 episodes and although it stayed kid-friendly (toys, remember?) for the most part, we also got really dark episodes like “Same as it never was” (Season 03, episode 07) that shows a dystopian future version where Shredder is king of the world and the Turtles are no longer a team but fight all on their own (which doesn’t bode well for any of them and ends in tragic disaster. Tear-jerking tragic disaster!) or the whole drama in “Shredder Strikes Back” where Leo almost dies and Raph of all people is in tears and on the verge of a nervous breakdown
The design also got a bit darker, the Turtles put on some (really unnecessary) muscles and kept their completely white eyes during all episodes - and I still find that really off putting for some reason when I watch the 2k3-reboot. Yeah, shallow reasoning but still. xD Overall the show is highly enjoyable and especially rewarding in terms of character development because they take their time to explore the ups and downs of every character - season 4 e.g. has Leonardo deal with PTSD after his terrifying last battle against Shredder and they use about 20 episodes to show how it affects himself, his relationship to his family and how he finally deals with and overcomes his self-conscious fear of not being good enough for his brothers.
In a kids show about mutated reptiles with ninja weapons, mind you. HOLY WHAT.
Okay, we get it, just get on with the thing you actually wanted to talk about!
But we still have the three movies left...
No way!
or the live action series from 1997...
Oh please dear God no...
Yeah okay, that one was lame, but what about the CGI-movie from 2007? Which I’m merely mentioning because Chris Evans played Casey Jones (a masked vigilante and ally of the Turtles and dear God, I’m dying to see him in the 2k12-version) and the possibility of crossovers between the Turtles and the Avengers makes me giddy like whoa...
GET TO THE POINT, WILL YA!!!!
xDDDD Okay guys, here it is, the squee-worthy wonderfulness of the 2k12 version of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!
First of all, let’s start off with an introduction to the characters, then I’ll talk about the animation and everything else I can think of, but beware I’m going to play favorites here (that means I’m going to talk endlessly about EVERYONE and everything) and I probably should have done that before I bored you with the history of the entire franchise, right?
Yeah, you should have!!!
My bad. xD Anyway, the show started in September 2012 and it has 18 episodes so far (PRECIOUS FEW!). Every character is rejuvenated, so that April O’Neil is a 16 year old girl instead of a mid-twenty woman and Master Splinter is far younger than his 80’ies and 2k3-counterparts too. The main baddy is of course Shredder. He is the arch enemy of Master Splinter, but there are also the Kraang, an alien race whose motifs are still quite unclear but they fool around with the Mutagen turning unsuspecting people into...well, mutants, whereas the Turtles are trying to foil their plans.
So, who are our main guys?
Leonardo - voiced by Jason Biggs
”Really? You think I’m adorable?”
Oh my God, Leo. <3333 *is reduced to a puddle of flailing*
He is the leader of the gang and HE IS JUST THE CUTEST BALL OF RESPONSIBILITY EVER OH MY GOD. <333
Leo is great. He is quick-witted, level-headed, strongly disciplined and the second best fighter of the brothers in terms of raw strength, wielding his two katanas and using well rounded ninjutsu techniques.
Although he is the oldest and the sensible one, he is by no means perfect, struggling with the responsibility of leading his brothers into battle and trying to channel all their headstrong personalities in the right direction - aside from the fact that he looks like an anime princess (LOOK AT THOSE BIG BLUE EYES AND THIS SMILE OH MY GOD, THE MOE, I AM DYING!) most of the time.
He also tries to see the good in everyone, showing mercy and being compassionate at just the right times.
The best thing about him though is that he is as youthful as the others - don’t get me wrong, the show is called “Teenage” Mutant Ninja Turtles but especially in the old cartoons, the guys always behaved like they were in their early twenties (or that might have been the terrible German dubbing...) and Leo was in almost every incarnation the leader right from the start without much character development going on in their earlier teenage years (not that there wasn’t any fun in watching an older person struggle with the hardships of guiding a team (see my gushing about season 4 of the 2k3-version) but it’s so much better to watch it all from the start).
In the 2k12-edition however, he is appointed the leader when he is barely fifteen and has to deal with all the wonderful but also hard work that comes with being responsible, trying to live up to the faith not only his mentor Splinter but also his brothers put into him. I don’t want to spoil too much but the episodes “New Girl in Town” and “The Alien Agenda” deal with this perfectly for they show how easily Leo could become a villain, if he gave into the “fun” the evil side tries to seduce him with - only his iron discipline, his strong bond with his family and of course the fact that his brothers turn up to ruin the moment keep him from giving in into the temptation of going wild. His leadership qualities are what keep him on the ground and make him invaluable for the team.
Another great character trait is his utter devotion to a TV show called Space Heroes - and yes it is a Star Trek The Animated Series parody (they even have Tribbles!!) and the greatest thing ever - with cheesy over-the-top-lines and a morally ambiguous Captain Ryan who Leo aspires to become like one day. Which he really shouldn’t because Ryan is a terrible role model but thank God he has his brothers to keep him in check and to tell him that his battle cries really need improvement.
Raphael - voiced by Sean Astin (yes, Lord-of-the-Rings-Samwise-Gamgee-Sean-Astin)
“Oh you are gonna like this show, Spike. It’s called: Does Mickey bend that way?”
Oh, Raph. What can I say about Raph? He is obviously the hotheaded member of the team. Even the intro’s lyrics describe him as having “the most attitude on the team”, so when he goes into battle he doesn’t hold back, takes on every enemy full force and brutalizes them with his sais, preferring close-range attacks and favoring the “hit first, ask questions later”-kind of approach to solving a problem (“Turtle Temper” shows how this can go horribly wrong for him).
If all the others weren’t so incredibly awesome as well, Raph could easily be my favorite character. Yes, he is a hothead, yes, he is stubborn, mean even and quick in his judgment.
But he is also the best older brother ever, loving his family to bits, protecting them wherever he can (him looking out for Mickey or reprimanding Leo for not believing that he can confine in his brothers is absolutely wonderful). His relationship with Mickey and Leonardo especially is the best and most precious thing ever. They behave like brothers: getting angry, getting envious but also always having each others’ backs and complementing their respective strengths or weaknesses.
Raph doesn’t show his affection very easily but he knows when to let his guard down and cheer his brothers up - e.g. in “New Friend, Old Enemy” when he tells a devastated Mickey that he is an awesome guy and deserves better friends (and yes this sounds exactly like the aftermath of a bad break-up xD) - but he will beat the green out of him if he mentions to the others that he said that.
The obvious potential for arguments between him and Leo gets hinted at in the show but as there is only one season so far (or rather: only 18 episodes) there is still much left to explore - my feelings for this can be summed up with this gif:
Donatello - voiced by Rob Paulsen (who voiced Raphael in the 80’ies-show)
”I told you, there are not go-carts but patrol buggies!”
Donatello is the machine-savvy brainiac of the team, always coming up with new gadgets to help the Turtles fight off the evil guys (and to stuff the shelves of the nearest toy shop because). He is not the most agile fighter, but by using his bo staff (or naginata if need be) to execute wide range attacks he can bring even the biggest enemies to their knees. He is a lot calmer than Raphael, not questioning Leo’s leadership and being able to reason between his own interest and the group’s. Broadening his horizon wherever he can, his extensive knowledge spans chemistry, biology (especially the one about mutated turtles xD), physics, engineering, informatics, general knowledge - and everything the plot demands him to know about for reasons. xD Sadly enough, the others don’t share his enthusiasm that often, so although he tries to explain the finer details of the Kraang’s plans to his brothers they rarely listen to anything and Donatello has to make do with the things they don’t break while fighting the baddies.
He is not as interested in fighting as his brothers are and he tries to stay out of their rivalry as good as he can, but he doesn’t take any shit from them and when the mockery becomes too great he fights back and proves his worth effortlessly. Interesting enough he seems to be the most patient when it comes to Mickey’s shenanigans and often has to arbitrate between Leo and Raph to keep the team together.
Donatello also is responsible for the Turtles’ involvement with the Kraang in the first place since he decided that they needed to rescue April - because he instantly fell in love with her and tries to impress her constantly.
Admittedly, the plotline with the Donatello/April-relationship is kinda forced and I don’t really like it but thank God they don’t focus much on it. It’s mostly played for laughs and showing how awkward Donnie is when dealing with situations where he can’t rely on careful planning (although “The Gauntlet” shows that Donnie is prepared for pretty much anything). xD
Michelangelo - voiced by Greg Cipes
”Maybe you just think you are a monster because that’s what everyone keeps telling you.”
Michelangelo is the team’s goofball, the naïve, hyper and most optimistic out of the bunch.
AND LOOK AT HIM BEING SUPERCUTSIE OH MAY GAWD!!! <3333
What he lacks in strength he makes up for in quickness, bouncing here and there, babbling all the time and making friends wherever he goes (or at least he tries to).
He is very compassionate, loves pranks and doesn’t really think anything through before he barges into action, which makes his brothers always look out for him. Although his constant chattering about everything often leads Raph to smack him over the head to get him to shut up, the others nonetheless enjoy his silly jokes and are in on it more often than not.
As far as I’ve gathered, many fans weren’t very happy with the way they turned Michelangelo into a bubbly, much younger and more naive person than in the other incarnations but again, as with Leo, this goes very well with the teenage-theme of the whole reboot.
Mickey is young, but not stupid at all. Hell, even Master Splinter says that in terms of raw talent he surpasses all his brothers - if he was focusing more on his training, even Raph would have a hard time beating him (don’t tell them!) - and it makes for a nice strong family bond that all of the others are so devoted to protecting him: not from physical harm alone (Mickey doesn’t use his nunchucks for rope skipping - Donnie does) but also from knowledge that they don’t deem suitable for him (“New Girl in Town” is awesome in that aspect).
Mickey is also the most compassionate of the four, always trying to see the good in the numerous creatures they meet and always believing in the good of people. That of course makes him gullible and it ends up hurting him, but sometimes as for example with Leatherhead, his compassion and optimism is the only thing that prevents people from going completely insane.
Secondary characters
April O’Neil - voiced by Mae Whitman
”Donnie, stop talking, I’m having a bit of a pest problem!”
April got involved with the Turtles when her father was kidnapped by evil aliens and the boys tried to rescue them but only got April out. She is sixteen years old, headstrong, a loudmouth and not so much a damsel in distress but a quick-witted, brave young woman who tries everything to help the Turtles and get her father back. There might be more to her as the story unfolds and I hope to see more of her in the future.
Master Splinter - voiced by Hoon Lee
”The ninja’s first rule is do not harm. Unless you mean to do harm. Then do lots of harm!”
As mentioned before, this version’s Splinter actually is a mutated Hamato Yoshi and as his sons a lot younger than in the previous incarnations. Which a) does wonders for his speech pattern and my sanity and b) is very good for his sassiness (see the quote above). He is much more of a father-figure than a mere sensei to his Turtles. It’s interesting to note that in this version, Splinter hasn’t really stated as to why he taught the Turtles the ways of the ninja (in the former versions he wanted his sons to be able to protect themselves whereas in the comics he prepared them for the battle against Shredder) - he is not even aware at the beginning that Shredder is alive and out to hunt his boys down, so again the family bond is emphasized a lot.
His nightmare at the beginning of “Panic in the Sewers” where he sees his sons getting killed by Shredder is amazingly well executed and terrifying and I’m soooo thrilled for the inevitable battle between the two arch enemies.
The Shredder - voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson
Oroku Saki, the arch enemy of Splinter, a martial arts fighter and his lifelong rival gets horribly distorted in a fire and is out for terrifying revenge. We don’t know much about him apart from the occasional tale that Master Splinter tells his sons but that doesn’t make him any less frightening. The way he pounds the boys into the ground during their first confrontation is literally nightmare material.
Karai - voiced by Kelly Hu
”Because you are the first thing in this city that doesn’t bore me.”
Shredder’s daughter and a very capable ninja fighter herself. As Leo she uses a katana and a wakizashi (shorter sword), challenging the leader of the Turtles and even besting him at times. Her motivation is still very unclear but she is rather in for the fun of being evil and not ecause
Okay, these guys sound cool. What else is there to make me watch this?
The artwork. I know, I know a lot of people complain about how the humans are not looking lifelike enough, how the animation of hair and clothing could be a lot better and smoother but those people can just kindly shut up please, as they seem to forget two most important facts.
First of all, this is a tv-show so of course they won’t have the budget to produce something as astonishing as the “Rise of the Guardians” in terms of animation and second of all - this is a show about ninja-turtles so who cares about the frigging humans anyway. ; )
The mix of CGI-animation with absolutely flawless choreography during the fight scenes and the incorporation of 2D-animation for backgrounds, flashbacks and anime-esque reaction faces is not only great for reaction gifs but also looks amazing. The style is fresh, fun, amazingly fast paced, the textures look amazing, there always is something going on in the background and just the expressions of the boys alone are well worth the trip!
Omg, how can you not fall in love with those dorks, they are so awesome and precious and GO WATCH IT NOW. <3
Another aspect that I really adore is that they take injuries seriously and whenever one of the guys gets a worse beat up than usual you can be sure that the injury will stay with him at least until the next scene.
Fabulous examples: the fight against Shredder and the crying-incident with Leonardo (it’s hilarious).
The humour Yes, this is an action-packed show full of talking reptiles but don’t let that fool you because the humor is brilliant. What impressed me the most is how genre savvy all of them are and how the snarky one-liners often have an underlying motif throughout the whole episode or scene, making clear that the writers care as much about these characters as the fans.
Every single one of the guys gives as good as he gets from his brothers and although Mickey is the prankster (calling himself Doctor Prankenstein) and therefore is responsible for most of the jokes (and sometimes the buttmonkey of them), he is nothing compared to the sassiness of Raph or Donatello. Even Leonardo who in earlier incarnations was much more reserved tries to squeeze in the occasional joke (and yes, most of them fall flat but it’s hilarious nonetheless).
Okay, yeah that looks cool. Where can I watch it and what about the fandom?
Well, the show airs on German tv-channel nickelodeon and the internet proves helpful as always e.g. lookie here. As far as I know the German Itunes-store offers the episodes too but since I don’t want to sell my soul to Apple I prefer to wait for the DVDs (there have to be some Q_Q).
As for the fandom, these are good places to start and I got most of the gifs and pictures from there anyway:
shellyeahtmnt2012.tumblr.com
Everything about the new series is on here: gifs, analysis, toys, links to other material... everything!
tmnt2k12.tumblr.com
The same as above and absolutely invaluable for the daily needed fix of shellheads.
There is of course a ton of fanfics and fanart out there and it would probably be for the best if you scouted the usual places for your favorite character as the tons of stuff in varying degrees of quality can get a bit overwhelming.
I personally found Rcaptain's fanart absolutey wonderful, especially her fancomic "Green Gang" with its setting in 1920's Shanghai is marvellous.
So put on your mask and go TURTLE POWER!
Omfg, this entry ate my whole weekend because I researched so much, re-watched my favorite episodes and got distracted every five seconds. Jeez. Next one has to be shorter (or I need to focus a bit more... yeah, that would do xD).