Best/Worst Portrayals - Page 3

drag0nfeathers · 10-23-2017, 02:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

Yeah, the whole Karai/Miwa being Splinter's daughter but raised by Shredder was one of the best new concepts this show came up with.

I actually agree with you on this, i just think the whole "mind control" bit got overly played out and in the long run it just damaged her character for me. Like I said I liked her in the beginning but once she mutated I just didn't like how she was handled. She leveled out at the very end, but again she was just a hot mess in my opinion overall.

*CyberCubed* · 10-23-2017, 03:14 PM

Karai was only mind controlled for 2 episodes, she didn't even appear for most of Season 3. Her early appearances were in her mindless snake form, or just captured by Shredder.

It's easy to forget how little we saw of Karai in Season 3. There was the 8 Northampton episodes, then the few snake eps she had, then the other eps just either didn't feature her or focused on the intro of new mutants like Muckman, Mondo, Creep/Snakeweed, Shredder clones, etc...and she didn't appear.

During Season 4 the first episode they get back from space she's leading the Foot with Shinigami.

Tarris Vaal · 10-23-2017, 07:23 PM

I find myself siding with Cubed regarding April.

I will say that there was a lot of missed opportunity regarding her (particularly her interactions with human characters like her dad, Irma, and her mums back story and of course her being cut out of the ending), but I thought the psychic power angle was a nice slow grow development and it allowed her to be a combat character without overshadowing the turtles themselves. The only times she ever does do that is when her powers are starting to overtake her completely. Otherwise I think the worst they do are a few deus ex machina get outs (end of buried secrets for example) and the Kraang apparently giving up on her.

I also didn't mind her being younger. I found that on the whole she gets sidelined a lot in other iterations because her role is too similar to splinters - an elder mentor character, albeit coming from a different angle.

But on the whole I think this was a pretty decent version of the character and certainly proved that a younger version can work.

As for Shredder siding with Kraang and letting them run rampant - to be fair he was pretty emotionally devastated when he lost Karai. I dont think its right to judge his hesitation to act at that point, he was simply letting his emotions get the better of him - something which is an established flaw of his character. And thats not a bad thing.

*CyberCubed* · 10-23-2017, 07:41 PM

And we also got confirmation from Ciro/Auman that April's mother died when they cloned her. Having rewatched that episode only a week ago, April also never said anything about looking for her mother. Her last line is, "Maybe she's still out there...somewhere." but she sounded pretty sure she was gone.

April's psychic powers were basically the same thing as how Kraang Prime enslaved the Utrom with it's psychic abilities and brought them under its control. After Kraang Prime died in the Triceraton invasion we never did see any Kraang again outside of flashback episodes or in the past.

I'm nearly at the end of Season 4 in my rewatch and April's powers also only save the day in like 2-3 episodes. I have no idea where people got the idea she was constantly saving the Turtles in every episode, that never happened outside the small few that focused on her.

*newfan* · 10-24-2017, 01:52 AM

I wondered if they gave her powers to enhace her as she was going to be trained and one of their clan this time, as a member in training/newly trained she could seem weaker next to the turtles (and others) so maybe that is why they did it? I didn't mind the lighter stuff, not so much the heavier stuff (though it came in useful to them)

Quote:

During Season 4 the first episode they get back from space she's leading the Foot with Shinigami.

I thought it was just her and Shinni in City at War and they started recruiting in Broken Foot, even then, they had started to recruiting soldiers rather than had the whole of the foot. (I might have seen that wrong)

*Vicky82* · 10-24-2017, 02:01 AM

Aprils powers seemed to have toned down in season 5 because they were useless against Kavaxas, useless against vampires/monsters (just before she turned into vampire) and useless against Krang in the crossover

*FredWolfLeonardo* · 10-24-2017, 02:35 AM

I think the gripe against April's powers is really overstated, I really have no complaints against them.

I did find The Power Inside Her to be one of my favourite episodes of all time.

*CyberCubed* · 10-24-2017, 06:41 AM

I think Nick's April was the best utilized of the 3 cartoon April's so far.

I like original cartoon April, but she was treated like a damsel in distress 90% of the time. I can't fault it because it was the 80's and that was the standard for kids cartoons, and while I liked her personality and role she definitely got the short end a lot of the time.

2k3 April started off fine but she generally got treated like a background character as the show progressed. I think the writers had difficulty involving April in the Turtles adventures in that series so they generally left her out of a lot of episodes. There are a lot of episodes 2k3 April either doesn't appear in or just has very little role as a support character.

10-23-2017, 07:23 PM	#43
Tarris Vaal Stone Warrior Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: Cullompton, Devon Posts: 505	I find myself siding with Cubed regarding April. I will say that there was a lot of missed opportunity regarding her (particularly her interactions with human characters like her dad, Irma, and her mums back story and of course her being cut out of the ending), but I thought the psychic power angle was a nice slow grow development and it allowed her to be a combat character without overshadowing the turtles themselves. The only times she ever does do that is when her powers are starting to overtake her completely. Otherwise I think the worst they do are a few deus ex machina get outs (end of buried secrets for example) and the Kraang apparently giving up on her. I also didn't mind her being younger. I found that on the whole she gets sidelined a lot in other iterations because her role is too similar to splinters - an elder mentor character, albeit coming from a different angle. But on the whole I think this was a pretty decent version of the character and certainly proved that a younger version can work. As for Shredder siding with Kraang and letting them run rampant - to be fair he was pretty emotionally devastated when he lost Karai. I dont think its right to judge his hesitation to act at that point, he was simply letting his emotions get the better of him - something which is an established flaw of his character. And thats not a bad thing. __________________ Help animate the Sedisverse - Kickstarter at; https://www.kickstarter.com/projects...the-sedisverse

10-24-2017, 02:01 AM	#46
Vicky82 Emperor Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Dunstable, UK Posts: 5,775	Aprils powers seemed to have toned down in season 5 because they were useless against Kavaxas, useless against vampires/monsters (just before she turned into vampire) and useless against Krang in the crossover __________________ My heart!!!! One of my favourite moments.

10-23-2017, 03:14 PM	#42
CyberCubed Overlord Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 41,036	Karai was only mind controlled for 2 episodes, she didn't even appear for most of Season 3. Her early appearances were in her mindless snake form, or just captured by Shredder. It's easy to forget how little we saw of Karai in Season 3. There was the 8 Northampton episodes, then the few snake eps she had, then the other eps just either didn't feature her or focused on the intro of new mutants like Muckman, Mondo, Creep/Snakeweed, Shredder clones, etc...and she didn't appear. During Season 4 the first episode they get back from space she's leading the Foot with Shinigami.

10-23-2017, 07:41 PM	#44
CyberCubed Overlord Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 41,036	And we also got confirmation from Ciro/Auman that April's mother died when they cloned her. Having rewatched that episode only a week ago, April also never said anything about looking for her mother. Her last line is, "Maybe she's still out there...somewhere." but she sounded pretty sure she was gone. April's psychic powers were basically the same thing as how Kraang Prime enslaved the Utrom with it's psychic abilities and brought them under its control. After Kraang Prime died in the Triceraton invasion we never did see any Kraang again outside of flashback episodes or in the past. I'm nearly at the end of Season 4 in my rewatch and April's powers also only save the day in like 2-3 episodes. I have no idea where people got the idea she was constantly saving the Turtles in every episode, that never happened outside the small few that focused on her.

10-24-2017, 02:35 AM	#47
FredWolfLeonardo Big Blue Boy Scout Join Date: Mar 2016 Location: New Bark Town Posts: 4,474	I think the gripe against April's powers is really overstated, I really have no complaints against them. I did find The Power Inside Her to be one of my favourite episodes of all time.

10-24-2017, 06:41 AM	#48
CyberCubed Overlord Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 41,036	I think Nick's April was the best utilized of the 3 cartoon April's so far. I like original cartoon April, but she was treated like a damsel in distress 90% of the time. I can't fault it because it was the 80's and that was the standard for kids cartoons, and while I liked her personality and role she definitely got the short end a lot of the time. 2k3 April started off fine but she generally got treated like a background character as the show progressed. I think the writers had difficulty involving April in the Turtles adventures in that series so they generally left her out of a lot of episodes. There are a lot of episodes 2k3 April either doesn't appear in or just has very little role as a support character.