How does it feel to be significantly older than the Turtles?

[Coola Yagami]

Originally Posted by Powder

Don't worry, you were probably already coming off as weird & creepy when you were young.

Probably lmao. Street Fighter came out at a time I was in high school and everyone was trying to downplay their 'childish' hobbies and try to act cool, more mature and whatever all in the sake of being popular or getting laid.

My life was all about Street Fighter though, lol.

[IndigoErth]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

including females

Just because girls didn't talk about it with you doesn't mean none of them were into that stuff...

Originally Posted by ABrown

Thank the lord that today it's socially acceptable to be into TMNT at the age of 40 (as I'll be in two months).

You're telling me. It's an honor to be a part of that first generation, but it definitely had the drawback of not already having an established older fanbase and the internet to ensure that yes, it's perfectly okay to still be into them.

Kids these days don't know how lucky they are. I was forced to give them up as a teen because they weren't considered something okay to still like at age 15, and now you've got kids that age sharing their dirty fanfic with the world like it's the most normal thing ever.

Originally Posted by Coola Yagami

for being cowardly and crying all the time, Usagi

Every time that name initially makes me think you guys mean the rabbit and this all then sounds very confusing. lol

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by Coola Yagami

Probably lmao. Street Fighter came out at a time I was in high school and everyone was trying to downplay their 'childish' hobbies and try to act cool, more mature and whatever all in the sake of being popular or getting laid.

My life was all about Street Fighter though, lol.

I've never understood or adhered to that mentality. Which is why I felt kinda out of place in HS.

Seems like partying, drinking, dating, having sex, going to concerts, smoking tobacco and weed were the things the cool kids did and what made you an "adult" instead of a kid. I remember that one time when I was 18 and someone told me I sounded like a 12 year old kid when I told them my favourite things were Anime, videogames and wrestling.

It's funny because, drinking until you pass out is definitely not cool among actual adults. And teenage relationships are just cringey to look back to in retrospective.

It's really strange how a lot of people I knew back then looked down in anything that wasn't popular and considered you a geek if you happened to like a less mainstream game or cartoon series but they're probably spending their weekends watching superhero stuff on Netflix or whatever nowadays. The fact they needed mass media and society to validate that stuff for them shows they're quite insecure.

It's sad, but a large portion of people are sheep.

[LeotheLateBloomer]

Originally Posted by Prowler

I haven't watched Crystal yet. Heard it's a more faithful adaptation of the manga l. The original anime series had a lot of stuff that wasn't in the manga like more downtime and humour to get to know the characters better. The manga was more serious.

I've heard mixed opinions about Crystal. People miss the downtime and humour of the 90s anime series and people have also criticised the quality of the animation sometimes.

Crystal is a fine show. I was more so mixed on the character designs and thought their shapes made them a bit too thin and lanky while the animation was a bit too stiff. The other thing was that the manga had some humorous moments which Crystal either portrayed it in a boring manner or got rid of some of it. But other then that, it is more faithful to the manga. I can't say that the show suffers from having no filler since the original anime was mostly filler but that stuff definitely made the 90s anime a lot more memorable since you got to know the characters more. It gave them a lot more depth. Season 3 addresses the criticisms of the first two seasons by bringing back elements of what people loved about the original Sailor Moon. If you're a huge fan, I'd say give Crystal a shot.

Originally Posted by Prowler

You're right. Usagi being immature and taking a while to fully accept her heroine role is actually rather realistic. Kids don't want to bear such a big responsibility.

In the manga, she started off as a crybaby but ended up maturing pretty quickly, as does in Crystal. I guess Usagi's childish nature is considered "flanderized" in the 90s show. To some, they see her as considered obnoxious. For me she has her moments where she can be grating but I don't think she deserves hate she receives. Unfortunately since most watched the anime and have not read the manga, they'll always see her as a bad leader and a annoying brat.

[CyberCubed]

In terms of Usagi, I thought it was weirdly anti-feminist how she spent almost the entire series obsessing over Mamo and acting like she couldn't do anything when he was either captured or missing or gone for awhile. She also needs him to rescue her in tons of episodes. Knowing the manga was written by a woman I'm surprised she had her main character feel so "incomplete" so to speak without her male lover.

I guess it must be cultural issues knowing the female manga creator grew up in Japan and that's how women were basically treated in the 80's and 90's. I watched all of the original Sailor Moon for the first time last year with the new Viz dub and that's what stood out the most to me.

[Coola Yagami]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

In terms of Usagi, I thought it was weirdly anti-feminist how she spent almost the entire series obsessing over Mamo and acting like she couldn't do anything when he was either captured or missing or gone for awhile. She also needs him to rescue her in tons of episodes. Knowing the manga was written by a woman I'm surprised she had her main character feel so "incomplete" so to speak without her male lover.

I guess it must be cultural issues knowing the female manga creator grew up in Japan and that's how women were basically treated in the 80's and 90's. I watched all of the original Sailor Moon for the first time last year with the new Viz dub and that's what stood out the most to me.

It's hard to say, but on the other hand I feel a lot of manga creators know how to leave their personal politics to the side and focus more on what is an interesting story. Regardless what she felt personally, she wanted Usagi to be that way for the sake of the story so there ya go. If she was 'anti-feminist', she'd have all of the Sailors be useless unless Tuxedo Mask saved the day. That's pretty much why anime and manga are mopping the floor with American comics nowadays.

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by LeotheLateBloomer

Crystal is a fine show. I was more so mixed on the character designs and thought their shapes made them a bit too thin and lanky while the animation was a bit too stiff. The other thing was that the manga had some humorous moments which Crystal either portrayed it in a boring manner or got rid of some of it. But other then that, it is more faithful to the manga. I can't say that the show suffers from having no filler since the original anime was mostly filler but that stuff definitely made the 90s anime a lot more memorable since you got to know the characters more. It gave them a lot more depth. Season 3 addresses the criticisms of the first two seasons by bringing back elements of what people loved about the original Sailor Moon. If you're a huge fan, I'd say give Crystal a shot.



In the manga, she started off as a crybaby but ended up maturing pretty quickly, as does in Crystal. I guess Usagi's childish nature is considered "flanderized" in the 90s show. To some, they see her as considered obnoxious. For me she has her moments where she can be grating but I don't think she deserves hate she receives. Unfortunately since most watched the anime and have not read the manga, they'll always see her as a bad leader and a annoying brat.

I have read the manga but haven't finished it yet.

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

In terms of Usagi, I thought it was weirdly anti-feminist how she spent almost the entire series obsessing over Mamo and acting like she couldn't do anything when he was either captured or missing or gone for awhile. She also needs him to rescue her in tons of episodes. Knowing the manga was written by a woman I'm surprised she had her main character feel so "incomplete" so to speak without her male lover.

I guess it must be cultural issues knowing the female manga creator grew up in Japan and that's how women were basically treated in the 80's and 90's. I watched all of the original Sailor Moon for the first time last year with the new Viz dub and that's what stood out the most to me.

Naoko Takeuchi modelled Usagi after herself.

Also, Usagi's dream was getting married someday and becoming a housewife. And Usagi's mother was also a housewife.

Seems like a lot of Anime characters have mothers who are stay at home housewives...

[CyberCubed]

Originally Posted by Prowler

Also, Usagi's dream was getting married someday and becoming a housewife. And Usagi's mother was also a housewife.

Seems like a lot of Anime characters have mothers who are stay at home housewives...

It was probably Japanese lifestyle at the time, also remember most of these writers/artists grew up in the 80's and then 90's, and they were raised by more traditional parents from the 50's and 60's...and those were the family ideals back then.

I notice even in Japan it's different now in the late 2000's, they say less women are getting married now because they are putting their careers first and less people in Japan are having children. Japan's birth rate has actually been declining for decades for this reason, the women don't want to have kids anymore.

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

It was probably Japanese lifestyle at the time, also remember most of these writers/artists grew up in the 80's and then 90's, and they were raised by more traditional parents from the 50's and 60's...and those were the family ideals back then.

I notice even in Japan it's different now in the late 2000's, they say less women are getting married now because they are putting their careers first and less people in Japan are having children. Japan's birth rate has actually been declining for decades for this reason, the women don't want to have kids anymore.

Tbh even on American TV you saw a lot of housewives until the 90s. Not just that but also in comics. Calvin's mother in Calvin and Hobbes is a stay at home mum, for example. Was that still rather common in USA until the 80s/90s?

[PizzaPower1985]

If I read Mirage, I don't feel much older than the boys. If I watch cartoons, there is something there that tells me I'm far older than the 2003 turtles but could still relate to them. With my very difficult past, I wasn't really mentally older than a teen anyway until I was about 25.

At 35, with my bone problems, shortness of breath and constant digestive problems, sometimes I feel like I could be half a century older.

These responses have been interesting and this thread definitely shows each of our wildly differing levels of health and maturity!

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by Coola Yagami

It's hard to say, but on the other hand I feel a lot of manga creators know how to leave their personal politics to the side and focus more on what is an interesting story. Regardless what she felt personally, she wanted Usagi to be that way for the sake of the story so there ya go. If she was 'anti-feminist', she'd have all of the Sailors be useless unless Tuxedo Mask saved the day. That's pretty much why anime and manga are mopping the floor with American comics nowadays.

Like I said, Naoko modelled Usagi after her. She said Usagi was similar to her younger self. And Naoko's first series was actually the Sailor V manga which kinda serves as a prototype for Sailor Moon. Hence why Minako and Usagi look rather similar and have similar families and a similar love for arcade gaming and hatred for school.

Naoko said she based Minako's parents of her own. Her mother was a housewives and her dad was your average Japanese salaryman.

Japanese society does come across as rather old-fashioned when it comes to gender roles, as does the Korean society, for that matter. They might be highly developed countries, but human rights and equality as we know them nowadays are a Western invention, let's not forget. So I'm not surprised Japan comes across as rather backwards sometimes.

But, interestingly, there's A LOT of strong female characters in anime/manga and Japanese videogames. And they're often strong and sexy.

Japanese games and animation also seem immune to the whole identity politics and "wokeism" thing that has been infecting the American entertainment industry in the last several years. So, in a way, Japanese media comes across as more sensible nowadays since it doesn't seem to have a blatant political agenda.

Sure, some would say all works of art are propaganda, but there's a difference between being subtle and using your own art as a soapbox for your beliefs.

[Refractive Reflections]

I don't really focus on their age as rather I focus on their life experiences that seem to be more than what a teenager endures. I mean the weapon expertise and the maturity to fight with many unpredictable, simultaneous factors is beyond what teenagers should experience. In reality, that level of combat is unthinkable for any teenager to experience due to the trauma, and would be regarded as a form of abuse. One example are the child soldiers in warring developing nations due to forced enlistment from tyrannical militias.

Of course, the Turtles hobbies and personalities outside of the fighting certainly reflected their youth, but for the most part, the Turtles all seemed mature enough to balance it all out.

I gravitated more to their personalities and the character dynamics between the main characters as friends I would like to be around, rather than thinking of it from an age perspective of heroic older siblings to be emulated when I was kid.

Originally Posted by Prowler

In the 90s teenagers playing videogames wasn't socially accepted? That's not true. My brother was bron in 1983 and was playing on his N64 in the late 90s and his Game Boy Color as well and he never struggled at making friends in school. Pretty sure most of his peers were into games too.

What was different back then and until social media and smartphones took over around 2010-2012 was that it was less socially acceptable to spend all your free time at home playing games and/or browsing the Internet. When I was a teenager in the mid-late 2000s I felt the disapproval from my peers when I told them I spent my weekends and such browsing the Internet all day instead of going outside to meet up with my friends or something. And liking videogames too much also wasn't seen as cool. Playing games itself was fine, but not when it was your only hobby. If you didn't have friends and didn't party or drink you were deemed uncool and a "geek".

lol, yeah the 2010s really changed that perspective if you compare 2010 to 2020. It's weird how "geek" or "nerd" culture became trendy. lol

[Coola Yagami]

Originally Posted by Refractive Reflections

I don't really focus on their age as rather I focus on their life experiences that seem to be more than what a teenager endures. I mean the weapon expertise and the maturity to fight with many unpredictable, simultaneous factors is beyond what teenagers should experience. In reality, that level of combat is unthinkable for any teenager to experience due to the trauma, and would be regarded as a form of abuse. One example are the child soldiers in warring developing nations due to forced enlistment from tyrannical militias.

Of course, the Turtles hobbies and personalities outside of the fighting certainly reflected their youth, but for the most part, the Turtles all seemed mature enough to balance it all out.

I gravitated more to their personalities and the character dynamics between the main characters as friends I would like to be around, rather than thinking of it from an age perspective of heroic older siblings to be emulated when I was kid.



lol, yeah the 2010s really changed that perspective if you compare 2010 to 2020. It's weird how "geek" or "nerd" culture became trendy. lol

I mean time passed and changed a bit by the time the N64 came out.

When i think 'only nerds play videogames' I think to the era where the only options were the Atari and Nintendo up to the SNES and Genesis. As games started going into the CD route, they were starting to become more and more trendy. As long as your only hobby wasn't videogames of course.

[sdp]

For some here the question is "How does it feel to be significantly older than Splinter"

[CyberCubed]

Originally Posted by Coola Yagami

I mean time passed and changed a bit by the time the N64 came out.

When i think 'only nerds play videogames' I think to the era where the only options were the Atari and Nintendo up to the SNES and Genesis. As games started going into the CD route, they were starting to become more and more trendy. As long as your only hobby wasn't videogames of course.

Nah, games were still seen as nerdy to about the PS2/Xbox generation, if only because GTA and Halo was the start of when games were becoming mainstream for "dudebros."

However it again didn't really take off till Call of Duty 4 came out in 2007 for PS3/360, then that's when I noticed a shift. And it was also the rise of online multiplayer games.

I was a late teen and in my early 20's during the Gamecube/PS2 era, even back then you couldn't really say you played games regularly in public without being looked at as if you were some kind of kid. Imagine going on a date and telling a girl, "I play videogames" in the year 2002? You'd be laughed at.

[sdp]

yeah video games started getting acceptance slowly over time, when the PS1 hit there were more older players but it was still seen as for nerds and kids. The PS2 is what started to make it mainstream in the 00's, but it was a gradual process, with the 360 and Wii gaming became more mainstream and for "everyone". But yeah, it was pretty much a niche even during the late 00's. It wasn't really until the 2010s that gaming is seen as "normal" and even then, her. Geek culture only became cool this past decade.

[CyberCubed]

Back in the day outside of nerdy white kids barely anyone played games. Like all the black and hispanic guys in my High School wouldn't be caught dead admitting they played games. It was like saying you were gay in High School, saying you played videogames back then in the early 2000's was the same thing.

How times have changed. I'm glad the young teens of today don't face the same social stigma our generation faced when we were teens. I always wondered what it'd be like growing up a teen in the 2010 decade...must have been very different than our gen.

[sdp]

normies are always a generation behind, now it's us VR bros who get called **** but in 10 years time everyone will be doing it.

[Coola Yagami]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

Imagine going on a date and telling a girl, "I play videogames" in the year 2002? You'd be laughed at.

Pfff sucks for the girl then. I'd kinda try to find that out before the date. The girl would really have to be something special for me to date a non-gamer. I just couldn't handle dating someone that would roll their eyes any time some new game came out that I'd be interested in buying.