So what did we take away from this series?

[FearlessLeader]

Originally Posted by Powder

-Leonardo has a geeky side

This is my ABSOLUTELY favorite aspect of this entire series! We've seen it hinted at in Mirage but to have his geeky side brought to light has been a really fun evolution for the character!

*Not really a fan of certain things that transpired as a result of this *cough* Mona/Raph stuff *cough* but I respect that they gave a very real portion of the fan-base some pie

And in my honest opinion THIS is the worst aspect of the series. I remember getting to the Mona Lisa episode and it hit me they had introduced 4 female characters total and every single one of them had become a love interest.

People can like what they like I personally found it poor, lazy writing that half the time either didn't make sense (the whole episode where Mikey meets Renet) or half the time just came across as really creepy (Don and April.... the big foot episode gave me such second hand embarrassment )

But if my biggest complaint about this series is a small handful of awkward moments/ episodes I can deal. I'm about a quarter of the way through season 4 and I'm adoring it!

[CyberCubed]

Originally Posted by PApagreg

Don't really see that as something future incarnations can "take away from" but okay.

The unique anime style visuals will definitely influence the next series. I'm willing to bet the 2018 show has some action sequences done very similarly to this one, especially since it's produced in-house by the same company and many of the artists were probably moved onto that show after this one ended.

[ssjup81]

Originally Posted by Powder

-Ciro's designs were largely influential to fans & industry alike as they became points of reference for other iterations
-Helped to make Utroms & Mighty Mutanimals more commonly known entities

This for me. Not the Utroms, but the Mutanimals especially. In Archie, I know it's bad, but I couldn't get into them much at all. Even after

Spoiler:

they were all killed out

, I felt pretty much nothing except for maybe Slash.

-Japanese language is used at times

I really did enjoy this. I hope future incarnations include more Japanese origin stuff given how it's supposed to be based on Japanese martial arts and a Japanese rat...er...man...er whatever. lol

-First universe to make use of Tatsu since his debut (barring a brief boss fight in Hyperstone Heist)

So much yes! I liked Tatsu in the movies, wishing he could've fought more and was glad to see him as a kid in Hyperstone Heist....despite how easy he was to fight pattern wise. I liked the reimagining of the character for this series. It was pretty awesome.

-Visually distinct builds/head shapes/eye colors/etc.

I hadn't thought about this, until I actually started watching the show. It was a nice addition to make them all more distinctive. This would be nice to have in future versions as well.

-Alternate weapons for Mike & Don

I really like this, even though for Mikey, he did have Tonfa in the Next Mutation from the little I do remember (I don't count the grappler he had in the OT). I really liked the Kusarigama a lot...then again, for this version, I liked Mikey's fighting style the best of the four whenever he used it and how he could switch between it and his nunchucks in like the blink of an eye.

-Leonardo has a geeky side

So much yes! This is why this is the first time I have ever favored any version of Leonardo period. I love this version of Leonardo. I love his geekiness and awkwardness. I'm sure many can relate to it.

-An origin in which Saki/Yoshi's relationship begins as a close one

This was a nice change too for the Yoshi > Splinter route.

Not sure if my bias is showing, but I really did enjoy this iteration of the series. I liked how broad it seemingly was as it had things that could appeal to older fans (not just old turtle things, but retro things in general) as well as newer ones to the franchise. I think Nick, surprisingly, did an okay job with this show.

[victory_angel]

Originally Posted by Candy Kappa

Don's pop-up naginata felt like an afterthought, but Mikey's kusarigama was used a bit more. I would not be opposed if next show ditched the nunchaku entirely and had Mikey have a kusarigama full-time.

Donnie only uses his Naginata when the situation is serious enough. Though I wish maybe they had Mikey or someone question why he doesn't use it more often.

After all the Naginata was a weapon that women were trained to use during the Edo period. And in season 1 Raph did have an occasional habit of essentially calling Donnie a girl such as his "When we're done here I know a marching band that could use a majorette" comment.

In other incarnations when we've seen Donnie's bo have a spear like add on it's always been a Yari (straight edged blade). I have nothing against the Naginata blade, but I think it might be better to have Donnie stick with a Yari blade. Or maybe expand on that and add make it a spear/man catcher combo.

(kinda like the weapon this character is holding. Sorry was unable to locate images of the Yari by itself. )

The distinct styles to the Turtles are also the help tell the Turtles apart. That was a cute gag during the Fred Wolf series where they were essentially the same guy without the masks. So even the Turtles themselves had trouble telling each other apart when they were in civies.

The 2k3 added some distinctions by having each Turtle be a different shade of green.

And this one made them also have distinct body structures and builds which also coincided with their strengths as fighters and what styles they worked with. This I hope is something that also is utilized in future incarnations.

I also like how they added in levels of affection amongst the brothers.
The Fred Wolf series would have the Turtles show affection to one another by maybe high fiving. While the 2k3 series mostly had a hand on a shoulder or something as a sign of brotherly affection. Which was okay in most cases, but sometimes such as that episode where all the Turtles are scattered around the city. Leo just greets Donnie with a handshake when he had been told his brothers were likely dead.

With the current version there is distinct ways the turtles would act around one another.

Mikey being the hugger of the family.

Raph acts tough, but he does have some sensitivity that comes out every so often.

Donnie being the more reclusive of the four, but wants whats best for the family and his brothers in general. But will occasionally pull someone into an embrace.

And Leo struggling with how he should behave around his brothers at a given time, and how much attention he devotes to one brother versus another. Such as how he sometimes acts as a leader when he needs to be a big brother and vise verse. Or how he has trouble relating to one of his younger brothers because he's so used to relating to Raph, but can strategize with Donnie better than he can with Raph.

[TigerClaw]

Originally Posted by Powder

For someone who blindly accepts just about everything ever I'm surprised that you would have such a nostalgia bias. Most of those characters were blank slates ripe for reinvention. Hell, some were better than their predecessors, to me. Far as I'm concerned, they were mostly done justice already.

I disagree, they were not done justice in my opinion, they are in name only.

[Vegita-San]

Originally Posted by FearlessLeader

And in my honest opinion THIS is the worst aspect of the series. I remember getting to the Mona Lisa episode and it hit me they had introduced 4 female characters total and every single one of them had become a love interest.

People can like what they like I personally found it poor, lazy writing that half the time either didn't make sense (the whole episode where Mikey meets Renet) or half the time just came across as really creepy (Don and April.... the big foot episode gave me such second hand embarrassment )
!

So true. it's like it was written by tumbler or shippers. and kind of degrades all the female characters at the same time, like their only purpose is a love interest. this is also the first series that made me dislike don because of how creepy he was around april. I also didn't think he was anywhere NEAR as smart as the other donatello's either.

well, maybe one step ahead movie don.

While it was interesting to see all the characters start out at the same age and basically get the same skill set, I hope this is the only time we see it and other series takes things back to the status quo. but being on nick, i somehow doubt it.

[plastroncafe]

I'm working my way towards catching up.
Still haven't seen everything, but I'm current on Tales.

Things I think this version did that will be remembered:

- Anger
This show allowed characters we haven't really seen get angry, to get angry. I'm specifically thinking of Splinter and Donatello. Which...damn, what a welcome change.

This version of Splinter is hands down my favorite.
And while I could do with far less Creeper!Don, I do so love him when he's angry and/or flustered.

- Character Design
Aside from the third toe, which is still weird to me for some inexplicable reason, I really loved the character designs of this series.
In particular the redesigns of previous incarnations. I thought they were imaginative and worked really well.

- Voice Work
Always stellar.
Even when I didn't like a particular character decision, it was acted wonderfully.
Going in I thought I was going to be distracted by Biggs and Astin, but...they blended beautifully. And eventually so did Green.

My hope is that later incarnations won't adhere to the gender issues this iteration had.
There's more to female characters than Good Girl/Bad Girl and then love interest, and my hope is that with a different writing staff something like that can be avoided moving forward.

Which isn't to say I disliked the shippy stuff, because for the most part I thought it was cute.
But if we're going to have Creeper!Don, then we should have more characters pointing out that that sort of thing is just...well it's creepy AF.

[PApagreg]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

The unique anime style visuals will definitely influence the next series. I'm willing to bet the 2018 show has some action sequences done very similarly to this one, especially since it's produced in-house by the same company and many of the artists were probably moved onto that show after this one ended.

1. Powder was talking about psychedelic scenes not anime visuals so I have no idea why you are changing the subject.

2. Even if that what Powder was talking about its not like this is the first series that had anime influences/style. It over exaggerate them sure but a TMNT incarnation having anime style visuals isn't anything new.

[Xav]

Originally Posted by Metalwolf

I doubt Bradford would want to spend the rest of his life being a mutant, especially since he would soon be approaching his sixties.

When did they ever establish how old Bradford was?

[CyberCubed]

Originally Posted by Xav

When did they ever establish how old Bradford was?

He had to at least be in his 40's.