Where would you place TMNT in the world of pop culture?

[Prowler]

As we all know, the TMNT are quite famous all over the world. Most people on Earth have heard of them at one point or another, and I've never met anyone who has not so far. But we also know that the TMNT are not as big or a constant presence as Batman, Spider-man, Super Mario, Star Wars, etc. are.

So basically, the TMNT are very well known, but not the most well-known thing around. They're not obscure when ti comes to their cartoons and movies, but their comics are, especially Mirage.

I know this sounds a bit of an odd question, but let's say you had to divide pop culture into tiers of fame/success/revenue/wtv... where would you place the Turtles? I'd personally place them lower than the likes of Looney Tunes character, Disney characters, Super Mario Spider-Man, Batman, Superman, Many of the Marvel heroes I can't name, Star Wars, DBZ and I guess even Naruto and One Piece.

So that's a lot of popular properties for TMNT to be below of. For a non-obscure franchise that once spawned the most popular cartoon on the planet and the highest grossing independent movie ever(dunno if it still holds that record or not...) it sure goes under the radar for a lot of people. Everyone forgot about the 2k3 series, and the Nick toon seems to have lost steam 2-3 seasons in. TMNT are like that sports team that has one good season every 9-10 seasons or so, finishing in the middle or bottom of them table in the rest. It won the biggest trophy achievable over 20 years ago and is forever remembered as that... well perhaps this isn't a good analogy, let me try another one. TMNT is like a small country that once had done cool things in its history but has lost a lot of its relevancy since then. Or it's a small rather wealthy country but lacks population and GDP to be put on the same league as the major powers.

I dunno, thoughts? Or am I being silly?

[neatoman]

I think the best way to describe them is "Discount X-Men".

TMNT was more less spawaned from the X-Men and they do this day still feature similarities to the X-Men (even if the average Joe off the street might think TMNT is some weird comedy), the main difference is that TMNT doesn't really compare in terms of success. TMNT isn't exactly obscure but it's probably never going to have a movie making more than what the first Bay movie earned, it's never going to have as many movies as X-Men, it's never going to sell as many comics as X-men (not counting the Batman crossover of course) and it's not nearly as respected as the X-Men.

Oh and TMNT is never going to have a TV show as good as Legion, I think (given the current direction) that it only barely has a chance to top X-Men Evolution in terms of quality.

[CyberCubed]

It's a shame TMNT will never have the push DC or Marvel superheroes get, but that's what's to be expected. Mirage was an indie comic publisher and Nick only just recently bought the property.

[IndigoErth]

How about this... The #1 underdogs. On both sides of the screen/page. The littler guy still able to stand shoulder to shoulder with the big(er-ish) franchises sometimes, and has had its own turn at showing pop culture who is boss, though they've unfortunately also suffered a stigma that a lot of those other properties have not. But despite it, they're still hanging around. Hey, it's not easy being mostly not human and lacking superpowers. :) But they do okay. People love them too much to let them fall into obscurity.

They certainly win one of the down to earth lovable badass awards though. I mean, how many other hero groups might people imagine would be totally up for crashing in front of the tv with you for the evening with a pizza and some movies. :trazz: The love for the Turtles is just different than it is for some other properties.


DC... I dunno, with their visits with that property, I'm kind of wondering if that relationship will continue to grow into more.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

TMNT hasn't existed as long as those franchises yet.

[CyberCubed]

TMNT hasn't existed as long as those franchises yet.

It's been around for over 30 years now, that's long enough.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

It's been around for over 30 years now, that's long enough.

Nothing compared to Superman and Batman.

[Shark_Blade]

It's there just barely.

[FredWolfLeonardo]

There are younger franchises much more famous, like Pokemon.

[PApagreg]

I say for now its B grade popular, its no where near as close to something like DBZ,Marvel,DC, Pokemon, or One Piece but it is fairly known

[CyberCubed]

One Piece? Who in America knows what One Piece is outside of anime fans? It's only big in Japan.

You go to your average fan and mention TMNT, or DC and Marvel superheroes and they'll know who they are even if they don't follow the franchises. That's what "mainstream" is. You go to your average joe and ask them who "Luffy" is....and they'll stare at you blank faced.

Even Goku may not be that recognizeable to people who don't watch anime.

[IndigoErth]

Yeah... perspective really varies. I couldn't name any of that personally. Pikachu is the only Pokemon character I can name (and granted I had to look up the spelling). Know nothing of Dragon Ball Z (if I assume correctly that's what DBZ is). (From my vantage point the Turtles are WAY bigger than all that, and given their age deservedly so... but that's me.)

However, I never really followed DC or Marvel, but I'm sure I could no doubt list a whole bunch of character names, even if I wouldn't be entirely sure which belongs to which brand. And maybe a few that belonged to neither... dunno.

[Xav]

Oh and TMNT is never going to have a TV show as good as Legion, I think (given the current direction) that it only barely has a chance to top X-Men Evolution in terms of quality.I think you mean thankfully TMNT is never going to have a TV show as "good" as Legion.

[PApagreg]

One Piece? Who in America knows what One Piece is outside of anime fans? It's only big in Japan.

You go to your average fan and mention TMNT, or DC and Marvel superheroes and they'll know who they are even if they don't follow the franchises. That's what "mainstream" is. You go to your average joe and ask them who "Luffy" is....and they'll stare at you blank faced.

Even Goku may not be that recognizeable to people who don't watch anime.
Well the thread is talking about the world not just in America and OP is really popular in Japan

[neatoman]

I think you mean thankfully TMNT is never going to have a TV show as "good" as Legion.

What do you have against Legion?

[pferreira]

DBZ and I guess even Naruto and One Piece. Seriously these three are as niche as you can get. Only fans of Japanese anime may have heard of those properties. No, TMNT is more recognisable than them.

[Prowler]

Seriously these three are as niche as you can get. Only fans of Japanese anime may have heard of those properties. No, TMNT is more recognisable than them.
DBZ is certainly bigger than TMNT. Everyone has heard of DBZ, dude. You're seriously calling DBZ "niche"?

Naruto was pretty big for some years. Granted its popularity didn't match the FW series in its prime, but it has been more on the minds of the general audience than the TMNT have I'd say. Remember tons of people all over the world love anime. And even non-big anime fans watch the bigger anime such as Pokémon, DBZ, naruto, etc.

Tbh I dunno if OP is more or less popular than Naruto. I know that Naruto has always been more popular in USA than OP, so that might explain why CyberCubed thinks only Japanese know and care about OP, but OP is pretty big outside of Japan as well. That being said the Turtles, the characters themselves, are more well known than the main characters of Naruto and OP overall, I'd say.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Everyone has heard of DBZ, dude. You're seriously calling DBZ "niche"?

I heard of it from some videogame magazines during the mid-1990's.

[neatoman]

It's also worth mentioning that Dragon Ball, One Piece and Naruto are the top 3 best selling manga of all time, they're in the top 15 best selling comics of all time for god's sake! I seriously doubt any TMNT comic is even in the top 500.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_comic_series

And if you add up the episodes of their respective TV shows, One piece has 816 episodes, Naruto has 807 and Dragon Ball has 627 (which for the last one, by the way, is because the creator chose to lay the series to rest for 18 years). This makes TMNT's 499 seem like a joke when you remember the others didn't need to reboot and are probably going to continue out-classing it.

[CyberCubed]

Well anime airs weekly all year around with no breaks. American cartoons generally have just 26 episode seasons. Of course shonen anime, most of it is filler, is going to have hundreds of episodes.

Same reason Simpsons only has a little over 600 episodes despite airing for nearly 30 years. You would expect Simpsons to have over 1000 eps by now but it doesn't, and its been airing for 3 decades.

[Prowler]

I heard of it from some videogame magazines during the mid-1990's.

So you're telling me DBZ wasn't a huge hit in Sweden? Here in Portugal nearly everyone born after 1980 grew up watching and loving DBZ. And, from what I gather, that was basically the case for DBZ everywhere. I mean, anime wasn't a big thing outside of Japan in general until DBZ was exported. France and Italy already were good markets for anime in the 80s tho. Some mangas were translated into French and Italian back in the 80s.


It's also worth mentioning that Dragon Ball, One Piece and Naruto are the top 3 best selling manga of all time, they're in the top 15 best selling comics of all time for god's sake! I seriously doubt any TMNT comic is even in the top 500.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_comic_series

And if you add up the episodes of their respective TV shows, One piece has 816 episodes, Naruto has 807 and Dragon Ball has 627 (which for the last one, by the way, is because the creator chose to lay the series to rest for 18 years). This makes TMNT's 499 seem like a joke when you remember the others didn't need to reboot and are probably going to continue out-classing it.
Yeah. Thanks for pointign this out.

What about Sailor Moon? Like the TMNT it peaked in the 90s. It had a new anime rather recently. Crystal or wtv its name was. Also, the 90s SM anime was a tad different from the manga. Supposedly Crystal is more faithful to the manga.

Cyber, you mentioned the Simpsons... there is another thing bigger than TMNT. Family Guy and South Park are also bigger.

It's like pretty much every "big property" out there is bigger or feels bigger than the TMNT. I notice the TMNT are mostly an afterthought or something from the distant past for most people. It's something everyone knows it exists but it's not on the forefront of their thoughts, nor is the overwhelming majority into it beyond the most accessible stuff(the Fred Wolf cartoon and the live action movies) out there. Hell, notice how small this forum is compared to forums of other popular properties. And this is the biggest TMNT fan forum out there.

[neatoman]

Well anime airs weekly all year around with no breaks. American cartoons generally have just 26 episode seasons. Of course shonen anime, most of it is filler, is going to have hundreds of episodes.

Same reason Simpsons only has a little over 600 episodes despite airing for nearly 30 years. You would expect Simpsons to have over 1000 eps by now but it doesn't, and its been airing for 3 decades.

Yeah, but that doesn't change the fact that One Piece still has more episodes than TMNT does in total, not to mention that it's been going on for longer than any single TMNT cartoon.

[Prowler]

I had no idea One Piece was just a little below Batman in terms of comic sales and that it was above Spider-Man. 430M comic sales? Wow. That being said OP definitely loses to the big 3 superheroes when it comes to movie and toy sales revenue.

But really 430M manga volume sales is goddamn impressive considering how anime/manga is so easy to pirate in comparison to american cartoons and comics and everyone seems to do it.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

So you're telling me DBZ wasn't a huge hit in Sweden?.

I think it was. But it was a time I felt ashame for liking animated series and comics.

[neatoman]

So you're telling me DBZ wasn't a huge hit in Sweden?

The Manga was, it has a full Swedish translation but it hasn't been in print since 2012. None of the shows have been dubbed into Swedish but several of the movies were.

Here's a few clips of Dragon Ball Z in Swedish.
qtXYSdNbRKw
I actually have it on DVD.

[pferreira]

DBZ is certainly bigger than TMNT. Everyone has heard of DBZ, dude. You're seriously calling DBZ "niche"? Nah, it's not bigger. It was considered very niche in the UK and ask someone which was a bigger phenomenon at the time in both the UK and US and they'll say TMNT.

DBZ biggest claim to fame is that it was probably the most recognisable anime at the time, maybe overtaken when Pokemon started after.

Naruto was pretty big for some years. Granted its popularity didn't match the FW series in its prime, but it has been more on the minds of the general audience than the TMNT have I'd say. Remember tons of people all over the world love anime. And even non-big anime fans watch the bigger anime such as Pokémon, DBZ, naruto, etc. Never even heard of Naruto until I picked up a graphic novel at my library a couple of years ago. That's how 'popular' is was. :lol:

So you're telling me DBZ wasn't a huge hit in Sweden? Here in Portugal nearly everyone born after 1980 grew up watching and loving DBZ. Yes it was popular...in Portugal...but not everywhere. ;)

[Andrew NDB]

Yeah, "Bargain Basement Jr. X-Men."

At large. Unfortunately.

[CyberCubed]

TMNT will never have the pull of DC or Marvel franchises.

[FredWolfLeonardo]

TMNT will never have the pull of DC or Marvel franchises.

Never say Never, there is no telling what might happen in the future.

Remember when people predicted Pokemon would be a 90s fad only?

[CyberCubed]

The only alternative is if Disney buys TMNT and gives it a major push. Mirage and Nick simply don't have the incentive to promote it that heavily.

At the very least TMNT cartoons are the longest lasting action cartoons on western television.

[neatoman]

The only alternative is if Disney buys TMNT and gives it a major push. Mirage and Nick simply don't have the incentive to promote it that heavily.

At the very least TMNT cartoons are the longest lasting action cartoons on western television.

Or they would just get absorbed into the Marvel umbrella, get a show maybe every 10-25 years and primarily exist as reprints (albeit nice ones) and as minor characters who pop up once in a while. Trust me, not everything Disney gets their hands on gets a major push, most of just ends up in the "vault".

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

The Manga was, it has a full Swedish translation but it hasn't been in print since 2012. None of the shows have been dubbed into Swedish but several of the movies were.

Here's everything with Dragonball Z released to home video in Sweden, according to Swedish mediadatabase

https://smdb.kb.se/catalog/search?q=%22Dragon+Ball%22+typ%3Afilm-video&sort=OLDEST

https://smdb.kb.se/catalog/search?q=Dragonball+typ%3Afilm-video&sort=OLDEST

[Prowler]

Nah, it's not bigger. It was considered very niche in the UK and ask someone which was a bigger phenomenon at the time in both the UK and US and they'll say TMNT.

DBZ biggest claim to fame is that it was probably the most recognisable anime at the time, maybe overtaken when Pokemon started after.

Never even heard of Naruto until I picked up a graphic novel at my library a couple of years ago. That's how 'popular' is was. :lol:

Yes it was popular...in Portugal...but not everywhere. ;)

I've talked to many people all over the world and they all said DBZ was big in their country back in the day as well. It's definitely not just a Portuguese/select few European countries thing at all like Biker Mice From mars was, for example.

Just because you had not heard of Naruto until recently doesn't mean it's not popular. It was pretty big some years ago. Not sure if it's still on-going or not.

[neatoman]

Just because you had not heard of Naruto until recently doesn't mean it's not popular. It was pretty big some years ago. Not sure if it's still on-going or not.

Kind of, the series itself ended but there's a sequel that took it's place.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Biker Mice from Mars was a hit in Sweden at least.

[Prowler]

Biker Mice from Mars was a hit in Sweden at least.

It was also in Portugal and I believe a few other European countries. I never see Americans talking about that series.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

It was also in Portugal and I believe a few other European countries. I never see Americans talking about that series.

The comeptition is so much tougher in the USA. By the early 1990's, any such action-adventure series would become a huge hit in Sweden.

[pferreira]

I've talked to many people all over the world and they all said DBZ was big in their country back in the day as well. It's definitely not just a Portuguese/select few European countries thing at all like Biker Mice From mars was, for example.Biker Mice From Mars wasn't really popular from what I remember. For a while TMNT's biggest contender was Captain Planet until the latter and TMNT started to fall behind Power Rangers. DBZ never really registered apart in some Euro countries like Portugal and France (I think).

Just because you had not heard of Naruto until recently doesn't mean it's not popular. It was pretty big some years ago. Not sure if it's still on-going or not.It may be slightly more popular now but it wasn't when I was growing up. Never saw the cartoon advertised, never saw a tie-in video game, nothing.

[dragonside]

tried looking at the Viacom Financial Statements.

Too bad they don't break out revenues by franchise.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Was Captain Planet a major hit in Portugal? It wasn't much of that in Sweden.

[Prowler]

Biker Mice From Mars wasn't really popular from what I remember. For a while TMNT's biggest contender was Captain Planet until the latter and TMNT started to fall behind Power Rangers. DBZ never really registered apart in some Euro countries like Portugal and France (I think).

It may be slightly more popular now but it wasn't when I was growing up. Never saw the cartoon advertised, never saw a tie-in video game, nothing.
Biker Mice were popular in Portugal for a while. Most people of my generation(born in 1989-1992) remember watching it when they were kids and having action figures of them.

Eh, really? I thought DBZ was the most well known anime on the planet alongside Pokémon? I mean, who doesn't even know DBZ? It's one of those few anime everyone watches at some point even if they're not into anime. Thought that was a global thing? I know that DBZ at least was hue in USA and Latin America.

Was Captain Planet a major hit in Portugal? It wasn't much of that in Sweden.
Captain Planet?! Was that even a popular thing?

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Captain Planet?! Was that even a popular thing?

It aired for six seasons, so I guess it was.

[pferreira]

Was Captain Planet a major hit in Portugal? It wasn't much of that in Sweden.It was almost as big as TMNT in the UK to begin with. In America it was massive as well and had a lot of merchandise from what I understand.

Biker Mice were popular in Portugal for a while. Most people of my generation(born in 1989-1992) remember watching it when they were kids and having action figures of them.Didn't get much exposure in the UK, in the US it did okay but not great.

Eh, really? I thought DBZ was the most well known anime on the planet alongside Pokémon? I mean, who doesn't even know DBZ? It's one of those few anime everyone watches at some point even if they're not into anime. Thought that was a global thing? I know that DBZ at least was hue in USA and Latin America. Nah. It was never shown on terrestrial TV where everybody could see it so by default it had limited exposure. I would imagine it would be difficult for kids to get into due to the level of violence and crazy humour. Today I still don't see any UK TV shows or news reports mentioning DBZ as a household name the same way TMNT or Pokemon is. Pokemon is definitely popular where I live, DBZ isn't at all. It's niche and did not register in popularity over here.

Captain Planet?! Was that even a popular thing?Latest six seasons, is one of the most popular shows produced by Ted Turner, still has charities related to the cartoon today and back then it was pretty big in the UK. Captain Planet as a phenomenon kind of gets lost in between TMNT and Power Rangers.

[Chabrendeki]

At it's peak of popularity around 1990-92 TMNT was the biggest. DBZ was at it's own peak nothing even close.

How about this:

The popularity of a franchise isn't a constant. First of all it must have a first wave of popularity, when it gains acknowledgment and get's known. The Turtles had this in the 90's.

But that's not enough.

The brand must be reinvented over and over - and this reinventions must gain popularity too. Because that first wave will fade. There must be other waves too.

Batman, Spider-Man, Looney Toones had already more international succesful waves.

How many had TMNT?

I think just one really big (the first one), and some little ones. There was a second bigger wave withe the 2012-series and the first PD movie and the IDW comic - all released within few years and targeting different audiences (kids with the show, older kids and young adults with the comic, and all ages with the movie - very similar in the approach to the first wave of the franchise: Mirage-comics, FW-cartoon, 1990-movie).
But it didn't had the same impact like the first: first of all, because the movie was awful, and secondly because there are far more kid's shows now like in 1987, so the animation couldn't had the same big impact.

The other problem: most people look at TMNT as a kid's franchise, because the biggest succeses were always the animated shows.

Marvel, DC or SW already managed it to make the franchise attractive to all ages. TMNT has to go with nostalgia to attract the same audience. Or at least the owners of the franchise think they have to.

I think TMNT has the potential to be on the same level of popularity like Marvel or DC or SW. It already was once.

The future of TMNT is in a succesful new live-action movie or live-action TV-series, that present TMNT to new audiences and not just to kids.

[CyberCubed]

TMNT won't ever reach the permanent heights of DC, Marvel, Star Wars, Star Trek, or Japanese franchises like Pokemon, Dragonball Z, etc.

But that's ok. TMNT doesn't need to be huge to continue. We're about to have the 4th TMNT cartoon debut and the IDW comics are continuing with no signs of slowing down. It feels like the only thing TMNT is lacking is a new major movie franchise, obviously because the Michael Bay movies bombed, but that's it.

I mean the fact that the franchise is officially 30+ years old and it still has NEW series airing and comics going says a lot in itself. Back in the late 90's we thought TMNT was pretty much dying forever. I never would have imagined it'd still be going on in the modern year of 2018 when we were in 1999.

[Chabrendeki]

Perhaps the new series will be followed with a movie reboot too in a couple of years, and let's hope this time it will be a hit.

[Plasticplayhouse]

there are so many popular toy/cartoon/nostalgic lines out there, its really hard to accurately place them. I would say they make the top 100 list easily though.

[Prowler]

TMNT won't ever reach the permanent heights of DC, Marvel, Star Wars, Star Trek, or Japanese franchises like Pokemon, Dragonball Z, etc.

But that's ok. TMNT doesn't need to be huge to continue. We're about to have the 4th TMNT cartoon debut and the IDW comics are continuing with no signs of slowing down. It feels like the only thing TMNT is lacking is a new major movie franchise, obviously because the Michael Bay movies bombed, but that's it.

I mean the fact that the franchise is officially 30+ years old and it still has NEW series airing and comics going says a lot in itself. Back in the late 90's we thought TMNT was pretty much dying forever. I never would have imagined it'd still be going on in the modern year of 2018 when we were in 1999.
Yeah, TMNT doesn't need to be as big as Star Wars, Pokémon, Batman, etc.

As for DBZ... well I know DBZ Kai came out a few years ago, but before that was there any Dragon Ball stuff at all between the end of GT and the beginning of DBZ Kai? As in manga and anime? Because DBZ never stopped having video games and merch being made out of it. Hell, I remember DBZ being called "the biggest cash cow ever" at some point.

I remember some of my HS classmates raving about the DBZ Budokai Tenkaichi games.

[Coola Yagami]

Yeah, TMNT doesn't need to be as big as Star Wars, Pokémon, Batman, etc.

As for DBZ... well I know DBZ Kai came out a few years ago, but before that was there any Dragon Ball stuff at all between the end of GT and the beginning of DBZ Kai? As in manga and anime? Because DBZ never stopped having video games and merch being made out of it. Hell, I remember DBZ being called "the biggest cash cow ever" at some point.

I remember some of my HS classmates raving about the DBZ Budokai Tenkaichi games.

Well, thanks to them screwing up the dub the first, and second time around, they were able to continue to re-release the series during that time. They would release all of Dragonball on DVDs. They'd release DBZ Ultimate Uncut, then the Dragonboxes, as well as releasing the 'lost episodes' of GT which Funi purposely skipped so I wouldn't really call those lost.... and then of course Kai would come out and we'd have Kai releases. DBZ never stopped being released in some way shape or form, and the games would keep popping out like Cell Jrs.

[Prowler]

Well, thanks to them screwing up the dub the first, and second time around, they were able to continue to re-release the series during that time. They would release all of Dragonball on DVDs. They'd release DBZ Ultimate Uncut, then the Dragonboxes, as well as releasing the 'lost episodes' of GT which Funi purposely skipped so I wouldn't really call those lost.... and then of course Kai would come out and we'd have Kai releases. DBZ never stopped being released in some way shape or form, and the games would keep popping out like Cell Jrs.

Speaking of GT... I notice that the Dragon Ball series that gets the most love is Z. A ton of DB fans seem to dislike GT. Also, no one seems to remember the original Dragon Ball series. In that one Goku was a kid wasn't he?

[CyberCubed]

The original Dragonball is very popular, and many prefer it plot-wise over DBZ because it focused more on adventure/humor and less on power levels. The problem is since most dubs skipped over it to air DBZ first, the west views Dragonball as a "prequel series" even though it's not. It's the first series, and all the characters are introduced and events tie directly into DBZ.

For example once you transition into the Saiyan saga and see Yamcha, Tien, Chaiotzu, Piccolo, etc. all die against Nappa...the impact is lost unless you watched Dragonball first. For those who started in DBZ you barely knew those characters, or why Piccolo would sacrifice himself, but if you watch Dragonball and then realize all the human characters you watched for 150 episodes were completely outclassed and devastated by these Saiyan aliens, it's a much bigger impact.

[Prowler]

The original Dragonball is very popular, and many prefer it plot-wise over DBZ because it focused more on adventure/humor and less on power levels. The problem is since most dubs skipped over it to air DBZ first, the west views Dragonball as a "prequel series" even though it's not. It's the first series, and all the characters are introduced and events tie directly into DBZ.

For example once you transition into the Saiyan saga and see Yamcha, Tien, Chaiotzu, Piccolo, etc. all die against Nappa...the impact is lost unless you watched Dragonball first. For those who started in DBZ you barely knew those characters, or why Piccolo would sacrifice himself, but if you watch Dragonball and then realize all the human characters you watched for 150 episodes were completely outclassed and devastated by these Saiyan aliens, it's a much bigger impact.
I see. the 3 DB series aired in my country, and Kai is also airing. All dubbed.

I must be one of the few people in my country that isn't really a DB fan. It's like everyone born between 1980 and 1994 here loves the franchise. It's weird.

I saw some eps when it was rerunning on cable back in the mid-2000s but that's it. I can see the appeal I guess, but cant' say I've ever been very interested in fully watching/reading it.

[CyberCubed]

Back in 2015 I marathoned all of Dragonball, DBZ and the movies/specials because Super was announced and I wanted to rewatch everything before the new series started.

I actually took a 10 year break from Dragonball. I finished watching the series overall way back in 2005 when it finished in the U.S. After that I didn't rewatch any of it for about 10 years until 2015. I usually don't go decade gaps between fandoms I like, but I drifted away from Dragonball entirely for nearly a decade.

I probably wouldn't have gotten back into it if Dragonball Super wasn't announced either. It's funny, I'm probably now a bigger Dragonball fan than I was back in the late 90's or early 2000's.

[Prowler]

Back in 2015 I marathoned all of Dragonball, DBZ and the movies/specials because Super was announced and I wanted to rewatch everything before the new series started.

I actually took a 10 year break from Dragonball. I finished watching the series overall way back in 2005 when it finished in the U.S. After that I didn't rewatch any of it for about 10 years until 2015. I usually don't go decade gaps between fandoms I like, but I drifted away from Dragonball entirely for nearly a decade.

I probably wouldn't have gotten back into it if Dragonball Super wasn't announced either. It's funny, I'm probably now a bigger Dragonball fan than I was back in the late 90's or early 2000's.
And didn't that marathon burn you out of it lol? Is Super a sequle or a remake like Kai is?

Dunno, man. Asa kid in the 90s I couldn't care less about anime. I didn't even like Pokémon's anime. It wasn't until the early-mid 2000s that I started to enjoy anime. It just looked "weird" to me as a kid. I used to not like the artstyle and such. That's why I missed the DBZ train in elementary school when everyone was a huge fan of it.

[CyberCubed]

Super is a new series, takes place after the end of the the Boo saga in DBZ. It's a continuation, much like the new Star Wars movies are continuations of the old ones.

I'm not a big anime fan either outside a few series, but I guess the ones I watched when I was a kid I still have an attachment to.

[neatoman]

Speaking of GT... I notice that the Dragon Ball series that gets the most love is Z. A ton of DB fans seem to dislike GT. Also, no one seems to remember the original Dragon Ball series. In that one Goku was a kid wasn't he?

Remember is kind of a strong word, care seems more accurate. The first two shows make up one cohesive adaptation of the manga, Z is more like episodes 154-444 of the original show than it's own thing. Even if you don't know that you're still going to figure out that Z isn't a standalone show, based on all the backstory you're just expected to know.

[Prowler]

I think the biggest problem is, TMNT's popularity and mainstream relevance is very cyclical. It comes in bursts/waves. While properties such as Star Wars, Batman, Spider-man, Mario, etc. never seem to miss a step or go into dormant state. They're always around/out there for you and the common man doesn't forget their existence ever. Remember when the 2007 CGI movie and the first Bay Turtles movie were announced? Most people thought it was a return of the TMNT... meaning they didn't know about the 2k3 and the 2012 cartoon series.

TMNT is very cyclical, and I guess that's why its cartoon series tend to last several seasons and span over 100 episodes. Because unlike Spider-Man, batman, etc. they don't feel much pressure to pump out new stuff constantly, so they can afford to start over with a totally new cartoon series some years after the previous one ended and thus get a new generation of kids interested in the Turtles. Although it seems the gap in years between TMNT cartoon series is getting smaller and smaller every time a new series comes up.