Gaijin's Goomba's "Are TMNT real Ninjas' video
 

For those who don't know Gaijin Goomba is a content creator who searches for hidden cultural meanings in shows, characters, and games. While most of the culture he finds and talks about tends to be Japanese(hence the name Gaijin Goomba) he also go through and look at other cultures such as Native American, India, African Etc. So in this video he searching how authentic the turtles are at ninja.

Peter Laird/Eastman based TMNT in the early 80's on Bruce Lee kung fu movies which were popular in the 70's. Since TMNT was created in 1984 this was the "pre-anime" phase so they probably didn't know much about ninja's based on whatever they read on the library (remember there was also no internet in 1984!)

It's kind of funny. Had TMNT been created two decades later, it'd probably be influenced by anime. But TMNT was created by guys whose childhood is in the 60's and 70's, long before anime became a thing in the west. And when the inspiration of Asian stuff was Bruce Lee kung fu films.

Just imagine if Laird/Eastman would be anime weeabo's if they were born in a different generation. :lol:

The FW got a lot of flack in the video, rightfully so, but they still have the superior yo-nin skills with their trenchcoats and creepy human masks.

This may have been the case at the time of their creation, but later versions seems to include more Japanese references. I haven't watched the video yet, but I do know one thing that practically all iterations have gotten wrong...the food thing. The diet that the turtles have wouldn't work for "real ninja". They wouldn't eat certain foods because of smell and wanting to have as much of a neutral scent as possible...then again, turtles don't sweat...so...who knows...

Turtles are also cold- blooded, so a high carb diet might help them retain heat better, as they burn the calories during practice.

Yes, I have to agree the 2012 are the closest to real ninja in terms of moves, weapons, use of ninja terms and culture.

FINALLY! Someone gives an ACTUAL reason why the red masks are practical, not just 'ohhhh they are a ninja clan so they all must wear the same colors! :roll:' But the multiplication trick would only be used for specific missions, meaning the all-one color mask trick would be useful for certain missions.

mirage may be the most violent and mature story line, but they are more Hollywood ninja than other versions. And this again goes back to my point that the whole 'ninjas are heartless vengeance-seeking killers' stuff that gets brought up over and over again is B.S.. Ninjas are highly skilled mercenary commandos of a bygone era; nothing more, nothing less.

The mindset I have with the FW series is that it's fun to see them fail sometimes at being proper ninjas. It shows their weakness and room for their improvement as characters, makes them more real.

Same could be said about other iterations, they make mistakes and learn.

Anyways, I did watch the video and enjoyed it for showing how many real life techniques have been used in tmnt. My favourite is in the live action movie when Donatello hides on the ceiling where no one would look.

Did they mention the 2 toes referencing ninja attire? I always found that to be a clever ninja nod.

it's not mentioned, but tabi are just normal traditional socks and not a ninja specific thing.