Have you watched every episode so far?

[Powder]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

Is she known as loli April in Japan?

Bait aside, April is not what one would consider a loli. & from what I can gather, the average fan there has no particular fixation on her. Oddly, it's the Bayturtle designs they love.

[ShelleyQuick]

Yup. I've watched every episode and re watched them multiple times.

[Leo656]

I still hate April being a teenager. Because pretty much the only reason they could have for doing it, was like some bizarre dare to the internet. "So April's a sex symbol character, huh? Well let's see you sexualize her NOW!"

And the internet being the internet immediately said, "Why yes, of course we're gonna do that, thanks for creating a whole new genre of fetish porn we didn't even know that we wanted!" before the first episode even aired. Because DUH.

And there's zero plausible deniability on Nick's part, either. They can't even say, "Well, we were HOPING nobody would draw her naked," because they'd have to have been living on Mars not to know people were going to. All they did was essentially grant implicit permission by making her a teenager in the canon of the Nick show.

I mean it's not like making her a kid makes the story work better, or makes her a better character, or anything at all. Literally all it did was quadruple the porn and make it icky. People are right to make fun of it, it was a bad decision with no upside.

[Cure]

I sure have.

[victory_angel]

Originally Posted by Leo656

I still hate April being a teenager. Because pretty much the only reason they could have for doing it, was like some bizarre dare to the internet. "So April's a sex symbol character, huh? Well let's see you sexualize her NOW!"

And the internet being the internet immediately said, "Why yes, of course we're gonna do that, thanks for creating a whole new genre of fetish porn we didn't even know that we wanted!" before the first episode even aired. Because DUH.

And there's zero plausible deniability on Nick's part, either. They can't even say, "Well, we were HOPING nobody would draw her naked," because they'd have to have been living on Mars not to know people were going to. All they did was essentially grant implicit permission by making her a teenager in the canon of the Nick show.

I mean it's not like making her a kid makes the story work better, or makes her a better character, or anything at all. Literally all it did was quadruple the porn and make it icky. People are right to make fun of it, it was a bad decision with no upside.

Actually I recall seeing in an early season one interview that Ciro's reasoning for having April being a teen was because it would have looked weird having a grown woman hanging out with bunch of Teenagers. Where as a fellow teenager, the Turtles can relate to her more and she to them. Rather then have there there as a psudo mother/sister figure who is complaining about how the Turtles are making her life even more complicated.

2k3 April: I feel like I've gone from happily single to mother of four over night.

2k3 Splinter: Tell me about it.

[Leo656]

Oh, I know that's the reason they gave, but they haven't sold it very well. Not enough for the idea to have justified itself so far, anyways.

30 years of stories with April portrayed as an adult and nobody ever once questioning it - until the people behind the Nick show first brought it up as something questionable - says that Nick came up with a "solution" for a "problem" nobody ever had, as a way to justify their "new and different" spin.

"They can relate to April better this way" = "We can force-feed people this awful and awkward April/Don/Casey love triangle stuff better this way." And a big No Thank You from me, as far as that entire mess goes. All they've done is make me hate all three of them.

Their official reason for making April a teen is a bullsh*t reason, basically. It had nothing to do with "being able to relate to her," and everything to do with, "We have to ship April with one of the Turtles in this show. HAVE to. If she's an adult, that's too weird, so let's make her the same age as them." And ironically, it was actually LESS weird whenever one of the Turtles had a crush on Adult April in any of the other media, because they weren't giant stalking creeps about it like Donnie is on this show!

Just a poor idea, poorly executed, for the worst possible reasons they could come up with. After the 100th time everything important in an episode stopped to focus on Donnie's crush on April, I gave up. That sh*t is as annoying and irritating to me as Venus is to everyone else. True story. Maybe the entire angle could have worked, I mean they say there's no bad ideas, but they'd need writers a million times more skilled than what they have on this show. As it is, it's just excruciating. And I hear it's gotten better, but every time I check out a random episode, it's still part of the whole thing. It's not the only thing I don't like but it was one of the first Big Things I hated and it did a lot to ruin the entire show for me.

Their spin is cute, though. "Easier to relate to." Snicker. "Force that ship! Cram it down their throats until they choke on it!", more aptly.

[Amaranthus]

I have and I don't intend on stopping watching the show any time soon.

[Shark_Blade]

Originally Posted by ShelleyQuick

Yup. I've watched every episode and re watched them multiple times.

Same.

[kelligrafie]

Originally Posted by Leo656

I still hate April being a teenager. Because pretty much the only reason they could have for doing it, was like some bizarre dare to the internet. "So April's a sex symbol character, huh? Well let's see you sexualize her NOW!"

And the internet responded with gusto.

It's a travesty we arrest old men for having pictures of kids on their computers, but it's perfectly acceptable for some clearly mental 30 year old to draw a teenage girl being back end penetrated by her father and post it on social media for kicks.

And I hear it's gotten better, but every time I check out a random episode, it's still part of the whole thing.

Yeah, Donnie and Casey will still try and show off in front of her, but their rivalry over her isn't as prevalent. The love triangle is a lot less annoying right now. Probably because they to cram so much into the episodes right now, they've had to backseat the romance.

[GoldMutant]

I missed three episodes so far: from season 1 it's Karai's Vendetta and TCRI, nothing in season 2, and Eyes of the Chimera for season 3. I did catch them though, but haven't seen them often.

[Aaronardo]

Haven't missed a single episode premiere since the series premiered on 9/29 2012. Yeah, I still remember that date. It will forever be burned into my memory

And being that I have the opinion on the series that I do, I can say that it hasn't been fun watching this show go from consistently great to a roller-coaster of quality. I kinda have to sit down and hope to god that the episode I'm about to watch is good at this point.

[ABrown]

I've watched every episode that has aired. Though I have no interest in investing in the show to rewatch. I find the show to be watchable, but I don't love it. I watch the show mostly just because I love the franchise, and I'm curious to see what Nickelodeon does with it.

[CyberCubed]

Originally Posted by kelligrafie

And the internet responded with gusto.

It's a travesty we arrest old men for having pictures of kids on their computers, but it's perfectly acceptable for some clearly mental 30 year old to draw a teenage girl being back end penetrated by her father and post it on social media for kicks.

Japan has an entire manga/anime industry about underage girls in sexual situations. And I'm not talking about fan doujin's or independent stuff, I'm talking about big official anime companies purposely creating anime and manga loli stories.

Its a big part of their industry. They're allowed to show underage kids nude and have shows with 11 year old girls grinding against each other. Sure, these shows air late at night or on channels aimed at adults, but the fact that it still exists is mind blowing.

The sad thing is a lot of this stuff gets licensed in the U.S. too and now its worldwide instead of just being a Japan-only thing.

[victory_angel]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

Japan has an entire manga/anime industry about underage girls in sexual situations. And I'm not talking about fan doujin's or independent stuff, I'm talking about big official anime companies purposely creating anime and manga loli stories.

Its a big part of their industry. They're allowed to show underage kids nude and have shows with 11 year old girls grinding against each other. Sure, these shows air late at night or on channels aimed at adults, but the fact that it still exists is mind blowing.

The sad thing is a lot of this stuff gets licensed in the U.S. too and now its worldwide instead of just being a Japan-only thing.

Not all these anime characters are children though. Unless clearly stated that in age. They are all 18 and just physically look like they are 12 years old.

I mean I'm 33 years old, and I am quite tiny for my age and I am frequently been mistaken for 15.

[CyberCubed]

The characters in those shows all state their ages. Most of them are teenagers around 15-16, some even younger around 11-14. They even state the ages of the characters and still show them nude or in sexual situations.

[Bry]

To answer the thread question: ayuuuup. I'm still a devoted watcher. And I've seen every episode with my wife, who really likes the show too, so the property that's been a childhood obsession and a huge personal inspiration is also a nice couple routine now.

Originally Posted by Powder

Bait aside, April is not what one would consider a loli. & from what I can gather, the average fan there has no particular fixation on her. Oddly, it's the Bayturtle designs they love.

R-- really?

Originally Posted by Leo656

I still hate April being a teenager. Because pretty much the only reason they could have for doing it, was like some bizarre dare to the internet. "So April's a sex symbol character, huh? Well let's see you sexualize her NOW!"

I assume/hope/desperately hope they only made her a teenager because they felt it'd make for a more natural friendship with the Turtles, and to add some "love triangle" elements in. Which I don't buy or particularly like much either, but I prefer to live in denial and hope their intentions were relatively innocent.

But yeah, I really miss April being the "older sister" kind of character, and having adult human connections with the outside world gives a kinda unspoken explanation for how they're able to access food/supplies/items that'd be very difficult to get without being discovered otherwise. And I feel like April had a stronger identity and personality as a lab assistant or a reporter than she does as a teenager. I like the Nick April just fine, but she's far from my favourite version of the character.

[ssjup81]

Nope. I still haven't seen last week's episode.

[Powder]

Originally Posted by Bry

R-- really?

It's not too surprising. Lotta popular stuff out there has characters with intricate/busy designs, & the movie was marketed to them quite heavily. A prominent Japanese hip-hop act was even recruited for their adaption of the Shell-Shock song (& it's way better than the original, IMO). Pixiv (sorta like their Deviantart, but far more respectable & talent-filled) did a big fan-art contenst promotional tie-in that also drummed up interest. Can't front, the fan art makes them look decent. Some examples + the Japanese film theme-

Spoiler:

[Bry]

Originally Posted by Powder

It's not too surprising. Lotta popular stuff out there has characters with intricate/busy designs, & the movie was marketed to them quite heavily. A prominent Japanese hip-hop act was even recruited for their adaption of the Shell-Shock song (& it's way better than the original, IMO). Pixiv (sorta like their Deviantart, but far more respectable & talent-filled) did a big fan-art contenst promotional tie-in that also drummed up interest. Can't front, the fan art makes them look decent. Some examples + the Japanese film theme-

Spoiler:

http://i64.tinypic.com/dr5mpj.png
http://i64.tinypic.com/b626oh.jpg
http://i68.tinypic.com/bine6v.png

Huh! I wasn't aware they pushed it so heavily in Japan.

You're definitely right that the fan art makes those designs look way better than the movie ever did. Taking some of the "realism" out helps highlight their attributes a lot -- or rather, sucks out the fugliness so they look more recognizable. The middle pic you posted is pretty damn adorable.

Not surprising that talented independent artists have managed to do better/more appealing work with those designs than the actual production company could be bothered to.

[Leo656]

Originally Posted by Bry

And I've seen every episode with my wife, who really likes the show too, so the property that's been a childhood obsession and a huge personal inspiration is also a nice couple routine now.

Man, that was the plan. Didn't work out. And it's weird, she's usually pretty cool with silly/goofy stuff, but she pretty much dislikes everything I do about the show, but a lot more. I guess she likes that approach more for other things than for TMNT.

Like we watch it sometimes but she'd usually rather watch something else. And sometimes when we're watching it she'll change the channel if an episode has too much Don/April stuff.