Things you learned from TMNT?

*Prowler* · 06-24-2019, 04:31 PM

Thought this would be a fun thread.

I've learned a few basic things regarding Japanese martial arts from TMNT. Probably my first exposure to the words "ninja", "ninjutsu", "sushi", "sai", "katana", "nunchaku", "kimono", "bo" and to Japanese names like Saki, Oroku, Yoshi and Hamato. Granted, TMNT and the FW series in particular aren't exactly very accurate depictions of Japanese culture and history but I'd say that's where the seeds in me were planted for my future interest in anime, Japanese stuff and East Asian culture in general. Kinda interesting how TMNT has a lot of Japanese references/stuff when that wasn't a common thing in American cartoons at the time.

I guess it was also the TMNT that taught me that turtles are both reptiles and amphibians? And ofc, the words "mutant" and "mutation".

...other than that, I don't see what else I might have learned from TMNT. I've never watched those Turtle tips vignette shorts. They must have been US exclusive by the CBS network or something. The FW series was never a very educational cartoon. In fact, I remember reading a question from a fan on the old Mirage website many years ago where he asked why the FW series eventually lost popularity and got cancelled and the answer more or less said that the Turtles weren't educational enough... or am I remembering it wrongly? This was in like 2002-2003 already, so a lot of time has passed since then.

So hum... I think I first learned from FW TMNT that NYC is also known as the "Big Apple"? Shredder calls it the Big Apple in episode 6 and I was like 6-7 years old when I first watched that episode, so yeah...

What about you?

06-24-2019, 04:31 PM	#1
Prowler Emperor Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Portugal Posts: 9,999	Things you learned from TMNT? Thought this would be a fun thread. I've learned a few basic things regarding Japanese martial arts from TMNT. Probably my first exposure to the words "ninja", "ninjutsu", "sushi", "sai", "katana", "nunchaku", "kimono", "bo" and to Japanese names like Saki, Oroku, Yoshi and Hamato. Granted, TMNT and the FW series in particular aren't exactly very accurate depictions of Japanese culture and history but I'd say that's where the seeds in me were planted for my future interest in anime, Japanese stuff and East Asian culture in general. Kinda interesting how TMNT has a lot of Japanese references/stuff when that wasn't a common thing in American cartoons at the time. I guess it was also the TMNT that taught me that turtles are both reptiles and amphibians? And ofc, the words "mutant" and "mutation". ...other than that, I don't see what else I might have learned from TMNT. I've never watched those Turtle tips vignette shorts. They must have been US exclusive by the CBS network or something. The FW series was never a very educational cartoon. In fact, I remember reading a question from a fan on the old Mirage website many years ago where he asked why the FW series eventually lost popularity and got cancelled and the answer more or less said that the Turtles weren't educational enough... or am I remembering it wrongly? This was in like 2002-2003 already, so a lot of time has passed since then. So hum... I think I first learned from FW TMNT that NYC is also known as the "Big Apple"? Shredder calls it the Big Apple in episode 6 and I was like 6-7 years old when I first watched that episode, so yeah... What about you?