Official episode discussion: Rise of the Turtles, Part 1 and 2

[Zulithe]

I know people love James Earl Jones, but I disagree that he would make a good Shredder voice. He's rather old now, and his voice isn't asian enough. I'm glad they have a real asian voicing Splinter. I'm still not sold on Shredder's voice. I need to hear more of it. But so far I don't think he sounds Japanese enough.

[TheCanadiandrome]

Originally Posted by Zulithe

I know people love James Earl Jones, but I disagree that he would make a good Shredder voice. He's rather old now, and his voice isn't asian enough. I'm glad they have a real asian voicing Splinter. I'm still not sold on Shredder's voice. I need to hear more of it. But so far I don't think he sounds Japanese enough.

Does that matter? James Avery didn't exactly sound Asian either

[Jester]

Originally Posted by Zulithe

* by far splinter has some of the best quotes! I look forward to them fleshing him out. I want to see more of him WITHOUT his robe. I want to see how they render his full rat body

Ewww....

I'll have to watch Part 2 tomorrow morning, as work has my schedule all wonky, but if it's anything like the first I'm in for a treat.

[Roseangelo]

Yup, this show is amazing. And I'm sure it's only going to get better.

[Zulithe]

Originally Posted by TMNT_Canadian

Does that matter? James Avery didn't exactly sound Asian either

Implying that James Avery was a good Shredder voice? :p IMO it was not. It's just that people have that sense of nostalgia over his voice, so, that's fine.

I'll never be satisfied until we get a Shredder that SOUNDS authentic Japanese speaking English. That is the way it SHOULD be, period.

[Gyt Kaliba]

Originally Posted by Zulithe

Implying that James Avery was a good Shredder voice? :p IMO it was not. It's just that people have that sense of nostalgia over his voice, so, that's fine.

I'll never be satisfied until we get a Shredder that SOUNDS authentic Japanese speaking English. That is the way it SHOULD be, period.

Hmm...not saying I agree or disagree with that sentiment (I do love Avery's Shredder quite a bit), but come to think of it, have we ever had an actually Japanese portrayed Shredder? The live action movie counts as far as his appearance goes, but he was overdubbed, so...

Well, there's the OVA I suppose.

[TheSkeletonMan939]

Very good series premiere. The only issues I had was that SnakeWeed didn't seem too upset about his transformation - if I were in his position, I would be crying and trying as hard as I could to rip the turtles' heads off. Also, I wish they had had the guts to kill SnakeWeed off. He doesn't seem like that interesting of a baddie to be brought back.

Also, did anyone catch the name of Splinter's daughter? I think it started with an "N".

I found the music score somewhat enjoyable, but felt it really lacked a real "oomph" factor that excited you. It all just seemed to fade into the background.

[Spideristic]

The new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series was really good, of course it isn't gritty like the Mirage comics or the first movie, but as most who grew up watching the 80s cartoon will surely come to enjoy it and TMNT fans should give this new show a try.

The tone of the series is primarily directed towards kids just like the old show, but I still thoroughly enjoyed it and laughed out loud number of times. The animation and virtual camera movements really works great especially during the fight sequences and helps to showcase the agility of the Turtles. Also I liked some of the little extra animation effects when they show some of the facial emotions including some pop out effects to infuse expression and humour through visuals.

[Gyt Kaliba]

Originally Posted by TheSkeletonMan939

Also, did anyone catch the name of Splinter's daughter? I think it started with an "N".

I could be wrong but I'm fairly sure it was 'Miwa'.

[shinefra]

Originally Posted by Zulithe

Implying that James Avery was a good Shredder voice? :p IMO it was not. It's just that people have that sense of nostalgia over his voice, so, that's fine.

I'll never be satisfied until we get a Shredder that SOUNDS authentic Japanese speaking English. That is the way it SHOULD be, period.

Isn't that a stereotype? I mean I'm Mexican and I don't sound like Speedy Gonzalez or George Lopez.

So why does Shredder have to sound like the typical Asian who speaks English?

[TheSkeletonMan939]

Originally Posted by shinefra

Isn't that a stereotype? I mean I'm mexican and I don't sound like Speedy Gonzalez or George Lopez.

So why does Shredder have to sound like the tipical Asian who speaks English?

Good point. It'd be really cool if this Shredder knew lots of languages and could master their accents perfectly.

[Jester]

Originally Posted by shinefra

Isn't that a stereotype? I mean I'm Mexican and I don't sound like Speedy Gonzalez or George Lopez.

So why does Shredder have to sound like the typical Asian who speaks English?

I dunna, shinefra. I'm from Arkansas, so obviously have a thick southern drawl.

[Roseangelo]

Originally Posted by Jester

I dunna, shinefra. I'm from Arkansas, so obviously have a thick southern drawl.

And I'm from Minnesota, so I obviously talk like the people in the movie Fargo. Ya, sure, you betcha!

[Matches Malone]

Good stuff. There are a few things that aren't my preference (Donnie's crush for example), but luckily, and surprisingly, the writing is strong enough that I don't really mind it. One thing that was a little distracting was how completely empty New York City seemed to be. Maybe it's because of budget restrictions that they cannot animate too many citizens, but it's just weird that the "city that never sleeps" had no one around ever. I did think the action was really well done, though. The whole Snakeweed fight was great and more violent than I was expecting. I still think some of the goofier designs of the mutants (including Snakeweed and Dogpound) are kind of lame. I would've been okay if Snakeweed didn't come back, so the lamer mutants can still serve as lower-level one shot villains and at the same time, prevent the repetitive nature of mutants returning time and again.

Originally Posted by Xav

Anyone else wonder why a highly advanced alien race would need help from a punk like Sank?

I use the same reasoning for why Shredder would utilize punks like Bebop & Rocksteady: hire the thugs to do the dirty work so you have time to focus on more important things. The Kraang could obviously operate a truck, but why waste your time doing so if you have better things to do?

Originally Posted by Gyt Kaliba

Not to nitpick, but doesn't it seem odd that Raph, Mikey, and Donnie were all kinda 'ehhh' over the usual food of worms and algae, only for Raph's comment later of 'I never thought I'd taste anything better than that' to pop up? Or was it less 'Ugh, this actually tastes nasty' and more 'What, THIS again?'

I figured it's because the turtles have probably never had anything but. Sure it's not that great, but it's all they've known. Now they know that FOOD IS AWESOME. I think it was a great moment that showed the turtles are new to the "surface world." It's a nice subtle touch. Something the IDW comics lack, unfortunately. They adapted just a little too easily.

Originally Posted by Gyt Kaliba

I'm loving the fighting in their first fight with the Kraang so far, I've never thought about their weapons getting all tangled together before, it's a nice touch to show them as being kind of new to this instead of being masters already.

Agreed! Most incarnations of TMNT kind of forget the "teenage" part of the title, and they all basically act like "mini grown-ups." The fact that they still have to Learn how to fight as a team is a great way to reinforce their youthfulness and gives plenty of opportunities to see the turtles grow.

Originally Posted by Tomoshibi Amatsu

Anyways am I the only one weirded out that Raph owns a pet turtle?

It's a little weird, but they write it well that it's not a big deal. Personally I think it would have made more sense to just replace Spike with a cat named Klunk.

[Raph's Girl]

Originally Posted by Zulithe

I want to see more of him WITHOUT his robe. I want to see how they render his full rat body

The little bit that was shown without his robe (in the flashback sequence when they mutated) seemed to indicate that Splinter is an Agouti Berkshire.

[MST3KFan]

Thank you Nick for posting the episodes online.

I was thinking I'd be waiting until the possible DVD release to see the show while everyone else gets to see it on TV. I hope they'll be doing this for every episode each week here as after watching the first two episodes here, I am definitely hooked.

A new mutant right out the gate with Snakeweed, our first look at Shredder (whom has quite the battle damaged look to him)... The cast is already to me pretty well developed too.

Turtles are back baby!

[Zulithe]

Originally Posted by shinefra

Isn't that a stereotype? I mean I'm Mexican and I don't sound like Speedy Gonzalez or George Lopez.

So why does Shredder have to sound like the typical Asian who speaks English?

Well were you born and raised in Mexico and grew up in an environment where people spoke spanish first and foremost? Because you would probably speak differently than someone born and raised in the USA, even if they had spanish-speaking parents from Mexico.

Do you think the way Splinter sounds in the new series is a stereotype? Because I don't, I think it sounds close to what his character should sound like. Being that Shredder and Splinter are born, raised and trained around the same part of Japan, it only makes sense that they would sound similar.

Again we have heard little of shredder's voice so I have to hear more. It's fine if he sounds more "gruff" but his voice should sound like someone who's been in Japan all of their life, don't you think? Why would he sound like an American? That's just wrong. No Japanese crime organization is going to take this guy who sounds like he is from the USA seriously, c'mon.

[CyberCubed]

Splinter sounds similar to OT Splinter just with a bit of a higher pitch. He's fine.

[TurtleTitan97]

Does anyone else think that the fight scenes on this show are alot better than the ones on Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness?

[CyberCubed]

Wow, I didn't expect Nick.com to upload both full episodes!

I hope they do this with the entire season. Much better than going to watch it on some illegal website.