Why do people act like Turtles having a crush on April has never been done before?

[BabyTurtles]

guys...I really think that this Don and April thing is a problem for April....

I mean people who have seen previous incarnations of TMNT know April's role....she's like family to the turtles...a human to help them..a sister to talk too.

but what about people who start with the 2012 TMNT? will they see April as someone more than Don's love interest????

I know that a kid called April "Don's girlfriend..." and nothing more...

are you guys cool with April just being known as "April's girlfriend" for the new TMNT fans coming to the fandom?

[Coola Yagami]

Originally Posted by BabyTurtles

guys...I really think that this Don and April thing is a problem for April....

I mean people who have seen previous incarnations of TMNT know April's role....she's like family to the turtles...a human to help them..a sister to talk too.

but what about people who start with the 2012 TMNT? will they see April as someone more than Don's love interest????

I know that a kid called April "Don's girlfriend..." and nothing more...

are you guys cool with April just being known as "April's girlfriend" for the new TMNT fans coming to the fandom?

Don't really see the problem. It's a whole new series. It's also the series in which Karai is 'Leo's girlfriend' and Shredder's top two mutants are a fish and a dog, NOT a rhino and a warthog, and if you mention Kraang to the kids, they'll make a 'Kraang-speak joke' and not think about a talking brain. Ask a kid what is Mikey's catchphrase and he'll say booyakaha, not cowabunga.

[BabyTurtles]

Originally Posted by Coola Yagami

Don't really see the problem. It's a whole new series. It's also the series in which Karai is 'Leo's girlfriend' and Shredder's top two mutants are a fish and a dog, NOT a rhino and a warthog, and if you mention Kraang to the kids, they'll make a 'Kraang-speak joke' and not think about a talking brain. Ask a kid what is Mikey's catchphrase and he'll say booyakaha, not cowabunga.

it is a problem. April is the main girl representing all the girls.
she shouldn't just be "Don's girlfriend" that sucks!!

so let me get this straight...most of you guys are cool with April mainly being a love interest to Donnie??...........I don't mind her being one...but if that's 80% of what she is...then I guess I'm gonna be the odd ball and not like her.....


Karai is something more....she has complications that she puts above her relationship with leo. She has the task of getting rid of the turtles...she has also found out more of the Kraang's plans. she has Shedder to think about.

like I said...I don't mind the girls being love interest....but unlike April...it doesn't take over Karai's character....and it isn't talked about every time she's shown.

[Bossa Nova]

I'm totally agreeing with Baby Turtles on this. April (and Karai) have always been awesome female characters because they have a personality of their own. I'm not thrilled that the OT constantly made April a damsel in distress, but even then she had a totally fiery attitude and completely stubborn. She was still her own person. There are so few females in this show, that it is a problem that they're seen as nothing more but the "love interests" for the turtles. Yeah, this kind of cliche is done all kinds in kids shows, it doesn't make it right.

As to the original topic, the turtles crushing on April in past versions never bothered me very much because it was subtle, played off for a one-time gag and then over with. Don's crush on April has been milked the entire season and it's passed the point of irritating, especially since she has shown absolutely zero interest in him and he continues to repeat the same goofy actions over and over again. Every time she and Don are on screen together, I can be assured I'll get some silly joke between them about his crush on her as opposed to allowing April do something else that might show some of that character development a lot of folks seem to be missing. This may be the one version of her I dislike because not only is she boring, but she can't even be the mature one and flat out tell Don to stop with his advances since she clearly doesn't want them.

[TurtleTitan97]

I think it's safe to say April isn't gonna just turn into Donnie's "love interest". I mean, even Leo, Mikey, Raph don't think he has a chance with her. I personally don't mind Don's crush because it's been played for laughs, but I highly doubt it's gonna turn into anything serious. So far this season April has shown no sign of having a crush on Donnie.

[BabyTurtles]

Originally Posted by TurtleTitan97

I think it's safe to say April isn't gonna just turn into Donnie's "love interest". I mean, even Leo, Mikey, Raph don't think he has a chance with her. I personally don't mind Don's crush because it's been played for laughs, but I highly doubt it's gonna turn into anything serious. So far this season April has shown no sign of having a crush on Donnie.

the problem isn't whether or not Don and April are gonna get together! I don't care about that if it's done well

the problem is that they show Donnie gushing over April waaaay to much!

every time she's shown there's a 98% chance Don is gonna say something to her about his crush! it's cute when it's shown now and then, but not every time she hits the screen! that time can go to something more valuable! like interacting with someone else!

heck, sometimes she says literally one thing and Don can use up all her screen time by being awkward!!

I just......want to like April....but I can't like a girl thats mainly a love interest for guys....

wouldn't you guys have a problem if Casey was only a love interest for April again? and every time he's shown 98% of the time it's about April??

[NinjaPug]

It's not like Don having a crush on her is the only thing going on with April's character. She's being trained by Splinter and has a huge role involving the Kraang invasion. She's the most developed supporting character on the show.

[raph27]

Originally Posted by DonatelloNinja82

And yes...I don't like Apriltello either. Not too big on when they mash the two names together. April/Donnie is much better.

Like how Peeta/Katniss is Penis

[BabyTurtles]

Originally Posted by NinjaPug

It's not like Don having a crush on her is the only thing going on with April's character. She's being trained by Splinter and has a huge role involving the Kraang invasion. She's the most developed supporting character on the show.

just because she has plots surrounding her, doesn't mean she's developed as a character.

character development is knowing the characters pet peeves, quirks, flaws, what they do, how they interact with others...and how they grow as a character.

it's not all about how good she's getting in training or why the Kraang want her.
it's about April's personality and how she interacts with the other characters.

lately she just stands there....without an voice...only talking when the plot needs her..

[NinjaPug]

I guess I just don't care what April's pet peeves are. I'm glad they're doing something interesting with her character outside of simply being a damsel in distress every episode.

[Luckyday]

You know, this is the reason why I didn't want Irma be a teenager in the show. The role of a love interest is almost never treated as a character in most shows.

[Bossa Nova]

Originally Posted by NinjaPug

It's not like Don having a crush on her is the only thing going on with April's character. She's being trained by Splinter and has a huge role involving the Kraang invasion. She's the most developed supporting character on the show.

She has things happening TO her, that doesn't mean we've seen how she's dealing or really reacting to any of this. Although I personally don't like the idea of April training to become a ninja, her training with Splinter was nice because we actually got to see a small part of her personality. This whole Kraang thing? Sure, she's important, have we even seen at ALL how she feels about this? Is she scared? Is she angry? Does she possibly have any memories that could give her insight as to why this might be happening? Once again, these things are happening to her, it doesn't mean she's developed from them.

[BabyTurtles]

Originally Posted by NinjaPug

I guess I just don't care what April's pet peeves are. I'm glad they're doing something interesting with her character outside of simply being a damsel in distress every episode.

.....would you like the turtles if they had no personality but were kickbutt?

I'd rather have a damsel in distress with a personality than a kickbutt one dimensional girl.

[NinjaPug]

Originally Posted by BabyTurtles

.....would you like the turtles if they had no personality but were kickbutt?

I'd rather have a damsel in distress with a personality than a kickbutt one dimensional girl.

This is where you and I differ. I expect the Turtles to have defined personalities and strong character development because the show is about them. To me April is a supporting character that is there to help move some of the plot and help with the development of the main characters. Having something interesting happen to her is more important/entertaining to me than simply seeing her interact more with the other three Turtles.

[Avatar Yuffie]

Can I hope that when April becomes Casey's love interest, there shouldn't be anymore complaints?

[Gwydion]

I'm in agreement with both BabyTurtles and Bossa Nova on this one. Pretty much everything they've said up until now I agree with wholeheartedly. I will specifically point out something Bossa Nova mentioned in regards to the original question for this thread, though - it's not the fact that one of the Turtles has a crush on April that's bad, it's how it's portrayed.

In previous versions, it's a passing comment or gag, not something brought up every episode that is currently pretty much defining two of the main characters, April and Donnie. And the fact that April is encouraging it despite pretty clearly not feeling the same really rubs me the wrong way. I'm guessing the writers' intentions are that she's just trying to be nice, but it just comes off as if she's manipulating him, as if she purposefully calls/texts Donnie because she knows he'll drop everything for her. Again, I'm aware this isn't their intention, but that's just kind of the vibe I get from it. Since we don't really know much about April as a character, there's nothing to prove she's not doing that aside from the fact that she's April O'Neil, the main female protagonist in the TMNT franchise so of course she's not like that.

[allie300]

Originally Posted by NinjaPug

This is where you and I differ. I expect the Turtles to have defined personalities and strong character development because the show is about them. To me April is a supporting character that is there to help move some of the plot and help with the development of the main characters. Having something interesting happen to her is more important/entertaining to me than simply seeing her interact more with the other three Turtles.

Yep I agree with you 100% I watch ninja turtles for the turtles not April O'Neil,to me ever other character is there to help move the boy's story along so personally I have no problem with how she's being portrayed right now and the Don/April thing doesn't bother me in fact I find it amusing but who knows maybe in the second season she'll get the character development some think she needs and with Casey showing up that can either put to rest Don+April or help move it along we'll just have to wait and see.

[Bossa Nova]

Originally Posted by NinjaPug

This is where you and I differ. I expect the Turtles to have defined personalities and strong character development because the show is about them. To me April is a supporting character that is there to help move some of the plot and help with the development of the main characters. Having something interesting happen to her is more important/entertaining to me than simply seeing her interact more with the other three Turtles.

It's fine to care more about the turtles than April. After all, it is their show. But when Nickelodeon decided to make April the focus of everything instead of the turtles as being "the key to everything", then I really don't think it's that outlandish to want to have any sort of reason to even care about her by giving her some sort of well-developed personality. If the turtles themselves were somehow the key to the Kraang plot (which I personally would have preferred because hey, like you I watch this show for the turtles), then sure, I really wouldn't care so much about April's lack of depth because yes, she is just a supporting character. But that isn't the case here. Nick has made her much more than a supporting character and with that I feel they're lacking in their responsibility in transforming her into someone viewers care about.

[BabyTurtles]

Originally Posted by Bossa Nova

It's fine to care more about the turtles than April. After all, it is their show. But when Nickelodeon decided to make April the focus of everything instead of the turtles as being "the key to everything", then I really don't think it's that outlandish to want to have any sort of reason to even care about her by giving her some sort of well-developed personality. If the turtles themselves were somehow the key to the Kraang plot (which I personally would have preferred because hey, like you I watch this show for the turtles), then sure, I really wouldn't care so much about April's lack of depth because yes, she is just a supporting character. But that isn't the case here. Nick has made her much more than a supporting character and with that I feel they're lacking in their responsibility in transforming her into someone viewers care about.

exactly. also since she is representing the girl side of the TMNT fandom, I would think Nick would care a little to give her some personality. cause as much as I love the the boys...having a girl ONE girl to relate too would be nice. they don't need to go all out...just a little scene here and there to establish her personality, hey they could even switch out some of those Donnie loving April scenes for it.

[Electric]

i honestly think people are over reacting. Yes donnies crush on april is a recurring reference in this show. if they actually date it on-coming seasons great? but this april has not just been shown as a love interest. Can we recall that shes the center of an invasion. Or when she snuck into a kraang lab. or spied on shredder. shes training to be a kunoichi. she fought karai. donnies love for her isnt taking away anything from her character.
As for interacting with others, shes been shown training alone with splinter multiple times, she had a talk with leo about karai. Yeah she talks to donnie more than anyone, but its only the first season, theres plenty of time for other interaction.
And how is her supposedly only being donnies love interest any different from her being caseys in 2k3? she was more of just a love interest for casey tin 2k3 then she has been so far for donnie in this series, as in shes actually shown without donnie.
People complaining about how they cant like this april because of donnies crush gets really annoying since its just them trying to see it that way, and trying to find fault in this relatively small change in the series

and please quit saying april has no personality yet. she does. shes stubborn, brave, tries to get by in school, devoted to her family and is motivated by her father. donnies crush takes away more from him then it does from her. plus with irma and casey coming, well get to see her people interaction develop, and thats in the second season, so just wait