How does it feel to be significantly older than the Turtles?

[Prowler]

Most of us here are adults. Many are even edging closer to middle age. So I'm sure this thread applies to a large portion of the forum.

Well, like a lot of people, I grew up watching the 87 Toon when I was. A little kid. The Turtles were teenagers. No age specified, but they seemed to be about a decade older than me. I knew they weren't adults and thus found them relatable, but I viewed them as being miles ahead of me. Kinda like older siblings or the cool kids in school type of deal.

When I was a teenager I felt the Turtles had become my peers pretty much. And even when I was 18-19 I didn't feel like I was older than them yet. Probably because they always acted like older teens on the verge of turning 20 in the first couple of cartoon series, I guess.

But now, as a 30 year old man, I've come to a realisation that I'm quite older than them. And when I look back at the FW and 2k3 series there's times I find them a bit too immature. It's a strange feeling. It's almost like I could be their much older sibling, kinda like April is. And speaking of April... I'm older than both the 87 and 2k3 April by now as well. Now THAT's strange.

How do I personally feel? Well, I've sorta outgrown the TMNT franchise in the last 8 years or so. The fact that the Turtles regressed a bit in age in the Nick series didn't seem to help matters either. It's obvious I'm not part of the demographic they're targeting.

It would be one thing if the Turtles were simply teenagers in name like in Mirage, but they're also teenagers/kids in mentality and personality in their mainstream depictions. Makes them a bit harder to relate to as a 30 year old man.

But yeah, it's a strange feeling when you suddenly realise most popular cartoon and anime characters are a 10-15 years younger than you. Which makes sense, since most of that stuff is made for kids/teenagers.

I'm closer to Peter Griffin and Homer Simpson in age than to Monkey D. Luffy and Roronoa Zoro. It's interesting...

[Andrew NDB]

I'm only a little older than the Turtles in vol. 4 right now, so I'm OK with that.

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by Andrew NDB

I'm only a little older than the Turtles in vol. 4 right now, so I'm OK with that.

Mirage is pretty much the only canon version of TMNT to you, so I guess you won't find the age difference funny for at least 5 more years.

[Leo656]

I generally try not to think about it.

Superman and Batman are supposed to be "eternally 35", too, and I've been older than them for a while now, also. It kinda screws with your head.

[Last Ronin]

Crap I'm old NOOOOOOOO

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by Leo656

I generally try not to think about it.

Superman and Batman are supposed to be "eternally 35", too, and I've been older than them for a while now, also. It kinda screws with your head.

It's gonna be strange the day I realise I'm older than Calvin's parents.

How does it feel realising a lot of today's professional wrestlers are younger than you? It kinda screws with my head.

[CyberCubed]

Fun fact: Most of us are also now older than our favorites actors were when they were cast in movies. Most of us are now older than Arnold Schwarzeneggar was in his big movie roles. Hugh Jackman was only 31 years old when he was cast as Wolverine in the first X-men movie.

The realization all these actors were millionaires and famous when they were 25-30, and we're now all older than them and basically nothing in comparison, it's so odd to think about.

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

Fun fact: Most of us are also now older than our favorites actors were when they were cast in movies. Most of us are now older than Arnold Schwarzeneggar was in his big movie roles. Hugh Jackman was only 31 years old when he was cast as Wolverine in the first X-men movie.

The realization all these actors were millionaires and famous when they were 25-30, and we're now all older than them and basically nothing in comparison, it's so odd to think about.

And most current professional athletes are now younger than us too. And the ones who are around our age or slightly older are getting close to retirement.

When I was a teenager, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi were the two biggest prospects in football and destined to be the two greatest of their generation. But since they're some years older than me it never felt odd to me. Messi is 3 years older than me and Ronaldo is 6 years older than me.

...now there's entire team squads with an average age considerably lower than mine.

[CyberCubed]

Homer Simpson is 38 in canon. Going to be weird a few years from now when I'm older than Homer.

Original cartoon April was 28, and I remember thinking 28 was "so old" when I was a kid and that she was a adult. Now thinking about it 28 seems so young and you feel barely any different than your early 20's.

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

Homer Simpson is 38 in canon. Going to be weird a few years from now when I'm older than Homer.

Original cartoon April was 28, and I remember thinking 28 was "so old" when I was a kid and that she was a adult. Now thinking about it 28 seems so young and you feel barely any different than your early 20's.

I still have some years until I reach Homer's age then.

It's funny. I rewatched Cowboy Bebop recently and Spike Spiegel and Faye Valentine are both in their 20s. Spike is like 27 and Faye 23. Faye technically is 77 years old, but her body was cryogenically frozen for 50+ years after she was in a nasty accident, so her body and brain didn't age a day in those 50+ years and she still looks 23 like she did 5 decades ago. Anyway, both Spike and Fey being so young feels so odd. Spike looks more like he's close to 40.

And there's also a lot of people in real life who are younger than me but yet I somehow assume they're older and act surprised when I learn what their actual age is. It's like I forget my appearance has changed as I aged and time moves slower in my mind than outside of it lol

[CyberCubed]

All anime characters don't act their age so that's a bit different. Like 15-17 year old anime/videogame characters save the entire world, or go traveling on their own with no adults, etc. Obviously in real life teenagers are very immature and can barely fend for themselves, let alone travel and fight bad guys with swords/guns whatever or battle monsters, lol.

Kinda the same for Pokemon, all Pokemon protagonists like Ash, Misty, May, Dawn, etc. are all 10 years old in canon, and when their seasons were originally airing I was closer to all their ages. Now I'm like double their ages and can be old enough to be their parents. Weird being 30+ and realizing some franchises have 10 year old protagonists. I'm double their ages now.

[Coola Yagami]

Yeah, it is kinda odd. The Turtles are fine, but April. Oh man... I went from being too young for her, being her age and now she'd probably think I'm too old for her. Kinda... messes with you if you sit still and think about it too much.

On the flip side it's weird seeing all the people we grew up with on TV now being super old and dying left and right. In a few years most of the people we watched on TV as kids will be gone, except for the child stars I guess. I mean Arnold is 73 now and Stallone is 74. Like dang.

[CyberCubed]

Mark Hammil was only what, 18 when he was cast as Luke?

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

All anime characters don't act their age so that's a bit different. Like 15-17 year old anime/videogame characters save the entire world, or go traveling on their own with no adults, etc. Obviously in real life teenagers are very immature and can barely fend for themselves, let alone travel and fight bad guys with swords/guns whatever or battle monsters, lol.

Kinda the same for Pokemon, all Pokemon protagonists like Ash, Misty, May, Dawn, etc. are all 10 years old in canon, and when their seasons were originally airing I was closer to all their ages. Now I'm like double their ages and can be old enough to be their parents. Weird being 30+ and realizing some franchises have 10 year old protagonists. I'm double their ages now.

Yeah, like said in my OP, it was strange when I suddenly realised I was older than most of anime protagonists.

I still enjoy watching anime and, in fact, have been back to watching more anime again in the last 10 months due to the pandemic/lockdowns.

When it comes to One Piece it is not so strange that Luffy, Nami, Zoro, Sanji and Usopp are all around 18-20 because they're pirates living in an entirely different world from ours with completely different lifestyles than anyone in our world.

But when I watch something set in our world with 16-18 year old protagonists attending highschool and worrying about the stuff your average teenager worries about it can feel a little odd and also there's a bit of a disconnect. I'm no longer going through the same issues they are. And seeing then attend school gives me mixed feelings of nostalgia and also regrets of not taking school more seriously when I was a kid.

[Coola Yagami]

Originally Posted by Prowler

Yeah, like said in my OP, it was strange when I suddenly realised I was older than most of anime protagonists.

I still enjoy watching anime and, in fact, have been back to watching more anime again in the last 10 months due to the pandemic/lockdowns.

When it comes to One Piece it is not so strange that Luffy, Nami, Zoro, Sanji and Usopp are all around 18-20 because they're pirates living in an entirely different world from ours with completely different lifestyles than anyone in our world.

But when I watch something set in our world with 16-18 year old protagonists attending highschool and worrying about the stuff your average teenager worries about it can feel a little odd and also there's a bit of a disconnect. I'm no longer going through the same issues they are. And seeing then attend school gives me mixed feelings of nostalgia and also regrets of not taking school more seriously when I was a kid.

I feel ya. I remember the adventures got really out there for Yusuke in Yu Yu Hakusho that when the next arc started with them back in their normal lives, it felt weird seeing the characters back in school.

I did like the part where Yusuke and Kuabara beat up some regular punks and felt it was boring anymore since regular humans were weak compared to all the demons they've been fighting.

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by Coola Yagami

I feel ya. I remember the adventures got really out there for Yusuke in Yu Yu Hakusho that when the next arc started with them back in their normal lives, it felt weird seeing the characters back in school.

I did like the part where Yusuke and Kuabara beat up some regular punks and felt it was boring anymore since regular humans were weak compared to all the demons they've been fighting.

I'm afraid I haven't watched YYH, so I can't say I relate. But looking back, it's funny watching Sailor Moon episodes where they are fighting demons and saving the world and then spending their downtime at school or studying for exams/tests.

First time I noticed I was older than the cast of characters of a series was when I watched SteinsGate in 2012. I was 21-22 at the time. And this anime starred a guy and a girl who were great scientists... at the age of 18 only. Made me wonder why not make them 22-23 instead. But then I realised most Anime and manga is written for kids/teenagers. The stuff for older audiences is seinen and stuff like Monster, Cowboy Bebop, Nana, etc... but I'm older than Spike Spiegel and Jet Black is like 35 when he looks middle aged. I guess the balding makes him look older...

[CyberCubed]

I can't believe I'm older than teenagers were when I was a teenager.

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

I can't believe I'm older than teenagers were when I was a teenager.

It's really strange when people talk about today's kids... and realising they're not talking about your generation anymore. When I was in HS, my parents generation complained A LOT about our generation

[Andrew NDB]

25 seemed like the big hurdle point. At 25 that's when birthdays aren't worth celebrating anymore... in fact, the opposite, really. But also when you look at women out there who are 18-20 and you go "Wow!" but now you're over 10 years older than them... it's over, man. You're now the creepy guy. Might as well just pack it up. And if you're going, "I wonder if I'm 10 years older than her, or 20" then someone needs to go and slap some sense into you.

[CyberCubed]

Originally Posted by Andrew NDB

25 seemed like the big hurdle point. At 25 that's when birthdays aren't worth celebrating anymore... in fact, the opposite, really. But also when you look at women out there who are 18-20 and you go "Wow!" but now you're over 10 years older than them... it's over, man. You're now the creepy guy. Might as well just pack it up. And if you're going, "I wonder if I'm 10 years older than her, or 20" then someone needs to go and slap some sense into you.

18-22 year olds look like kids to me these days. I mean I know a lot of people still look really young well into their 20's, but when I look at them I'm like...man they look like kids. I guess when you're that age you never realize how young you look, but looking back at either old photos or people these days around that age...they might as well be children.

It gets even creepier when you realize most of these people were in Kindergarten when you were graduating High School or College...yikes.