OT 80's aside, preference: 4kids 2k3 or Nick 2012?

[CansecoBat]

Sorry, had to make this thread. I'm a new poster for those who haven't noticed, or I haven't gotten to introduce myself to yet.

I just got into the Nick series, and so far it's amazing. Does anyone else feel it is the best mix cartoon wise of the character, charm, inherent silliness, and humor of the 80's cartoon ... combined with the more adult and serious elements of the 2k3 toon without coming off as un-intentionally funny as that series did due to the melodrama?

I was a huge fan of the 2k3 show up until around Secret Origins, and then it un-raveled for me, and I started to see more of the shows glaring flaws. Which started to out weigh the positives for me. Does anyone else feel the same?

Which series do you prefer and why?

I know, as a fan you can have both. I'm not negating that option, but at the end of the day if a gun is pointed to your head and you're asked what one you like better. What contemporary cartoon will it be?

[Refractive Reflections]

First I would choose the 80s cartoon, but since I can't, I would choose Nick 2012 (primarily because of the hopeful potential I saw in it during season 1), but yet it's still unfair to make this comparison because we are comparing a 7 season series (4Kids) with a series that's just starting its second season (Nick).

While the story writing and action scenes are great with 4Kids, the one-dimensional characterization (with 2K3 Leo getting the serious development and 2K3 Raph and Mikey more pigeon-holed for more humorous, superficial aspects of the series), and the intense fighting/climatic scenes that can become humorously melodramatic are what set back the series for me. The melodrama deflates a substantial amount of the seriousness the series tries to convey. Yes it has its dark moments, but with this melodrama, the gravitas just seems more hollow and empty. In addition, I don't care for the "Ninja Tribunal" season, and the FF and BTTS seasons are... okay.

With the Nick show, it's still in its second season, so I can't make a fair assessment of the show so far. It does balance the drama and comedy well, but the content of the drama and comedy is becoming questionable. Unlike the OT which used witty, sarcastic humor, the Nick show uses loud/obnoxious/dumb behavior and overreactions as its tools for humor (i.e. Mikey's personality), some may like that, but I particularly don't.
As for the drama, the first season did highlight brother moments and aspects of their personality (i.e. Raph's anger, Raph helping to complement Donnie in front of April in "Operation: Break Out", Raph temporarily bonding with Fishface, Mikey's potential for being normally intelligent in "Parsitica", Donnie's tendency to overthink things, and Leo's growth in learning to deal with someone like Karai) which I enjoyed, but it seems now that Donnie's crush on April has gravitated to the center focus of the Turtles, while there seems to be a "mutant of the week" trend going on. What I thought would lead to substantial character growth for each Turtle, seems to now be compressing the characters back into their stereotypical, flat roles and a growing anticipation (and the show's implicit excitement) of creating new mutants over the progression of the established characters, which is making the show a bit bland for me.


For all I know, things could change in the direction of this Nick series, so again it's premature for me to make any conclusive statement about comparing it to the 2K3 series. Plus, we've seen how (in the OT and 2K3) the tone can change in 3-5 seasons within a series... So we'll see...

[Candy Kappa]

Nick is doing a fine job so far keeping me entertained

[ZariusTwo]

Nick TMNT just isnt for me, the characters are too jokey, are prone to making too many mistakes, the freaks of the week are poorly realized with rather uncreative traits and names, Karai and April teenagers arent really all that interesting as teenage girls and fall into the predictable beats associated with that, like angst, short-sightedness, and immaturity, which in April's case, just comes across as jarring and out-of-character. The Kranng are supposed to be this insanely badass alien race of conquerors but their mannerisms and dialouge make it impossible to take them seriously compared to say, 4Kids Ch'rell

No, 4Kids may have had it's flaws, and two lousy final seasons, but it kept my attention with strong writing, great fight scenes, mature characters, complex themes, less routine episodes, and truly memorable and unique realizations of Shredder, Baxter, and Karai that werent just routine Saturday morning villain like the Nick show provides.

[CyberCubed]

I love Nick TMNT, however I give the nod to 4kids TMNT.

It was the closest we ever had to a serious action show on the level of the best DC or Marvel cartoons.

[Guitar_Raph]

2K3 for Turtle Titan & Wayne Grayson voicing Mikey.

But in my heart (or heartburn to everyone else) I always liked Next Mutation for the costume, Mikey's Sewer Hour & Raph driving a motorcycle for the first time.

[LeotheLateBloomer]

2k3, once again. 2k12 is getting better but it still has quite a ways to go.

Don't we already have a thread on this subject. Why not include the OT, this time?

[NinjaMan]

I prefer the Nick version by a landslide. The Nick Turtles are much more like teens and likeable.

[Bossa Nova]

Definitely 2k3 turtles for me. I didn't watch the 80's turtles growing up and my sole exposure to them for the longest time was through the movies. So when I started finally watch the 2k3 series (the summer before the Nick show started), I really didn't know what I was getting into so my taste for the show really could have gone either way. Turns out, 2k3 turtles are VERY similar to how I imagined them in my mind, and while not everything created during that time was pure gold, I still absolutely adore it.

Nick turtles are sadly leaving me feeling cold. And I went into this show overflowing with hope that I would just love it. But half the time the turtles feel OOC, TOO young (I think some of you are forgetting what it was like to be a teenager), and at times just plain unlikable. April is way too lost for me at this point, and the plotlines feels repetitive and not entirely gripping. Nick turtles are still cute and all, and I'll watch them because they're the turtles, but unless the show does some miraculous 180, the 2k3 show will always get my vote.

[alliance]

wat..is..4kids??

[Jester]

Originally Posted by alliance

wat..is..4kids??

Take it from a guy who's been told he's not funny...you're not funny.

[Drose18]

Originally Posted by alliance

wat..is..4kids??

Whats ur problem?

[Leo656]

Originally Posted by Jester

Take it from a guy who's been told he's not funny...you're not funny.

But nah, why's this topic come up every week now? It's like "Hey man, 'Adventures of Superboy' was soooo much better than 'Smallville', let's all talk about it! Let's compare and contrast two shows that are technically about the same thing but so totally different in approach and execution and even audience that it really isn't very interesting of a discussion! And let's have it naturally devolve into, 'The show I like makes your preference look stupid because I said so!' And let's re-run it every week so the same people get to recycle their circular logic for the benefit of anyone who hasn't seen it in all the other threads."

I mean, I know it's gonna come up, but sh*t, SO much of this lately, and it never ends well.

[Shark_Blade]

Nick.

More relatable characters, OT influence, breathtaking CGI, kickass theme song, human Shredder and Yoshi, best Karai, upcoming perhaps the best Casey Jones (I'm loving what I've seen so far!), etc..

Yep, pretty much.

[Technogeek29]

Originally Posted by Leo656

But nah, why's this topic come up every week now? It's like "Hey man, 'Adventures of Superboy' was soooo much better than 'Smallville', let's all talk about it! Let's compare and contrast two shows that are technically about the same thing but so totally different in approach and execution and even audience that it really isn't very interesting of a discussion! And let's have it naturally devolve into, 'The show I like makes your preference look stupid because I said so!' And let's re-run it every week so the same people get to recycle their circular logic for the benefit of anyone who hasn't seen it in all the other threads."

I mean, I know it's gonna come up, but sh*t, SO much of this lately, and it never ends well.

What he said ^

[Slime State Alumni]

Originally Posted by Leo656

But nah, why's this topic come up every week now? It's like "Hey man, 'Adventures of Superboy' was soooo much better than 'Smallville', let's all talk about it! Let's compare and contrast two shows that are technically about the same thing but so totally different in approach and execution and even audience that it really isn't very interesting of a discussion! And let's have it naturally devolve into, 'The show I like makes your preference look stupid because I said so!' And let's re-run it every week so the same people get to recycle their circular logic for the benefit of anyone who hasn't seen it in all the other threads."

I mean, I know it's gonna come up, but sh*t, SO much of this lately, and it never ends well.

I don't care if anyone likes 2k3 over Nick, or vice versa. This is a discussion board. The point is to discuss. Complaining about people that want to discuss why they like the show/why they don't like the show seems silly. If people take it personally than that's their problem and they shouldn't be on the boards, let alone on a computer with an internet connection.

Going back to the topic at hand, Nick. It's fun, it's thought out, it doesn't take itself too seriously while still having dark elements, and it's made by show producers that understand and love both the source material and the OT. The casting is damn near flawless and the voice acting as a result is always on point. Hell, I even like the theme song. All of the aforementioned points I just made I can't say about 2k3.

[Jester]

Originally Posted by Slime State Alumni

I don't care if anyone likes 2k3 over Nick, or vice versa. This is a discussion board. The point is to discuss. Complaining about people that want to discuss why they like the show/why they don't like the show seems silly. If people take it personally than that's their problem and they shouldn't be on the boards, let alone on a computer with an internet connection.

Leo's gripe isn't with discussing said topic...but discussing it for the 100th time in the 300th thread.

[Leo656]

'Zackly. It's just so overdone lately and usually devolves into bashing, usually involving the same few people. Nobody's opinion offends me, either, but man, how many ways can we ask this question? Nothing against the OP or anyone else's opinion, it's just apples and oranges. Other than being about TMNT the shows aren't even very similar.

Put me down for 2K3, I guess? There's stuff I like and don't like about either one.

[BubblyShell22]

Yeah, I agree with Leo. We've had so many threads about this, and frankly, I think it's overdone to say which you prefer more. For me, I do like 2K3 up to the "Ninja Tribunal" arc. Anything after that was just horrible. So if I had to choose, I'd say Nick right now, though it's questionable since season 2 has just started and I really didn't like what they did in the first episode with Kirby.

[CowabungaMikey]

Originally Posted by alliance

wat..is..4kids??

I agree, 4Kids did a terrible job at dubbing anime... One Piece 4Kids dub... Blegh.

But their TMNT is truly amazing. Almost as dark as the original comics, and with okay voice-acting. My favorite episode is Same as it never was.

I don't know which one I prefer. But I think I have to go with the 2012 show, because that's the show I'm following know. I was too young for the 2k3 show.