TMNT Goes Nickelodeon

[AdventChild]

Yeah, I'm not really feeling it.

The animation and designs are very so-so and still not a fan of. The writing is pretty lackluster. And is it just me or the new villains feel very underwhelming and generically uninteresting esp. the big bad played by John Cena? Already, I'm missing the Shred Head. Though if he does appear later on, I hesitate to see this version's portrayal.

[Kevin]

On 7/20/2018 at 7:43 PM, AdventChild said:

Yeah, I'm not really feeling it.

The animation and designs are very so-so and still not a fan of. The writing is pretty lackluster. And is it just me or the new villains feel very underwhelming and generically uninteresting esp. the big bad played by John Cena? Already, I'm missing the Shred Head. Though if he does appear later on, I hesitate to see this version's portrayal.

My thoughts exactly. Honestly, its the visuals that's really putting me off. It's not clicking with me at all as much as I really want to give this a chance...

[The Deleter]

Seen around four episodes of this, and while it does have a few aspects I wish it were better at, this version of the turtles rocks. The animation is a huge highlight for me, with the action scenes being crazy fluid and dynamic for a cartoon nowadays, but also really expressive and non-static in the downtime. Everyone passing this off as flash has it all wrong; the actual cartoon might be using the software, but the quality of movement is just as good as older cartoons.

The other aspect I love about this series so far is how fresh everything is for the series. I loved most of what I watched of 2012, but at some point the story kept spinning it's wheels in the same story beats and villains and never developing the characters far enough to make a difference, if not forgetting development altogether. So when I stopped watching it, I was really tired of the series, unfortunately. The characters, storylines, villains, and yes, even the designs (which I kinda love now thanks to the animation tbh) make this feel like an entirely new thing, though, rather than a reiteration of anything. It tries to be its own thing, and I really enjoy it for that.

I do wish the show would get a general storytelling arc to it sooner or later, though. The first episode sets things up kinda well (outside of ignoring any origins or exposition, ala a Homecoming) but once that's dropped, there doesn't seem to be any ever present threat. In fact it's kinda hilarious how nonchalantly the series says "There's mutants now, they're everywhere, go nuts" and pushes all the usual drama to the side, lmao. Just slice-of-life Turtle adventures. On one hand I can see this irritating a lot of people, but on the other hand it does work pretty well for the tone and demographic. I just wish there were something meatier to go alongside it. Just because I got bored of the overarching narrative in 2012 doesn't mean I want it gone altogether.

Aside from that I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with the series, though. I've seen people talk about the writing but honestly I don't understand what the fuss is about. There's nothing cringeworthy in it, there's a very natural flow to it which the trailers didn't have, which may be the problem, and some jokes have actually made me laugh, which is more than I can say for 2012. (iirc at least; I remember it being charming but that's it) And despite all four turtles and April being too-cool-4-skool, they're all different enough I feel it's alright in the end, and every episode is making them more and more distinct from each other.

And side note, I love this version of April. With how much she's searching/trying to keep jobs on the side of things, she feels a lot more like a friend the turtles just bumped into, and just randomly shows up to hang out and have a good time with them. The dynamic feels a lot better, and can lead to some pretty great moments all around, lmao. And the turtles entire dynamic with the real world is much better, alongside that. Like with the high school short, they have a bunch of moments when they try to hide themselves from the public, but aren't afraid to risk their identities if something tempts them enough. I.e. pizza. Again, leads to some great moments overall, and I'm glad they don't make a big deal about it as a status quo constantly.

But yeah, overall, it's a pretty cool show 

[Ryannumber1gamer]

Episode 1 is now on Nick's YouTube.

[The Deleter]

1 hour ago, Ryannumber1gamer said:

Episode 1 is now on Nick's YouTube.

There's four more episodes on Nick's website, as well:

http://www.nick.com/rise-of-the-teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles/

Probably should have mentioned that in my first post, actually...

[SenEDDtor Missile]

Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is weird to me, at least based on the pilot episode. It's like a weird combination of some of the things I dislike about the current Meta era of Sonic (Colors onwards), with the heavy jokes and oftentimes tension breaking moments, and the turtles' personality vary from eh to somewhat annoying. Yet it's also mixed with some rather good physical gags that, while not necessarily making me laugh out loud, does actually work rather well and I can't really say that it grates on me the way the Meta Era of Sonic does. The fact that there are actual consequences to what's going on combined with some pretty good fighting scenes leaves me on the side of cautiously interested.

I dunno, it's weird.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

Gonna be completely honest, but based off that first episode, my impressions of the show are not particularly strong. A lot of the jokes didn't hit much for me, the new villain is seemingly just a "join me turtles for we are mutants" villain, and I still didn't really like a lot of the character moments. A few things landed, stuff like Donnie's sarcasm or Raph's stupidity, but nothing else really screamed great. I still don't really like this version of Leo, and I feel like the attempt to make him the quick-talking snarkster has made him blend just a bit too much in with Mikey. April isn't really doing much for me either since she spends the first episode either doing stupid things or getting captured. Splinter was the absolute worse though.

That terrible design mixed with the fact the first episode displayed him as relatively lazy and even callous to the turtles (I honestly felt a bit sickened by when he referred to Donnie as "the purple one"). Like, Splinter is meant to be the wise sensei to the Turtles, their father figure. The guy who was funny in his attempts to actually act as an adult and as a father. Comparing TMNT 2012's first episode to this is a complete joke. We go from a Splinter who was afraid of his family going above surface and wanted to keep them in the sewers where they'd be safe to one that can't even remember his sons' names, or personalities. Like, yeah, it's a gag, but then you're also deliberately altering the personality of a pre-established character for years in order to make a really cheap gag that doesn't even work whatsoever.

If I can give it anything, a few jokes landed and got a chuckle, and I liked that moment with Raph being revealed to have a anxiety issue about being the leader, and the animation for what it is is really energetic and flows nicely, but beyond that, this is pretty much what I worried it'd be from Day 1. A lot of the characters losing their arcs and/or personalities for some cheap gags. Was it as bad as I was expecting it to be? Not at all. I thought it'd be an unfunny trainwreck. This at the very least got a few chuckles from me. But beyond that, it feels like such a massively insane downgrade from the other forms of current Turtle Media, where IDW Turtles and TMNT 2012 was able to balance out the arcs and character with the humor and action, and now the former feels like it's been lessened for the latter which doesn't even feel great. 

Idk, maybe the other 3 or so released episodes improves these issues, but if Episode 1 is your indication that this is a good series, I have to absolutely disagree unfortunately.

[Forte-Metallix]

Finally watched the pilot, and it feels like I breathed a sigh of relief with the force of a hurricane.This is a really solid new iteration of the series! Lots of jokes got laughs out of me, and none made me cringe. I like all the new characterizations with the exception of Splinter, who comes off as pretty negligent. And Baron Draxum's a pretty cool villain, especially with his "comically serious" demeanor. 

Surprisingly, I think Donnie might be my favorite character in this show- He's got all the best lines and has definitely upped his game by not only having the best weapon, but having built it himself instead of getting a magical upgrade like the others!

So yeah, my view of this show has done a near-180 from when Nickelodeon first unveiled it. It's clearly different from other TMNT shows, but I think I can enjoy this cartoon on its own merits.

Now if only Mega Man: Fully Charged could change my mind, too.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

52 minutes ago, Forte-Metallix said:

Finally watched the pilot, and it feels like I breathed a sigh of relief with the force of a hurricane.This is a really solid new iteration of the series! Lots of jokes got laughs out of me, and none made me cringe. I like all the new characterizations with the exception of Splinter, who comes off as pretty negligent. And Baron Draxum's a pretty cool villain, especially with his "comically serious" demeanor. 

Surprisingly, I think Donnie might be my favorite character in this show- He's got all the best lines and has definitely upped his game by not only having the best weapon, but having built it himself instead of getting a magical upgrade like the others!

So yeah, my view of this show has done a near-180 from when Nickelodeon first unveiled it. It's clearly different from other TMNT shows, but I think I can enjoy this cartoon on its own merits.

Now if only Mega Man: Fully Charged could change my mind, too.

Not very good then I take it?

[AdventChild]

Well, guess who takes a look at the new incarnation?

Spoiler

I do agree how the characters feel one-note and practically the same. And I'm still not that really interested in this incarnation.

 

[Meta77]

April still annoys me

[Conando]

After watching a few of the episodes that Nick put up, I can say it’s not bad. It’s not amazing, but it can be fun and entertaining. The highlight is the animation for action scenes, they’re phenomenal. The voice acting has ranged from solid to great too, even Cena was pretty good as Drax. I do hope they start to give the series a direction in time, though. After 2012’s connected plot, it can be a bit aimless.

[DabigRG]

So, how did you guys like the 2012 CGI series overall?

What were some of your favorite(and/or least favorite) characters and episodes?

Is there anything that you wish the series had done more with during it's run?

[Forte-Metallix]

Nick just released the full version of the theme song, and...

Yeah, this is my new favorite TMNT theme. I keep getting more and more amazed at how good this show ended up being despite making such controversial changes.

[DabigRG]

On 8/16/2018 at 9:52 AM, Meta77 said:

April still annoys me

Still huh?

[Meta77]

46 minutes ago, DabigRG said:

Still huh?

Still. I think the april from the last nick show was pretty good, that red haired one never really grew on me. Didnt she become a ninja late in the show

[PC the Hedgehog]

Watched the first episode of the new show a few days ago.

It's funny. Like, REALLY funny. I don't know if I've ever laughed that hard at a Ninja Turtles ep, and it was the first one! Sure, the characters are kind of samey and the animation can be pretty choppy at times, but my gosh, the one-liners and line delivery are top notch. Rob Paulsen's first stint at voice directing is a good one, and the voice actors completely own their roles. Every subtle nuance of their performances is spot on.

[DabigRG]

10 hours ago, Meta77 said:

Still. I think the april from the last nick show was pretty good, that red haired one never really grew on me. Didnt she become a ninja late in the show

She was training to become one since near the end of the first Season iirc, but yes, she'd completed her training in the second half of Season 4.

Any particular issues?

8 hours ago, PC the Hedgehog said:

 Rob Paulsen's first stint at voice directing is a good one, and the voice actors completely own their roles. Every subtle nuance of their performances is spot on.

Rob Paulsen directed this?

[PC the Hedgehog]

14 hours ago, DabigRG said:

She was training to become one since near the end of the first Season iirc, but yes, she'd completed her training in the second half of Season 4.

Any particular issues?

Rob Paulsen directed this?

Yep.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

It took me forever but I finally caught up and finished Season 4 of the 2012 show.

It's honestly a shame that the space episodes happened as the lead-in, because honestly, as soon as the stupid monster of the week space stuff is done, the season seriously ramps up and fixes a lot of the issues from the previous seasons. It refocuses the plot back squarely onto the Turtles, Splinter, and their conflict with The Foot Clan, leading into an inevitable final confrontation. But more importantly, every episode somehow manages to tie back into the main plot. There's a random episode with bug mutants? Oh well it turns out it's Baxter Stockman trying to create an army while researching super mutagen for Shredder. It not only delivers some of the best written episodes of the show, but they make it feel like an interconnected plot that isn't wasting time with filler. The ending too is downright just a perfect conclusion to the show as a whole, to the point I'd argue you could've ended the show here and now and it would've been great.

[Forte-Metallix]

Very surprised to announce this show's finally brought in a classic TMNT villain, though not quite how you'd expect:

Spoiler

Baxter Stockman, now known as Stockboy because this version's a kid who works at a grocery store, but he still retains his gimmick of eccentric inventor/cowardly egomaniac.

Sounds bizarre, but this show's writers have consistently proven to me thus far that they can pull off massive changes.

 

[DabigRG]

4 hours ago, Fear-Metallix said:

Very surprised to announce this show's finally brought in a classic TMNT villain, though not quite how you'd expect:

  Hide contents



Baxter Stockman, now known as Stockboy because this version's a kid who works at a grocery store, but he still retains his gimmick of eccentric inventor/cowardly egomaniac.

Sounds bizarre, but this show's writers have consistently proven to me thus far that they can pull off massive changes.

 

Dexter from the hood, baby!

[Sonictrainer]

....so this came out today...

 

[DabigRG]

2 hours ago, Sonictrainer said:

....so this came out today...

 

That's just coming out? I remember an camcorder version of that going up on Youtube a good while back, as well as the bit with Donnie & April being shown in an old ComicCon panel.

It does sound better with music, though. 

[Echidna Adventurer CC14]

It actually released a while ago, but attached to the end of one of the Season 5 episodes.