My take on Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. (Slamming on ROTTMNT, I included the pros here but will make a post showing off the positive.)
Original April O'Neil is back bby! The first April was black, and a love how they brought that version back. As well as the fact that she was a programmer!
There are a lot of goofs- but a good amount of angst too
Mikey is openly a cuddle-bug
Raph isn't Raphael anymore. It's a new character.
Raph IS NOT THE LEADER. NEVER WAS
April didn't always know how to fight- she was more relatable when learning and eventually getting to where she is now.
I like the mystic world- but the turtles are not wizards. Stop with the glowing hands.
Their weapons. Not authentic at all.
Splinter is an insult to the OG of TMNT
To bright instead of the colder tones TMNT used to have. New York is dirty and cold- not bring LED lights.
TMNT never was an anime- stop trying to be one.
Donnie's sarcasm is also his downfall. He was also more relatable and had a better personality as a simp. He doesn't need to love April, but he had better character development when he had a crush on someone and was the perfect comedic relief.
Nobody feels romance towards nobody. The turtles I mean. They just don't feel human.
People may hate me for this, but this needs to be said. They are Teenagers. Teenagers develop crushes that grow or die away. It makes characters relatable and more human. Forget who is attracted to whom. The point is- romantic interests make things interesting and FEEL REAL.
Classic Splinter always was wise and trained to turtles to be silent warriors of the night. They were serious about their job. Splinter was too. He had a wife, he had a brother. Kurai is debatable, but she sure as heck wasn't their grandma. She was a part of the foot!
Raph had anger issues and was learning how to control his emotions and passion. Mikey was bullied and taken for granted. Leo was spiritual, easily got sick, and was the leader. And Donnie was the tech-wiz, the geek, the nerd, the most relatable one. Not a jerk.
There was a turtle for each type of kid. They had spiritual problems, emotional problems, and physical problems. REALISTIC PROBLEMS IN CHARACTER. The new tmnt is... Not. A little bit, but not so realistic for a 10-year-old kid. Not an 18-year-old college student who has to pay off student loans. It feels like they are ripping out "made for kids" just for more views from an older audience. It feels like they are stealing a part of what could've been the next generation's nostalgic, really good show that they grew up with.
Raph's anger is iconic. AND HIS SAIS. WHERE ARE THE SAIS? I don't care that the mystic weapons are better. BTW, how are broke turtles like Donnie getting ahold of motherboards and intense robotic items? GOVERNMENT LASERS, EVEN? He lives in the sewers! He uses what he has! That is why he was authentic! He found garbage and turned it into something amazing! That was so inspiring to me as a kid.
This show is something else. What angers me, is that they call it the origin story. This barely is canon. Its a new form of the story. I wish they wouldn't call it "the rise of" but rather "a new take of". Like "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles; Retold" or something.
The story is cute. The turtles appeal more to blushing high school girls with their fashion episode. But as a nostalgic cartoonist, I find the good of the show through the "teenage girl" inside of me rather than the "story development / serious cartoonist" side of me. Don't say that I hate ROTTMNT, I don't; it's just too different from the OG and shouldn't be labeled as canon.
Besides that long rant, you can find Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on Netflix, Amazon, and Nickelodeon. It's free on Netflix if you have an account, purchasable on Amazon, and you can watch clips on the Nickelodeon website or their youtube channel.
