#TMNT Red sky seasons

[reshrub]

I wonder why they don't seem to involve other mutants in the "unstable mutations" plot of the red sky seasons. Wouldn't mutants like the punk Frogs and Mondo Gecko also be affected?

[majachee]

Carter calls Donatello "Donnie-Tee" in the red sky seasons. Fun fact. A goober fact, if you will.

Raphael and Leonardo also call Michelangelo "Mikey" in the first Usagi Yojimbo crossover episode (season 3).

Raphael pretty regularly calls Leonardo "Fearless Leader" throughout the series.

Raphael does NOT have a nickname, he's just called Raph-EYE-el or Raph-EE-el. I suggest we start calling him pathetic little oyster man

Reasons to read the ongoing Saturday Morning Adventures (continued) comics:

They get the NICKNAMES!!!

[bicryptide]

They are ⭐girlfriends⭐

[sensitive-g]

Do YOU love out of context posts? I LOVE out of context posts. So here's out of context doodles from an RP me and @sunblind-seabird are doing LMAO we're crazy,,,,,, I just thought they were funny and I wanted to share. He's Leo Mikey and Raph and I'm Donnie and bird bitch oc LOL

here's the closeups. Yes that is Jschlatt Titty Milk. That is Donnie's Jschlatt Titty Milk Gamer Supps.

[whattraintracks]

17. Good Citizen - TMNT 1987

Hmmm, this prompt got me thinking about "Once Upon a Time Machine" (S05E02).

The public perception of the turtles in the Red Sky seasons hurts a lot more when you remember that, in 2036, they're respected heroes—"and it's about time, too!" according to Raphael—who retired comfortably on the surface after defeating Shredder, eliminating crime, and cleaning up the city. After learning this, Raphael says adorably, "I can't wait to meet our famous selves in person!" You may, however, recall this was one of the more preachy episodes where the turtles had to learn a lesson about their actions and thus likely changed the events leading to this future.

Whether it's still their future or an entirely separate timeline, they at least know it's a possibility . . . 40 years down the road. Unfortunately, patience and hope aren't really Raphael's strengths. I can't imagine what hurts worse: waiting so long to be accepted and appreciated when it's all you've ever wanted or thinking you may never have anything like it again.

[reshrub]

I think it might have been mentioned or implied that he is a teenager, so probably late teens. I don't really remember though.

How old was Carter? from TMNT 1987

Iirc it was never specified, but he was in college, so presumably 18-22, though people can go to college later in life. He does seem rather immature and brash at times though, so I'd assume he's on the younger side?

[pocoslip]

If Casey Jones didn't appear in "Cyber-Turtles", I would never watch the Episose

[iztarshi]

I think it's fascinating that 87 TMNT, the version most explicitly aimed at little kids and designed to appeal to them, has being made small and cute and helpless and losing autonomy as a re-occuring threat to the turtles.

Being demutated (and the emphasis is always on being made helpless rather than possible loss of sapience).

Being de-aged.

Being shrunk.

That time Michelangelo was turned into a gerbil.

The ray in the Ireland episode where it was ambiguous whether it would make them smaller and cuter or larger and fiercer and Michelangelo was delighted to find it was the latter.

The guy who wanted them in jail "or at least in a really big glass bowl", which doesn't actually change them but does suggest changing the rules to treat them as pets again.

Then in the red sky seasons the ultimate answer to Raphael's demand to know why they should help humans against Dregg when humans are choosing to trust him is that a lot of humans are still children. They have no say in this but will still be stuck with the future it causes.

It's a story in which growing up is hard, sometimes. The turtles have fun while de-aged. Donatello wonders whether they were better off as pets than struggling to be accepted as people.

But it's a story in which being a kid is hard too and certainly not a state you would want other people to decide you didn't get to leave.

[bulbabutt]

my god tier order to watch tmnt in is this:

watch rise to get into it and fall in love w the concept, then watch it all chronologically.

when i say chronologically i DO NOT mean 87 -> 1990 -> Secret of the ooze -> TMNT 3 -> 2003 i mean watch 87 until you hit the release date of 1990, then keep watching 87 till you hit the release of secret of the ooze, go back to watching 87, then watch TMNT 3 then finish 87.

the reason being the show predates the movies but the show goes on for 10 years so at some point movie stuff is referenced in the show (like the characters referencing "who would watch a MOVIE about TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES", tokka and rahzar showing up, etc)

and its the same for every other show, 03 comes before 07, but 07 is referenced (in style) in s7. 12 predates the bayverse movies, but the bayverse movies are referenced in 12 later on. so take breaks in each show to watch the movies that come out in between seasons.

and dont skip the next mutation. even if you dont like it, watch it because it finishes out the goofy vibes of the 90s so you can appreciate what comes after it. also cuz your brain will be broken already cuz red sky seasons are a boring slog (which you ALSO cannot skip because they are referenced later on) so you'll appreciate the light-hearted goofs.

like i cannot stress this enough, youll have a better time and more appreciation for the franchise if you experience it in the order it all came out cuz you get to watch it grow! then watch rise again and you'll see how much of the essence of the characters is in there.

although my one cop out to the chronological thing is end it with Batman vs TMNT, as you'll end on a fun amalgamation of the characters which will bring you a lot of joy

[shellaxdude]

okay, so im on the second to last episode now and i still dont get it but i do a little more? like the red sky seasons arent bad at all, but theyre just so different from the rest of the show. its probably change that people hate, not the seasons themselves

the only reason why i can understand ppl hating on the red sky seasons of 1987 is bc i miss shredder and krang and bebop and rocksteady so so so much

[pumpkinpie59]

ranking the tmnt shows based on plot writing, character writing, and what my preferences are:

first off, plot writing

6, tnm

idk what to put here.

5, 2012

it really sucks because its first season’s writing is unironically my favorite writing in the franchise. but then the show steadily gets messier and more inconsistent writing as it goes forward. especially in season 4. i wish i could defend it more but it is at the bottom for me. besides tnm ig

4, 87

i actually like the arcs in 87, but the thing with 87 is that … the plot isn’t the point! but i don’t consider that a flaw. the show is a comedy first, and it’s great at what it does. so yes, even if the plot episodes are pretty forgettable compared to the goofier episodes, it’s not the worst thing in the world. but it’s still number 4.

3, rise

rise is kinda weird because even tho most of the series is comedy filler like 87, it’s most known for its plot. but i think it earns that because sometimes the show will throw in episodes that foreshadow the big plot at the end of the season, and it handles it pretty well for the most part.

2, tales

i honestly really enjoyed the way the plots were set up in tales. since it’s pretty new, i won’t spoil it, but i think my only actual complaint was the framing devices they used. but otherwise it was pretty good.

1, 03

every once in a while, the show would have a hiccup writing-wise, but overall i liked the flow of the arcs and stories it was trying to tell. out of all the tmnt shows, 03 was the best at juggling several arcs at once and committing to giving them closure (cough. unlike 2012-).

okay character writing rankings.

6, tnm

tbf this one has venus. and a pretty good donnie.

5, rise

this is so controversial i know. but i just get so frustrated with how the show handles leo and donnie’s writing specifically. they feel ooc half the time and there’s little consistency. and then raph and mikey (my favorites of the team) were sidelined a lot.

4, 2012

mikey has no character growth whatsoever and is an adhd stereotype. donnie’s development gets thrown to the background so you only notice it if you’re paying attention to him the entire time. leonardo gradually gets worse over the course of the series and we never see him get better. they couldn’t decide what to do with karai half the time. april’s arc got switched for a different one halfway through (i still love her tho). the only one with a decent arc is raph, and i still think it could’ve been better ://

3, 03

this is not a knock at 03. i just think that character growth wasn’t its priority. telling stories was. however we do occasionally see them go through arcs. most obvious is leo, but i also enjoy seeing raph get less hostile and trusting leo more over the course of the first season.

2, 87

you’d have to watch the whole show to see it, but there’s almost … an accidental ?? arc for each turtle??? raphael gets angrier up until it reaches typical raphael levels in red sky, donatello goes through ups and downs of wishing he was never mutated while still pursuing human-level knowledge, michelangelo early on in the show wished he was more human (he changes his mind after becoming human once, but the feeling lingers a bit sometimes), and leonardo goes through anxieties related to his team (he acts differently about being without them depending on the season). but even without considering development, their personalities are written fantastically and i love seeing how they interact with the world around them.

1, tales

this is suspect to change since we’ve only had a movie and a 12-episode show. but what i’ve seen so far, i’ve really liked. my only complaint is that donnie feels different in the show vs the movie ://

and ,,, my biases

6, rise

sorry.

5, tnm

guilty pleasure idk what to say. uh. venus de milo. and turtlelamb <33

4, tales

i liked it a lot! i just want more characters and world building. we’ll see where it goes in the future.

3, 03

i love many aspects of the show. it’s not quite as entertaining to me as the next to tho. idk why but my attention span just can’t handle too much of it.

2, 2012

i grew up with this one. does it suck? oh yeah for sure lmao. but it’s nostalgic and i like a lot of the characters. and season 1 particularly is amazing. sucks for the rest of the show tho lol. i will unashamedly bully it.

1, 87

wow. who would’ve— i mean. man. who could have possibly guessed— this one has lotus blossom so i’d say this one can’t be beat.

[reshrub]

Carter went to the future? At least if he went to college he could visit.

[getindumdums]

Hiya! I’ve recently started watching 87 tmnt (out of order, but so far haven’t run into any issues with that), and I was wondering if you had any specific episodes you’d recommend? Whether it’s because it’s got really good writing or it gives a good understanding of a specific character or it’s just generally enjoyable - whatever the reason may be, I’d be interested to hear. So far it’s been a really fun time and I’m excited to keep watching!

Ohhh! Ok. So let’s see… you definitely want to watch the 1st season, it’s only 5 episodes. I think I’m gonna recommend too many here… But!

Splinter No More

The Big Blow Out (has my favorite Brains and Brawn moment) though you may need to watch the previous episode or two since this is a season finale and you might be a bit confused

(Enter the RatKing, Enter the Fly, Return of the Fly, Invasion of the Punk Frogs, Leatherhead Terror of the Swap, 50 Foot Irma, Casey Jones Outlaw Hero, Yusagi Yojimbo, Michelangelo Meets Mondo Gecko, Raphael Meets his Match (Mona Lisa), Slash the Evil Turtle from Dimension X, all seem like good episodes since you see these characters in other iterations.)

The Making of Metalhead (I really like this one)

Take Me To Your Leader, The Four Musketeers, Leo vs Tempestra, Leonardo Lightens Up, Beware the Lotus

Splinter Vanishes

Cowabunga Shredhead

The Big Cufflink Caper

Donatello’s Duplicate, and Night of the Dark Turtle (also the episode with Triceratons)

Dirk Savage Mutant Hunter, Combat Land, Invasion of the Krangazoids, Shredder Triumphant

I love a few of the Red Sky episodes like Cry H.A.V.O.C! And Cyber-Turtles! But they do attempt more of a serialized story here. So I would watch from the beginning.

-

There’s a bunch of other episodes I want to see like Raphael Knocks Them Dead, Back to the Egg, Adventures in Turtle Sitting, Michelangelo Meets Bugman, Enter Mutagen Man, What’s Michelangelo Good For, BugMan, Planet of the Turtloids part 1&2

-

I’ve referenced The Ninja Sword of Nowhere, Raphael Turtle of a Thousand Faces, and I plan to reference Donatello Makes Time, sort of in a future chapter

@iztarshi @snoftshell-snurtle @yellowhollyhock @pumpkinpie59

In case you want to add some ideas!

[hermit-searching]

TMNTposting Raphael edition (Part 2):

Part one can be found here. I really wanted to talk about my favourite little guy but I didn't feel like I had enough space to get all my thoughts down in the last post. So technically the entirety of part 2 is dedicated to 87 Raphael.

When asked who my favourite version of Raphael is, my answer is always a tie between 03 and 87 Raphael. I'm probably biased because they're the versions of Raph I grew up with, well 90s movies Raph is also in there but I really don't remember enough about the movies besides the Ninja Rap scene and I haven't rewatched it yet. The point being, 03 Raph tickles that itch for "more traditional Raphael" while 87 Raphael...I kinda just vibe with the little guy.

At face value he seems about as much of a traditional 'hot head' Raphael as Rise. Neither of them really fit into the "explosive temper" territory as 03, 12, 07 or the original Mirage comic Raph. He's a silly little dude. He likes playing dress-up, stand up comedy, and acting. Of all the versions of Raphael, he's definitely the most 'kid-like'. He's childish, he'll heckle his buddies for laughs, he even tells Shredder to go suck a lemon in the first episode. He's hilarious! But that type of comedy usually ends up getting him, and the other 87 turtles lets be real, into crossovers that horribly mischaracterize the poor kid.

As much as I loved TMNT 03, Turtles Forever is such a disservice to what TMNT 87 was, and who the 87 turtles are. 2012's second crossover with 87 also follows the TMNT 87 hate train, and it's so frustrating as a fan of most TMNT media. I get that the OG cartoon was super silly and tame compared to the others at face value, but every time someone says this I need to remind them it's 1) a cartoon from the 80s, and 2) lowkey really dark the more you think about it.

Such as:

-every time slavery is brought up and a plot for some other planet

-the entirety of the Red Sky seasons

-the humans of TMNT 87 always threatening to eat and or shoot the turtles because they're mutants

-the whole mutant hate sentiment being an allegory for the civil rights movement

But this is a post about Raphael. He's definitely still a funny little dude. But a lot of his humor stems from sarcasm and his cynicism towards the world. Raphael, is well aware humans are not fans of him or his compadres, and often sides with Donatello whenever he and Leonardo get into arguments about helping the humans. Their human friendship circle pretty much just ends with April and that's a dubious friendship at best since they're more or less a bridge towards her next scoop. None of them are really fans of Irma, Casey rarely appears, and the other human characters in the show are usually trying to turn them into kebabs until Dirk Savage the Mutant Hunter which already kind of says enough for itself.

This poor kid is honestly the bravest little dude. More often than not he'd rather run from a fight, or push Michelangelo into one for him. He's scared a lot, really giving off those youngest sibling vibes that are rare for Raphael. He's such a little scaredy cat that he his voice will sometimes sound like a squeaky toy. If Turtles Forever was correct about anything, it would be that Raphael would absolutely burst into tears meeting his Mirage counterpart.

But despite this all, Raphael is still probably the bravest version of Raphael they've ever created. Even though he'd rather scram, and read comics or watch TV. Despite knowing humans have it out for him, and will never accept him into their society. Even though he knows every time he saves them it will be a thankless job, Raphael will fight until his last breath. Like every other Raphael, he will protect the people and city he loves because that's who he is!

One of my favourite episodes in TMNT history has to be Raphael vs the Volcano because it really shows who 87 Raphael is as a person. There have already been a few posts about it recently who have all been far more coherant than I ever will be but let's do it anyways.

Raphael vs the Volcano:

-Donatello's latest invention, a health machine, malfunctions leading Raphael to believe he's unhealthy

-after panicking in the sewers a little bit, he goes back to the lair, only to overhear Michelangelo and Donatello lamenting over the loss of their dear friend.

-assuming they're talking about him, and that he only has a day to live, Raphael runs off, deciding that despite the fact the world sucks he's going to use his last day to make the world a better place

-he does a bunch of good deeds, increasing in danger, wearing a musketeer costume while the other turtles and April try to catch him

-some botanist is mad that a rich lady is taking credit for his discovery so he decides to eliminate all organic life on earth...not really important for Raphael's character except the fact he catches wind of this and takes this as his last deed before croaking.

-Raphael literally jumps into a live volcano to get the canister of anti-life juice, only escaping seconds before it erupts because the turtles arrive in time.

-the lesson of the day? don't jump into live volcanoes.

There's so much to unpack about this episode, but it'd mostly be reiterating the same things I said earlier about him. With a time limit on his life Raphael, despite the way he's been treated by the world will let go of his cynicism and crankiness to help people if it benefits everyone else. The kid shakes the moment he realizes it's been a huge misunderstanding and he's perfectly fine. Throughout the episode he's even saying things like "yeah too bad this is gonna be my last day". Like...he is CONVINCED he isn't making it to adulthood. If you think about it, it's basically what the other Raphs are as well, without the super explosive tempers. They're all just good-natured kids who have circumstances weighted against them, but they'll do whatever they can for the safety of their friends and family.

Please PLEASE give the 87 TMNT cartoon a chance if you've never seen it before. I promise it's actually good, and it has some extremely funny episodes.

[majachee]

*question about someothing you would like to rant about in your tmnt au*

Heroes of New York Raph gets an emo arc

Copied from disc notes:

Kirby has very radicalized opinions regarding mutants and humans, and mixed with his pessimistic view on reality, these beliefs are destructive to himself and those around him. Since he projects onto Raph, he isolates the poor kid. And Kirby's own behavior worsens as events of the story radicalize him further.

Splinter was never mutated in this story, remaining as a human for its entirety. And Raphie-boy here still has inferiority issues and thinks Leo's the favorite. Mix that with Kirby's beliefs that humans will never truly accept mutants, exploiting them for their sole benefit and disgarding them when unneeded, and the fact that Raph is 16 with emotional issues... And whoops! You've got a runaway kid who's taking his anger out on the world around him. Think Raph's "humans arent worth saving" arc in the 87 red sky seasons but like.. with 2012/IDW Raph's emotional issues. Bro has so much fun I prommy

For those unaware, Kirby here is based on an unused character of the same name. Basically, the unused 5th turtle from the cancelled 4th live-action movie (90s) and an IDW cameo character that.. didn't show up in IDW either.

Since he's kinda in that limbo of existing but not being canon... I'm using him. Teehee.

[turtlethon]

Hi there!! I’m such a big fan of your reviews, you did a great job with them!! 😄

My biggest questions would be;

Who’s your favorite turtle? And if you had to choose just five episodes from the series, which ones would be your all time favorites? 😁

Thank you!! Have a great day!!

Thank you so much for the kind words! For the record, I'm Team Donnie, always a big fan of the inventor/scientist archetype. (Also my favourite colour is purple, so he gets an extra point right there.)

I feel like when it comes to picking the top five episodes the natural inclination is just to pick the first five, and with good reason; nothing that came after S1 had as much time, care or money afforded to it. So just to make things interesting, I'm going to set everything from season one aside and pick five more episodes that I think also deserve to be celebrated.

5. THE DIMENSION X STORY

The Turtles having to fight their way into the Technodrome (and back out again) somehow never fully lost its allure. This one and "Shredder's Mom" both rank highly in my estimation, and while this is the less visually impressive of the two I think it wins out for how willing it is to mix things up, sending the Channel 6 regulars to Dimension X while two of the Turtles remain behind. Wild, far flung adventures that tap into the more sci-fi aspects of TMNT, and the cherry on top is that this is easily Vernon's best episode - it turns out he's more interesting as April's rival when he's doing well and she has to work to regain the upper hand.

4. THE NINJA SWORD OF NOWHERE

This one gets few points for innovation - Shredder and his crew jostling with the Turtles for control of some ancient magical artifact or high-tech invention is standard stuff for season three, and in this case, it's a dimension-hopping ninja sword. But rarely, if ever, has it been done this well. Splinter and Shredder battling in dimensional limbo is great, and the animation team handling this one really went above and beyond. Ninja Sword of Nowhere almost feels like it should have been held up as a textbook example of what a Turtles episode circa 1989/90 should be, a reference point that could be shown to writers or animators for what the show should be trying to acheive.

3. SPLINTER VANISHES

The intended 100th episode, even if it didn't turn out that way, and one that I remember feeling like a big deal while watching it as a kid that still held up upon revisiting it as an adult. I always know it's a really good ep when writing the entry for it takes hours as I agonise over it, trying to make sure I articulate everything I want to get across to the best of my ability, and I remember dwelling on this one for a looong time, thinking about how the story compels the Turtles - and us - to consider what happens when the adventures end, when it's time to grow up and move on. Probably the most emotionally resonant episode of TMNT '87, and even though Splinter does not come across well by the end of it, the journeys we go on with each of the Turtles as they explore their post-hero lives easily outweigh that. The fact that "Splinter Vanishes" accomplishes all of this and is a non-Shredder episode - when let's face it, they're more often than not filler shows - makes it all the more remarkable.

2. SHREDDER TRIUMPHANT!

I have mixed feelings about the show continuing into the Red Sky era because this episode, the season seven finale, felt like it had brought TMNT '87 to its natural end point. I love how it plays upon the sense that the Turtles (and the viewers) have that they've seen and done this all a million times before, and it quickly becomes apparent that this time things are different, that finally Shredder and Krang are competent and have learned from all their previous losses, setting the stage for one final showdown. All the main characters - the Turtles, Splinter, the Technodrome regulars and the Channel 6 crew - get their chance to shine and show how they've grown over the course of the show's run. A milestone episode for sure.

1. TURTLES ON TRIAL

I think for me this is still The One, the single episode outside of the first season that I'd consider peak TMNT. It's also the first episode I remember seeing on TV, which I think set me up to have entirely unrealistic expectations about how good Turtles would be; fortunately the rest of the run was still a good time even if we never quite got here again.

I like to see my heroes really have to go through the wringer, to have everything thrown at them and somehow just about make it out victorious, and so the environment we see the Turtles forced to contend with here, a city full of people who have been conditioned to be actively hostile towards them, while they're also dealing with the usual Shredder/Krang stuff, makes for compelling television. Yes, Clayton Kellerman and "On Trial" are a perfect encapsuation of the media landscape at the time - which still feels relevant today - but on top of that this is a gorgeous episode with some terrific battles between the Turtles and Shredder's bunch. It's simply the bee's knees. (Or should that be the turtle's knees?)