#raph and Casey live in my head rent free it’s so loud in here (my mind)

[seagull-scribbles]

Just the two of us~

[glassvines]

Finished Rise, and I have thoughts! Mostly mulling over the pros and cons, as this was definitely a series that prioritized focusing in on new ideas and character directions. There are some spoilers too.

To note, I’m not a gigantic fan of the franchise as a whole. I watched a little bit of the original 80s series as a child, the live movies, the 2007 film and the 2012 series. I’m not 100% up on all the lore or characters. At this point I’m most familiar with Rise and the 2012 series.

Pros:

1. The animation - in particular the action scenes! I liked the addition of their mystic powers, because that added a fun twist to any fight throughout the series. Once the show hit its stride it’s probably one of the most artistic and creative iterations of TMNT. I love the work this animation studio has been doing!! Legit some of the best action-oriented scenes to come out of a Western produced animated series.

2. For the most part, I like how the characters were handled! For instance:

A. April just being one of the gang from the beginning with no explanation. Still a teenager like the 2012 series, but no longer Donnie or Casey’s love interest. (Am I still shipping her with Donnie? Yeah, obviously.) Also loved the nod to her majoring in journalism in the movie.

B. Raph being the leader and not having any rivalry or jealousy issues with Leo. Absolutely LOVED this version of Raph. His characterization veering off into the older protective brother of the group felt right, and I hope this version of him sneaks into other TMNT series.

C. My favorite character change here was Leo. Making him the cocky goofball of the group was genius, because we’re so used to him being significantly more thoughtful and leader-like. We get to watch him grow into the role we were used to seeing him in. This also makes Leo’s usual conflict with Raph super interesting, because RAPH is the one who is always in the right throughout Rise. He just wants his brother to put his family first and to stop putting them in unnecessary danger.

Leo refusing to listen until he’s thoroughly CURB STOMPED by the consequences of his actions in the movie was the icing on the cake of their relationship dynamic.

D. Donnie was my favorite in the 2012 series, and despite the fact that he feels like a completely different character is Rise, he still manages to be my fave in Rise as well lmao. It’s clear they wanted to mix up his characterization, and while they made sure he’s still the nerd of the group, he’s much more grumpy and sarcastic here. Also Josh Brener is so hysterical. Donnie was constantly cracking me up. Dude’s just a total mean girl in this series.

E. Rise’s Mikey was just so adorable. I liked that they really emphasized more on his traits outside of the “youngest, naive brother”. Like his artistic skills and ability to smooth out family conflicts.

3. Listen. The movie is just-!!!

SO GOOD.

It has been living in my head rent free since it was released. (Please please please release an artbook and maybe even a bluray I neeeed them.)

4. Shredder and the Krang in this series were...kind of terrifying. Love me some effective villains.

5. The (English) voice cast was amazing. Just overall very memorable and fitting!

Cons:

1. The comedy was very hit or miss for me, probably just due to the fact that it’s a series for little kids. Don’t get me wrong, there was clearly a pretty big effort in this area, given the overt comedic and episodic nature of Rise. The voice actors all do a fantastic job with range, comedic timing, and gave the dialogue an imrov-ish feel. That’s a lot of good things! Only problem was it just wasn’t grabbing me at all times. Still, the show has enough laugh-out-loud moments to make up for this imo.

2. Would have liked a larger emphasis on the plot. I’m guessing the powers-that-be just wanted a more episodic series (because ad revenue - and this is the current money-making trend of the industry). The series would have benefited from more serious, plot focused episodes. Which it EXCELLED AT when they popped up!

The movie gets exceptionally DARK compared to the series. I would have liked to see just a little more of that.

3. It took me so long to get used to Rise’s version of Splinter. I can see why older TMNT fans maybe thought this series was just mocking the franchise as a whole at the very beginning and bounced. Splinter felt off-putting until they gave him a little more depth as the series went on.

Spoilers: He does end up getting a great backstory, and I definitely loved him by the end of the series.

Really thought he’d have like, this big reveal moment where he tells his sons that he’s Lou Jitsu? But no, they've just always known ahahaha. (EDIT: I stand corrected on this! There was a reveal scene at the end of s1. Obviously, I need to watch this episode again.)

4. New characters and villains were also kind of hit or miss, though I DID love Draxum and Big Mama an awful lot :).

5. Girl!Casey was really just there for me. Like, I have no major thoughts on her. She should have been her own character, though I am really amused they ended up making her, you know, actual Casey’s mom in the movie. That was pretty funny.

6. I know I’ve heaped a lot of praise on the animation, however, some of the non-action scenes at the beginning of the series were very clumsy looking. Not sure if that was due to budget issues, green animators/boarders, or what have you, but it was distracting. Again, I can see why older TMNT fans jumped the gun immediately to hate or indifference early on in the series.

However, now that we can see what the team behind the series came up with down the line, those initial fears should no longer apply. The animation jumps up in quality so severely, that the movie really could have had a theater release. It’s just jaw-droppingly gorgeous.

Aaaand that concludes most of my thoughts. Overall it was a really fun series that deserved more attention. Would love another movie or season if that’s on the table. Fingers crossed the movie is doing well.