Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (also known as Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for its fifth season) is an American action, adventure, comedy, CGI-rendered computer-animated television series based on the fictional superhero team. It aired on Nickelodeon in the United States from September 29, 2012 to November 12, 2017. It's the third cartoon series based on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise, after the original series in 1987 and the 2003 version.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012)

Booyakasha, dudes! The Turtles are back again!

Genre:	Action Comedy
Running Time:	22 minutes
Country:	United States
Release Date:	September 28, 2012 – November 12, 2017
Network(s):	Nickelodeon (2012-2017) NickToons (Episodes 11-17 of Season 5)
Created by:	Ciro Nieli Joshua Sternin J.R. Ventimillia
Distributed by:	ViacomCBS Domestic Media Networks
Starring:	Jason Biggs (Seasons 1–2) Seth Green (Seasons 3–5) Rob Paulsen Sean Astin Greg Cipes
Seasons:	5
Episodes:	124
Previous show:	Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003)
Next show:	Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Why It Goes Booyakasha

It is a great way to reintroduce people to the TMNT franchise.
Great animation which improves as the series goes on, with the character designs being faithful to the source material, and the new designs aren't too bad. It was easily the best of the CGI animated shows when the show first aired.
Like the 2003 series, it is a great example of why not all reboots are bad.
It's one of the darkest incarnations of TMNT only behind the first five seasons of 2003, with complex storylines and dark moments that can appeal to adults, which is rare for many kids' shows today. It is easily up there as one of the darkest Nickelodeon shows in history.
The series, while it is fairly dark, doesn't forget to have the cheesy humor the Turtles are known for and it doesn't try to be extremely edgy.
The baby turtles are adorable.
It took the risk of having the villains successfully win in the Season 2 finale when the Kraang took control of New York and in the Season 3 finale when the Triceratons successfully destroyed the Earth, which the Turtles have to deal with the consequences.
As the series goes on, the plotlines get more interesting by the second, with lots of continuity and story arcs.
Decent musical score, coupled with a great opening sequence.
Awesome and exciting fight scenes that feel distinct and unique.
Awesome voice acting.
This version of the Shredder is also a great villain like the other versions, even receiving development himself as his vengeance and vendetta against Splinter slowly make him worse as the series goes on. At the very end, he accepts the villain he once was after his death. He is the only version to express other human emotions but still retains the dark and intimidating presence most of the other versions of Shredder have.
- Shredder ends up mutating into the Super Shredder in the fourth season and here is a huge improvement to his appearance from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze where he is used much more of an unstoppable threat.
Even other villains are also good, such as the Kraang (especially the hilarious Kraang Subprime), Rat King, Kavaxas, the Triceratons, Jei, and the Newtralizer.
Many emotional moments, such as when Leo gets injured, when either of the turtles dies, the deaths of Splinter and his funeral, the destruction of Earth, Splinter saying goodbye to his family before ascending back to the afterlife, the ending of Carmageddon, and also the entire episode of "Lone Rats and Cubs" which focus on the birth of Splinter's heartwarming fatherhood to the turtles after they were mutated.
An epic and emotional series finale.
- Speaking about the series finale, it should be noted that all the season finales are great.
The 1987 Turtles make an appearance in two crossovers in the veins of Turtles Forever and this time are voiced by the original actors.
Lots of references not just to the 1987 cartoon, but from all of the Turtles lore to be found throughout.
The Turtles are still likable and memorable characters with interesting personalities and flaws.
Arguably has one of the best versions of Splinter (who is based on the 1987 TV series as Master Hamato Yoshi) due to his well-told origins and extremely personal connection to the Shredder since they were raised as brothers, and emotional fatherly relationship with his sons, his daughter, and April, as well as despite his strict and stoic nature, can still act as a comic relief which he doesn't act out of character.
A shocking plot twist when it was revealed Karai was Splinter's long lost daughter, Hamato Miwa, with some subtle hints in Season 1.
"Booyakasha!"
The series is responsible for reviving interest in the then-dormant Usagi Yojimbo franchise by giving said franchise's protagonist and regular ally of the Turtles Miyamoto Usagi his arc, which works extremely well with the show's dark tone.
- Heck, Usagi himself is even voiced by an actual Japanese voice actor and he even gives him a serious and gruff Japanese accent to boot unlike his previous incarnations, who are all voiced by American voice actors.

Bad Qualities

The main characters are somewhat Flanderized from their previous incarnation such as Michelangelo turning into a childish dimwit and Raphael being a hothead (although the latter is a hothead in some adaptations).
- Baxter Stockman has become a Butt-Monkey in the series compared to the 2003 counterpart where he said that all his life he has been laughed at, mocked by the turtles, and tortured by the Shredder.
- April O’Neil can be considered a Mary-Sue at times to some people as she knows how to fight many enemies with Martial Arts despite being a Teenager with very little time of training and the moment when it reveals she has psychic powers with very few hints rather than revealing that she’s a half-alien/half-human mutant with little detail how which doesn’t make much sense. Plus, she is very unlikeable when she plays with Donnie's feelings.
- Alopex, who's an Arctic fox in the comics, is now a regular brown fox in the show.
- Miyamoto Usagi uses 2 katanas just like Leonardo alongside a bow and arrow instead of his signature daisho combo consisting of a katana and a wakizashi alongside a bow and arrow.
It has some scary or violent moments that can frighten younger viewers like Splinter's death and Tigerclaw losing his right arm by Alopex which ended up getting cut in the UK and Southeast Asia.
Characters from previous media such as Alopex, Mutagen Man, or Mona Lisa are one-off characters, appearing only once or a few times before never being seen again, which is a wasted effort putting them in.
Some bad or mediocre episodes like "Mikey Gets Shellacne", "A Foot Too Big", and even "The Noxious Avenger", but not too many.
The romantic scenes aren't always good, such as Leo and Karai, which gives a major incestual tone considering Karai was Hamato Miwa, Splinter's daughter, and Leo was Splinter's adopted son.
The animation, though great, does have some ugly moments, especially the mutations and parts of Season 1 due to the outdated rendering.
Can get disgusting for no reason at all.
The show does give too much focus on Leo way too often. One example is in "Owari" when Leo killed the Shredder on his own when all his brothers were defeated rather than with the help of his brothers.
At some moments, the characters can be very unlikeable, especially Raphael.
- Splinter’s strict personality and beating of his sons can make him unlikable at times.
- Kintaro, the pug that Usagi was assigned to protect, never shuts up and frequently gets him and the Turtles in trouble as a result. No wonder why Usagi hates him and never smiles throughout his arc.
- The Turtles themselves can be unlikeable.
  - Leonardo can be bossy.
  - Raphael’s anger and aggression can make him somewhat of an anti-hero.
  - Michelangelo’s childishness and immaturity can make him annoying.
  - Donatello’s crush on April, while cute, can reach to stalker territory, and his jealousy towards Casey can get jarring.
Some of the plotlines were never resolved, like the one with Timothy, also known as Mutagen Man, or what happened to Casey's family, thus ending the stories on cliffhangers.
The series somewhat declined in quality in Season 5 (Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) despite receiving mixed to positive reviews. Some fans consider this season not needed at all, saying that Season 4 could've ended the series. Likewise, Season 1, while well-received, is arguably considered to be the weakest season due to how underdeveloped that season was.
- Speaking of which, Tales of the TMNT did not end the series on a high note at all. It just consists of bizarre side stories for the characters. While it did have a decent crossover with the 1987 series, and redeemed Bebop and Rocksteady in the end, there was no ceremonious way to conclude everything unless you count the post-apocalyptic finale.
Does overplay Splinter's death way too often. For example, in the Season 2 finale when Splinter was thought to be dead but was alive, he then dies in the Season 3 finale which was reversed in "Earth's Last Stand", then dies 11 episodes later.
Speaking of which, the love triangle, while providing many hilarious moments, can get very old when it all could be resolved if April either tells her she isn't interested in either of them or tells who she is interested in. She pretty much knows how they feel about her. The problem is, that it brings out the worst in Casey, April, and Donnie.
The series contains plot holes or inconsistencies, especially in the fifth season. For example:
- Mona Lisa decides to stay on Earth. After that, she was never seen or heard from again (although it was implied she got a job).
- Chompy does not make some appearances. Despite the danger presented in his sewer home, Raphael does not even rescue or at least mention him.
- Tiger Claw doesn't bother to get revenge on Alopex after losing his arm; neither he nor the Turtles even mention her at all.
- Contradictory to the previous crossover, the 1987 Turtles are again portrayed as incompetent in the three-part final episode and had to be trained even though they were able to defeat Krang Subprime alongside their counterparts.

Trivia

The animation was changed from hand-drawn to CGI for this series.
In the next show, Leonardo and Michelangelo still looked like their original counterparts and they were given decals by the creators, and the animation was switched back to hand-drawn.
Usagi's voice actor in this adaptation, Yūki Matsuzaki, became a fan of him while reading the Usagi Yojimbo franchise to learn English when he immigrated to America.

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