I caught TMNT: BACK TO THE SEWERS this morning on CW 4Kids. But in a way, it felt more like a final episode for FAST FORWARD, ending that storyline and venturing back to something more basic.
Frankly, I was a fan of the 2003-2006 era TMNT that was darker, more mature, and had superior character designs. It all wrapped with "THE LOST SEASON", which was entertaining but IMO, I wasn't a fan of the Turtles transforming into giant dragons. I was fine with Chi attacks and all that, but the dragons were a bit much. Aside for that, I felt it was a better way to give the Turtles enhanced attacks and weapons than with the future-tech of FAST FORWARD.
TMNT: FF, of course, streamlined things. The animation designs got more simple, as did the characterizations. The continuity was loosely maintained, but it felt like an entirely different show in terms of tone and plot. It was aiming younger. I gave it about 18 episodes out of 26 before losing interest (basically, I preferred to sleep).
The show starts off with the Turtles finally going home thanks to Cody getting his time portal working again. His design seemed a little different and naturally the Turtles themselves had newer ones, which were more in tune with last year's $75 million domestic grossing feature film. The pupils were back and Splinter more matched his movie counterpart. Still dormant inside the annoying robot Serling is Viral, which pleased me. Out of all the rogues on FAST FORWARD, Viral was my favorite. She screws up the time-trip and transports the Turtles to various time periods (Prehistoric Dino-Era, the Middle Ages, and finally, a "near future"). The Turtles are without their weapons, as Donatello wisely didn't want to mess up with time by purposefully bringing back technology from the future. When Viral ultimately fails, she tries to blast the Turtles, but Splinter seemingly sacrifices himself for his sons, allowing them (and Viral & Serling) to return to present day.
The tone is still lighter than the initial 2003-2006 run of the show and I still am not a fan of the streamlined designs. I do, however, appreciate continuity. Rather than just do THE BATMAN route, Mirage Studios wants to maintain a continuity here, even if this "run" is lighter than the beginning, or designs have changed (Casey and April more resemble their movie designs than the last series'). From Mikey naming a "Zog II" in Dino-Land to having a showdown between THREE Shredders (Utron Shredder, Magic Shredder from Lost Season, and the new Cyber Shredder), it was entertaining.
Still, overrelying on the Shredder is starting to reach farcical levels here. The Shredder wasn't and isn't the only noteworthy threat the Turtles face and he is on par with becoming more annoying than the Joker. And I could have easily done without bringing Serling to the present, or having "Tron Turtles" fighting Cyber-Shredder in cyberspace. Are they the Ninja Turtles, or SUPERHUMAN SAMURAI CYBER SQUAD? Maybe Kilokhan and Cyber Shred can team up.
Still, it is great hearing the same cast for the Turtles contining on for another season, and they're excellent in their roles. Mikey was actually competent, which was good because his "doofus" role got old 2 years ago. The four of them naturally have been voicing the Turtles for over 5 years now and they're pro's. Also, this "relaunch" of the Turtles for the 21st century has now reached a 7th season, virtually unheard of in today's market; the original 1987 cartoon, recall, lasted 9-10 seasons. While this incarnation isn't nearly as popular as the original was, next year celebrates the 25th anniversary of TMNT, and being able to claim 7 seasons of a new cartoon show (and counting), a feature film (with another in pre-production), and over a billion dollars worth of toy and video game sales, the TMNT are still stronger than many over 80's franchises at 25.
While it isn't as good as the SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN that it airs after, TMNT: BACK TO THE SEWERS will be worth a look from me for the next few weeks, if only because I really, really, REALLY missed Casey Jones.
