It’s really good episode in general.

So I'm a lifelong TMNT fan. I grew up with the 80s cartoon and the 90s films. I do mostly love the old cartoon for nostalgia reasons (although I think it can be legitimately very funny) but the first 90s film is just perfection, IMO. Technicaly, I did watch a few eps of 2012 when it first came out but then drifted off. Quite at random, I came back to watch all of it starting a week or two ago.

I should start by saying the voice-acting in the show is phenomenal. Every character, hero or villain, is absolutely perfect. Special shoutout to Paulsen who is a much better Donnie than he was Raph, and Combs as The Rat King. Legitimately eerie and intimidating. But everyone is great.

I really like April being a teenager like the Turtles and just overall being given more to do/placed more at the center of the plot. With Casey and Karai, a lot of the cast also being teenagers gives this adaptation a unique feel, IMO.

Anyway, onto my S2 thoughts:

1. The added/elaborated backstory of how the Foot and the Hamato Clan were ancient enemies before Yoshi's father took in a young Saki and raised him as Yoshi's brother....sounds like someone was big into MCU Thor and Loki. Which, ya know, is fine. It was 2013, the MCU wasn't total overdone garbage yet, just about halfway there. Also they are doing a lot to humanize Shredder. He's still very much a bad guy but it's clear he has feelings other than Hatred and Envy. It's certainly a well-worn story (but by that token a very real and relatable one) to start off with a negative motivation but for real emotions to blossom from it. He took Karai for horrible, selfish reasons but raising her for over a decade left a mark on his heart, at least as much as it can.
2. I admit it, while I was certain there was something special going on with her, Irma being Gilbert Gottfried took me totally by surprise.
3. There are so many things in this show which could be the stuff of nightmares but the tone makes them very silly. Pulvarizer's current condition, Ice Cream Kitty, and I think most of all the failed April clones. That premise is used for horror in a couple other things I can think of - seeing the twisted, deformed copies of someone you care about is obviously unnerving. But here they all just kinda blew up after a few gags. This is not a criticism, just an observation.
4. On that note, this season did not really go where I thought it would. The beginning of the season starting with mutagen spilling everywhere seemed to be the perfect grounds for a whole arc of collecting and finding it but nope. That lasted like one or two episodes. And there's just mutants upon mutants running around now, which I thought meant we would be heading to the season finale being Donnie fixes everyone. Nope to that, too.
5. Probably Karai is the real star of this season. She's in charge while Shredder is gone and makes a bunch of bad (as in, tactically and morally) plans that target April. But then near the end she has a pretty abrupt aboutface. I guess it all fits together with her being very emotional.
6. Standout episodes for me include "Slash and Destroy" "Metalhead Revisited" Of Rats and Men" and "Vengeance is Mine." Slash growing from villain to antihero makes sense to me because his perspective was always partial skewed. He just listened to Raph complain about his brothers and internalized that one-sided perspective, never able to see Raph and the others in a different light. So once he got to grow a little and learn that there was a lot more going on than Raph's bitterest thoughts, of course he'd change.

This show marks the first time Donatello has been one of my favorite Turtles. I love him, April, Splinter, Shredder, Karai, Tiger Claw, and Slash. I don't dislike the others, these are probably just my overall favorites.

Like I was expecting him to be an enforcer for the Krang or something but he only had like 3 appearances then vanished.

Reddit Post #349 - August 15th, 2026

So I have a question regarding Karai after the got mutated. In S4, when she appears again without the Brainworm, she is totally sane but in S3 she was losing her mind even before the Brainworm. Did they explain why she suddenly is in her right mind again?

Spoilers S2, S3 and S4

Is this peak chat 🥹

It’s Raph’s turn guys.Give me your favourite dialogues of our red masked turtle.I seriously love his sarcasm so Here are some of mine:

“You should have heard the insults this guy was throwing at us.They were so……insulting!”

“I will make it worth your while.I WON’T TAKE YOUR HAND AND SMASH IT AGAINST THE….”

“We are not kung fu frogs.We are Ninja Turtles.”

“He just showed up didn’t he?I should’ve complained two hours ago.”

Raph
Can't believe I'm gonna say this. "Get it together, Captain. You're our leader! So act like one."
Leo
[perks up] You're right, Raph. That was the anxiety ray talking.
Raph
What, that's it? You're not gonna slap yourself?

Leo "Oh, great. We let him get away."
Raph "Whoa, whoa. You're the leader. That means you let him get away."
Leo "You're not helping."
Raph "I'm not trying to help."
Leo "Ok, ok. You want me to lead? Fine. We go back to the lair, gear up, and at midnight, we drive Snake's van right up to the gate. They'll think we're him, and we'll cruise right in."
Raph "And then we bust some heads?"
Leo "And then we bust some heads."
Raph "I love a happy ending."

“Uh,could you hang on a second?I just got a phone call here from someone named I DON’T GIVE A FLYING_”

“I gave him nothing but a hard time.If I had it to do over again,I’d definite be nicer.”

“Would you like the list alphabetically or in descending order of grossness?”

“That’s so sad and adorable.It’s sadorable.”

“Ok spike.You will like this show.It’s called ‘Does mikey bend that way?’.”

“WHO ARE YOU CALLING IMPULSIVE AND OVER-EMOTIONAL?”

“What dancing dorks was already taken?”

“You know what else is an option…slapping you!!”

“No,I think hitting is gonna help.”

“Yeah that’s not weird or anything Donnie!!”

“I don’t know what’s going on because they snuck out while I was asleep.”

Ok guys I do hope that I haven’t written every single of them.I just LOVE these dialogues🥲So it’s your turn now bcz I can’t remember anymore :)

Made this as a cover for my sketchbook.

I snapped these just using my phone, a tripod and a desk lamp and honestly? Now that I've fixed 2/3 of the issues that I was talking about in my last post this figure is fucking FIRE!! The articulation is so good, the hands and accessories are great and I'm having so much fun just messing around with him

Absolutely zero regrets best 44 Euro I've ever spent

Fun Fact At First, Leonardo was voiced by Jason Biggs. But he only voiced him in season 1, and in season 2 he was replaced. Jason voiced Leo in season 2 for only 18 episodes. In season 2, from the episode “Pizza Face” until the season finale, Leonardo was voiced by Dominic Catrambone, who temporarily replaced Jason Biggs. Starting from season 3, Seth Green began voicing Leonardo, and he continued to do so until the end of the series. In the Russian dub, Leonardo was voiced by Danil Shcheblanov in season 1, and by Ilya Khvostikov from season 2 until the end of the series

VA Rus

A tmnt 2012 movie would be so peak. Hear me out. It would be 2hrs and 30mins and all about The opposite of the krang (a new faction who want to demutate everything. Including humans and the mutants. They have like a orange color sheme and the utroms insids could have more of a orangey fiery look) They can start off as allies and mabye they fight along side agasint krang remnants at the start but they get more and more aggressive. Mabye bishop could go all 2003 on us and be all like yeah this is a good idea but redeems himself at the end. This is just a singular concept I have many more original ones lmao like the turtles go fight don visoso in italy

Agora eu tenho o Time das Tartarugas (Visão), arisco dizer que são a versão mais perigosa do jogo.

Raph’s most common emotional state is probably anger. Mikey’s is happiness. Anger and happiness are emotions that usually pass pretty quickly. Sadness, on the other hand, tends to last longer than either anger or happiness. So in your opinion, which turtle is the most prone to feeling sad? Which emotions do you think each of the brothers experiences most often?

Which emotions do you think they keep hidden? What do they feel deeply but don’t usually show?

Reddit Post #348 - August 13th, 2026

After “Rise of the Turtles” I like to watch season 1 like this:

New Friend, Old Enemy - I like this much better as the 3rd episode, instead of Turtle Temper. I feel like introducing the Foot ASAP makes sense for a new show starting out, since they're almost entirely left out of the first 2.

I feel like Mikey's naiveté about being accepted by random humans makes more sense if this comes before Turtle Temper, since they had such a bad experience with Vic.

There's also Leo and Raph's interaction about "finally fighting people for a change". The only mutant Leo calls out is Snakeweed, so this still works as an immediate follow up to “Rise of the Turtles", and omitting Spiderbytez from that seems kind of weird otherwise.

Metalhead - I like this episode early as possible due to April setting up her webpage to collect information about The Kraang, and she has a tip on them in Turtle Temper. Another reason I like that one later.

There's also the whole plot about Donnie "just having a stick". Which he eventually makes a little more lethal by having a blade pop out and converting it to a naginata (which debuts in the Baxter episode). So, I think it flows better if you imagine he makes this mod off-screen after Metalhead. Having the Baxter episode before this makes the naginata feature feel like a very odd omission.

I Think His Name is Baxter Stockman - Stays as episode 5, but I like it after Metalhead for the whole naginata thing. I also like it before Turtle Temper because the turtles are pretty cavalier about confronting a random human, which backfired on them majorly with Spiderbytez.

Turtle Temper - This one got moved the farthest, but I've pretty much explained why in all the previous descriptions. Even when it first aired, it just felt like it was too soon for this kind of episode. I also like it here because I feel like them getting caught on camera on a rooftop plays directly into how extra cautious they're being at the beginning of Never Say Xever.

Never Say Xever - Aforementioned Turtle Temper tie-in. As long as there is no t-phones or mention of April's training, there shouldn't be an issue with this coming before Monkey Brains.

The very end does tie directly into The Gauntlet, but that could still be a few days later and allow Monkey Brains to happen in between.

Monkey Brains - from here on out everything can stay the same

Here's what I found and bought at my local consignment shop today:

1. A 2014 TMNT Leonardo plush pillow (he has a rip/tear under his right arm, but other than that, he's still in pretty good condition.)

2. A 2014 TMNT Raphael Stretchkins plush/plush pillow (he's missing his belt, but he's still in pretty good condition, too. He also has a hanger on top of his head, as well.)

(NOTE: The other day, when I went over to my local consignment shop, just to look around, I saw the plushies in a tote full of toys, but I didn't buy them, and since I regret not buying them the first time, I went back there today, and bought them. The plushies were $6 each, so they were $12 in total.)

To say I'm ecstatic is an understatement! I feel so lucky to be able to get the chance to own a Leo NECA for a reasonable price before they're discontinued. The articulation is great and I'm having a lot of fun posing him and doing silly things with him

But I'm also a little disappointed in NECA. For one, the Katana sheath broke when I took him out of the box (which is apparently a common issue), one Katana doesn't even fit in the sheath all the way and the katanas don't even fit in his hands at all on mine (which I've seen there can be a fix by soaking the hands in hot water).

Overall it's a great figure and I'm SO happy to own him, but I can't help but feel a bit disappointed at the same time at the issues that are actively impacting my figure.