YMMV / Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

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A-G

• Adorkable:
  • As always, Michelangelo. He's the artistic type with a love of sci-fi movies and puppies.
  • Leonardo also has his moments. Even though he tries to act suave and confident, episodes such as The Gumbus show that he's very easily flustered and panicky if he doesn't know what's going on.
  • April's eagerness for her interests (particularly in the supernatural) and her genuine care for her friends make her quite endearing.
  • Sunita shows this quite a bit. Her debut has her interested in usually mundane things like pretzels. Justified since she's a yokai who mostly has lived her life in the Hidden City.
• Alternative Character Interpretation: With the knowledge that Master Splinter/Hamato Yoshi is movie star Lou Jitsu, the same man whose DNA is in the turtles AND a former Battle Nexus Champion, is him lounging in front of the TV just his way of trying to avoid/relive his past or him being ashamed of what has happened to him and not wanting his sons to follow his path? The first interpretation is confirmed in “Turtledega Nights: Rat Man” when he confesses to Donatello that he really does want to relive his glory days and the second interpretation could be from “Goyles, Goyles, Goyles” when he proclaimed that he didn't want to fight anymore after being stuck in a cell for who knows how long.
  • Big Mama's feelings for Splinter/Lou also come into play. She did seem to truly love Lou, evidenced by her reaction of Lou proposing to her, but at the same time she did throw him into the Battle Nexus. Even after being mutated into a rat, she still has feelings for him. Was her sending him to the Battle Nexus her way of accepting the proposal? Making this difficult is that in “Goyles, Goyles, Goyles”, Lou has been stuck in his cell and hasn't fought "in ages" according to Baron Draxum — is it because she doesn't want to lose Lou and is trying to keep him safe or she doesn't want him to run away at a moment's notice?
  • In the series finale, the Foot Recruit betrays Shredder due to his cruelty, but given that the person who was about to die, Splinter, being one of the few people in the series to try and give her positive reinforcement and having saved her life just recently, she may have been reluctant to do it due to Splinter showing her genuine kindness.
• Aluminum Christmas Trees: Despite April's protests, Splinter was right—there are shoes out there called "Kickies". It's a brand that makes comfortable sandals, house slippers, and sneakers.
• And You Thought It Would Fail:
  • After first looks, many fans didn't cotton to the designs right away and the first previews likewise scared some off due to how more urban the turtles and April are in this version. But as it went on and more of the myth arc started to open up, fans came to love animation style and accepted its differences, citing it a worthy addition to the franchise and even a great divergence from the norm while staying true to its predecessors.
  • Splinter's character when he arrived was derided for being everything that the original Splinter wasn't. After focus episodes like “Evil League of Mutants” and “Shadow of Evil” depicting that he was originally famous action star Lou Jitsu, and the season 1 finale showing how much that he truly loves his sons, many fans warmed up to this interpretation.
• Awesome Art:
  • While the angular art direction of the series initially received mixed reception, footage of the show's ambitious animation won critics and Sakuga enthusiasts over with its Animesque usage of animation techniques (such as impact frames and dynamic keyframes). The shocking part is that the outsourced animation studio is still western, the Sydney-based Flying Bark Productons, with no resume for doing heavily action-oriented cartoons.
  • The opening is impressive for a number of reasons, mostly fluid action, an impressive mix of 2D and 3D animation and for not cutting between scenes once.
• Awesome Music:
  • The main theme of the show will make you scream "Turtle Power!"
  • The song briefly sung by The Turtles in "Al Be Back". Sure it was just in their imagination and they're really terrible musicians, but one wishes to hear the rest of this song.
  • "Warring Warrior Scientist" from “The Evil League of Mutants” which is a jaunty jingle about Baron Draxum's connections to the turtles.
  • The turtles and April sing a lovely ditty in the beginning of "Snow Day".
  • Donatello's improvised rap verse in "Mystic Library". It's very catchy, albeit brief.
• Base-Breaking Character:
  • Splinter was The Scrappy at the beginning for his Adaptation Personality Change into a lazy Couch Potato. And while he was Rescued from the Scrappy Heap later, there is still a split regarding whether his early characterization was necessary. Some argue his early characterization was an interesting subversion of an established character that paved the path for a great Character Development arc while others complain that his personality post-Character Development should've been his default, rather than forcing the viewers to slog through a worse version of an iconic character, just to reverse the change later anyway.
  • Leonardo is pretty much loved amongst fans of the series, feeling as if he's a breath of fresh air for the character that gets many moments of comedy and badassery in an entertaining way. However, there are parts of the fandom that think his characterization is too wacky and snarky to be considered Leonardo as he lacks many things the character is known for, most notably a sense of responsibility
• Broken Aesop: "Insane in the Mama Train" and "End Game" tell us the aesop of "Don't be held back by tradition and its good to be yourselves" except that the turtles DID improve, a lot, after being trained in the old ways, and their slip-up that resulted in their capture wasn't due to the training's limitations (like preventing the use of technology or not caring about your family and friends in order to complete the mission), but their own fault by not checking for traps and trying to tackle Draxum themselves instead of just grabbing the armor and escaping, which they should have done. Rubbing salt on the wound, Splinter shreds the scroll of his ancestors after being told that the turtles are better being martyrs rather than the alternative of letting the foot clan unleash Shredder, while it's a hard lesson, its a 'correct' one.
• Captain Obvious Reveal: Big Mama's newest champion, the Shadow Fiend, turns out to be The Shredder. Considering he's the only villain on the show to have the Implacable Man status and Big Mama's very ambiguous plans for him at the end of "Many Unhappy Returns", it's pretty easy to put two-and-two together with just his background reintroduction.
• Character Perception Evolution: Initial reactions toward Splinter were very negative, due to his very hands-off parenting style, laziness, and Gonkish character design, with a number of established fans feeling the character was a major step down from prior incarnations. However, as Season 1 went on and fleshed out his laziness as being a result of trauma, as well as the series giving him more character focus that affirmed that he loved his sons, this managed to elevate him to a more divisive character, with many fans feeling the show didn't do enough to get past the bad first impression, while other fans felt more sympathetic toward him, or at least considered the new characterization an interesting experiment.
• Character Rerailment:
  • A major complaint throughout several of the previous incarnations is that Mikey's artistic capabilities (and personality) often get downplayed if not completely tossed out in favor of making him purely a one-note comic relief character who often becomes Unintentionally Unsympathetic due to his childish actions. The previous cartoon's Mikey in particular gets hit hard with this complaint. Here, his artistic abilities are actively acknowledged as a major part of his character and he's only slightly goofier than his brothers.
  • Similarly, a common complaint across the franchise is that many writers tend to forget that Raph genuinely loves his family despite his anger issues and other problems in order to play him up as The Resenter to Leo who is threatening to leave the group every other issue/episode to provide angst and edge to any given storyline. Here said love for his family and his Bruiser with a Soft Center qualities are emphasized and put on display quite often. (Although there are some who wish this Raph was a little angrier).
  • After the base breaking personality given to him in the 2012 series, Donnie returns to form by being focused on science more than any given love interest, and regains his more dry sense of humor rather than being the butt of many jokes.
  • Splinter is characterized as lazy and a bit of a jerk, which was a divisive interpretation of the character. Later in Season 1, his laziness becomes downplayed and he shows he does genuinely love his sons, bringing him more in-line with traditional incarnations of the character.
• Common Knowledge: Splinter gets flack from some viewers for referring to the turtles by their mask colors, which insinuates that he forgets his own son's names. However, there have been several scenes where Splinter would use their proper names, usually when things get serious, so referring to them by their colors are very likely just nicknames for them.
• Complete Monster:
  • The Shredder, unlike most incarnations, is actually a demon residing inside of the Kuroi Yōroi. After Oroku Saki made a deal with an oni and was given indestructible armor, the demon within the Kuroi Yōroi possessed Saki, corrupted his body, and trapped his soul within the armor while the demon used its new body to cause wanton destruction throughout Japan. After being dormant for hundreds of years, the Shredder returns in the present after the armor is reconstructed; the Shredder wastes no time attacking various public venues and nearly killing countless civilians. When the Shredder gains full sapience in the finale, the Shredder immediately goes after Karai, mortally wounding her and stealing her power in an attempt to become immortal. Having only gained a fraction of the power, the Shredder later takes Baron Draxum and Master Splinter captive, forcing the former into exposing his stash of Empyrean so the Shredder can use the substance to achieve full power and unleash its fury across the world.
  • The Movie: Krang One is the brutal, unfettered leader of an alien race that assimilates and destroys planets. Krang One was exiled from Earth before the series began by a group of warriors who stopped his plans for Earth. Released in the present, Krang One sets about trying to transform and assimilate the Earth into his domain, even succeeding in a Bad Future. Forcefully and painfully transforming his minions, the Foot Clan, into mindless soldiers, Krang One uses them to begin a wave of destruction and death all across New York. Krang One mentally tortures Raphael and later molds him into his pet soldier to have him fight his brothers. Krang One later reveals that his ultimate goal is to spread across and assimilate the entire universe to make it his kingdom. Taking immense glee in others suffering, with the belief that the strong exist to devour the weak, Krang One stands as one of the Turtles' darkest and most serious foes.
• Creepy Awesome: The show’s depiction of the Shredder as a terrifying, almost-demonic Humanoid Abomination has been widely seen as one its biggest high points.
• Critical Dissonance: Despite initial doubt, most fans have fallen in love with the series shortly after its premier thanks to the balance of action and comedy as well as refreshing the turtles in terms of characterization. Critics, meanwhile, are more polarized due to the changes in tone and general direction.
• Crosses the Line Twice:
  • The Turtles' music being so bad that some of the Albeartos are Driven to Suicide in "Al Be Back".
  • In "Evil League of Mutants", Repo Mantis is at one point shown trying to repossess an old woman's oxygen tank.
• Crossover Ship:
  • Shipping this version of Leo with Yuichi Usagi from Samurai Rabbit: Usagi Chronicles is fairly common. The fact that both franchises are closely connected through numerous crossovers both in cartoon and comic form certainly helps.
  • Michelangelo being shipped with Miles Morales rapidly grew in popularity around the time Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse released to theaters due to the Theme Pairing of the two being artists.
• Cult Classic: The show was Screwed by the Network and put in an incredibly inconvenient time slot on a channel not everyone could access, but it maintains a really vocal following due to its unique take on the established characters and lore as well as its incredible animation.
• Ensemble Dark Horse:
  • The energetic wrestling announcer/referee/promoter/wrestler Jessica Jaclyn from "Shell in a Cell" has gotten very popular, for reasons that should be obvious. To the point that some fans say her design should have been April's instead. Her performance by Cree Summer helps out.
  • Boss Bruce from the episode You Got Served also has a following within the scalie crowd, likely due to being a handsome dragon.
  • The Mud Dogs from "Raph's Ride-Along" are quite popular for not only being Evil Counterparts to the Turtles with cool designs, but due to all of them (save for Heinous Green) having the same voice actors as the previous Turtles.
  • Repo Mantis of the episode with his same name, also has followers and fans, probably because he is a pretty praying mantis, because of his personality greedy and his love for cats.
• Estrogen Brigade: Despite that this iteration (like many of TMNT’s animated shows) is aimed towards young boys, the show has garnered a niche of teenage female fans, likely due to many female fans of TMNT appreciating the more wholesome interactions between the characters, mixed with the cute and pleasant redesigns of the turtles.
• Evil Is Cool: The Shredder, as always. In what might be one of his most powerful incarnations yet, this unique take on the Shredder is a demonic armor who destroys everything around him with unmatched ferocity. Though he spends much of the series as a mindless beast, he quickly establishes himself as a nearly undefeatable Genius Bruiser once he regains his intelligence in the series finale.
• Fanfic Fuel:
  • The plot of "Cloak And Swaggart" was about Meat Sweats getting Sunita's cloaking device to regain his human appearance. What would've happened if it was Splinter who got it instead so he could become Lou Jitsu once more?
  • What would Lou's life had been if he didn't become Splinter and he had to raise the turtles on his own?
  • "The Clothes Don't Make The Turtle" became a train for numerous pieces of fanart of the turtles in the spiffy suits they wore.
  • The series finale confirms that the Utroms exist in the setting, which lends its way to fan reinterpretations of existing alien races or characters from prior continuities such as the Triceratons or Fugitoid.
  • The series finale features Leonardo becoming leader, likely to lead in to the Netflix film, but also works as a launchpad for fanfics about Leonardo coping with his new role.
• Fanon:
  • While official sources are unclear about the relative ages of Leonardo and Donatello (simply stating that the two are both 14), many fans consider the two to be unofficial twins with Donnie being slightly older. However, there is a substantial fan base that believes Donnie is slightly younger.
  • It's very common for fans to interpret this iteration of Leo as being gay (or otherwise falling under the mlm label). This is namely because of his overall flamboyant personality as well as his behaviour in The Hidden City Job, where he visibly checks out a seemingly male Yokai's butt and openly fawns over Don Suave.
• Foe Yay Shipping: During the "Warring Warrior Scientist" song of "The League of Evil Mutants", Baron Draxum is shown to be goddamn awestruck at Lou Jitsu's muscular glory to the point that he used Lou's DNA for his mutant army. In the episode "Hidden City's Most Wanted", Mikey directly refers to Splinter and Draxum as "My two dads." Shortly afterward, Draxum (referring to Mikey) tells Splinter to "Get our boy out of here."
• Friendly Fandoms:
  • With Glitch Techs another well animated cartoon that was also Screwed by the Network by Nickelodeon but found a new life on Netflix. Fans of Rise are hoping to also get this show on Netflix too.
  • Fans of the Sonic the Hedgehog (film series) get along very well with Rise of the TMNT fans due to Leonardo and Sonic having a lot in common (specifically having the same voice actor) to the point that it has become common having videos where Leo and Sonic swap voicelines.
• Genius Bonus:
  • Donatello yells "Fibonacci!" while throwing his rocket propelled staff in the first fight of the series. Leonardo Fibonacci was an Italian mathematician whose work in the field lead to the discovery of the Golden Spiral, something that a braniac like Donnie would probably keep in mind when throwing things.
    • In general, the scientific terms Donnie uses as battle cries are usually at least tangentially related to whatever he happens so be doing.
  • All of the turtles are designed after specific turtle species, with each of their personalities associated with them (see the Fridge page for a deeper analysis).
  • The song Splinter sings in "Al Be Back" is "Vesti la Giubba" sung by Pagliacchi after discovering his wife's infidelity which has him sing that he must done his makeup and costume as the clown and perform despite the ache in his heart. This is foreshadowing for "Many Unhappy Returns" when Splinter, back when he was Lou Jitsu, wanted to marry Big Mama...only for Big Mama to reveal her true colors and drag him to fight in the Battle Nexus. Moreover, it also highlights how Lou Jitsu was nothing more than a clown himself, never taking his life seriously and wanting fame and fortune.
  • The Lou Jitsu film Splinter wanted to train his sons with in "Evil League of Mutants" is titled "Little Jacob's Ladder". Jacob's Ladder was represented as a ladder that reached to heaven and how Jacob was obligated with the inheritance of God's chosen people. Splinter/Lou Jitsu rose from a cheesy action hero into a Battle Nexus Champion and he was to be used by Baron Draxum to create an army of mutants.
• Growing the Beard: The show heavily emphasized silly slapstick comedy with only brief moments of character building at the start of the series, but the half-hour episodes "Evil League of Mutants" and "Shadow of Evil" are when the series began to shift towards stronger story arcs with a greater focus on developing the characters, particularly Splinter. The Season 2 premiere and "Goyles, Goyles, Goyles" continue the trend of the show focusing on developing the characters, while still keeping the style of humor at the start of the series intact.

H-W

• Harsher in Hindsight:
  • The opening says the Turtles will discover "their destiny". "Endgame" puts a darker stint on this particular lyric: the Hamato Clan's ancestors state that the ultimate destiny they laid out for the Turtles was for them to die and become martyrs, which would also leave Splinter completely alone as they ask him to devote his life to keeping the last piece of the Shredder's armor out of reach.
  • In Origami Tsunami, when the turtles ask Splinter if they'll ever be as great as Lou Jitsu, he dismisses them with a "Maybe". At first, you think he's kidding them because of their incompetence. In reality, Splinter is Lou Jitsu and is trying to dissuade them from what happened to him.
  • In "Evil League of Mutants", Leo questions what Splinter knows about Lou Jitsu and being a skilled fighter by stating that Splinter is just a rat". Not only do we find out later that Splinter is Lou Jitsu but Turtledega Nights: The Ballad of Ratman reveals that he absolutely hates that he's stuck as a rat and wishes he was still Lou again.
    • In the same episode, when Baron Draxum recalls seeing Lou Jitsu in the "Warring Warrior Scientist" song, Lou is seen standing on top of a mountain of mutants with a grin on his face. Goyles, Goyles, Goyles shows him in a cell, absolutely miserable and wants nothing to do with fighting.
  • All of Splinter's antics take a darker light once highlight episodes like "Turtledega Nights: The Ballad of Ratman", "Many Unhappy Returns" and "Goyles, Goyles, Goyles" premiered. Namely, Splinter is suffering through PTSD after he got thrown into the Battle Nexus by the woman/yokai he wanted to marry and all he wants is to relive his Glory Days as Lou Jitsu.
    • From that same episode, it's hilarious when a rat bites Lou's thumb the first time. The second time it does it just seconds before Lou is doused with ooze? Not any longer.
• He Really Can Act: John Cena's role as Baron Draxum has been well received, but he hits it out of the ball park in "The Evil League of Mutants" where he has the solo for the "Warring Warrior Scientist" song (A parody of "Modern Major General").
• Hilarious in Hindsight: Lena Headey voices Big Mama who had beef against the turtles and Baron Draxum (who created the turtles). Later, Lena would play Amelia Hughes, who designed a train car with humanoid turtles and created a surrogate daughter in Hazel, who can shapeshift from human to a turtle form.
• Ho Yay:
  • Chef Albéar and Otto von Bearto committing suicide together while holding hands in "Al Be Back".
  Albéar & Otto: We will face our fate (Otto destroys the roller coaster control panel with pretzels) TOGETHER!!
  • Every interaction between Warren Stone and Hypno-Potamus in "Warren & Hypno, Sitting in a Tree". Hell, the episode's title too!
• I Knew It!:
  • The Foot Clan's goal being to reassemble the Shredder's armor, along with the Shredder being a demon were predicted in advance.
  • Many viewers were quick to realize that Master Splinter was actually the action star Lou Jitsu after the "Evil League of Mutants" episode came out.
  • "Insane in the Mama Train" confirms Lou Jitsu is a stage name for Hamato Yoshi, something fans had speculated about after "Shadow of Evil" had aired.
  • Many fans had guessed that Foot Recruit was going to be revealed to be an established character, with several fans guessing that she would ultimately turn out to be Casey Jones, which is confirmed in the series finale, "Rise".
  • In "Many Unhappy Returns", due to their familiar-looking plastron and Word of God stating that Splinter wasn't able to save all of the mutated turtles from Baron Draxum, fans figured Big Mama's bodyguard was related to the Turtles. This would later be confirmed in a Twitch stream after the movie, specifically stating that the character was one of the Turtles' two sisters, but that any plans for her had to be scrapped due to the series' cancellation.
• Informed Wrongness: Throughout “The Hidden City’s Most Wanted”, Splinter is being portrayed as being in the wrong for not trying to get along with Draxum or forgiving him for all his wrongdoings even though Draxum made the turtles as part of his mutant army to go against humanity. Mikey insists that Splinter should try to get along because Draxum is the reason for the turtles’ and Splinter’s existence. Not to mention that Mikey brought Draxum on the trip without telling Splinter and Draxum only stayed because he wanted to annoy Splinter. Even though Mikey is right about Draxum, that doesn’t mean that Splinter and the turtles should let Draxum be a part of their lives as he never expressed any interest in forming relationships with any of them or making amends with them.
• It's the Same, Now It Sucks!: There are a few fans who were annoyed with Hamato Yoshi being Splinter again, due to the fact that the 2012 series had already reused that idea, and wasn't helped by Rise coming out eight months after the prior series had ended. Some fans, however, feel the series does enough new things with the concept to justify using it again.
• Magnificent Bastard ("Bad Hair Day): The yokai masseur is a spa and resort employee who's secretly a thief and a Mad Scientist. Plotting to rob the Hirsuté Resort and Spa's guests, the masseur convinces Leonardo into trying out his personal hair tonic so he'll be accepted into the club. Once Leo grows a seemingly sentient wig, the masseur sneaks into the club, hiding in plain sight while the hair on Leo's scalp manipulates his body into sleepwalking and pillaging the guests all while no one notices. After Leo discovers their schemes and apprehends the masseur and the wig, the wig scurries onto the masseur's head instead, thus making it appear like he's innocent and Leo is guilty; Leo is immediately sent to jail while the masseur and his hair are rewarded with all the valuables they stole.
• Memetic Mutation:
  • John Cena's solo for "Warring Warrior Scientist" has been given similarities to Scar and "Be Prepared".
  • The turtles’ dress up montage in “The Clothes Don’t Make the Turtle” is used frequently in music videos associated with fashion, most notably with Lady Gaga’s “Fashion”.
• Moe:
  • The turtles as little turtle tots as seen in the Season 1 finale are absolutely adorable. The fandom then had a heart attack in the season 2 episode "Goyles, Goyles, Goyles" when the pre-mutated turtles appeared.
  • Big Mama in Splinter's flashbacks of "Many Unhappy Returns" looks absolutely adorable when she sees Lou propose to her!
• Narm Charm: Given that he had spent much of his screentime growling, it may seem silly that Shredder's voice ultimately sounds surprisingly normal. But his voice is primarily in a hushed tone, which combined with his blatantly murderous nature makes what would otherwise be an unfitting voice rather unnerving instead. The fact that he also has the same voice as the previous cartoon's Splinter only further emphasizes how twisted he is.
• Older Than They Think:
  • April's much-publicized Race Lift actually has precedent in her Mirage Vol. 1 version... though not to the extent as commonly believed. April was originally intended to be Asian, but was drawn and colored as a white brunette/borderline-redhead woman in her first appearance (looking surprisingly like her first cartoon version, complete with jumpsuit). Kevin Eastman named April after a biracial woman he was dating and later married, even redesigning comic April to look more like the real one (with the in-story explanation being she got a perm and a tan. It was The '80s), and the black and white art helped make her look even more Ambiguously Brown. Once the show was picked up April gradually started to look more like her original design. One guest issue did have her drawn and colored to look more like a black woman but it wasn't intended to be canon (she was a reporter in that issue which she never was in the Mirage continuity otherwise).
  • This is also not the first time April is depicted as bespectacled. The 2016 short Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in Pizza Friday! also depicts her with glasses.
  • This isn't the first time Raph has used tonfas, he has used them in an issue of the the first comic and he has also equipped (and eventually thrown) a pair of tonfas in the 2k12 series.
  • Michelangelo's weapon is a Manrriki-gusari, which he used in the same issue as Raph and his tonfas, as well as in the original cartoon where he even namedrops the weapon.
  • The major focus on mysticism is seen as a bit weird even in comparison to previous continuities, but the 2003 cartoon's fifth season had a very similar premise, even having similar special powers and abilities the Turtles use, and the idea of a demonic Shredder. It also bears some resemblance to the IDW comics, which had a similar focus on mystical elements, including figuring Reincarnation into the Turtles’ origins.
  • The significant personality alterations and heavy emphasis on original characters rather than franchise mainstays confused some fans, but both of these aspects were in the original 1987 cartoon, with the Turtles and Splinter being more straightforwardly heroic than the original comics, and much of the original cartoons' supporting cast and Rogues Gallery were created exclusively for the show.
  • While the Foot Recruit may be the first "original" Casey Jones to be female, there is another female Casey in the franchise: Casey Marie Jones, from the IDW "Last Ronin" series, who was named for her father (the original Casey Jones).
• Periphery Demographic: The series has a fairly devoted teen and adult following for its interesting characters and impressive animation. There's also quite a few fans of older TMNT shows who enjoy the series despite, or even because of, the significant liberties taken with the mythos of the franchise, due to how fresh the series feels as a result.
• Popular with Furries: Many see Repo Mantis like this, thanks to his mutant purple praying mantis design, he wears nothing but a white tank top, a dark blue vest, for his greedy personality and his love for cats, naturally he liked the fans furry. Even some outside of the fandom find him handsome and sexy.
• Rescued from the Scrappy Heap: The new incarnation of Splinter did not make a good first impression, with many disliking his character's shift from a strict but loving mentor to a lazy Bumbling Dad, not helped by his Unfortunate Character Design. However, the episodes "League of Evil Mutants" and "Shadow of Evil" got more fans on his side by showing his Hidden Depths (In particular that he's the movie star Lou Jitsu). Episodes afterwards have further salvaged the character by showing that he legitimately loves his sons and having him face his flaws as a person. "Goyles, Goyles, Goyles" further endeared viewers to his character by showing how, as Lou, he would be the one to rescue the baby turtles that would eventually become his sons.
• Signature Scene: Michelangelo throwing an entire freight ship at the Shredder in "Many Unhappy Returns" is often cited by fans to be a great example of the scale of the series.
• Spiritual Adaptation: From a visual standpoint, this show is basically Nickelodeon's own attempt to create a Studio TRIGGER show, taking particularly heavy stylistic influence from the works of Hiroyuki Imaishi. Seems apropos, given how Imaishi's own work was has some notable Western influences as well.
• Shocking Moments: The series finale has the final battle against the Shredder, due to its slick visuals, revealing the Foot Recruit's name to be Cassandra Jones, and the fight's eventual escalation into a struggle against a gigantic Shredder.
• Spoiled by the Format: Somewhat. Splinter's character bio states that he's a mutated human, something that was only revealed 19 episodes in, but it never stated that he was Lou Jitsu.
• They Changed It, Now It Sucks!:
  • The show was announced in the same articles about the 2012 incarnation’s fifth season format and that it would end the series (which is considered by many to be one of the best incarnations of the franchise to date). This show appearing to be a complete overhaul and reimagining of the TMNT franchise (through the addition of magic, different signature weapons, reworked authority structure, and new villains), even more so than previous entries, led to something of an uphill battle to climb in regards to earning goodwill from the fans. The first trailer for the series was even massively downvoted on Nickelodeon's official Youtube channel. Despite that, there have been better attempts at gaining positive interest through new details on the show and the crew behind it.
  • Splinter's design and characterization has been mostly mixed to negative. Some were willing to look past his change from a (usually) tall and intimidating figure to a shorter and fatter one in appearance. But the change from a wise and composed teacher to a loud, rude, and overall condescending couch potato has left a sour taste in many mouths. Of course we find out there's more about him later, but still.
  • This incarnation of Casey Jones being the Foot Recruit. Many fans would have preferred her to be a new character rather than a pre-established one with a Gender Flip. However, the movie reveals a more traditional and male Casey Jones from the future, who is ultimately revealed to be this Casey's eventual son and the name was passed down.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot:
  • The first season included a Pro Wrestling Episode which didn't utilize John Cena voicing Baron Draxum in any way.
  • After the turtles are captured in "End Game", April and Splinter recruit an entire B-squad consisting of Bullhop, Frankenfoot, S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N, and Todd Capybara. Instead of getting a chance to shine, they're captured in literally seconds and are not heard from again for the rest of the episode.
  • Mayhem is revealed at the end of season one to be an agent for the yokai council sent to spy on Draxum. This could make some good stories with the recurring plot thread in season two of Draxum having a Heel–Face Turn but instead Mayhem never appears again.
• Ugly Cute: Splinter's short and fat redesign looks goofy compared to past incarnations. This can go both ways.
• Unexpected Character: Putting aside the fact that he eventually mutates into the already-established character of Rahzar, Chris Bradford from the 2012 series as an original character was never totally hated by the fanbase but at the same time, he never truly became popular enough with fans to become an Ensemble Dark Horse or a Breakout Villain that past characters like Hun and Agent Bishop became. And considering the fact that Rise has gone in a mostly different direction than past TMNT series where, aside from the Shredder and Baxter Stockboy, the show has largely concentrated on creating new, original villains instead of rehashing old ones from the past, seeing Bradford's character return in a new incarnation as "Kristoff Van Bradford" can come as a surprise.
• Unfortunate Character Design: Part of the backlash against Splinter is in his design. His short, fat body is meant to evoke Danny DeVito, but his eyes being smaller than other characters caused some to mistake it for him squinting constantly like a stereotypical Asian. The fact that his extremely unflattering promotional key art actually showed him squinting in exertion didn't help matters.
• Win Back the Crowd:
  • Initial response per to the artstyle, premise, and redesigns were mixed, with the creators' emphasis on the series being more lighthearted making people fear that the series would prioritize comedy over action, along with the 11-minute format (both show formats being criticized in this day and age for what's considered to be overuse). The first teaser trailer for the series, which showed off fast-paced action, slick animation and cinematography, and the vocal work for the cast led to some people becoming much more cautiously optimistic about the series. This interview brings even more positive reception.
  • Nickelodeon briefly released the first episode for free on YouTube (though it has since been taken down) to the joy of many fans. The response was heavily skewed in favor of the positive. Back then, Dislikes were still visible and there were four times as many likes and dislikes. Needless to say, it seems like the better portion of the crowd has been won over.
  • Splinter's characterization at the start was derided. "Evil League of Mutants" and "Shadow of Evil" made fans do a 180 on him and now love his character as the former action star Lou Jitsu.
• The Woobie:
  • Splinter/Hamato Yoshi/Lou Jitsu was once a prominent action film star in the 80s and wanted to settle down and marry. Unfortunately he wanted to marry Big Mama, who showed her true colors by making him fight in the Battle Nexus. He fought and fought and fought until he became exhausted to the point of giving up...then found out he would be used to mutate an army for Baron Draxum involving the turtles that would become his sons. 13 years later, he's a grump who wants to relive those days before he was thrown into the Hidden City and the season 1 finale reveals that if he gives up the last part of the Shredder armor he will lose the only family he ever had. Sheesh.
  • The series finale has Oroku Saki, the benevolent leader of the Foot Clan who only wanted to save it from being wiped out by his enemies, but whose desperation ended up paving the way for an even worse threat, the Shredder.

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