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Turtles! I love those things. Both real ones, and fictional teenage mutant ninja ones. My main exposure to the franchise is via the various cartoons, so that's what you'll see here. Most of the shows have the same title and are referred to by year of release, so here's a quick guide (and some of my opinions) in case you're not familiar:
1987: Sometimes shortened to just '87', this was the very first TMNT cartoon. It had a monumental 10 seasons, making it currently the longest running TMNT cartoon. It finally finished in 1996. I like to put this on in the background while drawing, and I'm maybe halfway through.
2003: This was the one made by 4Kids, a company which is now dead in the dirt. I really enjoy this one! I'm about halfway through this as well, and while I've heard mixed things about the later seasons, I like time travel shenanigans, so hopefully I'll get some enjoyment out of it.
2012: Currently the only CGI (3D) TMNT cartoon, and my favourite of the collection. It's got a lot of problems, but that's half the fun for me. Stick around and I may eventually start sharing stuff from my sorta-rewrite sorta-fan-iteration inspired by this cartoon between 1 and 50 business years from now. Also, I headcanon this iteration's Leo as a trans woman, so if you see me refer to the character with she/her pronouns, that's why.
Rise/ROTTMNT: This was the first TMNT cartoon I watched, and I LOVED it! The animation is stellar, the writing is amazing, and the story brought me to tears on multiple occasions (I still have only watched the movie once because of the emotional damage, lol). If you're gonna watch any of these shows, make it this one. The beginning isn't super strong but the later parts are so worth it.
Tales/TOTTMNT: The most recent TMNT cartoon as of now... and probably my least favourite. Don't get me wrong, it's not bad, it just didn't click with me. I don't like a lot of the characters, and I didn't connect with any of them aside from Raph... Maybe I'm too old for this show, lol. I've only seen season 1, but I'm pretty sure season 2 has been out for a while. Maybe I'll give it another shot one of these days. I do absolutely adore the animation.
