6 Reasons Why You Need To Watch Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

4. Art Direction

One of the major criticisms from purists regarded the new cartoon's simplistic design. There were a few grievances amongst many before the show aired, but that one specific complaint stood out the most. It's even heard during the show's second season. There's no denying that the cartoon is pretty simplistic in some respects €“ such as the barren NY backgrounds €“ but the CGI animation actually benefits from the unique stylisation. The CGI allows for way more freedom with character expression, and the animators even add little quirks which help towards certain scenes. The fight sequences are clear and concise, so they're easy to follow and most importantly, they're fast and exciting. Certain blows look painful, and it's great fun watching the Turtles team up together to take down a strong opponent. With this new direction came plenty of redesigns for the Turtles, and viewers can finally differentiate the Turtles amongst themselves with ease, even without looking at the colour of their bandana. They all have distinguishing features, such as Michelangelo's freckles and slightly chubby cheeks, Raphael's cracked shell and angular figure, Donatello's slimmer physique and gap tooth, and Leonardo's smoother design. Perhaps late night NY does need to be a bit more populated (which we have admittedly been seeing in the second season), but it cannot be denied that the new art direction is fantastic. Sure, it's simple, but sequences look undeniably awesome, especially when the Turtles are sneaking across the rooftops. The designs just keep improving throughout the series too, and Casey Jones eventual transformation towards street vigilante is looking mighty imposing. It can be eerily dark when need be, and pretty colourful when the mood strikes. It takes pointers from all Turtles incarnations, and blends them into one delightfully pleasurable mix.