Teen Titans
This is one of the best cartoons ever. Made just as much for adults as it was for children, Teen Titans had one of the best continuing story lines of all time, but also characters that had a very good and realistic chemistry. So why is this splice between western and anime so freaking amazing? Let's take a look...
The first thing that you notice about teen titans is just the weird animation medium that it uses. The style is obviously western, but entwined with anime techniques. I'm not a person that likes the anime style, and I also don't really like western animation when it's trying to look realistic, but I guess this show managed to pull a double negative and it looks great! The visual design of the show is western, but takes many influences from Japanese styles. This is most prominent in the design of the characters.
In western animation (that's trying to look realistic) motion is always very fluid and constant. In light-hearted anime (like Pokemon or Digimon) making motion look realistic is put on the back burner and instead the animators focus on the action scenes. Also, in anime, the characters and environments may sometimes spontaneously break from the usual design, and switch to a more cartoony visual style (I believe this technique is called "chibi," don't quote me on that). Teen titans has the constant fluidity that comes from realistic western animation, but mixes moments chibi into comedic or visually uninteresting parts of the story. To put it simply, everything looks awesome all the time.
Let it be known that I have not seen Teen Titans in its entirety. I'm only beginning season 4, and there are 5 seasons and a feature length movie. I still have a lot to see! But I absolutely love the show!
There are 5 characters that we follow throughout the series, they make up the superhero team called the Teen Titans who watch over Jump City.
Robin
The boy wonder is the leader of the Teen Titans. His character is very much the Brooding Warrior archetype, but the voice actor pulls this off very well. If you've ever heard of Batman, you know what Robin is like, but Teen Titans turns the character on it's head! Instead of the "Holy T-Rex, Batman!" spouting damsel in distress, this Robin is much more serious. He is the fallen warrior constantly trying to regain his honor, though still able to enjoy things. You could easily draw a parallel between Robin and Prince Zuko from Avatar, if Prince Zuko was a little bit more contained.
Starfire
She is one heck of a borthlong! Starfire is a princess from the planet Tamuran, come to earth to learn about human culture. Her powers include flight, super strength, and the ability to shoot starbolts (lasers) out of her hands. A lot of the shows comedy comes from Starfire misunderstanding what an object or phrase is used for, very similar to Spock's "colorful metaphors" in Star Trek IV. She also serves as a love interest for Robin, and has this protective/optimistic personality that you just can't not like. Also, she's very attractive (again, the show has appeal on many levels).
Raven
Tara Strong... oh, you want me to elaborate? OK. Raven is a demon from another dimension trained by monks to control her powers through meditation and chanting. She was sent into this dimension to be kept from her father Trigon, there she joined the teen titans. Her main super power is a system of levitation through astral projection. Her abilities are triggered through emotion or extreme concentration, and she is accordingly the voice of reason in the group, as well as a foil to Starfire. While Starfire is optimistic and obvious, Raven is pessimistic and sarcastic. The episode where the two switch bodies is an amazing character analysis and is definitely worth seeing. Also, Raven is voiced by Tara Strong. That may not seem like much, but Jesus is that girl talented.
Beast Boy
Beast Boy is a little green kid that can morph into different animals, interesting concept, but his character is a very interesting character. His personality is like the class clown of the group, kleptomaniac and constantly cracking jokes. He is a very creative person (as demonstrated by his abilities) but doesn't make the most intelligent choices. It isn't that he's stupid, he's just a child in a teenagers body and accordingly his decisions often operate on kid logic.
Season 2 is where Beast Boy gets even more interesting. But I'll leave it to the viewer to see for themselves.
Cyborg
Cyborg is a... cyborg... yeah. His character is an athlete who's body was severely injured and replaced with robotic upgrades, again, very interesting concept. He is a very obsessive character, and if you watch this show you immediately know what I'm talking about, but I don't want to go into detail and spoil stuff. What I can talk about is his dynamic with Beast Boy. Imagine what two typical teenage boys do multiplied by 80 and then add their superpowers into the equation. Their obsessions with food and Action films are misunderstood and accordingly provides for incredibly comedic reactions from the other characters (specifically Raven). While I never found the two particularly funny, the aftermath and reactions from the other characters is hilarious.
The main plot of the show is very disjointed, and through out the series there are 3 major plot lines that pick up where the last one left off. Again, I don't want to spoil anything, but I can tell you about the major plot of the 1st 2 seasons.
The character known as Slade is bent on taking over the world, and the Teen Titans are the only thing that stands in his way... well, not quite, but I don't do spoilers. The show is amazing and if you haven't done so already, at least watch one episode.
8/10
The first thing that you notice about teen titans is just the weird animation medium that it uses. The style is obviously western, but entwined with anime techniques. I'm not a person that likes the anime style, and I also don't really like western animation when it's trying to look realistic, but I guess this show managed to pull a double negative and it looks great! The visual design of the show is western, but takes many influences from Japanese styles. This is most prominent in the design of the characters.
In western animation (that's trying to look realistic) motion is always very fluid and constant. In light-hearted anime (like Pokemon or Digimon) making motion look realistic is put on the back burner and instead the animators focus on the action scenes. Also, in anime, the characters and environments may sometimes spontaneously break from the usual design, and switch to a more cartoony visual style (I believe this technique is called "chibi," don't quote me on that). Teen titans has the constant fluidity that comes from realistic western animation, but mixes moments chibi into comedic or visually uninteresting parts of the story. To put it simply, everything looks awesome all the time.
Let it be known that I have not seen Teen Titans in its entirety. I'm only beginning season 4, and there are 5 seasons and a feature length movie. I still have a lot to see! But I absolutely love the show!
There are 5 characters that we follow throughout the series, they make up the superhero team called the Teen Titans who watch over Jump City.
Robin
The boy wonder is the leader of the Teen Titans. His character is very much the Brooding Warrior archetype, but the voice actor pulls this off very well. If you've ever heard of Batman, you know what Robin is like, but Teen Titans turns the character on it's head! Instead of the "Holy T-Rex, Batman!" spouting damsel in distress, this Robin is much more serious. He is the fallen warrior constantly trying to regain his honor, though still able to enjoy things. You could easily draw a parallel between Robin and Prince Zuko from Avatar, if Prince Zuko was a little bit more contained.
Starfire
She is one heck of a borthlong! Starfire is a princess from the planet Tamuran, come to earth to learn about human culture. Her powers include flight, super strength, and the ability to shoot starbolts (lasers) out of her hands. A lot of the shows comedy comes from Starfire misunderstanding what an object or phrase is used for, very similar to Spock's "colorful metaphors" in Star Trek IV. She also serves as a love interest for Robin, and has this protective/optimistic personality that you just can't not like. Also, she's very attractive (again, the show has appeal on many levels).
Raven
Tara Strong... oh, you want me to elaborate? OK. Raven is a demon from another dimension trained by monks to control her powers through meditation and chanting. She was sent into this dimension to be kept from her father Trigon, there she joined the teen titans. Her main super power is a system of levitation through astral projection. Her abilities are triggered through emotion or extreme concentration, and she is accordingly the voice of reason in the group, as well as a foil to Starfire. While Starfire is optimistic and obvious, Raven is pessimistic and sarcastic. The episode where the two switch bodies is an amazing character analysis and is definitely worth seeing. Also, Raven is voiced by Tara Strong. That may not seem like much, but Jesus is that girl talented.
Beast Boy
Beast Boy is a little green kid that can morph into different animals, interesting concept, but his character is a very interesting character. His personality is like the class clown of the group, kleptomaniac and constantly cracking jokes. He is a very creative person (as demonstrated by his abilities) but doesn't make the most intelligent choices. It isn't that he's stupid, he's just a child in a teenagers body and accordingly his decisions often operate on kid logic.
Season 2 is where Beast Boy gets even more interesting. But I'll leave it to the viewer to see for themselves.
Cyborg
Cyborg is a... cyborg... yeah. His character is an athlete who's body was severely injured and replaced with robotic upgrades, again, very interesting concept. He is a very obsessive character, and if you watch this show you immediately know what I'm talking about, but I don't want to go into detail and spoil stuff. What I can talk about is his dynamic with Beast Boy. Imagine what two typical teenage boys do multiplied by 80 and then add their superpowers into the equation. Their obsessions with food and Action films are misunderstood and accordingly provides for incredibly comedic reactions from the other characters (specifically Raven). While I never found the two particularly funny, the aftermath and reactions from the other characters is hilarious.
The main plot of the show is very disjointed, and through out the series there are 3 major plot lines that pick up where the last one left off. Again, I don't want to spoil anything, but I can tell you about the major plot of the 1st 2 seasons.
The character known as Slade is bent on taking over the world, and the Teen Titans are the only thing that stands in his way... well, not quite, but I don't do spoilers. The show is amazing and if you haven't done so already, at least watch one episode.
8/10