There is a new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series that will be starting up in the fall of 2018. However, it is interesting to note that the new animated series is expected to have a number of significant changes from its predecessors, meaning that there is plenty of information for the fans of the franchise to discuss with one another.
For starters, the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series will be featuring the first African-American April O’Neil on the screen, though it is unclear whether she will be the first African-American April O’Neil or not. In short, the first version of the characters from the first comic series looks as though she could be either African-American or Caucasian, but the black and white nature of the comic series makes it impossible to tell one way or the other. Furthermore, the confusion over the issue hasn’t been helped by the contrasting statements of the co-creators on the matter, with Kevin Eastman having stated that she was supposed to be African-American and Peter Laird having stated that she was supposed to be Caucasian. The cause for this confusing situation seems to be because the two had different ideas about who the character was supposed to be but never had to reconcile their contrasting understandings for one reason or another.
Regardless, another interesting point is the art that has been released for April O’Neil. To be exact, the character has a bat with what looks a lot like a halo of green fire, which looks a lot like the halos surrounding the weapons of the turtles. As a result, it seems reasonable to speculate that this April O’Neil might have superpowers of her own, which would make for an interesting change to the formula from previous Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series.
With that said, it should be mentioned that the art for the titular turtles is interesting as well. For example, it seems that each of the turtles are now based on a different species, with Raphael being a snapping turtle and Leonardo being a red-eared slider. Furthermore, there have been some weapon changes as well, with Raphael taking up a pair of tonfas rather than a pair of sais, Leonardo taking up a single o-daichi rather than a pair of katanas, and Michaelangelo going with a kusari-fundo. For those who are unfamiliar with those terms, tonfas look like sticks with perpendicular handles, meaning that they tend to be held in a manner so that their lengths run parallel to their forearms.
Meanwhile, o-dachi translates to something along the lines of a “great sword,” so it should come as no surprise to learn that they are essentially curved swords of extraordinary length, so much so that they tended to be carried either in the hands or on the back. As for the kusari-fundo, it is essentially a length of chain with a weight on the striking end. Regardless, it should also be mentioned that Raphael is the leader of the turtles in this particular version of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which should make for a very different set of dynamics. As a result, people who remember previous series with fondness might want to keep a close eye on this one as it continues to make progress.
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