Teen Titans

I know the animation style the producers use for Teen Titans doesn't appeal to everyone. Some see it as a rip-off, and some just don't like it, period. Sure, Teen Titans can be goofy at times, but it has its cute moments, its romantic moments (between Robin and Starfire, as they are my favorite pair), and its dark moments (the dynamics of Robin and Slade's interaction). One of my favorite episodes in the first season is "Masks," as it shows that Robin will do almost anything to beat Slade, regardless of whatever risks he has to take, whatever laws he has to break, and whichever friends he has to beat up (as Red X). Another favorite is "Apprentice," parts 1 and 2. Part 1 showed a Robin who was coming apart at the seams, losing control of himself in his desperation to beat Slade. Part 2 showed just how far the other Titans would go for Robin's sake.

Those were the dark episodes of season 1. The cute episode, as I see it, was "Sisters." Yes, Blackfire was an evil witch, but other than what she tried to do to Starfire, the episode was cute, especially when Starfire thought Blackfire and Robin were kissing and when Robin told her at the end, "No one can ever take your place." The funny episode was "Mad Mod," in which the title character takes the Titans hostage in his school and tortures them. (Not really, it's a kids' show so they won't allow torture.)

As for season 2, the premiere episode ("How Long Is Forever?") was semi-dark. It started out cute when Starfire was excited over the Tamaranian festival of friendship, but got kinda sad when the others seemed to prefer childish bickering to celebrating with her. It got really sad when Starfire ended up 20 years into the future following Warp and saw what had happened to the Titans in her absence. Despite the fact that Nightwing (future version of Robin) had done very well for himself in Star's absence, one could tell that he had suffered most. (I mean, he does love her, even if he won't admit it.)

The episode that was cute, funny, and romantic all at once was the Valentine's Day episode "Date With Destiny." Kitten's spoiled-brat attitude was very funny, as was Starfire's jealousy when Killer Moth blackmailed Robin into taking Kitten (his daughter) to her junior prom. The jealousy was cute, too, by the way. The romantic scenes were Starfire showing up to the prom in a dress and giving Robin a corsage and Robin and Starfire being announced as Prom King and Queen. (Now if only the episode had shown them dancing together.)

Overall, this is a bloody good show. It has its flaws, it's not quite like the comics, but no comic-based animated series is ever a complete mirror of its printed counterpart. Just sit back, enjoy, and quit nitpicking.

OK, let's face it: Superhero cartoons have almost gone the way of the dodo. Sure, we've still got 'Justice League', but other than that, we've got nothing. Except, that is, 'Teen Titans'. 'Teen Titans' is DC Comics's best animated TV show in years. It's simultaneously thrilling, dramatic, weird, and utterly hilarious. I love it.

For all of you die-hard geeks who loved the old comic book (which, to me, was kinda crappy), there's some changes in the show from the comic. First and foremost, the characters are younger. In the comic, they were more like college students than 'teens'. Here, they ARE teens. They look younger, and they certainly sound younger. For me, this is a plus. Also, it's less disturbing to see Starfire with an outfit that actually covers her whole chest; seriously, that outfit in the comic was kinda creepy.

Anyway... This show "gets" these characters. From the utter goofiness of Beast Boy (who is even more goofy in his latest incarnation), to the gut-busting naivete of Starfire, to the utter cool that is Cyborg, to straitlaced and serious Robin, and last but not least the new and improved Raven. Raven is tougher in this series, and her deadpan delivery is often hysterical. I LOVE deadpan Goths! The action is often thrilling, and a lot is clearly inspired by anime. The humor... oh, where to begin with the humor. The writers of this show have the most bizarre sense of humor I've ever seen. The jokes range from movie references, character arguments (a highlight of the show), and... some really strange and weird stuff that you usually don't get away with on Cartoon Network. The voice cast is excellent, and their interplay is fun to watch.

'Teen Titans' just plain rocks. I love this show.

The title pretty much sums up my opinion, really... I've never cared much of American cartoons. Being a hopeless anime fan, everything coming from other countries from Japan usually seems too flat and boring for me. But the Teen Titans -are- different. Yes, they did use a lot of typical anime effects in that cartoon (huge surprised eyes, sweat drops etc etc) but that's what makes the show so great, adding it some depth and detail.

And the characters. Each of them is a unique personality. Always having these typical everyday quarrels, they still manage to work as a team when it comes to saving the world and that happens a lot.

Robin: probably even my least favorite character. Always with the "Titans, trouble!", being the boss and having the identity crisis about him being a bit like Slade. But hey, someone has to lead that bunch, otherwise there'd be too much video games and a lot less saving the world.

Starfire: the naive, funny, yet very powerful one. She may seem like an airhead but actually she just doesn't mix well with Earth's customs.

Cyborg: all superhero teams must have someone who takes care of all the electronic gadgets. Heck, Cy -is- an electronic gadget...

Raven: actually the most powerful of the Titans. All episodes that have focused on her clearly show that she could easily destroy the whole world if she wanted to. Could Robin do that? Or Cyborg or Beastboy? Don't think so. But being able to control her powers and despite being so much different than the rest, still fitting in and fighting by their side, she's definitely my favorite character.

Beastboy: kinda misunderstood, but the show would be a lot more boring without him. Honestly, he's the main joker in the gang (and Raven with her constant sarcasm is up next).

In short: thumbs up. 10/10

Man, I really do miss Batman TAS, X-Men, Spider-Man and Batman Beyond when they were on the air. Those shows rocked compared to the garbage we get nowadays. Skunk Fu? WTF!!! Why not just make a animated musical for crying' out loud. It's got a lot of things going for it. The anime-inspired artwork, great plots and character interactions are all high marks on my book and on par with past cartoons and makes you care about the characters. I also like the new Ninja Turtle cartoons per se but Teen Titans was taken from us too soon. They need to put this show back on the air because its the only cartoon that's worth watching on TV that actually has a lot going for it.

Long live Teen Titans.

Man, the first time I saw the promos for this, I thought this was gonna suck... good thing I checked it out anyway and found out that it was very well done.

By the way, I'm a supporter of the Robin/Starfire relationship tie-in... as I'm sure everyone's aware of all the different titan relationship tie-ins.

The characters are voiced very well, and the American/Japanese animation blend does wonders for this show.

If it's good enough to last a few more seasons, I'm gonna check that out.

This series is a 10 as far as I go.