Well after that final few episodes, I think this is the most I have ever enjoyed the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

This is objectively the best the TMNT has ever looked, every episode has incredible animation that if given a bigger platform, would be praised as some of the best stuff in 2d animation. So many incredible sequences just go in a blink and you miss it way and had me smiling from ear to ear.

The story is mostly ok but helped immensely by a pretty unique format. Waiting episodes for the pay off to something like Splinter's new presentation goes from odd to impressive. Definitely a slow start but the animation is good enough to tide a viewer over before it gets to the good stuff. Starting in the middle of the story and not getting an origin story til a dozen episodes in definitely hurts the ability for people to get invested initially & is a clear cause for lower ratings from people who only saw one episode. There's a lot of continuity jokes to reward watching but the majority of the episodes are generally just very pretty one off adventures with simple writing, enough to be enjoyed in the moment and then immediately forgotten, which at least makes it great as a background watch. The one offs range from forgettable to absolutely incredible. Then you get to the final stretch of episodes & **hoo boy**

GOD DAMN those final few episodes when they choose to tell a continuous plot are legitimately some of the most beautiful stuff I've ever seen from an animated show, the callbacks to the series history, the efficient plot build up, the rock solid jokes. Just turtle perfection & honestly makes it feel like Rise would be best suited as a movie, which it's getting to conclude the saga.

Speaking of callbacks, there's **a lot** of references both to the franchise(love you Ice Cream Kitty) to pretty much everything from wrestling to anime to chefs, and any show that praises Bret Hart is gonna get props from me.

The final thing to be talked about is the new directuon for characters. Something this series makes fun of is just how pointless the leader distinction is cause everyone with the same personalities are still the same turtles everyone love, April is pretty great & Splinter took some time to get used to but is amazing in his own way. Baxter Stockboy & The Purple Dragons are pretty good when they're on screen but don't get much screen time. There's a lot more unique and original villains and while they're all solid, they all lacking a real defining moment due to the series pacing. Saving [spoiler]The Shredder[/spoiler] for the very end and just doing nothing but build up was very bold but also paid off incredibly, creating potentially the greatest moments in franchise history.

Basically stick with this show, if you like The Turtles or 2d animation you will grow to love this

HOT SOUP