Guilty Pleasures....Teen Titans

Been a bit busy of late.

I did, however, take time to see this weeks TEEN TITANS.

This series is weird.

People who aren't familiar with the old comics will be spared the trauma of just how odd this show looks compared to the original.

Nothing epitomizes the mainstreaming of Japanese animation quite like this show. Hell, in season 1, the theme song was in Japanese half the time! Of course we're talking 90s bubblegum anime....no Terasawa Myazaki or Matsumoto here...the characters are abbreviated versions of videogame sprites who, compared to the comic book are off model to the point of distraction....(Starfire especially)

Despite the glaring differences, the show is surprisingly faithful in tone to the comic. I need to point out that I'm not the target audience for this show, It is aimed at people rather younger than sad cases of arrested development like myself....but the writing is actually rather good and the voice work is excellent.

The reimagining of the characters works in a lot of ways, eg: Raven is rather different from the comic, being the quintessential aloof Goth chick, though they dealt with her motivations early and well, Starfire, far from being the fierce alien warrior princess of unearthly proportions and too much hair is now an out of place, rather insecure alien who is so out of her element that she has real difficulty dealing with life and her teammates.

Robin is...Robin.... no indication WHICH Robin and none of them have any secret identities that I can tell. Cyborg and Beastboy are not substantially different from the books.

The show is actually rather cute. I was surprised that certain of the old stories from the comic are actually being dealt with. Ravens backstory is touched on and it is looking to be every bit as grim as the original. Next week they introduce Terra, a new team member who was pivotal in one of the books most wrenching storyarcs....I'm curious as to how much of that plotline they will keep.

The theme song is, despite being sung by a J-pop band is reminiscent of the old superhero themes of the 60s, being well singable...with words and everything:) the look of the opening has a 60's adventure cartoon look as well if you aren't too distracted by the chartachter designs...

It is not high art but it is fairly enjoyable, old fans of the book will be taken aback by the look which is the anti-Perez. I certainly was dubious after seeing the ads, but I try to catch the new episodes when I can....

And in the guilty pleasures dept.Cartoon Network has a Streetfighter-type Titans game here

I need to get back to studying...... :)