Teen Titans

Director
Michael Chang
Country of origin
Japan
Format
Series
Year
2003

Teen Titans

By Eric
23rd May 04

Kudos to Aki, first of all, for seeing through Totally Spies' pathetic attempt to be an anime and recognizing it as a pseudo-anime. With that said, I have another show of that type to tell you all about.

Teen Titans is another "pseudo-anime" (I'm getting that phrase copyrighted, so I want a quarter when you other reviewers say it!) which was made in America, uses American heroes, yet tries to look like it's Japanese. Oh lord, does it try. Teen Titans is to anime what little brothers are to big brothers, the kind that always followed their older siblings and their friends, asking if they could join their secret club. Even stranger is how the animation style can lurch violently in between Western and Eastern without any warning. It's very weird, and can sometimes detract from the show.

Something else to be noted is that Robin is the only character I had any familiarity with. As far as comic book knowledge goes, I'm no expert, but I consider myself to have a degree of knowledge which is above average about the characters, and I've never seen any of the other Teen Titans before. Even if they had made appearances in comics, you think that the writers would choose characters which are more well-known. That isn't to say that they're not entertaining. These unknowns have their shining moments, though mixing them with the well-known Robin is a strange move, to say the least.

The show also has very little continuity, and while this is usually something I find fault in, this particular genre is one that can get away with the 30 minute solution. Superheroes are MEANT to only come in when there's trouble, then disappear until there's more trouble. There's not much in the way of continuing plotlines you can do with that concept.

As a whole, Teen Titans is better than most pseudo-animes. It isn't bad, but it doesn't break any new ground, either. It sticks with what works and then pumps the living hell out of that well. This strategy leads to a show that you'll watch without regretting it if you happen to see it on, but won't go out of your way to catch during it's regular time slot.

6/10

-- Eric 23rd May 04

Teen Titans Images