Teen Titans: The Complete First Season....looking good so far

by: Average Joe 2 years, 4 months, 9 hours, 45 minutes ago

Price:

14.99

Company:

Warner Home Video

 

Based on a more anime (or “Murakanime” affectionately named after the show’s producer Glen Murakami) style than previous DC cartoons, “Teen Titans” presents our heroes in a much different light than what we’re previously used to.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a BIG fan of shows like the Batman/Superman animated series, Justice League, and Batman Beyond, but the difference between those shows and Teen Titans is that those shows usually centered around a cast of adult heroes (ok so Terry McGuinness wasn’t as old as Batman normally is, but he was old enough). With Teen Titans we’re dealing with a cast of characters all seemingly under the age of 18.

What I personally enjoy about Teen Titans, and even “The Batman” is that these shows are so different from what we’ve all seen before. Bruce Timm has pretty much built the DC animated universe since the early 90’s, and his style is now synonymous with anything DC/animated related. I LOVE Timm’s work, but I think even he would admit that it’s time for something new which is where shows like Teen Titans and The Batman come in. Both shows are produced by a whole new team with a whole new vision for the world these characters live in.

For me, Teen Titans not only offers a different artist style than the standard Timm style, it offers a much more fun, light hearted approach to the characters rather than the dark and serious tones that we became accustomed to with �??BTAS�?�. I�??ve heard a lot of people complain about the show because of the obvious anime influences from the exaggerated anatomy, to the �??super D�?� moments the show has. Again, I can see where some people would be turned off because it�??s not what they�??re used to, but much like �??The Batman�?� I welcome the change.

Aside from the unique design style, elements of humor, and great action sequences I would have to say that one of my favorite elements of the show has got to be it�??s incredibly catchy theme song. Performed by Japanese recording artist �??Puffy Ami Yumi�?�, the show�??s theme brings back that �??old school�?? element of having an actual theme song that kids could sing along with as opposed to just catchy guitar riffs and �??techno sounds�??. I can remember an instance when I was having a conversation about the show with my nephew Cameron, and my cousin Austin. We were talking about the show�??s theme and I told them I couldn�??t understand part of what was being said. Without hesitation BOTH of them grabbed some paper and began jotting down the lyrics to the song IN FULL. I can remember thinking �??WOW, now that�??s a good theme song�?�.

In �??Teen Titans: The complete first season�?� we are treated to all (everybody with me)�?�.13 episodes from the show�??s debut season. While I enjoyed the first season a lot, it wasn�??t without it�??s flaws (then again what show is?). I thought the first few episodes were good, then it sort of went down, but managed to pick itself up be the season finale.

The thing I enjoyed most about this disc is the behind the scenes feature �??finding their voices�?� in which fans are treated to a short featurette on the voice actors behind the Titans. Despite not being very long, the featurette talks about how each of the actors were chosen for their respective roles, and even features the actors themselves voicing the characters (I get a kick out of that). Also on the special features side is the music video performed by Puffy Ami Yumi (you have to see this thing), a documentary on the history of the Titans, and some previews of other upcoming DC/WB related titles.

All in all �??Teen Titans: The Complete First Season�?� is a great set to own, and in my opinion probably one of the few current animated shows released to DVD that has any decent content other than the episodes themselves. If WB keeps this up with their upcoming releases they�??ll keep me as a long time customer.