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Star Rating:
Teen Titans is a cartoon that aired back in 2003 about five teenage superheroes and their daily lives fighting crime. It follows Robin, Starfire, Beast Boy, Cyborg, and Raven as they fight villains as well as deal with teenage woes.
I watched this cartoon back in 2003 when I was a kid and really enjoyed it. So, I decided to buy it on Blu-ray and rewatch it. I’d thought I’d write a review of it for some of you who might be too young to have watched it back then or maybe just haven’t seen it yet, regardless of your age.
I know I’m positively biased towards this cartoon because of the nostalgia I feel towards it, but I still find the cartoon just as good as I did back then. Yes, there’s some nostalgia there that made watching this even more enjoyable for me, but the cartoon holds up after all this time.
The characters aren’t entirely the same as they are in the comics, but their portrayal is fun and endearing. Honestly, I think this cartoon is where we get some of the best traits of these characters. They are still teens and have vulnerabilities that are very relatable to everyone. But they also have lovable, fun qualities.
For example, Starfire recently arrived on Earth, so she’s not familiar with a lot of Earth’s customs and ways. A lot of comedy comes from certain objects or ideas confusing her, but this quality also makes her cute and lovable.
The cartoon did an excellent job of balancing five characters and giving them all a chance to shine. Each one had multiple episodes exclusive to them, which showed us more about them. They all had both strengths and weaknesses that made them well-written characters.
The writers also did a great job with the rest of the story. Each overarching story was interesting and well-written. While not every episode moved the main arc along, each individual episode kept you interested.
Teen Titans 2003 perfectly mixed serious themes and comedy. The show was both an action cartoon with teachable moments and a comedic cartoon. Some themes were perfect for younger audiences to learn from, such as Cyborg’s feelings towards his own body and Starfire’s interactions with another alien who looked down on her alien race.
However, even if there were some more obvious episodes that brought up more serious themes, nothing ever felt forced or pushed in your face. It all felt natural, never like you were preached to. Also, those themes were handled differently than they tend to be in more recent years, in a much better way.
I love the anime-inspired art style and character designs. This cartoon has some of the best visual representations of the main characters and side characters. I also enjoyed the occasional use of chibi style, since I’m a big fan of anime.
The only disappointment I have with this cartoon is how it ended. I originally thought that the series wrapped everything up well after the fifth season. However, apparently I hadn’t seen the last episode this whole time. The final episode clearly set up a sixth season, starting multiple different stories and just cutting it off right in the middle of everything.
It’s clear the writers planned more. I don’t know if they wrote the episode before the network told them they weren’t getting another season or what. But it would have been nice to not feel so left up in the air with all the plot points they added in that episode.
Personally, I’ve always wanted another season, and I still do. I still hope that we’ll get a sixth season. It’s been so long, and it doesn’t seem like there’s much possibility for it, but there have been other older cartoons and TV shows that have come back recently.
(I’m really upset that we got Teen Titans Go rather than a sixth season. I tried watching Teen Titans Go when it first came out, and I hated it. It was nothing like this cartoon. The characters felt butchered, and the comedy wasn’t as clever as it was in this one.)
I really enjoyed this cartoon, back when I first watched it and now on a rewatch. I love the characters and their personalities. I’ve always liked their designs. (I wanted to be Starfire one Halloween.) I think it’s well written and funny. It even had some pretty decent fight scenes for a kid cartoon.
And yeah, I might have just said kid cartoon, but this Teen Titans is definitely good enough to keep adults interested too. I highly recommend watching it, even to someone who doesn’t know anything about the Teen Titans. It explains things plenty, so you never feel the need to do any research or know the comics.
You can get Teen Titans on Blu-ray through amazon.
Check out my other DC reviews.
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