The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise is undeniably incredible, but there’s one obvious component that it's missing: an anime. I am a huge anime fan, and I have been for a few years. However, deeper than that, I’m an animation fan. Ever since I was little and then into my adult years, my adoration for animated storytelling has remained the same. There’s something so special about transporting an audience to a realm beyond our own; to explore familiar topics in a new, creative way.

Outside of anime, I have recently been diving into the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise. After all, few characters have defined the animation industry like those four brothers have. However, a few years ago, I ittedly had no idea that this franchise was actually heavily inspired by Japanese culture and anime, but it makes perfect sense. TMNT fits perfectly alongside legendary icons like Super Mario Bros., Sonic the Hedgehog, and Studio Ghibli’s family-friendly projects.

When I found out about TMNT’s Japanese roots, I was taken aback, but not too surprised. After all, I truly consider Japan to be the art capital of the world (step aside, Hollywood!). What shocked me more was the massive hole I discovered in the TMNT franchise after learning about its origins. With the franchise’s explosive success that it has seen in the past few years, there is one flaw I can’t help but notice: its lack of an anime adaptation.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Seems Pre-Built For An Anime

If Any Franchise Deserves an Anime Adaptation, it is TMNT

My favorite installment in the TMNT franchise is the Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series, no matter how controversial that opinion may be. As I was re-watching the series, I began to notice all of the Japanese Easter eggs hidden throughout the series, seemingly as a tribute to its inspiration. For example, the villains are called “yokai,” a term in Japanese folklore that refers to supernatural entities and spirits. Even in Michael Bay’s infamous TMNT live-action adaptations, the main villain’s origin story revolves heavily around Japanese Samurai legends.

In addition to the countless Easter eggs hidden throughout the franchise’s numerous projects, the overall themes of TMNT match up perfectly with familiar anime tropes. Each of the turtles falls into a classic anime “stock character” category. Still, they do it so well: the tough and rugged older brother (of course, Leo may also be considered the oldest in some installments), the reckless middle child, the quirky brainiac, and the loveable youngest sibling. Furthermore, it goes without saying that the TMNT series would excel as a Shōnen anime series, filled with action-packed animations, slice-of-life filler episodes, and epic side quests.

How The TMNT Would Need To Change To Fit Into An Anime

One Painfully Obvious Issue Would Need to Change in the TMNT Franchise For It To Work as an Anime

Much of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Franchise is pre-built for an anime series. However, over the years and countless remakes of the four turtles’ stories, there is one giant issue that would need fixing in order to fit into an anime: there is a lot of controversy surrounding the series’ utilization of Japanese culture and folklore.

The original TMNT comics and characters were created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, two writers in the 80s who found Japanese culture quite interesting, hence the whole “ninja” thing. As I mentioned, many of TMNT’s franchise installments include Easter eggs, but few of them actually honor their Japanese roots.

One of the most notable controversies was (not surprisingly) with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles live-action feature. Originally, William Fichtner (Prison Break) was set to adapt the role of Shredder in the film. However, director Bay received an onslaught of “white-washing” complaints from dedicated fans, stating that because Japanese Samurai heavily inspired Shredder, he should be played by a Japanese actor. There was some discussion surrounding the “ethnicities” of the turtles as well, but that was put to rest; after all, they are turtles.

Tohoru Masamune was later cast in the role, appeasing the outraged fandom. However, it seems that Masamune and Bay were indifferent on the matter, which was also a concern for fans, as shown in an interview with ComicBookMovie.com. While the original TMNT comics did not come from Japan, comic writers Eastman and Laird were primarily inspired by ancient Japanese Samurai and folklore, so much so that the turtles were almost given Japanese names.

Nevertheless, many fans view the TMNT franchise as a failed attempt to incorporate Japanese culture into American media. Should the series be adapted into an anime, this issue would obviously need mending. Instead of sporadically mixing in tidbits of half-accurate Japanese legends, history, and folklore, a TMNT anime could easily create a story centered around the roles of the Samurai, ninjas, and familial philosophies which are so prominent in Japan.

The TMNT x Naruto Crossover Proves Just How Much The Turtles Make Sense in Anime & Manga

TMNT’s Recent Collaboration Proves This Is the Best Time For an Anime Adaptation

The history of TMNT in Japan’s entertainment industry is a long and confusing one, but it only proves just how much Leo, Raph, Mikey, and Donnie deserve their own anime and manga series. In the 1980s, Japan got its first TMNT TV release in the form of a cartoon from Murakami-Wolf-Swenson Inc. However, due to a bizarre distribution plan to get the turtles on every screen in Japan possible, the show was released in three different versions, with three different dubs. According to TMNT Entity, this led to some out-of-character voice actors:

“This dub is recognized for a few bizarre oddities, such as Donatello having a rather deep, gruff, and manly voice (provided by Huruta Nobuyuki) while Raphael had an inexplicably effeminate tone (provided by Seisuke Kameyama…whose last name ironically means “Turtle Mountain”). Perhaps most perplexing of all, the Shredder regularly referred to Krang as ‘Mr. Krang.’” ~ TMNT Entity

Since its rather catastrophic premiere in Japan, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have teamed up with a variety of other franchises. In 1995, following the cancelation of a TV Tokyo TMNT series, a revival franchise was quickly put together under the commission of Takara, which was the distributor of the Playmates TMNT toy line in Japan. Mutant Turtles: Legend of the Super Mutants had its first run in 1996 as a two-part OVA animated series produced by Bee Media, complete with its own toy line, comic series, and original theme song by Hironobu Kageyama (previously known for “Cha-La Head Cha-La in Dragon Ball Z).

While the two OVA’s were considered light-hearted, tongue-in-cheek pokes at Japanese children’s series, they are known to this day as the only TMNT anime installments as of 2024. Furthermore, around 20 manga volumes of various (primarily reused) TMNT stories were published as well. However, most of them are rarely known by fans today, as they were primarily created to promote toy lines with little effort put into their actual stories.

Despite the chaotic history of the TMNT franchise in Japan, 2024 has proven to be a much better year for the fandom. In addition to IDW relaunching their long-running Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle comic series and continuing their Last Ronin Saga, they are approaching one of the most iconic collaborations in 2024: TMNT x Naruto.

In the four-issue series, written by Caleb Goellner (Sonic the Hedgehog) and illustrated by Hendry Prasetya (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers), the heroes in the half-shell will team up with Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and Kakashi to go up against the evil Foot Clan. This legendary collaboration coming up in the near future leaves me (and perhaps other TMNT fans as well) believing that a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle anime makes perfect sense now more than ever.

As a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fan who has recently been diving into a few of the most controversial installments, like Rise of the TMNT and Michael Bay’s live-action films, I have never been more convinced that we deserve an anime adaptation. From the built-in familial values to the Japanese legends that define the story, it seems like an obvious choice to turn into an anime series, or at least one newer than the previous TMNT OVAs released back in the 90s.

With the franchise’s massive announcements in 2024, including Paramount’s new Tales of the TMNT series, it is now only missing one thing: a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles anime adaptation.

Sources: ComicBookMovie.com; TMNT Entity; IGN