NINJA TURTLES "Tale of the Yokai" Review : Black Nerd 

The part where the turtles pretend to be kappa at the burning shrine, doing those evil laughs, is one of my absolute favorite moments in all of ninja turtle history.

I wonder how Leo felt to hold the girl he had a crush on in his arms as a baby... :I

3:04 when Casey's picture was fading I was like:BACK TO THE FUTURE!!!

Loved this episode. The feels man! But my favorite line had to be... Leonardo: We Yokai, will steal all of your souls...THROUGH YOUR BUTT! Hahaha

Oroku Saki was so soft that I forgot that he becomes the Shredder

So adoreble when Leo is holding Karai

I have only ONE complaint in the episode. And that was I think this really should have been a two parter. I feel we should've seen Saki find out his lineage. Maybe show Tang Shen struggle more with the choice between the two. Probably it was just me but I kinda wanted to see the Turtles interact with their uh 'grandpa'. It was one of the BEST episodes of the show but I just feel we could've gotten more. I think I would've went with Yoshi. Mostly because I'd be the one for the sensitive guy more than the tough guy. And I already went down that road with Saki. Nah boy I'm all that and some I don't need your drama nuh uh homeboy Tang Shen out. So yeah Yoshi. (And no I didn't pick yoshi because of my youtube name...Well not JUST for that.)

"We will steal your souls from your butt", had me dying xD How could Leo, the fierce courageous hero turtle say that!

I have to be honest, TMNT 2012 fixes all the problems of TMNT 2003 and nearly improves tenfold!

When they went to drag Splinter out of the fire, Mikey's face when he saw Tang Shen's body choked me up ;-;

"SHEEEEEEEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" I bawled at that part :( Poor Yoshi. He had lost everything--until he learned about Karai being Miwa X3

I thought this episode was phenomenal, as well! However, I'd like to point out some masterful touches this episode and series has that you didn't mention: The original Ninja Turtles, Mirage Comics TMNT, was a parody of several things including DareDevil, dark/gritty/hardcore action heroes of the time, and one that many people forget: martial arts revenge stories! The 1987 cartoon and all that follow it mostly brush that aspect under the rug, and the 2003 cartoon plays it straight (almost glorifying it), but this 2012 cartoon series actually goes with the parody's deconstruction and then reconstructs it! The did the revenge stories, show why revenge is inane, then show how to get out of such a cycle by Hamato Yoshi's growth into the mature Splinter in modern times. As I've been pointing out on your other Turtles reviews/recaps, This 2012 series gets so much Asian cultural aspects correct, which is in stark contrast to the grating depictions of the 2003 cartoon. This 2012 series knows the difference between kappa and tengu, they actually know the mythos of kappa, they know that ninja are not samurai, they know to depict kunai and reference the Bansenshukai, they know the ninja leg exercises, ranks and axioms, they have the ninja use ninja-to instead of katanas, they show neko-te and other historically correct weapons, they have Michelangelo use kusari-gama, they don't confuse kabuki with budo, they pronounce more words correctly and finally give an explanation to why _Tang Shen has a Chinese name!_ This whole time, Tang Shen had a Chinese name, but had the story-framing of being Japanese (which, if you're familiar with Japanese society, definitely wouldn't happen by accident and would actually give a reason as to why she'd want to move out of Japan, since most non-Japanese Asians take up Japanese names to live in Japan to not be discriminated against).

I'm surprise that you didn't talk about the part where Leonardo holding baby Karai

"Thar's right ninja's.....We're going to steal your Souls......Through your Butt!!!!!" Historic accuracy on Kappa at it's finest.

Andre did you notice how Leo was holding Karai as a baby? Thought that was pretty cool since they eventually will get together (hopefully) later in this series SMOOTHCREEPYLEONARDOOOOO This series is magnificent, makes you wonder how the movie would have turned out if they employed the same writing staff as the cartoon. Love the videos man keep up the great work!

Was Hamato's dad still in the temple as it burned down?

I loved it when Leo was holding Karai/Miwa and she was tugging on his mask tails ^^

It was surreal seeing Hamato Yoshi as this more carefree type of guy in contrast to the all wise Splinter that we’ve seen althroughout the series up to that point.

I loved this episode. We did get a little of revelations of Tang Shen, Hamato Yoshi, Oroku Saki, and Hamato Yūto. When I saw Miwa pulling on Leonardo's bandanna, I was like very happy. I was expecting a baby Miwa and Leo moment actually when this episode was announced about a month or two month ago. I expected to see Lord Simultaneous in full color, instead of the white mask face and the flashback.

I made a reaction video of this, and I cried. First TMNT episode in the NICK series to make me cry. ;-; TEAM YOSHI!!!!!!

I just saw this episode and there are two lingering questions I still have in my head. #1 How did Shredder learn he was from the Oroku clan and not the Hamato? and #2 What happened to Splinter and Shredder's Father? I know he was dying, but did he die in the fire or later on?

Such a good episode. I found it interesting that the symbol for Hamato's clan resembled a pizza pie and the purple flower he gave to Shen. Also, the fan weapon that was supposed to be inherited by Niwa/Karai. BTW, super cute when Leo was holding baby Niwa/Karai and she kept tugging on his bandana.... weird at first but then cute.

This episode is the actual seeding of why Shredder has hatred for the Turtles since the beginning of the series, because of his encounter with them within this time period causing the death of his beloved Tang Shen.

You know, I actually agree about Andre's assessment of younger Yoshi. When he was introduced, the guy seemed pretty dickish in the beginning. Yeah, when somebody says "I saw some demon turtles," most people would be a little confused by that statement. Still, his demeanor was a bit off. Yoshi was brash and confident, but was show-offish about his accomplishments and his trying to keep everything he wants. However, the only real problem I had with the episode was the Back to the Future premise with the disappearing character thing that was also playing with the predestination paradox angle. When the turtles did interact with the timeline, their actions didn't seem to directly change the timeline. Sure, they met with Saki and Tian, but the fact is that they were rather minor instances of a change in the timeline. The most they did was talk to Tian about sticking with Yoshi, but even then, who's to say that wouldn't happen? And even after that and knowing the change in the photo, the turtles were actually on board with offing the Shredder before the dojo caught fire (and made themselves known by defeating the Hamato-turned-early Foot revival ninjas - which makes you wonder if that would technically alter the strength of the Shredder's forces by the present day). However, they couldn't anyway because, if they had that choice, then they would've either stopped Tian or fought with Yoshi. Instead, fate seemed to intervene in the form of that burning debris. So in the end, Tian was still killed, the Hamato dojo was incinerated, Shredder still lives, and Miwa got abducted (even though it seemed Leonardo knew the baby was somewhere nearby and for some reason didn't grab her). Honestly, the idea was okay on paper and I liked this episode, but the whole time travel alteration thing seemed a bit... off upon execution. If the turtles were really the linchpin that would've altered the events, then I would've liked to see how their world would've been altered had they been given such options. That would've made the turtles want to return to the past and, ironically enough, help Saki repair their timeline and thus providing the lesson of either "you need bad stuff to happen for good stuff to occur" or something along those lines. And then the ode to BTTF was rather unnecessary since, again, what they did was meant to happen. Anything they wanted to do or were doing wouldn't have made any difference to future events based on circumstances beyond their control. In the words of the BlazBlue announcer, "The Wheel of Fate is turning." Also, I would've like to have seen Yoshi interact with his future pupils/sons (how can you put the turtles in the past and NOT have them interact with their master? That felt like a tease, honestly). It would have been interesting to see this younger, greener version of Splinter have some type of relationship with the turtles. Another thing I would've liked to understand was the relationship between Saki and Tian. It seems that the two really were an item before Tian hooked up with Yoshi. I wanted to delve into that relationship and see why she would change dance partners. Though it's likely that could've opened up the Pandora's Box of who Karai's baby daddy really is. Hmm...

That last scream from Yoshi.... My god i love this show.

It was a cool episode it was great to see shredder and Splinter as their younger selves. And it was also neat to see there was more to Saki then just being evil, till he brought back the foot and became evil anyways.

Best Episode this season thus far ...though a bit rushed. Sympathetic Shredder was great as was the *spoiler* of *spoiler* that shaped Splinter and Shredder. Again, great episode. Have the producers contacted you yet about voicing Don Turtelli?

Love starting the week off with Andre

Best part of this episode, baby Karai pulling Leo's mask.

This episode was amazing. I have to admit it was strange yet cool to see a different more caring side to Oruko Saki/Shredder which I think we also see in his relationship with Karai/Miwa. You can tell he did care for Tang Shen but I think it was his hatred that got the better of him. Not that Hamato Yoshi/Splinter wasn't at fault either (as much as I love him) because his anger got the better of him as well. All this resulted in the horrible ending that was Yoshi loosing his wife and child. That scene was so heartbreaking. I don't even know what to say, it was so sad. Poor, poor Yoshi. At least we know he finds his daughter again (sort of) and now has four sons who happen to be Ninja Turtles. Oh, I also loved when the turtles were pretending to be the Yokai. I love the effects with the fire, their white eyes and their crazy antics. They actually looked creepy for a moment lol Anyways, I'm TeamYoshi. Sorry but I love Splinter way too much. He's just awesome haha!

The one thing I want to know is, What did Saki do to drive away Teng Shen? Did he lose his temper and hurt her, cause if so, Team Yoshi all the way. Also, while he showed a bit of a sympathetic character, ultimately it just seemed like Saki was trying to trick Teng Shen, and it also seemed (at least to me) like he'd been planning to restart the foot clan for quite some time anyway.

Something nobody seems to point out. Shredder adopts Karai as an act of vengeance as he can justify lying to her throughout her entire life because he himself was lied to through his entire life and raised by people who he considers as the enemy. He was adopting his enemy's offspring and hurting and lying to that little girl was a form of justice or payback in his eyes. Incredible psychology.

I didn't think Yoshi was acting like a dick. He just seemed very easy-going and grounded. And I don't know what Saki did to mess up so badly with Tang Shen, but if he jumped SO QUICKLY from trying to be the good guy to reforming the Foot Clan and burning down his family's shrine IN THE SAME WEEK, it had to have been bad. Now he's trying to convince Tang Shen that he's changed, and then later challenges her husband. Way to form a good impression Shredder. You can see through their interactions with each other, that Tang Shen and Saki's relationship was a good one, even if they weren't together anymore, and because of that, she wants to believe in him. But because Saki is Shredder, she and him were never going to happen. I can't believe Saki was even an option! Maybe it was a combination of her arguing with Yoshi, and her wanting stability for her child, and her kind of missing the way things used to be with her and Saki (because I do believe that can happen, if you had a boyfriend who was a COMPLETE DICK but still had his good moments). You know what I think Saki's problem was? Exactly what Raph's problem is. He's too hasty, and he had so much anger and hate built up inside of him. It cost him everything, and the idiot doesn't even see it. The difference between him and Raph is that Raph handles it better. Plus he's got his family and friends behind him. And he also understands that family don't end in blood . . . although Yoshi's family nearly did. Maybe it's bias, but I never saw Saki as a viable option. Every time I looked at him, no matter how sympathetic he seemed, all I saw was a time bomb waiting to go off (WHICH IT DID). Meanwhile, with Yoshi, I saw . . . an oddly laid back Master Splinter. One last thing, Leo holding little baby Karai was . . . freaking weird. But adorable.

My favourite part of this episode was the fight between Yoshi and Saki and then the death of Shen I don't like seeing love interests being cut down tragically or anything, just made me think "HOLY SH*T, They showed her die? This show has balls!"

This episode is easily my favorite. It was amazing. :) I *love* the time travel bit "this has always happened". I would have loved for it to be an hour long special, but it was still paced perfectly. The only problem is: Shouldn't Shredder now recall seeing the Turtles in the past?

I like how they had Shen say that she was Chinese on her grandfather's side, thus explaining her name. I also noticed that not once did anyone say, "You should stay with Yoshi because he is the father of your child." I loved Leo saying, "We will take your souls... through your butt." That was greatness. And it is part of Japanese lore. Also. With the time travel paradox that was introduced in this last episode, it makes me wonder if Yoshi remembered the Turtles from his past and, after he was mutated, realized that the four baby turtles he had bought were the ones who had saved him and placed them in the mutagen. I still say that it looks like Splinter places the turtles in the mutagen in the opening sequence. That's my head canon and I'm sticking to it at least until they say otherwise.

One thing that I liked was that you could see some of the traits of the four turtles in Hamato's personality. Leonardo's sense of honour and responsibility Raphael's anger Donatello's smooth lady killer moves Michael Angelo's relaxed and chill personalilty

Yo, seeing Mikey and Donnie's faces as they're looking at Tang Shen after she's been struck down, and knowing that they're looking at someone who was just killed, was surprisingly intense.

Without knowing the history between Saki and Tang Shen, I cannot conclusively decide who's the better man

This episode was . . . whoa. I mean, that look on Shredder's face when his arm came down on Shen, just . . . . whoa.

Team Saki. Y'never know. Could have been a nice guy.

I know what you mean...I felt the same way watching Romeo and Juliet for the first time. You know they're going to die but your heart dies on the inside anyway. I also loved the fact that Leo was the one who got to hold baby Miwa/Karai. That was sweet.

I love how Leo was holding baby Karai. So cute!

Hello, my name is J.Hunter Thompson. I've got the powers combined of Triple H, Hunter Hearse Hemsley, and Hollywood Hulk Hogan.

My favorite part was when Leo was holding mica and she was messing with him and I was like she was picking on him even when she didn't know it

this was definitely one of my favorite episodes of the season but, I feel like the origin story for splinter and shredder are really important and maybe they should've stretched this episode into 2 parts so we could see their character archs develop at a better pace instead of a short 20 minute episode, anyway, great review as always andre

I died when Leo was holding baby Karai, that was so adorable like OMG I cant right now. I've died from fangirling too hard, i'm currently a zombie now. :/

You're the best loved this episode.... Still choked up

I like how they followed up on spiliter telling rapheal about how he understands because when he was younger, he had his faults he to work through and we get to see that in this episode. also, the ending about why they were sent back was a refence to the quantum leap episode about lee harvey oswald

The 2012 shredder is now the second best shredder for me no 1 will always be the 2003 shredder

I really do love this episode, seeing the origin of Splinter and Shredder and their rivalry. It really did have a great balance of everything action,drama, comedy and heart. I feel like my brother and I are like Yoshi and Saki, I feel like I relate more to Yoshi. It was really nice to see no weird mutants and robots, just to see how compatible humans can be, and I hope Hun doesn't turn into a Mutant Shredder is running out of human representatives.

I'm surprised you never mentioned the yokai'ed turtle shots specifically, Donny standing on the bow staff, Mickey covering himself in chains, that part was so sick.

UNDER 301! YES! I'll go in the corner.

skipped Fan4stic for Straight outta compton = best choice ever

Baby Karai and Leo. CUTEST.THING.EVAH!!!!!

You also didn't mention when they talked about the Yokai it was basically referencing Ninja Turtles 3 because in that movie it was said (and pictures were shown of the 4 turtles) that creatures would come and help out.

I nearly cried this episode.

ALL OF THE FEEEEEEEEELS. This ep was so great and I was so happy to see your review in my inbox so I could have someone to geek out about it with XD (Well, sort of.)

Starting off my week with a video from Andre. Awesome 😊

"Why were we brought back in time?" "Duh, to START THE SERIES!" "Neat"

kinda surprised you didn't mention Mikey singing the old school turtle theme to Tang Shen

To anyone reading, yes, there are stories where kappa steals souls out your butt.

Black Nerd Comedy so far I'm scrolling through and I don't even know if you read this but was I the only one to noticed that before the turtles ran in to save Splinter. Leo stopped and looked in Miwa/Karai's direction when he heard her crying. The way it was done was like Leo went back for her before going into the burning house I'm hoping you saw that too cause i know i'm not going crazy thinking I'm the only one

This episode was so freakin amazing!!! Although I'm surprised Tang Shen would seriously think about leaving her husband for Saki, I would not think that was ok. Splinter sobbing over Tang Shen was the saddest thing so far in the entire series. My heart broke in two.

I feel like Hamato Yoshi and Oroku Saki are a blend of some of the greatest rivalries. They're part Thor/Loki, part King Arthur/Lancelot, and now in this version are also part Zorro/Don Raphael. And it is quite well done too!

I loved the fact they kept the part about Kappa's loving cucumbers and sucking out people's souls through their anuses! XD

how did you not say anything about the butt scene? lol i loved how they made sure to mention that.

3:45 OMG DONNIES SO CUTE IN THE PICTURE

By his own admission, Splinter was a jerk when he was younger and let Saki´s words become weapons, and he lost tang sheng because of that, and a simple rival became a deadly enemy

My favorite part of the episode was when the turtles were intimidating the ninjas at the burning shrine thing. They looked really cool with the white eyes and all. I also laughed out loud when Leo said that they would still their souls through their buts!

'Time travel is weird' I couldn't agree more. The turtles hadn't been born yet and the tragedy happened anyway. But they still had to go back in time and save Master Splinter so he wouldn't die in the fire? This felt more like an excuse for the turtles to meet Tang Shen and baby Karai/Miwa. And idk if it's just me, or is there some chronological inaccuracy with how Master Splinter described his first altercation with Shredder? In episode 2, he said that he tried to shame him in front of Tang Shen, but he wasn't having any of it and they got into a fight, and the Shredder hadn't been seen or heard from since until that fateful day. I do like how Tang Shen was portrayed as a modern woman as they were still in relatively modern times, and the fact that she even thought about leaving with Oroku Saki even though Hamato Yoshi's the father of her child, man. And I really do believe that he genuinely cared for her and felt he'd be a better fit for her than Hamato Yoshi who tied himself down to maintaining the dojo. He still coulda chose to let them work it out and communicated with Hamato Yoshi better. He's still very much at fault for what ultimately took place (Oroku Saki already had some anger management issues prior to becoming the Shredder). It's just very refreshing to have a grayer perspective on things.

Love your Turtles recaps, Andre

You know how Kari is Kari’s mum well early on in series 2 April was April’s mum

it was soooo cute how miew was tugging onto Leo's mask and it did even bother him!!!😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍👍👍👍👍👍👍

I liked this episode too & agree with everything you said about it. Didn't Ashley Johnson also play on Growing Pains when she was younger?

"I hate you guys" *laughs* ahh classic Andre.

My only complaint about this episode is Saki's inevitable turn felt a little rushed. They never really tell you how he found out he was from the Foot Clan. Maybe if the Turtles accidentally let it slip out that he was a Foot ninja, this would lead him to discover his true origins and set him down the path of evil.

There is one thign that pisses me off about this epsiode. Why couldn't they make turtles being responsible for what hapenned between Shredder and Splinter, not just be there to save Splinter from fire? Can you imagine a level of grief and consequence would be for them. That no matter how hard they tried, they even mad it worse. That would be amazing storytellling.

BACK TO THE FUTURE REFERENCE! ACTUAL DEATH SCENE! IT'S TOO MUCH! Best episode so far. (not to mention about the butt jokes and....other.....stuff........*ahemcucumberahem*

Actually I'm Team Renet......Nice rack..

That was so sweet when Leonardo was holding baby Karai in his arms

tbh i know shredder is the bad guy but he seems so innocent and love can do powerful things, even make you kill people...but after this episode and kinda after the episode vengeance is mine because when karai was mutated you could tell that he cared about her. i mean he raised her as his own. but yeah after this episode i'm kinda on team saki

Andre, you forgot that Johnson was in Super Robot Monkey Team Hyper Force Go and that this is the fourth time she's played a love interest to a character voiced by Greg Cipes.

What got me in this episode was that when the turtles went to the shrine after shredder reformed the foot clan, they went all in. They showed up with the intent to kill shredder, which would erase their own existence, doom the planet to future alien invasion, forsaking everything they had ever done and fought for. Just to give thier father a chance at a happy life with his wife and child, and you could see it on thier faces the second they showed up. Goddamn that is hardcore.

Woah!! I got an Ad from Best Buy for school advice for college students! What's special about this you may ask... It had the Black Nerd, Andre!! He was in the Ad!!!!!

I didn't think human splinter would look so good and shredder was not like who I thought he was. This episode was sad and true just like it said in splinters dream

splinter broke bro code. he stole his brothers woman then had a baby with her. this whole time they made us believe shredder was bitter for no food reason. when shen dumped shredder she was off limits to the fam. i wasnt up until now but its team shredder all day

[YoKai Watch pun]

Made me wish they had more episodes in Japan. Like stow away and hitchhike to Japan. Would have been more interesting than when they went to space. Tang Shen's death was sad, sad, SAD mostly because of the sad look the turtles had when they walked away from the burning dojo. This ep. did feel a bit crammed though. Could have been a two-parter to allow some real emotions to process because this was some hard hitting origin story here.

This was pretty emotional episode, but man it was really good. I'm kinda glad to see the different side of both Yoshi and Saki cause i didn't really think yoshi was a a bit of a jerk and we see saki really do care for karai and teng shen. But if i was in her shoes or was....i would side yoshi because despite he has this urge of not letting his clan die, he still a good man and he able to control his anger. Saki he well u know hatered, not feeling trusted and all that negative energy. I bet if yoshi didn't see them in the woods and brought it up in the next day, saki would of probably still try to kill yoshi anyways. But man i really can't believe they would show that with teng shen i'm still choke up as well :(

Awesome video as always. Quick question do you think this series is gonna go down the same route as the early 2000's series?

Actually, I like how Yoshi is kinda yerk to his Saki-brother. I kinda had enough of this "Hamato Yoshi is a walking perfection" thing. I hope we will see more of Splinter's dark side in the future. I quess now orthodox fans will try to kill me...

Andre how dare you miss the easter egg from the original turtle series. When mikey was humming the original series theme songs

Everything in time was predetermined Except for Casey Jones, who apparently wasn't important enough

This episode made me feel 😕😕😕😣😣😣😣😣😣😣😣😣😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😭😭😭😭😭💔💔💔💔

I'm glad the wrapped up the time travel plot and that it wasn't completely random and had a purpose. On other cartoons, lazy writers can easily make it a story arc for at least half of the season and then it get's old.

I have this episode on my DVR, so I haven’t seen it yet, but I’m not afraid of getting spoilers for it. Interesting part about them all but showing Tang Shin’s death. I am just old enough to remember GALACTIC GUARDIANS, that not-so-kiddy update of the SUPERFRIENDS from the mid-80s, which was the first time they showed Batman’s origin adapted for the screen, big or little. Like here, the creators of the show had respect for their audience -- they didn’t show everything, but they showed enough that you knew what was happening.

There's only one thing I never understood, why didn't the turtles take Karai when they found her on the ground after Tang Shen went to stop the fight, saving Karai from shredder and giving her to splinter would have not changed the past that much if they told him to go to New York and adopt four baby turtles and than at least Karai would have had a happy life

Tale of the Yokai might be the best episode of the entire 2012 series. It's fantastic seeing the old foot clan, the very serious tone (except for Mikey's goofy dance lol). I like that the shows creators didn't treat the kids like kids with this episode they gave a very mature episode which is especially great for us older viewers. I thought Turtles in Time was a little over-hyped, it just wasn't really THAT special, but this episode was excellent. Loved when the turtles were making those sounds and freaking out the foot clan, and especially when we see all four of them with the red background when their eyes were white, it was like holy sh . . . . great episode.

That episode was hands-down the best episode of the entire series in the skimmer from a 42-year-old man who Loves the ninja turtles