ANIMATED SHORTS: GLEN MURAKAMI ON TEEN TITANS: TROUBLE IN TOKYO

**MattBrady** · 09-15-2006, 10:37 AM

TEEN TITANS SAY SAYONARA
GLEN MURAKAMI TALKS ABOUT TROUBLE IN TOKYO

by Steve Fritz

In a way, this Friday is kind of a sad day. It marks the end (*) of the current incarnation of Teen Titans. I’ll be the first to admit I’m going to miss seeing new episodes, and for a lot of reasons.

When Glen Murakami and Sam Register first conceived the series, they took a radical risk by applying elements of anime into the design of the series. Of course comic book purists, particularly those who saw hundreds of thousands of kids under the age of 13 buying Shonen Jump instead of the latest Ultimate Whatnot, screamed bloody murder. Hell, I won’t even say the name of the periodical I worked for at that time who sat on an interview with Murakami and Register for months. Then, they realized their kids were going gaga over Titans, and then wanted to check out the original comic.

As for the talent involved? Most know senior writer David Slack has moved on to Law & Order. Now good sources inside WB Animation inform me Slack took other members of the Titans writing staff with him. Register? No real word yet, but I hear he’s doing well. After all, he followed Titans up with Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi and Ben 10.

As for Murakami? WB Animation assures me he’s still an employee.

“I have been resting,” he admits. “I am very tired.”

And one look at the last chapter of the series, Teen Titans: Trouble In Tokyo, all I can say is it’s well-deserved rest. It’s a freestanding adventure that will air on Cartoon Network on this Friday, September 15 at 7:30 p.m. as part of the Fridays block, and repeated Saturday evening as well. It will be released as a DVD sometime thereafter (looking like November, but some are still calling for mid October).

SPOILER ALERT

As the title implies, Robin, Beast Boy, Raven, Starfire and Cyborg are going to spend the bulk of their adventure in the land of the rising sun. As is typical of the series, while each member gets his/her set of moments, but the real emphasis is on Robin.

What sets the kids to travelling is when a bizarre new villain called PsychoTech making the Tower look like it was hit by a daisy cutter. After they catch the offender, Robin interrogates him. The Boy Wonder learns he’s from Japan and under the employ of a super criminal called Brushogun.

The Titans decide it’s time for payback. Beast Boy, who turns out to be a tremendous otaku, sees this as the perfect opportunity to have some fun. Robin doesn’t think so.

END OF SPOILER

“David Slack and I discussed the Titans video inbetween seasons 4 and 5,” Murakami recalls, “but it wasn't green-lit until after season 5. David and I wanted to do a story big enough and different enough from the regular series to warrant being a video. I think I might have suggested Tokyo just because the series was so influenced by anime. It seemed like a natural progression to take them to Tokyo.”

Trouble In Tokyo is a feast of inside jokes about Japanese culture. For instance, the main side villains include a Mighty Tetsuwan clone, a cat-girl, a giant mecha that gives a whole new meaning to the term “Iron Chef,” a no-face ghost. If PsychoTech seems familiar, say Ultraman. Then there’s the head of Tokyo’s main crime fighter unit, Inspector Daizo. His uniform is almost a button-to-button realization of Lupin III’s Zenigata (although he’s hardly as bumbling).

Still, this mini-movie manages to keep the more purist-at-heart happy with its non-stop action and reliance on the personalities in play here, not the jokes. A good example of this is to look at how Robin grows throughout the episode.

“Teen Titans has always been a character driven show,” says Murakami. “I wanted the audience to care about the characters as people first and being a super-hero second. It's important to understand what Robin and the Titans are going through, to relate to them.”

In fact, probably the biggest point in Robin’s development is learning the difference between being a hero and a human being.

“Robin is always too serious,” says Murakami. “I think the whole series has been a coming of age story for him. I think he has grown a lot. He was the kid who was living up the legacy of his ‘father.’ After being with the Teen Titans he is finally comfortable being Robin.

“We figured Robin was the star of the show and we felt the main story should focus on him - a fish out of water story. David and I talked about how the video should be a travelogue and how the sites and sounds of Tokyo would be seen from the rest of the Titans' perspective. Then it became a question of what sites best represented Japan and matched each Titans' personality - the video arcade, the sushi restaurant, the karaoke bar, etc.”

A major part of making Robin grow up is from another Titan, Starfire. In what some comic fans will probably say is about time, a major subplot of Trouble In Tokyo is about their relationship between the two of them.

“We felt like we needed something special for the video and we had been teasing the relationship throughout the series,” says Murakami, “but really didn't have the time or space for it. The video seemed like the perfect place to advance their relationship.”

Still, Robin may be the star, the character who chews up the scenery is Beast Boy. From the moment he lands in Tokyo, his desire to visit Japan’s #1 manga publisher will have some interesting results. There’s also a great series of sketches regarding him chasing your classic Japanese high school girl. Yet there’s one sequence in particular, where he sings the Titans theme song in a karaoke bar, that left me in stitches, especially for the inside jokes running through it.

“We wanted Beast Boy to be such an extreme otaku because everyone on the crew is an otaku. We are such nerds and geeks of anime, manga, J-Pop, sushi, etc. We always knew we wanted him to sing in the Karaoke bar,” says Murakami. “The lyrics are the Japanese version of the Teen Titans theme translated into English. We wanted to do a video with all of the Titans singing at the end but we kind of ran out of time.”

Still, the master stroke is the primary villain, Brushogun.

“We went around and around on this character,” says Murakami. “Even Paul Levitz gave us some suggestions about Brushogun. We didn't specifically start with Brushogun, but the idea of an imaginary Japanese villain made from ink or a drawing. We maybe discussed five or six different versions of the story before getting to this final version. Some parts of the other versions became the secondary villains in the story.”

In the meantime, it looks like this version of the Titans will be going on vacation with Murakami. When asked about their future he said there may be some possibilities of more DVD movies, but nothing is certain. He also isn’t likely to work on the upcoming Judas Contract DVD headed by Bruce Timm.

“That's a difficult question to answer,” he admits. “I really like what we did with the Titans, I always say that we combined the Bob Haney/Nick Cardy version with the Marv Wolfman/George Perez Titans. I worked so hard to create a different version of the Titans I might not be the right choice to work on the Judas Contract.

“[Besides] I think the fans want a ‘faithful’ interpretation of the Judas Contract. I think a lot of the die-hard fans felt our series was too Anime or skewed too young. I understand how they feel about the show but we were trying to appeal to a younger audience. I grew up reading the Wolfman and Perez Titans so I understand what they want.”

All I know is Murakami and company gave a lot of fans something they not only wanted, but deserved, a brash, fun and overall truly good adaptation of the Titans. Hopefully, there will be some time in the future where this version can cause more trouble.

Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo airs Friday, September 15th at 7:30 pm; and on Saturday, September 16th at 7:30pm.

* - Yes, I know there are rumors of another movie, but there are always rumors of another when the first project comes out, and, living as someone who’s seen very few of the second movies come to pass, and as hard as it may be to accept, this very well may be the very end.

Scott King · 09-15-2006, 10:48 AM

I'm sad to see "Teen Titans" and "JLA Unlimted" go away. At least we still have "Avatar" and "Venture Bros."

Ye Olde Iowa · 09-15-2006, 11:05 AM

Scott - I totally agree. It is a shame to see Titans and JLU cut down while they were still going strong. The final season of Titans was easily the strongest of the series, with a more serious focus and a strong increase in the quality of both the writing and the animation. I think too many people were too quick to poo-poo the series because of the anime influence and some of the goofier episodes. That's entirely too bad because I can't imagine any fan of the characters not loving Murakami and Crew's interpretations of the Trigon Saga or The Judas Contract.

Here's to hoping there will be more movies ahead.

Steve J. · 09-15-2006, 11:17 AM

My 8-year-old son and I will be tuning in tonight. Teen Titans has been a favorite of ours since its debut in 2003. We're sad to see it go!

Ace · 09-15-2006, 11:22 AM

I wasn't a fan of their take on the Judas Contract.

I just think doing a Judas Contract with a "good" Terra, defeats the entire purpose of it.

You shouldn't do it, if you're just going to make it the normal cliche of the girl who doesn't want to be bad sacrificing herself in the end. And Slade didn't have the depth of Deathstroke, c. 1984, in the least.

The best way to look at it is that it's not the Judas Contract (and I don't think it's ever called that), or maybe even that it's what the Judas Contract might have been if it was done by any other creative team or maybe even ten years earlier.

That said, a lot of the rest of the series was fun, especially the Mad Mod eps and the last season with the extended team. And it was great for kids. It helped turned my girlfriend's 3-year old son onto the characters, and made her more open to reading the Wolfman/Perez stuff herself.

I still wish DC had released an affordable set of reprints (Maybe Showcases) of NTT so that the kids who can't afford 50 dollar archives might have gotten the chance to get the bug. I think that they really failed on that level.

saiyanspider · 09-15-2006, 11:24 AM

Teen Titans, was a really well done, show and everyone involved should be proud. My son loves the show, and I know we will be watching tonight! Can't wait!

saiyanspider · 09-15-2006, 11:25 AM

Teen Titans, was a really well done, show and everyone involved should be proud. My son loves the show, and I know we will be watching tonight! Can't wait!

seamonkey · 09-15-2006, 11:29 AM

I watched the series all the way through also with my daughter. It was great fun and now she's a huge Titans fan!

CrankyViking · 09-15-2006, 11:32 AM

You can say that again!

Kevenn · 09-15-2006, 11:39 AM

I miss this show as well as JLU. I've been looking forward to this movie for a while, and I'm glad to hear that the Starfire/Robin relationship advances. I was hoping to see Bushido show up in this, since it's in Tokyo, but it doesn't sound like he will be in this.

At least there is still the comic book version of this show. J. Torres and Todd Nauck do an awesome job capturing the show every month! And the guy who's been doing the covers lately is a total genius!

I'm looking forward to the Donna Troy Wonder Girl issue coming out.

Hokeyboy · 09-15-2006, 11:40 AM

Teen Titans, was a really well done, show and everyone involved should be proud. Saiyanspider's son loves the show, and I know they will be watching tonight! Can't wait!

Heffaloo · 09-15-2006, 11:41 AM

Well, I'll be watching Avatar tonight, but I'll definitely catch tomorrow's broadcast.

johnny.blaze · 09-15-2006, 11:44 AM

TT was a fun series. Sad to see it go. Mad Mod was the Man!

tiso_spencer · 09-15-2006, 11:57 AM

Here's the dilema. Teen Titans airs at 7:30 PM for me. The new Avatar Fire Nation Special airs at 8:00 PM. So which do I watch? More importantly it's a shame that we have to lose JLU and Teen Titans for garbage like that Fantastic Four cartoon now on. I'll probably go with Teen Titans since the Avatar Special would probably could back on in the weekend. I'm totally not looking forward to the new voice actor for Cyborg. God he sounds too, thug black.

Scarlet Mage · 09-15-2006, 12:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scott King

I'm sad to see "Teen Titans" and "JLA Unlimted" go away. At least we still have "Avatar" and "Venture Bros."

The Venture Brothers weren't killed off? Any time I sampled the series after that ep it was always a repeat. There was another season? Details!

sfritz · 09-15-2006, 12:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scarlet Mage

The Venture Brothers weren't killed off? Any time I sampled the series after that ep it was always a repeat. There was another season? Details!

Yep...it turns out the VB's die quite often, so ol' Rusty keeps their DNA stored and clones a new pair whenever needed.

The new season's been amazing, too. -s

Agent69 · 09-15-2006, 01:03 PM

I'm sad to see Teen Titans go. My three year old daughter and I love it.

Steve J. · 09-15-2006, 01:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tiso_spencer

Here's the dilema. Teen Titans airs at 7:30 PM for me. The new Avatar Fire Nation Special airs at 8:00 PM. So which do I watch? More importantly it's a shame that we have to lose JLU and Teen Titans for garbage like that Fantastic Four cartoon now on. I'll probably go with Teen Titans since the Avatar Special would probably could back on in the weekend. I'm totally not looking forward to the new voice actor for Cyborg. God he sounds too, thug black.

Ouch! I forgot about Avatar...looks like we'll be taping one of them to watch tomorrow...I'll let my son decide, but I suspect he'll opt to watch Avatar tonight...he really really loves that show!

What do you mean about the new voice actor for Cyborg? IMDB lists Khary Payton, who's done Cyborg's voice since episode 1.

tiso_spencer · 09-15-2006, 01:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steve J.

Ouch! I forgot about Avatar...looks like we'll be taping one of them to watch tomorrow...I'll let my son decide, but I suspect he'll opt to watch Avatar tonight...he really really loves that show!

What do you mean about the new voice actor for Cyborg? IMDB lists Khary Payton, who's done Cyborg's voice since episode 1.

Well it can't be. Have you seen the promos for it on Fridays? That totally does not sound like the Cyborg we have known for 5 seasons. That sounded like some ghetto thug they got off the street to portray some stereotypical black sounding voice. Yeah I decided to watch Avatar. The Teen Titans movie will be on during Toonami so I see no reason to go out of my way and not see Avatar now.

[Edit] Now it's confusing. On the Friday's promo his voice is that way and on the DVD promo it's normal. I hope he does that thug voice as a joke about the locals hating destruction of their city.

Steve J. · 09-15-2006, 02:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tiso_spencer

Well it can't be. Have you seen the promos for it on Fridays? That totally does not sound like the Cyborg we have known for 5 seasons.

[Edit] Now it's confusing. On the Friday's promo his voice is that way and on the DVD promo it's normal. I hope he does that thug voice as a joke about the locals hating destruction of their city.

I hope it's Payton, he's done a great job voicing Cy. We'll find out tonight, eh?

Kolimar · 09-15-2006, 02:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MattBrady

All I know is Murakami and company gave a lot of fans something they not only wanted, but deserved, a brash, fun and overall truly good adaptation of the Titans. Hopefully, there will be some time in the future where this version can cause more trouble.

I couldn't agree more.

J. Torres · 09-15-2006, 02:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kevenn

At least there is still the comic book version of this show. J. Torres and Todd Nauck do an awesome job capturing the show every month! And the guy who's been doing the covers lately is a total genius!

I'm looking forward to the Donna Troy Wonder Girl issue coming out.

Why, thank you! We owe so much of course to Glen, David, Amy and the crew. We wouldn't be doing what we're doing without them. I too will very much miss the show...

sfritz · 09-15-2006, 02:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by J. Torres

Why, thank you! We owe so much of course to Glen, David, Amy and the crew. We wouldn't be doing what we're doing without them. I too will very much miss the show...

Your welcome. Keep up the good stuff.

At least CN is doing a lot of repeats lately. Let's hope that continues after TT:TT. -s

c_andrew_s · 09-15-2006, 02:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kevenn

I miss this show as well as JLU. I've been looking forward to this movie for a while, and I'm glad to hear that the Starfire/Robin relationship advances. I was hoping to see Bushido show up in this, since it's in Tokyo, but it doesn't sound like he will be in this.

At least there is still the comic book version of this show. J. Torres and Todd Nauck do an awesome job capturing the show every month! And the guy who's been doing the covers lately is a total genius!

I'm looking forward to the Donna Troy Wonder Girl issue coming out.

It's true... J. and Todd do an amazing job!!!!! Titans Go! Rocks!!!!

Kolimar · 09-15-2006, 02:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kevenn

I miss this show as well as JLU. I've been looking forward to this movie for a while, and I'm glad to hear that the Starfire/Robin relationship advances.

Agreed (you reminded me of JLU's departure

), agreed and agreed.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kevenn

I was hoping to see Bushido show up in this, since it's in Tokyo, but it doesn't sound like he will be in this.

Interesting. I didn't think of it. Agreed as well.

I have an agreeable mood today.