DC Animated Superhero Retrospective Series - Teen Titans: Trouble In Tokyo (2007)

Written In January 2014

Plot Summary Taken From Wikipedia:

The Teen Titans’ hometown is attacked by a Japanese ninja called Saico-Tek. Under interrogation, Saico-Tek reveals the identity of the one who sent him: Brushogun. The ninja then vanishes and the Titans head to Tokyo, Japan, to search for its master.

Upon arriving Tokyo, after overcoming the language barrier (Starfire kisses a Japanese boy and learns how to speak Japanese, much to Robin’s shock and jealousy) and fighting a Godzilla-like giant reptile, the Titans meet Tokyo’s own supernatural defense force - the Tokyo Troopers, led by Commander Uehara Daizo. He shows the Titans around the Tokyo Troopers headquarters, and when Robin questions him on Brushogun, Daizo claims that Brushogun is nothing more than an urban legend. Left with no villains to pursue, the Titans can do nothing more than to enjoy Tokyo as tourists.

Everyone goes off to separate parts of Tokyo to do their own thing: Cyborg goes to an “all you can eat” restaurant, Beast Boy follows a cute girl around eventually going to a karaoke bar, and Raven goes around book stores to try and find something to read. Meanwhile, Robin and Starfire are having fun going almost everywhere in Tokyo, they later sit on top of the Tokyo Tower. Starfire talks to Robin about the kiss she had with the boy from before which Robin brings up about how she kissed him when they first met and now understands it was to learn English, but Starfire has now learned that on Earth the action means “more”. Robin and Starfire then come to explain the they are best friends and nothing could ever get in the way of that as they are about to kiss, Robin suddenly starts to focus on Brushogun again and tells Starfire that they are heroes and they can’t be anything more. Starfire feeling hurt then flies away with tears in her eyes.

Investigating alone, Robin is attacked once more by Saico-Tek and they get into a very violent fight which ends with Robin pummeling the ninja into the ground. When Saico-Tek does not rise, the crowd watching believes Robin has murdered his opponent. Commander Daizo apprehends Robin, despite the hero’s protestations of innocence, but as he is transferred, a slip of paper bearing the name “Brushogun” flits into the armored car carrying him and explodes, freeing him. Now on the run, Robin co-opts the identity of a Shinjuku mugger to collect information that Brushogun is in fact real, and reunites with the other Titans, who themselves have been attacked by strange creatures connected to Saico-Tek and Brushogun.

Brushogun, as Raven relates from the book she found, was an artist who dreamed of bringing his beloved drawings to life using Japanese black magic. The spell turned against the artist and he was transformed into a being of paper and ink - ink that he could use to bring any creation he could imagine to life, thus becoming Tokyo’s first super villain - Brushogun, until he suddenly disappeared. With this new information, and avoiding the Tokyo Troopers, Robin has no trouble deducing Brushogun’s hideout: the manga comic book publishing factory. Breaking in, the Titans discover a withered form of Brushogun, trap wired into a cursed printing press that presses his powers to create the enemies the Titans have faced. Revealing that Brushogun had sent a Saico-Tek to the Titans to lure them to Tokyo in order to stop the true villain. The true villain turns out to be Daizo, who has used Brushogun’s power to create both his Tokyo Troopers and the monsters that they captured so that he could earn a reputation as a hero.

A massive battle ensues, culminating in Robin facing Daizo. With no options of escape left, Daizo hurls himself from the catwalk, into the ink reservoir of the press, taking control of Brushogun’s magic and transforming himself into a giant, hulking mass of ink and machinery, with Brushogun at the center. As the other Titans battle creatures Daizo hurls at them, Robin frees Brushogun. As the old man fades away in his arms like ink, his powers disappear and Daizo is left defeated and exposed.

With the battle concluded, Robin tries to explain his true and strong romantic feelings for Starfire, but getting the message, she silences him by simply saying, “Robin, stop talking.” The two romantically share their first proper kiss as the other three Titans look on, with Cyborg stating, “Well, it’s about time” implying that they all knew they were going to get together one day.

Later on, with Robin’s name cleared, the Titans are awarded medals of honor by the mayor for their actions of unlocking the truth, and the inhabitants of Tokyo welcome their new heroes. Robin and Starfire are seen as a romantic couple. Cyborg earns the “all you can eat” entirely. Beast Boy had become popular among the girls from the karaoke bar. Raven been made a mascot for Japanese confections. As Robin remarks that heroes could use a vacation once in a while, Beast Boy then declares that he wants to go to Mexico next year, prompting Raven to slap him in the back of his head; ending the film.

I mentioned in my review for The Batman, that growing that show, this show, and Justice League/Justice League Unlimited were the defining superhero cartoons of my childhood, and now we’ve come to the second third of that glorious trifecta! Teen Titans! I loved the characters, I loved the action, I loved the interactions, but arguably the best part was Ron Perlman as Slade AKA Deathstroke!

Brought to terrifying life by the hollow cold metallic voice of Ron Perlman! He’s not in this movie, but I wanna talk about Slade because Slade kicked ASS! You heard his voice and you immediately knew you were dead. And what I really loved about him was his relationship with Robin, it brilliantly paralleled Batman’s relationship with The Joker. A villain who was so unlike the hero, yet so exceptionally similar to him. And speaking of Robin, here’s what I loved about him. Unlike the previous take on Dick Grayson, this guy felt like he was raised by someone like the Goddamn Batman! He was still snarky, fun and occasionally romantic like Dick ought to be, but he had a dark presence at times and an occasionally violent attitude. He was obsessive and secretive, and didn’t always know the best way to go about being a leader or a team player in general.

One of my favorite episodes of the series was one where Slade is believed to be dead, but Robin finds out that he isn’t, but none of the other members of the team can see him. Robin tries to confront Slade, hopefully to prevent from hurting more innocent people. But the more and more he confronts him, the more violent he becomes, until the other titans find out that Slade isn’t actually there, and that Robin’s been drugged. Robin doesn’t believe this, and outright threatens his teammates when they try to stop him.

This showcases something that would be very clear to anyone who aspired to be like Batman; they likely would not be mentally well. This is actually a detail that I think subsequent interpretations have capitalized on. In Teen Titans Go (which, unlike a lot of fans of the original series, I adore) we see Robin actually having psychotic episodes to comedic effect, like playing Alfred and Batman’s reactions when the other titans defile the Batcave or when he’s hearing voices while trying to fuck up a date between Starfire and Speedy. But in Young Justice, they actually went the opposite direction, Dick AND Bruce stating that they both genuinely hope that the former does not become like the latter.

I think this really shows how much of an influence this show has had on the perception of some of these characters. But enough on that, let’s talk about the actual movie.

PROS

• Incredibly entertaining! Especially if your a Teen Titans fan!
• The cast are all in perfect form as their respective characters.
• Robin and Starfire finally kiss in this movie, this pleases me greatly because I adore them as a couple.
• Cyborg is just wonderfully goofy and lovable.
• Raven is just so delightfully Raven!
• Robin’s character feels very Three Dimensional, he wants to be with Starfire, but he’s committed to the job. He wants to do the job purely because it’s the right thing to do, but he comes off like he feels like he has to do it or he’ll somehow be punished if he doesn’t.
• The villain is a pretty good one, although he pales in comparison to Slade.
• The comedy in this movie is great as usual!

CONS:

• The movie feels a little unfocused.
• In terms of characterization, it’s a little too focused on Robin and to a lesser degree, Starfire.
• If we’re to assume that this movie takes place after the actual series finale, than shouldn’t Beast Boy be a little bit more serious. I know he’s silly by nature, but the guy grew up a lot by the end of the show’s run.
• What’s the deal with Brushogun? He’s outright said to be a criminal and a monster, but he’s portrayed sympathetically.

All in all, I adored this movie! Teen Titans

You really were guys, I loved you from episode one and I’ll always love you there after! So partially out of Nostalgia, I’ll being giving Teen Titans: Trouble In Tokyo, an 8 out of 10!