4 out of 5

Developed by: Michael Jelenic, Aaron Horvath

I didn’t have any history with the previous Teen Titans cartoon to taint my take on this chibi-ized version of it; I can only comment on the show’s joyous irreverence, often surprising lesson-less focus and takeaways, and amazingly sharp and entertaining voice acting.  …And comment on how that all occasionally crosses the line into too ‘self aware,’ the bane of most modern kid-geared / adult-appreciated shows, especially during season 4 for whatever reason, but on the whole, these 5 (so far) seasons of 12-minute blips are hilarious, inventive, and find a sweet balance between new nonsense and call backs.

Robin, Beast Boy, Cyborg, Raven, and Starfire all hang out in their T-shaped headquarters, waiting for crime alerts for action sequences between food binges – often with accompanying songs (which are funny, I promise) – forced schoolings from team leader Robin on, like, real estate, and sudden crises involving demon curses or escaped alien worms.  The show’s writers impressively find ways to rework hijinks uniquely from episode to episode, but once the series has established a repertoire – moving into seasons 2 and 3 – and can start being self-referential, and fourth wall breaking, and then flagrantly non-kid with its outright false history / education offerings and Titans frequently dying without consequences – Titans edges toward genius.  The voice actors also know just how much to put into their personalities (Robin’s ALWAYS YELLING bossiness; Beast Boy’s and Cyborg’s hipster dumbass lingo; Starfire’s bubbleheaded yammering; Raven’s monotone grumbling) to maintain energy and familiarity without it crossing a line into obnoxiousness…

…Though, again, for the most part.  Season 4 suddenly introduces multiple multi-part episodes, and the show’s always on style just isn’t built for it: constant riffing has to give way to plot, and the plot can’t be as random as the 12-minute eps encourage, and characters have to be toned down in order to maintain the pace… but there is an excessive amount of goodness to overcome this sensation in the long run.

Teen Titans Go! may include too many butt references and too much yelling to woo the Adventure Time crowd, but the way in which it fully embraces its childishness while also going for broke with its oddball humor is why it has much longer lasting appeal over those “smart” kids shows, and the type of fast-paced writing and visuals that encourages and rewards rewatches.