Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo

The cover of Trouble in Tokyo

Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo is a DTV film which was aired on the 15th of September 2006 on Cartoon Network and released on DVD in 2007. The plot involves on the Titans looking for a criminal called Brushogun said to be a myth by all Japanese.

Plot

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Robin defeats the first Saico-Tek

The Teen Titans spring into action when a new threat, the dichromatic ninja Saico-Tek, appears in their city. A chase across the city ensues, which leaves Titans Tower heavily damaged. Saico-Tek is interrogated by Robin with the aid of a translation program (since the captive speaks only Japanese) and reveals the identity of the one who sent him: Brushogun. The ninja then vanishes mysteriously after destroying a fire sprinkler, and the Titans' only choice is to head to Tokyo and search for his mysterious master.

Beast Boy is overjoyed to finally get a vacation, but once the Titans are in Tokyo, the language barrier poses some trouble until Starfire uses her inherent skill to absorb language by kissing a passer-by (much to the shock of most of her team-mates, especially Robin). With directions to Shinjuku thus acquired, the team heads off, but they don't get very far before trouble shows up in the form of Deka-Mido, a gigantic reptilian monster that is tearing its way through the city. The monster shares the regenerative powers of Saico-Tek, and the Titans' abilities have no effect on it; thankfully, Tokyo's own super-normal defence force - the Tokyo Troopers, led by Commander Uehara Daizo - arrives to stop the beast in its tracks with an energy cage.

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Cyborg as a culinary tourist

Daizo shows the Titans around the Tokyo Troopers headquarters, and when Robin questions him on Brushogun, he informs the Teens that he is nothing more than an urban legend. Left at a loose end, the Titans can do nothing more than bow to Beast Boy's desire to enjoy Tokyo as tourists. Cyborg takes in the local cuisine at a sushi restaurant, where his bottomless appetite under an "all-you-can-eat" offer quickly rouses the ire of the chefs. Raven's desire for reading material leads her to a bookshop where she learns of the myth of Brushogun. Beast Boy, meanwhile, attempts to visit the publishing house of his favourite manga, only to find it closed. Instead, he relaxes with a manga on the steps of the building, and soon catches the eye of a cute girl. The girl leads Beast Boy to a karaoke bar, where he finds more girls who love his performance and don't want him to leave ...

Robin and Starfire, meanwhile, visit a video game arcade, where Starfire's game skills attract a lot of attention. Afterward, she and Robin retreat to a rooftop to discuss more intimate matters - Robin recalls how Starfire kissed him when they first met, and now understands that it was to learn English, but Starfire has now learned that on Earth, the action means "more." Robin, however, is focused on his mission to apprehend Brushogun: he and Starfire are heroes, and for now, much to her dismay, they cannot be "more."

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Robin, a murderer?

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. But 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 armoured car carrying him and explodes, freeing him. Now on the run, Robin co-opts the identity of a Shinjuku mugger who tried to shoot him, and reunites with the other Titans, who have themselves been attacked by strange creatures that look like they have leapt straight out of a Japanese comic book. He and Starfire spend another tender moment again ... which is suddenly interrupted by the other Titans.

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Brushogun, an unwilling victim

Brushogun, as Raven relates, was an artist who had fallen in love with a woman he had drawn, and had attempted to bring her to life using Japanese black magic. But the spell turned against the artist, and was transformed into a being of paper and ink - ink that he could use to bring any creation he could imagine to life. With this new information, Robin has no trouble deducing Brushogun's hideout: Beast Boy's favorite manga publishing house. Breaking in (after being chased by a majority of Tokyo's citizens), the Titans discover a horrifying sight: the frail, withered form of Brushogun, wired into a printing press that draws on his powers to create the enemies the Titans have been faced with. The true villain turns out to be Commander Uehara Daizo, who has used Brushogun's powers to lie and create the villains and monsters that his Tokyo Troopers (also Brushogun's creations) were made famous by capturing. Robin was framed for the "murder" of Saico-Tek because Daizo did not like his persistence in uncovering his secret.

A massive battle between the Titans and freshly-printed versions of Brushogun's creations ensues, culminating when Robin faces Daizo on a walkway above the factory floor. With no options of escape left, Daizo hurls himself from the catwalk, into the ink reservoir of the press below, taking control of Brushogun's powers and transforming himself into a giant, hulking mass of ink and machinery, with Brushogun himself at the centre. As the other Titans battle the warped creations that Daizo hurls at them, Robin frees Brushogun from the monstrous conglomeration. As the old man fades away in his arms, like ink fading with time, his powers disappear and Daizo is left defeated and exposed.

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Robin and Starfire finally kiss

In the wake of the battle, Robin tells Starfire that this whole experience has shown him that it is possible to be something more than a hero. As he stumbles out an explanation of his feelings, Starfire quiets him by saying, "Robin... stop talking," and the two share a passionate kiss, to the satisfaction of the other Titans.

A short time later, the Titans are awarded medals of honor by the mayor for their actions, and the inhabitants of Tokyo welcome their new heroes with some individual rewards as well. Robin and Starfire are seen tenderly holding hands. Beast Boy then declares that next year, he wants to go to Mexico, and Raven smacks him off the screen, concluding a long-running gag and the movie.

The ending credits roll as each of the Titans sing the karaoke version of their theme song.

Cultural references

• Brushogun's creations are clear parodies of famous characters from Japanese manga and anime. For more information, see Brushogun.
• Akira: When Robin and Starfire watch a sumo wrestling match, there are three spectators (seen from behind) dressed like Kaneda, Yamagata and Kai, characters from the Akira manga and movie.
• Godzilla: The attack of Deka-Mido is a nod to the Japanese Godzilla and similar monster movies, which remain internationally popular even to this day.
• Iron Chef: A Japanese cooking show specializing in French cuisine. The Red Chef, who makes several cameos in the Teen Titans series, is a parody of one of the show's two chief cooks, Iron Chef French Hiroyuki Sakai.
• Batman Begins: The scene where Robin is on a motorcycle with the Tokyo troopers in hot pursuit is similar to the car chase from Batman Begins.
• Terminator II: Judgment Day: The scene where Robin takes out the mugger and takes his jacket and sunglasses, proceeds to enter a bar where he gets into a fight with the patrons, and takes a man's motorcycle, is similar to the first scene with the Terminator in that film.

Trivia

• No recurring villain from the TV Series appears in the movie.
• There were several Japanese shop owners in the movie who the Titans confronted.
• Not even other recurring heroes from the TV series appeared in the movie, except Aqualad in the beginning, where he is seen waving at them.
• Silkie makes a cameo in the movie.
• Throughout the movie, the Japanese spelling of some of the Titans' names appear on neon lights.
• The show's final story arc finale.
• Beast Boy has a second-person protagonist role in the story.
• It is revealed that Raven is a skilled polyglot. She can speak 7 languages.
• Somehow, every one of Beast Boy's bad jokes is proven true, for example (On Saico-Tek) "I guess he just wasn't waterproof!!", which it turned out, he wasn't. And when he insisted on taking a tour of his favorite comic book factory, it turns out that the factory is Uehara Daizo's hideout and that they should have taken the tour.
• Uehara Daizo's transformation into the ink monster is similar to the origin of the Joker, archenemy of Batman and Robin.
• Although Teen Titans is over, there will be a similar show called "Young Justice" which will premier on Cartoon Network in late November 2010.

Quotes

• Robin: I think I was wrong before.
  Starfire: You do?
  Robin: Maybe... a hero isn't all that I really am. Maybe I could be, maybe we could be...
  Starfire: Robin?
  Robin: Starfire?
  Starfire: [smiles] Stop talking.
  [Starfire & Robin finally kiss]
• Beast Boy: Ugh! How am I supposed to pick up hot Japanese girls with a big green stain on my shirt?
  Raven: Your skin is green, you have fangs, and your ears are pointed. You're really worried about the shirt?
  Beast Boy: Hey! Chicks dig the ears!
• Cyborg: Think you can make a meal out of me? You don't have the guts!
  [Sushi Robot bites off Cyborg's arm]
  Cyborg: Or maybe you do have the guts.
• Sushi Chef: Raw egg? Devilfish? Pickled sea cucumber? Cow eyes? Old shoe full of wasabi?!
  Cyborg: [after devouring everything thrown at him] What's for dessert?
  [Chef breathes fire on him]
• Nya-Nya: [giggles] Otaku?
  Beast Boy: Otaku? I think that means I'm cute.
• Robin: This doesn't make sense. People don't just disappear.
  Cyborg: I don't know what to tell you, man. The crime scanner's one of the only things we got working in this place, and it can't find him anywhere.
  Raven: I can't make psychic contact, either.
  Starfire: Perhaps this Saico-Tek possesses the power of teleportation?
  Robin: If he could teleport, he would have done it the moment he was caught.
  Beast Boy: Oh! Oh! Maybe he just wasn't waterproof.
  [Cyborg and Raven glaring at him]
  Beast Boy: I know. Not helping.