Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo

Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo
DVD cover art featuring the main characters' names in Katakana
Genre	Superhero Action Science fantasy Comedy drama Romance
Based on	Teen Titans by Bob Haney and Bruno Premiani Teen Titans by Glen Murakami
Written by	David Slack
Directed by	Michael Chang Ben Jones Matt Youngberg
Starring	Scott Menville Hynden Walch Khary Payton Tara Strong Greg Cipes
Music by	Kristopher Carter Michael McCuistion Lolita Ritmanis
Composers	Kristopher Carter Michael McCuistion Lolita Ritmanis
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
Production
Executive producer	Sander Schwartz
Producers	Glen Murakami Linda Steiner
Cinematography	Pepi Lenzi Tak Fujimoto
Editor	Joe Gall
Running time	75 minutes
Production companies	Kadokawa Shoten DC Comics Warner Bros. Animation
Original release
Network	Cartoon Network Kids' WB
Release	September 15, 2006 (2006-09-15)
Related
Teen Titans Teen Titans Go!

Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo is a 2006 American made-for-TV animated superhero film adaptation of the DC Comics superhero team Teen Titans. It is set in the milieu of the animated series Teen Titans that ran on Cartoon Network from 2003 to 2006, with the film serving as the series finale. It premiered on Cartoon Network, Friday, September 15, 2006. Teen Titans head writer David Slack wrote the film.

A high-tech ninja called Saico-Tek who is clad in pink and blue goes on a spree of destruction in Jump City with color coordinated glaives that explode. When he attempts to explode a bus that has people on it, the Teen Titans arrive and demand that he surrenders but he refuses and flies away with a jetpack. Whatever they do, he is always one step ahead of them with his own arsenal, martial arts skills and an ability to regenerate limbs.

When they think that they have him on the run, they discover that he has targeted Titans Tower. He unleashes a devastating barrage of his glaives on the tower. Robin dives from the roof and takes his jetpack before capturing him. However, the tower is in near ruins from his glaives. The Titans attempts to interrogate him but he only speaks Japanese. Robin confiscates a glaive as evidence.

After fixing a computer Robin goes to the interrogation room where Saico-Tek is being held prisoner. He uses a translation program in order to understand what Saico-Tek is saying. Saico-Tek expresses fear of failing who sent him to attack Jump City, a Japanese criminal called Brushogun. He activates a fire sprinkler that is above him and Robin. When the water pours down, he disappears.

The Titans attempts to find him but they fail. Starfire suggests that he can teleport but Robin declines this because if he could, he would have done it the moment that he was captured. Robin deduces that they will find him if they find Brushogun. Robin orders the team to pack their things for a trip to Tokyo, Japan. Despite some difficulty with direction, they manage to arrive in Japan by nightfall.

Beast Boy is excited to be in Japan because he is in need of a vacation. He wants to tour a manga publishing company called Wakamono Shuppan while they are in Tokyo but Robin reminds the team that they are in Japan in order to apprehend Brushogun. Unbeknownst to them, a shadowy figure who is seemingly Brushogun is using computer monitors in order to spy on them. Robin decides to start investigating in Shinjuku but he does not know the way because he does not understand Japanese. Starfire kisses a random teenage Japanese boy in order to learn Japanese, much to Robin’s horror.

When a green kaiju-scale reptilian monster named Deka-Mido attacks Tokyo, the team attempts to fight it but it has the same regenerative power as Saico-Tek and they hardly slow it down. A defense force called the Tokyo Troopers uses an energy cage in order to defeat it. The leader named Commander Uehara Daizo shows the Titans around the Troopers’ headquarters. When Robin requests to use the Troopers’ equipment in order to find Brushogun, Daizo reveals that Brushogun is an urban legend. He reminds the Titans that they are welcome to enjoy being in Tokyo but they should leave the hero work to the Troopers.

Beast Boy decides to tour Wakamono Shuppan but it is closed. The Titans split off on their own unique side plots: Cyborg eats at a sushi restaurant. His appetite that is under an “all-you-can-eat” offer angers the owner who decides to make it a challenge. Beast Boy falls in love with a teenage Japanese girl while he sits on the steps of Wakamono Shuppan. She leads him to a karaoke bar where he wins the hearts of girls by singing. Raven searches for something to read out of boredom. Robin and Starfire watch a sumo match, go on a rowboat ride and go to an arcade before going to Tokyo Tower.

They express their feelings for each other until Robin starts to focus on finding Brushogun again, causing Starfire to fly away out of sadness. The shadowy figure becomes angry that Robin is continuing to investigate so he decides to make Robin stop. Robin is attacked by Saico-Tek who is now clad in all pink.

They get into a violent duel where Robin barely manages to hold his ground against Saico-Tek. When he pummels Saico-Tek into the ground, Saico-Tek does not rise, causing people to think that he killed Saico-Tek. He notices pink stains that are on his gloves, causing him to think that he broke his code of honor. Daizo is forced to arrest him for seemingly committing murder. Elsewhere, Starfire meets a little girl who helps to overcome her depression and make her realize that despite Robin's earlier objections, their feelings for each other are indeed mutual.

Just then, the Mayor of Tokyo announces Robin's arrest and orders that the other Teen Titans must either turn themselves in or leave Tokyo. Starfire calls the other Titans, but as they attempt to regroup, Brushogun sends his minions to destroy the Titans. Meanwhile, Robin escapes the truck transferring him to a more secure facility, and is eventually found by the Tokyo Troopers. Starfire rescues him and takes him to a shrine, where they attempt to kiss again until they are interrupted by Cyborg, Raven, and Beast Boy's arrival. There, Raven relates from a book she found that Brushogun was an artist who dreamed of bringing his drawings to life using dark magic, which transformed him into a being of paper and ink. Robin realizes that he did not kill Saico-Tek because he was an ink creature, and that he had been framed to look like a criminal.

The Titans track Brushogun to a comic book publishing factory and discover him trapped in a cursed printing press that harnesses his powers. He reveals that he had sent Saico-Tek to bring them to Tokyo and stop Daizo, who had used his powers to create the Tokyo Troopers and the monsters that they battled and gain a reputation as a hero.

Daizo drops in on the Titans and forces Brushogun to create an army of animated ink minions. Ultimately, Robin corners Daizo, who takes control of Brushogun's magic and transforms into a mechanical ink monster with Brushogun at the center. As the other Titans battle Daizo's creatures, Robin frees Brushogun, who dies peacefully in his arms, dissipating his creations and depowering Daizo. With the battle concluded, Robin and Starfire finally confess their feelings and share their first true kiss.

Later on, with Robin's name cleared and Daizo imprisoned, the Titans are awarded medals of honor for their heroic actions. Robin then allows the group to stay in Tokyo a little longer and enjoy a well-earned vacation.

As the end credits roll, the Titans sing a literally translated version of their Japanese theme song in celebration for the defeat of Daizo and their award ceremony.^[1]

• Scott Menville as Richard "Dick" Grayson / Robin and Japanese Boy
• Hynden Walch as Princess Koriand'r / Starfire and Mecha-Boi
• Tara Strong as Rachel Roth / Raven and Computer Voice
• Greg Cipes as Garfield Logan / Beast Boy
• Khary Payton as Victor Stone / Cyborg
• Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa as Brushogun
• Keone Young as Commander Uehara Daizo, Saico-Tek and Sushi Shop Owner
• Robert Ito as Bookstore Owner, Japanese Old Man, and Mayor
• Janice Kawaye as Nya-Nya / Miko Tezumi, Karaoke Club Girls, and Timoko
• Yuri Lowenthal as Japanese Biker, Japanese Man, Japanese Mugger, Japanese Bartender, Karaoke Club Owner, Jump City Truck Driver and Scarface

Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo received generally positive reviews from critics.

Filip Vukcevic of IGN said in his review: "Something's missing here. Teen Titans the television show is a fun, vibrant series that's a lot more entertaining than it looks. Following the show's recent cancellation, it seems like Trouble in Tokyo is the last we'll get of our intrepid heroes. Unfortunately, as a swan song or otherwise, when squeezed Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo reveals itself for what it really is: a suspiciously average direct-to-DVD movie that looks good, but doesn't do anything to conceal the fact that underneath it's fake".^[2]

Rafe Telsch of Cinema Blend wrote: "Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo is a decent follow up for the cancelled series that should make fans happy to see their favorite characters again, although a few of the characters seem to get the shaft on screen time".^[3]

A soundtrack to the film was released on July 22, 2008, through La-La-Land Records.^[4] The track listing is as follows.

The DVD release date was February 6, 2007. The special features included are "The Lost Episode", featuring the villain Punk Rocket, and a game entitled Robin's Underworld Race Challenge.^[5] Trouble in Tokyo was also released on Blu-ray through the Warner Archive Collection on December 3, 2019.^[6]

A stand-alone sequel serving as a crossover between Teen Titans and its successor series entitled Teen Titans Go! vs. Teen Titans premiered at San Diego Comic-Con 2019 in July,^[7] followed by digital release on September 24 and physical release on October 15.

Wikiquote has quotations related to Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo.

• Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo at IMDb