Origami Tsunami

**"Origami Tsunami"** is the second episode (Episode 2A) of Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It first aired on September 25th, 2018.

## Characters

* Donatello (Josh Brener)
* Leonardo (Ben Schwartz)
* Michelangelo (Brandon Mychal Smith)
* Raphael (Omar Benson Miller)
* The Foot Clan
	+ Foot Brute (Maurice LaMarche)
	+ Foot Lieutenant (Rob Paulsen)
	+ Origami Ninja

* April O'Neil (Kat Graham)
* Splinter (Eric Bauza)

## Plot

At the Lair, Splinter watches another episode of his favorite movies, *Teriyaki Shakedown*, with Raph re-enacting one of the scenes by throwing Donnie and Mikey around. Splinter then springs into action, throws down the Turtles onto the coffee tables, and he expresses doubts that they will ever be great ninja. Mikey and Raph respond that they are tired of training and they can be heroes, and Splinter scoffs at the idea.

Donnie begins looking through news articles online to find legitimate bad guys to stop. Leo rejects the first two criminals due to excessive violence, but instead is interested in stopping a couple of thieves stealing paper across the city. Leo is able to motivate his brothers in going out to confront the "paper thieves" after claiming that their crime is the first major stepping stone in the brothers' crime-fighting career.

The Turtles head up to the surface to find the two paper thieves, in which they spot at the last paper store in town. Leo, Donnie and Mikey follow the thieves, but are easily eluded by the villains, and Raph fails to jump them from above and lands on his brothers. The two paper thieves drive away after the Turtles fail to catch them.

Upon hearing his brothers give up, Leo is able to motivate them and sets up a plan to create a fake paper shop to bait the paper thieves. They create salami "paper", and "hire" April O'Neil for their new paper hut. While the Turtles hide, the two paper thieves arrive, tie up April and leave with the salami. Knowing that Leo's plan might fail, and that Raph would eat the salami, Donnie reveals he installed multiple tracking devices in the meat.

The Turtles follow the paper thieves to a ship at the docks and confront them. Raph, Donnie and Mikey remark on the thieves' strange appearance, from the feet painted on their faces to the flames on their heads. After Raph asks why they needed the paper, the thin paper thief created an Origami Ninja, and it starts attacking the Turtles. After Leo slices up the one ninja with his ōdachi, the thin paper thief begins to create more Origami Ninja.

As the Turtles begin to take out the Origami Ninja, the thin paper thief creates a much larger origami ninja out of all the paper, and uses it to capture Leo, Donnie and Mikey. With Raph the only turtle left standing, he charges at the two thieves, taps into his "Smash Jutsu" ability and throws the two fiends at the giant origami ninja, freeing the other Turtles. The large paper thief tries to create more Origami Ninja, but Mikey uses his kusari-fundō to release a mystic flare to trick the sprinklers, soaking all the paper.

Before they retreat, the thin paper thief attempts to create a salami origami Ninja, but it falls apart when it attacks the Turtles. Raph then proceeds to eat the salami while his younger brothers scold and watch him in disgust. As Mikey asks if they won, Leo recalls everything that happened in their mission and deduces that they have won. The brothers cheer happily and tackle Leo in a friendly dog-pile amidst the large heap of paper and salami.

## Trivia

* + This episode, along with four other episodes, were posted early on July 20th, 2018 as a sneak preview on Nick.com.
	+ This is the first 11-minute episode of *Rise of the TMNT* in production order.
	+ This makes the series' debut of the Foot Clan.
	+ It was revealed in October 2020 by *Rise of the TMNT* staff writers Russ Carney and Ron Corcillo in the fan interview *Turtles Rising* that Donnie's "Paper viscera," line in the cargo ship after the Turtles destroy their first Origami Ninja and are alarmed by the shower of paper scraps falling on them is an ad-lib by Josh Brener.
	+ The Japanese writing on the noren that hang in the entrance of the TV room (かめろんパン) translates to "melon bread" (a "melonpan" (メロンパン *meronpan*?), as in Taiwan and China). This may be in reference to the popular turtle-shaped melonpan.
	+ The kanji text on the building signage in *Teriyaki Shakedown* is likely 老実, "rōjitsu".
	+ One of the posters hung directly next to the lair TV room's projector screen is a poster for 1962 jidaigeki film *Sanjuro*. The kanji on the poster (椿三十郎, "Tsubaki Sanjūrō") translates to "Thirty-Year-Old Camellia".
	+ The victim of the Long Island Mangler has a look in their eyes that implies they have been hypnotised. There is a villain in Rise who hypnotises their victims - Mezmer-Ron. While he first officially appears in Hypno! Part Deux, that was meant to happen at the same time as the Repo Mantis Episode. Had the episodes been aired in order viewers would more easily recognise Ron's work.