Timestamps:
0:00 Intro
3:14 Donnie x April (feat Cassy)
26:32 Leo x Karai
35:36 Mikey x Renet Tilley/Shinigami
44:21 Raphael x Mona Lisa
58:01 Conclusion

Okay but the phrase "they turned Leo into a full fruit ninja" is the best thing I've heard in ages

I do agree with Raph x Mona being the best couple in the entire series. It wasn’t forced, awkward, or played for laughs, it felt natural, healthy, both characters bounce off each other really well, and, unlike his brothers, Raph actually wins the girl’s heart and earns it at the end.

I don't think it helps that Shredder's origin in this version was that he was a petty possessive man who couldn't handle romantic rejection and became obsessed with Tang Shen and would horde pictures of her in a very scary manner, and then you have Donnie just flat out stalk and take pictures of April.

the fact that the relationship advice april needed had to come out of the mouth of erma, who was a literal alien spy is crazy

The only female character in the 2012 show I can think of that wasn’t a love interest for a turtle was the Ice Cream Cat

I personally like April more as an adult, and working like an older sister to the younger Turtles. I hope we eventually get a dynamic like this again in the future. Ever since April got turned into a teen in 2012, we've had few adult Aprils since.

Surprisingly, The turtle with the most rage issues has the most game in romance.

I think a way to fix the whole Ralph giving Mona Lisa an Earth name is for her to give Ralph a Salamandrian name as well and make it more of a sharing culture thing. And throughout the show we have have Ralph learn more Salamandrian while Mona learns more about Earth

Can someone do an analysis about the friendship with Mikey and Leatherhead because I love that friendship

Gosh, Donnie and April's "romance" was the worst.
Not only did it sabotage Donnie's character, but he became such an insufferable jackass everytime he wanted to get in her pants (which was over 90% of the time they interacted). He my favorite turtle as well so it hurt even more witnessing it as the show aired over its five years. The whole show was telling him "yo, it's not going to work out. She's not interested." Even Splinter was getting annoyed by it and that rat has the utmost patience for his sons.
And then April near the end basically gets gaslit into the relationship and the show pretends that Donnie did a good thing by persevering.  Come on, man!

I am filled with so much rage by all the TMNT 2012 "romances" (except for Raph and Mona which as you said does come with its own issues but hey, Raph doesn't stalk her, respects her, and is not related to her so it's infinitely better than whatever any of the other turtles have going on)  i really appreciate this video for talking about it

I think the reason so many people seem to think April is manipulative is because of two things: How quickly she is able to just throw away her friendship with the turtles (mostly cause the writers don't really know how to cause conflict between allies very well), which implies that she's only there because of wanting something, and because when presented with the opportunity to turn Donnie down, in A Foot Too Big, she kisses him and excuses his behavior, making him go back to the romantic circle, only to completely ignore his advances the next episode, which gives it an underlining tone of her not wanting him, but wanting him to want her. I don't really agree with either of this points because in both April is usually acting very out of character and it's obvious the writers just didn't know what to do with her.

Leo and Karai are... they are trully SOMETHING. Someone please tell me why the writers decided to keep making them flirt even AFTER they found out they were half siblings????? (Blood related half sibling, to make it worse) WHAT HAPPENED IN THE WRITING ROOM????

Mikey's and Raph's relationships have similar problems to me, but in different degrees. Both feel like a relationship thought last minute so that none of the turtles would end up not having a love interest, but their degree of success varies.

Mikey and Rennet doesn’t have anythinb inherently wrong with it, but it still doesn't work, Mikey tends to act a bit out of character because of the relationship and they just don't seem to have any chemestry at all. It's just... awkward.

Raph and Mona, however, have the problem of the rushed start. They fall in love and get in a relationship so quickly that it's a bit hard to take seriously as a romantic rather than just a one of crush, even tho they work very well together and it works to show Raph's soft side better (The writers do, however, manage to develop them romantically extremely well). Probably in a better written show, their relationship would have been considered a little bit weak because of the start, but here, just the fact that they're cute together manages to win a hundred points from the start because FUCKING FINALLY

I grew up with the 2012 show, but looking back romance was definitely not one of its strong suits. I found the Donnie-April-Casey Jones love triangle to be pretty annoying, and Leo x Karai was just... why.

I can't believe people actually think of April as "emotionally manipulative". This is the first time I've heard of this. The thought never even entered my brain 'cause it's so absured.

I'm aroace, but I see Mikey's "I would never have a crush on a girl" as a typical younger sibling (and comedic relief) dialogue rather than a sign that he's aro. At this point in the show, when Mikey said this, I'm going to assume he has seen what having a crush can do to someone or that crush involved. Like Donnie became obsessed, April is uncomfortable, or Donnie and Casey fight a lot for April. Another example is Leo changing how he is (trying to impress Karai or covering for her/getting manipulated) for a girl. When younger siblings see these things happen to their older sibling, they say stuff like this ("I would never do that!" or "Why would I be dumb enough to do that?").

29:26 I will say even though I'm not the biggest fan of the idea of one of the turtles having a crush on April myself, Mutant Mayhem handled Leo's crush on April LEAGUES better than how 2012 handled Donnie's. While Leo can act a bit awkward and nervous around April (especially when they first meet) it's never to the point where it's as cringe-worthy or creepy as Donnie's obsession, he can actually have a conversation with April without acting or saying something weird. Not only that but it doesn't get in the way of the story or either character. April at no point feels like she's just 'the love interest' or a prize for Leo. She's allowed to be her own character with her own arc and actually interacts with the other turtles

15:35 HE HAS BEEN THROWED AT THE WINDOW SINCE THE COMICS!! LOVE THEY KEPT TRADITIONS!!!

16:57 especially because through most of the series her goal is to save her dad and the turtles are the only people who can help her with that so i imagine it’s hard to reject the guy who is working to save your only living parent.

51:21 I mean, he did ask if she was ok with it first