BRIEF STORYLINE: April 'O Neill is reporting from a Japanese Embassy boasting of their latest historical exhibit- the Sword of Yurikawa. It is not just you're normal slice 'n dice sword, no, it was by Splinter's ninja master. The katana also has incredible and powerful magic. Splinter fears it might be a target for criminals, which could have fatal consequences. He wants the turtles to guard this sword for it's own good at the museum.
Krang has a plan that will need great timing. He plans to blow up the Tri-State Bridge at the same time as a carriage of trucks, which are holding inside a rare form of toxic waste. The results would be that the toxic waste lands into the harbour and the sludge at the bottom of the river would create an army of terrifying Mud Mutants. After that Krang will use his Mindbender Ray to make the Mud Mutants his minions of misery.
Shredder has the ancient Sword of Yurikawa on his mind, and plots to to somehow pass museum security and snatch it. He believes that if he has possesion of this, Krang will have no need to blow up the bridge.
We find out Shredder will have to deal with some competition for the power of the Sword of Yurikawa. A frenchman called Lafayette Le Drone, is an obessessive collector of weapons, and the Sword of Yurikawa would make a great addition.
What happens next is a bit of a mystery as a masked ninja creeps in, steals the sword, and replaces it with a fake one, then the same thing happens when a masked Lafeyette Le Drone, and later on a masked Shredder but he doesn't replace it. So who was the first thief then?
The turtles come to the museum, after scoffing pizzas, and find the sword is gone to their shock.
The turtles feel ashamed for stopping for a bite to eat, before going to the cinema. They vow to find the sword and they can't bear to admit it's loss to Splinter.
Just as they begin their search, the first ninja who stole the real Sword of Yurikawa confronts them, and the blade of the sword is on fire, caused by its magical powers! The turtles fail to defeat the mystery ninja.
At the Technodrome, Shredder learn the sword is nothing but a fake, and is desperate to claim it, so he returns to the surface. Krang feels he is short on time to set up and fix the bombs to the bridge, but Shredder assures that there will be no need to, as the Sword of Yurikawa will deal with their problems better.
Looking at the museum security camera video, the turtles figure out one of the thieves is Le Drone and go to his mansion to hopefully just ask for it back, without further difficulties. However, Bebop, Shredder and Rocksteady are following their tracks.
The turtles battle with Le drone, but soon they realise that it is not the authentic Sword of Yurikawa, and have to look deep, high and low for it again.
Who is the ninja who has the real Sword of Yurikawa? Will Shredder get to him first before the turtles after allying with Le Drone?And will the city's future look "muddy" if Krang goes ahead with his grand plan?
TMNT REVIEW HQ COMMENTS: Lacklustre episode that had a storyline that should've guaranteed it a thumbs up. The beginning where the turtles are in the lair is badly edited apart from the shot of the Yurikawa Sword and Raphael's humour, where he takes the mickey out of Michaelangelo for behaving "shallow".
The next scene, at the Technodrome, is also of bad quality. However, Krang's new invention brings much mirth with the mindbender ray, giving orders to Bebop and Rocksteady to sit and fight, and they do just that.
At the museum, where the Sword of Yurikawa is stolen, a very intriquing plot appears. You expect 2 guys (Shredder and Le Drone) to break in, but there is a third man, leaving you musing over who this mysterious ninja might be. The first spot featuring Le Drone is unimpressive, but the French accent is bearable. The showdown between the turtles and the mystery ninja, where the ninja gets the better of them is disappointing.
Earlier on, Leonardo puts a change of words on "Turtles fight with honour" to "Turtles eat with honour" for an easy excuse to make a funny, obviously. Shredder realizing the sword is fake is badly edited and had more potential for an extra dash of humour. The next action scene between the turtles and Le Drone is mediocre and when he is defeated he spurts out "sacrebleau!" the magic word that identifies a stereotypical French from a unstereotyped one. Shredder makes an appearance immedietely after the fight at the mansion. His first entrance line is memorble, saying "from the frying pan to the fire!". Shredder allying with Le drone is better scene than the previous fight sequence.
Some worthwhile improvement is found later on, when we have the 2nd confrontation of the mystery ninja and the turtles. Its quite funny how all Leonardo had to do was to ask for the Sword of Yurikawa politely, and he receives it! However, not before the Sword almost burns Leonardo's hand, and the ninja bizarrely runs off.
The final action in the streets with the turtles, Shredder and Le Drone, along with his tank, is average overall. Scenes showing Shredder and Le Drone trying to use the Sword are badly edited. However, Splinter who was the mystery ninja, duelling with Shredder is quite good but it could've been longer and more action-packed. Other good moments include the bridge close to breaking point. The ending is not up to much as well.
"SWORD OF YURIKAWA" GETS A: 2/5 RATING.
