A compelling one-shot significantly expanding The Last Ronin, Training Day is an ambitious, character-driven story of an unexpected mentor.
Published Jun 4, 2026, 9:00 PM EDT
An experienced Editor representing Canada via ScreenRant's Team Anime, J.R. has been reading manga since the first printing of Shonen Jump in North America. This passion drove him to write about anime, manga, and manhwa since 2022, having recently served as Lead Anime Editor for ComicBook.com.
His favorite moments in media coverage include reviewing the series premieres of Zom 100 and Bleach: TYBW Part 2 back-to-back and briefly meeting Junji Ito at a VIZ gallery event in 2023.
For those who have followed both the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics as well as Kevin Eastman and Tom Waltz's incredible The Last Ronin stories in recent years, the phrase "know peace" may be a particular gut-punch for readers. The last words left behind by a tragic hero in the Last Ronin miniseries, this scrawling in Master Splinter's journal was an important reminder for Michelangelo's trainee, Casey Marie Jones, to take up her role as a defender in his absence. But in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin-Training Day, an upcoming one-shot releasing on July 15, 2026, Michelangelo had one more lesson only he could ever teach.
Set up as an expansion on Michelangelo's intensive training of the yet-inexperienced young Casey, ahead of their fateful battle against Oroku Hiroto, Training Day explores in greater detail the herculean task of imparting a lifetime of training in what's essentially one day. The one-shot details the emotional weight and enormous stakes of the challenge, especially as Michelangelo knows both their lives, and indeed the future of the resistance, are at stake in a dystopian future New York City under martial law. But in a timeline marred by horrific tragedy, loss, and ghosts haunting its survivors, Training Day imparts hopeful lessons and much-needed insight into Michelangelo's anguish.
Courtesy of IDW Publishing, ScreenRant was given an advance review copy of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin-Training Day, expanding the story of Casey Marie's training under Michelangelo, and how it'd influence the next generation of Ninja Turtles. It's a phenomenally entertaining read, and with the primary creative team of Waltz, Eastman, the Escorza brothers, Ben Bishop, Luis Antonio Delgado, and Shawn Lee being expanded with the artwork of Freddie E. Williams II. Training Day is certainly a worthy interquel in The Last Ronin's saga, adding to some of the best graphic novels in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles history.
Michelangelo Teaches Balance His Own Way In Training Day
While the original The Last Ronin comics explored Michelangelo's blunt, relentless regimen dedicated both to giving her the tools to survive, and awakening her mutant abilities, Training Day explores more closely how this is imparted to Casey Marie. But it's more than the usual gruff mentor testing the mettle of their protégé. Michelangelo is consistently haunted by the survivor's guilt over what happened to his fellow Ninja Turtles, and wants Casey Marie to be fully capable of protecting others, and to be mindful of how her actions can affect who she protects. Thus, early in the issue, echoed both by Michelangelo and Casey Marie is the ideal of the pursuit of perfection.
To pursue perfection is to chase the impossible. And yet it is the only pursuit that matters.
Passed on by Master Splinter to Michelangelo and his fellow Ninja Turtles, only for him to pass it to Casey Marie for her to teach to the second generation of Ninja Turtles, this is the singular training goal that seems to center her body, mind, and spirit. Casey Marie once resented it, throwing barbs Michelangelo's way about the shady actions of ninjas, with her trainees in the present resenting the exhaustive, sky-high expectations in their training. But as The Last Ronin II showed, the training paid off, much like it did for Casey Marie.
But this lesson is fascinating with Michelangelo as its teacher, as he was typically known as the immature, unfocused one. Teaching not to lead with anger in one's attacks, and to fight "thoughtlessly yet mindfully", Michelangelo was the unlikeliest candidate to pass this lesson on. But in doing so, The Last Ronin-Training Day showed just how much he'd grown—and suffered all the same.
The Original Ninja Turtles And Splinter Still Haunt Michelangelo In Training Day
Leaning harder into Michelangelo's visible anguish that manifested in seeing the ghosts of his comrades in their younger forms, Training Day sees these characters return as well, as they jeer at their surviving brother's combat blunders and remind him what's at stake. But Michelangelo is painfully aware, trying his best to get Casey Marie ready, while dealing with his own gnawing uncertainties as an eleventh-hour sensei to the resistance's future leader.
The most interesting thing about Michelangelo, though, is just how much each of The Last Ronin's stories carefully reminds readers that his role as the last surviving member of the Ninja Turtles is immensely tragic. Michelangelo was commonly recognized as the youngest member, with the ghosts of Raphael, Donatello, and Leonardo poking fun at "Mikey" and his vulnerable moments, joking about him weeping over burnt pizza and calling him sensei junior. But where the truly wonderful execution of Michelangelo's survivor's guilt comes into play, is the perfectly-executed flashbacks rendered in a bygone visual style, showing the younger Turtles slaughtered, with Mikey bearing all the blame.
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This is the anguish Michelangelo still struggled with even in the final days of his life, wanting desperately to prevent the same from happening to Casey Marie. His lessons feel all the more impactful when rereading the rest of the comics, as Casey Marie is reminded time and again of his imparted ideals of discipline and the heavy price paid to achieve it. It worked, though, as Michelangelo inspired a new generation of survivors with enough hope to weather whatever comes next in the mysterious "Operation Phoenix" teased to set up The Last Ronin III.
TMNT: The Last Ronin-Training Day Is Too Worthwhile To Dismiss As A Side-Story
While essentially an interquel between issues of The Last Ronin and a prequel to the events of The Last Ronin II, Training Day is a fantastic issue for endearing readers to Casey Marie, and for appreciating just how important Michelangelo was to mentoring the next generation. It doesn't necessarily bring the overarching plot forward, but it provides some reassurance to those perhaps skeptical about how quickly Casey Marie grew into a competent fighter, while being another incredible showcase of the deeply troubled last days of the Last Ronin himself.
But Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin-Training Day felt like it contained all the emotional highs alongside the abyssal lows. It preserves its heartbreaking premise, with a compelling training arc, stunning art, and keeping the spirit of the Ninja Turtles ablaze. Mikey and Casey Marie get some great fights against various threats like synjas ahead of their final battle, Hiroto gets some bonus moments depicting his obsessive desire to dominate New York and eradicate the mutant turtles, and it's a visual treat from cover to cover. There are simply too many insightful character moments and memorable exchanges to skip this particular one-shot.
Fans will be delighted to see even the ghosts of the old Ninja Turtles respecting how far their little brother Mikey has come, and cheer at the sight of the new generation's leader and mentor, flipping off the face of evil while defiantly living to fight another day. In seeking new stories in the world of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and The Last Ronin, to paraphrase Splinter and Casey, it's not the destination of the very next sequel on the timeline, but fleshing out the journey itself, that truly counts.
Created by Kevin Eastman, Peter Laird
English (US) ·