April's my favorite, but I wonder if there are more optimal characters than her for speedruns. What are your takes on this subject?

seems like it April

breaks into the hour barrier and comments that , CHAD

IMO, April, Raph, and Splinter are the most capable to even get to 1:00 hour flat time.

Edit: Leo can be added to that optimal list now.

It makes me pretty happy that my favorite character is probably the most optimal.

Raph is above and beyond the best character in the game and behind him is Leo. I created a tier list for this in the Guide Section for 1P and Co-Op respectively. The most recent DLC Character Mona could also be S-Tier TBH. The game being around 3 years old now and the Speedrun Techniques and Strategies have evolved a lot especially in this past year. I also made a Speedrunning Guide as well you can check out. Eventually wanna make a Boss Guide for this game but, its gonna be a bit of a project. Maybe I'll also explain the reasons for the Tiers of the Characters as well if we happen to get more interested runners for this game.