Ninjago: Masters Of Spinjitsu TV Show Thread

[gamejutzu]

It looks like Kai and Nya are gonna create a fusion dragon. A Steam Dragon, perhaps?

Maybe, but when someone really ponders over the set name and what they got, they might be very confused. That's why i'm doubting the set names will stay like this.

__ __ __

Also, does anyone else find it strange how a lot of the HoT suits look... Not as neat as they could have been?

For example, Zane's radar is attached by some wires, when really, there's probably a better way to have that set up. Lloyd's armor has a crack, and Nay and Jay's belts have rips. Kai's strap is ripped and his armor is nicked.

It's interesting to see that every suit has an imperfection somewhere, except Cole's.

How? These suits definitely aren't salvaged. Do the ninja get into a fight in the beginning of HoT? You can say they'll "fix" everyone up at the beginning, but I don't know if they'll do that.

On an unrelated note, I wonder how Zane's radar will be animated. I hope it's constantly swirling instead of just being there.

Edited September 7, 2016 by gamejutzu

[Aanchir]

I picked up the graphic novel LEGO Ninjago: Dark Island Trilogy — Part 1 today at Barnes & Noble! I figured I'd offer a sort of a mini-review for anybody still on the fence about getting it.

The book is hardcover and is way more classy-looking than any of the previous LEGO Ninjago graphic novels. The cover is a super-glossy metallic color with beautiful cover art. It measures 5¾ by 8¼ by ⅝ inches. There is no book jacket. The endpapers are decorated with art of Ninjago and the Dark Island in white on a stormy blue background. The cost marked on the back of the book is $14 USD/$17 CAD.

The book begins with bios of the nine central characters in this volume: Sensei Wu, his six ninja, Misako, and Ronin. Rather than using stock art from trading cards and key visuals like many past graphic novels have, each ninja's bio is accompanied by art of them from one of the comic panels inside. The story (which is canon) is written by Greg Farshtey and the illustrations are by Paul Lee. It is told in two 20-page chapters, each of which is followed by 17 pages of Sensei Wu's journal that relate events prior to and during the events of this adventure. The journal pages include illustrations by Richard Suwono. Caravan Studios, where Suwono is employed, is also credited with providing additional inks and colors.

The story is suspenseful yet high-intensity and mostly seems to fit neatly into the Ninjago canon, although there are some unanswered questions which might be addressed in the next two volumes. It takes place between the events of Season Six: Skybound and the special "Day of the Departed". Despite a lot of the action taking place on the Dark Island, and a lot of the enemies the ninja face being ones we've seen before, it doesn't end up feeling like it's retreading old ground. The characterization of the known characters feels very authentic to the series. It doesn't introduce any new named characters, but does feature the origin of one of the summer 2016 Ninjago sets.

Although the illustrations generally feel very authentic to both the sets and the show, one quirk I noticed is that the ninja never wear hoods, masks, or shoulderpads during the events of the story (though they do in some panels depicting Sensei Wu's thoughts). Fans will be used to the show, and increasingly the sets, showing the ninja without hoods, but generally in the show they at least don them during fight scenes, whereas in this story they do not. The ninja also generally do not carry or use weapons except at the very beginning, but the reasons for this are pretty clearly explained by the events of the story.

The book also includes a 57-page episode guide, which includes two pages of screenshots and captions to relate the events of each episode from the pilot and seasons one and two (the 57th page is because the season 2 finale, "Rise of the Spinjitzu Master", is spread across three pages). Overall this is maybe the most thorough yet easy-to-read summary of the story that's ever been available in book form. If we assume a similar two-season episode guide will accompany each volume of the Dark Island Trilogy, it might make this trilogy a great resource to recommend to new fans who want to understand the events of the past six seasons without watching the entire series.

Overall I'd recommend this book to any fan of the show, particularly those who need something to get them through the hiatus between "Skybound" and "Day of the Departed" (although be aware that Part 3 will not be released until November 22, well after "Day of the Departed" airs). It has fewer actual comic pages than previous graphic novels, but makes up for it with exceptional quality of illustration, storytelling, and presentation.

[DuckBricks]

I picked up the graphic novel LEGO Ninjago: Dark Island Trilogy — Part 1 today at Barnes & Noble! I figured I'd offer a sort of a mini-review for anybody still on the fence about getting it.

The book is hardcover and is way more classy-looking than any of the previous LEGO Ninjago graphic novels. The cover is a super-glossy metallic color with beautiful cover art. It measures 5¾ by 8¼ by ⅝ inches. There is no book jacket. The endpapers are decorated with art of Ninjago and the Dark Island in white on a stormy blue background. The cost marked on the back of the book is $14 USD/$17 CAD.

The book begins with bios of the nine central characters in this volume: Sensei Wu, his six ninja, Misako, and Ronin. Rather than using stock art from trading cards and key visuals like many past graphic novels have, each ninja's bio is accompanied by art of them from one of the comic panels inside. The story (which is canon) is written by Greg Farshtey and the illustrations are by Paul Lee. It is told in two 20-page chapters, each of which is followed by 17 pages of Sensei Wu's journal that relate events prior to and during the events of this adventure. The journal pages include illustrations by Richard Suwono. Caravan Studios, where Suwono is employed, is also credited with providing additional inks and colors.

The story is suspenseful yet high-intensity and mostly seems to fit neatly into the Ninjago canon, although there are some unanswered questions which might be addressed in the next two volumes. It takes place between the events of Season Six: Skybound and the special "Day of the Departed". Despite a lot of the action taking place on the Dark Island, and a lot of the enemies the ninja face being ones we've seen before, it doesn't end up feeling like it's retreading old ground. The characterization of the known characters feels very authentic to the series. It doesn't introduce any new named characters, but does feature the origin of one of the summer 2016 Ninjago sets.

Although the illustrations generally feel very authentic to both the sets and the show, one quirk I noticed is that the ninja never wear hoods, masks, or shoulderpads during the events of the story (though they do in some panels depicting Sensei Wu's thoughts). Fans will be used to the show, and increasingly the sets, showing the ninja without hoods, but generally in the show they at least don them during fight scenes, whereas in this story they do not. The ninja also generally do not carry or use weapons except at the very beginning, but the reasons for this are pretty clearly explained by the events of the story.

The book also includes a 57-page episode guide, which includes two pages of screenshots and captions to relate the events of each episode from the pilot and seasons one and two (the 57th page is because the season 2 finale, "Rise of the Spinjitzu Master", is spread across three pages). Overall this is maybe the most thorough yet easy-to-read summary of the story that's ever been available in book form. If we assume a similar two-season episode guide will accompany each volume of the Dark Island Trilogy, it might make this trilogy a great resource to recommend to new fans who want to understand the events of the past six seasons without watching the entire series.

Overall I'd recommend this book to any fan of the show, particularly those who need something to get them through the hiatus between "Skybound" and "Day of the Departed" (although be aware that Part 3 will not be released until November 22, well after "Day of the Departed" airs). It has fewer actual comic pages than previous graphic novels, but makes up for it with exceptional quality of illustration, storytelling, and presentation.

Thanks for the review! Mine is shipping to me now... Excited to read it!

[gamejutzu]

I wonder if you can watch DoTD without being confused... It would be strange to include a comic tie-in as an answer to something the characters mention but don't explain.

[DuckBricks]

I wonder if you can watch DoTD without being confused... It would be strange to include a comic tie-in as an answer to something the characters mention but don't explain.

I think it's more or a separate adventure than directly related - sure, it tells you how they obtained the new vehicles, but that can be adequately explained in just one line...

[Aanchir]

I wonder if you can watch DoTD without being confused... It would be strange to include a comic tie-in as an answer to something the characters mention but don't explain.

I think if any of the events of "Dark Island Trilogy" are mentioned in "Day of the Departed" it will be in passing, kind of like how Ronin was introduced in Possession as just a thief the ninja had met before, without going into too much detail about that prior meeting. In general, there have been quite a few times when stuff has been implied to happen between seasons without the context being really essential. For example, the ninja had various new jobs in the Season Four premiere, but it wasn't strictly necessary to know when or how they got those jobs.

[gamejutzu]

I think if any of the events of "Dark Island Trilogy" are mentioned in "Day of the Departed" it will be in passing, kind of like how Ronin was introduced in Possession as just a thief the ninja had met before, without going into too much detail about that prior meeting. In general, there have been quite a few times when stuff has been implied to happen between seasons without the context being really essential. For example, the ninja had various new jobs in the Season Four premiere, but it wasn't strictly necessary to know when or how they got those jobs.

I meant they may do something more like mention or joke about something that happened in the series, and people would get confused.

But I do get that they won't just pull something that only people who read would know, maybe something on a smaller scale.

[GarmaFan]

I just realized something... why didn't the ninja use the Tornado of Creation to rebuild the monastery?

[PenPlays]

I just realized something... why didn't the ninja use the Tornado of Creation to rebuild the monastery?

I'll make the assumption that they can only use the ToC by taking something and creating it into something else. i.e. Garmadon's Dark Fortress being turned into the Ferris Wheel, Ed adn Edna's Junkyard piles being turned into the USR.

With the monastery burned down, and the likelihood of the ash already being carried into the wind, there isn't a lot there that can be 'created' back into the Monastery.

Unless, you know... they just etch into the cliff face and build a new one. Writers might not think of all the details.

[Lyichir]

I'll make the assumption that they can only use the ToC by taking something and creating it into something else. i.e. Garmadon's Dark Fortress being turned into the Ferris Wheel, Ed adn Edna's Junkyard piles being turned into the USR.

With the monastery burned down, and the likelihood of the ash already being carried into the wind, there isn't a lot there that can be 'created' back into the Monastery.

Unless, you know... they just etch into the cliff face and build a new one. Writers might not think of all the details.

I think a part of it was also the fact that the main "base" in that year's sets was the Destiny's Bounty, and as such having the ninja operate out of that as a mobile base made more sense in terms of promoting the products than having them have another sanctuary, not based on a set, to return to at the end of each episode.

Actually, you could probably make a case that rebuilding the monastery wouldn't make much sense story-wise either, since creating a new base of operations in the same spot where it had already been destroyed would basically be inviting the Serpentine armies to do the same to the new one.

[gamejutzu]

I think a part of it was also the fact that the main "base" in that year's sets was the Destiny's Bounty, and as such having the ninja operate out of that as a mobile base made more sense in terms of promoting the products than having them have another sanctuary, not based on a set, to return to at the end of each episode.

Actually, you could probably make a case that rebuilding the monastery wouldn't make much sense story-wise either, since creating a new base of operations in the same spot where it had already been destroyed would basically be inviting the Serpentine armies to do the same to the new one.

I could see the Monastery being a D2C kind of set. After all, they're rebuilding what I assume to be 4-Weapons, why not rebuild the monastery to make it more show accurate as well?

I'm think what Penkid meant was the ninja rebuilding the monastery after the whole Overlord-Golden Ninja events, so really anywhere from ToE to where we are now. It seems like they just left it. The ninja act like it's just gone and it can't be rebuilt, when it obviously can.

I think one reason they don't just go back to the monastery is, a mobile base is much better than a stationary one, especially if you're travelling far and wide for your missions. Also, the ninja now have energy dragons, which consume energy if you use them for a long time, unlike something like the Ultra Dragon, which is pretty much retired. Or maybe it's simply just that the ninja feel no need to rebuild it, after all no one is going to even live in it. Maybe they'll just reconstruct it when all's done and the we see Ninjago's future.

Edited September 13, 2016 by gamejutzu

[PenPlays]

I think a part of it was also the fact that the main "base" in that year's sets was the Destiny's Bounty, and as such having the ninja operate out of that as a mobile base made more sense in terms of promoting the products than having them have another sanctuary, not based on a set, to return to at the end of each episode.

Actually, you could probably make a case that rebuilding the monastery wouldn't make much sense story-wise either, since creating a new base of operations in the same spot where it had already been destroyed would basically be inviting the Serpentine armies to do the same to the new one.

These are also very legitimate excuses for abandoning the monastery.

That being said, I would love to have another one. Crossing my fingers for TLNM to give us something to sate us.

[gamejutzu]

Tommy Andreasen really is the man, I think he answers all his tweets.

I'm kind of hesitant to bring this up again, but someone asked if Nya was 13-14 in Masters of Spinjitzu and he hesitantly said yes. That would mean if they are still currently teenagers, the present Ninjago story takes place in a span of 6 years or less.

But then again he said it's really up to interpretation, but in his mind they're teenagers. So I guess if someone makes an age thing we all agree on, it can technically be "canon" but not really.

Also, he confirmed a bunch of things for the next seasons, like Lou in DotD and Skales in HoT. It's some interesting stuff.

Someone also asked if some elemental masters were evil and he said yes. This could tie into the alliance getting manipulated, the "dark secrets", and the Vermillion. Just a thought.

TLNM

What?

Edited September 13, 2016 by gamejutzu

[DuckBricks]

Tommy Andreasen really is the man, I think he answers all his tweets.

I'm kind of hesitant to bring this up again, but someone asked if Nya was 13-14 in Masters of Spinjitzu and he hesitantly said yes. That would mean if they are still currently teenagers, the present Ninjago story takes place in a span of 6 years or less.

But then again he said it's really up to interpretation, but in his mind they're teenagers. So I guess if someone makes an age thing we all agree on, it can technically be "canon" but not really.

Also, he confirmed a bunch of things for the next seasons, like Lou in DotD and Skales in HoT. It's some interesting stuff.

Someone also asked if some elemental masters were evil and he said yes. This could tie into the alliance getting manipulated, the "dark secrets", and the Vermillion. Just a thought.

What?

Yeah, Tommy's great!

Regarding the age thing, he was really, really hesitant to confirm any details regarding time passing or age at all in Ninjago - I think he prefers to keep things a bit vague, which I actually really like - he doesn't go into needless detail and spoil some of the mystery like Greg Farshety did.

Also TLNM means The Lego Ninjago Movie.

[gamejutzu]

Yeah, Tommy's great!

Regarding the age thing, he was really, really hesitant to confirm any details regarding time passing or age at all in Ninjago - I think he prefers to keep things a bit vague, which I actually really like - he doesn't go into needless detail and spoil some of the mystery like Greg Farshety did.

Also TLNM means The Lego Ninjago Movie.

Ah, that makes sense. Also what did Farshety spoil/unravel?

[DuckBricks]

Ah, that makes sense. Also what did Farshety spoil/unravel?

It's off-topic, but quite a few things - not sure if you're familiar with Bionicle Gen1, but he revealed exactly how Matoran are made, stated that love cannot exist in the universe and any depictions of romance are non-canon, revealed the exact names of characters who previously held only titles, etc. Don't get me wrong, I still really appreciate him and everything he's done, but the super-claraification of every nitty gritty detail in the whole universe limited creative fan expansion.

[PenPlays]

Ah, that makes sense. Also what did Farshety spoil/unravel?

Bionicle Stuff that really wasn't necessary (but totally made the theme cooler).

EDIT: ninja'd (fitting it would be this thread )

I hadn't realized that I might've been one of the first to use 'TLNM' as an abbreviation for the movie.

Edited September 14, 2016 by Penkid11

[GarmaFan]

Tommy Andreasen really is the man, I think he answers all his tweets.

I'm kind of hesitant to bring this up again, but someone asked if Nya was 13-14 in Masters of Spinjitzu and he hesitantly said yes. That would mean if they are still currently teenagers, the present Ninjago story takes place in a span of 6 years or less.

But then again he said it's really up to interpretation, but in his mind they're teenagers. So I guess if someone makes an age thing we all agree on, it can technically be "canon" but not really.

Also, he confirmed a bunch of things for the next seasons, like Lou in DotD and Skales in HoT. It's some interesting stuff.

Someone also asked if some elemental masters were evil and he said yes. This could tie into the alliance getting manipulated, the "dark secrets", and the Vermillion. Just a thought

He said she was 14-15 actually, but since he also said she's 2-3 years younger than Kai (which would make him either 16-17, or 17-18 in the beginning) who is about the same age as Cole and Jay, the series can only take place in the span of 2-3 years. Maybe nearly 4. If they plan to keep them teens (which they most likely do) then depending on how long the series goes, seasons are gonna have to not be very far apart. Kinda like they're doing now, I think?

Possession couldn't have been that far from ToE, since Morro was already out and he's not exactly the patient type, so maybe a few weeks a most? Skybound is completely up in the air since Possession had no cliffhanger or hints that lead to any implications, so.. a few months? The pilot and Season 1 could've been a week or two, maybe a month. Season 1 and Season 2 are definitely no more than a day or two apart. I used to think between Season 2 and Rebooted was the largest skip (fanon says it's about two years, but I'm not sure where that came from, and the fanbase has a tendency to spread misinformation like wildfire..), but then Tommy Andreasen said that Rebooted to Tournament of Elements was the longest one, and Season 2-Rebooted actually wasn't that long. So, I guess that means Season 2-Rebooted would be a few or several months, and Rebooted-ToE a year or more. I guess Chen was setting up the tournament that whole time, and Zane and Pixal were just... there. And Borg just didn't care that Pixal was missing that whole time because.. she's just a robot? So, I think that the time skips are:

MoS-RotS: A few weeks
RotS-Season 2 (Rise of the Spinjitzu Master?): 1-2 days
Season 2-Rebooted: About half a year
Rebooted-ToE: Over a year
ToE-Possession: Almost two weeks
Possession-Skybound: 3-4 months

So, in total, in my opinion, it's been about two years since the beginning of the series. Which is... really small, but, eh. I might have gotten something wrong though..

Edited September 14, 2016 by GarmaFan

[gamejutzu]

He said she was 14-15 actually, but since he also said she's 2-3 years younger than Kai (which would make him either 16-17, or 17-18 in the beginning) who is about the same age as Cole and Jay, the series can only take place in the span of 2-3 years. Maybe nearly 4.

He said she's 14-15 in the pilot? I thought he said she was 13-14. And then Kai would be 15-16 in the pilot. But if what you're saying is right, Kai would be 16-17. I guess by Tommy's view, the seasons didn't have as much time in between them as the max age for the ninja are 19.

I guess Chen was setting up the tournament that whole time, and Zane and Pixal were just... there. And Borg just didn't care that Pixal was missing that whole time because.. she's just a robot?

I think Tommy said that Borg was concerned, but he didn't know where to look. And he also partially had faith in PIXAL since he gave her that "You define yourself" speech, so he may not have felt that panicked. He also could have thought PIXAL was grieving and wanted to give her space.

Edited September 15, 2016 by gamejutzu

[Lyichir]

As usual, I'm pretty sure that the characters in the Ninjago storyline don't age at all as the series progresses. The theme as a whole benefits from having a main cast that is relatively stable in terms of hitting that ambiguous teen/young adult age range where they can realistically hold jobs and drive vehicles while still having a youthfulness to make them relatable to the theme's target audience. As such, I can't see Lego changing that as the series goes on—the only way I could see it happening is if the main characters themselves are phased into a mentor role, and if that were to happen I would expect it to be done with a time skip to turn them into older adults, rather than showing the ninja age progressively over time as the story goes on.

Compare superhero comics, many of which continue telling stories for decades without substantially aging their characters.

Edited September 15, 2016 by Lyichir

[GarmaFan]

He said she's 14-15 in the pilot? I thought he said she was 13-14. And then Kai would be 15-16 in the pilot. But if what you're saying is right, Kai would be 16-17. I guess by Tommy's view, the seasons didn't have as much time in between them as the max age for the ninja are 19.

Double checked, yeah, he said 14-15.

https://twitter.com/...534501198393345

He also said there's nothing specific though, so meh, probably best to just think of them as eternal teenagers.

As usual, I'm pretty sure that the characters in the Ninjago storyline don't age at all as the series progresses. The theme as a whole benefits from having a main cast that is relatively stable in terms of hitting that ambiguous teen/young adult age range where they can realistically hold jobs and drive vehicles while still having a youthfulness to make them relatable to the theme's target audience. As such, I can't see Lego changing that as the series goes on—the only way I could see it happening is if the main characters themselves are phased into a mentor role, and if that were to happen I would expect it to be done with a time skip to turn them into older adults, rather than showing the ninja age progressively over time as the story goes on.

Compare superhero comics, many of which continue telling stories for decades without substantially aging their characters.

True, true. It's just fun to think about. It makes the characters feel more alive, even if it's just an illusion and they're ageless cartoon characters. Still, Andreasen implied they've aged since the pilot, as vague as he is about it. But yeah, they'll most likely always be teenagers.

[gamejutzu]

I can't see Lego changing that as the series goes on—the only way I could see it happening is if the main characters themselves are phased into a mentor role, and if that were to happen I would expect it to be done with a time skip to turn them into older adults, rather than showing the ninja age progressively over time as the story goes on.

Compare superhero comics, many of which continue telling stories for decades without substantially aging their characters.

I guess you're right there, however I think a few superhero comics do show aging, but they're clever with it.

Like Batman. There's Year One, all the way to somewhere around year twenty something, And events are scattered all over those years. They also use this to tie in events with other heroes, and their years, which sort of branch from Batman's years.

Edited September 16, 2016 by gamejutzu

[GarmaFan]

Apparently Lil' Nelson won't be in Day of the Departed. Meh, it's not like things in the sets not appearing in the show is uncommon.

[gamejutzu]

Apparently Lil' Nelson won't be in Day of the Departed. Meh, it's not like things in the sets not appearing in the show is uncommon.

oh well, at least we have a purple 2011 mask.

I'm more interested in Hands of Time than DoD. The way he (Tommy Andreasen) talks about it makes it seem like it's longer than DoD (maybe even a season), and storywise it looks very promising as well. Not to mention these Possession/2012 type vehicles are the kind I like, as opposed to the Rebooted/DoD kind of vehicles.

Edited September 19, 2016 by gamejutzu

[DuckBricks]

oh well, at least we have a purple 2011 mask.

I'm more interested in Hands of Time than DoD. The way he (Tommy Andreasen) talks about it makes it seem like it's longer than DoD (maybe even a season), and storywise it looks very promising as well. Not to mention these Possession/2012 type vehicles are the kind I like, as opposed to the Rebooted/DoD kind of vehicles.

HoT is definitely season 7, that was confirmed.