Tanma Posted November 23, 2012 Posted November 23, 2012 You will be missed Ninjago, clearly you were a noble worthy heir to the Bionicle throne. One thing that bothered me a little was at some points in the end, the other Nijnas just seemed to stare as Llyod fought. Like on the island, while Llyod engaged the Overlord in battle, there were some scenes of the others just standing, or at least that is how it looked to me. At first they did fight the army, but there were also scenes of them just watching the battle. Maybe if in the scenes while they commented it had showed the other Ninjas leaping and fighting off the Stone Army I would have felt differently, but if they are just going to stand around I would rather the Ninja help Llyod, or at the least using their abilities to modify the environment to put Llyod at an advantage. Likewise they were not as agile as they cpuld have been, though if we are honest for Lego figures they were incrediably flexible. Quote
PenPlays Posted November 24, 2012 Posted November 24, 2012 His name is Lloyd, Tanma The thing that bothered me was the lack of Brick to TV visual consistency in the show. Probably the biggest culprit was the Turbo Shredder. It doesn't even look close! If the actual Brick-built sets made it into the show, I think I would have felt a lot better, or if the sets were designed closer to the show. I never got over that. Heck I had to make my own MOC just to see a close looking version of the Great Devourer from the show. Judging by LoC, it looks like they learned... Quote
Tobias_Jay Posted November 24, 2012 Posted November 24, 2012 The continuity issues were my problems with the show. As much as I liked how everything in the storyline flowed well, the continuity was not all that good. Quote
Kai NRG Posted November 24, 2012 Posted November 24, 2012 My biggest problem was Misako. Re-watching the first few episodes of her involvement, knowing what happened at the end... why did LEGO set it up that way? And then, at the end, when she said, "It was written in the scroll!" ... Oh please! You read the scroll two episodes earlier, you even had the helment, and it took you until now to figure that out! (Why did the helment glow for Dereth and not for Jay?) Quote
DraikNova Posted November 24, 2012 Posted November 24, 2012 Good point Kai. And I agree Flipz. More importantly, they rarely used stealth, while a ninja is supposed to be an assassin. Quote
Lyichir Posted November 24, 2012 Posted November 24, 2012 You know, someone in the Chima topic mentioned the idea of the Ninjago characters "crossing over" into Chima for a cameo or two. While I doubt it would happen to Chima (Chima seems too "isolated" for that), it would be really nice to see the Ninjago characters make appearances in other themes at a later time--after all, the Clutch Powers reference was cool and was a nice nod to the past (I, for one, wish he'd been more popular, it would have been a great way to promote cross-theme fanship, after all). Also, now that the series is over, is anyone ready to discuss things that annoyed them? I, for one, got rather annoyed after a while about how slow and "sticky" the fighting got, especially in the very end. By "sticky," I mean there was never really enough knockback to the ninja's attacks, it made them seem really weak and powerless--the enemies' feet seemed "stuck" to the ground. While that made sense while the ninja were de-powered by the loss of their Golden Weapons, once they got the elemental blades, I feel they should have gotten at least some of that back--and the Stone Army also got a lot less threatening at the same time when their attacks no longer tossed the Ninja around like popcorn. IMO, a ninja's fighting style revolves around lots of swift, dynamic movement--and for such dynamic characters, the Ninja sure seemed to stand in one spot a lot in fights. I felt the fights in Ninjago were one of the weaker parts of the show. The Spinjitzu helped cover for the fact that even when animated with a wider range of motion, minifigures are hard to make look convincing at any sort of martial art. But as the series went on they used their Spinjitzu less and less. I reckon Chima can do better, since swordfights are a lot easier to depict with minifigures than hand-to-hand combat. Quote
Tanma Posted November 24, 2012 Posted November 24, 2012 His name is Lloyd, Tanma The thing that bothered me was the lack of Brick to TV visual consistency in the show. Probably the biggest culprit was the Turbo Shredder. It doesn't even look close! If the actual Brick-built sets made it into the show, I think I would have felt a lot better, or if the sets were designed closer to the show. I never got over that. Heck I had to make my own MOC just to see a close looking version of the Great Devourer from the show. Judging by LoC, it looks like they learned... I thought that is what I put... crude, I have been confusing lowercase "l" with uppercase "I" again haven't I? I blame the font Quote
Kai NRG Posted November 24, 2012 Posted November 24, 2012 More importantly, they rarely used stealth, while a ninja is supposed to be an assassin. That's because, in general, stealth is boring. I don't really think a kid would be interested in a TV show where the ninjas slowly creep around, trying their best not to be seen. Admitedly, it doesn't have to be like that, but IMHO LEGO did include stealth whereever possible. Besides, pretty much the only connection this has to "real" ninjas is the hat/hood. After all, they certainly don't act like assasins! Quote
Aanchir Posted November 24, 2012 Posted November 24, 2012 I thought that is what I put... crude, I have been confusing lowercase "l" with uppercase "I" again haven't I? I blame the font Nah, it's just that you kept putting the "y" before the "o" instead of after. It's a typo I've seen a number of people make; it doesn't help that Lloyd isn't an especially common name and so a lot of people might not recognize what it's supposed to look like typed out. Anyway, in the finale, the only thing that really bothered me is that there was never a clear reason why Lloyd was suddenly able to find the strength of the Golden Ninja within himself. In the episodes in which Zane, Jay, Cole, and Kai unlocked their true potential, it was made extremely clear which of their own internal conflicts they overcame to find that inner strength, but with Lloyd it seemed like it was just the higher stakes of the final battle against the Overlord that triggered it, almost like a deus ex machina in a way. There are obviously a lot of possible reasons Lloyd could have succeeded in the final battle where he had failed on the Island of Darkness-- perhaps he was no longer hesitating because he thought his father was gone for good, or perhaps he recognized that the sacrifices of all his friends and allies would be wasted if he didn't defeat the Overlord this time, or perhaps the confidence his teammates had in his ability to win was enough to boost his own confidence in himself. But whichever of these was the case, it wasn't made clear in the episode itself, and I think that was the episode's key weakness. Other foibles I know a lot of people have brought up, like Misako seemingly choosing Garmadon over Wu without hesitation, or the fights feeling "sticky", didn't really make much of a difference to me. The conclusion was satisfactory for me, and Misako going to Garmadon could be interpreted a number of ways. Certainly Wu didn't seem at all broken up about it, which would suggest that he is still willing to take things as they come rather than worrying about what might have been. And the fight scenes, while not all that compelling, aren't really the reason I enjoy Ninjago, though I can appreciate how much hard work it takes to create the fight scenes in shows like Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra, and how much high-quality fight scenes add to a show's visual appeal. As far as the script for the finale was concerned, I definitely feel that other than Lloyd's ambiguous character development, it was top-notch. All the characters' emotions felt genuine (which is just as much a matter of scriptwriting as of the show's talented voice acting), the callbacks at the end to previous episodes were top-notch, and everyone acted about how they would be expected to act in these situations. That's because, in general, stealth is boring. I don't really think a kid would be interested in a TV show where the ninjas slowly creep around, trying their best not to be seen. Admitedly, it doesn't have to be like that, but IMHO LEGO did include stealth whereever possible. Besides, pretty much the only connection this has to "real" ninjas is the hat/hood. After all, they certainly don't act like assasins! Agreed. Basically it's a lot like how swordfights in Hollywood tend to add a lot of unnecessary flourish to make them more visually interesting. Similarly, Ninjago tends to focus on fighting more than stealth, and even when the Ninja do have a "stealth mission" they do a lot of seemingly-unnecessary rolls, leaps, and flips in order to show off the characters' agility. It's really just a matter of what audiences want to see, and while stealth-based missions lend themselves to a lot of edge-of-your-seat suspense, they don't have the same "Wow, cool!" factor that a colorful fight scene has. Quote
Flipz Posted November 24, 2012 Posted November 24, 2012 That's because, in general, stealth is boring. I don't really think a kid would be interested in a TV show where the ninjas slowly creep around, trying their best not to be seen. Admitedly, it doesn't have to be like that, but IMHO LEGO did include stealth whereever possible. Besides, pretty much the only connection this has to "real" ninjas is the hat/hood. After all, they certainly don't act like assasins! Agreed. Basically it's a lot like how swordfights in Hollywood tend to add a lot of unnecessary flourish to make them more visually interesting. Similarly, Ninjago tends to focus on fighting more than stealth, and even when the Ninja do have a "stealth mission" they do a lot of seemingly-unnecessary rolls, leaps, and flips in order to show off the characters' agility. It's really just a matter of what audiences want to see, and while stealth-based missions lend themselves to a lot of edge-of-your-seat suspense, they don't have the same "Wow, cool!" factor that a colorful fight scene has. Solid Snake would beg to differ...though over the years it seems that he, too seems to do less and less stealth.... Quote
Kai NRG Posted November 25, 2012 Posted November 25, 2012 Can anyone here point me to a spot where LEGO says that the Ninjago series has ended (at least for now)? I think that was stated somewhere but have no idea where. Not that I don't think it ended with that last episode (I do), but it would be helpful to convince some other people who still think Ninjago might have another season (in the inmediate future, like... next year)... Quote
Aanchir Posted November 25, 2012 Posted November 25, 2012 Solid Snake would beg to differ...though over the years it seems that he, too seems to do less and less stealth.... There's a difference though between challenging yourself to be stealthy and watching somebody else sneak around... the former (which doesn't really work in a non-interactive medium) can be exciting, but the latter eventually gets boring. And both tend to be a very slow kind of suspense, unlike the fast-paced action of a good fight scene or chase scene which would appeal more to Ninjago's target audience. Can anyone here point me to a spot where LEGO says that the Ninjago series has ended (at least for now)? I think that was stated somewhere but have no idea where. Not that I don't think it ended with that last episode (I do), but it would be helpful to convince some other people who still think Ninjago might have another season (in the inmediate future, like... next year)... I don't know of any online sources but Kevin Hinkle (TLG's community coordinator for North America) confirmed at Bricks Cascade that the sets wouldn't be continuing in 2013 (although he later corrected that statement when he learned that there would be one wave in 2013), and Cartoon Network, at least, is not signed on for any additional seasons of the show (instead they are going to be airing Legends of Chima). Also, nobody at Wil Film has hinted at any plans for new seasons after the latest one. I agree it would be nice to have an official statement from TLG clarifying the issue, but for now we've just got to point to the evidence. The strongest single piece of evidence is this press release which says the complete series will be available on DVD and Blu-Ray in the first half of next year, which isn't exactly possible if the series is intended to continue after that. Quote
Kai NRG Posted November 26, 2012 Posted November 26, 2012 I agree it would be nice to have an official statement from TLG clarifying the issue, but for now we've just got to point to the evidence. The strongest single piece of evidence is this press release which says the complete series will be available on DVD and Blu-Ray in the first half of next year, which isn't exactly possible if the series is intended to continue after that. Thanks, that seems pretty conclusive to me... (We'll see how it works though! ) Quote
Boshuda21 Posted November 29, 2012 Posted November 29, 2012 Can anyone here point me to a spot where LEGO says that the Ninjago series has ended (at least for now)? I think that was stated somewhere but have no idea where. Not that I don't think it ended with that last episode (I do), but it would be helpful to convince some other people who still think Ninjago might have another season (in the inmediate future, like... next year)... My son watches the series and I have only seen a couple episodes, but I have read that the Lego ninjago brick line (I think it was on the Lego brickset site with their list of 2013 sets) has been discontinued after 2013 and is to be replaces with Chima. Given that, I suspect the show will also coincide with this. I am not sure what the motivation is behind this. Ninjago is extremely popular with young boys. They all go nuts over it. Then again, Lego has made a number of decisions that baffle me over the years. Quote
Lyichir Posted November 30, 2012 Posted November 30, 2012 My son watches the series and I have only seen a couple episodes, but I have read that the Lego ninjago brick line (I think it was on the Lego brickset site with their list of 2013 sets) has been discontinued after 2013 and is to be replaces with Chima. Given that, I suspect the show will also coincide with this. I am not sure what the motivation is behind this. Ninjago is extremely popular with young boys. They all go nuts over it. Then again, Lego has made a number of decisions that baffle me over the years. The show technically ended last week, and yes, Chima's show will replace it next year. There are a number of reasons why they're ending it; the stated reason has been that Lego doesn't want Ninjago to fall into "the Bionicle trap," by which they mean keeping the theme going until it stops being sustainable, and as a result having to give it a hasty conclusion instead of the epic finale fans want. But another possible reason my brother Aanchir has speculated is that perhaps they want to end the theme while it's successful so that they can later point to it as a "success story" when pitching future television series. I expect Chima will be able to follow up on Ninjago's success, since unlike with Ninjago, Lego now has more experience with TV tie-ins and other aspects of modern toy promotion. Quote
DraikNova Posted November 30, 2012 Posted November 30, 2012 (edited) The most important thing LEGO (probably) has learned from this is how to make storylines that can be translated into TV shows. Edited November 30, 2012 by DraikNova Quote
Speedza-Demon Posted November 30, 2012 Posted November 30, 2012 (edited) Has anyone else noticed that Jay Vincent has been deleting several of his videos on Youtube? He deleted the Final Battle music, and the piece used when the Overlord possessed Garmadon. Just thought I'd throw that out there. Edit: Also, all of the other videos containing the series's soundtrack have been flagged and deleted. I assume it has something to do with the Soundtrack's official release. Edited December 1, 2012 by Speedza-Demon Quote
Kai NRG Posted December 1, 2012 Posted December 1, 2012 Edit: Also, all of the other videos containing the series's soundtrack have been flagged and deleted. I assume it has something to do with the Soundtrack's official release. So have a lot of the (HD at least) episodes, apparently. Probably because of the DVD that will be released soon. Quote
Tobias_Jay Posted December 1, 2012 Posted December 1, 2012 (Why did the helment glow for Dereth and not for Jay?) Destiny perhaps. Think about it. If Jay controlled the army they could overthrow Garmadon. The Garmatron would never have been created. The balance wouldn't have shifted. The Overlord would never have taken control over Garmadon and the city. Lloyd would not become the next Spinjitzu master. Ninjago moves in mysterious ways some times but everything happens fora reason.. It might also be because he didn't have it on long enough for the power to settle in. Quote
PenPlays Posted December 1, 2012 Posted December 1, 2012 (Why did the helment glow for Dereth and not for Jay?) Brown Ninja of Stone? Quote
PenPlays Posted December 1, 2012 Posted December 1, 2012 Maybe if they developed beyond the series, they would have discovered that Dareth's unwillingness to admit that he isn't the best Sensei is keeping him from unlocking his true potential. Just thought I'd add that to my theory. Quote
Tobias_Jay Posted December 1, 2012 Posted December 1, 2012 I would love to have Dareth learn Spinjitzu and get NRG powers! Quote
Kai NRG Posted December 2, 2012 Posted December 2, 2012 Brown Ninja of Stone? What happened to hot air? If that were the case though, shouldn't he be black and Cole be brown?... Quote
PenPlays Posted December 2, 2012 Posted December 2, 2012 If that were the case though, shouldn't he be black and Cole be brown?... Pohatu and Onua... Quote
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