My Thoughts On Ninjago · 2:19am April 26th
Hey guys hope your having a good day right now, I just decided to give out this blog post to discuss one of my favorite childhood shows, Ninjago. I've got a lot I'd like to say about it, while I knew a lot of people have they're own takes on this show, I still enjoy it a lot and really like it to this day, so after rewatching all 15 seasons from the start of last week to yesterday, I'd like to give you my thoughts on the show, and why it's stood the test of time, hope you enjoy it!
Let's start of with some basic stuff. One thing I really loved about the show was how serialized it's plot was, and how deep the lore got the longer the show went on, while the show originally intended to be 2 seasons before being replaced by Chima, the original seasons lore was really great. With the corruption of Garmadon and the Great Devourer being the cause of it, I know that in Crystalized it was stated that the Overlord corrupted her, but I would've preferred if it was just evil from a natural state, and didn't forcibly become evil like Garmadon was. This show has one of the best lore and story's i've seen of any kids show, this show did not need to go so hard with it's themes, story's, and morals. I always loved this show since it aired, I was 8 by the time it aired by the way, to know it's still one of the shows from the 2010's to continue into the 2020's, that's an achievement the people who made the show should be proud off. Despite how long it's been going on, this show always found ways to keep itself going, it managed to go all the way to even now, there was always a new place the ninja could explore and fight in, and that place tied into the show's lore in someway too, I do not think the show would be nearly as good if it was just episodic, and the fact that it's story has been so good even after being around for almost 14 years is something truly special.
While the show was originally meant to end with season 2 and be replaced by Legends Of Chima, the fans weren't too happy about it, and continued to send messages to the crew who worked on Ninjago to keep it going, and with the great sales of the Ninjago build sets, and fan outcry, the crew had to go back to writing Ninjago, leaving Chima to sadly end after only 3 seasons. While I do understand why some people may not like Chima as much as Ninjago, I feel like there was more to explore with it, I feel like if they switched between show's every 2 seasons or so, to give more focus with the realms and they're lore, I think it would've been better. But I do understand why they couldn't do both, and I can understand why Ninjago kept going instead, there was far more for Ninjago then even Chima, I'm glad Chima at least got what felt like a conclusion with season 3, I just wish they could bring back the character's in Dragons Rising, that would be really nice to see.
Another great thing about the show, is the character's. Kai, Lloyd, Jay, Cole, Zane, Nya, Wu and Garmadon are easily some of my favorite character's within any show, Garmadon especially is one of my favorite cartoon villains with how great his story is, even after season 4, when he was brought back in the Oni Trilogy, but just as the Oni part of him who didn't care for anything, not even his own son, and just wanted destruction, but after talking with someone named Vinny in season 10, he learns there's more to life then just surviving, and it actually helps him learn to be more then just his evil half, letting even a small bit of the man he once was still remain.
Each ninja is a favorite to someone, while Kai and Zane are my personal favorites, all the ninja have a lot of things to like too, they all have great story's that help them with they're character's with each season that focuses on them. Even though it was very blunt for his character, Zane's little story in season 15 Crystalized was pretty nice, during the early parts of that season, he had turned off his emotions switch after Nya had vanished after the end of Season 14, since he's a robot, it may have been the only way he can cope with the loss, we all go through loss and grief and very different ways, and Zane's little story in that season was something I really liked, even if I'm not the biggest fan of Crystalized, little moments like that make the view a bit better for me.
One of my other favorite things about the show.. was the soundtrack. This show has one of the best soundtracks I've heard in a kids show, they did not need to go so hard with it, even if this show is mainly to help sell they're Ninjago sets that's been made for the show, this show's soundtrack always stood out to me, it honestly reminds me of Kung Fu Panda's soundtrack with how well the instruments help with the score, and don't even get me started on the Weekend Whip. Easily one of the best theme songs for any kids show, the very first one for the first 2 seasons always is a classic, but the fact that there are over 10 different versions of it is just incredible, easily an amazing song made by The Fold, and while We Rise from Dragon's Rising is great too, it just doesn't have the nostalgia feeling to this song.
For my top 5 versions of it, here they are.
1: The original whip, seasons 1-2: A classic song that will be fun to listen to, or something that can help lighten up the mood, it always helps me get in a better mood whenever I listen to it.
2: The Shintaro Dungeon Whip: Season 13, despite it having less vocals then the rest, the instruments and rock and roll near the second half make up for it, a great way to match Cole during that season.
3: The Wicked Whip, Season 11. despite it not being that similar to the 7 versions that came before it, the Wicked Whip was a great way to ease fans who may have started watching Ninjago in seasons 11-15, it helps give them a good view on how great this show's soundtrack is, especially when listening to it in full.
4: The Rift Whip, Day of the Departed. While Day of the Departed should've been a season instead of a special, it could easily replace season 7 in my opinion, this version of the whip is slow and has great rock and roll vibes to it, I know all Weekend Whips are like Rock and Roll, but this one hits differently for me, and I love it.
5: The Ghost Whip. Season 5. I love the vibe this whip gives the viewer, the instruments and the way the song is sung in this one hits far differently then the other's, fits the vibe of it's season perfectly, and one of the best. Feel free to let me know what your favorites are, these are just my opinion.
Another thing I really loved for this series was how nicely paced it was, despite some season sufferings from it, like seasons 3, 7, 10-15 in areas, the pacing of the show was really great, and they helped give us great interactions with the character's that helped with the arcs they went through. Sometimes it could be a bit slow, but I appreciate the slower pace to help let character's bond and interact more, 22 minutes was definitely the better choice for the show, because I feel like the original 10 seasons and Dragons Rising have handled it really well.
But this show isn't without it's complaints, and I'm sure some of you could expect this, so I'll just say a few things I have issues with. While I do love the show and all it's themes, I feel like the character's keep needing to re learn what they already have, like Kai getting over with wanting to be the Green Ninja, Zane finding Humanity despite him being a robot, Nya needing to move past her independence a bit and feel better with letting other's help, I know that's not what she is to some people, but when she was the Water Ninja, in seasons like 11 and 14, she did value her independence, and while i don't mind that at all, I feel like she's already learned to move past it with the help of the others, but I think that's just me.
And of course, seasons 11-15, aka.. the 11 minute Era. One of this Era's biggest mistakes was cutting the episode lengths in half, this barely gave that much time for the plot to move forward, and character's to interact, or go through what arc they were supposed to go to. Season 11 has a lot of problems, and one of it's problems was the filler episodes it often put in between the more important parts, especially with the 2nd half of it, I feel like the conclusion to that season would've felt way better if they didn't have episodes that took time away from the ninja and what they're going through. While the 11 minute stuff did have some things going for it, like explaining the backstory's to certain character's like Aspheera, Benthomaar, and Okino, stuff like that did help explain who these character's are, and what they're deal is. Benthomaar is one of my favorite Ninjago side character's with how well his backstory is done, and his story across season 14.
The 11 minute era does have it's good stuff to it though, even though the writing was pretty mixed during that time, stuff like the animation on the character's, and how they fight was so great. I already knew from season 11 that even with the 11 minute count, it did give the animators time to give
help the character's fight far better then the original 10 seasons did, but while it was cool. I prefer story's that focus on the character's and arcs first, and the cool fighting stuff can be pushed back a little, I just think that 11 minutes didn't help the pacing with the seasons, and now that the 22 minute is back with Dragon's Rising, it makes the show way better paced now.
And for my next complaint for the 11 minute era, it did often reuse a lot of stuff from previous seasons. Like in season 14, the villain of that season wanted to unleash a giant evil sea serpent named Wojira, who controlled the elements of Wind and Water, to flood Ninjago and destroy it, while that may seem bad, the way the villain is defeated was be cause he couldn't control it, and got eaten, just like how it happened with Pythor in season 1, only different is, he actually died there. Reusing plot points like the giant snake wanting to destroy Ninjago is just a bit weird to me, I know the lore is far different from it then with the Great Devourer, but it did feel weird with how much stuff was reused for that era, especially with season 11 and 15.
One of the biggest problems I have with season 11 as a whole, was the fact that it's main villain was just another person from Wu's past that he never told the ninja. This is like the 4th person Wu's kept secret about, from Chen, the Overlord, Krux and Acronix, and now Aspheera, a serpentine. While I did like Aspheera a bit for what she was in seasons 11 and 15, I feel like she would've been far better as a character if A: She wasn't just another villain from Wu's past wanting revenge, and B: She had time to be menacing and show herself as a threat, and C, be more unique. Honestly I feel like she didn't have to be a villain, there could've been more to her if the writer's didn't just make her a revenge driven character who wanted to get back at Wu for" Betraying her", she could've been more as a character if she didn't feel like she was just to help start up the seasons 2nd half the Ice Chapter, and believe me, I have plans to make her far better when I make my own Spike in Ninjago story, the villains in the 11 minute era just didn't have the time they needed to make an impact like Garmadon, Harumi, or Chen did, and they just felt undercooked.
And another complaint I have about the show was how certain things like Airjitzu and the Elemental Dragons were gone after season 7, I know it was because in an interview, one of the writer's said the Ninja were getting too overpowered at season 8, so they had to make the ninja stop using them, while Airjitzu is said to be used with dark magic, it was never explained within the show itself, and it led to a lot of stuff post season 7 to feel not as threatening if they could use they're dragons, season 9 would've proven that.
But now that those complaints are done, I just wanna get back to my other thoughts, this show does have a lot of great stuff to it, from the soundtrack and it's animation, the character's are fun to follow and the season's that focus on them make things really nice when they're given the spotlight. And now we're at this point in Ninjago, with the new show Dragon's Rising, it's a bit of a soft reboot that takes the show into a new generation, a lot of recent Ninjago fans got into this series because of this show, and went back to the original, Dragon's Rising has a lot of potential to help live up to the show's best highs, seasons 8-10 the Oni Trilogy was the best the show had right now, but I still wonder why 10 was 4 episodes, can someone please explain that to me? I really need to know. But, Dragon's Rising is really living up to those seasons, while the show does have it's ups and downs, I know there are tons of people who love each season for many reasons, and I don't have a problem with that.
What I'm trying to say is, there are plenty of high's and lows with this show, it's not perfect, but no show is. But I'll always love the show for how it's shaped people's childhoods, and has become a show that still is going on to this day, while it will be sad for when this show eventually ends, I'll always love it for how much it's done for us. The character's, soundtrack, story and themes all leave a big impact, it's easily one of my top 5 animated shows, despite it being a kids show, as an adult, I still love it a lot and come back to it, and I just hope with Dragons Rising, we see the character's continue to go on more epic adventures.
Thanks for reading this guys, sorry if what I said may be something you don't agree with, I can understand people not agreeing with me on this, but these are just my thoughts, they don't matter if you have your own on them, I'm just saying what I feel about this show, and how I feel about it, I could've gone more in depth to it, but I just wanna say what my thoughts were, I may add in more stuff later, but for now, these are my thoughts. I recommend checking out this show yourself, even if it's 15+ seasons long, I'm sure there will be something you can enjoy from it, but I can understand why people don't like it, and I'm sorry to those who disagree to this. I just wanted to share my thoughts on a show that means so much to me, and I hope you can understand that. Thank you all for reading this, and please let me know what your thoughts are too if you'd like! Have a great day!
Had pretty fond memories of this show and hopefully sometime next year I can re-watch them all on Netflix too once I get my own place.
Always hated how they got slashed to 11 minutes due to CN's moronic new rule. It really goofted things up
Glad that Dragon Rising undid that mistake.
Honestly loved Legends of Chima alot and was saddened that it ended and felt like LEGO ignored the fan outcry this time that wanted Chima to continue too.
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This hurt the pacing of a lot of shows with 11 minutes, Steven Universe would've ended in a much better way if the show was 22 minutes, it would've fleshed out the lore and the Diamonds far better if it was.
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Would have loved to see if Chima had a dragon tribe or something.
Hoping they have Riyu be able to talk and show a personality and such.
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That’s why I prefer to watch two 11 minute episodes back to back to make your standard 22 minute episode.
I watched legends of Chima and Ninjago, they are great, their my favorite childhood tv show, and I still watch them and rewatch them to this day