Peak Lego Fiction
Growing up in Japan, our selection of TV shows growing up was a little different. We didn’t have access to the channels that were playing shows for kids like Cartoon Network. We or our parents would have to come into contact with a show in our “outside world” and from there find it on iTunes and buy it. This was before YouTube content became more prominent in our lives, so TV shows were a pretty big part of what we watched. My sister and I would also play with a lot of toys, with Lego easily our favorites. Building the sets, playing with the Minifigs, even making some stop motion movies, we had too much Lego for our good. Our love for Lego didn’t stop with the physical world. The Lego Star Wars and Indiana Jones games are one of my fondest memories gaming. Safe to say, we loved Lego. It’s no surprise to us then, that one of our favorite TV shows from our childhood was Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu. I’ve been rewatching the show recently, so what better to talk about the show that made me want to become a Ninja.
With over 15 seasons, the entire show would be impossible to cover in just one article. So I’ll stick to the first season, the one I’ve seen the most. Ninjago was originally a two episode special which served as the pilot for the show. These episodes were shown on Cartoon Network on January 14, 2011. The episodes consisted of Sensei Wu seeking out the four main ninjas—Kai, Cole, Jay and Zane—to combat the return of the evil Lord Garmadon, and collecting the four golden weapons. I love all the characters and immediately fell in love with the world of Ninjago. Spinjitzu, which a special fighting technique the ninja use, was the coolest thing to a 10 year old kid. It’s a self-contained enough story that it would have worked as a one off, but the show turned out to be a huge hit, resulting in season 1: Rise of the Snakes being made.
In this season the show dives more into the lore behind the land of Ninjago and the prophecy of the Green Ninja, destined to defeat the dark lord. Through out the season, the ninja find out about this prophecy and try to find out which of them was the destined Green Ninja. As a kid this was incredibly entertaining. I remember theorizing with my sister who we thought was the chosen one. Lord Garmadon takes a back seat in this season and we get a new main antagonist, the Serpentine. An ancient race of humanoid snakes who were locked in tombs by the Elemental Masters. More about the history of Ninjago is reveal through this, allowing the show to grow and be more complex. This season has so many great episodes and great moments. When you find out that Zane is actually a robot, or when you learn that Lloyd, the son of Lord Garmadon, is the Green Ninja are amazing twists that blew my child mind. Each ninja has their moments of growth as they find their true potential and watching them now still makes me giddy like a little kid again.
What just goes to prove the popularity of this show is how it has continued on for so long. Initially the show was meant to end after season 2, with the ultimate battle between the Green Ninja and the evil lord concluding. However, the Lego company started to get phone calls and letters from parents saying their kids wanted Ninjago back. There were other animated Lego shows like Legends of Chima, but the people had spoken and they wanted Ninjago back. Season 2 ended in November of 2012, and season 3 which was aptly named Rebooted, first aired in January of 2014. Since then it has continued to come out with a new season close to every year, with the series being capped on season 15. Since then a new show titled Ninjago: Dragon Rising has started, where new main characters have been introduced and the characters we’ve watched grow for 11 years take a more mentor-like role. I think this was a great idea, as you can only do so much with the same characters for 15 seasons. Seeing the characters you watched grow become the wise masters is super cool and sounds like they haven’t butchered the characters like some series tend to do with their long-running characters.
In the grand scheme of things, Ninjago was created to sell toys. It was to get kids invested so they would buy their Lego sets. It’s one giant commercial for product. A commercial that sure did work on me and my sister. And yet it was so much more than just that. It was honestly one of my favorite shows as a kid, and have genuinely been enjoying rewatching it now. Some Lego shows can feel like a cash grab and sometimes are, but Ninjago was something special. It was peak fiction. Peak Lego Fiction.
