Ninjago TV Show: Watchable or poison for grownups?

[murphy_slaw]

I have a couple of Ninjago sets on order and I was wondering if the show is enjoyable for (not excessively mature) adults. I ask as someone who happily watched the entire run of Avatar: The Last Airbender in my late 30s. Does the show work on multiple levels or is it targeted squarely at the elementary school set?

[Aanchir]

I think it's fantastic and absolutely works on multiple levels. That said, I'm just 25 and my interests often skew younger than a lot of people's. Most of the shows I'm into these days are cartoons aimed at kids like Steven Universe, Miraculous!, My Little Pony Friendship is Magic, and of course LEGO Ninjago.

The Ninjago story has gotten a bit darker and more sophisticated as the years have gone on, but even season one had some incredible episodes like "Home", "Tick Tock", and "Day of the Great Devourer". It has a good balance of action, sincerity, and humor. The soundtrack of the series is absolutely incredible, and the visuals have gotten better and better with each passing season.

The cheesiest moments take place in the first half of season two ("Darkness Shall Rise" through "Wrong Place, Wrong Time"), which indulges pretty heavily in cartoon silliness and Saturday morning cartoon cliches (fighting evil doppelgangers, entering a race, being turned into kids, going back in time, etc), but the second half of season two takes things in a much more serious direction.

I would not consider it a masterpiece on the level of Avatar: The Last Airbender, but then again, few shows are!

Edited May 30, 2016 by Aanchir

[Legocity2713]

I gave it a watch a couple times just to see how it is and I could happily say that I really enjoyed it.

Like, there is a point to each episode. The humor usually lands from what I can tell, the action is great, and the story is well written.

Surprisingly sophisticated imo. Two thumbs up from me! :thumbup:

That said, due to time constraints I don't really have a drive to watch every episode, but I can totally get behind it.

Edited May 30, 2016 by Legocity2713

[DuckBricks]

Just a warning - the pilot episodes are pretty much the worst series of episodes in the show. Near the end of Rebooted the show gets really, really good, and the latest season (Skybound) was phenomenal. If you can get past the first few pilot episodes and the good, but not stellar seasons 1 and 2, you're going to really enjoy the rest of the seasons.

Edit: Just realized this belongs in Lego Media... Could a mod move it?

Edited May 31, 2016 by legozebra

[WhiteFang]

Topic moved.

WhiteFang

[azog]

I love the ninjago show! I totally agree that the show got darker in the later seasons. Season 1 and 2 will always hold a place in my heart. The pilot episodes were fantastic! It started out everything! Introduced all the characters and there elemental powers! The show has always been good to me. The only season I think could have been the worst was rebooted.

[Lordofdragonss]

Rebooted IMO was the worst series, but I liked final battle scenes. The Newest season IMO was quite good in "child" standards. I really loved Nadhakan and his crazy Crew.

[NXS7]

It's definitely very watchable. I'm only in my twenties, and compared to Legends of Chima, this is a worthwhile show

[gamejutzu]

Of course! It's surprisingly mature for a show with based on Lego.

It's even mature early on. There are themes like "death" and "losing a friend", you don't normally see in a poisonous show.

You may not like the first episodes, but that doesn't mean they're bad. Personally the first (/second) season previously mentioned is my favorite one.

Point is, yes, adults will find the show to be good, but don't let what you first see of the show define your entire perception of it.

Edited May 31, 2016 by gamejutzu

[Starscream759]

Go for it, dude, it's a pretty good show. Sure it's not gonna be amongst shows like Avatar the Last Airbender, Steven Universe, Adventure Time, Gravity Falls and to some My Little Pony but it is a very mature show for something that's based around Lego and it's defiantly got it's fair share of dark moments Possession and Skybound come to mind and are both considered the more darker seasons of Ninjago. Like everyone's said the pilot episodes may not be so good but if you get by them no problem, then you should find yourself enjoying this show just as much as I have. My favourite characters from the show are Jay, Zane, Master Chen, Garmadon and Nya along with Kai.

[Sr1847]

Ninjago is perfect it has the perfect mix of comedy, action, suspense, and drama the logic in the show isn't the best but Ninjago is one of the best shows out there

[PicnicBasketSam]

I can recommend Tournament of Elements... it's the only season I've seen in its entirety, but it is terrific. Of course it's not Avatar-level, but I really enjoyed it.

EDIT: I forgot that I watched season 2... that one wasn't as good. Would not recommend.

Edited June 5, 2016 by PicnicBasketSam

[wiz]

It starts out rather bad and goofy, but it gets way better. Definitely watchable.

[Aanchir]

I was wondering why I hadn't seen this topic recently. Why in the world was this moved to Culture and Multimedia? Shouldn't it have been moved to LEGO Media and Gaming? Glad to see so many endorsements, though.

I felt like Tournament of Elements was a strong season for the most part, but I felt like it had one of the weaker finales. A bit disjointed IMO.

Edited June 4, 2016 by Aanchir