Top Ten Reasons why LEGO Ninjago is BETTER than Bionicle

[@DuckBricks]

Hey all! Just a quick reminder before commenting: We have a companion video to this! Top Ten Reasons Why Bionicle is BETTER than Ninjago: kzbin.info/www/bejne/enaQoX9ti9WMp6c We'd greatly appreciate you checking that out as well, especially if you feel strongly one way or the other! I also really appreciate in-depth discussion and analysis. Any comment still up in this section represents that, and I appreciate all of you below who have shared their opinions, whether they agree or disagree. However, comments which do not add anything meaningful to the discussion other than to insult a particular fanbase of either theme will be removed, as well as those which are extremely rude/impolite towards either this channel or other commentators, which have been cropping up from time to time. Just some points I wanted to clear up, as there have been quite a few comments regarding one particular thing I said in the video: 1.) I mention that the Bionicle characters are "essentially AI robots." This is an oversimplification on my part, and I apologize for any confusion it brought. Depending on what species they are, they are partially organic, some way more than others. Some, like the Makuta, have evolved to no longer need robotic parts and are purely organic or gaseous. Some, like Rahi, are made by mixing viruses together. That being said, the context in which this comment was made was to remind the viewers that romance is NOT canon in the Matoran Universe, which is 100% true and brings us to point 2. 2.) Romance is canon and exists in the world of Bionicle, but only OUTSIDE the Matoran Universe, AKA the universe where the bulk of the theme's years, 2001 to 2008, take place. One of Bionicle's main writers, Greg Farshtey, has explicitly stated this: love is not canon in the Matoran Universe. Familial bonds, like brotherhood or friendship, are possible. Romantic love, however, is literally impossible because the characters of the Matoran Universe cannot reproduce. This is 100% factual, and any instance of "romantic" love being in the story (many of which I literally showed in this video) was done without the permission of the writers and should be treated as non-canon. This is direct from the Bionicle story team and a well-known fact in the community, and yes, we did our research when making this comment - ask any reasonable, non-delusional Bionicle fan, and they will tell you that love is, in fact, not canon. Thanks everyone in this section who constructively commented and shared their detailed thoughts, and keep it coming!

[@Obi-Wan_Kenobi]

I am not prepared for a discussion about romance in Bionicle. I will only say this: It's not the Jedi way!

[@DuckBricks]

You underestimate my power!

[@Obi-Wan_Kenobi]

DON'T TRY IT!!!

[@Obi-Wan_Kenobi]

Oh man, you are going to anger *a lot* of people with this video! That being said, you explained everything very clearly and I agree with many if not all of your points.

[@DuckBricks]

Obi-Wan Kenobi Thanks for the feedback! And haha hopefully not! That’s why I put out two conflicting videos to show both sides of the argument (and ultimately try to show that it really boils down to personal preference). At the very least, I hope this starts some discussion cause I’d love to hear people’s thoughts and opinions on this, given how much the two themes have in common

[@Obi-Wan_Kenobi]

@@DuckBricks I totally see what you are trying to do and it was a genius move to make both a Ninjago top 10 list and a Bionicle Top 10 list. I just fear that most people will see the title of your video and have a knee jerk reaction of disliking it without actually watching your video. Passionate Bionicle fans will dislike this video on principal and passionate Ninjago fans will do the same to your Bionicle video. And I think your really like to dislike ratio is proof of that. And I know this is not your intention at all, you are trying to drive a nuanced discussion but in the emotional world of the internet, nuance is often lost on viewers.

[@DuckBricks]

That's a great point to bring up - I knew it would potentially stir up some controversy but hopefully people willing to participate in a good discussion will give it some time to consider the points - I myself am a huge fan of both, but can acknowledge how neither is perfect and both have pros and cons compared to each other. Regardless, I appreciate your comments and thanks for participating respectfully in the discussion! Hopefully you may like some of the other, less controversial stuff we put out as well :)

[@Obi-Wan_Kenobi]

@@DuckBricks Oh I will absolutely check them out! I see a lot of potential with this channel of yours given how well you discussed the topic in the video above. But I see you have a lot of videos about set releases and stuff like that. That's fine and good but lots of other channels are already doing that. If you ask me, the real money is with these discussion videos here. Ninjago (and to a lesser degree Bionicle) is just itching for more analysis based channels to really explore the concepts and themes and I think you're the man for the job given your experience and insight on this video. The is a unfilled niche on KZbin with the TTV podcasts being the only one who currently fill it. But there is lots of potential here and I think you could really take this channel places if you focus on Lego thematic discussions.

[@DuckBricks]

Obi-Wan Kenobi thank you for the kind comment, and I 100% agree - my partner and I are much more interested personally in the deep discussion videos, kinda like what TTV does with Bionicle, but we also recognize that a lot of people just want to see videos on news and whatnot, so we try to strike a balance. You might also notice we put out two different news videos for certain topics - one short and sweet, to let people who want to see those get the information, and one super in-depth and containing a ton of analysis and predictions, which we obviously love making a lot more and hopefully viewers who are super into LEGO will get value out of (like you, for instance!) Thanks for the constructive feedback and I look forward to seeing you around!

[@enchiladaboi545]

It sounds like in some ways bionicle and ninjago have opposite problems. With ninjago the way story is told generally remains consistent and makes sense even if the story itself doesn't, and with bionicle the story itself generally remains consistent and makes sense even if the way its told doesn't. Ultimately both themes are good in their own ways.

[@Warhammer40k_enjoyer]

And bionicle is better in most of those ways

[@alexthematoranlegoreviewsu6622]

The Ninja's new designs are NOT the result of time travel. Tommy Andreason stated this and besides it doesn't make a whole lot of sense that they just mutated while still owning photos of their old designs, some of them even made specific for the new episodes like Lloyd's photo with his father. That's just not how time travel works. They just aged, changed hair cuts and what not. Some may say that doesn't make sense for Zane because he's a robot, but honestly, because he is a robot he has the freedom and ability to modify himself as he pleases.

[@galaxyace9492]

I really hope Ninjago will continue for at least the next 10 years because it’s so awesome and seems to constantly be pretty much the best selling theme for Lego so just from a capitalistic point of view it would be dummest thing ever to cancel the Theme

[@_TheLegend27_]

Yeah now they’re making sub and extra themes/set waves so I think they’re trying to preserve it and not make the show too long or repetitive, so they’re probably in it for the long game!

[@Ryodren]

While I do agree that Lego System has more options in terms of build potential, I disagree that bionicle needing to resort to technic to make anything besides simple figures is a flaw. The Bionicle line did originally release as a subgenre of Technic after all. Other than that, I've enjoyed both of the videos you've put out covering Ninjago and Bionicle!

[@DuckBricks]

That is a good point - it did start as a sub theme of Technic so it does make a lot of sense that the builds are really Technic-heavy. Thanks for commenting and glad you are enjoying!

[@lennytartaglia3305]

Well, to me, it’s simple. It has a simple story that focuses on a team of six heroes, and we slowly learn about stuff in the story. It is primarily done in a TV show. Plus, there’s a Lego Movie. Ninjago appeared in Lego Dimensions, and it had Legends of Chima as a part of it. I wish Bionicle and Hero Factory could have a decent show like this and a cinematic universe (live-action could be awesome because that fits the themes very well. In May 2012, The Hollywood Reporter said that Universal is trying to get the rights for a live-action HF movie). I also wish that HF is said to share the same universe as Bionicle G1 because of the similarities. There’s no reason to not say it (I’m looking at Greg Farshtey). It is more reasonable to make the themes share the same universe if they are similar.

[@thegoodguychronicles9886]

Unfortunately our friend Kirby Morrow (the voice of Cole) died yesterday. Ninjago will never be the same without him

[@DuckBricks]

I heard, it’s such shocking and tragic news :(. Still trying to process it and this is a huge blow to Ninjago. Hope his family is doing ok

[@toalesovikk7168]

What...?😦😔

[@Bazooka.trooper]

@Tesla-Effect yeah I know my aunt has passed away this week(she had corona)

[@TenebraeInvictus]

Hey, are you legozebra on twitter? Thought you looked familiar. Anyways, well done on the video and sorry that it's garnered so many dislikes - I don't believe they came from anyone who actually watched the video or took the time to see you have a separate video about what makes Bionicle better than Ninjago. I've tried my best today to clear that up on some public and private spaces. You have some excellent points that I think people could concede if they understood the full context of your video.

[@DuckBricks]

Justin J. Marler yes, I am, and thanks for commenting! So cool to see this as I’ve been a fan of TTV for a long time and a continuous watcher of your videos. Really appreciate your help and thoughts on this - the goal of putting out two conflicting videos was to get a good discussion going and see what people’s thoughts would be, which I think was a relative success as I certainly got people commenting detailed thoughts! I’m really happy you watched it and greatly appreciate your thoughts as well. Thanks again!

[@rorymannmusic]

Great job man, I really enjoyed both videos! As a Bionicle fan, here are my thoughts on this one. 10.Fair enough, but you have to bear in mind that the budget for the Ninjago Movie was massive compared to the small budget for the direct to DVD Bionicle movies. 9.I agree that the Bionicle movies generally try to be more serious and don’t deal with humour much outside of Matau and some occasional moments with Takua and Jaller, but I think there are some great humorous moments in the books and especially in MNOG and the Templar Flash animations. The latter examples do humour in a brilliant but subtle, almost slapstick way and it works so well. Also I’d make a strong argument that the soundtrack for both the Bionicle movies and the Templar animations being superior to any music in Ninjago, which helps add to the emotional gravity and atmosphere. 8.I agree with this, but it’s worth baring in mind that the change of tone in 2006 was more in the commercials and marketing, rather than in the actual story and canon media. I’d argue that that was a sort of return to the vibe of 2001-2003. 7.Can’t really argue with this, but also the system Bionicle used is just different and not really comparable. Also I’d disagree with your point that CCBS is better than G1 Bionicle’s builds, but that’s a matter of opinion. Also the brittle joints in 2007-2008 was due to a factory fault, not because of complex builds. 6.I agree with this. 5.Can’t argue with this. 4.Isn’t this just point 8 again? 3. I think Bionicle getting more mature was probably a good thing; as someone who grew up with Bionicle (I was 5 in 2001, and stayed with the theme through to being 14 in 2010), I appreciate the more mature themes as I got older. Granted, as someone who’s consuming the media today, that might be a little jarring, but I think the theme aged alongside the fans sensibly. 2.I agree that 2009 could have been handled better, but we also had Mata Nui as a main character and a consistent connecting point to 01-08. 1.Hard to argue with this.

[@DuckBricks]

FIrst of all, thanks for taking the time to share your detailed thoughts and point breakdowns! Appreciate it greatly! For 10 - yes, I can definitely concede that, and I think it's a wonder how the two films are even comparable given how one had such a massive budget and the others worked off of pretty small scale productions. I will have to reread the books again; it's been a while since I've read them all and will definitely keep an eye out for humor that Greg interjected; if I can recall correctly the most memorable line there to me was some sort of joke about Pohatu being orange in 08 which I found particularly meta and funny, so you definitely have a point there. And while I think music is certainly a lot of personal preference (I prefer the Ninjago music, for example), I think Ninjago also has a major bonus due to the fact that so much more music has been composed - besides the classic overture, none of the tracks from seasons 1-3 are quite as good as the fantastic tracks that came later in the show, so that's a big unfair advantage as well. 8 I guess I can see that to an extent, the commercials were really overdone compared to the story, but even the books and comics had a lot of needless cruelty and edginess that arguably were pretty distanced from the 01-03 vibe 7 yeah I think this really boils down to a matter of opinion. I love Bionicle's aesthetic in G1, but for me personally I find it hard to argue that you can't just simply do more things with CCBS without having to rely on technic, like every other large scale Bionicle build having technic frames (not that it's a bad thing, but it shows some limitations of the system). 4 I tried to differentiate tone and genre a little bit, but I agree there is some overlap. 3 I am definitely all for a theme growing up with its fans and becoming more mature, but imo it wasn't handled perfectly with Bionicle - a good example of growing up with your fans would probably be Ninjago's Oni Trilogy (but then again, they regressed back to the previous tone immediately afterwards so I'm not even sure what they learned from that) 2 Fair enough with Mata Nui, although he was less a character and more an entity in 01-08; it's not like Tahu was teleported to the new world or anything. I also firmly believe that the 09 reboot could have really worked out very well had it been given time to actually finish its arc and come full circle. They could have easily done several more years of Bionicle - three years worth of Bara Magna, arguably 2-3 years worth of "Reign of Shadows" to go over what was happening in the Matoran Universe, and then a final year or two to bring everything full circle would have been the ideal ending imo. But thanks again for your comments and hope you stick around to share more of your thoughts and opinions! We have a ton more videos scheduled like this that will potentially stir the pot but hopefully instigate some good discussion on LEGO like this!

[@Obi-Wan_Kenobi]

I actual both agree and disagree with you one point 9. While Ninjago might have more humor, I was never bothered by how Bionicle didn't. I mean Bionicle was meant to be very serious and I'm fine with that. Humor might have distracted from the intense narrative and as a kid and even today, I really do appreciate how intense things got with Bionicle. But I think I disagree with you on saying that Bionicle had a better overall soundtrack. Ninjago has produced some of the best music I've ever heard for any animated cartoon. The sheer quality of their orchestral pieces is astounding. I linked some highlights below if you want to check them out: Overture - kzbin.info/www/bejne/aHnXm413e8l1d5I Zane's Sacrifice - kzbin.info/www/bejne/j3STlnilgLVrh8U Maybe I'm Departed - kzbin.info/www/bejne/jKHMdY1rlrySiq8 Harumi's Theme - kzbin.info/www/bejne/hZTEaWampL2pi6M Which is not to say the Bionicle itself has produced some absolute bangers, but I think the sheer quantity and quality of Ninjago's 13 seasons of music outweighs Bionicle's soundtrack. Like Ninjago has so many iconic songs, they have actually managed to create leitmotifs where specific melodies are associated with specific character or events. That is some Star Wars levels of music right there! Here's one last link that shows how Ninjago used leitmotifs in season 8 with the description breaking down where each melody is used. It's some next level stuff! - kzbin.info/www/bejne/g3vde5Ztj62CorM

[@DuckBricks]

Obi-Wan Kenobi I’m 100% with you as well with Ninjago’s god-tier music; literally every season has several outstanding tracks - Akita Finds her Animal Form, The Serpentine Wars, The Time Blades, Tale of Morro, so so so many great tracks I can’t even count

[@Obi-Wan_Kenobi]

@@DuckBricks Jay Vicent and Micheal Kramer need more awards for the stuff they do! They put in the work grinding out legendary song after legendary song, somebody's gotta stop them or my brain will explode from the greatness!!!

[@thegoodguychronicles9886]

I never have actually heard the other Ninjago songs besides the main theme. Still gotta say I like Lhikan's sacrifice and The Legend of the Bionicle a little better. But again that is a matter of personal opinion.

[@ghostreaper-6139]

I don't think Bionicle is worse but I think it's funny how butthurt some of it's fans are because Ninjago has surpassed it in most ways.A few of them even write 500 word long comments explaining why Ninjago is overrated.

[@DuckBricks]

Yeah haha, the point of making these videos were to encourage friendly discussion and analysis/comparisons between the two; that’s why I made two videos saying opposite things and released them at the same time in the first place

[@wesleyhunt7599]

Watched the counter video first. No major disagreements there. As a BIONICLE fan, I agreed with parts. Ninjago has strengths and weaknesses, but the lines went for different things and in different ways. Here are my takes on those: 10: I guess this is more personal taste. The movies are basically half a story both and on a shoestring budget, but considering it was LEGO's first attempt with the only studio that did not insist on adding humans, I commend them. The second movie holds up best. I consider the Ninjago movie pretty mid, but do not dispute the better aesthetics. 9: This was pretty movie centric. Many of the meta jokes and dry wit came from books and serials. Vezon's line about answering several questions is straight from Greg's blog. Also whole characters like Kapura and Velika were all about dry wit. So hard disagree. 8: The genre shifts as a whole seem like a point to BIONICLE. I partially agree with the jarring shifts, but that came with the main problem with BIONICLE lore, which I will get back to later. 7: Technic vs. System may never get a proper resolution. Personal taste, but I feel Ninjago's innovations have monopolized the brand. Now it's all about characters and vehicles. We need more variety. Not even BIONICLE monopolized Technic the same way. 6: I agree, but as someone who watched every season of Ninjago I find the retcons a bit tiresome. 5: No argument. With even diehards this is a complaint. 4: This seems redundant to Point 8. Yeah, the lore was a problem and all over the place, but Ninjago's treatment is great. Fans don't know how good they have it with one show. 3: Agree a little, but disagree more. As I was 6 in 2001, I was almost 15 when it wrapped in 2010. It encompassed my curious phase and edgy Teen phase quite well. The moral quandaries posed by Matoro and of the Mask of Life made for some of the best conflicts. To this day, many fans say Ignition was peak BIONICLE. 2: This one was LEGO's fault. BIONICLE was put down in 08 and Greg was not prepared. 1: You saved the best point for last. BIONICLE fans would have KILLED for a series. A singular, prime source of lore for which the rest served as supplemental would have made all the memes moot. I think as the first big story theme they were unsure of how to market it, hence the lack of show, but Ninjago fans don't know how lucky they have it. You hit the nail on the head, and I weep for the fact the BIONICLE lore is so scattered.

[@Rockroll8856]

Another great video mate! Love what you’re doing

[@DuckBricks]

Thanks so much! Appreciate it!

[@thegoodguychronicles9886]

Say what you will but love is canon. Fight me Greg Farshtey I dare you lol. I will say that Ninjago's action sequences have evolved a lot over the years compared to seasons 1-5. I honestly hate pretty much everything about the Bionicle movies. The only thing that makes me watch them again is nostalgia and childhood memories. Ninjago is far superior as far as media goes imo. (But I think we can agree that Matoro's sacrifice was by far the most emotionally impacting and epic moment in Lego storytelling)

[@DuckBricks]

Hahaha at least it’s canon on Spherus Magna and with the Agori/Glatorian :)

[@thegoodguychronicles9886]

@@DuckBricks hmmm yeaaaaah. Lets maybe not discuss thaaaat... XD

[@autofigure00]

I wish the toa mahri / Mahri nui series had a movie, it wouldve been good to have the matoro sacrifice / mask of life story fleshed out as a movie prior to the 2009 movie.

[@erickh555]

For me the swich in tones are GREAT, it was really refreshing and you can have a lot of things to talk about in those diferent tones, in the other hand the clonesets where a thing, yes, but cmon, the ENTIRE BIONICLE THEME has different pieces than any other lego theme, that is increible to say the least, SO unique! Thats the thing about bionicle, its unique, nothing like bionicle has been created by lego.

[@DuckBricks]

That’s a great point and I totally agree - I think both themes have their own merits, which is why I made a companion video to this talking about the flip side of things, why Bionicle is better than Ninjago - they’re both excellent pieces of LEGO’s legacy!

[@roxlife8173]

gotta disagree saying that they have unique pieces amkes them imune to being repetetive is kinda dumb. Not hating just saying.

[@Truehero1057]

I don’t care about any of the downsides Bionicle had. I am a hardcore Bionicle fan for life.

[@DeadnotAlive]

I remember when I was a kid and loved legos but hated Bionicle. Everyone was like “Bionicle is so cool” but I didn’t like it then and don’t like it now.

[@Thatdistantmirage]

Kinda unrelated, but can we talk about the visuals of the season 13 final battle between cole and the skull sorcerer in the background?

[@DuckBricks]

Oh yeah, S13 animation was top notch

[@BurningAzure]

3:46-3:56, This reminds me of the jokes in Dragon Ball Z Abridged about how fed up Frieza is about hearing heroic speeches. Blah blah blah injustices Blah blah blah tyranny Blah blah blah "Frieza stop killing me"

[@benjaminfeld6388]

I find it interesting but you said that Ninjago changed its genre every season. I can definitely see that, but it's kind of hard for me to spot what similar genres are. Do you think perhaps you could help me out? And on an unrelated note, I just want to mention that one Lego theme that I would like to see get a TV adaptation is Lego Monster Fighters.

[@GreenBlueWalkthrough]

As someone who only followed Bionicle though the stets and movies and comics... I have to say the main flaw with them was not having a movie for each wave but the comic worked just fine... Which yes the tone shift got me to bounce off the toys though I did still watch each movie and read the comics fromm time to time till the theme was killed off. Where as Ninjago I had only expernced it till my Lego "Revivil" as one of the many themes of Lego universe the best Lego MMO/ openb world adavture game... Where in that it was shown as just another world and I don't even think it's in 2K drive at all but Monkey kid is very odd.

[@OrdemDoGraveto]

Love IS canon!

[@kubaxterg9994]

2:55 I'm not a fan of bionicle, but it's not just robots, but half organic

[@DuckBricks]

Kubaxter yeah, there are organic bits (in some more than others) but essentially they are super advanced AI, hence no need for romance. I said “robots” to generalize with that short anecdote but yes, you are right

[@kubaxterg9994]

@@DuckBricks im not fan of this series but i can understend why some people can be mad on that

[@apeblackberry3641]

I disagree with the maturity part. Bionicle's story grew up with its audience. The theme got more serious as the kids grew older.

[@philgaimz9847]

One of my biggest pipe dreams is to someday give Bionicle's world, characters, and story the TV show that Ninjago has. Probably never gonna happen, but it's fun to dream about what I would do with it

[@LordFindogask734]

As a Bionicle fan, I have to say that while Bionicle will forever be my favourite theme, Ninjago just proves it's the better theme. One simple reason: Ninjago is still around and Bionicle isn't. It's a matter of evolution. Where Bionicle struggled, Ninjago thrived. And it's not just about Bionicle. Exo-Force is another perfect example: a theme that revolved around mechs, but didn't get the right formula just yet. Ninjago has refined said formula to perfection at this point. Bricks, Ninjas, Mechs, Dragons, Mosnters, you name it. In my view, the day Ninjago fails will also probably be the day Lego bricks fail as a whole.

[@fismail4330]

as some one who has watched ninjago i'm glad we all agree that there are both good just ninjago has perfected what bioncle didn't because it's newer 11 years old but newer but bioncle tried robot romance and ninjago mastered that with zane and pixal

[@sirexilon49]

8:30 Well Bionicle did start out as a Technic sub-theme.

[@lordgarmadon2598]

Ninjago seems to be falling into the trap of having too many side books and web serials. That's not a bad thing for me though, and the stories aren't all that important.

[@danielzakgaim2764]

Bionicle walked so Ninjago could run.

[@alexandratsankova5825]

In regards tp the building system, i mean, bionicle was a part of Technic, it's kind of why i enjoyed them more than Ninjago, as i was always more interested in lego Technic than lego System, as for system you could create good looking builds, but it was always more difficult to create fairly stable mechanisms

[@africancouscous]

You deserve WAY more subs and likes man

[@DuckBricks]

Thanks man, appreciate it and spread the word!

[@africancouscous]

@@DuckBricks I have already asked 10 lego friends wonder if they subbed? And do you have a discord? Like a server

[@DuckBricks]

I do not at the moment but maybe I’ll consider starting one at some point for the most dedicated fans!

[@CausticSpace]

Top reason why I'd prefer Bionicle over Ninjago is Bionicle is much more than toys due to it's objectively better story. Bionicle is quite literally peak sci-fi, up there with Star Wars, Warhammer, Dune, and the lot. It is my personal favorite Sci-fi universe. Ninjago on the otherhand, is a solid kids TV show and toy, like Adventure Time or Samurai Jack. I only buy Bionicle sets because well they look cool and the story is so good why not? Ninjago IMO isn't THAT special, it's basic when you compare it to Bionicle even with the clone sets, and it will always be seen as Lego. Bionicle has surpased the mold of being Lego sets, which is kind of why it was cancelled, as Bionicle did not really "fit" the lego brand indentiy. Didn't use bricks (I'm conciouslly forgetting about the Bionicle system sets), didn't use minifigures, they were entirely something else and the only way to know it was lego was seeing the lego logo on the pieces and box. I think if something transcends the medium they were created for, it's proof of a masterpiece, and Bionicle certainly checks that box in my opinion, in the same way how Warhammer Tabletop is less popular than the Lore material.

[@omegasauce6172]

1:17. I’m sorry? Nooooooo wayyy bro I grew up with the legend reborn and rise of the rookies (later on the mask of light/metru Nui) no shot there’s better movies for ninja go. However. Seasons1-6 were S+++ tier

[@Hyperscale_Gaming]

now this, This is something I agree with

[@gpla-ster9032]

If BIONICLE would be rebooted, maybe it can learn from your top ten things from its predecessor, Ninjago, and Hero Factory.

[@inside-the-brick5338]

There’s a reason why bionicle failed in its version 2 although bionicle was good I am going full on ninjago

[@brandon0851]

Your the goat you made two videos about this wow. Amazing

[@DuckBricks]

Haha glad you enjoyed yup I love both themes equally and wanted to make two conflicting videos on it

[@aquamanbeforehewascool5347]

I disagree with many points 10. The films are not great in their own way. With Bionicle, however, there was the excuse that there are low bug films, and for low bug films these are not that bad at all. The Lego Ninjago Movie had the budget and people of an A movie and what came out wasn't much better than the Bionicle movies. I would even say that the Lego Ninjago movie is even worse than the Bionicle films because the film had a higher budget than all Bionicle films put together. Furthermore, the Lego Ninjago Movie does not belong to the Canon, while the Bionicle film is a real adaptation of the story. 9. Ninjago is rarely if not at all funny. Most jokes seem forced and just are annoying. The emotional moments are also very cheesy and overdramatized because everything is usually fine in the end. 8. Ninjagos themes and genres are almost always different, the only thing that remains the same is the formula. Example: In season 10 there is a very dark and serious tone, while in season 11 everything is silly and childish like in the first episodes. What always stays the same is the course of the plot and some character traits. 7. Bionicle is not a normal Lego theme like City, they both use completely different buildsystems. So its unfair to compare it's build system with Ninjago. 6. Here at I fully agree. 5. Ninjago also has a lot of clone sets, like all the bikes and mechs. And as mentioned before, Bionicle uses a different build system than Ninjago. 4. As I said, the tone is not consistent. Sometimes it's just plain goofy and childish, and sometimes it pretends to be more serious than games of thrones in the same season if not episode. Especially comic reliefs like Dareth completely messes up the tone. 3. It's a shame that everything that has been established in the oni trilogy has been thrown away like in every other season. Bionicle was able to take itself seriously even before 06 and 05. It seems more serious because the villains played a bigger role in the later years and weren't just bland henchmen. 2. It's just a shame that none of Ninjago's many reboots ,exept the oni trilogy, had a plan for how the story should continue and that it fell not forced. The 2009 storyline has at least pushed the plot of Bionicle further. 1. Yes the TV show, it's the only thing Ninjago has ever to offer when it comes to story. And that's the problem with Ninjago, and why it's just not fair to compare it to Bionicle. The show itself is full of plotholes, inconsistency, poor comedy, repetitive storylines and characters, mediocre dialogues at best, cheesy moments, boring filler episodes, annoying side characters and has a theme song that is just dull. Ninjago will never be remembered for great writing or characters unlike Bionicle, and when the show ends there will be no more community like Chima and Nexo Knights. Or to sum it all up again: Ninjago is repetitive, Ninjago is boring, Ninjago is predictable, Ninjago is to long, Ninjago has to many characters, Ninjago has no consistent tone or amosphere, Ninjago is rarely funny or interesting, Ninjago is not deep when it comes to world and lore, Ninjago has no endgame, Ninjago doesn't offer enough new to stay fresh, Ninjago is just not well written.

[@DuckBricks]

You make a ton of good points here, but I do think a lot of this boils down to personal preference and opinion, which is why I made both these videos. For number 9, for example, I think humor's a pretty subjective thing: personally I really appreciate 4th wall breaking humor and while it would be out of place in Bionicle, it fits pretty well into Ninjago given the overall tone of the show, and a lot of the funniest moments come from humor like this. In terms of comparing building systems, I agree that they're very different, but at the end of the day, it's all LEGO, which is why I feel like it's a fair comparison to make. It's not like comparing, say, transformers and action figures to Bionicle, it's comparing two toylines from the same company that work together in the same system - and yeah, as mentioned, we get tons and tons of mechs and bikes in Ninjago, but it's not nearly to the extent that Bionicle did it. Every mech in Ninjago is very different from the next, and yes, a lot of this is because of the building system, but to me that's better than getting twelve identical builds like the Bohrok. For point three - yeah, totally agree there. The Oni Trilogy was building towards really great storytelling and a much more mature tone, and then season 11 comes around and resets it all. That being said, from a business standpoint, I get it - you want to keep getting new fans in to keep the theme relevant, instead of relying on an older fanbase who may outgrow it no matter how mature it gets. That being said, I do think there's a much better balance to be struck than what they attempted, and S13 was at least a step in the right direction. Ninjago has too many characters? That's more of a Bionicle problem. Yes, both franchises have arguably too many characters, but Ninjago has its core cast of six and that's really about it in terms of heavy story focus. Bionicle had hundreds and a story that spanned generations of heroes, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but certainly was very complex and definitely worse than Ninjago in that regard. Ninjago having no endgame seems to be true, I'll give you that. However, I don't think it's really designed to have an endgame. The "endgame" story wise was back in 2013 with the final battle, and anything else is really just extra stuff. Certain arcs have endgames, like the Oni Trilogy, but you're right - there's no overarching storyline or major arc in place like with Bionicle, which is definitely a point against it. In terms of Ninjago not having a fanbase or legacy when it's over, I'll have to disagree there - just look at how many kids grew up on Ninjago, and are completely dedicated to it as a theme. Does it have its flaws? Yeah, for sure. But it also has a very strong and loyal fanbase (sometimes a little too loyal when it comes to changes in the show format or theme), and even when it eventually ends (not likely for a while, given how LEGO considers it an evergreen theme and has done so since 2015), I'm willing to bet the fanbase will continue to last for years. Whether it will be as strong or large as the Bionicle fandom is anyone's guess, but I do believe it could reach or even surpass the post-cancellation Bionicle fandom whenever it eventually ends. It's not like Nexo Knights or Chima, which kids rarely really cared about when it was around - like to admit it or not, Ninjago is a juggernaut and basically a spiritual successor to Bionicle in terms of popularity. Thank you for leaving a detailed comment on the video and I hope you were able to enjoy both and see things from an alternate perspective!

[@decense8299]

As a hard-core njnjago fan I actually agree with a fair few of these things, like how the show never really goes anywhere and the forced jokes, and how the plot pretty much stays the same, but the ninjago community makes all the same points. I truly think that if the show continued with Wilfilm after the oni trilogy, most of the things you complained about would be gone, sadly the show was handed off to writers that dumbed the show down for 5 year olds (personally I don't even think they care about the show) I still watch the show but wildbrain has disgraced the series by amplifying its mistakes instead of fixing them. With every new season I am disappointed, even s13 (arguably the best wildbrain season yet) isn't that awesome, in short I agree with you... to an extent.

[@inside-the-brick5338]

Oh my god …… you can tell this is a bonicle fan

[@DriftCOS-w5n]

i agree with the tittle and bionicle is canncelled

[@danieltorresgonzalez462]

Bionicle is a superior meme

[@derpmorederp1417]

All ninjago had was hot snakes.

[@tomrawrzzz5096]

Those are fighting words! Bionicle is forever, nijago must go

[@y.a5427]

The toa and matran are living beings not robots got it.

[@rtbh-bb2gq]

Ninjago must win😂😂

[@IcaroPhantoka]

I agree with everything in this video and the bionicle one

[@cofagrigusfan24]

2:55 that's not true they are biological creatures, that only look mechanical + we see romantic feelings more in BIONICLE, than 1 statement from a writer

[@petera.michaelsen4657]

Bionicle system? You mean Lego Technic...

[@DuckBricks]

Peter A. Michaelsen not quite, I’d say the Bionicle system is all the parts purely created for Bionicle, like limbs, weapons, torsos, and whatnot. Personally I think there’s a distinction to be made there, especially when you get into 2006 and the only technic parts you’d see in, say, an Inika build are the axles used to attach the heads and the pins for the armor. It’s not like CCBS, which is a clearly separate building system to anything else LEGO does, but it’s not quite just Technic either, I’d say. But I guess this could boil down to personal opinion as it’s never been explicitly stated as one or the other (although dropping the Technic branding very early on is pretty indicative)

[@ekos8282]

Like 8/10 reasons were from or about the tv show XD

[@DuckBricks]

Fair enough haha, I guess the main focus had to be story-related because it’s a little hard to compare the sets given they used completely different building systems

[@zetrialcee727]

Oh man look at nya she do be ded

[@retro_run790]

LEGO NINJAGO FOREVER!

[@kaspersaldell]

Top 10 reasons why you are wrong

[@AppleBat]

Its a opinion and he made a video about why bionicals is better at ninjago

[@kubaxterg9994]

Lol there is arledy one