OKOK WHAT IF LEGO IS TRYING TO FOOL US AN PUR WYLDFIRE IN THE SUBTITLES TO FOOL US BECAUSE THEYRE FUNNY GOOFY JOKERS HAHAHAHAHAHA YEAH YEAH I THINK THATA IT YEAH YEAH YEAH

Dragons Rising S1 No Spoiler Review

Dragons Rising was truly amazing. For context, my brother and I stayed up until 2 am to binge-watch the season after I got home from classes for the day. We initially wanted to split the season in half for our watch through, but every episode, we found ourselves drawn in by the lore and the world building and all the silly little funny moments in between that could just exist because of the 20 20-minute episodes.

The opportunity to watch a season that isn’t capped at a short runtime due to corporate meddling is honestly a dream come true for Ninjago fans. The season felt so full and well-rounded, and I felt like the writers really were able to get everything they wanted in to the season. Obviously not every idea makes the final draft for any piece of creative work, but this one felt so much less bare bones than the previous seasons as far as time goes.

But my favorite part is the character development, hands down. I was so on the fence about Arin and Sora when the trailer first came out, not because I didn’t want to like them; but because I was afraid that they would seem too much like next-gen replacements in comparison to the OG ninja. Boy, was I wrong. They felt so real as characters and were absolutely written beyond my expectations.

Arin is such a pure cinnamon roll who looks up to the ninja and then gets to be one in his own right. He has this air of humility, always wanting to do what’s right as he learns what it takes to be a hero. And he just loves his new family all the while maintaining his hopes for seeing his parents again one day.

And Sora…well, I could write paragraphs about her character development. She honestly reminded me of myself in quite a few ways, so seeing her grow from being very non-involved and on the run from Imperium to conquering her initial doubts about the ninja and her own insecurities was such a treat to watch. She’s a character that is cynical about the world in many senses, but her heart is open to her new family and later in the season, herself and who she wants to be.

Needless to say, I loved them both, and I can’t wait to see where their stories go from here.

Alright, I have to talk about the OG ninja. Gone are the days when they are sidelined to be comic relief. Each episode had a very accurate picture of who they are as mentors and young adults (I will never get over Lloyd calling Arin and Sora “teens,” thereby distancing the OG ninja from that label). I love how Lloyd, Nya, and Kai get to be guides for Arin, Sora, and Wyldfire; albeit in their own ways. I could also spend an exorbitantly long amount of time on this topic, but the highlight for me is that they all had a different answer when their apprentice, if you will, asked them “Is that a Master Wu saying?”

I won’t write about the other three ninja at length here because I want to keep this non-spoilery, but I will say it’s great to see everyone once again, even for a little bit.

My brother likened the original Ninjago being a circle, and this season being the outer circle. We get to take a step back and see a bigger picture of the world and the characters, and we’re not even done yet. I want to make a list of all the open-ended questions that the season left us with because I am totally hyped up here. And of course, credits to everyone who worked on this project. I cannot wait to see what comes next.