As someone who’s been an on and off Ninjago fan over the years, I feel compelled to give a response to this.
Ninjago came out in the second half of my Fifth Grade year, and I absolutely loved it. I continued to enjoy it for the next few years, and unlike most people, I wasn’t exactly rioting over its cancellation. As much as I loved the theme, I’d grown accustomed to seeing Lego themes come and go. Then when Rebooted came out, I didn’t know what to think. It felt REALLY disjointed from the modern-day/feudal Japan feel that the early years had, though I will admit some of the sets were cool. Then, throughout my high school years, I went through different phases of being indifferent to Ninjago, then thinking “Hey, this theme is kind of cool after all.” Interestingly enough, the negative feelings were always directed at the first half of the year, and the positive feelings were toward the second half.
Then, in 2019, in my first year of college, I was feeling nostalgic and decided to rewatch the first two seasons (which were just as fun as I remembered). Then I watched Rebooted, just because, and then everything that followed. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed those seasons. Then Season 11 came out, and I’ve been following every season since. I’m still enjoying Ninjago, but at times I do kind of feel what @LegoDavid seems to feel: that Ninjago is sucking pretty much all creativity out of Lego, and it just never seems to end. Yeah, I understand Lego is a business, and money, capitalism, blah blah blah. But Ninjago can’t go on forever…can it?
Now to respond to some specific points made in LegoDavid’s essay.
“Let’s admit it, despite the physical toys being the core of any LEGO theme, the TV Series is the reason this theme has become so popular. Without it, I am willing to bet that nobody would have still cared about it by the time it was supposed to end in 2013.”
I will confess that this point is accurate, at least for me. Part of why my preteen self got so into Ninjago was because of its in-depth story. It felt really big, and epic-maybe not as much as Bionicle, but certainly more than Power Miners or Agents.
“Other shows which follow a similar format at least have some sort of character growth or progression throughout their run, but with Ninjago, despite being around for ten years, the characters have still remained pretty much the same as the first time we’ve met them.”
I disagree-at least, for the first ten seasons. At the start, Zane had no idea he was a robot, and when he discovered he was one, it was a huge shock for him. However, he found himself going on a journey of self-discovery and belonging, and eventually, he and the rest of his team grew to accept him for who he was. At the end of Rebooted, everyone was sad that he’d died, and at the start of Tournament Of Elements, his death was still affecting everyone. But when they heard he was still alive, that brought everyone together.
Plus, there’s Kai. At first, he was rather hotheaded and reckless, but he slowly, and subtly, learned humility. He still displays shades of his old personality from time to time, but not as much as before. Jay is still a goofball, but most of his character development focuses on his relationship with Nya. Skybound in particular feels like it gives a lot of development to their relationship. I really love the message about how wishing for something won’t make it come true-you’ve gotta work to make what you want happen. As for Nya, her story is about stepping out of the “side character” role and becoming part of the main team.
Cole…okay, I’ll give you that. He definitely works as a foil to the rest of the characters, but in terms of character growth? I’d say he qualifies as a static character-one who stays largely the same throughout the series.
Unfortunately, the last few seasons (Season 11 onward) don’t seem to have any definite character development. Season 13 did finally put Cole in the lead role, which was great. But as far as evolving the characters, not much seems to have been done. At least, until Nya leaving the team in Season 14.
“On top of all that, it seems like the story, despite running for so long, never really amounts to anything. Typically, any big, epic story spanning multiple TV seasons or volumes of books always constantly builds up to some big, epic climax or conclusion. But with Ninjago, once again, you get none of that.”
This is one of the points where I’m like “yes and no.” The first three years definitely did amount to something. And, as I said earlier, Season 3 kinda did lead into Season 4. Plus, it eventually built up to something big with the Oni trilogy. But…now we have the “Vengestone Arc.” After Season 13, many were speculating that we’d find out who the Vengestone buyer was this year, in 2021, but nothing of the sort has happened. It’s possible that our questions will be answered next year, but there’s no guaranteeing it.
Honestly, if Ninjago had gone up to March Of The Oni and made it an actual big closing season, and not just a four-episode season with exactly one set (if a minifigure pack can be considered a set), then I’d be fine with it ending there. But that’s not what happened. They kept it going. Which…I’m fine with, but I’m not fine with, but I’m fine with, but…okay, let’s just move on.
“But by far, one of the show’s biggest problems with the show are the inconsistent tonal shifts and not maturing with its audience.”
At first, the show definitely did mature with its audience, particularly in Season 4 and 5, and then with 8, 9, and 10. But then it kinda reverted to a more child-friendly tone with Season 11, so…okay, I’ll give you this point.
“As much as there still are quite a few older folks who still watch this show, I bet most of them do more so because of nostalgia’s sake rather than because they genuinely think it is a good show.”
For me, it’s both. Most of my attachment to the theme comes from nostalgia, and while it definitely has shown shifts in quality, I genuinely believe there’s still some juice left.
“All the line keeps giving us is the exact same hero bikes, jets, mechs, and cars over and over again with nothing to make them stand out. There are the occasional gems, of course, such as some of the dragons and temples, but even those tend to get stale very fast.”
Well…yes. We’ve all grown to expect this lineup. But at the same time, you yourself pointed out that there are gems that crop up within each line. Sure, there are some duds like Jay’s Lightning Dragon from 2016, but the majority of the sets I’ve bought (and believe me, I have a lot of Ninjago sets from over the years) are the opposite of junk. From the functionality, and the creative designs and building styles, I can tell the designers really care about this theme and want to make the sets good. Like, yes, the designers are being asked for the same things year after year, but they still put their best feet forward except for in 2013
Plus, each new year has different asthetics…but more on that later.
“But, they too also saw a reduced presence in the second wave, and by the time the third wave hit, they were already completely gone.”
What? Reduced presence in the second wave? What are you talking about? 2012 didn’t just have spinner sets, it had booster packs, too. And it felt like we got even more characters than we did the last year. If anything, I’d say 2012 was an even bigger year for the spinners than 2011! But yeah, I agree, it’s a shame that it died out after that. Imagine if the Anacondrai cultists, or the dragon hunters, or the Merlopians had had battle spinners.
“By this point in time, the line has been so oversaturated, that LEGO are just simply dumping all their ideas that could have become their own separate themes into the Ninjago IP.”
I mean…yes.
Many of these ideas could very well work as their own original themes. But at the same time, I kinda feel Ninjago has always been this way. Like, in the first year, we had them fighting skeletons, then in the second year, we had them fighting snakes, then in the third year, they fought what were essentially golems-none of which real ninja fought back in the days of feudal Japan. Then the next year had robots, and then we got Anacondrai cultists, and then ghosts, and…yeah, you get the idea. Even before its uncancellation, Ninjago introduced wide varieties of different hostile species for the ninja to fight.
And, if you think about it, many of the theming asthetics made sense. If you’re fighting a tribe of tribal islanders, then have it take place on a tropical island. If you’re fighting sky pirates, then give said pirates a bunch of cobbled-together aircraft. If you’re fighting ghosts, then have it take place in a ghastly, Hidden Side-esque environment that existed long before Hidden Side did. And since you’re already going in these crazy directions that suit whatever villainous races you’re fighting, then is it really so “out there” to have the ninja go inside a video game, or to a post-apocalyptic world, or to the bottom of the ocean?
The other redeeming quality (for me, at least) is that it kinda keeps me guessing. Like, where else could the ninja possibly go at this point? Space? If that did happen, I wouldn’t be that surprised.
“On top of that, seeing how profitable the Ninjago formula was, every bigger original theme that has come out over the past decade has kept desperately trying to emulate Ninjago’s success, by incorporating the exact same stale design philosophy of releasing dozens upon dozens of bikes, mechs, jets, and cars, without even understanding the true reason why Ninjago was succeeding with those designs in the first place.”
I’d argue that Chima and Nexo Knights both gave their own unique spins on these concepts-Chima had the animal looks about it, and Nexo Knights felt like a sci-fi medieval theme. Both of these ideas felt quite fresh, though as they went on, they did start to kind of lose that appeal. Then again, what DOESN’T lose its appeal after a while? Isn’t that the whole argument LegoDavid is making about Ninjago-that it’s losing its appeal?
“Both Legends of Chima and Nexo Knights had loads of potential, with sets that were arguably superior to what Ninjago was getting at the time, but due to the subpar quality of their respective TV Shows, both themes failed to find themselves an audience.”
I’m currently watching the Chima series, and while I can’t say I dislike it, it’s definitely not as good as Ninjago. But if it and Nexo Knights don’t have particularly strong shows, then I’d say that’s more of a problem those themes have, not Ninjago.
Ultimately…I’m not sure if I agree or disagree with LegoDavid’s argument. Ninjago has definitely had its ups and downs, and it does seem to have taken over the face of Lego’s original IPs. Monkie Kid doesn’t seem to be “fading out,” but then again, neither does Ninjago. On the other hand, I feel a genuine attachment to Ninjago-not just because I was there from the start and feel nostalgic, but also because I still find enjoyment in it. So I’m not sure if I want it to end, or keep going, or what. It’s just one of those questions that I can never seem to answer.
Now, for some of @Cruciferous 's points…
I completely agree with this. This is kind of what I was getting at when I made that “Could Lego Return To Its Roots?” topic recently. Yes, Ninjago has been a big part of the disappearance of original IPs, but licensed themes have had a hand, too. Again, I do find enjoyment in many of the licensed themes, but I do feel some variety would be nice.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like we’ll be getting any Legacy sets next year. 
Honestly, I prefer the 22-minute episode format over the 11-minute one, but yeah, I can see why you’d think that the newer seasons are more tightly plotted. And yeah, the action scenes are still good.
Same. That set is awesome. 
[whew, sorry about that textwall. I sure had a lot to say…]