I told myself I'd make this blog's CSS a bit more elaborate each time I update it, but I'm already waffling on that. I kind of big how plain this is, how the first thing you see is the title of the newest blog entry. So instead of any style changes I offer you a new page: THE HORDE where I keep a collection of all the little pixels/blinkies/buttons/stamps/whatever I use on my blog entries. May it balloon to an unreasonable size one day.
Anyways, ICYMI, yesterday LEGO dropped a series of 3 five minute shorts called Ninjago Legends: Monstrosity that is absolutely going to get shown to some toddlers by parents who can't read the room who will immediately get spooked by this thing getting cut in half by a deeply traumatized man.
...Okay, maybe I take a bit too much joy in this. Look, I don't dislike kids or anything. Far from it, kids are adorable and also people who deserve respect as the full individuals they are. It's some of their shitty parents I have a problem with, esspecially the shitty parents who keep insisting on handing Little Timmy a tablet with some unvetted animation on it because somehow, despite the modern animation industry making teen and adult targeted content more visible than ever, I still have to deal with people who handle the entire medium with kiddie gloves on a regular basis and it's exhausting. I'm so tired of telling someone about something I love that happens to be animated and getting told "awww cute!"
...I swear, I started writing this with the intent of talking about how GOOD this short is, not whining about society and how both my autism and love of animation make me a prime target for being infantized. Then again, that's the idea behind this blog: getting back to good old fashioned rambly digital journalling as opposed to writing nothing but professional essays because those sell better. I guess when I let loose, I have a lot to complain about, but I think that'd fair given the way things are in reality right now. I'm sure some people think I should be complaining more about things that ultimately matter more, but if I don't put some of myself into loving art to the point of getting a little defensive I think what's left of me will wither.
Anyways, you guys should go watch the short if you haven't, and when you get back I swear I'll actually talk about it for real. Seriously, please watch it. Even if you have basically no context of Ninjago it's so good. "Red guy with fire powers is lost in the multiverse and misses his found family," is all the context you really need. I want it to get ALL the views so they make more.
OKAY. SO. I love these shorts for so many reasons. I love that Ninjago is experimenting with little bits of content for the older fans. I love the glimpse into what was happening with the ninja who were seperated in The Merge and I desperately hope this does well enough that we see more of these kinds of shorts for the other characters.
And man, that aesthetic. I LOVE the sketchy black and white combined with the selective use of color. I am going to be thinking about the color symbolism in Monstrosity at least until the new Digital Circus episode drops next week and inevitably distracts me. Color is used in these shorts as a sort of "gateway" out of the Realm of Monsters - it symbolizes the non-monstrous each time it appears. Kai's red bandana he so desperately tolds onto, often literally, serves as a memory of home. Daidan's flames glow green when she's at her most vulerable. Mech (Rusty? A lot of people are calling them Rusty but the subtitles just say Mech, is that canon or-) consistently has a colored glow to his eyes as he remains hopeful, and that color can even he seen shining color onto what's left of his master for a brief moment in the second part.
And the final shot of the series starts to blend into color as Kai finally has hope of his own again.
In our current climate of uninspired sequels, live action remakes, and reboots where IP holders go ""Well, since people will watch/buy/whatever this no matter what we do, it can be total shit." it's easy to miss the rare occasion when someone with a popular IP goes "Well, since people will watch/buy/whatever this no matter what we do... let's make something kinda risky and artistic." We got a lot of that sort of thing back in the mid 2010s in comics based on big IPs too and it's always a delight when it happens. That's how invincible IPs SHOULD be handled, if you ask me.
-Netbug
