Masters of Spinjitzu

Retrospective:

The two (or four, depending on how you count them) pilot episodes were initially intended to promote the sets and start the theme off with a bang, but soon bloomed into the beginning of what was intended to be a two season TV show. When it comes to making the sets look cool, it certainly did it's job, even if it's a touch odd that the skeletons are never seen using Spinjitzu, when the Spinner sets regularly depicted them doing so. Lore wise, it makes sense that they wouldn't be capable of Spinjitzu, as Garmadon would have no reason to train random footsoldiers like Krazi or Chopov, but it seems a bit strange from a marketing standpoint.

When it comes to setting up a show, the pilot leaves a bit to be desired, however. Sure, you have the ninja come together, and Garmadon's escape creates a conflict to be resolved in the first season, but Zane and Cole are seriously lacking in characterization. Jay, at least, has quite a bit of focus in the second half of the pilot. Still, that leaves two ninja whose characterization boils down to "otherworldly" and "responsible, but afraid of dragons". Luckily, season 1 largely fixes this.

Another problem, however, is that the skeletons just don't seem menacing at all. Even when the ninja are outnumbered ten to one, it's only the spiders that make them worry. Sure, Samukai is intimidating, but he's the big bad boss. His army is just a bunch of comically inept buffoons.

Something I do like, however, is that the setting of Ninjago itself is established pretty well, without someone having to turn to the camera and hold us by the hand. We are shown that the rice farmers are open and welcoming, not even suspecting the literal army of skeletons of being up to no-good, and that their culture seems to be similar to Edo Japan, as ninja and samurai exist, but are nowhere near as common as in the time of the previous generation. Despite this, the attire of the side characters, and the city seen in Jay's flashback, suggest that the level of technology and some bits of Ninjago's culture, are up to modern standards.

The plot of the pilot follows a pretty barebones "collect the macguffins before the evil lord does so" story, just with ninja instead of knights, but the friendly dragons, as well as the bad guy winning are pretty neat twists on the formula.

As a final rating, it would give the pilots a 7/10. There are some issues with the characters, but by and large it is perfectly serviceable, and is still really pretty. Go and give it a watch, or maybe rewatch it, if you've already watched it at some point.

Suits:

For the majority of the special, the ninja wear their training robes.

As you can see, these suits are a simple gi in each ninja's color, with a golden emblem of their element attached via a set of ropes. There's nothing special about these suits, as they are just ninja robes in bright colors ... and I love it! These suits are the basic outfit they got after finishing their training, there shouldn't be anything special about them. Unlike most other suits, these ones could actually be used to blend into backgrounds of the same color. An easy 10/10 from me.

 

After coming to an understanding with the dragons guarding the Golden Weapons, the ninja switch to their DX (Dragon eXtreme) robes.

These weapons are dyed in each ninja's primary color, and feature a golden depiction of the respective dragon using their elemental power. On each ninja's back, the insignia from their training suit as well as their name can be found. They work great as an upgrade to the training robes, but I do miss the detailing that shows these are robes and not just Lego bricks with arms attacked. Aside from the belt, the DX robes are sadly just a solid color. Furthermore, it was never explained why the ninja switched robes before heading to the underworld. As such, I can't give this more than a 7/10, like the season. Great concept, but lacking execution.

All in all, the Pilots get a pretty good overall score of 8/10. That's nothing to be ashamed of, if you ask me.