LEGO Inside BIONICLE: Lewa Designer Video

[Hapori Tohu]

And on we go with the third in the series of the Inside BIONICLE designer videos. This time it's Lewa's turn. Once again we do not learn too much but we do get to see some prototypes and we learn of some of the ideas that stood behind the design of the mask. Read on to listen to designer Aske Garling talk about the design of the Mask of Jungle!

 

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[doodleloot]

A bit disappointed in this one, honestly. I wish the designer had gone into a bit more detail about the mask. He didn't even show the green prototype.

[Rooster Nui]

Yeah, I thought the video was a bit short, but alright. He went over the main thing the others did, which was the prototype mask designs.

 

I personally prefer the futuristic mask design, but I can see why they went with the aerodynamic one we've got now.

Edited April 18, 2015 by Rooster Nui

[PDPsi HAN]

I will never understand why they slapped that stupid circle in the middle of the G2 Kakama, Miru, and KauKau. I can understand it on the Hau, Akaku, and Pakari as they had that as a feature of the mask to some extent.

I also don't understand the placement of the gearbox that limits his head movement, nor how much he chokes up on his dual axes. 

Edited April 18, 2015 by Draven

[Aanchir]

I will never understand why they slapped that stupid circle in the middle of the G2 Kakama, Miru, and KauKau. I can understand it on the Hau, Akaku, and Pakari as they had that as a feature of the mask to some extent.

Maybe they slapped it on the same reason they slapped it on so many masks back in '01 — because they liked the look of it. Not everything has to be about blindly adhering to precedent.

 

And who are you kidding, Pohatu's mask has ALWAYS had a circle mouth! Every single time!

Edited April 18, 2015 by Aanchir

[PDPsi HAN]

 

I will never understand why they slapped that stupid circle in the middle of the G2 Kakama, Miru, and KauKau. I can understand it on the Hau, Akaku, and Pakari as they had that as a feature of the mask to some extent.

Maybe they slapped it on the same reason they slapped it on so many masks back in '01 — because they liked the look of it. Not everything has to be about blindly adhering to precedent.

 

And who are you kidding, Pohatu's mask has ALWAYS had a circle mouth! Every single time!

 

 

 

It just looks out of place on the G2 Miru. It doesn't mesh with the segmented faceplate that the designer mentions.

 

Comparing G1 Kakama to G2, G2 Kakama looks like he's puckered up from eating something sour. G1's circle mouth was at least recessed. 

[Tarvaxx]

I truthfully prefer the sleeker looking concept art than I do what we ended up getting. Not to say that I don't like what we have, I just hope we get a better looking one that's a lot closer to the original next year, as the first Miru is my favorite mask. It seems like the only people who got a mask closely resembling the source were fans of the Hau, Kakama, and especially the Akaku. 

 

I will say that I love the new KauKau though, it's just an amazing looking mask (though I can understand why people would be upset, as it doesn't really look that close to the original). The new Pakari... looks more like a football helmet than a Pakari, which really makes me sad as I loved the old Pakari but don't like football helmet-like designs. XD

 

I really want to like the new Miru, I do, but the vents on the side and the whole "face mask" concept really makes it hard to look at and doesn't fit in with the whole wild and tribal feel of Okoto. It's too... Metru Nui, if that makes any sense. This might also lend clues to what kind of environment the Toa came from before being summoned to Okoto. It would have been really cool if their Golden Masks had instead been the original G1 masks shaped to be able to fit the new heads while retaining every single original aesthetic. That, however, sounds incredibly unrealistic from a business standpoint as that would require even more new molds for a line LEGO was afraid could potentially be unsuccessful. 

Edited April 18, 2015 by BlatantlyHeroic

[Lyichir]

I truthfully prefer the sleeker looking concept art than I do what we ended up getting. Not to say that I don't like what we have, I just hope we get a better looking one that's a lot closer to the original next year, as the first Miru is my favorite mask. It seems like the only people who got a mask closely resembling the source were fans of the Hau, Kakama, and especially the Akaku. 

 

I will say that I love the new KauKau though, it's just an amazing looking mask (though I can understand why people would be upset, as it doesn't really look that close to the original). The new Pakari... looks more like a football helmet than a Pakari, which really makes me sad as I loved the old Pakari but don't like football helmet-like designs. XD

 

I really want to like the new Miru, I do, but the vents on the side and the whole "face mask" concept really makes it hard to look at and doesn't fit in with the whole wild and tribal feel of Okoto. It's too... Metru Nui, if that makes any sense. This might also lend clues to what kind of environment the Toa came from before being summoned to Okoto. It would have been really cool if their Golden Masks had instead been the original G1 masks shaped to be able to fit the new heads while retaining every single original aesthetic. That, however, sounds incredibly unrealistic from a business standpoint as that would require even more new molds for a line LEGO was afraid could potentially be unsuccessful.

Personally, I think one of the major reasons the Miru looks less like the concept art is because the concept art itself looks a whole lot like the final design for the Mask of Water. The "cheek vents" on the concept art are similar in shape and placement to the "gills" on the Mask of Water, and the "head spikes/fins" are similar enough on both masks that they could easily be confused for one another.

 

Now, that's not to say that I think the Mask of Water was fully designed before the final design for the Mask of Jungle was chosen. More likely, both concepts were developed in tandem, with the intent of visually diversifying the Toa's respective masks kept in mind. In Gali's case, the final mask ended up having a more organic flavor with prominent influences from the Kaukau Nuva, while Lewa's desigm instead emphasized a more mechanical, aerodynamic look that diverged greatly from both of his previous masks but was also completely unique and unmistakable for the masks of the other Toa.

[Prowl Nightwolf]

Wait, there have been 3 of these? I have seen the Gali one, what was the other?

[Gatanui]

Wait, there have been 3 of these? I have seen the Gali one, what was the other?

That was Kopaka.

[Tarvaxx]

 

I truthfully prefer the sleeker looking concept art than I do what we ended up getting. Not to say that I don't like what we have, I just hope we get a better looking one that's a lot closer to the original next year, as the first Miru is my favorite mask. It seems like the only people who got a mask closely resembling the source were fans of the Hau, Kakama, and especially the Akaku. 

 

I will say that I love the new KauKau though, it's just an amazing looking mask (though I can understand why people would be upset, as it doesn't really look that close to the original). The new Pakari... looks more like a football helmet than a Pakari, which really makes me sad as I loved the old Pakari but don't like football helmet-like designs. XD

 

I really want to like the new Miru, I do, but the vents on the side and the whole "face mask" concept really makes it hard to look at and doesn't fit in with the whole wild and tribal feel of Okoto. It's too... Metru Nui, if that makes any sense. This might also lend clues to what kind of environment the Toa came from before being summoned to Okoto. It would have been really cool if their Golden Masks had instead been the original G1 masks shaped to be able to fit the new heads while retaining every single original aesthetic. That, however, sounds incredibly unrealistic from a business standpoint as that would require even more new molds for a line LEGO was afraid could potentially be unsuccessful.

Personally, I think one of the major reasons the Miru looks less like the concept art is because the concept art itself looks a whole lot like the final design for the Mask of Water. The "cheek vents" on the concept art are similar in shape and placement to the "gills" on the Mask of Water, and the "head spikes/fins" are similar enough on both masks that they could easily be confused for one another.

 

Now, that's not to say that I think the Mask of Water was fully designed before the final design for the Mask of Jungle was chosen. More likely, both concepts were developed in tandem, with the intent of visually diversifying the Toa's respective masks kept in mind. In Gali's case, the final mask ended up having a more organic flavor with prominent influences from the Kaukau Nuva, while Lewa's desigm instead emphasized a more mechanical, aerodynamic look that diverged greatly from both of his previous masks but was also completely unique and unmistakable for the masks of the other Toa.

 

I see what you're saying. I like the new Miru, it still has that smile along with a really sly look (made a great Toa Nidhiki MoC mask, The Golden Mask of Jungle plus a head with a blue eystalk was actually a really intimidating look), I just prefer my masks smooth and not having too much going on in their design. It's a personal preference kind of flaw. It's basically why I don't like the new Miru and Pakari as much as I like the new Hau (still wish they had THREE vents instead of just two, but the placement of the mask connector made that impossible without making the mask even fatter and more square than it already is), KauKau, Kakama, and Akaku. Those four masks have smooth, sleek designs. I also really like the Protector masks and the Mask of Creation. This could all just be me psychologically disliking it due to the vents though, as that reminds me of his mask during the Phantoka era, and that was the most disappointing stage in Bionicle's history for me since I really wanted their original masks back, but molded so they would be compatible with the standard Metru head. I really liked how in 01, you could literally make your own character without any problem because the masks used by all of the Bionicle characters at that point could be obtained and worn by anyone. It was more of "This is a mask that gives you levitation and looks really cool" rather than "This mask is exclusive to the character of Lewa and canonically won't be used in any other sets or for any other characters because, screw making lore-wise MoCing easy". 

 

I had a really unrealistic hope that they'd bring that feature from the old Bionicle back, where there were only so many masks, and those masks were worn by everybody and weren't character specific. Pohatu could technically find a white Hau and then have shielding powers, and the masks never clashed with the designs of the other toa, like they do now. That's only a minor gripe though, because I really love a lot of the new masks and I love the story so far. They've put a lot of hard work into this and I respect that.

Edited April 19, 2015 by BlatantlyHeroic

[Thau Nvua]

I have gotten used to them talking about masks all the time, because the whole point of this is to direct attention to the Mask Hunt.
What I can not forgive tho is that he had a concept art that he didnt show. I just love the kopaka concept art that theyve shown in his designer video.

[masterchirox580]

I must say this one is very disappointing, the mask that's it.... Oh and this guy is saying Lay-wa, seriously lego what is Lewa's real name!?  

[Toa Smoke Monster]

I was hoping to see more concept art on Lewa's mask, but I still liked what was shown here. 

 

I do agree that the video felt short though.

[Nidhiki of the Shadows]

Designer seemed really enthusiastic which is nice, but have to say that this was the worst one yet. Really short and not much revealed. The concept art for Lewa's mask was pretty cool though. 

 

Hope they improve...

 

-NotS

[Aanchir]

Designer seemed really enthusiastic which is nice, but have to say that this was the worst one yet. Really short and not much revealed. The concept art for Lewa's mask was pretty cool though. 

 

Hope they improve...

 

-NotS

I kind of have to disagree. Even though there wasn't a lot of concept art this time around, this was the first one where we got to see actual, physical mask prototypes, which I found particularly interesting.

[fishers64]

Uh, I thought there were mask prototypes in the other videos too.

[Aanchir]

Uh, I thought there were mask prototypes in the other videos too.

You're right, my mistake. I obviously didn't take much notice of the prototypes in the Gali and Kopaka videos because they are almost identical to the final mask, instead of showing such a wide range of variations as the Lewa mask prototypes.

[Lenny7092]

I like the concept art. The pictures and prototype masks look cool. It's interesting that the concept art pictures show designs of Lewa's mask that closely resemble his G1 mask, it never got into the final design. Doesn't feel classic that way.