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Why so much hate for Nuva Masks?


Rahkshi Lalonde

Kanohi Nuva Y/N?  

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Kakama nuva looked like the face of a disfigured bulldog or great dane(in a bad way), as for the pakari nuva, it looks like a tribal hairstyle and beard going on all over the persons head. Both of these are my least favorite 2002 nuva masks.

 

The nuva masks had 1 thing going on with all of them, their sizes were huge, particularly on the kakama.

 

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Why I dislike them has nothing to do with the first ones being "iconic" (something is only iconic to you because you've been exposed to it extensively), it's just because I find them ugly. Well, most of them. The Kakama and Hau especially. The Kaukau and Pakari I don't mind, they're sort of cool. The Miru I don't like as a face, but its shapes lend themselves to nice use as other parts in MOCs.

 

Also, I was sorta surprised to see the adaptive Kaukau Nuva be the most hated out of the Mistika masks, I actually like that one. But Tahu's? Bleh.

 

Although some of the 2015 masks are pretty much just as bad.

 

As for their size, that can be useful for MOCing.

Edited by abstractAgamid
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tahu_concept_art_cropped_6.png

That is not a Toa Nuva, that is an Evangelion. It looks cool, but it seems even more out of place for the Toa Nuva.

 

Not that I liked the regular Kanohi Nuva that much. So many of them seemed like they took the original in the wrong direction design-wise and ended up looking kinda odd.

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My problem with the Nuva masks isn't that they're "safe and bland", but the opposite.  They're so completely off-the-wall out there that they don't match any other masks.

Eh... their not matching others was expected -- they're supposed to be for a unique kind of Toa, after all. But in terms of what they chose to do that, not really "off the wall" -- two are just sort of squishified, fatter versions of the originals (Hau and Akaku), one a more pigsnoutish version, and the other three really could probably pass for typical masks except all three are a bit fatter, and again sort of squishy.

 

What makes them not safe, as I said, is that we weren't expecting just another mask but in a different style here like if these had been random new Toa -- we had higher expectations than usual and they just didn't really deliver much.

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...something is only iconic to you because you've been exposed to it extensively...

I just wanted to seize on this one point, because I feel like it misinterprets the use of the word "iconic" in posts by myself and others.

 

When I refer to the "iconic simplicity" of the original 2001 Toa masks, I'm not just referring to how omnipresent they were—I'm referring to key aspects of their design. The original Kanohi had geometric shapes and crisp, clear lines. You could recognize the masks instantly if they were silhouetted. It was not hard to memorize the key lines and features of those masks and draw them from memory. You could even simplify them down to their most basic shapes and still be able to recognize which one was which.

 

With the Kanohi Nuva, a lot of that was lost. Instead of crisp lines, most of the masks were covered in organic, undulating curves. Most of the masks traded out the negative space of the originals with depressions and vein-like ridges that were much less obvious at a brief glance, or in silhouette. Several of the masks like the Pakari and Akaku traded what had been distinctive and recognizable facial structures for more "Hau-like" faces with large elliptical "mouths".

 

Both types of masks got a lot of promotion and appeared in a lot of media. Notably, the Toa Nuva were the only version of the original Toa who appeared in a feature-length movie, and their appearance in Mask of Light would be a lot of fans' first exposure to the Toa. However, I feel that the 2001 masks were a lot more iconic, not just due to their exposure, but due to their basic fundamental designs. The Kanohi Nuva just can't compare in that respect.

Edited by Lyichir

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Usually the things most liked will be most strongly disliked by others, as that example shows. A bold design like that will get some of us to want to buy it over anything else, and others to react as predictably shown in the replies, heh. By contrast, "safer" designs tend to just bore most people, and that's the problem with the Nuva masks.

Eh, lack of controversy does not indicate a boring design. It may simply be that the Bionicle community has matured enough not to get in silly and foolish catfights over 13-year old Mask designs. 

 

A typical forum response to something boring is usually not to discuss it all. That, or complain about boringness, none of which I have seen throughout this topic. It seems that a number of people find this topic interesting.

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Well when the Nuva masks were produced I was only 8 years old. I imagine if everybody else was around the same age too; then there has been a lot of maturing for everyone here in the past 13 years :)

 

Although I criticized the Kaukau Nuva, I will step up to defend the Kakama Nuva. It looks sleek to me. However, the only Toa Nuva I ever owned was Tahu and Pohatu, so I have some bias towards them and their masks... 

 

I still think the 2008 Nuva masks deserve more criticism than the 2002 do though. Only the Kakama 2008 looks anything like a Kakama... The rest of the five 2008 masks are just... way to wannabe Mahri/Metru for my tastes. For the same reason that is why I can go about praising the 2015 masks all day, they look like they should!

Edited by Xboxtravis
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Toa Nuva Tahu, Lewa, and later Gali were the first Bionicle sets I got, so the Nuva masks have always been favourites of mine. I actually found the original masks rather bland and boring in comparison, when I did eventually come across some of the earlier sets. 

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I think I've found the main reason why a lot of people don't like the Kanohi Nuva.

​Size/Design 
​A lot of people don't like the organic, fleshy, and kind of large design of the Nuva Masks. I didn't really care much about it. The Organic feel to them doesn't bother me much, considering they are Bio-Mechanical. The size, I can kinda see where people are coming from, but I still like them for what they are. My favorite was the Kakama Nuva or the Miru Nuva. They looked alright by me(Well, the Miru deviated from the original).

​The Pakari was definitely the ugliest.


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Still can't understand why people hate the Kaukau . Have you seen the white one ?

 

s-l225.jpg

 

It's so cool to me . It's like something from halo . I plan to make a female MOC with this once I get my hands on it .

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Still can't understand why people hate the Kaukau . Have you seen the white one ?

 

s-l225.jpg

 

It's so cool to me . It's like something from halo . I plan to make a female MOC with this once I get my hands on it .

Hmm, it does look better in white. Its not that it is a bad mask in my opinion, but that it doesn't match Gali that much. I have the same problem with Hahli's 2006 mustache mask. 

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Still can't understand why people hate the Kaukau . Have you seen the white one ?

 

s-l225.jpg

 

It's so cool to me . It's like something from halo . I plan to make a female MOC with this once I get my hands on it .

Hmm, it does look better in white. Its not that it is a bad mask in my opinion, but that it doesn't match Gali that much. I have the same problem with Hahli's 2006 mustache mask. 

 

Hahli's Elda would look excellent if it didn't have a mouth, in my opinion (which is how I thought it was when I first saw images of the set).

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I liked the Nuva masks. I was around 6 at the time so drastic changes didn't bother me. I knew they were the original Toa, but they also had cool different masks. That was enough for me. I was content. :P

 

When did this weird expectation that the Toa would look almost exactly like the original things with only slight changes after becoming better and stronger than the characters in question sneak into everyone else preconceptive minds? I never had that nor cared for that. XD 

Edited by Tarvaxx
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Still can't understand why people hate the Kaukau . Have you seen the white one ?

 

s-l225.jpg

 

It's so cool to me . It's like something from halo . I plan to make a female MOC with this once I get my hands on it .

Hmm, it does look better in white. Its not that it is a bad mask in my opinion, but that it doesn't match Gali that much. I have the same problem with Hahli's 2006 mustache mask. 

 

Hahli's Elda would look excellent if it didn't have a mouth, in my opinion (which is how I thought it was when I first saw images of the set).

 

 

I hated that mustache too (I actually like it now for some odd reason ) . when I was a child , I found out hahli was a girl . it literally took me a few weeks to process that information .

"I gave up a millennium ago; they're just far too simple minded. It's as if they actually require a soul of immoral energy to guide them. They only listen to their false idols and these so called 'geniuses' who claim to have a more complex understanding of life, rather than a man who offers nothing but a chance for amelioration. Everyone's too distracted by the concept of 'freedom' that they forgot what the true purpose of life is.


 


But when you care too much... and rebuke... and rebuke... and rebuke... yet you fail to mend due to in denial fools, you give up. Give up and watch them crumble."


 


that's The Khan for ya.


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When did this weird expectation that the Toa would look almost exactly like the original things with only slight changes after becoming better and stronger than the characters in question sneak into everyone else preconceptive minds? I never had that nor cared for that. XD

I didn't have any such idea in G1. I was fine with characters getting new masks that looked different from previous masks, but even then "different" didn't have to mean looking deformed and slightly evil like it did with the tranformation of the Kanohi into the Kanohi Nuva.

 

Plus, as the years have gone on, I've come to appreciate making changes or improvements while still keeping characters recognizable for who they are, and LEGO has in turn gotten a lot better at that. You no longer have to stretch your brain so far to realize the 2015 Mask of Water is the same character as the 2016 Mask of Water, or that the 2012 Evo is the same character as the 2011 Evo.

 

To be fair, this wasn't as important with the Kanohi Nuva since the rest of the Toa Nuva's designs were so very similar to their previous forms, almost to the point of redundancy. Their color schemes, proportions, and builds changed very little between 2001 and 2002. Still, I'd be able to look back more fondly at the Kanohi Nuva if they felt more like a natural evolution of the Kanohi and less like an unnatural mutation. The new Mask of Water feels like the 2015 Mask of Water with only subtle proportional changes, plus magical crystals embedded in its forehead! That's a much more aesthetically AND conceptually pleasing upgrade in my eyes than stretching it out and adding a lot of bulging veins, which is basically the simplest way to describe the changes between the original Hau and Hau Nuva.

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I voted that, on the whole, I like the Kanohi Nuva. My only complaint with them is how large and out-of-place they look compared to other masks, but they work fine in MOCs as faces or new masks. I voted Akaku for my favorite Nuva mask, and Kaukau for my least favorite. I not only thought Gali Nuva was male, but also that the mask looked like a hardhat.

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I not only thought Gali Nuva was male, but also that the mask looked like a hardhat.

I thought she was a dude initially as well. Now that you mention it, I can't unsee the mask being a blue hardhat lol

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Kaukau, cow cow? ...

Mata Nui, I hadn't even realized that before...

 

Someone in the Lego group must have found that a brilliant idea.

 

That's nothing. Did you guys know there was a BIONICLE cow they used to call a Mukau?

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Kaukau, cow cow? ...

Mata Nui, I hadn't even realized that before...

 

Someone in the Lego group must have found that a brilliant idea.

That's nothing. Did you guys know there was a BIONICLE cow they used to call a Mukau?
Yes. I tore apart Gali Mata and Pohatu Mata when I was a kid to build a Mukau!

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You know, I never really thought about it before... at the time, I was willing to give them a pass and see what they do with them. The Hau was like a grander version of the original, and the rest kind of... went off on their own tangent. But thinking about it now, yes, the Pakari does rub me the wrong way.

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I have mixed feelings for the Kanohi Nuva. I really like the Hau and Akaku Nuva masks, especially because they resemble their olda versions so much more than the rest (even if it's only marginally more). (However, when it comes to the Pakari Nuva, the resemblance is barely even there. My main issue with the masks, though, is how enormous they are. If there's one thing the adaptive Kanohi Nuva did, it was fix the size problem.

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