Watch Journey to One on Netflix

[Hapori Tohu]

The moment we've all been waiting for has arrived! The first two episodes of Bionicle: Journey to One are now available for viewing on Netflix. So what are you waiting for? Go watch, and then head to the Talkback or Bionicle Discussion to share your thoughts! Are you excited for the next two episodes? Does it live up to expectations?

 

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[Tamarutoe]

I didn't cringe once! -In the first episode anyway. I'm really warming up to the animation style too.

[JMSOG]

SPOILERS

Disclaimer: I am not as well versed in the gen2 story as I am gen1. I have only seen the flash animations, and have yet to get my hands on the books. So this might be a lot from a gen1 perspective.

 

 

I think here the shear amount of changes to the original characters really shined through, especially on Pohatu and Kopaka. Interesting choice, then, to make the second episode focus on Pohatu so heavily. In his case, he's a completely different character from gen1, and I like him. He was one of the stronger portrayals for sure. And of course, the necessary joke of "even Pohatu doesn't like Ketar" XD

Kopaka I'm not a huge fan of here. I felt like they weren't completely sure what to do with him, in comparison to the others. "That's bad" should be the new "I didn't slip".

Lewa, though, they nailed. This is the Lewa we deserved on screen 12 years ago. Same with Tahu and Gali, they did a good job I think. Onua...What I saw was solid, but he deserved more screentime I think.

I was suprised by how much I liked Umarak. The shadow-teleport power was really cool to watch, and a nice concept. His characterization I thought was solid as well. Nice choice to not make him a minion of Makuta, but a sort of freelance hunter. With a little more time to flesh out his character through other means, I'm getting the potential of a Piraka/Baraki vibe off of him.

Episode one felt a little rushed, but I liked a lot of the character moments. Lewa and Pohatu's segments I thought were especially strong. Episode two, though, really was the Bionicle episode that I've wanted to see. Again, interesting risk on potentially alienating the wide gen1 fanbase by focusing on the character that they decided to change the most. But it paid off...the character that they replaced to gen1 pohatu with was INCREDIBLY well characterized, perhaps (for me) the best of the 6. His voice acting was great, I understood his "stony" realism and animosity towards Ketar...Despite Lewa being my childhood hero, I kept wanting to see more of Pohatu.

I liked the prologue. They definitly took a lot of guidance from Vakama's intros in movies 1-3, and definitly sent home the fact that Narmoto is meant to be him. He filled that role fantastically.

...so, this review ended up being a summary of how it reminded me of gen1. Overall, though, I loved it. I'm probably gonna watch it several more times.

Edited March 4, 2016 by JMSOG

[Dallior]

Watching the second episode now, and I'm pleasantly surprised. Myself and the rest of the Kanohi Force thought it would be... Netflix tier, a poorly made show for little kids without any good anything. However, it's actually quite good. The animation is great, the voice acting is nice and reminiscent of past Bionicle movies. It's nice to see that the characters are being molded, like how Pohatu dislikes his creature since it's a scorpion and "I hate scorpions."

 

One neat thing I noticed is that when talking to the creatures, the Toa mention duty and unity, but no destiny (the final of the three virtues). Perhaps next year's story will revolve around Destiny?

[Yutyocraft]

I haven't pay to Netflix and I wanna watch it for free. Are there any posibilities to watch them free in future?

[Dallior]

Not besides making a free 30-day trial account.

[johnny_s]

Journey to One wasn't too shabby. It did feel short and rushed, and I wish they didn't make Lewa talk the way he did; hearing him say "ain't" made me wish Okoto had its own variation of Treespeak. Other than that, it was pretty good, and I can't wait for the next two episodes!

[CaT in Rogue]

Holy Mata Nui the voice acting is like a bajillion times better than in the trailers. The show itself is better than I was expecting as well.

Edited March 4, 2016 by Kung Fu Burnout

[Clyce]

I haven't pay to Netflix and I wanna watch it for free. Are there any posibilities to watch them free in future?

30 day free trial.

I'm so pumped up right now. Just finished JTO and the series is straight up lit! The trailers had me nervous, but the execution on the actual show was outstanding. It well surpassed my expectations. Congratulations to the LEGO and BIONICLE teams on producing a quality series and I look forward to the next 2 episodes. Plus the extra prologue with the 2016/015 animation combo was nice.

[Toa Smoke Monster]

So the day for this show has finally come.

 

But now I got to think about this. I could start the 30 day free trial on Netflix to watch these two episodes. (And finally watch Daredevil and Jessica Jones as well.) Or I could wait until the other two episodes are up in July, and watch it all at once. I most likely won't start the trial anytime soon, since I won't have a lot of free time in the next couple weeks. And I would like to catch all three shows if possible. Decisions, decisions....

 

Off topic question, and one I think I know the answer to but will ask anyways: How many free trials can you do with Netflix before you have to pay to have it? I imagine it's not more than one, but I figured I would ask in case I was wrong.

[Clyce]

So the day for this show has finally come.

 

But now I got to think about this. I could start the 30 day free trial on Netflix to watch these two episodes. (And finally watch Daredevil and Jessica Jones as well.) Or I could wait until the other two episodes are up in July, and watch it all at once. I most likely won't start the trial anytime soon, since I won't have a lot of free time in the next couple weeks. And I would like to catch all three shows if possible. Decisions, decisions....

 

Off topic question, and one I think I know the answer to but will ask anyways: How many free trials can you do with Netflix before you have to pay to have it? I imagine it's not more than one, but I figured I would ask in case I was wrong.

I'm pretty sure it's just one. Of course you could just keep using different emails. However, I don't know whether or not free trials actually credit the views for Bionicle JTO. It might just be worth it to subscribe just for a few months and then use that opportunity to watch episodes and shows you didn't see during your 30 day trial.

[Zeb]

I like it. Umarak is cool, Pohatu and Lewa had good characterization, the art style is pretty unique, the voice-acting is pretty good, and I'm excited to see the next 2 episodes. Kopaka's character seems a little off, though... I'm not sure if it's because of how different he is from the 2015 animations or if his characterization just doesn't seem to fit him at all. Maybe I'll get used to it. Tahu, Gali, and Onua are pretty good, but they haven't had their time to be the focus of the episode like Lewa or Pohatu yet, so I'm not entirely sure how I like their characters yet. It's also nice to see some continuity with the Skull Spiders and Skull Warriors still hanging around. So I enjoyed the show, and I'm definitely looking forward to the next 2 episodes!

[Timageness]

As a whole, I gave Bionicle: The Journey To One a rating of 4 out of 5 stars.

The first three episodes (and yes, there's actually three, though the first was essentially a recap of the events from the 2015 animations via Narmoto's storytelling, which was still pretty cool) not only successfully achieved their overall mission in my opinion, but also managed to portray this year's storyline in a fresh and exciting way. From what I saw of the character trailers, I was honestly expecting the art direction to be slightly reminiscent of RWBY, but when I actually got further into Episode 1, I was definitely feeling the same vibes I did as a kid watching the old Transformers Beast Wars/Beast Machines series as well, and that was freaking awesome. I couldn't actually tell if this was done with any of the other characters, but whatever additional effect was applied to both Narmoto and Ekimu definitely made them sound like biomechanical beings, which was certainly a plus.

Which leads me to the voice acting. While the actors themselves did a fantastic job bringing the characters to life, I did feel that the dialogue itself was a little wonky at times, and that sort of reminded me a little of the Hero Factory series as far as the actual script itself was concerned. Kopaka personally felt just a bit too warm and friendly for a Toa of Ice, Tahu seemed like he was a little more goofy than his past portrayals, and Lewa was kind of giving me a Surge vibe, but the other three (especially the revamped Pohatu) more than made up for this relatively small shortcoming. Oh, and Umarak was a boss.

Since going into any further detail would be crossing over into spoiler territory, I'll wrap this up here. For those of you who haven't seen it yet, the series so far is definitely worth an hour of your time.

[Virid]

Ok, time to get Netflix.

[BioniCro]

I thought it was okay. Voice acting was adaquate, really liked everyone. Animation was okay, but artwork was really pretty. I thought action could have been a bit better in terms of timing, felt there was a lot of empty time in action where nothing really happened, except toa striking a pose and standing around.

[VahiHolder02]

I thought it was very satisfying, both in terms of animation and acting-wise. While some of the dialogue was a little awkward and overly expositional, this was truly minimal. The music, while fitting, was a little disappointing. The MNOG animations' music, in my nostalgia-goggled eyes, was really top notch.

 

What I really want is to have watched these episodes as a member of the target age group. It is still sometimes difficult to watch the first two years' worth of G2 story unfold without, even subconsciously, drawing comparisons to G1.

[Pohatu: Uniter of Stone]

I'm... so... different...

 

But I love it. 

 

Ehhm, I mean, it's ok. I hate scorpios, but I guess Ketar is OK. It's not like I like that scorpion or anything, so don't get any ideas!

 

(Pohatu is tsundere confirmed)

[Nidhiki of the Shadows]

That was great! I loved that they bothered to recap the 2015 story in a rather neat prologue. As for the meat of it, both episodes were pretty cool. I loved the animation and art style, and the writing was not bad. Pohatu and Ketar got some big moments and that was fresh to see. Umarak also seemed like a pretty cool character. Just a shame that the line delivery and some of the voice acting was not to par. Regardless, The Journey to One is so far a really awesome piece of media for Bionicle and I am not disappointed!

 

-NotS

[J46 Nui]

It was actually pretty good. I do prefer the first 2 movies, and their voice cast, but this places a solid third on my ranking of the movies/TV series.

[xccj]

Wait, Akida can fly??

 

Anyway, it was still subpar, but it was a bit better than I expected, and the second episode felt better paced, so I'm optimistic that the rest will be better too. (I mean, Hero Factory and Chima had some better years than this.) Still, there's fun bits to it, and the overall story and characters are a step up from last years. So... yeah.

 

[Ptah]

My micro review and thoughts. Spoiler-ish free.

 

Prologue:  Smart move on their part to do a prologue of the previous year's story. Just a twinge of sadness the narrator of the web series wasn't a voice here.  If you watched the web series, you've see the Prologue.

 

Episode 1: Packs in the solo part of the quest: creatures, traps, that sort of thing. It's one of Bionicle's ongoing weakness in the storytelling, 1 story, 6 different versions. They try to liven it up by action cuts from one Toa to the next.  The Hunter is a good villain, especially with his shadow-walking power. Inspired choice to keep the skull warriors and skull spiders around.

 

Episode 2: This is where our team assembles for the Raid. Much like last year's web series everyone comes together to face the challenges. The United Toa have some fun moments like racing to their destination. The episode ends on a sour note, but promises to be exciting when they return (Later this summer!) Why the wait?

Edited March 5, 2016 by Ptah

[Arcee]

About what I expected, which isn't a bad thing! Nothing too incredible but it's cool to see the heroes in cgi animation again.

 

The ONE big problem I have with the series is the same problem I had with most incarnations of last year's story...what the heck is the Mask of Control?? Like, they made sure to emphasize that it was important and through context I gathered that it was powerful, but in those two episodes all I really gathered is that it's the Great Mask of MacGuffins.

 

It sure would've been nice if maybe at the beginning Ekimu was like "well there's this Mask of Control and its power is _____ and it's important because ____." Without that the episodes just felt kind of...directionless. The whole conflict was "we've gotta get this mask before Umarak does but we're not gonna tell you what it does or why Umarak can't get it"

[Timageness]

About what I expected, which isn't a bad thing! Nothing too incredible but it's cool to see the heroes in cgi animation again.

 

The ONE big problem I have with the series is the same problem I had with most incarnations of last year's story...what the heck is the Mask of Control?? Like, they made sure to emphasize that it was important and through context I gathered that it was powerful, but in those two episodes all I really gathered is that it's the Great Mask of MacGuffins.

 

It sure would've been nice if maybe at the beginning Ekimu was like "well there's this Mask of Control and its power is _____ and it's important because ____." Without that the episodes just felt kind of...directionless. The whole conflict was "we've gotta get this mask before Umarak does but we're not gonna tell you what it does or why Umarak can't get it"

 

According to the BS01 page for the mask, it apparently has the ability to "bend minds."

Whether that means it's essentially just a remolded Komau, or if it has the ability to create illusions reminiscent of the Olisi as well, still remains to be seen. Hopefully, the later episodes will go into more detail, since Umarak The Destroyer's set pictures actually show him wearing it.

[Magnet Toa]

I wish there were some filler (feels odd to say that) just so we can get a better feel for our brave Toa, I feel like we only got to know two out of the six of them. Aside from that I really like what I saw, just wish there was more

[Pomegranate]

That was lovely. It feels so Bionicle. Some of the music reminds me of hints of the old Nathan Furst compositions and it makes me really giddy. I love it so far. I smiled the whole way through

[Smitty]

I like how they made Pohatu more like is environment, rough and abrasive. I don't like how they changed Kopaka and Tahu. There would have been a real nice consistency if Kopaka were still cold and aloof and Tahu were still a hot head.

[Arcee]

According to the BS01 page for the mask, it apparently has the ability to "bend minds."

Whether that means it's essentially just a remolded Komau, or if it has the ability to create illusions reminiscent of the Olisi as well, still remains to be seen. Hopefully, the later episodes will go into more detail, since Umarak The Destroyer's set pictures actually show him wearing it.

 

Eh, I think there's a pretty big problem with expecting viewers to do research to find out why the heroes are doing what they're doing.

 

Plus, "bending minds" is just this super vague info-morsel they dropped on a page of the Bionicle website. I feel like the mask's importance and its power could have easily been mentioned at the beginning, just how they made sure to establish who the Toa were, who the creatures were, etc. At the very least for new viewers.

 

I really don't think I can complain much because after all the MoCo is essentially just a MacGuffin in the same way the Mask of Light was. But I still think the series would've been vastly improved if maybe they took a few seconds to explain what all the fighting over this thing was about.

[Timageness]

Hmmm.... Fair point.

It is odd that the information wasn't included within the first or second episode. Hopefully, that will be remedied at some point.

[Clyce]

I'm really interested to see how JTO effects the upcoming book. If you remember, after the animation series in 2015 the first book was practically a copy of the animation script and LEGO had given Ryder Windham very little room to expand outside of that. It wasn't until Revenge of the Skull Spiders that Windham was really able to be creative and write his own story. I wonder if book 3 (June 28th, 2016) will be another copy of JTO or will it be it's own stand alone story?

[Yutyocraft]

 

I haven't pay to Netflix and I wanna watch it for free. Are there any posibilities to watch them free in future?

30 day free trial.

I'm so pumped up right now. Just finished JTO and the series is straight up lit! The trailers had me nervous, but the execution on the actual show was outstanding. It well surpassed my expectations. Congratulations to the LEGO and BIONICLE teams on producing a quality series and I look forward to the next 2 episodes. Plus the extra prologue with the 2016/015 animation combo was nice.

 

 

I've found a free code to watch Netflix for a year! Tutorial at this video:

 

[Wiriamu]

I quite enjoyed the episodes. Yeah, they're not exactly the greatest thing ever, but could have been a lot worse all things considered. Some of the language admittedly didn't seem like it fit the feel of the series, but overall I think the acting was well done-I kinda wish the credits actually listed voice actors with characters instead of just listing the actors.

 

 

I'm also thinking that Umarak's "clones" or whatever you want to call them from Trials of the Toa will become the three beasts due to Umarak's transformation into the Destroyer.

 

[Yutyocraft]

I watched episode prologue, 1 and 2. They were so good. Finnaly Gali has female voice and her new design was attractive. Background music was exciting. Child villagers are so cute. Story was OK. But I think that was premature to Umarak The Destroyer. And sometimes Ekimu's sound is changing. Clones of Umarak aren't at sets. Pohatu is grumpy now. Tahu has declared him as a leader. But real leader is Ekimu. So Episode 1 and 2 are good but have some small mistakes. If Lego solve these mistakes, Bionicle Journey To One will be legendary. But not better than Bionicle The Legend Reborn. 

[Turaga Majice]

I gotta give it a C+, overall. Umarak was the best part, in my mind, and I'm hopeful that it improves from here.

 

Characters

- Why is Tahu the leader? Lewa clearly demonstrates the charismatic leadership aspect. He's the one that keeps the team focused and involved. Tahu doesn't even demonstrate an act of leadership, that I can tell. Granted, only the prologue attributes leadership to him -- and it doesn't say he's the leader, just that even before he met the other toa he felt like one.

- What is Kopaka's personality? I really don't have a bead on him. People can be complex, but the episodes don't clarify why he's exuberant one moment, cynical the next.

- Pohatu was pretty cool. I'm glad they kept up the previous year's serious-guy stuff. I wish I liked Pohatu's model better. The color scheme is a mess. And of course, Ketar looks utterly ridiculous.

- Umarak was pretty much always solid, and his shadow powers were well-used.

- I wish Makuta had more to him than hand-ringing villainy. G1 Makuta was pretty sweet from the start (those mindgames he played about being Nothing, and taking the shape of a Matoran), and evolved into some kind of Xanatos mastermind.

- The way that the encounters between the toa and the creatures played out was nice. They were all different in ways that suited well enough, though I think they could also have been portrayed better.

 

Plot and Production

- The basic plot feels one part miss, one part hit. "Combine toa with creatures so Lego gets more money and also the good guys win" is contrived as heck. Wouldn't the most effective way for them to operate be apart? The creatures demonstrate equal (if not superior) elemental power to the toa -- while combined, they demonstrate power that doesn't even appear twice as much as a toa. That's not even accounting for how useful it is to be able to focus on two things at once, when you have two people working at something. It just doesn't make practical sense to do it except to open magic doors that require it. That said, pursuit of the Mask of Control to destroy it makes sense, and is a great use of existing plot elements. That it was hidden off the mainland makes sense, and the quest to retrieve it makes a solid frame from a heroic story.

- Part of what Greg Farshtey (and the comic team) did to make G1 so cool was the inventive use of their incredible control of the elements -- so far, G2 has fallen entirely short of that. There are so many instances in these two episodes where the toa should be able to overwhelm their obstacles. One could argue that these toa are unskilled and need time to learn their abilities. If so, wouldn't it be better to make that plain in the writing? Umarak could contend that while he's one against six mighty heroes, they're six heroes who only know how to throw punches while he has had centuries to master the shadows.

- The rush job is felt on this in so many ways. Forty minutes to showcase eight characters, six pseudo-characters, and a quest; most of the dialogue is just the characters exclaiming about the plot, without much to speak to who they are. Beyond that, there are lines that don't make sense, which suggests they were recorded, the animation went a different way than the writing intended, but the actors weren't called back in for retakes. And besides, so many of the scenes aren't necessary -- you don't need to see the toa at the Mask Maker's City, from what I can tell. Those scenes are entirely Ekimu's exposition, and that exposition could have been covered between the toa during their journey. Honestly, even then, the story would feel rushed and unsatisfactory, and covering this plot and all these characters in forty minutes is never going to be satisfying -- I wonder, then, why they couldn't have told a smaller story more suited to the format? Leave this tale to a book or another multi-part web series retelling. The real story appears to be that Pohatu has difficulty trusting new faces, and that could just as well have been told at a less breakneck pace.

- The explanation for the appearance changes is that Ekimu made them new equipment -- I like this, for once. I'm not keen on the "sudden random mutation" stuff. That said, why would Lewa give up the massive tactical advantage of flight? They establish that he could fly before and can't now, in this very series (which is, at least, a nice touch). It's not like he couldn't keep those axes for that express purpose. It doesn't even make sense that Ekimu would make them gear that in any way downgrades their performance when these six heroes are just about all that stands between Makuta and domination of Okoto.

- Ketar's name comes out of no where. No one brings up the names until Ketar goes missing. I myself don't really remember the names, and the way the episodes work, you really don't have a reason to. Just kind of weird. Would have sounded better for them to use names than the term "creatures." Why not dip back into what they already could use, call them the Rahi? "Creature" is such a general -- and common -- term.

[Yutyocraft]

I've a question. Why all you guys dislike Kopaka?

[FrozenPancake_]

I've a question. Why all you guys dislike Kopaka?

 

They totally ruined his personality. Gone is the cold, aloof, and antisocial Kopaka, replaced by... G1 Pohatu with ice powers. 

 

His voice is unfitting, and his personality makes no sense to me. Not just from me being a geewunner (which, to be quite frank, I am), but looking from an elemental standpoint.

 

Think about it. For instance, Pohatu is tough and abrasive, like stone. Lewa is free-spirited, like nature and the wind. 

 

So, by that logic, what traits should Kopaka have? Cold and harsh, like ice. He shouldn't be all exuberant yet skeptical (I feel that would fit Lewa quite well, considering how he was portrayed in last year's animations). 

 

Besides, we could have easily had Pohatu and Kopaka develop a friendship-- but this time, out of having similar points of view, unlike the ironic 'buddy cop' dynamic that they had back in G1.

 

However, I'd much rather have good ol' friendly Pohatu. He may not have been abrasive, but he was still much like his element in that he was tough, strong, and stubborn. 

[Yutyocraft]

 

I've a question. Why all you guys dislike Kopaka?

 

They totally ruined his personality. Gone is the cold, aloof, and antisocial Kopaka, replaced by... G1 Pohatu with ice powers. 

 

His voice is unfitting, and his personality makes no sense to me. Not just from me being a geewunner (which, to be quite frank, I am), but looking from an elemental standpoint.

 

Think about it. For instance, Pohatu is tough and abrasive, like stone. Lewa is free-spirited, like nature and the wind. 

 

So, by that logic, what traits should Kopaka have? Cold and harsh, like ice. He shouldn't be all exuberant yet skeptical (I feel that would fit Lewa quite well, considering how he was portrayed in last year's animations). 

 

Besides, we could have easily had Pohatu and Kopaka develop a friendship-- but this time, out of having similar points of view, unlike the ironic 'buddy cop' dynamic that they had back in G1.

 

However, I'd much rather have good ol' friendly Pohatu. He may not have been abrasive, but he was still much like his element in that he was tough, strong, and stubborn. 

 

 

You're a bit right at some topics. But Kopaka is cool with these features. Kopaka is a born leader but Tahu isn't. Tahu maked him leader himself. I think Tahu and Kopaka'll fall in love with Gali. And they'll fight for her. In my decision Gali'll choose Kopaka. Because they're doing something together. They're racing together. They're speaking together. Ice is water too. So they can be united easily. But water can put off fire. So Tahu and Gali can't do anything together. 

[Timageness]

Yeah, but a relationship between Tahu and Gali would certainly be more... steamy.

...

I have no regrets.

Back to the topic at hand, however, I personally prefered 2001-2008 and even 2015 Kopaka over his portrayal in The Journey To One. As for Pohatu... well, let's just say that he didn't exactly stick out to me until the 2015 animations, mostly because it seemed like everyone else was thrust into the spotlight first back in G1.

[Lyichir]

Has this discussion really devolved into shipping wars?

[Vrokorta]

Has this discussion really devolved into shipping wars?

Maybe. Anyways, I quite enjoyed Journey to One, even with Tahu and Kopaka's new personality's.

 

Yeah, but a relationship between Tahu and Gali would certainly be more... steamy.

...

I have no regrets.

I thought that was hilarious.

[Timageness]

I normally try to avoid the usage of puns, but that one was just too good to resist.