The Mangai Project

[ARROW404]

The first episode of the titular show is now officially out! I was surprised there isn't a thread for it yet, so I figured I'd make one, on the off-chance someone in here hasn't seen it before, and/or to create a space on BZPower to discuss is.

 Episode 1

By the way, I'm the voice actor for Kodan (not in Episode 1, but the narrator of the MOC Showcase and Tales of the Mangai) and will be the voice actor for Nihu starting with episode 2. I have little insight on the workings of non-VA members of the project, but I'm eager to talk about what I can (maintaining confidentiality, of course). 

So what are your thoughts? Hopes for future episodes? Constructive criticism? 

[Nato G]

I loved it. Something like this is exactly what the Bionicle community needed after the disappointment of losing Masks of Power. 

I remember seeing the preview of the Piraka scene during 810nicle Day, and wasn’t totally sold on the G2ish animation style at the time, but it grew on me pretty quickly when watching the full release. 

I appreciate that the episode didn’t shy away from showing the gnarlier side of things that Greg could only really imply in official writing. Nidhiki's hunting scene and Gorast’s attack on the village really helped sell just how brutal the Tren Krom peninsula was, justifying Nidhiki’s attitude in a way the main story sources never really did. Going full body horror with Gorast’s shapeshifting was a great way to showcase how terrifying and alien the Makuta would be to other beings.  

I’m excited to see some of the other scenes from canon play out in future episodes, like Dume’s confrontation with the Piraka, and the battle against the Kanohi Dragon. 

[Master Inika]

This was beautiful. I love the animation, it's the perfect balance between the simplicity of MNOG and the expressiveness of the Miramax trilogy. Can't wait for the next one.

This is just a small detail, but I really like the Piraka's anchor being made out of Vakama's disk launcher and one of Gali's axes. I always think it's neat seeing assets made out of real BIONICLE stuff.

[Toa Philo]

I enjoyed it, it had decent animation, the lack of mouths helps a lot.
I enjoy the story aspect of it as well.
I especially liked how the Makuta was displayed, not just some dark lord esque character, but as like an eldritch monster.
I look forward to the next episode, IMO this is the best fan project we got since Takua64

[Alrazvick]

I wish I could help out with the project but I probably don’t have any skills that would be useful to you.

[That Matoran with a Vahi]

Fellow Mangai participant here, hi! You won't see any of my work here yet because I only joined recently; but I've already done a bit of storyboarding for an episode 2 scene, so can confirm that progress on the next episode is underway ^^

[TERIDAX941]

On 6/24/2025 at 12:14 PM, That Matoran with a Vahi said:

Fellow Mangai participant here, hi! You won't see any of my work here yet because I only joined recently; but I've already done a bit of storyboarding for an episode 2 scene, so can confirm that progress on the next episode is underway ^^

Do you guys have a schedule you're trying to follow with getting them out, bi annually, quarterly, etc?

[ARROW404]

On 6/26/2025 at 5:18 PM, TERIDAX941 said:

Do you guys have a schedule you're trying to follow with getting them out, bi annually, quarterly, etc?

Currently we don't have a deadline, but we're working with tighter internal deadlines and, as far as I'm aware of, adding new ones as work gets done. Episode 2 should be out muuuuuch more quickly than episode 1. 

[kawaii kitty]

On 9/17/2025 at 4:49 AM, ARROW404 said:

Currently we don't have a deadline, but we're working with tighter internal deadlines and, as far as I'm aware of, adding new ones as work gets done. Episode 2 should be out muuuuuch more quickly than episode 1. 

exellent! i really enjoyed the first episode, and listening to the soundtrack afterwards