In a Time Before Time

I’ve been meaning to write about this for a long time now but I’ve always delayed it cause I have no idea what I’m going to say about it. Well, no holding me back now here it comes.

I’ve never really talked about my childhood interests on here, let alone anything that I still love now that I loved a decade ago. This is definitely the longest passion I’ve ever had: Bionicle.

My brother used to buy the action figures and we used to play with them every morning before school. We would come up with all sorts of stories as if we were creating a TV show, but in most of them it was the Toa that got their butts kicked by either the Bohrok or the Rahkshi. In spite of all that, the Toa were still my favourite.

All my life, many of my interests were introduced to me by my brother. I was a really girlie girl back then but I kept my masculine interests to myself. If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t be interested in any of these things I like now. It started around the time in elementary school. I was in third or second grade when my brother showed me Bionicle. At first I didn’t like guy things, nor did I like hanging with guys at the time but that slowly began to subside over the years when he told me that one of the Toa was female.

Her name is Gali, and since then she was my favourite hero. I idolized her. I still love her today in fact.
She is like the sister I never had and she is the one of the characters, along with the Powerpuff Girls (also another long time passion of mine which I may consider writing about later on) that gave me the belief that women should have stronger roles in movies and TV shows. You know, where they are fighting the forces of evil and stuff. I would often tag along with my brother to learn more about the characters. It was so interesting, honestly it was like being in another world for me back then. We were huge fans.

Then, when a movie was planned on being released: Mask of Light. I couldn’t wait to see it to find out what each Toa’s personality was. Also I wondered how they would fit into the animation. Turns out like most fans I believe, I was not disappointed. I was going to do two separate entries for both movies that I have seen (except Web of Shadows but I never caught that one in time so maybe just a brief summary will do for now.)

Mask of Light came at first and it was the generation of the franchise that I liked the most. I guess you could say I enjoyed that one a wee bit more than the second one: Legends of Metru Nui. One thing I really wished for back then was an animated series taking place during the time of Mata Nui. Now if that existed I would totally watch it.

The story I really liked, even though my favourite characters (The Toa) were not the main protagonists it was great to see them all animated. I did love Taqua and Jaller as well since they were like at times, funny and all. The Rahkshi and Makuta totally badass, I don’t know where to start but I loved it as a child and I’m so happy that I still love it now. I watched this movie again to reclaim my passion for the franchise when I was 18 years old and around the time starting my senior year in high school when I discovered that your feelings about it and choice of characters change as well. Ever since I saw the Toa in the movie my heart set focus on one of them.

Alright, this was hard for me to reveal at first because I thought that I was also starting to really like Onua and Lewa when I was a child they were moving up to being favourites along with Gali. But now, things have changed. I still love those three but now I’ve got a thing for Tahu, it’s hard for others to understand really, it is. I think he just moved up to my new favourite. He beat Gali! Seriously, this thing I have for him now, I don’t know how it came to be except for when I saw him in the movie he was totally fierce and I liked that. But I didn’t realize it until I was older. Scott McNeil was the perfect choice to do his voice, honestly, just perfect. I can’t imagine anyone else doing it. But when it comes to fictional characters I have a soft spot not only for ones that are great leaders (eg. Rtas ‘Vadum and Optimus Prime) but also a soft spot for characters that have a fiery personality. Okay…..yeah I like him now, you could say that.

I thought it was decent. By the end of the movie I realized that the events in it took place before Mask of Light. I was quite surprised because Metru Nui looks so futuristic once you see it compared to Mata Nui. But the two things I absolutely loved about this movie was the personalities of some of the Toa and Makuta’s new look, with those wings and all. Simply, awesome.

It’s a shame the battle between him and Vakama did not last but at least I got to see him action long enough to be like “Wow, that’s epic!” The thing is about these two Bionicle movies is that they are amazing but not very long, it can go by so quickly and if you like a character that doesn’t have a very big role that may not be enough for you either. Hence, that is why I wish there was an animated series of this, preferably Mata Nui since that was my favourite. Maybe something like the Toa Nuva vs. Makuta’s minions like the Bohrok, the Rahkshi and all his other underlings. Makuta has a plot to take over the island and this could be after he’s put the Great Spirit into slumber and the Toa battle his minions while figuring out a way to awaken Mata Nui. It could be like, a prequel to the Mask of Light movie. What do you think?

So that’s one of my childhood passions in a nutshell that I still love today. Got a few of the figures in my room right now. I never outgrew the franchise and that makes me happy to realize that. I think I did a couple of weird things as a fan of Bionicle though so I think it’s time I confess. I used to imagine Tahu and Gali as a couple…that was only temporary though, as soon as I realized how different they were in terms of personality and due to the fact that all six Toa were together like brothers and sister, that fantasy immediately disappeared.

However, I still fantasize about going to Mata Nui sometimes. Like, arriving on the shores of the island and exploring until someone notices me. I hope they don’t mind humans! One person I know from college didn’t seem to find it fitting to have a human visit the island but I did, I think it would be pretty interesting. Finally, this is the most embarrassing part and the most recent. I wrote a song for Tahu, it’s a love one yes…based off a story one of my friends is writing, where my character (who is basically well….me) has feelings for him and she wants to be more than his friend. But then, it also relates to the fact that I like him now! My best friend teases me about him when I wear anything red or drink cranberry juice. Weird right? Yeah I think so!

👽Emily