oh please do delve deeper into why you think nya is not suited for romance (or at least the way she is written). I do think that jaya sometimes have cute scenes BUT Jay's desperateness ruined them for me. plus I feel like nya is not stupid. if she genuinely liked Jay she wouldn't have let a machine decide she is not compatible with him anymore which honestly makes me believe she just stopped liking him after s2.
Aight, letâs start this, shall we?
Iâm really trying here not to turn this into a âwhy I donât like ja/yaâ answer, but itâs going to be a wee bit difficult to do if I donât pull examples from that relationship. Iâm also going to try really hard not to throw bias in here since I love bruiseshipping, but I will need it at some points to compare and contrast my different points and thoughts to make things clearer/better.
First, I want to start by saying that Iâve run into many people who tell me and mutuals things like âWow, seriously? Youâre still thinking about that? That was in the past, you gotta move on!â or âLook at Skybound againâ. This is when I talk about both why ja/ya has been dragged on for so long and why Nya just doesnât fit right into the whole romance subplot.
Well, buddy, call it what you want, but you canât just base something off one point in time. Events like these carry over. Thatâs also what helps build relationships and gives them a stronger foundation.
i.e. How Jay and Cole, after making up during the Tournament of Elements, still continue to progress and develop their relationship. It actually got to the point where the characterâs chemistry feels natural and very casual, almost to the point where the characters could write themselves.
For instance, we all remember that love triangle, right? I know people use the excuse âNya is a teenager, sheâs just acting like oneâ whenever sheâs a b**ch or acts out very impulsively around Jay, but frankly, I think otherwise. Her character is really inconsistent throughout the series. Thereâs some moments when sheâs likable and you can get behind her, but other times when sheâs just straight up obnoxious.
Sheâs only nice to Jay whenever the plot calls for her relationship with him. Aka, ja/ya. When the plot doesnât, she can be really mean and it feels like a complete one-sided relationship, because she acts like she just doesnât care. And Jay loves and supports her like 24/7. (Also, ja/ya is really only developed one Jayâs end of the relationship? Very rarely or EVER Nyaâs. Whatâs with that?)
Hereâs where I point out how she contradicts herself in S3 and S6. Season 3, Rebooted, Nya lets a âmatch-maker machineâ decide for her who her perfect match is. And while she was already dating Jay at that time, she still went ahead anyways to give Cole a shot, just because a machine told her he was the one. Okay. Can I add that she never apologized to Jay for what she did? Like, never explicitly told him that she started the whole mess? That she was the one who cheated on him?
Also, remember in Season 4 when she was telling Wu, âJayâs funny and all but Cole, Coleâs not JayâŚâ (thanks to @afrenchfrypassingby for pointing this out to me)? So, what is Jay then? Or do you just have a very poor way with words?
Anyways, so, Season 6. I canât remember the last time I ever watched this season. Must have been like years ago, because I always skip it in my Ninjago rewatches. Still, I remember a lot of things from that season. Especially when Nya told Jay that âHey, when I first met you, I knew we were meant to be togetherâ.
Can we rewind Season 6 a bit more?
I actually liked her at the beginning of Season 6. Only the beginning.
She wanted to be more than just âthe girl ninjaâ, âKaiâs sisterâ, and âJayâs girlfriendâ. She wanted to find her own identity. And girl, I can 100% get behind that. Plus, she was basically forced to give up her Samurai X identity to become a water ninja. But then I donât know what the hell happened that made her decide at the end, âIâm Jayâs girlfriend againâ. And before anyone says anything about the lighthouse scene, etc. what she did in the end completely defeats everything she clearly wanted at the beginning of the season.
Follow up that Jay was a complete creep in that season. I know it gave him more development to his character and helped him to be more confident and have that âIf I want it, Iâll take itâ attitude, but the girl said âNoâ at the beginning and he was?? just?? so desperate to win her back and get the two of them back together? Ugh, thatâs not how you write relationships, folks. When someone says ânoâ, that doesnât mean âtry againâ.
Haha, my mind just did a flashback to that one line from Prime Empire when she told Jay she and him had chemistry. That was a lie. If anything, Nya and Ronin actually have more chemistry. And Jay and Cole have more chemistry.
I truly believe that from the beginning of this show, Nya was meant to be written as the âstrong, independent, female character that could take care of herselfâ. But the writerâs try way too hard when they write her character.
If Iâm being honest, Pixal actually shows that better. Not to mention Pixal can also be very feminine and still be a cool girl.
Strong female characters donât have to be buff, they donât have to want to be irritated by relationships or feeling like it pulls them down (not @ how Jay has said to Nya âI love youâ over a thousand times and never once has Nya said it back because she doesnât like showing affection because it distorts her image. When Zane and Pixal have said it to each other and show a very mutual, loving relationship), they donât have to dislike âgirlyâ things, and whatnot.
Strong female characters can be compassionate and kind. They can be badass and still care for other people. They can be in a relationship and still be powerful. They can show weakness and affection and emotion.
From the very beginning the writers pulled out the compulsive heterosexuality card and decided âOkay, we have one boy, one girl, letâs just put them together because yeahâ. And then they started doing that with everyone else. Kai and Skylor, Pixal and Zane (though, not going to lie, is the only well developed canonical Ninjago romance). What a shame, honestly, because Lloyd and Harumi actually could have been really well developed if it werenât for the whole âI want to kill you and bring back your dead fatherâ abusive relationship. And, I donât want to shame you for shipping Lloyd and Akita because I donât care if you do, but they really had to make her go and kiss Lloyd at the end of the season huh? I personally feel like it was more a âthank youâ kiss after some thought, but hah, you just canât leave a girl alone for one second, can you, writers? And oh my gosh that subtle look between Lloyd and Racer 7 at the end of Season 12?? I got so scared. WOW.
I went OFF. And I donât want to go any further because it will be so bitter and salty and I will rip her and everything about Ninjago canonical romances APART. But yeah!! This is all I will leave for you :)