Bonsai Empire vs Bonsai U

[pandacular]

I'm going to take a break from my Mirai Live sub and try something new. I see the Bonsai Empire courses featuring Bjorn recommended on here quite a lot, and I'm considering the intermediate ones. I'm also interested in Bjorn's subscription service, which I hear people like, though perhaps find the amount of content to be not near what Mirai Live has.

My main frustration with Mirai Live is that it seems challenging for beginners--not that I hate a challenge!--especially in terms of collecting information into a consistent system. This seems to be one of the appeals of the Bonsai Empire courses. I think I have gone through almost all of the more straight-forward "tutorial" type videos, as opposed to the streams, which tend to be more about following what the trees need. I also really appreciate that you get lifetime access to them, compared to the subscription models.

Would love to hear from people who have tried both, especially if you also have experience with Mirai Live.

 

[pandacular]

I went ahead and purchased the Bonsai Empire course, and I must say I'm quite impressed. Compared to Mirai Live, it is much more directed and MUCH more dense with information. I understand and respect Neil's teaching style, but Bjorholm is far less afraid to say "this is how this technique is done". If you ask Ryan how to fertilize, he will likely tell you that it needs to be tailored to needs of the tree; Bjorn will just write you a recipe.

Last night, I was taking notes on one of the videos and had to rewind many sections 3 or 4 times to get everything that I felt was key.

Both styles have their place, but consider me rather impressed with this course, and I'm only about an hour in.

 

[Deleted member 32750]

You should still consider Bonsai U. I started my bonsai journey with the bonsai empire courses by Bjorn and Bonsai-U back when it was free on youtube, and then became one of the inaugural members when he switched over to the subscription model.

Bonsai-U has great, fun to watch content and the platform is a great group of bonsai enthusiasts from all over the world.

 

[pandacular]

I certainly will consider It. I have a Mirai Live sub active for about another month, but perhaps after that. I think I'll likely alternate between the two when I'm feeling like binging bonsai content.

 

[snowman04]

I really enjoy Bjorn's enthusiasm for what he does. Looking at a subscription as well. Anxious to see what you think...

 

[Deleted member 32750]

I certainly will consider It. I have a Mirai Live sub active for about another month, but perhaps after that. I think I'll likely alternate between the two when I'm feeling like binging bonsai content.

I have both at the moment, but I hardly watch Mirai content for various reasons.

Check out all the free bonsai U videos on YouTube for a taste of what to expect.
There are also live q&as every other week and periodically there are pre recorded q&as where you can get specific advice on your trees by photo submission.

 

[reza]

I went ahead and purchased the Bonsai Empire course, and I must say I'm quite impressed. Compared to Mirai Live, it is much more directed and MUCH more dense with information. I understand and respect Neil's teaching style, but Bjorholm is far less afraid to say "this is how this technique is done". If you ask Ryan how to fertilize, he will likely tell you that it needs to be tailored to needs of the tree; Bjorn will just write you a recipe.

Last night, I was taking notes on one of the videos and had to rewind many sections 3 or 4 times to get everything that I felt was key.

Both styles have their place, but consider me rather impressed with this course, and I'm only about an hour in.

Hello, pandacular, I'm rezamokhtary from Iran and I love bonsai as you but we don't have visa and master card because we are in Iran so I want to ask you can I have the empire bonsai course too please? Thanks alot

 

[pandacular]

I finished this course over the weekend. Overall, I liked it, but found it still rather surface level. It was also disappointing that the individual species videos tended to have a great deal of repeat content (though I guess this is just a result of organizing by species without having much it an overall care section) and had relatively little in terms of species specific care, outside of timing.

I think I'll check out the next in the series as that appears to more thoroughly discuss application of techniques, and is about twice as long!

I also really found the music disruptive at times, and the need to enable subtitles on every single video to be annoying. But the subtitles were good and are a boon to non-English speakers.

 

[reza]

I finished this course over the weekend. Overall, I liked it, but found it still rather surface level. It was also disappointing that the individual species videos tended to have a great deal of repeat content (though I guess this is just a result of organizing by species without having much it an overall care section) and had relatively little in terms of species specific care, outside of timing.

I think I'll check out the next in the series as that appears to more thoroughly discuss application of techniques, and is about twice as long!

I also really found the music disruptive at times, and the need to enable subtitles on every single video to be annoying. But the subtitles were good and are a boon to non-English speakers.

Thanks for your reply, can I ask you to send the movie of the course to me in telegram? Please

 

[pandacular]

Thanks for your reply, can I ask you to send the movie of the course to me in telegram? Please

sorry, no

 

[Gabler]

Thanks for your reply, can I ask you to send the movie of the course to me in telegram? Please

Why would you announce your intent to violate federal law on a public forum?

 

[roberthu]

If you ask Ryan how to fertilize, he will likely tell you that it needs to be tailored to needs of the tree; Bjorn will just write you a recipe.

And this is exactly I am sticking with Mirai after trying out Bonsai-U. Different styles for different audiences for sure.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Thanks for your reply, can I ask you to send the movie of the course to me in telegram? Please

The course has streaming content, so there is no such thing as a movie. BUT Mirai offers many videos for free. For example, they have an entire beginner's course for free on YouTube:

 

[reza]

sorry, no

Ok, tank you

 

[badatusernames]

I enjoy Bonsai U especially for the Q&A these days. Watching shaping videos is great, but I think the Q&As really let you get a deeper understanding of some nuances that are missed in the regular videos.

I don't dislike Mirai, but I stopped watching because it's kind of a lot. I'll reup my sub here and there, but I'm not on weekly.

 

[Srt8madness]

Why would you announce your intent to violate federal law on a public forum?

Because 1. He's in Iran and probably doesn't give a shit about US federal law and 2. It's unlikely the feds are monitoring Bnut as a Hotspot for pirated content.

But most likely 1

 

[snowman04]

I finished this course over the weekend. Overall, I liked it, but found it still rather surface level. It was also disappointing that the individual species videos tended to have a great deal of repeat content (though I guess this is just a result of organizing by species without having much it an overall care section) and had relatively little in terms of species specific care, outside of timing.

I think I'll check out the next in the series as that appears to more thoroughly discuss application of techniques, and is about twice as long!

I also really found the music disruptive at times, and the need to enable subtitles on every single video to be annoying. But the subtitles were good and are a boon to non-English speakers.

This was for Bonsai Empire, correct?

 

[Gabler]

Because 1. He's in Iran and probably doesn't give a shit about US federal law and 2. It's unlikely the feds are monitoring Bnut as a Hotspot for pirated content.

But most likely 1

That would explain it.

 

[Clicio]

I have learned to respect Mirai and Ryan, but...
I like the Bonsai Empire way of teaching bonsai, and Bjorn has a great personality.

 

[pandacular]

I have learned to respect Mirai and Ryan, but...
I like the Bonsai Empire way of teaching bonsai, and Bjorn has a great personality.

I like both. Ryan Neil feels more like a professor, who expects you to do the legwork to understand what he's saying, while Bjorholm teaches much more like an art teacher, who wants to inspire you while making things straightforward and digestible. This is not to say anything about the caliber of their education, but just the presentation and style.

I think I'm preferring Bjorn more currently, particularly because I find his artistic style more accessible.