Reviews WesternAnimation / The Legend Of Korra

I agree with this review 100%.

"is canonically bisexual"

I'll get even more scrutiny by saying this is actually debatable.

Do agree with the review though.

[Comment was rude and has been hidden by moderator - Septimus Heap]

^

I think you're making more assumptions about the author's intentions than actually reading his/her review.

Or you accidently posted on the wrong review.

I really super duper disagree with this. And I think I can even provide pretty sound reasoning behind it.

-Korra's whole personality arc was learning to be less headstrong, more compassionate, kinder and less willing to resort to violence. How can she have been designed just to be a 'strong female character' if most of those traits were what she spent the seasons learning to undo?

I can also accurately describe Korra as a person and her progression over the seasons without resorting to define her as 'opposed to something'. And it links together and makes sense. I just rewatched season 1 after the finale and you there's an immediate and obvious change in her personality. She acts and looks a _lot_ younger in season 1. Which makes sense because she was a teen experiencing the world for the first time.

Even on an individual arc, how does spending the entirety of the last season showing Korra struggling to cope with suffering and slowly overcoming her PTSD link into your characterisations of her characterisation (:P)?

I'm pretty sure I can point to almost any show that broke the mould in having a female lead, or a non-hetero lead and you can find tons of the same critisms levelled at the show. It's an easy target if you don't like whatever it is because the show is breaking away from the norm.

That sounds more inflammatory than I mean. What I'm trying to say is, you probably didn't like her characterisation for some other reason. You noted you didn't like it and you looked for a reason and this came up just because it's a really obvious thing that makes it stand out from other shows. But I honestly believe if you looked at it a little more detached you'd realise Korra has her own and very well defined character. The reason you disliked it must be elsewhere

@Shimegi

Using terms like "hater' and 'imbecile' are complete non-starters for arguments and just convey to me that you're a fanboy/girl who doesn't like it when people say mean things about the show they like, without any sort of logical counter to those arguments. Then, rather than soundly explain how Korra properly develops its ideas (it doesn't) or why I should consider Korra a good character (she isn't) you resort to name-calling and insults.

Ignoring the name-calling/insults, the issue might be more along the lines of you (Beatman1) simply don't consider a Hot-blooded impulsive type a good character on principle, right? And if can't admit that any type of that character could ever be good first, then there's no way any reasoning will sway you

Properly developing it's ideas though can be explained, at length - it wasn't perfectly done at any point, but it still had many good points imo. I don't have the full time to do so right now, but perhaps others will in my place

Also, 'may keep it's creators from ever working in television again'? A bit harsh maybe? And even ignoring that, they made one (if not two) of the most interesting shows on Nick - in fact, in the most recent 'Most Reblogged TV: Animated Tumblr blog 2014', Legend of Korra was in 1st place (ahead of A:TLA in 3rd, and fricking Spongebob (Nick's favored 'child') in 6th)

That tells me they aren't really going anyway - may take awhile for new ideas, but certainly isn't an end of their career imo

@Omegafire17 - The problem with Avatar is not so much the ideas in and of themselves, it's how they're developed and elaborated on. It's the problem with Crash TV style writing. You throw plotline after plotline into such a limited timeframe that not only is the audience incapable of processing them, the show itself is incapable of giving each plotline the attention it deserves. Some of these ideas could have, with the right amount of elaboration, been interesting topics of discussion, but the rate they were blown through left them extremely unsatisfying.

As for Korra as a TV show, while being reblogged is great, this is a show that had a very public Troubled Production, no toyline (although considering that the creators of the show trolled Mattel when asked to make more toy friendly designs, toy companies can hardly be faulted), hardly any merchandise to speak of, and after a strong start, ratings and ad revenue plummeted to the point where Nick threw it online just to hurry and wash their hands of it. Coupled with what may not have been a favorable reaction from the network at the ending and I don't see them getting work in television again.

Debatable, as far as unsatisfying; some of us still enjoyed it as it was, even as it could have been done better. And also, the fact that Legend of Korra's audience reactions were far more favorable to the show than the network executives is telling imo

@Beatman1: The reason Korra got low ratings after Book 1 is because Nick put Korra, which at the time of Book 1 was arguably their flagship show with really high ratings, in the Friday Night Death Slot. That's pretty much the only reason. Nick fucked up, not Korra or Mike and Bryan. Even if the network doesn't respond well to the ending, that's their fault more than Mike and Bryan's. Still don't see why this means Mike and Bryan won't get tv work ever again— seems you're kind of assuming too much.

Also, disagree with most of your review. Even if you don't think Korra's a good story, there are thousands of people out there that do.

@higherbrainpattern - And there are thousands who don't, who dropped the series, wrote negative reviews, etc. Opinions are just that, but I believe my reasoning sound.

I don't though. I've challenged your reasoning and I'd be interested in you at least justifying how Korra's various character arcs can be thought of as "just a reaction to what she isn't"

The character herself is brash, confrontation, and more often than not, it feels like her arcs and dialog are mouthpieces for what the creators see as issues with female protagonists. Look, it's lovely that you want to make more nuanced females, but having Korra lecture us about how she needs to do it does not make her endearing. The character is bluntly put, badly written.

Dude. Her whole arc is about becoming less brash and confrontational. As I already pointed out.

To pick another example out of the hat:

How is her season 4 arc of learning to cope with trauma a mouthpiece for issues with female protagonists?

How is her season 2 arc about learning to get in touch with her spiritual side a mouthpiece for issues with female protagonists?

You can't just say something and make it true. Defend your points if they're rational instead of just restating your opinions again.

The season 2 arc was extremely poorly written for starters, and it seems to do nothing but to reinforce Korra as a morally absolute authority. After the spirits in the past were shown to be antagonistic towards humans and her actions nearly causing a literal apocalypse, No, Korra is right by default. It infuriated me, and her little rant at the start of Season 3 after respecting her authori-tah only served to make me hate her as a protagonist more. In fact, I'd argue she became MORE confrontational and demanding with her authority.

Season 4's arc was another example. "Oh, Kuvira gave me a speech about mommy issues, I know she's not that bad" when she's just as bad as Haman Karn was. It's that sort of underserved absolute authority that made me dislike the character so much. It comes off as an ovverreaction to how women are treated in other shows, where if they are overly aggressive it's treated as wrong (when the overagressive actions would be treated as wrong regardless of the gender of the person exhibiting it)

Considering the fact that she's the Avatar, based off a God in Human Form guise thing, she basically IS an authority; that is not in question. But that doesn't make her morally absolute, because she's still a normal person given to right and wrong decisions, which includes reactions by other people. Right before Amon was exposed as a fraud, there was brief talk of her being an evil Avatar, to say nothing of the sheer backlash the sudden change of Season 2's finale did before it settled down over the years. So, she doesn't see herself as absolutely right, and no one else does either, not even those who know her best (or not at all)

Plus, actually spirits weren't all that bad 10,000 years ago; a combination of Vaatu's evil energy corrupting them and human's fear toward what they don't understand led them to the lion turtles, and from then on, they attacked any spirits they saw no matter what (with the spirits merely defending themselves overall) - this included traps and quite possibly eating them, as we saw Wan put a stop to in Beginnings. So by themselves, they're all not that bad, and thus Korra's opening the spirit portals isn't a stupid decision. A big one, yes, and possibly not the best one, but not factually wrong on principle to everyone.

Okay, Beatman I'm going to safely assume you do not have a rational reason now because this yet again you've dodged answering _any_ of my challenges and yet again just replaced it with an opinion. It's absolutely fine to have the opinion that Korra isn't a good character, but if you won't even answer the most basic points then you can't go around calling it rational.

Just to repeat I asked: How does it fit in with Korra's whole character arc being about learning to be less brash and headstrong How does it fit in with Korra's season two character arc about learning to balance her spiritual side How does it fit in with Korra's season four arc about dealing with trauma.

In response you Ignored the first point (again) Started off with 'badly written' for the second which had nothing to do with it. But I'll grant you that the moral authority thing was relevant, although I very much disagree with it, and I'll point out that Korra didn't know what to do at the start of the season, so she was not shown as someone whose always right about everything. (And as omegafire pointed out, the whole deal with the Avatar is that they're a moral authority)

And for the third, you completely ignored the idea of Korra's arc being about dealing with trauma, which just makes it look like you didn't even watch the show. They had episode after episode about it, and it crippled Korra to the point where she couldn't even win a fight for half the season.

And instead you replaced it with some half-baked complaint about one line in the finale and said "that was Korra's arc", which is ridiculous and even if it wasn't ridiculous, people can have two arcs in a season you know.

Can you see how that's not a rational response? You haven't defended your opinion at all, you've just dodged the question and outright ignored all the examples of Korra's character not just being a response to stuff the writers don't like

@Tomwithnonumbers

If I may interject on Beatman's behalf, his/her "poorly written" complaint isn't about whether or not Korra "had" a character arc but how the character arc was written.

Really the problem lies in each book being a stand alone story wherein the solutions are taken care of off screen. The story only focuses on Korra's role in handling the problems.

1. Equalists 2. Spirit Portals 3. Red Lotus 4. Rebuilding the Earth Kingdom/Republic/Nation/Empire and Republic City

With the 4th season you can almost justify it, but it illustrates a consistent problem with the show. If you aren't relevant to Korra then you don't really matter.

The Avatar's role as a moral authority is dubious as well. What makes the Avatar a moral authority? Previously you could argue that it is the collective wisdom of the past, coupled with the circumstances and foresight of the present, but Korra lost her past lives when she made her first big "authority" decision to leave the portals open. Is it Raava who is the big authority? She seems to be fairly absent until book 4, and even then she's more or less passive in her "advice".

I would say Korra's authority is really centered on "might makes right" in both books 2 and 4, above any actual wisdom. She really just happened to make the "Korrect" decision in every case (at least as far as the viewer is concerned). This is really the problem with "strong female characters" vs "strong characters who are female".

But I have given you a response. You just disagree with my criticisms of the character so much that you don't want to accept that people don't like her. Like I said with the second season, she was portrayed as being noble and heroic for possibly causing massive unnecessary geological upheaval when there was no good reason to and then yelling at the President of the United Republic for calling her out on it. Now you can chalk this up to bad writing as opposed to an inherent fault in the character, as a lot of people tend to argue that Season 2 was the worst season of the show. The problem is that what she did was portrayed as a good thing when we were shown every reason why it wouldn't be.

I don't like her because the PTSD thing, it feels like it was written as being subversive of the traditional hero just for the sake of being subversive. Not to mention that Phantom Korra or whatever that was just vanishes without any sort of resolution. Was it a hallucination or something deeper? We're never told, and all the parts with the phantom suddenly become massive non-sequitors. That's what I mean about the character arcs. It felt like Mike and Bryan were going "We don't like Archetype X, let's make an arc in Korra that subverts it."

it feels like it was written as being subversive of the traditional hero just for the sake of being subversive

That... doesn't really mean anything. That just sounds like a way of dismissing a character arc without pointing out anything that's actually wrong with it from a thematic or structural standpoint.

You don't like her because of the PTSD thing? That's... quite simply, the most realistic aspect about the whole things she's suffered through (and in fact, IS how we'd all go through it in real life; returning war veterans are what it was named after) That's simply a case of Reality Ensues

So you not like that trope or it's usage?

Also, even as a sideliner, I have to agree that you haven't actually given a response (so far as answering basic points), bur rather a response furthering your opinion, and the perceived one that we can't accept that people don't like her. Your opinion is fine, because you don't like Korra even as some of us do for different reasons, because that's just how it is.

I don't like the execution. It's like 3/4ths of the ideas on the show, where the concept could be fascinating, but the execution leaves an incredible amount to be desires (such as what was up with the Phantom Korra?)

It would have been a bit hokey if Korra's problems were just being caused by an evil spirit or something. It's not about practical things, it's about how she's feeling about herself. I think it was pretty brilliant. Think of all the shows that would have had her get better in one episode, all the shows where she would have someone say something wise to her and then recover. It would have been so easy to have a montage of Korra trying harder. It would have been easier to have her have her moment of realisation and be fixed from then on.

Korra did none of that, she was still struggling with it up until episode 9. People gave her their words of wisdom, but none of it helped, but Korra worked hard to appreciate that it still meant they cared for her and wanted to help. She blames herself for not trying hard enough, but even when she goes full out montage, it still doesn't fix her and that makes her feel frustrated and broken.

It was one of the few times a character runs away and it's easy to see why. To have everyone staring at her and expecting her to be able to do something, but to feel too weak and vulnerable to doing it.

Instead she takes her time and learns how to get through it and accept the fears inside of her and let her mend. And still she isn't fixed, but she knows she's getting better and she's more able to wait.

"It would have been easier to have her have her moment of realization and be fixed from then on."

I'm sorry, but that's exactly what her conversation with Zaheer was? Putting it later in the story count doesn't make it less of a magic bullet, just one that took them more time to use.

It's one thing to not like the execution, but it's another to think the show is no good/the ideas are terrible just because you think one aspect of it is lacking - at least imo

That wasn't what her conversation with Zaheer was. She'd been healing for 9 episodes and without all that progress and work she'd made, she'd never have got better. People tried to give her the same revelations 4-5 episodes earlier and they failed. Look how much healthier she was and all the things she'd achieved between episode 1 and finally meeting Zaheer.

Zaheer was just the moment she could look back and say that she'd made it.

What makes the difference between that and a moment of realisation is the way it played out in TLOK, if she'd met Zaheer in episode 3, he could have said exactly the same stuff to her and it wouldn't have done anything.

@omegafire17 - I repeatedly said the concepts had potential, but were more often than not, poorly executed or underdeveloped to the point a lot of them were taking up screen time. When you have 5 plots, I'd rather cut 3 and do well than do all 5 poorly.

Which is your opinion, but mine is that being done 'not as great as could have been' is not points-deducting worthy; that's all

The problem is that, again, the ideas were executed badly. And that's always a pain to see - Good potential squandered.

And I still argue that Zaheer was the magic bullet because Korra was acting the same way throughout all the episodes, thought she was healed, saw Phantom Korra again, freaked out, and then finally saw Zaheer who healed her for good.

That they were done badly is your opinion, but not necessarily a fact.

And anyway, defying stereotypes is more a good thing imo - the folks at Nick pretty much said that guys wouldn't watch a show about a woman; Korra proved that wrong. That things like an outright terrorist act on a kids show was too dark, too complex, too whatever for them to appreciate... well, more-or-less, that's been proven wrong too. Hell, they've even gone and defied the No Bisexual trope on a kids show

If anything, they should be praised - and it doesn't all have to be about the storytelling, because there's more elements than just that

@Beatman but it's about frequency. She was still getting flashbacks, but they were coming further and further apart. At the start of the show she couldn't even walk and would barely talk to people.

Then she began to master walking but got her flashbacks with something as minor as trying to stop a couple of petty crooks with bending. She still couldn't talk to people she knew and she couldn't win a fight against some random Joe.

Then she enters the swamps and she begins to open up to people more and she feels like she's ready to bend again and we find she can. She rejoins her friends, is much more cheerful and successfully beats down some minor thugs. But she still gets flashbacks when in serious danger.

Then she's even able to fight under considerable duress, she's opened up to all her friends and for the most part she's happy and confident again. But the flashbacks aren't gone completely.

_Then_ she visits Zaheer and shakes off the flashbacks.

It means that characters like Kitarra, Toph and Zaheer were behaving more like counsellors/therapists rather than just saying "Have you tried being happy?" and suddenly she's happy.

It sounds stupid but that's how it normally works in like 99% of mainstream shows. Heck in the Legend of Korra it's basically what happens in the last episode of the first season.

@omegafire17 - The characterization is to be praised if it's done well. Now this may be an incredibly cynical way of viewing things, but part of me feels like they went and defied conventions for the sole point of doing so (which explains why I dislike Korra as a character so much) and felt like the fact that they defied the conventions in and of themselves would make their series critic proof, or at the very least, extremely critic resistant, when the actual substance isn't there. This goes back to my opinion about Korra being less of a character as she is a reaction against perceived taboos and stereotypes.

That's the part I struggle with though. With the level of detail that goes into Korra's character arcs can you really fairly say that they lack substance?

I feel like it's more, you had a bad initial impression of Korra because she was initially loud and brash. And that's where you got the idea that she was just a reaction against stereotypes. And then as she changed, you still didn't like the character she was changing into, so you assumed your initial assumption was correct. And then the very end of the series reinforced the idea to you.

Because Korra is very 4-dimensional as a character. At any time she's very human and 3-D and over the course of time she changes like a person does. She even speaks differently in Book 4 to how she speaks in Book 1.

I can understand you disliking Korra but I just can't agree with the idea that she was just a reaction to stereotypes with out a lot of substance and character of her own.

Think about it this way, if she lacks substance as a character, then why do so many people love her character? What is it that's attracting people like me?

I think there must some other reason why people (like yourself) dislike her as a character.

@Tomwithnonumbers

"I think there must some other reason why people (like yourself) dislike her as a character."

I think you (and people like you) are being disingenuous. Korra has been receiving similar criticism since the since the first seasons. To suggest it's "something else" frankly is reaching. What exactly do you think this "other reason" is?

Well now you're at it again =D I can equally respond you (and people like you) are being disingenuous because Korra has been receiving praise for her characterisation and storytelling since season one. To suggest it's just a 'reaction to stereotypes' is frankly reaching, what other reason do you think there is for people like me and including me thinking she has a well developed character with strong story arcs?

Every single time in this thread, we've had differing opinions. I have given reasons for my opinion and challenged the reasoning of yours.

Every single time, you've failed to respond to my challenge of your reasoning, restated your own opinion and suggested that resolved the matter in someway. This is not how you hold a discussion, it's not a good sign that you're reasoning is correct and well founded. "Just because" was a terrible reason and now you're saying "some other people said it too" which is a terrible reason.

Support your points! Or if you don't give evidence for your points, stop believing they're some infallible truth and accusing other people of "reaching" when they don't believe your infallible truth

Or maybe everyone would feel better if they calmed down?

Like I generally support your argument Tom, but at the same time I think everyone's getting way too worked up here, yourself included. Y'all need to let it go, get some fresh air and have some fun. I get how fans get in a time like this, but instead of the constant "[X] is mediocre and lame" vs "nah man [X] is pretty decent", I think everyone should step away for a bit, collect their thoughts and come back with a clear mind.

Give it a rest for a few days, all of you. Relax.

The aforementioned "time like this" being at the end of a show's run, for the record. Hectic time, especially when there's some sort of controversy or mass difference of opinion.

I can't speak for Beatman or shin, except for stating that none of us made an assumption about the fans of Lo K. Nor did anyone say that their "infallible" argument should apply to everyone. In fact, you and I are actually on the same page (according to your own review) in that we both realize that whether or not you like Korra will make or break whether or not you like her Legend. I'll admit when the Legend of Korra was good it was REALLY good (on par if not surpassing the previous series). However, for some of us it wasn't good enough to cover the bad points.

Here's my take on the entire series (since comments allow for more words than actual reviews for some reason). Like I said earlier, I enjoyed the Legend of Korra as a continuation of ATLA, as a collective story. However, Korra's story is meant to be her own rather than a continuation. As such, I wasn't interested or satisfied with Korra enough to accept that. Each book left on a loose end, an ignored plot point, that ended up being settled offscreen or not at all. I actually liked the 2nd book a lot more than the 1st when it ended, because I assumed that Korra finally had something to work towards, whereas the first book ended with Korra getting what she wanted.

Equalists had a point (settled offscreen, barely through Raiko's election) Spirit portals opened (settled offscreen in book 4 for republic city only) Red Lotus still around (Ignored) Rebuild republic city and the Earth Kingdom/Empire (series is over)

Not to mention the past lives, Sokka's fate, Suki, what exactly was the phantom Korra, what exactly was the giant energy Korra, whats going on in The Fire Nation, etc. Explanations thus far have been made by fans rather than within the show itself. If Bryke answers these questions now it will be a violation of "Show don't tell". What has Korra done at this point to illustrate that she is a good Avatar? The only thing she has objectively demonstrated was that she is the most powerful Avatar. And her might makes her right. Through Korra's power (without Raava) was Vaatu defeated, through Korra's power she was able to withstand being poisoned, through Korra's power she was able to bend the energy and create a new spirit portal. Korra has gone through a detaled character arc, leading to her PTSD etc. but it was still settled fairly quickly and easily (and not quite explained).

Don't get me wrong, Korra should have been expected to be really powerful. However, in retrospect that has been the central theme of the series. Korra is a powerful Avatar, "you gotta deal with it!" But she is not necessarily a wise Avatar. Arguably Korra isn't really much different from Book 1 to Book 4, in that most of her decisions are presented as rational if not straight up correct. A lot of my opposition to Korra really is a matter of "Strawman has a point" to her opponents. Raiko, for example, is presented as an obstructive politician in Book 2 and 3 when his grievances toward Korra were fairly reasonable.

This review is correct that Korra is more about defying stereotypes than being her own character. Korra more of a strong female character rather than a strong character who is female. She is female, she is noticeably darker than her peers, her conversations generally pass the bechdel test, she saves the day without relying on her (largely male) past lives, and she's bisexual (or at least has romantic feelings for a woman regardless of attraction).

When I say that you're reaching I mean that when you make assumptions about other people's intentions. Not that your enjoyment of the show is reaching or wrong. I enjoy a lot of shows while I can still admit they are flawed. Avatar the Last Airbender had egregious flaws imo, it doesn't stop me from enjoying it. If someone tells me they don't like ATLA I don't assume their is another hidden reason why they don't like it. Even if I disagree with their reasoning. Can you do the same?

Son made most of the points I was going to, but I'm going to add a few more.

People tend to assume that a positive review means that you find the show infallible, or a negative one means you find it irredeemable. That is not the case. I've said repeatedly that there are concepts that I find very interesting, but the execution in numerous places was lacking. One-shot ideas that were never given any sort of follow-through (Bolin being a movie star and a celebrity? Wouldn't Kuvira try to exploit that for public relations? Oh, right, the show forgot it ever happened.) or reasoning for why they couldn't be used again (You know what would be really helpful against Kuvira's Jet Alone knockoff? A giant spirit Avatar that could fight it on even ground. But who knows where we can find one of those!") And that really hurts the world building and characterization.

Secondly, Tomwithnonumbers, I don't appreciate the loaded questions when I've said that the execution of the character is one that is extremely divisive. Furthermore, I REALLY don't appreciate the implications (ones that I think the show's creators were using at points) that if you don't like Korra, it means you are racist, sexist, or homophobic. I don't like her because, in much the way son said, she's more about defying stereotypes than being a character that exists in spite of them. You can't say a character like that doesn't care about stereotypes when the plot and characterization go out of their way on every possible occasion to address them, defy them, and insult anyone who thinks differently. It's blunt, and it's annoying to watch. She's never her own character because she's a slave to the stereotypes, only in a different way than before.

Bryan (http://bryankonietzko.tumblr.com/post/105916338157/korrasami-is-canon-you-can-celebrate-it-embrace) and Mike (http://mikedimartinostory.com/2014/12/22/korrasami-confirmed/) really don't seem to think they made a character who's purely about breaking the stereotypes imo

And in either case, I simply don't think that such a character is anywhere near insulting (or that Tom was implying it was such) - more than anything, it's refreshing

It's not refreshing (IMO), it's obnoxious. It's such an obvious anvil of a moral that it becomes less endearing and more infuriating.

Look, they made a character bisexual. That's fine. But in and of itself, that doesn't make her a good character. Put simply, if Asami was in fact, male, people would call the romance (or lack thereof) INCREDIBLY poorly written and poorly done. But because it hits a sensitive topic, that makes it critic proof.

Critic proof? That was not at all what I meant; just that it's not as bad (I believe) as you're making it out

Some Anvils Need to Be Dropped.

Actually in my opinion, Korra and is a pretty good character...in the latter seasons...

She actually grew and developed throughout the course of Seasons 3 and 4 and I don't really have a problem with the relationship that was built up. It was a very subtle build up of their relationship and it was surprising to see them sneak something like that in here....even though they got away with a lot....and I mean A LOT for an action series.

Seasons 1 and 2 on the other hand...she was all over the place. Between the shitty love triangle, the poor handling of many characters, and just the sheer amount of wasted potential (Don't even get me started on that Deus Ex Machinas on the two endings of each season which overshadow the entire point of her Character Development). I liked the concept of her, I just didn't like the execution and the amount of ideas forced into the plot that just mess it all up.

So yeah I agree with this review about....a solid 50-70% ish. Because although I agree with your points, they did step up their game in Seasons 3 and 4 even if there are many glaring issues.

This review was flagged? For being negative? Because I like to think I get my points across without resorting to flaming or excess profanity.

Beatman1:

Join the club.

TL;DR - G Korra could have been great but it was choked by the weeds of poor writing and poor execution. On average it's just OK and probably would have been better served with a single overarching story/plot rather than the format they did choose.

I have to say, I agree with this review wholeheartedly. As an avid anime fan and watcher, A:TLA was the perfect blend of Eastern animation, traditions, martial arts and pseudo-mythology AND Western comedy, pacing, characters and voice-acting. It achieved a near-perfect balance between all the elements that make a great children's show and a wonderful heroic journey overall. It was fun to watch and I genuinely liked all of the characters: heroes and villains alike. That's why A:TLA had and continues to have such a diverse and devoted fanbase. I, along with thousands of other fans around the world, was overjoyed when I heard that A:TLA was getting a sequel.

I understood that there was probably a good deal of nostalgia tinting my recollection of the original series, so it might be best to temper my expectations for the sequel. Personally, I had no problems with our initial introduction to Korra: I believe her personality provided a clever counterpoint to what we saw of Aang. In fact, Korra was the very antithesis of Aang- impulsive, headstrong, assertive, aggressive and far away from spiritual. Yet none of these factors would necessarily make her a poor character or bad Avatar. Admittedly, a weak spiritual connection might be a hefty obstacle when you are tasked with being THE medium between the spiritual and mundane, but all of those only serve as points for progress and character development. Really, the premise of Korra was fertile ground to be mined for interesting ideas to be developed and explored by competent writing and execution.

Alas, that is EXACTLY where the Legend of Korra falls short. The show is rife with cool premises and interesting back-stories, but continually and persistently fails or refuses to properly explicate or resolve them. Granted, I was willing to forgive the 1st season for being somewhat rushed and not resolving some plot points to my satisfaction, but hey Bryke had no idea if they would even be given a 2nd season. "They were forced to truncate their story intended for a full show into 12 episodes. It's only natural that some loose ends should be left in the wind." That's what I reasoned anyway.

But then I had the dubious pleasure of watching the 2nd season. The unresolved issues of classism in season 1 which had Republic City pretty well split and bordering on armed rebellion were swept away with some comment about elections. Things that I thought they would take this new opportunity to correct by leaving behind in season 1, like romantic entanglements that only serve to weaken the relationships within Team Avatar, they instead, inexplicably, decided to double down on them. The only primary character that I could say I genuinely liked from Book Air, Bolin, was changed from a sensitive goofball that genuinely wishes the best for those close to him, into a conceited airhead that completely ignored the most important/rational person in his life until then. Really the best parts of season two were those that had nothing to do with the main cast: Kya, Bumi and of course Avatar Wan. Wan's story gave me hope that Korra would finally be more in tune with her spiritual nature and properly exploit the advantages access to hundreds of past Avatars gave her, but the show-writers neatly clipped that possibility by the end of the season.

IMO, Season 3 was the best of the bunch with the most interesting villains. It had a nice call back to A:TLA with Team Avatar traveling and working TOGETHER to defeat the baddies. All the romantic claptrap which was obviously beyond the writers' purview to convincingly write was left behind. Honestly though, I found it a bit hard to swallow that a teenage girl, Asami, would be so willing to become close friends with the girl that stole her boyfriend and the guy that broke her heart not once but TWICE. Anyway, my favorite season, Book Change gets 5 stars. I think in this season the writers finally managed to successfully translate their ideas into a completely entertaining show.

Season 4 had the potential to be as good as season 3. Korra's PTSD gave her somewhat headstrong and too sure of herself character some much needed development. However, the resolution of this plot point had too many false starts. There's a reason why we don't realistically depict the minutiae that goes into overcoming some great obstacle or developing mastery in fiction- it's boring as shit and you run the risk of killing your audience's emotional investment by playing the boy who cried wolf. Kuvira was awesome, reminding a great deal of Azula with her cool and calculating demeanor, but once again, limited screen time left her character feeling very 1 dimensional by the end and her 1-minute of "I'm so broken" was far from convincing. Really there were several instances where I couldn't understand the character motivation for their actions but by this point I'd already decided this show doesn't hold up to scrutiny very well.

P.S. Full disclosure: I'm Black, so points for me. But I'm also male, so negative points for me. I guess it balances.

@Reality Ensues; I agree with a lot of what you're saying but I don't agree with the original review.

I think Korra has a clear character and insecurities actually develop and shift over the seasons; Book I & II, she's overconfident and everything in life has been easy for her and she has to slowly learn patience, to accept limitations and understand where she needs growth.

As she develops more there and grows, she also starts to meet challenges that she can't solve and suffer major betrayals; suddenly having to deal with this becomes a major thread in Book IV and is why Kuvira is an awesome foil for her.

Book II was the worst of the bunch, basically ignoring everything Book I did for Korra. I didn't like Vaatu or Raava basically playing Good spirit v. Evil Spirit, it sort of spat in the face of the more nuanced theology that they had going. I had mixed feelings about Wan but I agree; if they did more with him later? I definitely could have looked back and loved it.

Personally though, I found Book IV more compelling than Book III; not a lot about the Red Lotus is ever really revealed. Zahir's motivation struck me as "I'm an anarchist, lol. Let's kill people and watch the chaos" rather than you know, actually try to set up positive change or some alternative to these governments (like more real life anarchists), they were a weak Evil Counter Part to the White Lotus group who controlled everything behind the scenes. Hell, if they /just/ targetted the White Lotus and governments they judged corrupt? That'd be a lot more interesting.

Kuvira on the otherhand? She saw a pretty chaotic period, Earth Kingdom basically collapsed and everywhere broke off. She had to pull everything together herself and take charge. Her motivation made more sense to me. YMMV but she seemed like a pretty good foil to Korra as both had been powerless when shit went down but recovered in different ways; Kuvira by trying to take charge so it never happened again and Korra through personal growth and learning to accept her failures.

Very wise observation, Beatman! I actually agree with you 110%

@higherbrainpattern Just to add one little addendum, no, they don't. In fact, when a show becomes more about the messages (which Korra is a vehicle to deliver, rather than any character of her own) than any sort of story, then you have failed as a storyteller.

Yes, they do. You complain about being called sexist, racist and homophobic, but your criticism of Korra's stereotype-defying being "obnoxious" is indistinguishable from any other complaint about representation in the media. I've read countless stories about how much seeing someone like Korra as the main character meant to people, that it made them feels better about who they were or come to terms with who they were, because she's like them but they're never seen a character like her. But yeah, sorry you were annoyed. That must be hard.

" I've read countless stories about how much seeing someone like Korra as the main character meant to people, that it made them feels better about who they were or come to terms with who they were, because she's like them but they're never seen a character like her."

Which is why it's even more of a shame she's so poorly written. Or that she doesn't have a character outside of stereotype addressing. It's bad writing. I mean, they couldn't (admittedly due to S&P) even explore what Korra and Asami's relationship would do, or if they would stay together, and how others would react to it. That could be downright fascinating material, but nope, slap it on, say "If you don't like this you're a homophobe" and call it a day. That's what I mean by using it as a sort of critic-proofing.

You are really damn vague. You keep complaining about bad execution of ideas without stating which, and that Korra's character is just bad writing, while providing no detail. What is the anvil of a moral which annoys you? You say that inclusion of Korra and Asami's relationship was thrown in for no other reason than to defy convention and was a gimmick, but apparently now you think it would have been fascinating to explore? You complained that she's just a mouthpiece for the creators. Name an episode and a scene. And you keep saying she's just the opposite of various stereotype and nothing else, without stating which stereotypes she defies. Her character sheet goes into detail about who she is and why, that's the entire point of this site. How is being subversive distinguishable from simply trying to create something new and different?

What point are you trying to make, exactly? That we should agree with you because you got called a name? I'll give you the benefit of the doubt, I don't have any evidence to think you're a scumbag. But your complaints are the exactly the same nebulous, dismissive nonsense usually thrown against works starring characters other than straight-white-male #3948.

My point is that you can't use hot button topics to cover for fundamental flaws in characterization and plot. That's pretty much the short version of it.

You're really making my point for me about how vague you are about everything.

Problems with the characterization and plot have already been listed by multiple people on this thread alone.

Some people like it, some people don't.

Though, I could accuse fans of bigotry for accepting a mediocre/insulting story and characterization for a minority character. Like saying, "be happy black people are even included" when complaining about anime and old cartoon depictions of black people.

I want Beatman's opinions, he's provided almost no explanation for his views even after I called on several specific points to address. He's just been letting other people fill in the gaps for him, primarily you, son. And you're giving him way too much credit.

him: "She also has no real character outside of being the opposite of what the stereotypes that the creators of the show want to attack are."

you: "If I may interject on Beatman's behalf, his/her "poorly written" complaint isn't about whether or not Korra "had" a character arc but how the character arc was written."

Alright, enough of the accusatory tone. Yes, I am attacking the way that the concepts were executed, not the concepts in and of themselves. I have said, REPEATEDLY as a matter of fact in the earlier comments, that the ideas presented could be fascinating, if given proper writing and development, and instead they were used as gimmicks or tossed aside like a toy that the owner got bored with. I've mentioned tons of plot points that got tossed aside (Phantom Korra and the general handling of her PSTD, rather than come off as genuine recovery, was pretty much "We need to find the magic bullet, and a talk with Zaheer was just that", Bolin's instantly forgotten celebrity, the bender and non-bender society that seemed to get along just fine, and yes, Korra and Asami suddenly being together with only the tiniest bit of foreshadowing). In other cases, they were resolved far too cleanly (Kuvira suddenly confessing in the last 10 minutes of the show) or suffered a serious case of Protagonist-Centered Morality (the spirits being complete assholes and never being called out on it).

At the end of the day, it's about concepts. Now, you could develop the concept, make Korra transcend the mere stereotype, but the way it written just made her the opposition to said stereotype.

Why are you so angry? You just seem absolutely furious about this and I don't get why.

You're completely missing the point, just saying something was poorly executed or undeveloped without providing any details about what you didn't like or how it could have been improved. Just "this is bad, they should have done better". Real insightful. And when you finally provide examples, you're flat out wrong.

Plot point tossed aside? Most of book 4 was Korra dealing with PTSD. She spent nearly three years recovering, eventually becoming physically able again. Then she spent months trying to solve her problems on her own with no success. Then she found Toph, got some training, and completed her physical recovery by removing the last of the poison in her body. But while physically back to normal, spiritually, she was still in bad shape. Her confrontation with Zaheer was her finally accepting what happened and working through it, Dark Avatar Korra being a mental block preventing her from accessing her full power, which, her being the Avatar, can manifest itself in a very real way. It wasn't just "a talk with Zaheer", it was confronting her would-be murderer and then reliving the worst experience of her life. Does that address your complaints?

The bender-nonbender conflict was resolved rather quickly, but I'm not of the mindset that you need to show the main characters solving every problem. There are other people at work in this world. And although I'm not sure whether or not this was actually planned, it does feed back into Korra's major fear throughout the series: the world doesn't need her.

Bolin's celebrity status was repeatedly mention throughout books 3 and 4, by himself, his extended family, that couple at the oasis, and by Varrick.

I've already discussed Korra and Asami with you at length, and would gladly continue in my own review. May I introduce you to the Korra ship tease page?

That's not what Protagonist-Centered Morality is. If they were liked by Korra in spite of being unhelpful, then it would be an example. She doesn't really show any feelings towards them in the end.

Kuvira had that breakdown because she had finally reached her breaking point, and she didn't get off the hook. She's going to pay for what she's done. And the last-second confession is part of the point. She's done awful things and it doesn't matter what the reasons were.

WHICH STEREOTYPES?

You've stated that opinions are only opinions, but really, your problem is the reverse. You think that because something is an opinion, it cannot be wrong. Your claims are demonstrably false. Your reasoning is specious, when you elaborate on it at all. You ignore what happens in the show, or miss the point entirely. Legend of Korra has flaws, but they're not the ones you're claiming.

Ugh, I'm done arguing this. You keep trying to accuse me of not elaborating on my points, when I do, and then you say I don't. Whatever.

Stereotypes? Mike and Bryan (in an interview bashing Walking Dead of all things) said that they wanted Korra to be the opposite of what they saw most females to be in fiction, either a prize for a male lead, a sidekick, or a subordinate. Which is lovely. Because she's none of those things. But she isn't interesting either.

No, I said you hadn't elaborated, now you finally have, but your points are all still wrong. Did you even read my response?

And good, you finally stated which stereotypes Korra defied. You explained yourself. That, I can accept.

Personally disagree on one point. It's not that Korra lacks character, it's that too little was done to maximize what character she had. Too much time was spent focusing on trivial or irrelevant things, so what we saw of Korra is mostly what's on the surface.