Uh, you do realize Korra spent upwards of ten years training with water, earth and fire before she was fully qualified in their use?
^ Yeah, but I think the review's author is referring to when Korra is shown at a very young age, bending the three elements incredibly well.
She was a child prodigy, that's all. She was able to bend earth and fire from a young age because she's incredibly gifted at the physical side of bending (c.f. her instantaneous absorption of Bolin's combo) and because her personality already fit both elements very well, but she's abysmal at the spiritual aspect of being the Avatar and airbending is all but completely out of the question. It balances out.
It just seemed odd that it clashed so heavily with the development of the previous Avatars' skills. There was no explanation, just a cute little kid that could bend three elements at a young age when the previous ones couldn't bend another element until at least the age of 12.
"I'm an illusion of your youth, a manifestation of the feelings in your adolescent heart." - Haruko Haruhara
You guys realize there's a difference between being taught or aware of the elements and just being gifted for the sake's for it. You're not taking into each of their unique situations in mind. After the 100 year war it makes since the next author is sought out and trained as soon as possible. As far as we know nothing like the Fire Nation world conquering thing happened before and that being so soon after the whole Chin the Conqueror thing the hero side decided to be a bit more vigilant. Besides, are we not forgetting she is inherited the knowledge/experience of her past incarnations or however it was put in the show?
That and they realized that we would appreciate not just rehashing an element plot so I'll give them a little bit leeway on how it was done in this series.
Good review, though I kind of wonder if its too early to review this show
Wow. The show hasn't even premiered yet and there's already a review. But that aside, your review is very honest (though I don't 100% agree with it).
Pretty spot on review. I think that so far, this is turning out to be as good as the original.
It makes a lot of sense that she would be bending or trying to bend other elements. At this time the world knows that the next Avatar would be born in a Water Tribe, why wouldn't the confident little toddler try her hand at bending other elements. Besides you forget that Aang himself was a child prodigy becoming a master Airbender at age 12. He never bent other elements because it never occurred to him that he would be the Avatar, he's shocked and in denial of the fact when he does find out. Also remember when he tries his hand at Waterbending, and then Firebending when he was learning from Jeoung Jeoung, he was more or less a natural.
The Avatar Cycle has been going on for thousands of years, with hundreds or even thousands of Avatars who have existed over the course of time. Of those Avatars, we have only been made aware of a small handful. Does it really seem so odd that an Avatar will discover their powers and start bending BEFORE they are aware of being the Avatar?
The Avatar doesn't become the Avatar when they are first informed of it. They become the Avatar at birth, so it isn't entirely inconceivable that an Avatar who has become aware of their heritage before they're traditionally informed would be able to bend all four of the elements. They wouldn't be any good at the elements they don't have training in, but they'd still be able to bend them.
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Great start to the new series!
I actually didn't have high expectations for a sequel series to Avatar The Last Airbender, but by the time that the two released episodes, "Welcome to Republic City" and "A Leaf in the Wind" ended, I was hooked and chomping at the bit for more. The animation is gorgeous, the character designs are great, and the pacing is fierce.
Judging by what has been released so far, it appears that there will be more of a focus on the characters and less on the plot, which I'm looking forward to watching. One of the flaws of the original series (in my opinion) was that sometimes the characters would feel more like plot devices than actual people. In this series, the personalities seem to be coming out full-force with the plot slowly building around them.
That said, I'm not a huge fan of Korra's character yet. My main issue with her (which I'm hoping will be resolved in a future episode) is that at the age of five or six, whenever the Order of the White Lotus came to visit her and her family, she was already a phenomenal bender of three out of the four elements. The two Avatars that came before her, Roku and Aang, both had to learn their elements one by one, and it took quite a bit of time. Roku didn't begin to learn anything but firebending until he was declared the Avatar at 16, and the entirety of the previous series documented Aang's training in water, earth, and firebending. Korra figured out (or was told by someone other than the Order of the White Lotus) that she was the Avatar at an extremely young age, and as far as we know, taught herself three out of the four elements. This deviates sharply from what has previously been shown in the Avatar-verse, and I hope that it is explained later on in the series.
The humor in this series so far has been as sharp as the first, with both subtle and loud jokes. The sparkling bush and Korra scratching an itch during meditation are two that stand out. There are far more hilarious moments, but it's impossible to list them all.
There have already been plenty of Mythology Gag moments, such as a mention of Zuko's mother, Korra striking some aangsty poses, and a merchant that could very well be a descendent of the Cabbage Man.
Oh, and there's a metalbending police force led by Chief Lin Bei Fong which is AMAZING.
I'm looking forward to seeing where this series goes.