In defense of Korrasami
This pairing is the only one I have EVER actually cared about. In fictional relationships, I’ve always seen them bogged down by endless stupidity. It’s always love triangles, or will-they-won’t-they bullshit, or it’s one-sided with stalker behavior getting involved, or they're star-crossed, or one can't work up the courage to talk to the other, or contrived miscommunication, or there’s cheating, or I flat out don’t like one or both of them. I hate the Love Makes You Stupid trope. I hate the subtle anti-intellectualism of treating it as a... Read More
Incredibly great in concept, sometimes lacking in execution.
Let me start by saying, I think this show has incredibly high highs and incredibly low lows. The decision to forgo filler is a bit of a double edged sword as well. Yes, the original show had a bit too much of it but this show needed a bit of breathing room. If you're going to not have filler, don't devote a lot of time to a dumb love triangle. However, they did learn from their mistakes and got better about managing time as the series wore on. I'm also of the opinion that production issues outside of Bryke's control dogged the show and they... Read More
Season 2- The Dark Knight Rises of the Avatar series
Well, season 2 has come and gone and I have a strange feeling of deja vu. I'm a huge fan of the series, I enjoyed it while it lasted, but once it was over, I felt a little disappointed and unsatisfied. And the more I think about it the more I start to notice the flaws. Ultimately, I have to say this was the weakest season of both shows. Yeah, it's The Dark Knight Rises, all over again.
Both this and TDKR tried to be bigger and more epic than their immediate (and better) predecessors. In TDKR the villain plot involved a nuke wiping out Gotham.... Read More
Worst. Season. Ever.
I review only Book 1 here.
It had potential. It could have preserved the legacy of its great predecessor. Instead, it ended up being the worst season ever. I can't believe that it was created by those responsible for Avatar: The Last Airbender.
Pros
In spite of its flaws, the season has a few redeeming qualities.
- The visual and music are more beautiful than those of its predecessor.
- Tenzin, Jinora and Lin Beifong are well-characterized. Tenzin is the Reasonable Authority Figure, Jinora is Wise Beyond Her Years, and Lin Beifong is always
It all comes down to the characters
Review of books 1 and 2. Slight spoilers.
Avatar: The Last Airbender is one of my favorite series of all time. This sequel is not a bad series by any means. It has good animation, great action scenes and a well-developed world. And yet is still disappoints me. Why?
Let's take a step back. Why was the original series so great? It certainly wasn't because of the story, which wasn't very original - it's every epic fantasy story you've ever heard of. The setting was more interesting, trading the standard European middle ages setting for an... Read More
Mediocre.
Not to say that Legend of Korra was necessarily a bad show. There's no such thing as bad shows. Just bad writers. And nowhere has it been more obvious than here.
The Legend of Korra is a shining monument that shall be shown to future generations as the epitome of lazy writing and wasted potential.
The main character, Korra is a complicated character, but very little attempt is made to display this fact for the first two seasons, during which violent and egocentric. She gets better in season 2 (better late than never I guess). Too bad the same... Read More
Unsatisfying, Unfocused, and Utterly Broken
Legend of Korra is a masterclass in how to have good ideas, and then utterly fail to execute all of them. Individual episodes might be amazing, but don't let it fool you. It goes nowhere. The series, taken as a whole, is a broken mess of inconsistent characterization and awful writing. The series features the worst ending. Of all time. You're better off being water boarded then watching this show.
A Great, though flawed, show.
In many ways The Legend of Korra is the Star Wars Prequels to The Legend of Aang's Original Star Wars Trilogy. There are some great elements, with well rounded characters and an engaging plot but at the same time there are some elements that just don't work. But in I don’t think it’s as bad as some fans make it out to be. However, with only 3,000 characters to write out my thoughts there’s just isn’t enough to go over everything. So to sum up here's are what I find to be the pros and cons of The Legend of Korra.
Pros
The Heroes Korra, Asami,... Read More
An Outside Perspective for Outside Perspectives
This will be tvtropes 60th review of the show The Legend of Korra. just what could I say that hasn't already been said? Well, for a start, this will be a review for people who have had no prior experience of either this show or its predecessor, Avatar: The Last Airbender (which I haven't even seen).
Korra is a children's fantasy adventure about a spiritual kung fu master called "The Avatar", who lives in a steam punk fantasy world where people can do magic based around the four elements. The first thing everyone notices about the show is how... Read More
Vastly Superior to ATLA
Yes, I said it. LOK is ten thousand times better than it's predecessor.
Here's the basic gists:
- The protagonist is far more engaging. This is not a diss on Aang, who is himself a wonderful protagonist as well, but for all complaints he pretty much rarely evolves, his angle is mostly about accepting responsibility. Korra, on the other hand, goes a full 180º: from brash, headstrong young woman comes a wiser, peaceful, down to earth person. Admitely some of her development is too emotionally gruesome, a visceral breakdown, but in the end its... Read More
Fascinating, Because it Won't Pull Punches
I'd like to preface this by saying I only paid slight attention to Last Airbender. As a series it was interesting, but didn't strike me as truly awe-inspiring. Legend of Korra has essentially shifted my paradigm into making me want to watch Last Airbender again to see what led up to Korra.
Each character feels flawed, not to the point of incapability to act but as human beings who must work through and learn from their flaws. Especially interesting to watch is when they go into family dynamics, and how children feel about their parents,... Read More
More focused on defying stereotypes than storytelling
Any series following one as popular as The Last Airbender was going to be subject to a large amount of scrutiny, and that bias has to be kept in mind when reviewing its sequel. The problem is that, on its own, The Legend of Korra, after four seasons of troubled production, rapid changing of stories, and an ending that may keep its creators from ever working in television again, cannot be considered a good show.
The problem with the show is twofold. The first is that the show has a lot of ideas, and while many of these ideas are interesting... Read More
Flawed fun for the family
Hey people, I'm kinda new at this reviewing thing, so I'm hoping people will cut me some slack. Hoping I can bring my own perspective.
The last time I watched this series was during season 1. By the time it wrapped up, I felt it fell short of my expectations and lost interest. Not to say that I thought it was all bad. Amon was menacing and was a threat the franchise has never seen properly before. I also liked the setting. The problem I had was the constant drama and Twilight-like romance stuff that held back Team Avatar. It didn't help that I... Read More
Season 4 finale: Good, but trips on the finish line
The episode was good, but did not finish as strongly as it could have.
While the fights were fast-paced and had impressive scope, I did not feel the same level of urgency and tension that I did from Sozin's Comet. Maybe it was the buildup raising my belief that more people were going to die, but it felt like the heroes had a few layers of Plot Armor activated and got a few too many close calls to keep it believable.
Giving Kuvira a tragic backstory now felt forced. Had they put her backstory in "Enemy at the Gates" or "Battle of Zaofu" it... Read More
The legend of Korra season 4 review
So what do I think? Let's see....
Pros:
- Korra truly developed in this season and so did (surprisingly) Prince Wu
- Kuvira was fleshed out as well
- Seeing Asami reconstruct her relationship with her father is satisfying
- Politics were a nice touch......
Cons:
- (Minor) A freaking Mech? Are you freaking serious? I highly doubt that Kuvira's army advanced that fast especially when we get no scenes of them even developing that mech.
- The asspull. I thought we were done with this Bryke. Korra blocks the beam with airbending or whatever the hell that ... Read More
New Edit: They should have just owned it
I was originally planning on making a sock puppet account to post this review.
I'm still not happy with the series, in light of the finale. However, instead of complaining about the problems, I will present a solution.
Since Bryke, especially with the last two books, wanted to emphasize more political conflicts. I'd make things more realistic. The Avatar's decisions will not always be popular, however an unpopular decision isn't necessarily a bad one.
Here are my complaints and how I'd like to see them addressed:
One point is that Korra, while... Read More
Interesting but Stunted: Spoilers
Honestly, a part of me likes Korra more than TLA; not for the story or characters though, it's for the 20s aesthetic and the focus on politics.
Korra is an interesting character and an enjoyable one; She starts out strongheaded and overconfident only to move past, only to become obcessed with her failures. It's believeable and honestly, she's more fun than Aang in my eyes. A lot of the characters have an interesting development; the Beifong family have an interesting dynamic and the adults from it are all awesome individually, Zhu Li and... Read More
A fantastic show despite its flaws.
What's there to say about a show like The Legend of Korra, a sequel to one of the most acclaimed western action/adventure series ever produced? It's certainly been uneven — it started off as good, but inferior, went on to become a mix of the wretchedly bad and the surprisingly great, and in its last two seasons settled on the consistently good and consistently great. With high expectations to meet and many production problems throughout, making Korra at all satisfying was no doubt an uphill battle. The first season was mostly good, but tainted... Read More
An inferior dragging sequel
To be brief; the first two seasons were rubbish. Season 1 ended on a deus ex machina, without resolving the villain's grievance. Then it got worse with season 2 where they ruined previously established continuity (turtle lions teaching all elements), destroyed the mystery of the Avatar, ended on yet another deus ex machina and made Korra automatically correct in reshaping the world despite the valid reasons not to.
Then the writers finally produced something of worth in season 3. They increased character progression and created dynamic... Read More
Brilliant, Inconsistent
I love Korra the character and I expect whether you like her or not is the make or break deal with the show.
For me, Korra is one of the most relatable characters there is. Over the time spent with her, she's began to feel like a good friend or an older sister. The way Korra changes as a person with time is almost magical. If you go back and watch the first episodes after finishing the season, she looks, acts and thinks like a younger person.
She's very real (except for her circumstance). She starts off young, enthusiastic and headstrong. She... Read More
Mini Season Reviews
Ranked best to 'least best'
Book 3 - The best season of Korra. The pacing was absolutely perfect, the plotting was interesting and the villain was superb. Book 3 has ideas and themes and it runs with them. The only real criticism of Book 3 is that they're doing so many interesting things with so many interesting characters that you wish you could see more of all of them. Zaheer was an intense, nuanced villain with a legitimate ideal and the resolve to go through with it. He has all the qualities to admire in a hero, except that he will cross... Read More
One Hell of a Roller Coaster Ride.
Okay, I remember when I watched the Last Airbender and I thought it was an awesome series. So, now that the sequel is over, I'd thought I'd throw in my two cents. Personally, I loved it. I thought it was a pretty awesome show. The new Team Avatar might not measure up to the Gaang, but they are still awesome in their own right.
Season 1 was a pretty good start. It did a good job at introducing us to the new Team Avatar and the Darker and Edgier nature to the world. Amon and the Equalists are among the coolest Avatar villains yet. I regard Amon... Read More
A worthy sequel that ultimately surpasses its predecessor
After the excellence of Avatar: the Legend of Aang, a sequel was a difficult task. Fortunately, Bryke rose to the challenge with the darker, more mature Avatar: the Legend of Korra. Korra takes place in a very different world with early-20th century technology such as electricity and radios, and mercifully avoids rehashing Aang's story. Also there are mechs and turbolasers.
This is one of the most feminist pieces of entertainment around. Women of all ages are prominent and awesome, and not even in a deliberate way - having great women is just... Read More
I want more
Fans often compare ATLA and LOK, trying to decide which is the "better" series, but now that Korra has ended, there is one significant difference, for me at least, that puts Korra above its predecessor. Both series ended on high notes, wrapping up most of their respective plot threads. But while I was satisfied with ATLA's ending and had little interest in the posst-finale comics, I want more Korra. What happened with Zuko's mom, post-war reconstruction, or Toph's parents never struck me as all that interesting. But the new spirit portal, the... Read More
An overall review of The Legend of Korra....
As a comparison to the original: Inferior
The first two seasons were a mess of Asspulls, wasted potential, and just bad characterization and development. They started to pick themselves up in the last two season but even that had glaring flaws. It also doesn't help that Bryke just has to resolve everything with a Deus ex Machina. Yeah the original had these too, but not as bad as these. Not nearly as bad.
You could say that Korra has better villains, but most of them just get butchered or develop far too late (*cough* Kuvira *cough*) . The... Read More
Just a Few Words: This is awesome!
I hope everyone minds if I give this review in a few words: The Legend Of Korra is one of the best Nickelodeon series ever! There were loads of things in this series that were awesome, worthy of being just as great as Avatar: The Last Airbender, if not better. Each book (like the previous series) was just as good as the last.
Book 4 Episode 1 review
Pros:
Improved in almost every aspect
I cannot really say anything about the characters since this is the first episode, but I can say that the conflicts the characters have against each other are much more understandable than in previous seasons
Politics were really well done
The WTF moments were brilliant
Fight scenes are well done as usual
Cons:
(Very minor Personal Con) I completely understand why Opal is hostile toward the Earth Force (or whatever it was called...), but saying that you are growing apart from your boyfriend just because he... Read More
Book 3 overall review
Having watched the last 2 episodes I would like to point out some final thoughts. There are spoilers....you have been warned...
Pros:
Finale is a brilliant and smart way to end the season.
Seeing the 3 previous Big Bads show up again is sorta satisfying (I wish the could have somehow tied in their motivations to the Red Lotus's and do something with it but whatever...)
Final bending battles were well animated
Korra has a nice character arc this season that ISN'T RESOLVED WITH A DEUSEXMACHINA....or a a power that is given to the protagonist... Read More
The Legend of Korra episodes 1 and 2 season 3 review
Episode 1: I guess showing a small scene about how Korra is dealing with the new changes is ok. And closing the annoying three-way love triangle is great plus the animation and scenery are great. Now for the bad parts, there is zero Foreshadowing and barely any explanation for why the citizens apparently got airbending. Plus, Korra and Asami finding out that they both kissed Mako behind their backs is handled very poorly in my opinion. Plus, why the hell has Bolin never evolved beyond being comic relief after 2 seasons?
Screwed by the Network the Series
As a continuation, the LOK is pretty brilliant. Avatar had more of a defined straight path because Aang had one main goal: defeat the Fire Lord and stop the Fire Nation's reign of terror. LOK is different; it's about rebuilding a world to be better than it once was and figuring out how to even go about doing that. For those complaining about how different it is, I don't know what else to say but "Duh." Korra and Aang have completely different tasks and Korra has arguably the harder one. I enjoy LOK because of how different it is from the... Read More
A Different Taste
The Biggest YYMV about Korra is that it is not Avatar: The Last Airbender, and it is up to the individual whether this is a good or bad thing. Avatar was a potentially apocalyptic story about the end of the world and the development of the characters as they tried to defeat this overwhelming enemy that was the Fire Nation. Korra originally deals more with social upheaval and evolution, and focuses on how the world is going to grow now that it is no longer in danger of being destroyed. Korra is, especially if you read some of the Word of God... Read More
Spirits Season Finale: What???
Ok, so this finale started off strong. We had Unalaq ready to absorb Vaatu while everyone had their own seperate roles to play. Tenzin and family go off to find Jinora while Mako, Bolin and Korra try to stop Unalaq. Tenzin gets some good character development realizing he is supposed to be his own person. Mako and Bolin get some awesome moments, especially Bolin with Eska, and Korra lays the smackdown on Vaatu in epic fashion, almost sealing him away singlehandedly. Then for the punchline Raava is destroyed and we're treated to a nice scene of... Read More
Season 3 review (up to episode 10)
I think that this is honestly the strongest season of the Legend of Korra but it's not without its flaws. So did my opinions change during my previous review of this series? Let's see.
Pros:
Zaheer is a surprisingly good villain
Lin's backstory was alright
The bending battles are better this season
The storytelling and characterization slightly improved
This season expands on why airbenders are bald and adds in a few more bending styles
Cons:
Some of the characters are pretty one-dimensional (Kai, Bolin's third crush, and too many others to... Read More
Living in the shadow.
It has been interesting watching through The Legend of Korra after watching through the Last Airbender. Given that it is a separate show, it is still a follow up series to, what is in my humble opinion, the greatest television show of all time. I love the story of Aang and I love all of the A:TLA references that are made in Korra, I found Korra really to lack the overall qualities necessary to keep up the reputation.
In the A:TLA, you see Aang, a young boy who is constantly struggling to master all of the elements before the Fire Lord wins the... Read More
Good, close to great at times, but never groundbreaking.
All I can say is that Doug Walker had pretty much hit the nail on the head with alot of things I could say. The first season started good but waned a tad by the end, and the second season was just inconsistent, and too much so to really stand as something as cohesive as it was clearly tying to be either. Beginnings was definitely the high point of the second season and more or less the show since Amon, and it essentially didn't even center around Korra beyond using her as the subject of a pretty contrived and almost emotionless take on... Read More
Legend of Korra: Needs more filling!
Many people complain about the show Legend of Korra, some of these complaints are easily rebuked. "Korra is so insufferable, Aang was a better person!" Her dad was almost murdered by her uncle, and Aang froze himself in an ice block for a hundred freakin' years. Nobody is perfect. However the one complaint among all fans is that the show's pacing is a bit off, season 2 was better than season one of course but still it is still felt. This problem that will NEVER be resolved can be fixed by one glorious thing: Filler.
Yeah,remember how when... Read More
PHENOMENAL COSMIC POWERS: itty bitty personal character
I've had negative opinions about Korra's characterization. She's treated as THE AVATAR and not a person; a worthless protoplasmic sack lugging THE AVATAR around. I was deeply hoping this show would turn around and have our heroine show us what she's made of. So they force Raava out. I wanted precisely that to happen; make Korra not the Avatar anymore, stripped of her powers when she needs them most.
Understandably, Korra's upset. She's failed and is single-handedly responsible for ending a long and proud tradition. Tenzin steps in and tells... Read More
Book 2 - Spirits: The Avatar-verse season to end all others. ***Spoilers!***
Book 1 of Legend of Korra was magnificent. Book 2 was, as I expected, magnificent-er. How much? This much:
- First and foremost: we at last get some insight into the history of the Avatar. Specifically, we learn the origins of the Avatar, and how the world came to be organized into societies full of benders.
- Just as last season had a villain that could easily be interpreted as a stand-in for militant communism, this season also had a villain who reflected a piece of real-world politics from days gone bye: colonialism. (YMMV on that, though -
The giant shadow
The Legend of Korra is a great series, and to its credit has done a lot to set itself apart from its predecessor, Avatar: The Last Airbender, especially in the first season. But it is not the 'legend' the original was.
Unlike Avatar, Korra has clear weaknesses as a series that go beyond nitpicking individual episodes or details. It has tremendous strengths as well, but the near-perfect balance that Avatar achieved is missing. Some of the problems with the series are due to behind the scenes issues that limited the length of the seasons and... Read More
Beginnings
A special like no other, Beginnings Part1 & 2 are considered by many to be quite possibly the best episodes of not only Korra, but the Avatar series as a whole. I'm hardly pressed to contest this, considering that it not only features suberb animation and voice acting, but also amazing character development. Wan manages to grow as a man far faster than Aang or Korra did in their whole series, developing from an cunning though well meaning thief to a sorrowful, tragic hero that spend most of his life trying to atone for his mistakes. Alongside... Read More
Digging deeper
I really liked TLA. It was a great concept, the characters were fleshed out and the fights were some of the best I've seen in animation. The only problems I had with it were when I wanted to know more; when I wish the show dug deeper. Korra took every complaint I had and said "I know, right?" and made it the focus of the new series. Where TLA only focused on benders, and we never got to see what life was like for the people who didn't have superpowers, TLK focuses on the class struggles between the often-lower class non-benders and the high... Read More
Book 1, so far, so good!
The book is flawed, but I enjoyed it. SPOILERS
The ending is just so... rushed and neat. It leaves you feeling slightly miffed, we have all this build up, then a few minutes of slight deus ex machina. I think the ending is perfectly plausible (avatars can take, why not give back) but we could've had perspective on Korra's character and how she'd deal with no bending and her trying to connect with the spirit world to get it back.
On top of that the romance subplot felt a bit of pandering to the fandom. There is an angsty romance triangle, sort... Read More
Almost as good......
TBH I did not go into this series with high hopes. I didn't want to see a new avatar, I wanted Aang and the Gaang back. But Korra was a well thought out character and the plot had more urgency behind it.
The good: The animation is amazing. I would out it in the league of a Miyazaki film.
Korra herself is a delight. I was honestly surprised that I liked her so much. The first time we see her smash through a wall, telling everyone to "deal with it!" it was as if she knew fans like me would fault her for not being Aang. She depicted a strong... Read More
Book 1: Air - Off and running to a truly excellent start.
After the unfortunately poor reception of The Last Airbender, some may have thought the Avatar franchise was dead. I hoped not, because I, unlike most of the world, actually enjoyed The Last Airbender - but that's a subject for another place.
In any case, the franchise is now back and better than ever with this amazing sequel series. Sure, a lot of the story feels a little cliched, what with the four-way romantic troubles between Korra, Mako, Bolin and Asami, and the strong female lead a la Katniss Everdeen or Buffy Summers.
But overall, the... Read More
Disappointment
The first season of the Legend of Korra began with a bang. I liked pretty much everything about it before it launched and throughout the first half of the season. In the second half, my excitement began to wane, culminating in a severe disappointment in the finale.
The biggest problem is probably the pacing. For the first half of the season, roughly speaking, it's fine. But from Episode 7 onward, it gets worse. Everything happens too quickly, and no subplot is finished properly. Characters aren't developed, Team Avatar being perpaps the... Read More
Way to Short, but Theres Something
I'm going to start this review by saying that I enjoyed the season. The characters were nice, even Mako. It felt like A:TLA, which was a pleasant surprise. However, I was also disappointed. A span of 12 or so episodes isn't enough room for a major plot arc.
So instead of saving content for next season, there was so much going on some of it couldn't even be answered well, or at all. The love triangle, Hiroshi and his family, Amon and the Equalists, bloodbending, it just could have been answered so much better (Most of this stuff starts and ends... Read More
(first season review) Raised expectations causes disappointment
Avatar: The Last Airbender had more depth than it let on. At first glance it looked like a standard good vs. evil adventure, but over time it revealed its hidden depth, showing characters who underwent change and growth, themes such as how war changes people's lives, and how one can be on the wrong side but still believe they're doing the right thing. It did all this while still being a fun adventure cartoon for a family audience. People didn't expect much, and were pleasantly surprised by the show's quality.
The Legend of Korra, on the other... Read More
Too Many Flaws
The Legend of Korra had a lot of promise, but overall there were just too many flaws to make it a good show.
There's almost not character development for the main cast. Korra starts off impetuous and bullheaded. She rushes into things without thinking about the consequences. She readily uses bending to get her way. These are pointed out by flaws in the very first episode. She ends the season exactly the same without these issues ever seriously being dealt with. Mako starts off as a quiet, boring character who's a bit of a jerk, and ends... Read More
Legend of Korra-Good, not great.
Avatar the Last Airbender was a great show. It was a wonderful story with fleshed out characters, terrific pacing, beautiful art, fun action, good humor, and a great world. It's hard to top that.
And Korra...doesn't. It's certainly good. It has decent humor, some different but still good action, even better looking art, and some fun characters. It's just lesser in degree. The problems come in the story, the characters, and the pacing.
The story had quite a lot of potential but dropped too much of it along the way. The Triads disappear after... Read More
Book 1: Part Even Better Sequel, Part Decent
The Legend of Korra
Book 1: Air
Voices of: Janet Varney,JK Simmons, Mindy Sterling, Steve Blum, David Faustino, PJ Byrne, Seychelle Gabrielle, and Dee Bradley Baker
Grade: B+
Avatar The Last Airbender might very well have been the greatest cartoon every created,it was phenomenal,and in a way it's not too different from Star Wars in that once a continuation was announced,...people would go crazy and have massive expectations that couldn't possibly be delivered. And just like how Star Wars went from multiple writers and directors to just George... Read More
Season 1: Everything you could ask for and more
I feel comfortable making the claim that so far, The Legend of Korra is the greatest children's show ever to exist, and one of the greatest shows overall.
Let's go down the list: first, the animation is gorgeous, and that's one of the first things I noticed. The voice acting, the sound design, all of it is perfect or near-perfect. In regards to the technical stuff, The Legend of Korra should be used as a standard for other animated shows to reach.
The character design is extraordinarily well done. Korra makes a very interesting protagonist. At... Read More
Season 1: A Delight to Watch
As a whole, I found season 1 to be an wonderful start to the series, with an intriguing plot line, nicely-realized characters, and excellent production value.
Without revealing too much, I will say that the main plot manages to tie together a variety of threads and themes in a very clever way, and the central "mystery" is beautifully handled: the solution is surprising, but not completely out of nowhere and still satisfactorily solvable to the very watchful viewer.
Korra herself is one of the most likable teenage protagonists I've seen in a... Read More
Frustrating
The first season of The Legend of Korra is good. Unfortunately, it's that hair-pullingly frustrating sort of “good” that constantly reminds you it had the potential to be so much more. Keep that in mind, as my review is going to sound far more negative than my actual opinion of the show, which is fairly ambivalent.
Throughout the development of the show, the creators talked a big game about how Korra was going to tackle more mature themes and feature a more nuanced conflict. They failed in providing this. Utterly. The problem is, the set up... Read More
A Few Points Short of Greatness
The Legend of Korra is the sequel to the series Avatar: The Last Airbender, but it falls short of many of its predecessor's strengths. For most of the season, the characters lack motivation in their relationships and battles. The antagonists' and the protagonists' goals and ideals are also barely defined and, in some circumstances, incomprehensible. Because their ideals lack definition, it is hard to care about either Team Avatar or the Equalists.
The show had a great start: I cared about and was interested in Korra, Tenzin, Mako, and Bolin... Read More
Great and Well Made but YMMV
Let's state the thing that everyone agrees on. The Legend of Korra: Book Air is a beautifully made. The animation is gorgeous, music amazing and perfectly timed, and voice acting superb. The designers pulled out all the stops and it SHOWS. Now to deal with the things that people will either love or find horribly disappointing about Lok: Air.
Characters: The cast of Lo K are all very interesting. I found myself attached to them very quickly and easily. They all had a good amount of depth but what they lacked is character DEVELOPMENT. The... Read More
Season 1 Retrospective
I'm ambivalent on Korra, a show that started with great promise in its pilot. The animation, music, art design, and choreography are all excellent, CG is used decently, and characters like Lin and Tarrlok stand alongside the franchise's best. It's 80% of an excellent show. It's the other 20% that's the problem. Korra can't decide if it wants to be a plot-driven show or a character-driven one, and that indecision creates a muddle. Poor arc pacing is also a problem.
The setting isn't developed enough for the viewer to invest in its plot-driven... Read More
"The Spirit of Competition"--How to do Love Trianlges Right
Okay, I hate the tropes Love Triangle and Love Dodecahedron. I just do. I'm not a romance fan, and most of them are very clumsily executed and become blights on non-romance oriented shows. As well as the fact that they are easy Wangst sources and usually abused for that (and sometimes Face Heel Turn fodder).
This was how you do it right. This was "two people involved with others have a moment, but realize that it hurts others". Mako feels guilt for cheating on Asami, and Korra feels bad for upsetting Bolin. It wasn't the usual "it's okay for... Read More
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... Read More
So far, it's pretty good.
As someone who was a fan of the previous series, The Legend Of Korra has some pretty big shoes to fill in my opinion. But I'd say it's doing a pretty decent job. Production-wise, The Legend Of Korra is a stunning show.
Pros:
- The art is fantastic - the architecture is beautiful, the setting as a whole is very big and very real, the motions of the characters are fluid and dynamic. The character designs are all lovely, and I really like how they manage to incorporate both traditionalism and modernism in the city, as well as the characters'
Liked it
Upon looking at Legend of Korra, I was happy. I didn't see all of the original series: one or two episodes of season one, some of season two, and the latter half of Season 3 (including the movie). I got most information from this site. I like Legend of Korra, the aesthetic and the city itself feels just as big to me, as the previous world that the Original series took place in. Personally, I liked the old Firenation war machines, and the upgrade in technology was very nice. The look of the new machines is still very in-vocative of that old... Read More
First impressions from someone who didn't watch the first series
I have not watched Avatar The Last Airbender. I did not really feel much desire to watch the show, nor its sequel; I only caught an episode of it by accident. However, that one episode piqued my interest, and I tried out the rest. The conclusion is good: Legend of Korra is astounding so far.
The animation is gorgeous. While I'm not an anime fan, the style works for the heavy action sequences because it allows the characters' bodies to move fluidly. The action scenes are all incredible and smooth, and the angles are well-chosen to emphasize the... Read More
I think it's pretty great.
Maybe I'm just bad at being critical, but so far there's almost nothing about this show I don't love. Just like in ATLA the characters are interesting and engaging, the art is excellent, and the emotional pitch manages to run from exciting to comic to earnest without a misstep. The Legend of Korra definitely seems like it's headed towards a slightly different, darker tone than ATLA, but I'm going to give it some time to see whether this is well-handled or not. So far some slightly more mature themes have popped up, some disturbing things have... Read More
(first two episodes review) A very different direction than the first cartoon
Avatar The Last Airbender was about a group of kids and teens who traveled the world, going from place to place and not stopping for long, in an attempt to end a war started by an obvious villain with a standard "take over the world" goal. It was set in a world of Asian mythology similar to society a few hundred years ago.
The sequel makes it clear early on that it is a very different cartoon providing a very different experience. Korra is not a kid who hangs out with kid friends; she is a teenager, and a very headstrong one. In fact,... Read More

Time to start up the debates again
In summary: Season 1's plot was cluttered by the love triangle and didn't have sufficient thematic exploration. Season 2's themes were undermined by turning Unalaq into a pure evil villain. Season 3 had a very exciting, focused plot, if slim on character development. Season 4, in a vacuum, is very good for its depiction of Korra's struggles, though it also crammed in Kuvira's sympathetic backstory at the very end. Overall, the series had too many characters, diluting the focus on each of them except for Korra.
The pivotal element makes this... Read More