So. I reviewed Avatar: The Last Airbender on June 23rd. Well, it's sequel series The Legend of Korra was recently released on August 14th on Netflix. So, I finished watching it about two weeks after it was released.
The Legend of Korra has a somewhat rocky relationship with Avatar fans. On one hand, you have people who love it, people who absolutely hate it, and people who feel indifferent about it. I'm sort of in-between liking it and indifference. I mean, I really liked most of it, but I had a lot of issues with the series as well.
Perhaps the biggest thing is the step down from Avatar. Now, Korra's existence shouldn't solely be defined by the series that came before it, and I think that on its own, it stands pretty well. But I can say that the only times when the show truly grabbed my attention was when it had characters like Zuko and Toph show up.
Avatar: The Last Airbender is quite possibly the greatest piece of television ever created, so to have a somewhat lacking follow up really hurt people. And, no. This isn't the case of me, a white man, simply not understanding something starring a non-white female because it's not "Made for me." Avatar is for everyone, so everyone has their own opinion. Mine falls somewhere between, "That was really stupid" and "Holy crap, that was super cool!"
You see, Avatar: The Last Airbender only had one bad episode, the Great Divide, which people hate on all the time. The Legend of Korra's single biggest problem is that it has an entire bad season. Season 2, to be specific. But we'll get there.
For this, we should start with some framework: The Legend of Korra ran for four seasons, but overall had fewer episodes than it's predecessor because each of the seasons only lasted 13 episodes. Nickelodeon, where the show air, would order these seasons. They only ordered one, hastily ordered the second, and then ordered the third and fourth together. Nickelodeon also didn't do much for the show.
It cut the budget during the fourth season, leading to a clip show episode, it constantly switched the series from airing on tv to being a web show, and didn't do much for the marketing either. So, whatever you have against the show, never forget that out of everything, the studio is always the villain.
But, as for the actual show? Well, it was pretty cool, for the most part. So here's just a list of things I thought about the series:
Season 1 was everything I wanted from a follow up to Avatar. Unlike Avatar, which took a bit of time to get the ball rolling, Korra steamrolled out. The show was exciting right from the first episode, with great twists on existing concepts, likable enough characters, a likable lead and supporting cast, and one of the best Avatar villain: Amon.
I was really digging Amon. He was cool. His mask was cool, his cause was cool, all of his scenes were wonderfully done. He was presented as a threat and felt like one. 10/10 presentation.
But, there were some downsides to the first season. For one, the show, while moving incredibly fast, was also its weakness. You never get a chance to know the new Team Avatar. The only one that stands out is Bolin, which continues for every season afterward. Bolin's brother Mako is just a generic pretty teen love interest, and Asami? Well, Asami kind of sucks. Asami is given so little to do and such little character other than "The other one in the love triangle" that it was hard to understand the character.
But, as for other pacing issues. Avatar would occasionally have flashback episodes so you could better understand the history of the characters and the world, most notably "The Storm" and "The Avatar and the Fire Lord." But that show's seasons were 22 episodes long. Having one episode devoted to a specific character wasn't too much of a drag. But in The Legend of Korra, we had this one episode where the last half of it was devoted to Amon's back story. It was jarring, especially considering the momentum that the season had built up to.
And my other complaint with the first season was the Pro-Bending stuff. I thought it was pretty cool at first, how the Avatar world would have sports, but over time, especially after three episodes in a row that focused on it, it got boring and was dropped for the rest of the series, basically.
Um, anything else... oh yeah! The series is set in the 1920s/1930s, basically, which makes Avatar set in the 1860s. Some considered this jump jarring. I was fine with it. I thought about our history and the huge technological renovations that occurred in that time period. It checked out to me, especially considering how gifted Sokka was at invention.
But the only thing I saw that really contradicted that flow of logic was that in Avatar, they barely invent the hot air balloon, which in our timeline, was invented in 1783. So that's not the best timeline. But it works. It's believable enough.
And, I really liked the themes of the series. I figured that there must be some growing resentment between the benders and non-benders, so that was cool, and done with the flair that it was presented with, really rocked. That was a very dope theme. And, I thought that Korra failing at Airbending was very cool, even if it somewhat contradicted Avatar.
In Avatar, Aang barely masters Earth, Fire, and Water, and is the youngest airbending master ever at the age of 12. In Korra, Korra is mastering Earth, Fire, and Water at age 5 or something. That was strange. And technically, don't you learn fire last? Like, there was a build-up to how Aang mastered the elements in Avatar. Korra knows them all already. But, she struggles with airbending, and the spiritual side of the Avatar, so that made sense.
I respect that they are two different characters with two different personalities and challenges. Aang, early in Avatar, says he never wanted to be the Avatar. Korra, early in her series, says she always wanted to be. So that's a very nice contradiction for the characters. I liked that.
I wasn't a huge fan of the ending. While I did get the biggest chills when Aang was the first Avatar in line, I would've rather Korra not easily regain all of her lost bending through spiritual mumbo jumbo.
Overall, I give The Legend of Korra (Book 1) a 10/10. "Although it has several problems, The Legend of Korra succeeds due to a likable lead, terrific animation, a terrifying villain, and real-world parallels."
For one thing, the season is incredibly boring. I had no clue what was happening most of the time. In Avatar, everything always made sense. The one time where it didn't (Lion Turtles) is considered by many the biggest detractor of the show
In this season, stuff just happens. Spiritual sky beams, giant Avatar holograms, a 40-minute backdoor pilot for Avatar Wan was shoved in the middle of the season, the contradictory spiritual rugs known as Raava and Vaatu, there's a civil war between the water tribes that the show wants to build up but doesn't, the entire concept of a "Dark Avatar" was just stupid, and Unalaq in general was stupid.
Season 2 had a lot of problems. This could be because Nickelodeon ordered this season rather hastily and last-minute it would seem, but they are problems none the less.
For one thing, it doesn't flesh out any of the characters at all. At the end of the season, they're the same as they were in the beginning of the season. I thought the notion of a civil war between the two water tribes was dope, but it never developed and went out with a fizzle.
This series also introduces Varrick, my favorite character of the show. He's an unreliable businessman, who may have the best character arc in the entire show. But his whole side plot, where he makes Bolin a "Mover" star, was just a side plot with no consequence. So that was pointless.
Again, Mako and Asami are not developed at all. Mako and Korra break up after getting together, but nothing matters with those two. This season was "Quest for the sake of quest."
Perhaps my single biggest grievance against this season and the show in general was Raava and Vaatu, which are two spiritual rugs that supposedly represent the balance of the world. That was so stupid.
But, before we get to those, we have to discuss the Avatar Wan stuff. Avatar Wan was the first Avatar. Avatar #1. Very clever. But, his backstory is fleshed out in two whole episodes, right in the middle of the season. So that was very weird and killed any pacing this season had.
It was like a backdoor pilot for an Avatar Wan show that they canceled and reused the material for this. I thought it was neat. It made sense for the most part, with the Lion Turtles giving people power, and then those people learning from the four elemental animals. That was cool.
And I liked the subtle art changes for those two episodes. And, those two episodes have the only musical throwback of the entire show: The Avatar theme for when Avatar Wan defeats Vaatu. So I loved that.
But, again. Those two rugs ruin everything. I can get that there are spirits that represent the light and dark. I can get that the first Avatar messed something up and now has to offer himself as a counterbalance to the darkness. So that was fine.
But... the rugs weren't. It was fairly generic in its execution, the overall resolution was boring, and the rugs in general were a bad idea.
But, this guy did a really good rewriting of book two, so that's cool.
And a lot of people have a problem with them restarting the Avatar cycle, killing off fan-favorite characters like Kyoshi, Roku, and Aang. Personally, I was so out of it while watching that that I didn't even notice that it had happened, and the show barely deals with the impact, so I'm just going to pretend like it didn't happen.
And was Bolin's relationship with Eska supposed to be an abusive one? Because it was treated very comically and mostly played for laughs, so that was very strange.
Overall, I give The Legend of Korra (Book Two) a 2/10. "With a frustrating lack of development for the characters, a confusing and scattershot plot, and spiritual rugs I don't care about, Book Two - Spirits was not the exciting follow up I was hoping for."
Book Three - Change is the best season of Legend of Korra. I think it's the only one where I felt the storylines actually added to and improved the lore of Avatar, which is why it's a lot of people's favorite season.
Perhaps my favorite addition and new setting to the world of ATLA was Zaofu, a city made completely out of metal, founded by the recently created metalbenders. I think that this season also had the most emotional moment of the entire series: To me, it was Bumi, Aang's child who couldn't airbend, finding out that he can airbend, and goes to the Avatar statue of his father to wonder if he would finally be proud of him.
Also, people had a lot of problems with Aang's children saying he was a bad father. I didn't mind. I thought it added depth to the character, and it wasn't a huge factor in the series. They mention it, like, three times. They work it out in an episode and never bring it up again, basically. It wasn't a big deal.
But, yeah. I loved seeing how they would train airbenders, as that was something the original series never could. Because they were all dead. I also really liked any scene with a baby Sky Bison. Those things could do literally anything and I would be fine with it. And that one hunter dude wore Sky Bison skin. That dude sucked.
But this season also introduced a ton of memorable characters: It reintroduced Fire Lord Zuko, who was the show's high point for me. It introduced Kai, one of the newer airbenders, who I found thoroughly likable. I really liked Suyin Beifong, Toph's other daughter, and Suyin's daughter Opal.
This season also had Zaheer, one of the show's best villains. I can't decide between him and Amon. Amon had presentation, but Zaheer had such a presence. Wasn't completely 100% with the Order of the Red Lotus, although it did make sense historically. Also wasn't a huge fan of the Order of the White Lotus, but whatever. I liked Zaheer. He was cool. I liked how he was always calm and collected.
I really liked everything about this season, be it new bending powers (Flying with airbending, lavabending), the new characters, the villain, the heroes, basically everything. My one criticism would be that once again, Asami, one of the leads of the show, barely has anything to do, any lines to speak, and no reason to go with them. Every season, it's always, "I can meet with business investors" and whatnot. Very lame.
Also, screw the Earth Queen. When they said they were going back to Ba Sing Se, I was super excited. But it hasn't changed! It's still ruled by a tyrannical leader who ate Bosco! SHE ATE BOSCO! WWHHHHYYYY?
Overall, I give The Legend of Korra (Book Three - Change) a 10/10. "With worthy additions to the universe of Avatar, fun characters, a fun and adventurous tone, Book Three - Change, sets the bar for how good the show can be."
This is done through an up and coming dictatress know as Kuvira, who I thought was very cool. Out of all of this show's villains, she definitely felt the most real. But she's not my favorite for reasons I'll get back to.
Basically, Kuvira is not my favorite because of the finale. Most of Book Four is great - I loved seeing Korra broken, seeing her build herself up again. That was a very nice arc. I absolutely loved everything involving Toph.
Guys, the older ATLA characters steal the show any time they're on screen. Toph and Fire Lord Zuko may be two of the best cameos I've ever seen.
But somehow, this season - this great season, the satisfying conclusion to The Legend of Korra - somehow also has two of the most boring episodes of the entire series. I am referring to "The Calling" and "Remembrances."
The Calling is one of my least favorite episodes of Korra, for one simple reason: It stars Meelo. Meelo is Aang's airbending grandchild who I hate. Passionately. One of the most impressive things about Avatar was that it was a complex children's show that didn't resort to lazy fart jokes. Meelo's entire character is that he's a lazy fart. I dislike Meelo immensely. So this episode headlines him, and I hate it. It was fine when he was, like, a five year old in the first season, but now he's nine. Come on.
Remembrances was also a bad episode because it's a flashback episode. Or a Bottle episode, if you're a Community fan. But flashback shows in general are the worst. They're skippable, they're boring, and often have little to no plot to them or any bearing on the rest of the series. This is no different. This was the show's time to finally delve into Mako's upbringing, to show what this guy was about (A bit late in season four). It could've made his attempt at self-sacrifice in the finale that much better.
The Legend of Korra has a somewhat rocky relationship with Avatar fans. On one hand, you have people who love it, people who absolutely hate it, and people who feel indifferent about it. I'm sort of in-between liking it and indifference. I mean, I really liked most of it, but I had a lot of issues with the series as well.
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| Aang is the Statue of Liberty now |
Perhaps the biggest thing is the step down from Avatar. Now, Korra's existence shouldn't solely be defined by the series that came before it, and I think that on its own, it stands pretty well. But I can say that the only times when the show truly grabbed my attention was when it had characters like Zuko and Toph show up.
Avatar: The Last Airbender is quite possibly the greatest piece of television ever created, so to have a somewhat lacking follow up really hurt people. And, no. This isn't the case of me, a white man, simply not understanding something starring a non-white female because it's not "Made for me." Avatar is for everyone, so everyone has their own opinion. Mine falls somewhere between, "That was really stupid" and "Holy crap, that was super cool!"
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| These are two... very different Avatars |
You see, Avatar: The Last Airbender only had one bad episode, the Great Divide, which people hate on all the time. The Legend of Korra's single biggest problem is that it has an entire bad season. Season 2, to be specific. But we'll get there.
For this, we should start with some framework: The Legend of Korra ran for four seasons, but overall had fewer episodes than it's predecessor because each of the seasons only lasted 13 episodes. Nickelodeon, where the show air, would order these seasons. They only ordered one, hastily ordered the second, and then ordered the third and fourth together. Nickelodeon also didn't do much for the show.
It cut the budget during the fourth season, leading to a clip show episode, it constantly switched the series from airing on tv to being a web show, and didn't do much for the marketing either. So, whatever you have against the show, never forget that out of everything, the studio is always the villain.
But, as for the actual show? Well, it was pretty cool, for the most part. So here's just a list of things I thought about the series:
- The animation is beautiful, although it lacked movement. Some scenes were just character's mouths moving.
- The score was great.
- The show had excellent themes and real-world parallels, so that was dope
- It is, in general, more somber and serious in tone than Avatar, sometimes lacking any humor.
- Season 2 was the worst
- The show's villains were all very cool, except for Season 2.
- The show frustratingly never develops Asami, sidelining her for the entire show. She barely has any lines in the last season, and her relationship with Korra isn't built up at all, which may or may not be Nickelodeon censoring things.
- The show could've used more callbacks to Avatar, in particular Sokka or Aang.
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/21758016/2752.jpg) |
| This shot is a huge win |
- Everything about Season 2 was bad
- My favorite character was probably Varrick
- Tenzin was great
- Tenzin's daughter Jinora gained spirit powers or something at the end of season 2. That was weird, strange, somewhat contradictory, and an easy way to get out of plot problems.
- I really liked General Iroh. Every time he appeared I was really happy.
- Someone really needed to punch the president
- The best parts of the show were not related to the show. Zuko, Toph, Avatar Wan, General Iroh, and Uncle Iroh are not related to the show, but steal the show every time they appear.
- The show never had the 60's Scooby-Doo sounds or strange face animations that Avatar had, so it's better in that prospect.
- We never got to travel to the Fire Nation and see what happened thereafter the war.
Book One - Air
Season 1 was everything I wanted from a follow up to Avatar. Unlike Avatar, which took a bit of time to get the ball rolling, Korra steamrolled out. The show was exciting right from the first episode, with great twists on existing concepts, likable enough characters, a likable lead and supporting cast, and one of the best Avatar villain: Amon.
I was really digging Amon. He was cool. His mask was cool, his cause was cool, all of his scenes were wonderfully done. He was presented as a threat and felt like one. 10/10 presentation.
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| This guy was super cool |
But, there were some downsides to the first season. For one, the show, while moving incredibly fast, was also its weakness. You never get a chance to know the new Team Avatar. The only one that stands out is Bolin, which continues for every season afterward. Bolin's brother Mako is just a generic pretty teen love interest, and Asami? Well, Asami kind of sucks. Asami is given so little to do and such little character other than "The other one in the love triangle" that it was hard to understand the character.
But, as for other pacing issues. Avatar would occasionally have flashback episodes so you could better understand the history of the characters and the world, most notably "The Storm" and "The Avatar and the Fire Lord." But that show's seasons were 22 episodes long. Having one episode devoted to a specific character wasn't too much of a drag. But in The Legend of Korra, we had this one episode where the last half of it was devoted to Amon's back story. It was jarring, especially considering the momentum that the season had built up to.
And my other complaint with the first season was the Pro-Bending stuff. I thought it was pretty cool at first, how the Avatar world would have sports, but over time, especially after three episodes in a row that focused on it, it got boring and was dropped for the rest of the series, basically.
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| This was cool in the first two episodes. The next couple of episodes was just noise. |
Um, anything else... oh yeah! The series is set in the 1920s/1930s, basically, which makes Avatar set in the 1860s. Some considered this jump jarring. I was fine with it. I thought about our history and the huge technological renovations that occurred in that time period. It checked out to me, especially considering how gifted Sokka was at invention.
But the only thing I saw that really contradicted that flow of logic was that in Avatar, they barely invent the hot air balloon, which in our timeline, was invented in 1783. So that's not the best timeline. But it works. It's believable enough.
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| This was a very big jump from the primitive world of Avatar. |
And, I really liked the themes of the series. I figured that there must be some growing resentment between the benders and non-benders, so that was cool, and done with the flair that it was presented with, really rocked. That was a very dope theme. And, I thought that Korra failing at Airbending was very cool, even if it somewhat contradicted Avatar.
In Avatar, Aang barely masters Earth, Fire, and Water, and is the youngest airbending master ever at the age of 12. In Korra, Korra is mastering Earth, Fire, and Water at age 5 or something. That was strange. And technically, don't you learn fire last? Like, there was a build-up to how Aang mastered the elements in Avatar. Korra knows them all already. But, she struggles with airbending, and the spiritual side of the Avatar, so that made sense.
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| Why has this tiny child grasped three elements whilst most other Avatars only find out when they're 16? |
I respect that they are two different characters with two different personalities and challenges. Aang, early in Avatar, says he never wanted to be the Avatar. Korra, early in her series, says she always wanted to be. So that's a very nice contradiction for the characters. I liked that.
I wasn't a huge fan of the ending. While I did get the biggest chills when Aang was the first Avatar in line, I would've rather Korra not easily regain all of her lost bending through spiritual mumbo jumbo.
Overall, I give The Legend of Korra (Book 1) a 10/10. "Although it has several problems, The Legend of Korra succeeds due to a likable lead, terrific animation, a terrifying villain, and real-world parallels."
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| Cool scene, bad for the plot. |
Book Two - Spirits
Oh, man. Season 2 almost broke me. This was the type of season that would deter a lot of fans and gives haters a lot of material against the show. A lot of the criticisms aimed at Legend of Korra are really just hate aimed at season two. It changed established lore and didn't do anything, basically.For one thing, the season is incredibly boring. I had no clue what was happening most of the time. In Avatar, everything always made sense. The one time where it didn't (Lion Turtles) is considered by many the biggest detractor of the show
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| This was some nonsense |
In this season, stuff just happens. Spiritual sky beams, giant Avatar holograms, a 40-minute backdoor pilot for Avatar Wan was shoved in the middle of the season, the contradictory spiritual rugs known as Raava and Vaatu, there's a civil war between the water tribes that the show wants to build up but doesn't, the entire concept of a "Dark Avatar" was just stupid, and Unalaq in general was stupid.
Season 2 had a lot of problems. This could be because Nickelodeon ordered this season rather hastily and last-minute it would seem, but they are problems none the less.
For one thing, it doesn't flesh out any of the characters at all. At the end of the season, they're the same as they were in the beginning of the season. I thought the notion of a civil war between the two water tribes was dope, but it never developed and went out with a fizzle.
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| No development for these guys. |
This series also introduces Varrick, my favorite character of the show. He's an unreliable businessman, who may have the best character arc in the entire show. But his whole side plot, where he makes Bolin a "Mover" star, was just a side plot with no consequence. So that was pointless.
Again, Mako and Asami are not developed at all. Mako and Korra break up after getting together, but nothing matters with those two. This season was "Quest for the sake of quest."
Perhaps my single biggest grievance against this season and the show in general was Raava and Vaatu, which are two spiritual rugs that supposedly represent the balance of the world. That was so stupid.
But, before we get to those, we have to discuss the Avatar Wan stuff. Avatar Wan was the first Avatar. Avatar #1. Very clever. But, his backstory is fleshed out in two whole episodes, right in the middle of the season. So that was very weird and killed any pacing this season had.
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| Meet Avatar Wan |
It was like a backdoor pilot for an Avatar Wan show that they canceled and reused the material for this. I thought it was neat. It made sense for the most part, with the Lion Turtles giving people power, and then those people learning from the four elemental animals. That was cool.
And I liked the subtle art changes for those two episodes. And, those two episodes have the only musical throwback of the entire show: The Avatar theme for when Avatar Wan defeats Vaatu. So I loved that.
But, again. Those two rugs ruin everything. I can get that there are spirits that represent the light and dark. I can get that the first Avatar messed something up and now has to offer himself as a counterbalance to the darkness. So that was fine.
But... the rugs weren't. It was fairly generic in its execution, the overall resolution was boring, and the rugs in general were a bad idea.
But, this guy did a really good rewriting of book two, so that's cool.
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| Bad rugs |
And a lot of people have a problem with them restarting the Avatar cycle, killing off fan-favorite characters like Kyoshi, Roku, and Aang. Personally, I was so out of it while watching that that I didn't even notice that it had happened, and the show barely deals with the impact, so I'm just going to pretend like it didn't happen.
And was Bolin's relationship with Eska supposed to be an abusive one? Because it was treated very comically and mostly played for laughs, so that was very strange.
Overall, I give The Legend of Korra (Book Two) a 2/10. "With a frustrating lack of development for the characters, a confusing and scattershot plot, and spiritual rugs I don't care about, Book Two - Spirits was not the exciting follow up I was hoping for."
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| This is not the type of death all of those Avatars deserved |
Book Three - Change
Book Three - Change is the best season of Legend of Korra. I think it's the only one where I felt the storylines actually added to and improved the lore of Avatar, which is why it's a lot of people's favorite season.
Perhaps my favorite addition and new setting to the world of ATLA was Zaofu, a city made completely out of metal, founded by the recently created metalbenders. I think that this season also had the most emotional moment of the entire series: To me, it was Bumi, Aang's child who couldn't airbend, finding out that he can airbend, and goes to the Avatar statue of his father to wonder if he would finally be proud of him.
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| This was an excellent addition to the mythology of Avatar |
Also, people had a lot of problems with Aang's children saying he was a bad father. I didn't mind. I thought it added depth to the character, and it wasn't a huge factor in the series. They mention it, like, three times. They work it out in an episode and never bring it up again, basically. It wasn't a big deal.
But, yeah. I loved seeing how they would train airbenders, as that was something the original series never could. Because they were all dead. I also really liked any scene with a baby Sky Bison. Those things could do literally anything and I would be fine with it. And that one hunter dude wore Sky Bison skin. That dude sucked.
But this season also introduced a ton of memorable characters: It reintroduced Fire Lord Zuko, who was the show's high point for me. It introduced Kai, one of the newer airbenders, who I found thoroughly likable. I really liked Suyin Beifong, Toph's other daughter, and Suyin's daughter Opal.
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| Any scene with Zuko gave me such a stupid grin. |
This season also had Zaheer, one of the show's best villains. I can't decide between him and Amon. Amon had presentation, but Zaheer had such a presence. Wasn't completely 100% with the Order of the Red Lotus, although it did make sense historically. Also wasn't a huge fan of the Order of the White Lotus, but whatever. I liked Zaheer. He was cool. I liked how he was always calm and collected.
I really liked everything about this season, be it new bending powers (Flying with airbending, lavabending), the new characters, the villain, the heroes, basically everything. My one criticism would be that once again, Asami, one of the leads of the show, barely has anything to do, any lines to speak, and no reason to go with them. Every season, it's always, "I can meet with business investors" and whatnot. Very lame.
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| You deserved better, Asami. |
Also, screw the Earth Queen. When they said they were going back to Ba Sing Se, I was super excited. But it hasn't changed! It's still ruled by a tyrannical leader who ate Bosco! SHE ATE BOSCO! WWHHHHYYYY?
Overall, I give The Legend of Korra (Book Three - Change) a 10/10. "With worthy additions to the universe of Avatar, fun characters, a fun and adventurous tone, Book Three - Change, sets the bar for how good the show can be."
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| Baby Sky Bison! |
Book Four - Balance
The fourth season of The Legend of Korra is very on point, on par with the first season. Apparently, the writers of the show realized that the Earth Kingdom has had terrible management in the past century, so this entire season deals with getting the Earth Kingdom back together.This is done through an up and coming dictatress know as Kuvira, who I thought was very cool. Out of all of this show's villains, she definitely felt the most real. But she's not my favorite for reasons I'll get back to.
Basically, Kuvira is not my favorite because of the finale. Most of Book Four is great - I loved seeing Korra broken, seeing her build herself up again. That was a very nice arc. I absolutely loved everything involving Toph.
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| Very cool villain. Kind of lost sight of her at the end though. |
Guys, the older ATLA characters steal the show any time they're on screen. Toph and Fire Lord Zuko may be two of the best cameos I've ever seen.
But somehow, this season - this great season, the satisfying conclusion to The Legend of Korra - somehow also has two of the most boring episodes of the entire series. I am referring to "The Calling" and "Remembrances."
The Calling is one of my least favorite episodes of Korra, for one simple reason: It stars Meelo. Meelo is Aang's airbending grandchild who I hate. Passionately. One of the most impressive things about Avatar was that it was a complex children's show that didn't resort to lazy fart jokes. Meelo's entire character is that he's a lazy fart. I dislike Meelo immensely. So this episode headlines him, and I hate it. It was fine when he was, like, a five year old in the first season, but now he's nine. Come on.
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| You suck. |
Remembrances was also a bad episode because it's a flashback episode. Or a Bottle episode, if you're a Community fan. But flashback shows in general are the worst. They're skippable, they're boring, and often have little to no plot to them or any bearing on the rest of the series. This is no different. This was the show's time to finally delve into Mako's upbringing, to show what this guy was about (A bit late in season four). It could've made his attempt at self-sacrifice in the finale that much better.
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| Mako - You deserved better |
But no. It's literally just "I liked Asami. Then I liked Korra." story. The episode does have this one great scene though, where Varrick is discussing a movie based on the Avatar's journey. All of Korra's villains get together and start planning something big, and exclude Unalak. That was hilarious. I loved that.
I also wasn't a huge fan of the series finale. It relies heavily on CGI that the show simply didn't have the budget to look good. It looks pretty bad and robotic. And I wasn't exactly sure how taking Republic City hostage with a robot was a huge threat, but I thought it was pretty stupid as the last big threat of the series.
And this is the season where I felt like Asami was sidelined unnecessarily. She's in, maybe, half of an episode with only one scene of dialogue, basically. Literally anything going on with Asami would have been better than what we had. Especially considering what the series was trying to build towards.
I also hated the new Airbender outfits. Like, absolute hatred of them. They look so stupid! They're so tight! How did Tenzin, who was completely devoted to keeping the Airbending culture alive, let this happen? Why are they no longer orange and yellow, and now a yellow-red-silvery mess? They were soooooo bad.
But I liked a lot about this series. Kuvira was a good villain through and through, the animation is great, the fights are great, and I was a huge fan of Korra's journey through the season.
Overall, I give this season a 9/10. "The Legend of Korra: Book Four - Balance has a lot on its plate. For the most part, it pulls off everything in an exceedingly competent and efficient manner."
Overall, The Legend of Korra has many, many faults. The entire second season, for example. I wasn't a huge fan of Asami's character, which was sad, because if she was given...anything to do, she may have been one of my favorites.
And the series gets a lot of attention for having the first "LGBT romance in a kid's show" or something, but honestly? Even knowing it was going to happen, I could barely see any signs of any chemistry through the entire show, and I was looking pretty hard for anything. My siblings who I saw the show with were unaware of their relationship didn't even notice that it was supposed to be a big moment.
This scene needed the same soundtrack from Avatar when Aang and Katara kiss in the finale. That would've better than what we got (Nothing).
So, diversity!
But, Korra's ensemble is nowhere near as strong as Avatar's. In Avatar, practically every single character with a scene is a fan favorite. In Korra, that's simply not the case. Even some of the main characters aren't fan favorites. Mako is bland and sidelined for the last two season, Asami's sidelined for the entire series, and the only one out of the Avatar gang that's actually memorable is Bolin.
My favorite characters for the series were definitely Tenzin and Varrick, plus any character from the original series. I thought Korra as more of a brash, violent Avatar a la Kyoshi was fun, and I thoroughly enjoyed most of the show.
But not all of it.
Overall, I give The Legend of Korra an 8/10. "The Legend of Korra had a very high standard to live up to. Luckily, it succeeds as a successor to Avatar and on its own, although the show is in no way perfect."
I also wasn't a huge fan of the series finale. It relies heavily on CGI that the show simply didn't have the budget to look good. It looks pretty bad and robotic. And I wasn't exactly sure how taking Republic City hostage with a robot was a huge threat, but I thought it was pretty stupid as the last big threat of the series.
 |
| This giant robot was just a lazy attempt at a larger-than-life threat. Not cool. |
And this is the season where I felt like Asami was sidelined unnecessarily. She's in, maybe, half of an episode with only one scene of dialogue, basically. Literally anything going on with Asami would have been better than what we had. Especially considering what the series was trying to build towards.
I also hated the new Airbender outfits. Like, absolute hatred of them. They look so stupid! They're so tight! How did Tenzin, who was completely devoted to keeping the Airbending culture alive, let this happen? Why are they no longer orange and yellow, and now a yellow-red-silvery mess? They were soooooo bad.
But I liked a lot about this series. Kuvira was a good villain through and through, the animation is great, the fights are great, and I was a huge fan of Korra's journey through the season.
Overall, I give this season a 9/10. "The Legend of Korra: Book Four - Balance has a lot on its plate. For the most part, it pulls off everything in an exceedingly competent and efficient manner."
 |
| These new Airbending suits suck. Why so tight? Why so ugly? |
Overall
Overall, The Legend of Korra has many, many faults. The entire second season, for example. I wasn't a huge fan of Asami's character, which was sad, because if she was given...anything to do, she may have been one of my favorites.
And the series gets a lot of attention for having the first "LGBT romance in a kid's show" or something, but honestly? Even knowing it was going to happen, I could barely see any signs of any chemistry through the entire show, and I was looking pretty hard for anything. My siblings who I saw the show with were unaware of their relationship didn't even notice that it was supposed to be a big moment.
 |
| For such a "Huge, groundbreaking moment of Western animation," this was built up to...never. |
This scene needed the same soundtrack from Avatar when Aang and Katara kiss in the finale. That would've better than what we got (Nothing).
So, diversity!
But, Korra's ensemble is nowhere near as strong as Avatar's. In Avatar, practically every single character with a scene is a fan favorite. In Korra, that's simply not the case. Even some of the main characters aren't fan favorites. Mako is bland and sidelined for the last two season, Asami's sidelined for the entire series, and the only one out of the Avatar gang that's actually memorable is Bolin.
My favorite characters for the series were definitely Tenzin and Varrick, plus any character from the original series. I thought Korra as more of a brash, violent Avatar a la Kyoshi was fun, and I thoroughly enjoyed most of the show.
But not all of it.
Overall, I give The Legend of Korra an 8/10. "The Legend of Korra had a very high standard to live up to. Luckily, it succeeds as a successor to Avatar and on its own, although the show is in no way perfect."
 |
| Whatever happens, we'll always have Varrick. |
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