The Lowdown:

Show: The Legend of Korra

Network and years aired: Nickelodeon, 2012-2014

AniB’s thoughts: I did not know initially what to expect from the sequel series of Avatar: The Last Airbender, aside from the fact that it had a very high bar to reach, perhaps unfairly so. It is my opinion that while Korra did not quite reach the same heights as its predecessor, it was a unique show in its own right, and executed some very interesting, cool ideas all on its own (The mini-arc from Season 2 with Wan, anybody?). That’s well and good, but I also need to acknowledge the elephant in the room for any fans in the room (and that there’s MAJOR SPOILERS for newcomers, so skip ahead to the grading section if need be), that being the romance and shipping in this show, because it’s obvious if I’m writing a Legend of Korra review, you’ll want to hear my thoughts on the show’s endgame. My opinion has been the same from the first time I watched the finale: It sucked.

Let me clarify my statement further: My issue with the endgame between Korra and Asami Sato has everything to do with the writing of the show. As a critic, I cared very little about the warring factions of Korra fans over shipping, and much more about the same elements I’m always analyzing in a show- and the issue here lay in both character and story development. Simply put, “Korrasami” is a crappy bit of writing that left Mako without a truly definitive conclusion (which I believe was the original endgame, but changed at some point) and did not have nearly enough of a buildup or real foreshadowing, which led me to think either of the following three conclusions: that a) The writers (Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino) decided to give a big middle finger to Nickelodeon, considering the network had treated what had easily been its best rated, most popular show during its run quite badly, to the point that a late season 4 episode had its budget slashed, and was forced to be a clip-show; b) The chorus of shippers who wanted this specific conclusion was so loud and vocal the writers unfortunately caved in to please/placate such fans, or c) a combination of both. For anyone arguing that “Korrasami” was a long awaited thing, let me illustrate a couple points: First, The Legend of Korra was meant to initially be a 1-season show. At some point, this endgame was devised, and I believe it was quite late (again, my speculation), but it was not the original intentions of the writers, if Season 1’s finale was anything to go by. Next, a pen pal relationship and a wink and a blush between two women hardly constitutes that they’re about to be romantically involved. It can just as easily denote a strong friendship- a unique bond between women that is both empathetic and understanding. From my perspective, this would have been a far more logical conclusion to make from a character development standpoint, except for the nagging belief that the vocal segment of the fandom who wanted the endgame we got would get their wishes, development be damned! Finally, the last issue lies with the character of Asami Sato herself. While a major character in the first and second seasons, her role (mostly) dwindled in the final two seasons, aside from bankrolling a fancy blimp, giving the occasional baddie a shock from her electric glove, and being a real estate developer. Asami, therefore, did not have enough weight as a character to really justify the specific ending we received! That in turn also leads back to my conclusion that everything involving “Korrasami” was a late decision based on the factors I laid out, but as they say, the rest is history. The franchise is now saddled with that decision come hell or high water, and frankly, it’s probably best they run with it now that it’s been made. I still think it was a bad choice from a writing perspective, and I’ll leave it at that. Now…some people probably want to hear about everything outside the final 2 minutes of a 4 season series, so we’ll get into that now!

Animation Quality: Highly detailed 2-D animation with heavy influences in anime. Korra took cues from its predecessor (Avatar: The Last Airbender) and polished them even further, resulting in stunning action sequences and a compelling re-entry into a transitional version of the Avatar world. There are many gorgeous moments worth mentioning, but a special shoutout goes to the season 3 finale, which the animation was perfectly choreographed with the music and storytelling. 5/5 points.

Characterization: The characters are well developed for the most part; the Avatar’s (Korra) journey through the four seasons provides an overarching plot that is generally cohesive and intended as a foil to the original Avatar, Aang in terms of progression. (What I mean by that is that Korra’s journey is often an inner one; Aang conversely had to master the 4 elements and physically become the Avatar he was meant to be; he had a strong spiritual connection to start.)

Korra herself is a headstrong, tough young woman who is initially all too eager to show off the world her prowess as the young Avatar. Coming from the Southern Water Tribe, and living in the giant shadow of her predecessor Aang, she quickly finds that carving out her own legacy is not nearly as easy or straightforward as punching an Equalist goon in the face, and each season progressively delves deeper into Korra’s spiritual connection as the Avatar and her inner demons. (It’s a very Eastern aesthetic, but works well here). With her friends and family though, she continues to move forward.

Mako and Bolin are brothers living in Republic City, the new megaopolis that Avatar Aang founded. (Slight spoilers) Born to a Fire Nation mother and Earth Kingdom father, Mako is a talented firebender and Bolin is an earthbender. The brothers enjoy playing the sport of pro-bending profesisonally(you’ll see if you haven’t watched the show) and become the first friends and then valuable allies through the series to Korra. Bolin also has a fire ferret named Pabu that accompanies him and serves as the inspiration for the team name in pro-bending they have; Mako has an interesting arc that involves romance, police work, and plenty of resourcefulness.

Asami Sato, aside from the diatribe above, is a talented inventor who takes over her father’s buisness for certain reasons (which are very clear in the show). She is the financial muscle of Team Avatar, and often has good advice for her friends. Her signature weapon is an electric glove made intially for the Equalists (the first antagonist group of the series), which combined with her decent prowess in hand to hand combat, is formidable.

While there’s a great deal of other characters worth mentioning (such as deus ex Jinora), the last one I’ll flesh out here is Tenzin. Master airbender and youngest son of Aang, he is a bit of an uptight traditionalist, but cares deeply for his family and friends, and is as brave and resourceful as you’d expect the son of Aang to be.

The supporting cast is also well developed in general; my nitpick was always with Asami Sato, who often felt like a spare tire through the latter half of the series. The romances were a little sloppy; the best in the show from this writer’s opinion was (spoiler!) was Varrick and Zhu Li. 4/5 points.

Story quality: The story was an overarching canon about Korra mixed with smaller sub arcs in the different season. These generally flowed together well, and were perfect for character development. Notably, Korra went with seasonal antagonists rather than an overarching one like ATLA and the Fire Nation; these were generally good although Unalaq was rather stereotypical for a villain character. As I talked about at length, Korra’s romantic life was rather clunky. 4.25/5 points.

Themes: Korra dealt with a large theme of change and growth (the Avatar world was constantly growing and is at a pivotal point in its history when Korra takes place.) It also dealt with relationships and ideologies. The final 2 minutes of the show is thoroughly controversial (writing aside), and to say otherwise is to beat down the potential fans who may not agree with how it was handled. (Personally, this is simply an acknowledgement of different moral codes, not anything else.) 3.5/5 points

Don’t insult the viewer: The show was darker and somewhat edgier in tone than ATLA, and for the most part it worked, except for the romantic bits. Frankly, that’s not enough to dock more than a half point. Specially mention also goes to the terrific score through the show again, which really helped set the tone and atmosphere for so many key moments. 4.5/5 points.

Total Score: 21.25/25 (85%). The successor to Avatar: The Last Airbender was visually stunning and for the most part hit the right notes, but had a few major, mostly minor flaws that kept it from perfection. It’s still an excellent show, and as some places have mentioned, has a lot of strong female characters, which is nice. Overall, Korra rates out favorably in the end.

Like what you see? Have something to say? Feel free to comment- nothing is better than healthy, constructive discussion!

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