Title (Original): Avatar: The Legend of Korra
Creator: Michael Dante DiMartino & Bryan Konietzko
Studio: Nickelodeon
Year of Launch: 2012 - Present
Seasons: 4
Episodes: 52
Genre: Action/Adventure, Fantasy, Comedy-Drama
Plot: The story's main character is the waterbender Korra, the
new Avatar. She travels to Republic City to learn the last element she needs to
master to become a full Avatar. There she meets Mako, Asami and Bolin with
which she befriends and travels with and embarks on adventures to save the
world and fulfil the Avatar's purpose: to provide balance to the world.
Rating: *****
A good sequel
I must say this series really surprised me. I was quite
sceptic after watching the first two episodes because of how different it was
to its previous serie Avatar: The Last Airbender, however, it grew on me. I was
amazed at the quality of animation, its HD scenes and spectacular fights but
plot-wise... well not much of a link between books. Whereas in The Last
Airbender it was continuous throughout the books: Fire nation taking over the
world, Aang had to fight them and learn the elements. In Korra we meet this 17
year old who already knows all but one element, air. I guess it's a good
introduction but the problem is from then onwards. There is no clear link
between books, and only in the last book we find out what was the idea all
along. It is quite confusing initially but after you reach the end it makes you
want to re-watch it and that's what I did. And I was surprised at all the
details that I missed! And you can pick up on the themes of what's going on
very easily.
In the first time round I found it is was really good and
enjoyable. Yes, we get the late explanation but the series still made me follow
it religiously, and yes, every Friday I made sure to watch the new episode, whether
good or bad. And even the worst ones such as the episode 'Remembrances' in book
4, which ties in with the explanation of the plot, was made because of
nickelodeon's cut on their budget and even then you get a good insight into
character development. And what fascinates me is that even though they suffered
the cut, they still went ahead with the series and managed to get it to the
end. Now the debate stands as to whether or not the series will continue, to
which my opinion is YES PLEASE!!!, but unlike other series they carried on till
the end and delivered a spectacular ending. I won't spoil it that much but wow,
that ending! It had the great big fight but what was great about it was that
the character grew as a person. If this fight had been made in the beginning,
Korra would have probably just beaten the lights out of the bad guy and put him
to prison or even let him die. However here she saves the baddie and shows empathy,
even though her family was tortured, even though her friends nearly died. And I
guess in the end it was satisfying to see that growth in character and ability
to do something not many of us possibly would be able to do, at least I speak
for myself. And that in the end was the plot of the whole story: Korra as the
Avatar, as an Avatar in a balanced world that can take care of itself.
I liked the ideas in each book. They touch upon adult themes
in a kids show such as dictatorships and egalitarianism. I also like the way
they make the viewers ponder upon who is right. Sometimes it felt as if the bad
guys were right except they took it too far like the right for everyone to be
equal between benders and non-benders, except it was taken the wrong way by
ceasing bending to exist. And again in the other seasons the same happens.
There is also the friends she makes throughout the episodes:
Mako, Asami and Bolin, as well as the older masters and their respective
families which accompany her journey throughout the series. And in the end of it, it felt as if all the characters
had a proper ending, and everything tied together nicely. The conflicts were
resolved and you could say everyone had their happy ending.
Just before I finish there are a few curiosities that I
loved, hated and made me sad about such as the fact that when Korra became the
next Avatar after Aang, yeah that meant Aang had just died which sadden me from
the beginning because Aang is just Aang. I also disliked very much the idea in
the beginning that the setting was during the industrial revolution. I very
much liked Aang's story precisely because of its setting but in the end I coped
with it and ended up liking the ideas that originated from it. I also hated the
fact that they pretty much erased all the connections to the previous avatars,
I guess to make it so that we wouldn't see Aang all the time, and to that extent
it worked quite well and as such what I loved about it was meeting the old
guys: Katara, Toph, Zuko, Uncle Iron and even Zhao's cameo. Such a great little
bonus to the story. (I absolutely love it when sequels add in old characters!)
In the end I guess they left a few of plot wholes, possibly
intending on a continuation via comic books? This is since most people believe
that there won't be another Avatar, but then they said it about the previous
one and hey! Legend of Korra. But yeah, aside its ups and downs I did enjoy the
series as a whole and will still carry on being a fan of the Avatar!
