The Legend of Korra, series discussion.

So, who here has started watching The Legend of Korra? I recently picked up Avatar again (not having finished it back when it was airing), and immediately started watching Korra afterwards. So far I've only seen the two first episodes, but it seems promising. Korra is a completely different Avatar than Aang was, and I look forward to see her tackle the spirit part of her destiny. I also love the 1920-30s Hong Kong vibe mixed with some steampunk (airships etc) that's present in the architecture and criminal gangs. For fans of the old series there are several winks and nods, but this is definitely accessible for a new audience as well.

What are your thoughts?

There are older topics about Korra, but none about the show after its beginning, so I see no trouble in starting a new one.

After the first episode, I was expecting some type of fan fic that turns the whole thing into Atlas Shrugged :P.

i like it more than the orginal. Korra is a great character and he supporting cast is great.

Korra is a great character but the show isn't nearly as good as the original but I don't except it to be. I'll keep watching though.

I think its awesome. I'm glad they seem to be getting the romance stuff out early. I hate it when the awkward glances stage lasts 3 seasons.

I like it so far on the whole, except I don't really like the Zuko clone. Amon is much more interesting than the fire lord was.

@Animasta said:

I like it so far on the whole, except I don't really like the Zuko clone. Amon is much more interesting than the fire lord was.

Wait, are you suggesting that Amon is supposed to be Zuko? That makes zero goddamn sense.

Oh, and while I'm here, can somebody explain why Korra fucked up her water bending late in today's episode? She's spiraling up toward Amon, and then loses control for no clear reason.

@Video_Game_King said:

@Animasta said:

I like it so far on the whole, except I don't really like the Zuko clone. Amon is much more interesting than the fire lord was.

Wait, are you suggesting that Amon is supposed to be Zuko? That makes zero goddamn sense.

Oh, and while I'm here, can somebody explain why Korra fucked up her water bending late in today's episode? She's spiraling up toward Amon, and then loses control for no clear reason.

no no, Mako is the Zuko clone

@Animasta said:

I like it so far on the whole, except I don't really like the Zuko clone. Amon is much more interesting than the fire lord was.

Wait, are you suggesting that Amon is supposed to be Zuko? That makes zero goddamn sense.

Oh, and while I'm here, can somebody explain why Korra fucked up her water bending late in today's episode? She's spiraling up toward Amon, and then loses control for no clear reason.

@Spoonman671:

Or maybe the water under the ring? Or there's an open circulation system running underneath the grating in the ring?

Also, I thought she was constantly pushing herself up, as opposed to some type of spring motion.

@Spoonman671: in the probending arena the is water flowing under neath. they pull it out through the grates in the floor. Also remember the whole area is surrounded by water

I never watched Airbender, but I've been kind of enjoying this. I think a lot of it has to do with pure nostalgia, in a way; watching cartoons makes me feel like a young lad again. It's not a great show, but they do a much better job than I'd expect them to, and the fight scenes can be legitimately cool. Bolin is fucking great, too.

@Spoonman671 said:

I still don't understand where the waterbenders are getting their water from. It's been a while since I saw the original series, but I thought they had to have some kind of source to bend from like a puddle or something.

You mean in the pro-bending matches? I think they're getting the water out through the grates in between each section of the court. My guess is that's fed by the little lake thing down below or something. But yeah, there have been a couple instances where I was confused about where the water was coming from when she's wandering around outside.

also why the fuck is the show on at 11 am

also why the fuck is the show on at 11 am

@Spoonman671 said:

@Animasta said:

also why the fuck is the show on at 11 am

Yeah, that's kind of awkward for me. I want to start my Saturday morning gaming session, but then I'll miss the show. Then again, that Clone Wars show was always on at 8 or 9 and I never watched it, so I guess I at least see the show this way.

I don't even mind, it just seems really odd for being the big Nickelodeon hit of the season... I don't even know what else nick does now though

I'm interested in watching it, I loved Avatar even though I only ever saw random episodes, but I don't know when Korra is shown or even if it's playing in the UK yet.

I don't care enough to stream it, but if it ends up on Netflix I'll probably watch it there.

@Animasta said:

@Spoonman671 said:

@Animasta said:

also why the fuck is the show on at 11 am

Yeah, that's kind of awkward for me. I want to start my Saturday morning gaming session, but then I'll miss the show. Then again, that Clone Wars show was always on at 8 or 9 and I never watched it, so I guess I at least see the show this way.

I don't even mind, it just seems really odd for being the big Nickelodeon hit of the season... I don't even know what else nick does now though

all they do these days are stupid sitcoms that aren't even funny

i'm liking it so far. the 11 am time is a little awkward because sometimes i miss it but other than that the story is pretty interesting.

@JeanLuc: The show seems to centered more towards teens/young-adults, so love and other topics might handled more seriously and earlier. Those that watched the first series are now older, so it's a great play to get them back, as well as hitting a wider age-group. The first show tackled the topics of love, loss and betrayal (just to mention some) rather well, but was more childish than Korra comes of as. I've still only seen the first two episodes, so I'll have to wait and see if my assumptions are correct.

I haven't seen all of the original "Avatar: The Last Airbender," but I've watched enough of it to know the general gist of what happens, and from what I've seen, that series is pretty amazing overall.

So I went into "Legend of Korra" as a moderate fan of the series at large, and I think it's doing a great job of picking up where the last one left off as being a series that has something for everybody. I'm impressed with how mature the themes and concepts are even this early on in the series, with the unrest between the Bending and non-Bending populations of Republic City, and the notion of what the Revelation means for Benders. They're tackling some pretty dark stuff right off the bat, and I'm excited to see where it goes.

I'm also really impressed with where they've taken the art style, with the mish-mash of Eastern culture, steampunk and early-20th-century America (they have pagoda cars! What a silly yet awesome design). The animation style continues to be both very detailed and very fluid, which is something I can't really say about a lot of animated shows out there right now.

Finally, I was rather surprised to find out that the voice of Tenzin is none other than J.K. Simmons. He does a great job with the character, and his voice for him is drastically different than the typical snarky barking that he usually affects in his film roles, so his inclusion in the cast is nothing short of a treat. On the other hand, I personally could do with less Steven Blum, because he's been in so many things with more or less the same voice over the years that his voice really takes me out of whatever he's in now.

I'm kind of interested where the show is going. the 1st series had a plain good vs bad. In this series it isn't so cut and dry. It seems to be about an emerging aristocracy/homo superior vs the common man. We'll just have to see how it plays out.

@fetchfox said:

@JeanLuc: The show seems to centered more towards teens/young-adults, so love and other topics might handled more seriously and earlier. Those that watched the first series are now older, so it's a great play to get them back, as well as hitting a wider age-group. The first show tackled the topics of love, loss and betrayal (just to mention some) rather well, but was more childish than Korra comes of as. I've still only seen the first two episodes, so I'll have to wait and see if my assumptions are correct.

Oh trust me you are correct.

Little Korra yelling "I'M THE AVATAR, DEAL WITH IT" got me. Fucking adorable.

anyone know when the new episode is going to be nick.com?

I've watched the entirety of avatar and really liked it so I'm glad they did a sequel.

So far I have only watched the first three episodes and it's still in the introduction and laying out foundation stages. I'm liking the advancement of technology and the "bender vs non-bender" thing although I didn't think there would be so many non-benders around.

So having only seen the first three episodes and not the others, is the show going to focus on dealing with the Amon situation or does he take away Korra's bending ability, forcing her to go on a journey to relearn all the four elements that culminates into a final showdown? Because what I liked about Aang was the quest/journey and travelling to new places and funny high jinks they get into. With Korra, she already knows three of the elements so I wonder what is she suppose to do after mastering air element. I can't imagine the entire show would just be in republic city.

@supamon:

There's no way they're taking her powers away, since Amon said that he can take away bending forever. Besides, from what I've read, they're going to make The Legend of Korra more centralized than Avatar, meaning you won't see much outside Republic City.

@Video_Game_King: Maybe being the avatar means her bending abilities can't be locked forever since she can access her spiritual predecessors? I haven't seen her speak with Aang or Roku so who knows?

I guess I'm just waiting to see the major conflict/villian of the show and I can't see the anti-bending movement being it. In "the last airbender" they pretty much showed you the villians from the start.

BTW, how are you able to watch earth tv from the moon?

I really hate the 20's-30's feel of it. The jazz music and radio announcer just make me mad, i really don't like the setting.

@supamon:

I'm not sure the Avatar's that invincible. After all, Azula was able to lightning the shit out of Aang when he was going full-on Avatar.

Isn't that an argument FOR Amon being the main baddy?

(I watch Earth TV by intercepting radio wave broadcasts.)

I'm liking it, but not as much as the first series. Things feel more predictable, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, and I'm really not liking about half the main cast at the moment... but the setting is fun, even if there are some changes I don't like, and I'm willing to give it some time to pick up steam. Maybe Amon will seem like more of a threat when he does more than dodge things and let his lackeys fight.

I'm likeing it as well. Amon is a really good antagonist and it's nice to see that Korra fears him and hesitates when taking any action agaienst him .Also pro-bending is pretty neat, I hope it stays part of the story.

@Animasta said:

Amon is much more interesting than the fire lord was.

Agreed, I think Amon is a much more complex character than the Firelord. Hopefully there will be an episode that will show Amon's back-story.

I like it so far. My only issue is the romance crap.

1/5 - Not enough pantyshots.

@Ravenlight said:

1/5 - Not enough pantyshots.

That's because I'm certain the only character who wears is a skirt is pregnant.

I'm enjoying it so far. But I almost think Legend of Korra needs to be split up into two shows. One can be the relationship soap opera so they don't waste entire episodes like "Spirit of Competition" where nothing happens except tease people who put a lot of stock in teenage romance. I get love is a big deal, even in fictional settings, but when you've established antagonists like Amon (voiced by Steve Blum no less) it feels like there are more important things to focus on.

The other show can be the drama where they tackle stuff like Triad gangs, the Metalbender cops, and the Equalists. That material is probably the best part about Korra so far, but hardly gets any exploration except when Amon is crashing the scene to get the plot back on track. We never do hear from the Triad after he equalizes the leaders of the biggest gang in the city. What happens to all those cool looking hot rods? Who will drive them now?

Also, I feel like the casting director is showing off getting Lance Henriksen to play a bit part as the villains' second in command (the Lieutenant I think his name is?) the guy with the electrified batons. We're halfway through the season and he's had like three or four lines. And he just got thrown off the roof of a stadium. I would hope there's a monologue in his future. Surely he's not around just to make a guy with a wicked Fu Manchu sound menacing. Surely there's just enough material to make a really good Modern Warfare 2 or Mass Effect 3 joke somehow? Aliens, at the very least. That's just me, of course.

I really am enjoying the season so far but it doesn't quite live up to the awesomness that Sozin's Comet Parts 1-4 were. If Amon is such a menace why not just go balls to the wall and bloodbend him? Hey you triad dude without morals, kill him from the inside out. Success!

I just watched yesterday's episode and it was amazing. All my doubts about this show are gone now. The action was amazing and the teasing of Amon is really interesting ( He's badass! ), I like that they don't just give away his plans and who he is right away, the flashbacks to Aang, Toph, and Sokka as adults were cool, and the whole bloodbending stuff seems like a really cool additional variable.

All in all I think this show is gonna live up to The Last Airbender and maybe even surpass it. My favorite show right now.

@Spoonman671 said:

I still don't understand where the waterbenders are getting their water from. It's been a while since I saw the original series, but I thought they had to have some kind of source to bend from like a puddle or something. Did they change the rules? Earthbenders still require a source, since they get fed those discs in the pro bending arena, so I assume they made up some nonsense about water benders drawing moisture out of the air or something.

@Video_Game_King said:

@Animasta said:

I like it so far on the whole, except I don't really like the Zuko clone. Amon is much more interesting than the fire lord was.

Wait, are you suggesting that Amon is supposed to be Zuko? That makes zero goddamn sense.

Oh, and while I'm here, can somebody explain why Korra fucked up her water bending late in today's episode? She's spiraling up toward Amon, and then loses control for no clear reason.

I think it was just too high for her to shoot herself. I suppose there has to be some limit.

if you are talking about the pro-bending matches, the waterbenders get their water from the "pool" under them.

Unfortunately, I never really kept up with the previous Avatar series. I know the basics, which is luckily mostly all I need to understand what's going on in this series.

I love Korra's character, and the supporting character's are all amazing, too. The plot is actually interesting, and hope even more interesting characters are introduced. If this really is a short series (like I've been hearing) then I'll have to finally catch up with the first Avatar Series.

Legend Of Korra is a awesome cartoon :D

Alright, so all of those plot twists were pretty dumb, but I'll actually consider it worth it because they just aired a murder-suicide on Nickelodeon.

Alright, so all of those plot twists were pretty dumb, but I'll actually consider it worth it because they just aired a murder-suicide on Nickelodeon.

@Spoonman671: If either of them show up alive after this, I'll pretty much consider the series ruined. Say what you will about the first series, but they did stick with it when they killed someone off, even if they had to be a little ambiguous about it. That boat scene was about as blatant as they can get with something like that, I think.

Also, how the fuck did the airbenders get captured? There was a whole scene with them escaping! Heroic sacrifices and all!

I did have a feeling that her inability to "master" one of the elements was going to bail out her bacon.

As for the family getting captured, you did see those airplanes Saito built right? Probably could outrun the bison easily.

In general I want to say that benders in general seem to have a blind spot for tech in general. Did not one person in the armada suggest they be cautious about going into an enemy held harbor?

DAMN IT! I missed today's episode. Now I have to hope that somebody managed to upload the damn thing to YouTube.

@EXTomar: The army getting taken out so easily was pretty disappointing to see. You'd figure they would have been a little smarter about things, but I'll let it slide as far as problems with the plot go.

And the Airbenders getting captured is annoying because it happened completely offscreen, and because it rendered Lin's entire heroic sacrifice in the last episode totally useless. It also doesn't do much for Tenzin's reputation of losing to everyone, letting his family be taken and all that.

DAMN IT! I missed today's episode. Now I have to hope that somebody managed to upload the damn thing to YouTube.

@Make_Me_Mad said:

And the Airbenders getting captured is annoying because it happened completely offscreen, and because it rendered Lin's entire heroic sacrifice in the last episode totally useless. It also doesn't do much for Tenzin's reputation of losing to everyone, letting his family be taken and all that.

Well, the Equalists did have airplanes, something no one in that universe had seen or dealt with before, so they could easily catch the sky bisons. But it's still weak about Tenzin's family getting captured off screen.