I Watched The Legend of Korra, so I'm Reviewing It

Between lacking cable TV when it was airing and not being inclined to use…alternatives…since it was something I was highly certain I’d like and could safely purchase ‘blind,’ I’ve finally gotten around to watching The Legend of Korra. And yep, I liked it. I liked it a lot.

The tighter, more story-focused approach was a nice change of pace from The Last Airbender. You can tell this was originally supposed to be a mini-series, because it’s only the first season but still tells a complete story. It’s even self-contained enough that you could watch it without having seen Airbender. You wouldn’t get as much out of it, at least when it comes to the many nods to the original, but the meat of the story would still work on its own.

When I first heard the series was being extended, I’d assumed they were also extending the initial Republic City story as well, but that’s clearly not the case. Rather, it looks like they’ll tell a different story each season, which, again, is a neat change from the original show. Because it’s shorter it was also able to focus more on a specific theme, in this case prejudice, which was only somewhat touched on in the original show. That being said, I do think they could have done a little more in showing the discrimination and power imbalance between benders and non-benders. They did show it, obviously, with things like the Triads and the all-bender City Council, but personally, I didn’t feel completely sold on it being the reality of things. But that’s probably over-analyzing things. It’s like Doug Walker said a few times in his vlogs for Airbender – it only gets critiqued to that degree because it’s already a step above most kids’ shows. There was also a few things I didn’t completely like about the truth behind Amon, but that’s far too spoilery to elaborate here. Still, it was a strong, well-done story that was different enough from its predecessor, while the focus on the Avatar and the need for balance kept it connected to its predecessor, and I really enjoyed it.

The change to an urban, pseudo-1920s setting was also cool. It’s a definite contrast from the traditional East Asian aesthetic of the original, perhaps even too abrupt of a leap. But really, the first series already had airships, tanks, iron-hulled warships, and even a train, so cars, radios, and skyscrapers aren’t that much of a stretch when you think about it. Granted, you could argue that those were jarring in the original. But regardless, Korra’s setting was still interesting and well-designed, and again, a nice change from the original. Another limitation of having a shorter story was that we didn’t get to explore Republic City as much as we could’ve. There’s more story potential for things like the Triads, the politics of the city, or the myriad of social ills, like poverty, that plague it. But again, limited time, and for all I know some of it feature in later seasons.

The cast was well-done too. I think they did a really good job with Korra. She’s headstrong and rebellious like the creators described her, but it’s not overdone. She can be goaded into things, and chafes at having to be patient more often than not, but she can admit when she was wrong, is aware of her own faults, and isn’t fearless. Mako and Bolin are both likable, and have shades of Zuko and Sokka, respectively, without feeling like they’re basically version 2.0 of the latter. Asami could’ve been the annoying romantic third wheel or just a spoiled rich girl, but they made her useful and capable of holding her own in a fight, which was good. They go for the typical love triangle thing with Korra/Mako/Asami, which was annoying, but not overly so, and I liked that they didn’t make it a constant catfight between Asami and Korra. You get things like Asami saying “I like Korra” even while she’s chewing out Mako for being non-committal in their relationship. The supporting cast also worked well, especially the authority figures like Bei Fong, Tarrlock, and Tenzin, whose qualities made them foils for Korra. Tenzin was my personal favorite – you just feel for him sometimes, being the only one trying to keep this wacky bunch in line. Some of the rest were underdeveloped, which was unfortunate but understandable given the format they’re working with. In particular I was a little disappointed we didn’t get to see more of that homeless guy – he looked like a fun character.

So, to complete the cycle, yeah, I definitely enjoyed it. Not absolutely everything, but the stuff I didn’t was outweighed by what I did. I’d be looking forward to the next season even if the trailer didn’t make it look awesome. Which it does.