Current Events > Is Legend of Korra good?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Ehhh, it was kinda middling. I think it started to pick up a bit by the final season, but it being the final season, there wasn't too much afterwards.

I'm watching now and Korra is jacked lol. I'm sure certain people didn't like that.

lderivedx posted...

It's fine. I think Korra is a better protagonist than Aang, but the writers' attempt to address political topics while knowing nothing about politics is a bit annoying. For example, the antagonist intending to represent fascism is treated the most sympathetically, despite having slave labor camps and (hinting at? I can't remember if it was hinted or explicit) executing dissidents. Also the lack of imagination regarding how society would progress (people have magic abilities but society and technology progresses in the manner that early 1900s liberal democracies did) was a bit disappointing.

Bending is not magic.

lilORANG posted...

I'm watching now and Korra is jacked lol. I'm sure certain people didn't like that.

I loved it.

It's not as bad as people say, but it's not as consistently great as A:TLA.

Ragtag28 posted...

Bending is not magic.

...What?

2 eps in and i know things will happen eventually but it is a little odd that TLA started in the middle of a war and Korra is just chilling in a city with JK Simmons while the world is at peace.

Aang must have done a dang good job as Avatar to make everything so chill

MorganTJ posted...

It's not as bad as people say, but it's not as consistently great as A:TLA.

...What?

It isn't magic. The show goes through great detail about it. Not everyone could use it. Heavily relies on martial arts to use. Your born into your element. You don't use incantations. Bending has much more restrictions in comparison to magic where magic has a lot more freedom to use. Bending is more realistic and thematic in their approach in comparison to how magic generally works.

So it's magic that relies on martial arts. Still magic.

Thanatos_the_Great posted...

So it's magic that relies on martial arts. Still magic.

Its not magic....im guessing u never watched the show before

Thanatos_the_Great posted...

So it's magic that relies on martial arts. Still magic.

There's a quote in the show: "it's not magic. It's water bending"

Yes, it is magic. But in universe they see it as something else

Book 2 had some of the best animation in the series but it is kind of hard to watch

Ragtag28 posted...

Its not magic....im guessing u never watched the show before

It is magic. You're thinking of shonen action comics rules, but anything that doesn't actually have an explanation of the process between input and output, in fiction, is "magic". Superman's powers are justified via his alien biology, but there's no actual explanation of the process of how they work, so they are magic. Bending is the same way: Justified by spirit stuff, no actual explainable process. (Which it shouldn't have. The mysticism is in the mystery.)

lilORANG posted...

Yes, it is magic. But in universe they see it as something else

The 'Korra is a villain' notion is slightly accurate in that Korra is basically Zuko who had the good fortune of being born on the good guy's side. She is a flawed protagonist, and if you give her a chance, eventually she'll move you. Zuko, Sokka, Iroh, etc are some of my favorite characters in popular fiction, but Korra manages to beat them all for the crown of favorite character across both series. Korra's arc actually helped me recognize and come to terms with depression in my own life; I can count on one hand the number of times a fictional character has gotten through to me to such a degree.

lilORANG posted...

I'm watching now and Korra is jacked lol. I'm sure certain people didn't like that.

It came put before the anti woke bs started.

spikethedevil posted...

It came put before the anti woke bs started.

Nah, the anti-woke bs has been going on since long before Korra came out. People just weren't calling it "woke" yet.

Really cool of some of the posters ITT to post unmarked spoilers when TC is explicitly saying he hasn't seen the show.

Thanatos_the_Great posted...

Nah, the anti-woke bs has been going on since long before Korra came out. People just weren't calling it "woke" yet.

Nah, it wasn't nearly as bad as it is now. For instance, certain people absolutely would have taken issue with a female protagonist being muscular nowadays whereas I don't think anyone even batted an eye back then.

It's a really good show. Not as good as ATLA, but that show was lightning in a bottle and is pretty much the GOAT.

pegusus123456 posted...

Really cool of some of the posters ITT to post unmarked spoilers when TC is explicitly saying he hasn't seen the show.

Fuck, my bad, I missed that. So used to these topics allowing spoilers by default.

Nah, it wasn't nearly as bad as it is now. For instance, certain people absolutely would have taken issue with a female protagonist being muscular nowadays whereas I don't think anyone even batted an eye back then.

Came in to say this. There was a major shift in discourse, but it was after Korra.

It's like Gears of War 4 for me. Completely unnecessary and not as good. But companies are going to strike while the iron is hot to potentially make more money.

Honestly, it was an enjoyable show overall. It was NEVER going to measure up to the original series because that's an impossibly high bar but I think it still succeeded both as a continuation of Aang's world and as a stand alone series that deals with the specific plights of Korra and her allies.

Having Aang and Katara's son become her principal mentor was a stroke of genius, particularly given the marked contrasts between Tenzin, his parents, and Korra herself. I actually respect that the entire first half of the series leaned into the comparison and contrast between Aang and Korra. Not only did this help define Korra as a completely different kind of hero (she's a fighter, Aang's an arbiter) but it set the tone for some of the trials that she would endure later in the series.

So yeah, it's definitely a good show. I think season 2 was the "weak" one of the bunch but it still did some good things (I think a lot of that was because they slowed down the relatively breakneck pace of season 1 and in doing so, there was more meandering to the central conflict than necessary). Thankfully, it was balanced out by an excellent 3rd season, while the bookend seasons are pretty good (S1) and decent (S4).

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

Gasp it's not how dare you!!!!

If avatar were more popular (I'm talking dbz popular or even High school era Naruto popular) we would probably have had people try to do the equivalent of the Naruto run but with bending... or yelling really loud to make you stronger.

lilORANG posted...

I just finished ATLA and it was good. I've heard everything about Korra from it being better than TLA to it being total trash that ruins the lore or whatever. I mostly don't care about the plot of a kid show, as long as the animation and action scenes are good. Will I enjoy it?

If you don't care about the plot then you should be good with Korra. The story is both good, via it's villains, and bad, via it's protagonist. The fights and animation are great. This is Korra's strongest highlight.

Avatar was a kids cartoon with adult themes. Korra is a teen drama with adult themes.

Dungeater posted...

first season is pretty good but ends weakly, and the inter-character dynamics are kinda lame

second season is almost unwatchably bad

third season is one of the best seasons of a cartoon ever. it's on par with book 2 of TLA

fourth season sucks but not as bad as s2

This. It's too bad you can't just skip S2, because as bad as it is it sets up the rest of the series.

Guide posted...

I thought Kuvira was so close to being a great villain, but they just kinda stopped developing her much at all aside from the beginning and the end. You gotta keep giving those types more human moments if you're going to give them a constant presence.

I loved the idea of kuvira. Everyone hated her and hated her fans, but I really thought "the great uniter" was a good concept especially if further explored.

They continued her development in the comics... for better or worse