Goongala's Grumbles: "The Legend of Korra" Review

One of the main reasons I watched Avatar: The Last Airbender was so that I could get to the new series, The Legend of Korra. From what I had seen on Youtube and other websites, I had a good feeling that I would enjoy it. Now that I've watched it, I can say that I not only enjoyed it... I loved it. Warning: spoilers throughout.

Good - The Story, However Rushed, was Decent
I've read on several blogs that a lot of people had a problem with how the story progressed, most often focusing on how rushed the story was. Avatar: The Last Airbender had three seasons to fully develop a world, characters, and a story line; whereas The Legend of Korra was supposed to be a mini-series. Halfway through the show's airing the producers saw how good it was doing, and demanded more even though the show's story had already been set on a path to a definite conclusion. The Legend of Korra had only 12 episodes to build a complex world, and it just couldn't do it in such a short time.

I actually liked the story, but I can't give a solid argument in it's favor. I can see where the complaints are coming from, and I can't help but agree. The story was terribly rushed, and tried to cram too much into such a small amount of time. Several different story arcs and a conclusion were crammed into what should have been a world and character building season. Despite this, I feel they did a decent job with the time they had.

Have you ever walked out of a movie theater or finished up a television series and thought, "I think I could have ended that better"? Yeah, that's the way I felt watching the last episodes of Korra. In fact, I had a whole conspiracy theory about how Tarrlok was actually Amon, manipulating both sides of the city to his advantage. It all fit so perfectly... until they revealed their backstory. It tied in well with the flashbacks Korra had of Aang, but it was somewhat anti-climactic. I definitely felt like my twist made for a much better story, and was quite disappointed when it didn't happen that way. But, I didn't write the story, so I can't, in good conscious, give them a bad rating.

Oh, but it could have been magnificent, brothers and sisters!

Blech - The Ending
I can't give it a bad rating overall, but I can't very well look past one of the key problems with the show. Because this was a mini-series, the story was expected to end on the last episode. The whole story was rushed, yes, but that's not the worst part. The ending was terrible. Forced to tie up any loose ends and have a happy ending, the writers cut corners and conveniently did away with the show's villains. They conveniently gave everyone their powers back. This was a good thing, but... convenient. That seems to be the word for the ending: convenient. The biggest problem is that they had to have a happy ending for everyone. This is something... here it comes... anime doesn't always do. Sure, many of them have happy endings, but sometimes the main characters die or loose/give up their powers in order to ensure that happy ending (Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood, Bleach, Naruto, and Cowboy Bebop are some examples). I really enjoyed the show, but I didn't like the way they wrapped it up.

Behold... CONVENIENCE!

Good - As With Avatar, Korra's Characters were Memorable
In fact, I'd say I liked The Legend of Korra's characters more. From Korra herself all the way down to little Meelo, I liked pretty much all of them. One of my favorites has to be Amon. None of the villains from the first series can even come close to how scary Amon is. His power to take a person's bending instills fear into the hearts of even the strongest benders. He is a master of public speaking, sparking a revolution in the non-bending masses.

Amon is cold and calm; everything he does furthers his agenda. He's a perfect villain, manipulating the masses into believing that bending is bad and unnecessary. It causes the authorities to take extreme actions against non-benders, making the non-bending citizens of Republic City hate them even more. I liked the way Korra responded to him. At first, she was naive and ran headlong into confrontation. No one can really teach her how to be Avatar, so she's inexperienced. I liked how Korra's personality is constantly at odds with her position as Avatar, creating tension throughout the story. She wants so badly to be a good Avatar, but can't seem to grasp what being the Avatar really means. She's much like Aang in that respect, even though she has several people around her trying to teach her. Then there's Bolin. If there is anyone in any of the cartoons and anime that I have ever watched that is most like me, it's Bolin.

"So... Korra... there they go... here we are... all alone in the gym... just you and me... two, alone people... together... alone..."

As with Avatar: The Last Airbender, I found that I really liked the voice acting again. The roles were perfectly cast. One that got me laughing was J.K. Simmons, the voice of Tenzin. Hearing his voice is almost always hilarious, but it fit Tenzin really well. Another surprise was when they brought back Zuko's voice actor to play General Iroh. Personally, I wish they had used someone new, but he didn't do a bad job. Overall, I was pleased with the personalities of the characters and the voice actors chosen to portray them.

Good - Non-American Animation, Even Better than The Last Airbender
I know this will probably label me as someone who only likes Japanese anime style animations, but... I don't care. With how good Japanese animation usually is, and how bad American animation usually is, it's hard not to. But, The Legend of Korra wasn't drawn in Japan: the animation was done by a Korean company. To be honest, that doesn't really matter. What matters is that the animation is a giant leap forward from what The Last Airbender was.

Much better than The Last Airbender...

The animation was one of the main reasons I wanted to watch The Legend of Korra in the first place. It was fantastic! I don't normally end my sentences with exclamation marks, but when I do it's because I'm flippin' excited about something. The character movements were great. The fluidity of the combat is incredible. I was thoroughly pleased with the character models and shadows. The facial expressions were phenomenal, and had me laughing on countless occasions. The only real problem I had with the animation was...

Meh - 3D Rendered Animations
I've never liked CGI in traditional animation, but some do it better than others. I didn't like it in Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood, and not particularly in Ghost in the Shell: SAC. It may be easier to make the scene that way, but to me it looks like cutting corners. The Last Airbender used quite a few CGI models in the later episodes, and Korra used them throughout. For as much as I dislike them, the models in the show could have been much worse. In fact, I'm not giving it a "Blech" rating because I have seen far worse. At the very least the CGI elements meshed well with the rest of the animation, even if they did look a bit off.

Not so bad... but still a bit weird looking.

GENIUS - Pro-Bending
There are no words to adequately explain how much I like Pro-Bending. The whole idea of using bending as a sport is a great idea, but getting it to work seems like it would be difficult. However, the creators found a way... and a brilliant one at that. The rules and regulations are well thought out, and make for some very interesting matches. As I watched them, I got all jittery and excited. The Pro-Bending episodes are actually some of my favorite episodes, and I've watched them over and over wishing the sport actually existed. Pro-Bending, Quidditch, Podracing, Grifball... Why are all the amazing sports imaginary?

Good - The Comedy Was Hilarious
I've heard it said that The Legend of Korra's comedy fell flat and that it wasn't as good as the comedy in Avatar: The Last Airbender. I completely disagree. True, Sokka wasn't around to make light of the dire situations, but I thought the comedy was great. Tenzin's children were a good source of hilarity, Meelo especially. There were even parts that probably weren't supposed to be funny that had me rolling all over the couch. In fact, most of the time I was laughing at the facial expressions more than the actual jokes.

The "lower lip" thing is used numerous times, and I find it hilarious...

I can't believe I'm saying this, but the whole love triangle... er, trapezoid... rhombus... "thingy" between Korra and Mako, Korra and Bolin, and Mako and Asami made for some great comedy. The episode where Bolin and Korra go on a "date" is another of my favorites. The subtle hints Bolin gives off earlier in the series are pretty funny too. I'm glad that it didn't get in the way of the story, even though the results of the different relationships had consequences for the characters. No one ran off and did something stupid because, "[Insert name here] doesn't love me!" I hate it when that happens...

"You know what I'm talking about, Pabu... I'm talking about real love..."

Final Thoughts
The Legend of Korra has become one of my all time favorite animated series. From the superb animation and intriguing setting, to the fantastic sport of Pro-Bending and hilarious comedy, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I've watched some of the episodes four and five times over, marveling at the leap forward in animation quality and enjoying the hilarious jokes and facial expressions. Although I didn't give it a section, the music was really good too. The story and ending left much to be desired, but with season two coming sometime in the near future, I think they'll be able to remedy some of the problems from the first season . I can only hope that the second season will maintain the good elements that have already been created, and fix the bad that came from having to rush the series to a conclusion.

And because I have dozens of screenshots that I wanted to put up, but wasn't able to use, I'm going to post them as extras for the lulz...