Actually the world of Avatar took place roughly around the turn of the century, and Korra took place about 60 years later in around the time of World War II. If you look at the rapid growth in places like New York city during that time you’d see this level of advancement. However, Ba Sing Se has the level of advancement more akin to Beijing in the same period. Also, the spirit vein tech is basically an arc about what if the creator of dynamite discovered atomic bombs.
Tenzin is one of the real highlights of LOK, IMO. Him exploring his relationship with his siblings and children and having to deal with the pressure of continuing the Airbending traditions is some of the best content in the series. Also Jinora.
Okay, first reactions off the bat: I didn't actually know that about the woman who plays old Katara, that's pretty neat. Tenzin is a highlight throughout, and his relationship with Aang is explored big-time throughout the show. Lin goes through a great arc and actually ends up as one of my favorites, although the point about fanservice-y characters is one I agree with, if not about her specifically.
OMP - I feel that would be a bit shortsighted. Beyond the fact Korra was taught under Katara, who would surely bring up Toph, part of Korra’s character is that she craves being the Avatar in part because of her idolization of Aang. If she missed out such a crucial person in his life, it would make her look uninformed about something we the audience are well informed about.
You should definitely make more videos about Korra. She's such a different character from Aang, it's hard to imagine she was him in a past life. She's a great and interesting character, and although she has her flaws, I always loved her. Aang was the Avatar when the world needed the Avatar most but he wasn't ready. Korra was the Avatar when the world didn't need her but she WAS ready.
When the show started, I also started college, and started my first channel, and covered the voice cast every season, and watching the show was great moment in time. Season 1 was meant to be a one off, so when the season ends, you know why it feels that way, but as whole, solid. Nick lived what they saw, midway through the first season, and ordered 3 more seasons, all there own storylines, with season 2 being the weakest, but having incredible moments. Season 3 is where the show hits it's stride, and Season 4 keeps it going. Unfortunately, Nick lost interest, and started putting it on Nick Toons first (A smaller channel), then shipped to there website first then on. During the many years, it's been a right punching bag for hate, but the show may not be Avatar, but as it's self, it's a fine show, that I'll stand by to this day. (Oh yeah, about the technology, if Aang's era is mid to late asian fatansy 1850's, then Korra's era is stylized aesthetic 1930's, with is a proper 70 year difference that show does tell you, so it's not far fetched.)
people ignore how a lot of technology widespread in korra is also in atla, but with one big difference: in atla, only the fire nation had it. In atla, the fire nation has airships, tanks, and a giant drill. They had this presumably to gain an advantage in the 100 year war, so didn't share the information. But after zuko and aang ended the war, zuko would probably share that technology with the rest of the world, so it makes a lot of sense to me.
I'd argue the tech thing is still really far-fetched. In the real world, many western countries were decades ahead of east-asia in technological advances so the reason asia was able to advance so quickly was because they were more adapting a foreign culture than making their own innovations. In the world of Avatar, they came up with all that tech on their own while having to recover from a decades long war. It'd be the equivalent of seeing Europe go through WW1 and then skip ahead 40 years and see them with present day technology. I don't think it's impossible but to make it believable world--building, you'd need to spend significant time explaining why technology shot forward so quickly.
@@IsaiahReitanFilm think about the fact that its a fantasy timeline tho. they have access to ways to manipulate energy and resources we dont have, and technology became more widespread after the war ended. It wouldn't really take long for earth benders to architecture bend, and for fire benders to learn how to use electricity and fire energy for society. It's not like all of the world jumped up, its mostly republic city that had a combined effort and initiative to make this advanced city, as well as Zaofu. Also, war can drive innovation, there's no telling what more was created/invented during that hundred year time period, and that technology overtime becomes common use. There are also time periods in real life with relatively low full scale war like the industrial revolution that still saw a large spike in innovation and technological advancement. Take away the platinum mech suits and its not too far fetched to see how a world like avatar's could progress at the speed they did. Especially if you think 100 year war + 60-70 years after.
@@PaintedHoundie yeah, I'd argue that the rest of the world is stuck in a time when the war first started, whereas the fire nation have been steadily progressing in those 100 years having tech reminiscent of early ww1 war machines (just look at the tanks. Im sure there's some inspiration there) After the war ended and the nations were no longer oppressed they would be free to share their combined knowledge. (We already know that the fire nation used different benders to improve their metal work) We also know that Aang was determined to make republic City work and no doubt made a conceited effort to encourage innovation. i dont think its unreasonable to think that in that catalyst that society would leap forward within the city (Ba Sing Se looks largely as it was so im going to assume that its not totally trickled down to the rest of the world)
TLoK (while it is very different than AtLA), I completely admire its commitment to being its own unique thing rather than a carbon copy of the og series. The 1920s, steam-punk-esque reflected environment is very interesting, and the music and animation are even better than AtLA (especially in season 1).
I disagree with the animation part. Though the costuming is much better, the amount of detail takes away from the amount of frames animated. If u look at ATLA, the costuming is simple and allows for more frames to be made and more movement that flows much smoother.
@@cattd00 Agreed. Art in Korra was pretty good, I admit, but the animation quality? Yeah, the consistency was non existence and it was pretty bad. Even some might moments look like amateurs made them, and each character has this design which was too much for the animators to handle. The quality especially dropped from Season 1 to 2, where there are clearly moments of half assed work being done.
@@thalmoragent9344 Yeah, a lot of season 2 was sub-par compared to the rest of the show, but overall, I prefer this animation to Avatar. I love the use of lighting and the detail put into each character, even if that's not everyone's cup of tea.
That's the most disappointing one considering sokka and Suki were like the power couple in ATLA. I rly do think that LoK failed at at least showing us how the Gaang were holding up after Aangs death. I mean hell, I would even go on to say that LoK may have redeemed itself if it even employed time travel to have the Gaang and (a better developed version) of the new avatar team fight off some common threat for an entire season. That would have had so much potential in character arcs that LoK just lacked. It may seem like geriatric fanservice but cmon, ATLA is a cult following like star wars, you need some level of clever fanservice thrown in there
I read a great fan article hypothesizing Suyin being the child of Sokka and Toph. It was pretty convincing, and probably easy to find through a quick google search. Made me feel better c:
@@bakedpotato1717 but 1. It's not canon, 2. Toph ≠ Suki although I won't be averse to toph and sokka getting married. But honestly, he was just in that one flashback scene in S1 and not much else in LoK, sadly
Vikidaman It doesn’t need to be canon though to make one feel better? There are wildly accepted non-canon rumors in a lot built worlds. It happens, it’s okay to have fun and lean with fan fictions. In the hypothesis, there wasn’t a marriage between Toph and Sokka, Suyin grew up (canon) not knowing who her father was, much like Lin did. And the hypothesis plays on that. Plus Suyin’s eldest son looks remarkably like Sokka, it’s a very interesting hypothesis. Grounded in some pretty objective facts sprinkled with subjective observations. It is pretty sad how left out he was of the LoK. I , personally, think that Korra’s personality was just goofy, sarcastic and strategic enough that it reminded me of him. Not to say that’s suffice, but better than nothing in my opinion. Plus, when I feel like Sokka is getting left out, I just pull out the comics c:
@@bakedpotato1717 I mean it's just jarring to see sokka, who was in an intense couple relationship with Suki, not even be featured in LoK and also give birth to suyin with toph. It's fun to hypothesise, yes, but the implications are sickening, for me at least
(Non-spoiler summary) Season 1- Great start with good villain, but limited in its ending because the creators didn’t know they were gonna get to make more seasons. Love triangle is a bit much at times, but it clears up later on and the action is hard-hitting. Season 2- Lower budget led to slightly worse animation, and the villain isn’t amazing, but the spiritual focus is fascinating and new, and leads to fresh consequences. Interesting insight into Aang’s children Season 3- Best villains in the show, best new characters, best finale, my personal favorite season. This was the only season Nickelodeon let the creators know ahead of time that hey we’re gonna get another season so they ended the season beautifully. Season 4- Lots of interesting ideas/threats that you wouldn’t expect to see in this world, satisfying fan service, and a pretty good wrap-up! Also there’s a very respectful portrayal of PTSD. Bonus: Varrick and Zhu Li are absolutely amazing and just get better and better as the show goes on.
I loved season 2 lmao. Its still OK if you or anyone else don't. But one of the dumbest complaints I've heard to "critique" season 2, is when she left open a portal and started a new avatar cycle, by that they'd call her the worst avatar and blame her for it, I disagree. Unalaq was about to kill a child/future generation of airbenders/Tenzins child. And raava was very weak at that point, which led her to her death. Its quite non empathetic if you'd blame her, I'd like to know what y'all think as well 😁
@@lmaozorfion8247 Yeah, there's no winning with some people in the fandom. They said they wanted consequences after Season 1 -- which is a valid criticism -- but then don't like the consequences that happen afterwards.
Korra feels like an avatar trying to be more of a person. Compared to Aang who was an amazing human who struggled to be the avatar. I enjoy all of korra
The primary character difference between aang and Korra was always that Aang never wanted to be the Avatar, and his arc was learning to be at peace with his mantle of responsibility, Korra always wanted to be the Avatar, and her arc is finding her place in a world that is rapidly changing, and maybe doesn't need one anymore. If you think about in different ways all her season foes represent a challenge to the very existence of the Avatar in one way or another. I think its very compelling stuff.
It's so good to read comments here like this. Korra was always meant to be the exact opposite of Aang and for some reason that upset people. I like her character arc much more. She was beaten down lower than Aang ever was. But she kept moving forward. The themes in Korra hit harder personally. Having said that it does have its many flaws and I still like ATLA more. But what Korra gets right it gets VERY right.
@@mauvrion_fries She's so much the opposite of Aang that while Aang grew up thanks to his friends and masters (questionning your seniors, not fleeing from conflict, being more confident...), Korra learn her life lessons from the villains instead (taking responsibility for being in power, fixing past mistakes, facing traumas...) It's a very good show, and had the writers not decided to put kaiju fights whenever they could, I could have enjoyed it as much as ATLA.
It's taken like 6 years just to be able to have a conversation past: "Last Airbender was better, this isn't the same." Thank you for giving it good coverage!
I prefer seasons 1 and 3 of this show, largely due to the villans. One thing that I’ve always wondered about ATLA is the frustration comming from non-benders about them being sidelined. Maybe that’s why I liked the Sokka sword episode so much in ATLA. I only watched the entire legend of Korra 2 years ago, but overall it’s a decent to good show, if not compared to the original too much
"advances so quick it almost stretches believability" It was 80 years. Look at how far our society advanced from 1890 to 1970. Cars, airplanes, space ships, sky scrapers, nuclear power plants, television
I didnt expect Lin Beifong to impress me much as a character, I got a similar vibe from her introduction as you, but her character has surprising depth which culminates in a fantastic s4 arc. She was a really pleasant surprise in this show
@@vetarlittorf1807 Those badly written moments were all at crucial parts though, which tears apart the cohesive story and it comes out as really sub par. Not only as a sequel to ATLA, but as a story narrative in general.
@@thalmoragent9344 No they weren't. They were mostly just some character moments that got remedied sooner or later and most of them were in book 2. The only one that didn't get remedied was the underdeveloped civil war arc. But it doesn't matter what I say to you because you're obviously going to blow the flaws way out of proportion to make the show look bad...
@@vetarlittorf1807 Listen, Korra had great moments and some smaller side arcs, but it never really peaked in its tru potential due to production and budget and marketing issue. I find the good and bad in a show to look at it from a full perspective, and unfortunately LoK just has a lot of nuances that really hold it back in key areas. Season 2 being absolutely riddled in it, and Season 1 kinda stumbled off the beginning of the show in a weird way since it was only supposed to be a mini series, not a whole 4 seasons long.
Remember re: technology that this is essentially the same gap as between the real world 1850s/60s and 1920s/30s. Especially if you're looking at this in the context of the industrialization of Asia.
@@raghunathb402 Giant mech suit made entirely of platinum IS less believable, I'll grant you that. But that general technology had progressed along similar lines as our real world within a similar time frame? Definitely believable. I'd honestly be ok with it progressing MORE rapidly since they basically have literally magic to do tons that we couldn't have done and often still can't do.
While this is true, the world progressing this far in that amount of time is completely believable I think the show doesn't do enough to highlight how long it's really been or how things progressed to get to the point where the show starts, not saying that they need to overview everything that happened between the 2 shows. But I remember having a very similar feeling at the beginning of the show. It's really jarring to go from the feudal state of AtLA to the industrial revolution of TLoK with little to no explanation.
The think with the industrialization of Asia is that it was heavily influenced by the Western world. Avatar's universe has no outside society to boost the technological and social advancements this much. Though I enjoyed steampunk parts of the ATLA worldbuilding, I would still say that it was the part that required most suspention of disbelief. Even if the ATLA world had some technologies of European early 19th century, I would believe this technologies spreading from Fire Nation to the rest of the world on course of 70 years, but I would not buy the invention of modern airplanes, sky-scrapers or tesla-robots. And I certainly would not buy a social landscape from 1920s New York (or even Hong Kong). It's too Western-centric for Avatar universe.
I think TLoK is vastly underrated. It really feels like the old show but with it's own twist. It even answers questions about the world that we never got to in the TLAB.
Please keep going with this, it's really interesting seeing your perspective, and I'm really looking forward to hearing your opinion once you've finished the show
You should do more videos on both ATLA and LOK! You’re videos on these shows are a W, also check out the comics cause I want to hear your opinion on those too
What you said about the fanservice of having Toph's child involved is one of the things I always didn't like, especially in the first season. The goal of Korra was obviously to create a new world that is NOT the same as ATLA. We get to explore the world/story with Korra, but I always felt that in the first season you are constantly thrown ATLA references whether it be in the form of multiple random ATLA statue shots, conversations, flashbacks, etc., which made it tougher to appreciate Korra/Republic City as its own thing as much as I could have if they laid off the references a bit. In my opinion, as a hardcore ATLA fan, you have to accept that Korra isn't the same show/time in order to start enjoying it fully, but the references are constantly holding you back from coming to that conclusion. too much fan service/throwback restricts the story from developing its own organic identity apart from ATLA. There's a lot that I like about the show, but I think this is part of the reason the show gets so much flak from some fans for "not being like ATLA." At points the overbearing references leave you expecting it to be just that.
I agree. I think it was a probably a bit of a gamble when the show was starting off, deciding how much of a connection character-wise they'd have to ATLA. Their reasoning was probably that with more character connections, they could draw in kids who loved ATLA and maybe weren't too keen to see Korra, but would be interested in seeing, for example, the favorite character Toph's daughter. Without any spoilers, any later connections to ATLA characters in the show was probably for a similar reason-- the show maybe still felt like it had to cater to ATLA fans (even though that isn't necessarily what ALTA fans wanted to see). I'd never thought about that as being one of the reasons why the show is always compared to ATLA and criticized, but it makes sense that it's harder to separate the two when there's always a constant character-connection.
That is exactly why I could not hang on to the show. I wanted Korra to be its own thing and I am a huge ATLA fan. but all of the fan service really put down the show and took away all of its potential.
Idk I like the references because it explains where the old characters are or what they have done. Also if they had no connections or very little, then it would alienate people who liked "ATLA". Having old characters show up or flashbacks shown helps us see why things became the way they are.
@@mandalorianhunter1 Agreed. In my humble opinion, I think at least some of the ATLA references were necessary. For one, This show first aired a full 4 years after the last episode of ATLA aired. That's long enough for someone to have began and ended high school (at least in my region). Plus, the characters from ATLA literally started what could be considered an entirely new world when they all helped restore peace to the four nations. They're extremely important characters to the world of Republic City, so it only makes sense that they'd be everywhere you look. To me, the connections to ATLA not only made sense, but made for some pretty good story set pieces.
@@JohnJohnson-dc9yv I like a lot of the references/connections, and I think specifically Tenzin and Lyn are acceptable and not overbearing in the narrative. Of course we want references and to learn more about the Gaang. The unfortunate problem that too much connection and occurrence between characters is that it makes your world feel small and like its living in the shadow of its prequel. Furthermore, especially in Season 1, it doesn't feel like these references are earned but rather thrown into the narrative, such as Cabbage Corp. Compare this to when we meet a familiar face in Season 4 and what it took for the characters/audience going through to find them. References should ideally be scattered around the entire story, and should hopefully feel subtle and be organically lead into. This is a similar critique I have on ATLA. The world is painted to be gigantic but it always felt like they were running into people we knew, whether it be Zuko, Jet, etc. by pure coincidence in a lot of cases. I think Korra does a better job at handling these things as the series progresses, but season 1 is pretty guilty of overbearing its references this which I think has the capacity to leave distaste in peoples eyes. It would have been smart to save and scatter characters/flashbacks and their connection to the Gaang to sprinkle more evenly through the whole series. Having a city where multiple people are related to ATLA in one way or another makes the story feel less capable of expanding its world, and for a show that is praised for its large and diverse world/international politics, it can leave people feeling like this world isn't as large as it was painted to be.
Definitely want to see more Legend of Korra videos. Subjects being The Villains, Season 2's 2-part origin episode, Evolution of Bending, The Technology, Korra's Character Growth.
Jesse Cervantes I think they’re still talking about Korra. As the Avatar she has to learn airbending, but as korra she discovers the large world Could be wrong tho
I literally just finished my first rewatch of Korra and I enjoyed it immensely both times. Each season has its pros and cons, but it’s a smart, funny, and super exciting show pretty much the whole way through. The victories of the characters feel hard won and not handed to them as a matter of plot convenience, and they are forced to deal with repercussions of their battles in a way that most shows never tap into. Not to mention the effects and music are consistently stunning.
I'm struggling with season 2. It started off so well and then fell downhill, then got pretty good, and then I know it's going to get terrible and I'm not sure I want to relive it. Though I can't even blame the writers knowing everything that happened behind the scenes
RoseEyed That’s why seasons 3 and 4 are so good. Everything flowed from season 2 to 3 to 4, that’s why they could end 3 on and sadder note and bring Kuvira into the mix BEFORE season 4
I really enjoyed this take. One thing I have to say about the continuity with technology is that while it's a sudden jolt, it makes sense if you look at our own history. Industrial revolution led to rapid changes in technology and we don't even have bending to use in our technology. The reason I feel like it makes more sense when looking at the whole scope of the show is the advancement that the Fire Nation makes in ATLA when fighting the 100 year war. They have tanks, flying ships, cars (from "The Chase"), and a giant drill. These inventions use technology that is very applicable to technology like the cars and flying ships in Republic City. Again, great video and I hope we get to see more ATLA and LOK content as you've been doing very well with it as always.
LoK really hits its stride in Book 3: Change. No spoilers, but both Lin and Tenzin definitely get time to develop beyond their basic states. You're in for a treat with this show, my friend. It's not all perfect, in fact there are a good number of issues that plague it throughout its run. But it has seriously become one of my favorite animated shows of all time.
I also found Korea a little slow to take, However once the characters were established I was hooked. It definitely has a different vibe than the last Airbender. Probably a little bit more adult But extremely well done. The fight scenes/choreography alone are miles ahead of the previous show. Animation is fantastic and the storylines are compelling. Although season two does get a little bit weird. Please continue making these great videos. I can’t wait to see your thoughts on Korra
I've just finished the first season and I really like Legend of Korra. I was really caught off guard by how dark it gets too. I'd certainly be interested in seeing you do more videos on it.
I really love the LOK just like ATLA, and I would love to hear your thoughts in the future, especially because you keep a level-headed approach to your reviews.
I think, once you know about the troubled production, you can really see how that formed the seasons and series as a whole. Season one has a very slick noire vibe to it, book two is kind of all over the place tonally and structurally due to said internal issues, while three and four pick up the pieces and feel a lot more secure in what kind of stories it wants to tell from there and it shows
Most vocal Avatar fans give this show a lot of undeserved hate, and they thrust their hate on Korra herself. I’m 28 now and I am watching this show again with my wife (who is watching it for the first time), and both of us really appreciate a lot of the deep and complex themes this show presents. It’s not perfect, but it’s still one of my favorite shows
Please make more Korra videos. Once she joins the pro Bender league, the season picks up and pretty much doesn't stop. The show overall is more mature than ATLA because everyone is teenagers and the things they deal with are more complex. Korra's action reverberate throughout the seasons and its interesting to see choices she makes in one season, drastically effect the next
Very surprised to see you never returned to the series for another video. Love all your videos on Avatar, and maybe its a good time to take a look at Kora with the Movie coming up in only like a year and a half? Loved the whole series, definitely had its low points and WTF moments, but the character depth and growth the show gets into is just amazing!
YES, please make more Korra videos, I would love to see your journey with the show. I love it. It's kind of flawed sometimes as a show, but I adore the characters and that kept me coming back (I watched it all this past year)!
Honestly, I think it'd be interesting to hear your thoughts on each season as you finish them. Might make for a bit of a long video but... I wouldn't mind that.
I also really love this show but I'm not sure that the title of "underated masterpiece" still applies to it. Back when the show just came out most people either completely hated it and said it was a burning dumpster fire or they loved it and said it was the best show ever, however nowadays people are treating this show a bit more fairly in my opinion, being harsh towards the bad parts of the show and giving credit for the good parts of the show... That being said if you think this show is a masterpiece then by all means more power to you
Lin Beifong is badass! You'll love her! Honestly, the best parts in this series involves the Beifong! Spoiler.... Even the "original Beifong" also, siblings
So I was doing something else and then you uploaded... needless to say, I stopped doing what I was doing to watch you jaja Keep up the good work, Captain! EDIT: I think the pilot, had it been about a different universe would have been great... But coming from TLA made me feel whiplashed. The total change of setting in regards to technology and culture, might has been a good tool to stablish a new series, but it made me feel the New series would not care as much to concepts and ideas stablished on the first one. However, the constant introduction of New characters related to the old cast, was a constant reminder that The Legend of Korra was, in fact, in the same universe and timeline. It was exciting but looking back, it should have been a red hearing about what would come later.
I love your videos on avatar and it really highlights all my favorite parts of the classic show. It would be a nice change of pace to see some more Korra videos as I'm still not entirely sure how I feel about the show
I think having tophs daughter as the chef of police makes sense since Toph was the OG metal bender and her daughter would get the best training. In a new world filled with metal building I'm okay with it. If anything the metal benders with endless heavy steel cables are a reach.
I absolutely would love to see more korra vids from you. It's been a while since I've watched the whole thing, but I certainly don't remember it being as memorable as the original show
I’d say it hit its stride with the second episode where we meet Mako and Bolin. Probending was really excited, and they started really developing the relationships between characters.
The great thing about ATLA, was how the longer seasons allowed exposition and character development to take place over a longer period of time. It's a shame that Korra didn't have that luxury.
Great video as always Captain! I can't wait to see your breakdown of the rest of the show. I enjoy your content very much and watch it as soon as it's out. Wish you the best of luck with your channel going forward!
"I think having so many children of the original cast in this, makes the world feel pretty limited and small". Two is a pretty strange definition of "so many". And yes I know more show up later, but they don't really fit the bill for what he was complaining about.
I think he’s more concerned of the lazy “Next Gen” trope. And there’s six of them (plus ten grandkids), though out of all of them I think only Iroh really got the shaft.
@@Gemnist98 The lazy next gen trope is when the whole cast is made off of spin off babies ala Boruto. But in LoK the only kids who feature in any prominence are a group of siblings who are kids of a paring from the original series and another pair of siblings who were kids of another one of the cast. Zuko's daughter only has a couple of minutes of screen time and is a very minor character and I don't think we ever even see Sokka's kids (or get any confirmation that he had any).
My fiancee, (soon to be wifey), got me to watch ATLA for the first time this year when it all came to netflix. While I loved the original Avatar series we recently started watching Korra and I absolutely love it. From someone who doesn't have the nostalgia factor about ATLA I think Korra adds so much depth and character to the series. We are about to finish season 3 of Korra and I love the hell out of it. Might update this post once we finish seasons 3 and 4 of Korra.
Post-watch update: Korra is fantastic and my fiancee and I loved the show immensely. She enjoyed Avatar more than Korra and I don't blame her but I enjoy Korra more as don't have the nostalgia factor that most people do. Season 3 was in my opinion the best season with the most character development for the core cast and villains. I do feel as if the entire show was cut too short as in each season could have been twice the length in order to flesh out both plots and characters. While I think seasons 1 and 4 suffer the most from the shorter seasons I still enjoyed the entire show very much. The episodes dedicated to the very first Avatar were wonderfully animated with a unique art style and added great depth to the overall story that we both were thankful for. I could probably write an MLA style essay going over what I did and did not enjoy and what TLoK did right and wrong (in my normies opinion) but I imagine that dozens of people on youtube have well crafted videos that could do a much better job than I ever could while being much more entertaining. TLDR: TLoK was amazing even though each season should have been the 24 episodes that ATLA had in order to properly flesh out each character's motivations, flaws and ideals (both core group and villains). I firmly believe that season 1 with Amon was the reason why season 3 dedicated so much time towards giving Zaheer so much development and making him a fan favorite of the series. (Season 1 was good but it could have been spectacular if there was more time spent understanding and empathising with Amon and even Tarrlok to make the 'twist' hit so much harder). TLDRDR: Season 3 was my favorite #Zaheer 2020
Seeing the pilot brings back fond memories. One of the memes at the time this show aired, a dramatic emotionally wrenching moment is overlaid with: Coming up next Spongebob!
Be careful with this series. Season 1 was supposed to be a stand alone series. The rest of the seasons were planned afterwards. I totally get what you say about the police chief. But it was supposed to work as an only season , which made a lot of elements to be pushed into it, rather than spacing them out and create a longer narrative, like in the res of the seasons. My best wishes on your Korra journey! Keep up the good work, you are amazing!
Keep going! I love hearing people's first thoughts on things and how they develop over time. It is a little weird since this has been out for pretty long already but.. oh well, I already knew a lot of people didn't watch the this show but loved the original so it isn't surprising.
You're only watching Korra properly for the first time now? Man you're in for a TREAT! I actually had the opposite experience, only ever caught a few isolated episodes of the original show, and sat down to watch properly Korra first, so am more attached to it that Aang. The production values of this show are through the roof, better than 99% of any Anime and certainly better than any other kids show ever made.
I was in the same boat as you but started from season 3 instead of restarting and it is definitely worth the wait. Halfway through season 4 now, I gotta say seaspn 3 is my favorite.
I feel like LOK fails at something I believed ATLA was amazing at: stakes. The writers were clearly very ambitious and I also think they were out to prove themselves with this show to avoid being called a one trick pony or something of the sort. ATLA was incredible at writing stakes and I think LOK lacks at this because they try pack the show with just so much stimuli and fan service and POLITICAL ANALOGIES and romance that it just muddled the intensity of the show for me. The only point where I was at the edge of my seat was Zaheer and the Red Lotus storyline. While I think mostly every ATLA fan agrees that we would've rather had a sequel show with the OG cast as adults than a new gang, I do think LOK deserves more respect. It's a show where profit played too much of a factor and the writers tried to do too much. It's unfortunate, but I have seen many many many shows try and fail at doing what LOK was pretty good at it.
PLEASE make more korra videos, i also just watched korra through for the first time after growing up on avatar and while its a very different shows, its super enjoyable and season 3 is some of the best tv ive ever watched period
Here's a summary of what to expect from each season Season 1: Really interesting ideas, expands on the world of ATLA pretty well, Korra as you noted in this video continues to develop as a sort of foil of Aang, the villain expands on the lore really well and has an ideology which has roots in real life social issues between different groups and how they're treated, the ending is kinda rushed though because this was supposed to be a 1 season show Season 2: Has some redeeming traits, introduces some cool new characters who will get developed later on, but over all has a lot of retconning of things in ATLA, it could've been good but it was messed up a lot by Nick execs who didn't know if the show was gonna continue, and something really bad happens at the end of the season that will make you mad Season 3: This is where the show really started to shine, the best season by far imo, shows some of the consequences of the end of season 2 and shows Korra having to deal with the impact of her actions, really good villains who are insanely powerful, probably being some of the strongest threats we've seen in the series, this season pushes Korra to her limit and sets up really nicely for a resolution in season 4 Season 4: Shows the lasting impact of the world after season 3, and how Korra was affected by the events of the previous finale really well, tackling themes that kids shows usually wouldn't dare approach, such as mental health and sexuality. I can't say that much more without spoiling it but it really is a good end to the series and sets up for the comics after.
I would love to see more videos on the subject! I wasn't initially sold on it either in the first episodes, but started to enjoy the cute stories coming afterwards with Korra growing and caracters evolving, and I finally really got into it when the first midseason hit with more serious subject matters. Even if theses guys are teenagers, it's no longer perfectly good v.s. perfectly bad and they have to deal with more mature problems than juste learning to master elements. The first show is still the best, but I think Korra was more ambitious in what they were trying to do and it paid of.
Yes, definitely make more videos on The Legend of Kora. I think you would make some interesting videos that could explore the balance of imaginative world building and pleasing the fans of a popular long running series.
All I got to say is that for a story about the tension between Benders and Non-Benders, there seems to be a distinct lack of the two Non-Bender members of the original cast.
Tenzin and Lin are actually two of the better characters in the whole show. Season 1 really wasn't all that great (7/10) and it was particularly lame how Korrra "learned" how to airbend and energybend. About the same as when Aang learn how to earthbend out of nowhere. Laaaame! I can honestly say that I liked watching The Great Divide 10 times more than seeing that. The second season was more like a (5/10). But at least we got to meet Varrick and Zhu Li and we had Bolin's little relationship with the bdsm ice princess. The third season is a 9/10. the antagonists in that season were fantastic and very interesting. I was a little disappointed in the ending of the season but overall it was very good. And the last season was another 9/10. Kuvira was downright scary. She was a very strong and believable character (and wayyyy Slitheryn)! I don't know about the whole lesbian thing at the very end with Korra. Seemed a little tacked on. Korra was OP half the time and whiny brat the other half. Not great but not horrible either. I'd give it a 7/10 overall
Agree with literally everything you've said. Watched the show for Lin and Tenzin honestly... and Kuvira. I love Kuvira because she gives me Azula vibes (ENTJ villains are the best)
i think i can explain how Korra learnt how to airbend tbh. her biggest fear that was Amon taking her bending away. Once that was gone, there was nothing really holding her back. Her biggest fear came true, so she was no longer bound by it. i think thanks to that she ˝unlocked˝ airbending.
I was waiting for you to make a video on Korra for a long time, I'd love it if you make more! I personally loved LOK, it had highs and lows but I enjoyed it very much overall. It's definitely less consistent than ATLA, but brings a lot of new elements on the table that are very well explored.
I loved TLoK. Following up AtLA is an almost impossible task. They could have tried to recreate the original (aka, a soft reboot) and lose originality for the sake of 'safety'. But no, the creators instead decided on being as original as possible. They gave us so much more in terms of worldbuilding and the sociopolitical challenges of that world. I really appreciated them following their own creative vision.
Can’t wait for you to watch the rest. I’ve watched it a couple of times, and I would’ve thought the same thing about how they slammed all the OC right at you .. but they are in fact very relevant and (as we know) very powerful, so they deserve that province in the city
Korra is a messy show, you can feel that not having Aaron Eschez as head writer hurts the show along the way. I do think he was the one that made decisions and told Bryke to stop when it was needed. Because at its core Korra could be better, but the troubled production, and pushing way too far, at least in my opinion, made the show a confusing mess and sadly Korra is not a great character, she has a good arc along the seasons, but she doesn't have much of a personality and at times can be Overpowered. I followed the show when it come out and Tenzin is the best character from the entire show. Korra had potential but I do think the creators got lost between seasons 1 and 2 and only caught up in the very end of season 3 and 4, when you watch it you can see that seasons 3 and 4 are felt like a soft reboot inside of the same show.
Long ago, the Legend of Korra had a strong season 1 and season 2 seem to be just as solid, then everything changed when Nickelodeon corporate attacked. They took the plot of a pacifist Korra during an intense geopolitical situation in favor of a good vs evil one. Avatar is now in a resurgence and only the Writer can restore balance.
Season 2 started with so much potential! Would've loved to see it develop into what it was originally intended to before the studio started to meddle and messed with deadlines
Definitely want to see more LOK videos. The show is in many ways less cohesive than TLA, but it still builds to some great moments. And THE MUSIC, oh man. Soooo goood in LOK.
I would honestly love to see your reflections to specific episodes that stick out to you as you watch the series with more analytical ones after you finish it. But any avatar content that you feed me will be gleefully consumed :)
I just watched the series recently and I absolutely love it. I was pretty surprised to hear you say the show felt a little fan service, because one of the biggest complaints it gets is the fact that it is so different from Atla and doesn’t lean into fan service (I know, odd complaint but it’s a common one). Personally I think the show gets better and it is a really beautiful continuation of that universe.
"Technology has evolved so far that it almost streches believability"
Book 4 of Korra : well...
As a lover of season 4 your not wrong
The mech makes sense story-wise though.
Kuvira: haha colossus go woosh
Actually the world of Avatar took place roughly around the turn of the century, and Korra took place about 60 years later in around the time of World War II. If you look at the rapid growth in places like New York city during that time you’d see this level of advancement. However, Ba Sing Se has the level of advancement more akin to Beijing in the same period. Also, the spirit vein tech is basically an arc about what if the creator of dynamite discovered atomic bombs.
Giant Robots make everything better...just ask The Big O or Big Guy & Rusty.
The Beifong family DEFINITELY get a lot of attention, don’t worry.
And tbh other than aangs family they are the best part of the show imo
Holden P I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if Toph was one who said this land is mine get over it to the Earth King and Zuko
that sort of attention is what I’m worried about
ben zur I felt it worked out fine, I really liked all of the Beifongs in TLoK
I’ll be excited to see what he has to say on it
Tenzin is one of the real highlights of LOK, IMO. Him exploring his relationship with his siblings and children and having to deal with the pressure of continuing the Airbending traditions is some of the best content in the series. Also Jinora.
Him and varrick are the best characters in the show
@@insertnamehere9153 Nah, not really.
Okay, first reactions off the bat:
I didn't actually know that about the woman who plays old Katara, that's pretty neat.
Tenzin is a highlight throughout, and his relationship with Aang is explored big-time throughout the show.
Lin goes through a great arc and actually ends up as one of my favorites, although the point about fanservice-y characters is one I agree with, if not about her specifically.
Yes Lin became one of the best characters - just like her mother
I like Tenzin less as the show goes on until the end of the 3rd season.
Also, Old Zuko is another Oscar nominee (Bruce Davison). Kinda sad they didn’t do the same with Old Toph, but oh well.
They feel like cameos done in the worst way possible really, especially Katara
OMP - I feel that would be a bit shortsighted. Beyond the fact Korra was taught under Katara, who would surely bring up Toph, part of Korra’s character is that she craves being the Avatar in part because of her idolization of Aang. If she missed out such a crucial person in his life, it would make her look uninformed about something we the audience are well informed about.
Can’t wait for you to talks bout Zaheer in the future
yesss he was an amazing villan
Evil iroh
He was fantastic
#ZaheerWasRight
SEASON THREE!!!
You should definitely make more videos about Korra. She's such a different character from Aang, it's hard to imagine she was him in a past life. She's a great and interesting character, and although she has her flaws, I always loved her. Aang was the Avatar when the world needed the Avatar most but he wasn't ready. Korra was the Avatar when the world didn't need her but she WAS ready.
When the show started, I also started college, and started my first channel, and covered the voice cast every season, and watching the show was great moment in time.
Season 1 was meant to be a one off, so when the season ends, you know why it feels that way, but as whole, solid.
Nick lived what they saw, midway through the first season, and ordered 3 more seasons, all there own storylines, with season 2 being the weakest, but having incredible moments.
Season 3 is where the show hits it's stride, and Season 4 keeps it going. Unfortunately, Nick lost interest, and started putting it on Nick Toons first (A smaller channel), then shipped to there website first then on.
During the many years, it's been a right punching bag for hate, but the show may not be Avatar, but as it's self, it's a fine show, that I'll stand by to this day.
(Oh yeah, about the technology, if Aang's era is mid to late asian fatansy 1850's, then Korra's era is stylized aesthetic 1930's, with is a proper 70 year difference that show does tell you, so it's not far fetched.)
people ignore how a lot of technology widespread in korra is also in atla, but with one big difference: in atla, only the fire nation had it. In atla, the fire nation has airships, tanks, and a giant drill. They had this presumably to gain an advantage in the 100 year war, so didn't share the information. But after zuko and aang ended the war, zuko would probably share that technology with the rest of the world, so it makes a lot of sense to me.
I'd argue the tech thing is still really far-fetched. In the real world, many western countries were decades ahead of east-asia in technological advances so the reason asia was able to advance so quickly was because they were more adapting a foreign culture than making their own innovations. In the world of Avatar, they came up with all that tech on their own while having to recover from a decades long war. It'd be the equivalent of seeing Europe go through WW1 and then skip ahead 40 years and see them with present day technology.
I don't think it's impossible but to make it believable world--building, you'd need to spend significant time explaining why technology shot forward so quickly.
@@IsaiahReitanFilm think about the fact that its a fantasy timeline tho. they have access to ways to manipulate energy and resources we dont have, and technology became more widespread after the war ended. It wouldn't really take long for earth benders to architecture bend, and for fire benders to learn how to use electricity and fire energy for society. It's not like all of the world jumped up, its mostly republic city that had a combined effort and initiative to make this advanced city, as well as Zaofu.
Also, war can drive innovation, there's no telling what more was created/invented during that hundred year time period, and that technology overtime becomes common use. There are also time periods in real life with relatively low full scale war like the industrial revolution that still saw a large spike in innovation and technological advancement. Take away the platinum mech suits and its not too far fetched to see how a world like avatar's could progress at the speed they did. Especially if you think 100 year war + 60-70 years after.
@@PaintedHoundie yeah, I'd argue that the rest of the world is stuck in a time when the war first started, whereas the fire nation have been steadily progressing in those 100 years having tech reminiscent of early ww1 war machines (just look at the tanks. Im sure there's some inspiration there)
After the war ended and the nations were no longer oppressed they would be free to share their combined knowledge. (We already know that the fire nation used different benders to improve their metal work)
We also know that Aang was determined to make republic City work and no doubt made a conceited effort to encourage innovation. i dont think its unreasonable to think that in that catalyst that society would leap forward within the city (Ba Sing Se looks largely as it was so im going to assume that its not totally trickled down to the rest of the world)
Your assessment is excellent
TLoK (while it is very different than AtLA), I completely admire its commitment to being its own unique thing rather than a carbon copy of the og series. The 1920s, steam-punk-esque reflected environment is very interesting, and the music and animation are even better than AtLA (especially in season 1).
I disagree with the animation part. Though the costuming is much better, the amount of detail takes away from the amount of frames animated. If u look at ATLA, the costuming is simple and allows for more frames to be made and more movement that flows much smoother.
Catt D ^^^^^
@@cattd00
Agreed. Art in Korra was pretty good, I admit, but the animation quality? Yeah, the consistency was non existence and it was pretty bad. Even some might moments look like amateurs made them, and each character has this design which was too much for the animators to handle. The quality especially dropped from Season 1 to 2, where there are clearly moments of half assed work being done.
lay off the drugs
@@thalmoragent9344 Yeah, a lot of season 2 was sub-par compared to the rest of the show, but overall, I prefer this animation to Avatar. I love the use of lighting and the detail put into each character, even if that's not everyone's cup of tea.
“I think having so many children of the original cast in this, makes the world feel pretty limited and small”
Sokka didn’t get any kids ;.;
That's the most disappointing one considering sokka and Suki were like the power couple in ATLA. I rly do think that LoK failed at at least showing us how the Gaang were holding up after Aangs death. I mean hell, I would even go on to say that LoK may have redeemed itself if it even employed time travel to have the Gaang and (a better developed version) of the new avatar team fight off some common threat for an entire season. That would have had so much potential in character arcs that LoK just lacked. It may seem like geriatric fanservice but cmon, ATLA is a cult following like star wars, you need some level of clever fanservice thrown in there
I read a great fan article hypothesizing Suyin being the child of Sokka and Toph. It was pretty convincing, and probably easy to find through a quick google search. Made me feel better c:
@@bakedpotato1717 but 1. It's not canon, 2. Toph ≠ Suki although I won't be averse to toph and sokka getting married. But honestly, he was just in that one flashback scene in S1 and not much else in LoK, sadly
Vikidaman It doesn’t need to be canon though to make one feel better? There are wildly accepted non-canon rumors in a lot built worlds. It happens, it’s okay to have fun and lean with fan fictions. In the hypothesis, there wasn’t a marriage between Toph and Sokka, Suyin grew up (canon) not knowing who her father was, much like Lin did. And the hypothesis plays on that. Plus Suyin’s eldest son looks remarkably like Sokka, it’s a very interesting hypothesis. Grounded in some pretty objective facts sprinkled with subjective observations. It is pretty sad how left out he was of the LoK. I , personally, think that Korra’s personality was just goofy, sarcastic and strategic enough that it reminded me of him. Not to say that’s suffice, but better than nothing in my opinion. Plus, when I feel like Sokka is getting left out, I just pull out the comics c:
@@bakedpotato1717 I mean it's just jarring to see sokka, who was in an intense couple relationship with Suki, not even be featured in LoK and also give birth to suyin with toph. It's fun to hypothesise, yes, but the implications are sickening, for me at least
(Non-spoiler summary)
Season 1- Great start with good villain, but limited in its ending because the creators didn’t know they were gonna get to make more seasons. Love triangle is a bit much at times, but it clears up later on and the action is hard-hitting.
Season 2- Lower budget led to slightly worse animation, and the villain isn’t amazing, but the spiritual focus is fascinating and new, and leads to fresh consequences. Interesting insight into Aang’s children
Season 3- Best villains in the show, best new characters, best finale, my personal favorite season. This was the only season Nickelodeon let the creators know ahead of time that hey we’re gonna get another season so they ended the season beautifully.
Season 4- Lots of interesting ideas/threats that you wouldn’t expect to see in this world, satisfying fan service, and a pretty good wrap-up! Also there’s a very respectful portrayal of PTSD.
Bonus: Varrick and Zhu Li are absolutely amazing and just get better and better as the show goes on.
That's a perfect summary of the show. Spot on...
The main issue with season 2 is that the creators were told season 1 was a one-of, with no chance of there even being a season 2.
I loved season 2 lmao. Its still OK if you or anyone else don't. But one of the dumbest complaints I've heard to "critique" season 2, is when she left open a portal and started a new avatar cycle, by that they'd call her the worst avatar and blame her for it, I disagree. Unalaq was about to kill a child/future generation of airbenders/Tenzins child. And raava was very weak at that point, which led her to her death. Its quite non empathetic if you'd blame her, I'd like to know what y'all think as well 😁
@@lmaozorfion8247 Yeah, there's no winning with some people in the fandom. They said they wanted consequences after Season 1 -- which is a valid criticism -- but then don't like the consequences that happen afterwards.
lmao zorfion Leaving the spirit portal open is honestly one of my favorite aspects of season 2! Shame some people don’t agree
I've never felt sadness as much as seeing the Gaang old in this episode.
Katara especially and Aangs statue
I really like TLOK, and as I love your ATLA videos it would be interesting hear your thoughts about this show
"And I can't wait to see more from Katara!..."
Who's gonna tell him?
"dont bust his bubble bro'
Don't tell him
I don't have the heart
Bro come on you know he's gonna read the comments and this is an insta-spoiler. Not cool.
What is it? I've seen the whole show and I.don't know what you're referring to. She does continue to appear.
You severely underestimated Lin and Tenzin
Watch and you'll see
Korra feels like an avatar trying to be more of a person. Compared to Aang who was an amazing human who struggled to be the avatar.
I enjoy all of korra
cool
That's a great way to put it.
The primary character difference between aang and Korra was always that Aang never wanted to be the Avatar, and his arc was learning to be at peace with his mantle of responsibility, Korra always wanted to be the Avatar, and her arc is finding her place in a world that is rapidly changing, and maybe doesn't need one anymore. If you think about in different ways all her season foes represent a challenge to the very existence of the Avatar in one way or another. I think its very compelling stuff.
It's so good to read comments here like this. Korra was always meant to be the exact opposite of Aang and for some reason that upset people. I like her character arc much more. She was beaten down lower than Aang ever was. But she kept moving forward. The themes in Korra hit harder personally. Having said that it does have its many flaws and I still like ATLA more. But what Korra gets right it gets VERY right.
@@mauvrion_fries She's so much the opposite of Aang that while Aang grew up thanks to his friends and masters (questionning your seniors, not fleeing from conflict, being more confident...), Korra learn her life lessons from the villains instead (taking responsibility for being in power, fixing past mistakes, facing traumas...)
It's a very good show, and had the writers not decided to put kaiju fights whenever they could, I could have enjoyed it as much as ATLA.
teacher: what’s the capital of China?
me: Ba sing se, what a stupid question.
teacher: 😐
@ULGROTHA There is no pandemic in ba sing se
@@nvinova4157 genius! 😂
@@nvinova4157
Nice 👌
@@nvinova4157 Here we are safe. Here we are free.
@@VinayKapadiaVK the earth king has invited you to lake laogai
It's taken like 6 years just to be able to have a conversation past:
"Last Airbender was better, this isn't the same."
Thank you for giving it good coverage!
I prefer seasons 1 and 3 of this show, largely due to the villans. One thing that I’ve always wondered about ATLA is the frustration comming from non-benders about them being sidelined. Maybe that’s why I liked the Sokka sword episode so much in ATLA. I only watched the entire legend of Korra 2 years ago, but overall it’s a decent to good show, if not compared to the original too much
Season 1 was atrocious but 3 was solid-very good
Season 4 was better than 1 tbh
I like 1 3 4
3 season
4 season
1 season
2 season
FaZe Gohan 3 was the only good season all the others were awful
"advances so quick it almost stretches believability"
It was 80 years. Look at how far our society advanced from 1890 to 1970.
Cars, airplanes, space ships, sky scrapers, nuclear power plants, television
I heard korra takes place 70 years after, but your point is still valid
@@Jake28 I swear it was 80 years
EDIT: I guess it was 70 apparently
The thing is that the technology felt a little inconsistent (especially with the giant robots).
@@zonastarwars4397 Imagine how far we came even in the last 50 years. Now imagine we could bend elements.
That's ab unfair comparison because thanks to the information age, things can accelerate much faster. It's more like comparing 1700 to 1770.
I didnt expect Lin Beifong to impress me much as a character, I got a similar vibe from her introduction as you, but her character has surprising depth which culminates in a fantastic s4 arc. She was a really pleasant surprise in this show
Similar opinion I think Korra was def struggling in writing but the city was very realistic in the world as something aang and zuko would do
The writing was overall great. It's just that there were a handful of badly written moments.
@@vetarlittorf1807
Those badly written moments were all at crucial parts though, which tears apart the cohesive story and it comes out as really sub par. Not only as a sequel to ATLA, but as a story narrative in general.
@@thalmoragent9344 No they weren't. They were mostly just some character moments that got remedied sooner or later and most of them were in book 2. The only one that didn't get remedied was the underdeveloped civil war arc.
But it doesn't matter what I say to you because you're obviously going to blow the flaws way out of proportion to make the show look bad...
@@vetarlittorf1807 I agree
@@vetarlittorf1807
Listen, Korra had great moments and some smaller side arcs, but it never really peaked in its tru potential due to production and budget and marketing issue. I find the good and bad in a show to look at it from a full perspective, and unfortunately LoK just has a lot of nuances that really hold it back in key areas. Season 2 being absolutely riddled in it, and Season 1 kinda stumbled off the beginning of the show in a weird way since it was only supposed to be a mini series, not a whole 4 seasons long.
Remember re: technology that this is essentially the same gap as between the real world 1850s/60s and 1920s/30s. Especially if you're looking at this in the context of the industrialization of Asia.
Exactly this!
Cameron Lapp oh ok so giant mech suit is believable
P.S I think it is fully believable except that point
@@raghunathb402 Giant mech suit made entirely of platinum IS less believable, I'll grant you that.
But that general technology had progressed along similar lines as our real world within a similar time frame? Definitely believable. I'd honestly be ok with it progressing MORE rapidly since they basically have literally magic to do tons that we couldn't have done and often still can't do.
While this is true, the world progressing this far in that amount of time is completely believable I think the show doesn't do enough to highlight how long it's really been or how things progressed to get to the point where the show starts, not saying that they need to overview everything that happened between the 2 shows. But I remember having a very similar feeling at the beginning of the show. It's really jarring to go from the feudal state of AtLA to the industrial revolution of TLoK with little to no explanation.
The think with the industrialization of Asia is that it was heavily influenced by the Western world. Avatar's universe has no outside society to boost the technological and social advancements this much.
Though I enjoyed steampunk parts of the ATLA worldbuilding, I would still say that it was the part that required most suspention of disbelief.
Even if the ATLA world had some technologies of European early 19th century, I would believe this technologies spreading from Fire Nation to the rest of the world on course of 70 years, but I would not buy the invention of modern airplanes, sky-scrapers or tesla-robots. And I certainly would not buy a social landscape from 1920s New York (or even Hong Kong). It's too Western-centric for Avatar universe.
I think TLoK is vastly underrated. It really feels like the old show but with it's own twist. It even answers questions about the world that we never got to in the TLAB.
Please keep going with this, it's really interesting seeing your perspective, and I'm really looking forward to hearing your opinion once you've finished the show
You should do more videos on both ATLA and LOK! You’re videos on these shows are a W, also check out the comics cause I want to hear your opinion on those too
I just binged season 1 for the first time today the timing of this video is perfection, any video in this universe I will automatically love!
What you said about the fanservice of having Toph's child involved is one of the things I always didn't like, especially in the first season. The goal of Korra was obviously to create a new world that is NOT the same as ATLA. We get to explore the world/story with Korra, but I always felt that in the first season you are constantly thrown ATLA references whether it be in the form of multiple random ATLA statue shots, conversations, flashbacks, etc., which made it tougher to appreciate Korra/Republic City as its own thing as much as I could have if they laid off the references a bit.
In my opinion, as a hardcore ATLA fan, you have to accept that Korra isn't the same show/time in order to start enjoying it fully, but the references are constantly holding you back from coming to that conclusion. too much fan service/throwback restricts the story from developing its own organic identity apart from ATLA. There's a lot that I like about the show, but I think this is part of the reason the show gets so much flak from some fans for "not being like ATLA." At points the overbearing references leave you expecting it to be just that.
I agree. I think it was a probably a bit of a gamble when the show was starting off, deciding how much of a connection character-wise they'd have to ATLA. Their reasoning was probably that with more character connections, they could draw in kids who loved ATLA and maybe weren't too keen to see Korra, but would be interested in seeing, for example, the favorite character Toph's daughter. Without any spoilers, any later connections to ATLA characters in the show was probably for a similar reason-- the show maybe still felt like it had to cater to ATLA fans (even though that isn't necessarily what ALTA fans wanted to see).
I'd never thought about that as being one of the reasons why the show is always compared to ATLA and criticized, but it makes sense that it's harder to separate the two when there's always a constant character-connection.
That is exactly why I could not hang on to the show. I wanted Korra to be its own thing and I am a huge ATLA fan. but all of the fan service really put down the show and took away all of its potential.
Idk I like the references because it explains where the old characters are or what they have done. Also if they had no connections or very little, then it would alienate people who liked "ATLA".
Having old characters show up or flashbacks shown helps us see why things became the way they are.
@@mandalorianhunter1 Agreed. In my humble opinion, I think at least some of the ATLA references were necessary. For one, This show first aired a full 4 years after the last episode of ATLA aired. That's long enough for someone to have began and ended high school (at least in my region). Plus, the characters from ATLA literally started what could be considered an entirely new world when they all helped restore peace to the four nations. They're extremely important characters to the world of Republic City, so it only makes sense that they'd be everywhere you look. To me, the connections to ATLA not only made sense, but made for some pretty good story set pieces.
@@JohnJohnson-dc9yv I like a lot of the references/connections, and I think specifically Tenzin and Lyn are acceptable and not overbearing in the narrative. Of course we want references and to learn more about the Gaang. The unfortunate problem that too much connection and occurrence between characters is that it makes your world feel small and like its living in the shadow of its prequel. Furthermore, especially in Season 1, it doesn't feel like these references are earned but rather thrown into the narrative, such as Cabbage Corp. Compare this to when we meet a familiar face in Season 4 and what it took for the characters/audience going through to find them. References should ideally be scattered around the entire story, and should hopefully feel subtle and be organically lead into.
This is a similar critique I have on ATLA. The world is painted to be gigantic but it always felt like they were running into people we knew, whether it be Zuko, Jet, etc. by pure coincidence in a lot of cases. I think Korra does a better job at handling these things as the series progresses, but season 1 is pretty guilty of overbearing its references this which I think has the capacity to leave distaste in peoples eyes. It would have been smart to save and scatter characters/flashbacks and their connection to the Gaang to sprinkle more evenly through the whole series.
Having a city where multiple people are related to ATLA in one way or another makes the story feel less capable of expanding its world, and for a show that is praised for its large and diverse world/international politics, it can leave people feeling like this world isn't as large as it was painted to be.
Definitely want to see more Legend of Korra videos. Subjects being The Villains, Season 2's 2-part origin episode, Evolution of Bending, The Technology, Korra's Character Growth.
*EP 1-Avatar Main Quest:* Mastering the Four Elements
*EP 1-Korra Side Quest:* Discovering the Larger World
Waterbending.
aang already knew airbending this comment disgusts me
@@jessec.6876 I thought you said that it "gusts" you...get it???
Jesse Cervantes I think they’re still talking about Korra. As the Avatar she has to learn airbending, but as korra she discovers the large world
Could be wrong tho
@@jessec.6876, this video is about Korra, and so I was referring to Korra.
What made you think I was referring to Aang?
I literally just finished my first rewatch of Korra and I enjoyed it immensely both times. Each season has its pros and cons, but it’s a smart, funny, and super exciting show pretty much the whole way through. The victories of the characters feel hard won and not handed to them as a matter of plot convenience, and they are forced to deal with repercussions of their battles in a way that most shows never tap into. Not to mention the effects and music are consistently stunning.
season 1: ok
season 2: just push through it
season 3: great
season 4: good
I'm struggling with season 2. It started off so well and then fell downhill, then got pretty good, and then I know it's going to get terrible and I'm not sure I want to relive it. Though I can't even blame the writers knowing everything that happened behind the scenes
RoseEyed That’s why seasons 3 and 4 are so good. Everything flowed from season 2 to 3 to 4, that’s why they could end 3 on and sadder note and bring Kuvira into the mix BEFORE season 4
He-Man ! That’s fair, I think they’re very close
Korra was supposed to be a one season show but they ended up doing 3 more seasons because Nickelodeon so that probably explains why s2 wasnt as good
Season 2 had NukTuk though so not all bad
I would LOVE more videos about Korra. There's so much to explore, where the Last Airbander has already been explored over and over.
"A Really Ambitious Mix Bag"
- Captain Midnight
I really enjoyed this take. One thing I have to say about the continuity with technology is that while it's a sudden jolt, it makes sense if you look at our own history. Industrial revolution led to rapid changes in technology and we don't even have bending to use in our technology. The reason I feel like it makes more sense when looking at the whole scope of the show is the advancement that the Fire Nation makes in ATLA when fighting the 100 year war. They have tanks, flying ships, cars (from "The Chase"), and a giant drill. These inventions use technology that is very applicable to technology like the cars and flying ships in Republic City.
Again, great video and I hope we get to see more ATLA and LOK content as you've been doing very well with it as always.
Season 1 and 3 are really great to me
LoK really hits its stride in Book 3: Change. No spoilers, but both Lin and Tenzin definitely get time to develop beyond their basic states.
You're in for a treat with this show, my friend. It's not all perfect, in fact there are a good number of issues that plague it throughout its run. But it has seriously become one of my favorite animated shows of all time.
I also found Korea a little slow to take, However once the characters were established I was hooked. It definitely has a different vibe than the last Airbender. Probably a little bit more adult But extremely well done. The fight scenes/choreography alone are miles ahead of the previous show. Animation is fantastic and the storylines are compelling. Although season two does get a little bit weird. Please continue making these great videos. I can’t wait to see your thoughts on Korra
I've just finished the first season and I really like Legend of Korra. I was really caught off guard by how dark it gets too. I'd certainly be interested in seeing you do more videos on it.
I really love the LOK just like ATLA, and I would love to hear your thoughts in the future, especially because you keep a level-headed approach to your reviews.
I think, once you know about the troubled production, you can really see how that formed the seasons and series as a whole. Season one has a very slick noire vibe to it, book two is kind of all over the place tonally and structurally due to said internal issues, while three and four pick up the pieces and feel a lot more secure in what kind of stories it wants to tell from there and it shows
Most vocal Avatar fans give this show a lot of undeserved hate, and they thrust their hate on Korra herself. I’m 28 now and I am watching this show again with my wife (who is watching it for the first time), and both of us really appreciate a lot of the deep and complex themes this show presents. It’s not perfect, but it’s still one of my favorite shows
Nah Korra's themes are painfully shallow.
I'm always happy to see a video from you about Avatar and com. Take care! :D
Please make more Korra videos. Once she joins the pro Bender league, the season picks up and pretty much doesn't stop. The show overall is more mature than ATLA because everyone is teenagers and the things they deal with are more complex. Korra's action reverberate throughout the seasons and its interesting to see choices she makes in one season, drastically effect the next
Very surprised to see you never returned to the series for another video. Love all your videos on Avatar, and maybe its a good time to take a look at Kora with the Movie coming up in only like a year and a half? Loved the whole series, definitely had its low points and WTF moments, but the character depth and growth the show gets into is just amazing!
Captain you should do season reviews and comparisons. I'd be interested to see your thoughts
YES, please make more Korra videos, I would love to see your journey with the show. I love it. It's kind of flawed sometimes as a show, but I adore the characters and that kept me coming back (I watched it all this past year)!
Honestly, I think it'd be interesting to hear your thoughts on each season as you finish them. Might make for a bit of a long video but... I wouldn't mind that.
I'd love to see you make more videos on this underrated masterpiece of a show!
I also really love this show but I'm not sure that the title of "underated masterpiece" still applies to it.
Back when the show just came out most people either completely hated it and said it was a burning dumpster fire or they loved it and said it was the best show ever, however nowadays people are treating this show a bit more fairly in my opinion, being harsh towards the bad parts of the show and giving credit for the good parts of the show... That being said if you think this show is a masterpiece then by all means more power to you
Lin Beifong is badass! You'll love her!
Honestly, the best parts in this series involves the Beifong!
Spoiler....
Even the "original Beifong"
also, siblings
I would love seeing more videos on the Legend of Korra! I think it's a great show, that often just gets ignored, when talking about the world of ATLA
So I was doing something else and then you uploaded... needless to say, I stopped doing what I was doing to watch you jaja
Keep up the good work, Captain!
EDIT: I think the pilot, had it been about a different universe would have been great... But coming from TLA made me feel whiplashed. The total change of setting in regards to technology and culture, might has been a good tool to stablish a new series, but it made me feel the New series would not care as much to concepts and ideas stablished on the first one. However, the constant introduction of New characters related to the old cast, was a constant reminder that The Legend of Korra was, in fact, in the same universe and timeline. It was exciting but looking back, it should have been a red hearing about what would come later.
I love your videos on avatar and it really highlights all my favorite parts of the classic show. It would be a nice change of pace to see some more Korra videos as I'm still not entirely sure how I feel about the show
I think having tophs daughter as the chef of police makes sense since Toph was the OG metal bender and her daughter would get the best training. In a new world filled with metal building I'm okay with it. If anything the metal benders with endless heavy steel cables are a reach.
I absolutely would love to see more korra vids from you. It's been a while since I've watched the whole thing, but I certainly don't remember it being as memorable as the original show
WHAT THE HELL TENZIN IS J JONAH JAMESON?!?!?!? how did i not notice this?!
I’d say it hit its stride with the second episode where we meet Mako and Bolin. Probending was really excited, and they started really developing the relationships between characters.
The great thing about ATLA, was how the longer seasons allowed exposition and character development to take place over a longer period of time. It's a shame that Korra didn't have that luxury.
Yes I’ve been waiting for you to cover korra! So excited!
".....IT MEANS that when you base your expectations ONLY on what you SEE, you blind yourself to the possibilities of a new reality."
Someone needs to tell that to QAnon cultists.
Christopher Borriello Or just ATLA fanatics.
Great video as always Captain! I can't wait to see your breakdown of the rest of the show. I enjoy your content very much and watch it as soon as it's out. Wish you the best of luck with your channel going forward!
"I think having so many children of the original cast in this, makes the world feel pretty limited and small".
Two is a pretty strange definition of "so many".
And yes I know more show up later, but they don't really fit the bill for what he was complaining about.
I don't get that complaint either like it's been 70 years the old cast was gonna have kids sooner or later
I think he’s more concerned of the lazy “Next Gen” trope. And there’s six of them (plus ten grandkids), though out of all of them I think only Iroh really got the shaft.
@@Gemnist98 sadly
@@Gemnist98 The lazy next gen trope is when the whole cast is made off of spin off babies ala Boruto. But in LoK the only kids who feature in any prominence are a group of siblings who are kids of a paring from the original series and another pair of siblings who were kids of another one of the cast. Zuko's daughter only has a couple of minutes of screen time and is a very minor character and I don't think we ever even see Sokka's kids (or get any confirmation that he had any).
really looking forward to more korra from you ❤️ the new-ish perspective from an atla fan is awesome. and your videos always rule in general
My fiancee, (soon to be wifey), got me to watch ATLA for the first time this year when it all came to netflix. While I loved the original Avatar series we recently started watching Korra and I absolutely love it. From someone who doesn't have the nostalgia factor about ATLA I think Korra adds so much depth and character to the series. We are about to finish season 3 of Korra and I love the hell out of it.
Might update this post once we finish seasons 3 and 4 of Korra.
Stick with it man,season 3 is best in the franchise imo.
You done bro?
Post-watch update: Korra is fantastic and my fiancee and I loved the show immensely. She enjoyed Avatar more than Korra and I don't blame her but I enjoy Korra more as don't have the nostalgia factor that most people do. Season 3 was in my opinion the best season with the most character development for the core cast and villains. I do feel as if the entire show was cut too short as in each season could have been twice the length in order to flesh out both plots and characters. While I think seasons 1 and 4 suffer the most from the shorter seasons I still enjoyed the entire show very much. The episodes dedicated to the very first Avatar were wonderfully animated with a unique art style and added great depth to the overall story that we both were thankful for. I could probably write an MLA style essay going over what I did and did not enjoy and what TLoK did right and wrong (in my normies opinion) but I imagine that dozens of people on youtube have well crafted videos that could do a much better job than I ever could while being much more entertaining.
TLDR: TLoK was amazing even though each season should have been the 24 episodes that ATLA had in order to properly flesh out each character's motivations, flaws and ideals (both core group and villains). I firmly believe that season 1 with Amon was the reason why season 3 dedicated so much time towards giving Zaheer so much development and making him a fan favorite of the series. (Season 1 was good but it could have been spectacular if there was more time spent understanding and empathising with Amon and even Tarrlok to make the 'twist' hit so much harder).
TLDRDR: Season 3 was my favorite #Zaheer 2020
Seeing the pilot brings back fond memories.
One of the memes at the time this show aired, a dramatic emotionally wrenching moment is overlaid with: Coming up next Spongebob!
Be careful with this series. Season 1 was supposed to be a stand alone series. The rest of the seasons were planned afterwards.
I totally get what you say about the police chief. But it was supposed to work as an only season , which made a lot of elements to be pushed into it, rather than spacing them out and create a longer narrative, like in the res of the seasons.
My best wishes on your Korra journey! Keep up the good work, you are amazing!
Keep going! I love hearing people's first thoughts on things and how they develop over time. It is a little weird since this has been out for pretty long already but.. oh well, I already knew a lot of people didn't watch the this show but loved the original so it isn't surprising.
You're only watching Korra properly for the first time now? Man you're in for a TREAT! I actually had the opposite experience, only ever caught a few isolated episodes of the original show, and sat down to watch properly Korra first, so am more attached to it that Aang. The production values of this show are through the roof, better than 99% of any Anime and certainly better than any other kids show ever made.
I was in the same boat as you but started from season 3 instead of restarting and it is definitely worth the wait. Halfway through season 4 now, I gotta say seaspn 3 is my favorite.
I feel like LOK fails at something I believed ATLA was amazing at: stakes. The writers were clearly very ambitious and I also think they were out to prove themselves with this show to avoid being called a one trick pony or something of the sort. ATLA was incredible at writing stakes and I think LOK lacks at this because they try pack the show with just so much stimuli and fan service and POLITICAL ANALOGIES and romance that it just muddled the intensity of the show for me. The only point where I was at the edge of my seat was Zaheer and the Red Lotus storyline. While I think mostly every ATLA fan agrees that we would've rather had a sequel show with the OG cast as adults than a new gang, I do think LOK deserves more respect. It's a show where profit played too much of a factor and the writers tried to do too much. It's unfortunate, but I have seen many many many shows try and fail at doing what LOK was pretty good at it.
PLEASE make more korra videos, i also just watched korra through for the first time after growing up on avatar and while its a very different shows, its super enjoyable and season 3 is some of the best tv ive ever watched period
Besides season 2, Legend of Korra has top-tier villains
U gon love it season 3 and 4 😤😤
Does anyone remember The Jackie Chan Adventures?
It was actually pretty good.I liked it
Me
That was a legendary show. Kids of today will never know how incredible cartoons were back then
I’d love to see more Korra videos. You should come back to the pilot once you’ve finished the series
Great video!
Here's a summary of what to expect from each season
Season 1: Really interesting ideas, expands on the world of ATLA pretty well, Korra as you noted in this video continues to develop as a sort of foil of Aang, the villain expands on the lore really well and has an ideology which has roots in real life social issues between different groups and how they're treated, the ending is kinda rushed though because this was supposed to be a 1 season show
Season 2: Has some redeeming traits, introduces some cool new characters who will get developed later on, but over all has a lot of retconning of things in ATLA, it could've been good but it was messed up a lot by Nick execs who didn't know if the show was gonna continue, and something really bad happens at the end of the season that will make you mad
Season 3: This is where the show really started to shine, the best season by far imo, shows some of the consequences of the end of season 2 and shows Korra having to deal with the impact of her actions, really good villains who are insanely powerful, probably being some of the strongest threats we've seen in the series, this season pushes Korra to her limit and sets up really nicely for a resolution in season 4
Season 4: Shows the lasting impact of the world after season 3, and how Korra was affected by the events of the previous finale really well, tackling themes that kids shows usually wouldn't dare approach, such as mental health and sexuality. I can't say that much more without spoiling it but it really is a good end to the series and sets up for the comics after.
At last, I've been waiting for a video on this show!
I'm the third guy here I hope your having a great day.
I would love to see more videos on the subject! I wasn't initially sold on it either in the first episodes, but started to enjoy the cute stories coming afterwards with Korra growing and caracters evolving, and I finally really got into it when the first midseason hit with more serious subject matters. Even if theses guys are teenagers, it's no longer perfectly good v.s. perfectly bad and they have to deal with more mature problems than juste learning to master elements. The first show is still the best, but I think Korra was more ambitious in what they were trying to do and it paid of.
I never realized how lightskinned Katara looks in her old age
Yes, definitely make more videos on The Legend of Kora. I think you would make some interesting videos that could explore the balance of imaginative world building and pleasing the fans of a popular long running series.
“I’m the avatar you gotta deal with it” I think even the writers knew she was going to be the most insufferable thing ever and were warning us
All I got to say is that for a story about the tension between Benders and Non-Benders, there seems to be a distinct lack of the two Non-Bender members of the original cast.
And if you thought the shipping nonsense was crazy in the original series, you haven't seen anything yet.
Tenzin and Lin are actually two of the better characters in the whole show. Season 1 really wasn't all that great (7/10) and it was particularly lame how Korrra "learned" how to airbend and energybend. About the same as when Aang learn how to earthbend out of nowhere. Laaaame! I can honestly say that I liked watching The Great Divide 10 times more than seeing that.
The second season was more like a (5/10). But at least we got to meet Varrick and Zhu Li and we had Bolin's little relationship with the bdsm ice princess. The third season is a 9/10. the antagonists in that season were fantastic and very interesting. I was a little disappointed in the ending of the season but overall it was very good.
And the last season was another 9/10. Kuvira was downright scary. She was a very strong and believable character (and wayyyy Slitheryn)! I don't know about the whole lesbian thing at the very end with Korra. Seemed a little tacked on.
Korra was OP half the time and whiny brat the other half. Not great but not horrible either. I'd give it a 7/10 overall
Agree with literally everything you've said. Watched the show for Lin and Tenzin honestly... and Kuvira. I love Kuvira because she gives me Azula vibes (ENTJ villains are the best)
Just curious; what do you mean by Aang learned to Earthbend out of nowhere? :)
i think i can explain how Korra learnt how to airbend tbh.
her biggest fear that was Amon taking her bending away. Once that was gone, there was nothing really holding her back. Her biggest fear came true, so she was no longer bound by it. i think thanks to that she ˝unlocked˝ airbending.
Korras heart is really in season 3 and 4 would really love to get reviews of each season from you
I like the show but it has it's issues, mostly Nickelodeon's fault.
I would love for more think pieces on Korra! Keep up the great work
hey I'm first! cool!
Nice
Neat
I was waiting for you to make a video on Korra for a long time, I'd love it if you make more! I personally loved LOK, it had highs and lows but I enjoyed it very much overall. It's definitely less consistent than ATLA, but brings a lot of new elements on the table that are very well explored.
I loved TLoK. Following up AtLA is an almost impossible task.
They could have tried to recreate the original (aka, a soft reboot) and lose originality for the sake of 'safety'.
But no, the creators instead decided on being as original as possible. They gave us so much more in terms of worldbuilding and the sociopolitical challenges of that world. I really appreciated them following their own creative vision.
_Just_ wish they hadn't written so many early episodes personally...
Can’t wait for you to watch the rest. I’ve watched it a couple of times, and I would’ve thought the same thing about how they slammed all the OC right at you .. but they are in fact very relevant and (as we know) very powerful, so they deserve that province in the city
Korra is a messy show, you can feel that not having Aaron Eschez as head writer hurts the show along the way.
I do think he was the one that made decisions and told Bryke to stop when it was needed.
Because at its core Korra could be better, but the troubled production, and pushing way too far, at least in my opinion, made the show a confusing mess and sadly Korra is not a great character, she has a good arc along the seasons, but she doesn't have much of a personality and at times can be Overpowered.
I followed the show when it come out and Tenzin is the best character from the entire show.
Korra had potential but I do think the creators got lost between seasons 1 and 2 and only caught up in the very end of season 3 and 4, when you watch it you can see that seasons 3 and 4 are felt like a soft reboot inside of the same show.
Im just starting on Korra as well and your assessment seems spot on to me :)
Long ago, the Legend of Korra had a strong season 1 and season 2 seem to be just as solid, then everything changed when Nickelodeon corporate attacked. They took the plot of a pacifist Korra during an intense geopolitical situation in favor of a good vs evil one. Avatar is now in a resurgence and only the Writer can restore balance.
Season 2 started with so much potential! Would've loved to see it develop into what it was originally intended to before the studio started to meddle and messed with deadlines
When has Avatar not been about good vs evil?
Big fan. I love the show, reminds me of developing into an adult and questioning one's place in the world and the path set out for you
Definitely want to see more LOK videos. The show is in many ways less cohesive than TLA, but it still builds to some great moments. And THE MUSIC, oh man. Soooo goood in LOK.
My god you picked up on the characters so well in just one episode.
The outro reminded me of Amon's speech...Gave me chills man
I would honestly love to see your reflections to specific episodes that stick out to you as you watch the series with more analytical ones after you finish it. But any avatar content that you feed me will be gleefully consumed :)
I just watched the series recently and I absolutely love it. I was pretty surprised to hear you say the show felt a little fan service, because one of the biggest complaints it gets is the fact that it is so different from Atla and doesn’t lean into fan service (I know, odd complaint but it’s a common one).
Personally I think the show gets better and it is a really beautiful continuation of that universe.
Also, as always a great video! Avatar is very dear to my heart so I always look forward to videos like this one. Keep up the great work :)