legend of korra
Jun. 26th, 2012 02:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bagheera_sanHuh, I haven't posted a lot this month, have I? Been busy, mostly, and not doing a lot of fannish things, but today I have something fannish to post about: my thoughts re about Legend of Korra, the Avatar: the Last Airbender spin-off.
Korra isn't as good as the original, I think everyone can agree on that. The tale itself isn't as simple and epic (the whole "quest to save the world" element is lacking, instead Korra is very much about individual development and relationships) and the avatar universe itself doesn't make as much sense in Korra. It's as if we've switched genres: A:tLA from fantasy to urban fantasy, or something like that. We've missed several decades of cultural development, and the series isn't very good at establishing what happened in that time to get us from there to here. Korra doesn't explore the setting the way A:tLA did, and I think that's one of its weaknesses.
The plot of the first season is also somewhat lacking. A:tLA had a pretty simple plot: good vs. evil, and the good guys must learn and grow until they can defeat the bad guys. In Korra, there are more shades of grey, and less growing, and defeating Amon is more a matter of discovering the backstory than a matter of being good enough to defeat him. In the end, not much is resolved: Korra hasn't over-come her self-doubts, the romantic quadrangle hasn't been solved, the benders-nonbenders conflict still exists. I dunno what the second season will be about, but it seems as if we're basically back at the beginning.
Still, the animation is extremely pretty, the designs are still great, and I kinda liked the retro feel of it, plus I like that there are fairly many interesting (adult) characters.
Korra: for a spunky hero type character, Korra is extremely okay. She doesn't get on my nerves, she isn't overly dumb, and she keeps a nice balance between action girl and softer elements. Plus, she's pretty in a butch way, which I like. Two things about her are problematic - her crush on Mako, which is never developed into anything other than a crush, and her self-worth issues. It's clear where they come from, because Korra was coddled and protected her whole life because she was the Avatar, and it clearly gave her the impression that she is defined by her Avatar-ness and nothing else. Korra appears to have no other skills or hobbies, because she spent all her childhood training her bending. The only relationhip she has that isn't defined by her bending is with her polarbeardog. This should have been resolved, but instead Korra gets an Avatar-ex-machina treatment. Not good.
Bolin: I tend to find comic relief characters dull and annoying, but Bolin's reaction to Korra/Mako and his overt emotionality are pretty cool. Plus, he tends to have real conversations with people, so Bolin is good.
Mako: It's pretty easy to hate Mako for stringing along Asami and Korra, and for being less than honest, but he *could* be an interesting character if it was acknowledged that Mako grew up on the streets and had to take care of his brother and like Korra his only skill is bending, and he probably felt he had to go out with Asami for financial reasons even if he liked Korra better. Mako isn't a nice guy, but he has reasons. I still don't want him to be with Korra or Asami.
Asami: Easily my favourite character. She's introduced as the girly-girl romantic rival, but instead of turning out to be a mean, spoiled rich kid bitch, Asami turns out to be badass normal with self-worth issues, a lot like Korra except without bending. Half-way through the season I decided that my deepest desire for this show was for Asami to put on one of those robo-suits, because Asami is girl!Tony Stark in my head (rich, daddy issues, loves fast cars, keeps super-powered boytoys, daddy is an inventor of futuristic weapons). I'd love for her to turn out to have bit of a talent for mechanics, too, or too take over the company. We won't get Asami/Korra, but I'd probably be fine with Asami/Iroh if there must be a pairing.
Amon + Tarlok: Their backstory was amazing, the last scene with Tarlok blowing up the boat broke my heart and blew my mind (kids TV can DO THAT?!) and Amon ended up making quite a lot of sense as a villain and still being sympathetic, but somehow glory-seeking adult Tarlok and kid!Tarlok don't quite mesh for me. Still, Amon and Tarlok are great. Also, think of the parallels between their dad, their childhood, their issues re:bending and what it did to them and Korra's own issues (and maybe Asami's issues). They are all fucked up because they were treated as weapons/tools in their childhood, and they all react in different ways: Tarlok tries to turn others (Korra) into his tools, mostly ignoring his own bending, Amon tries to destroy benders, and Korra has to be the best bender she can be, otherwise she hates herself. I just wish the show had done more with that, because I don't think Korra really saw the parallels, and it would have helped her a lot if she did.
Tenzin, Iroh + Bumi, Lin: the kids and grandkids of the A:tLA kids are (of course) awesome. I like how Tenzin is constantly a bit rubbish, I like the sad doomed romance between him and Lin, and I like that they're both such serious people (compared to Aang and Toph). Iroh is apparently mini-Zuko without the issues, and Bumi is crazypants, but that's cool. Lin dealt with the loss of her bending a lot more gracefully than Korra, and her self-sacrifice to save Tenzin and family was epic. I wonder whether Sokka had any children, and what happened to Azula? Perhaps S2 will show.
If I were to write a Korra fic, I think it would be an AU in which Amon isn't defeated so easily (maybe because Korra doesn't find out about Tarlok until later), and Korra doesn't regain her bending through the power of extreme despair, instead, she has to learn how to fight as a normal person (and discovers that she's still great at martial arts). She becomes friends with Asami and they work out their man-issues together by both breaking up with Mako, and then they defeat Amon with the help of Asami's tech and Lin's badassness and non-benders like those hobos rallying around Korra because they're realizing that Amon is a crazy sociopath. And then Korra finds out about Amon/Tarlok's backstory and realizes that bending fucked them all up, and that's when she gets her Avatar boost.
Korra isn't as good as the original, I think everyone can agree on that. The tale itself isn't as simple and epic (the whole "quest to save the world" element is lacking, instead Korra is very much about individual development and relationships) and the avatar universe itself doesn't make as much sense in Korra. It's as if we've switched genres: A:tLA from fantasy to urban fantasy, or something like that. We've missed several decades of cultural development, and the series isn't very good at establishing what happened in that time to get us from there to here. Korra doesn't explore the setting the way A:tLA did, and I think that's one of its weaknesses.
The plot of the first season is also somewhat lacking. A:tLA had a pretty simple plot: good vs. evil, and the good guys must learn and grow until they can defeat the bad guys. In Korra, there are more shades of grey, and less growing, and defeating Amon is more a matter of discovering the backstory than a matter of being good enough to defeat him. In the end, not much is resolved: Korra hasn't over-come her self-doubts, the romantic quadrangle hasn't been solved, the benders-nonbenders conflict still exists. I dunno what the second season will be about, but it seems as if we're basically back at the beginning.
Still, the animation is extremely pretty, the designs are still great, and I kinda liked the retro feel of it, plus I like that there are fairly many interesting (adult) characters.
Korra: for a spunky hero type character, Korra is extremely okay. She doesn't get on my nerves, she isn't overly dumb, and she keeps a nice balance between action girl and softer elements. Plus, she's pretty in a butch way, which I like. Two things about her are problematic - her crush on Mako, which is never developed into anything other than a crush, and her self-worth issues. It's clear where they come from, because Korra was coddled and protected her whole life because she was the Avatar, and it clearly gave her the impression that she is defined by her Avatar-ness and nothing else. Korra appears to have no other skills or hobbies, because she spent all her childhood training her bending. The only relationhip she has that isn't defined by her bending is with her polarbeardog. This should have been resolved, but instead Korra gets an Avatar-ex-machina treatment. Not good.
Bolin: I tend to find comic relief characters dull and annoying, but Bolin's reaction to Korra/Mako and his overt emotionality are pretty cool. Plus, he tends to have real conversations with people, so Bolin is good.
Mako: It's pretty easy to hate Mako for stringing along Asami and Korra, and for being less than honest, but he *could* be an interesting character if it was acknowledged that Mako grew up on the streets and had to take care of his brother and like Korra his only skill is bending, and he probably felt he had to go out with Asami for financial reasons even if he liked Korra better. Mako isn't a nice guy, but he has reasons. I still don't want him to be with Korra or Asami.
Asami: Easily my favourite character. She's introduced as the girly-girl romantic rival, but instead of turning out to be a mean, spoiled rich kid bitch, Asami turns out to be badass normal with self-worth issues, a lot like Korra except without bending. Half-way through the season I decided that my deepest desire for this show was for Asami to put on one of those robo-suits, because Asami is girl!Tony Stark in my head (rich, daddy issues, loves fast cars, keeps super-powered boytoys, daddy is an inventor of futuristic weapons). I'd love for her to turn out to have bit of a talent for mechanics, too, or too take over the company. We won't get Asami/Korra, but I'd probably be fine with Asami/Iroh if there must be a pairing.
Amon + Tarlok: Their backstory was amazing, the last scene with Tarlok blowing up the boat broke my heart and blew my mind (kids TV can DO THAT?!) and Amon ended up making quite a lot of sense as a villain and still being sympathetic, but somehow glory-seeking adult Tarlok and kid!Tarlok don't quite mesh for me. Still, Amon and Tarlok are great. Also, think of the parallels between their dad, their childhood, their issues re:bending and what it did to them and Korra's own issues (and maybe Asami's issues). They are all fucked up because they were treated as weapons/tools in their childhood, and they all react in different ways: Tarlok tries to turn others (Korra) into his tools, mostly ignoring his own bending, Amon tries to destroy benders, and Korra has to be the best bender she can be, otherwise she hates herself. I just wish the show had done more with that, because I don't think Korra really saw the parallels, and it would have helped her a lot if she did.
Tenzin, Iroh + Bumi, Lin: the kids and grandkids of the A:tLA kids are (of course) awesome. I like how Tenzin is constantly a bit rubbish, I like the sad doomed romance between him and Lin, and I like that they're both such serious people (compared to Aang and Toph). Iroh is apparently mini-Zuko without the issues, and Bumi is crazypants, but that's cool. Lin dealt with the loss of her bending a lot more gracefully than Korra, and her self-sacrifice to save Tenzin and family was epic. I wonder whether Sokka had any children, and what happened to Azula? Perhaps S2 will show.
If I were to write a Korra fic, I think it would be an AU in which Amon isn't defeated so easily (maybe because Korra doesn't find out about Tarlok until later), and Korra doesn't regain her bending through the power of extreme despair, instead, she has to learn how to fight as a normal person (and discovers that she's still great at martial arts). She becomes friends with Asami and they work out their man-issues together by both breaking up with Mako, and then they defeat Amon with the help of Asami's tech and Lin's badassness and non-benders like those hobos rallying around Korra because they're realizing that Amon is a crazy sociopath. And then Korra finds out about Amon/Tarlok's backstory and realizes that bending fucked them all up, and that's when she gets her Avatar boost.
