Korra Finale

Remember when they made them cousins in the dub because homophobia

 

I know right?
Incest AND lesbians. It's like a sundae with extra chocolate syrup

 

I can't believe they Asami'd Tenzin this series. Overall I liked the show, but it felt like a lot of wasted potential. I guess a lot of it can be attributed to Nick, but really, they barely had any badass bending in the entire show. Kuvira was a huge let down of a villain after Zaheer, the CGI and the big mech made the last three episodes pretty ugly and it too over the top.

Season 4 was pretty good, but season 3 was much better.

The most surprising thing was that they never gave Korra a truly badass moment. Nothing she ever did can compare to that Tenzin scene in season 3.

 

Can't be lesbians, both were hot on men. Same gendered bi-sexuals entering a relationship.

 

Yeah I'm getting tired of everyone calling them lesbians since they did date men.

Then again, maybe Mako was such a bad boyfriend that they couldn't be attracted to another man ever again.

 

its prob the same people in each group

 

Spoiler

I mean ... Mako was kind of a jerk to both of them if you think about it. Broke up, well I suppose it was mutual, with Korra when she really needed him most. Basically cheated on Asami with Korra because he was too afraid to tell the truth. Hearts were played with. I honestly doubt that's the case though.

The two-part series finale was to die for. I almost had a conniption at the end. It started out with me happening to see it was released. I decided to watch it out of boredom. Got pretty interesting. Then I was hit with so many 'things' all at once my mind began oozing out of my nostrils as I continued gazing intently at the screen. So much stuff was going on that this has to be one of the best finales I've seen in a long time ... except for the season 3 finale of Once Upon A Time but that was different feels.

Spoiler: Series Overall

To be honest I wasn't quite ensnared in the first few episodes of the series. After the finale of Last Airbender, I was afraid that Legend of Korra wasn't going to be able to compete. I stuck with it just to see if it had a chance. It took some time and a few character developments, like Mako/Korra to Mako/Asami, to make me see that this wasn't Last Airbender and I was happy it wasn't. It's a new time, a new place and the show definitely made sure you knew it. It was a nice change to see a modernized avatar. I was completely fangirling by the final battle with Aman.

Things took a change of pace in Season 2 where the spiritworld started to coincide with the human world. In Last Airbender we knew that the spirit world was there but it was never thoroughly investigated. There was no real explanation of the history of the spirit world. To be frank it was nothing more than a recurring plot device due to the lack of an in depth explanation. Some might argue there were scattered explanations here and there but nothing that warrants an understanding of the background. That's what I loved about Legend of Korra. If I liked anything in Book Two it was an in depth rundown of the spirit world and its origins ... though origins isn't a very good word for it.

Season 3 was exciting from the get go simply because Airbenders made a comeback. At first I thought it was going to be a simple villain gets introduced and defeated after an epic battle with the avatar but I was actually shocked to see that the avatar lost. Seeing Korra in the last episode, suffering from the after effects of the poison, was completely depressing. There's a lot left to say about Book 3 but nothing that would really effect my opinion on the series overall.

Book 4 was absolutely the most horrifically spectacular season of the series and ... my favorite out of both shows. There was so much going on. The romance, the breakups, the reunions, the battles ... and Toph! Book 4 was a nice wrap-up for the show and I wouldn't change it for the world. The fact that it's been three years since the previous season was a nice touch. A lot can happen in three years and a lot certainly did. Kuvira "rebuilding" the Earth Kingdom, Bolin working for her, Republic City's new look.

Overall I would say the series was a complete success and came close to, if not succeeded in, surpassing its predecessor. It's kind of like when a new Doctor gets introduced. At first your iffy and kind of irked but after awhile you grow to love and accept the new. Legend of Korra gets a 9/10 for being an overall great watch. Point deduction for some of the needless drama but that's just because I'm not a huge drama fan. Yay, Korra!

Spoiler: Book 4 Finale / Fangirling

Everything happened so suddenly in the finale that I was left in awe. The epic battle, the final win ... but none of that matters. Varrick friggin proposed to Zhu Li right before the final battle with the BFMS ... and she said yes! I mean, of course she said yes. It's obvious she's loved him the whole time, not so obvious about the reverse but meh. We even got to see the wedding which was totally Varrick. My favorite part is during the after party. I can't put into words how much everything happened exactly the way I wanted. Korra and Mako had there touching little scene where their friendship was reinforced ... some might argue there was a "spark" but it's up for speculation.

My favorite part was the last scene, when Korra was off to herself. The camera angle changed to where any avid watcher could tell someone else was about to enter the scene. I had my fingers crossed, pleading that the one to come over was Asami even though I knew nothing would really happen. Of course it was frigging Tenzin. The two had a touching teacher/pupil scene where we all realized just how much Korra had grown since Book 1. That was the ending for the finale ... or so I thought, until I heard a voice calling out for Tenzin. Please, just please let it be ... Asami, informing Tenzin that he was required elsewhere. She's gonna follow him and ... wait, she didn't? Gasp!? Could it be? No, of course not.

Throughout Book 4 there were moments that made me hop aboard the Korrasami ship and set sail for new horizons. Of course, it being a nickelodeon show nothing would ever come of it. It was just another ship that would never dock- ... wait ... Did Asami just say she wanted a vacation? Did Korra just say it was a good idea? Does that mean ... no, they'll invite the rest of the gang and ... Alone? Together? Let me rewind just to make sure I heard that right. Korra said they should go on vacation, explicitly stating it would just be her and Asami. To the spirit world? Well, I guess it would be a good bonding trip for two friends- ... wait ... Korra apologized to Asami for being gone for 3 years. Did she apologize to any of the others? I mean really apologize?

Oh well, a bonding trip of friendship it is- what??? Did Korra and Asami just hold hands? Are they really holding hands as they go through the spirit portal? I must have been seeing things ... just watch one more time to- OHMYGAWD!!! Korra and Asami are holding hands going through the spirit portal!! Yes! Yes!!! YEEEEEEEES!!!!!

Highlight of Book 4 finale: Korrasami confirmed to be canon.

Of course it was simply holding hands and is left open to speculation as to whether or not there was a "spark" with Mako or if Korra and Asami are making out in the spirit world. I'd personally like to think it's the latter, well not necessarily making out but ... The show was directed towards teenagers. Even if it still airs on nick, it would be nice to see a homosexual relationship, especially one involving a character as important as the avatar. The creators, while not wanting to do anything to endanger the show being able to air, wanted to leave it open for speculation keeping its "innocence" about it, even though it's completely fine for any straight couple to kiss. But ... I just want to say that Janet Varney, voice of Korra, was openly supportive of the ship. *cough* Korrasami 5evah *cough*

Thanks for reading, but if it was one of those TL;DR moments then here's the summary: Korrasami 5evah!!!

Spoiler: PS How The Finale Should Have Ended

~Nights

 

Might as well

Spoiler: Season 1

Started off well enough, very promising stuff, a new and exciting city to explore filled with its own colourful characters both good and bad. An interesting antagonist who brings up the idea of equality amongst Benders and Non-benders. As with the last series the animation is beautiful and top notch and the scenery and music are all setllar. Presentaiton wise everything was picture perfect.

Then the show went on.

Korra manages to cross the line of "headstrong but good hearted" into "complete idiot" fairly quickly. I'm ok with this because obviously she's gonna learn her lesson later on and stop being such a complete idiot so I just stomach it, characters have to go somewhere right?

Mako was my favourite character with a promising future until the love triangle nonsense started. Then for whatever reason the strict down to earth Firebender becomes a complete ******* to every living and breathing thing on the planet. Will he learn his lesson? Yeah probably, but using love triangles for character development is a very grating and uninteresting process to watch, character development should be interesting to watch and there was nothing interesting to see about Mako and Korra being idiots.

Bolin is Bolin. He's funny this season and that's pretty good but his character isn't going anywhere. After his crush with Korra is put to an end his character development just stops and he remains "funny dorky guy" for the rest of the season. It also doesn't help that there's virtually no difference between Bolin in Episode 1 and Bolin in Episode 12.

Asami is ALMOST like Bolin. She has the benefit of getting a "from riches to rags" characater arc but it's really sidelined for most of the season and the conflict between her and her father lasts a stunning 10 minutes. By the end of the season she's a background character who's only real purpose was to start a love triangle.

Amon and Tarrlok serve the series pretty well as antagonist. Tarrlok is a bit cliche but he's still an entertaining character and his bloodbending reveal was done spectacularly. Amon had a terrifying presence and a shroud of mystery around him that really made his character stand out. However Amon's whole "equality" business is pretty silly in the context of the Avatar world. It makes sense on paper but within the actual show none of the problems that Amon preaches about seem to actually exist. The only point he ever somewhat has is with the council being composed all of benders but that's about it, I don't see any persecution going on or mistreatment. It makes Amon go from "radical with a point" to "nutjob" which hurts his character.

The backstory between the two was interesting and I liked it, and especially loved the Aang flashbacks. However I can't help but feel like it turned Amon into a suss and Bryke already did the whole "daddy issues" plotline last series for 3 whole seasons so seeing it again was kinda lame.

Rest of the cast were either too minor to comment on or didn't do much to leave an impression beyond "that's kinda cool".

Probending is INCREDIBLY boring to watch and is probably the worst display of bending in the entire series. The entire fighting style is uncreative and chalks up to "PUNCH FIRE! PUNCH WATER!" and repeat. And it went on for way too long.

And to continue on the bending, while the animation is great the actual fights and bending are dull and uncreative. Compared to the original Team Avatar, Korra's bending is lame to watch and is once again very uncreative. I understand that she is headstrong but that should atleast make her Earthbending and Firebending be a bit more beyond punch and kick.

Korra "learning" Airbending was painful to watch. The Last Airbender had established what the mentality of an Airbender had to be in order to be an Airbender. Hell TENZIN goes on about it very early on in the season. So Korra just pumping out air because "OH NO! I HAVE TO SAVE SOMEONE!" is pretty contrived and actually is the exact opposite of the "free your mind and detach yourself" mentality we have thus been taught.

And how does the season end? With the same Spiritbending nonsense that I hated with the last series. Not to mention Korra gets ALL OF HER BENDING BACK! Why? Because the plot said so that's why. She's still a headstrong idiot who can't stop punching for the life of her and instead of potentially having her relearn the elements properly this time without just being a natural at them, she gets them all for free. No, not for free, she cried about it a little.

tl;dr: A promising season ruined by love triangle nonsense, and characters that ranged from annoying to completely uninteresting.

Spoiler: Season 2

So will it get better with a new season?
Hell to the no.

Korra, Mako and Asami have pretty much stayed the same characters. Korra once again falls under the spell of the big bad because "I'M THE AVATAR AND I DO THINGS". And the real kicker is despite being in a relationship with Korra after all of the nonsense in season 1 they AGAIN reintroduce the love triangle and Mako falls back into his old being an ******* habits. Asami's is going through her riches to bitches arc still which would be good if it wasn't ONCE AGAIN SHOVED STRAIGHT INTO THE BACKGROUND.

Bolin is the exact same character he was last season, not much to say there. He's still funny atleast and is mostly saved by his interaction with Eska and Varrick.

Speaking of, Varrick is a fun ass character. Probably won't get much development but he's a side character/minor antagonist so as long as he stays entertaining and doesn't get to tired he'll be fine.

The same goes with Eska and Desna, they are fortunate enough to have this be the only real season they do anything in so they don't get boring, they serve their purpose and do it well.

The entire Unalaq and Vaatu business is completely absurd and is a HUGE step down from season 1's antagonist. Unalaq's entire plan to bathe the world in darkness sounds like something written by Nomura and as far as I'm concerned has no place here in Avatar. It's silly and trite and the only redeeming feature is seeing just how absurd his plan gets.

The fights suffered from the same problems as last season but this time there was no probending thank god. But the animation took a HUGE dip in quality from season 1 and the rest of Avatar. Thanks for that Pierrot, leave the animation to the Koreans.

At the very least Korra's decision to reopen the spirit portals can lead to some very interesting things further along the line and as stupid as it was I couldn't not love GIANT BLUE KORRA vs GIANT PURPLE UNAVAATU. Nice to see Iroh again too and the Spirit World was beautiful.

The Wan episodes were definitely the best episodes of the entire Korra series.

tl;dr: Terrible season, all the problems of season 1 + more.

Spoiler: Season 3

Does it get worse?
No not really actually.
In fact I would say it gets kinda good.

The most exciting thing to notice is that as terrible as the love triangles were for the past two seasons, it would seem that it actually ultimately turned Mako into a good and likeable character. I unfortunately can't say the same for Korra and Asami.
Korra is still same ol "PUNCH PUNCH! I AM AVATAR" Korra who also cries a lot she was at the end of season 1 and throughout all of season 2.
Asami isn't an unlikeable girl at all but she's still being shoved into the background. They give her some relief from all the **** she goes through and let her and Korra interact which was surprisingly nice but then it's right back to the background with her. It's clear Bryke doesn't know what to do with this character now that the love drama is ogre.


Bolin is Bolin. He now has a girlfriend. His antics are starting to get more grating and less funny.

Kai may very well be the must useless character in the history of anything ever. Well he does have use but it's basically to
1. Be an airbender
2. Love interest
Both which ultimately go nowhere interesting. Also he's kind of annoying to be honest.

Mako and Bolin find their distance relatives. And that's about it, something like this seems to have lots of potential but gets shoved to the sidelines and doesn't go anywhere. We barely know any of the family members besides the grandma who's name alludes me.

So how does it get better? The Red Lotus that's how.
Different from the last 2 seasons, these guys benefit from being a group of tightly knit comrades working towards a common goal. It gives the 4 of them a sort of "Us against the world" feeling which makes them that much more endearing. Zaheer's methods are direct and quick, he is determined and ready to do all he has to do to obtain his goal. Him killing the Earth Queen was probably one of the highlights of this season along with him entering the void.
I can't say the same for his friends though. P'li, Ghazan and Ming-Hua were all fun to watch in action but ultimately there wasn't much to them and so their passing was sorta "eh".

I had always liked Tenzin and his character definitely went through some of the best development this show has seen. Him dealing with the new Airbenders and the changing times conflicting with what he has been taught throughout his whole life was fantastic to watch over the season.

Suyin didn't leave much of an impression on me but her and Lin's interaction wasn't bad at all. Their tensions ultimately ending with their fight was well done in my opinion though the sudden reconciliation after it was a little abrupt. Still good stuff though.


And the season ends on an excellent note. The world has been changed forever by Zaheer and Korra is now put in a do or die situation. No more punch punch for her, now she HAS to develop beyond the person she is now with no spoonfeeding from spirit Jinora or Aang this time.


Animation went back to its former glory, and the fight scenes were the best the show had to offer. Nowhere near Last Airbender levels but still very good, we got to see lots of creative bending. Korra vs Zaheer at the end with a great allusion to Aang vs Ozai.

tl;dr: Good season supported by endearing antagonist, great fights, interesting world dynamics near the end there and some characters getting some good development

Spoiler: Season 4

Time skip time. I don't like time skips usually but that's hardly a problem here to be honest.
Mako remains a solid character. He benefits this season from his dynamics with Prince Wu. Prince Wu is also a pretty funny guy, I really liked him.

Bolin is Bol-. Well he kinda goes through some stuff this season but it's not really interesting and just makes idiot Bolin look like an idiot just this time with higher stakes. This actually makes his character worse when they play his stupidity completely serious because it ends up making you really realize "How did this guy survive this far?". So bravo Bryke, you somehow made Bolin worse.

Korra goes through a lot of character development this season. A lot. 5 episodes in fact.
Now I know what you're thinking "JUBE! YOU WERE JUST COMPLAINING ABOUT HOW SHE HAD NO CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT! NOW YOU'RE COMPLAINING THAT SHE DOES!"
And yeah I know I sound like an idiot right now but hear me out. The actual character development was TOO bad but it had lots of problems. One of them being that it was super disjointed and all over the place. Toph gave her a pep-talk and told her things like "Nobody needs no Avatar" followed by "Zaheer, Amon and other guy all had points but they were extremist" followed by "You're just using the poison as an excuse because you're afraid". When you look at these things, they don't really have much to do with eachother let alone Korra. Alright no, the last bit about the poison has to do with Korra but the other two are just sorta random. Korra learning the world didn't need her seemed to magically teach her to stop worrying about the world possibly not needing you. Korra being told about the motivations of the last 3 baddies also didn't really serve a purpose considering she knew these things during her encounters with said baddies.

Ultimately it all chalked up to her being scared which is all fine and dandy but why spend time on these non-existent problems? She needs to learn to overcome her fears so let's focus on that.

Also 5 episodes is a LOT of time for a 13 episode season. It doesn't really help that after she got the poison removed and learned she was just using it as an excuse the show takes a few episodes off of Korra's development only for it to pop up again as "NO WAIT! WE STILL NEED TO DEVELOP HER" and have her job against Kuvira. I would be more critical of this BUT thankfully her scene with Zaheer was very well done and ultimately we finally get the development I oh so craved. So hey, good job on that Korra. Dunno if I forgive the last 3 seasons but still, good job. Also I loved the process of her learning to walk again. It's a cliche but I'm a sucker for it.



Asami stayed in the background once again. In fact she stayed so far into the background that she actually had a subplot with her dad shoved right into middle of an episode and resolved right in the middle of another. Oh and her dad died too and stuff.

Suyin and her family were alright characters, nothing too grating but nothing special, they served their purpose well.

Lin's interaction with Toph was pretty good, it was expected and predictable but still good nonetheless.

Kuvira was one big waste of an antagonist. Someone who could've been an interesting and morally gray antagonist was turned into a moustache twirling Hitler with concentration camps and even a giant mega weapon. Her romance with Bataar Jr I think had lots of potential which is a surprise for a show like this. She's a stone cold war machine so giving her opportunities to be more vulnerable is a good thing. The interactions are sorta stunted however by BJ being unlikeable and they're not being much of them in the first place. She had a few moments but was a forgettable villain especially after we had Zaheer last season. Don't even get me started on her shoehorned "I WAS AN ORPHAN" bit during the final episode.

Animation is still great but fight scenes kinda went back to being uncreative and boring, especially Korra vs Kuvira. But they weren't as bad as season 1 or 2 and metalbending was done well in this season.


Colossus sized Mech though? No thanks. Nobody loves mecha more than I but I don't think it has a place here. The technological leap from tanks to mech's was already hard to swallow for me but now this giant sleek platinum mech that nobody noticed being made? Yeah that's way too far for me. Watching them take the thing down was entertaining atleast.



It ended pretty neatly, everything was wrapped up and we got a nice Varrick and Zhu Li bowtie.

Korra and Asami kinda got together. It didn't come out of nowhere which is a good thing but other then that I don't have much to say about it since it all happened at the very end.

tl;dr: Alright season, not as good as season 3 and kinda shaky but thankfully it managed to do a good ending and finally developed Korra.


OVERALL
Not a very impressive show. It's filled with characters that either go nowhere or are just plain annoying. Antagonist aren't very fleshed out save for one and another which was outright terrible. Republic City which could've been interesting was abandoned and barely explored. The rest of the settings suffered the same fate. Teeny bopper attempts at love stories are all kinds of ridiculous and didn't really make any of the characters any more endearing. The show is saved from the pits of hell by a handful of well done developments and characters as well as excellent animation overall and entertaining fights if not sometimes unimpressive in comparison to Last Airbender.


I would not say it holds a candle to ATLA at all. That isn't to say ATLA didn't have its share of flaws but none of them were as consistent with Korra.











And no Azula

 

To the corner with you!

 

yeah, looking at something critically is such an unreasonable thing to do

 

Straight girls can't be strong protagonists.

 

Can we not with the bi erasure -shot-