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The Legend of Korra: Book 4 |OT2| ALL HAIL THE GREAT UNITER

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A

Afrocious

Member
Here's a pic liked on Tumblr by Mike that shows how loving good friends can be when dancing.

tumblr_ngwkspKQjA1qdyc0to1_r1_1280.png


BKatastrophe said:
I'm still having trouble processing the finale and I don't know why.
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I'd give you a big hug because i'm that happy.
 
S

SpaceCadetKeon

Banned
Mr Fahrenheit said:
I mean... Characters falling in love shouldn't be a surprise, like, that should be a big deal that's built up to. It says a lot for the pacing that it comes off as a surprise. That's not how a relationship naturally progresses. And while the show's limited time is precious, it's not like they need to devote chunks of episode to it every week, just little winks and nods so it actually appears like these characters actually have some kind of mounting attraction, plenty of other shows do it in the same time frame.

As for how I wouldn't get bored of the exchanges: I don't get tired of characterization, considering it's sort of a major part of story telling. And I said in the same vain, not exactly the same, I'm not sitting here asking that Asami compliments Korra's hair every episode. Surely you don't get bored of the fighting every episode just because they've shown the same before
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For me, the pacing had nothing to do with why it's a surprise. It was simply the fact that it was a same-sex relationship that came to be in a cartoon such as this. I was floored.

That said, I believe I see where you're coming from now. No, I wouldn't get tired of fighting in every episode. And no, I wouldn't get tired of characterization either. I suppose part of me is afraid that, if they focused more on their relationship, it might have come off as just as corny groan-worthy as the on-again off-again that Korra had with Mako. The more I think about it, I was mistaken. If we saw more of them together than we had, I would have appreciated it. Alas, we did not, so I'm taking what I can get.
 
A

AniHawk

Member
regarding the finale, i think it was mostly fine. actually, there's nothing explicitly wrong in any particular episode of this season with the exception of the clip show (thanks, nick!). it's just... i felt like kuvira needed a little more charisma. it's a problem with how the show was constructed. had all four seasons been planned from the start, how much better would it have been if the original cast was korra, kuvira, asami, and bolin? i'm sure even more character massaging could have been done to make the bolin character and the mako character one person. wouldn't it have had so much more weight if there were two really close friends like kuvira and korra in season 1 given how similar they are and how well they work together, to let that continue into season 2 and 3 as their characters start to take small and separate paths, until season 4 when kuvira is the big bad guy? it may not be korra's greatest foe, but it would have carried a lot of personal weight. and not just for korra, but for the viewer who might have rooted for kuvira in earlier seasons. i'm totally fine with blaming nick for that sort of crap, but some of it definitely falls on the writers.

season 4 definitely gave a lot of time to varrick and zhu li, which was kind of surprising, but in a good way. i didn't realize it during season 2, but varrick was basically this show's sokka. he's the competent/smart funny guy, but they did it in a way that made him different from sokka. so i was fine with it ending on his wedding. i think if there was more time, he would have definitely been around from the start. hell, maybe younger and part of the main group too.

regarding korrasami, first off, congrats to nick for having an explicitly non-straight couple on one of their shows. there needs to be more of that. second, the only issue i have with it is that i've never thought asami as a major part of the show, even in season 1 when she was part of the love triangle. interesting things are happening to her, but i never got the sense of who she was or that she was really part of the group. aside from that, i think it was actually fairly well done in how it was revealed. i actually thought aang's kiss with katara at the end of avatar: the last airbender was kind of weird, like it removed all subtlety from the moment. this hit the right note for me.
 
B

BKatastrophe

Member
I think the trouble I'm having is because it was so straight forward. Like, "here's the plot and here's the action with the characters doing stuff and BOOM show over." It felt so straight forward. Like it was just dumped onto my lap. Granted, don't take that the wrong way because I really enjoyed it. The action was good and I love Korrasami. I truly, genuinely do. But...I dunno. It's weird thinking that this is it. We're done. It's a wrap.

I mean that, and I found out my 6 extra minutes was a lie. So that killed me a little inside. I think the only thing that can fix it is a full re-watch. Maybe it'll give me some extra closure or something. I dunno.
 
M

Mr Fahrenheit

Member
AniHawk said:
my thoughts are all over the place. i don't view the legend of korra as being over, but rather the entire series of avatar: the last airbender. i doubt nickelodeon will ever back a project like this again. it's not just 2.5 years of a show i've been following and mostly liked coming to an end, it's about six years of a series coming to a close, one that surpassed all expectations i had since i first heard about it even in the years before that. for some, i realize this is the end of almost a decade of a series. i'm sure there are people out there who post here and actually grew up with this show, starting from aang's age in the first episode of avatar (minus a hundred years) and ending at korra's in the finale.

i really love avatar: the last airbender. it's a great action-adventure series with a lot of attention to detail, wonderful characters, and inventive fight scenes and interactions. i also like the legend of korra, not as much as avatar: the last airbender, but definitely quite a bit. i think korra is a little more pick-up-and-play while avatar is built more for marathons. it's a rougher show with worse writing and poor pacing. but i feel there are a couple of things it does that surpasses avatar: the last airbender.

1. the music. good god the music is fucking incredible in this show. it's good in the last airbender too, but when i first heard 'the rally' in korra, i knew things had kicked up a notch. it's so much more beautiful and carries more weight than really anything in avatar (and i know the response to this suggestion and yes, i really do mean anything). i think it gives the show its identity more than the 1920s/1930s aesthetics do.

2. the art style. i might be alone on this, and i can respect that a lot of people enjoy the look of avatar: the last airbender, but for me it was a barrier. i didn't watch the show because it looked like teen titans, jackie chan adventures, and other 'american cartoons trying to be anime.' i didn't realize just how much effort had been put into it until i decided to watch it, but i came to enjoy it as time went on, especially with the slapstick that would come along with it. with korra though, i was always on board. it sort of allowed for less physical comedy, but i was okay with that. the show proved it could be funny regardless with some fun facial expressions and well, varrick.

3. antagonist motivation. amon and zaheer both had really interesting motives to do what they did. more than that, both questioned the need for an avatar in a modern world. to me, that's more exciting than bad guy wants to take over, which was admittedly half of korra, but it was all of avatar: the last airbender. even kuvira believed, to an extreme fault, that she was doing what she felt was best, so that she could protect people she cared about. this was different from ozai's plot to take over the world because he was a fucking nutjob. being an action show, these conflicts (especially in seasons 1 and 3) provided interesting interactions between ideologies. there really isn't any in avatar, except for zuko, i guess. i don't think avatar: the last airbender needed this, and surely the legend of korra rarely delves deep for this (season 1 is almost never mentioned ever again), but simply having these motivations made it a lot more fun to watch these characters whenever they were on screen.

i also kind of like korra better than aang, especially at the end. she comes from a place of strength and eventually learns compassion as the answer. aang comes from a place of compassion and as to find overwhelming strength to defeat his greatest foes. to me, his ultimate solution was boring. korra's on the other hand, aside from the first season, was born from her learning how to work with others, and how to inspire others. she's saved by jinora, the airbenders she recruits, and eventually talks kuvira down at the end of their final conflict. unlike some people, i felt like korra really did develop and respond realistically from season to season. it felt logical and normal to me that she 'regressed' in season 2's opening considering her attitude in season 1, and it felt like her final moments in season 4 had more weight after all she'd been through.

regarding the finale itself, i feel like i need another post to gather my thoughts.
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Very good post, especially the last part. You and I could be the greatest of friends.
 
A

Afrocious

Member
Tron#1 said:
So I finally watched the last three episodes. I hope nick is done with the avatar series all together. I was thoroughly disappointed overall with the legend of korra. I hope they end it and never come back. Regarding korra and her lover at the end... what was anyone has a translation for the writing when the embraced at the end? I'm sure it has already been discussed but I haven't had rime to read through the thread since the last episode.
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The text reads The End, like it did in TLA's ending.
 
C

Corronchilejano

Member
Tron#1 said:
So I finally watched the last three episodes. I hope nick is done with the avatar series all together. I was thoroughly disappointed overall with the legend of korra. I hope they end it and never come back. Regarding korra and her lover at the end... anyone has a translation for the writing when they embraced at the end? I'm sure it has already been discussed but I haven't had time to read through the thread since the last episode.
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You monster.
 
H

Hamlet

Member
Afrocious said:
What happened to Sokka?

iaVKDF5.gif
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Always got the comics coming out to answer what the ATLA crew did after their show finished.
Also from an interview a couple of months ago explaining the lack of Sokka.

You revisited Aang where you could, Katara and Zuko popped up over time, and now Toph. Why is it Sokka never got any love in the backstory department?

MDM: It’s kinda ‘cause he died. Bringing back the old characters is fun to do, but there has to be a specific story reason why they're back, and not just because “Oh hey, Zuko!” Just hanging out for no reason.

BK: Sokka had passed away, and we only have 12-14 episodes a season on Korra, there’s not a lot of room to have history lessons, and exposition and stuff. I guess we have to leave some fodder for the future comic books that keep coming out!
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Link
 
P

Plywood

NeoGAF's smiling token!
"There has to be a specific story reason they're back, but no specific reason that we killed them off in the background, haha, buy our comics!"
 
G

Gravidee

Member
BKatastrophe said:
I think the trouble I'm having is because it was so straight forward. Like, "here's the plot and here's the action with the characters doing stuff and BOOM show over." It felt so straight forward. Like it was just dumped onto my lap. Granted, don't take that the wrong way because I really enjoyed it. The action was good and I love Korrasami. I truly, genuinely do. But...I dunno. It's weird thinking that this is it. We're done. It's a wrap.

I mean that, and I found out my 6 extra minutes was a lie. So that killed me a little inside. I think the only thing that can fix it is a full re-watch. Maybe it'll give me some extra closure or something. I dunno.
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I dunno, the timestamps on those masters suggest that at least one of the finale episodes is slightly longer than usual. I guess we won't really find out until we get some confirmation in an article or the blu-ray.
 
B

BKatastrophe

Member
Gravidee said:
I dunno, the timestamps on those masters suggest that at least one of the finale episodes is slightly longer than usual. I guess we won't really find out until we get some confirmation in an article or the blu-ray.
Click to expand...

Are there pictures of these timestamps? Maybe I shouldn't look, my heart can't take it...

davy-jones-s-heart-o.gif



Seriously though. I need to see it.
 
R

roboadmiral

Neo Member
SpaceCadetKeon said:
For me, the pacing had nothing to do with why it's a surprise. It was simply the fact that it was a same-sex relationship that came to be in a cartoon such as this. I was floored.

That said, I believe I see where you're coming from now. No, I wouldn't get tired of fighting in every episode. And no, I wouldn't get tired of characterization either. I suppose part of me is afraid that, if they focused more on their relationship, it might have come off as just as corny groan-worthy as the on-again off-again that Korra had with Mako. The more I think about it, I was mistaken. If we saw more of them together than we had, I would have appreciated it. Alas, we did not, so I'm taking what I can get.
Click to expand...

I'm going to have to side with Fahrenheit on this. I just couldn't buy Korrassami. Nothing Korra and Assami ever did pushed past the bounds of what good friends would do, let alone even suggested that they might be into girls in general. And yeah, if they leaned on it too heavily it could have gotten sappy and annoying, but that's in the hands of the writers just like everything. To skip the build up and establishment of the relationship is to essentially make it nonexistent.

Further, for being the moment they decided to end on, Korra and Assami's relationship wasn't at all central to The Legend of Korra as a series. The pair of them had hardly any time together, and honestly I didn't even think the now-they're-BFFs angle was terribly convincing, but Korra has like three friends in the whole world and so she feels that maybe the one who's a girl can relate to her better than the other two, so whatever, that's fine, and it keeps the relationship to the side where its been clearly established it belongs. The much more appropriate beat to end the show on would have been the one with Tenzin. Book 4 was even called "Balance." The whole series is about Korra finding her place between leader and student, rash impulsiveness and debilitating fear, and Tenzin's journey as her teacher and father figure but also as the son of Aang mirrored hers in a lot of ways. What does Korrassami have to do with balance?
 
J

jackissocool

Member
roboadmiral said:
I'm going to have to side with Fahrenheit on this. I just couldn't buy Korrassami. Nothing Korra and Assami ever did pushed past the bounds of what good friends would do, let alone even suggested that they might be into girls in general. And yeah, if they leaned on it too heavily it could have gotten sappy and annoying, but that's in the hands of the writers just like everything. To skip the build up and establishment of the relationship is to essentially make it nonexistent.

Further, for being the moment they decided to end on, Korra and Assami's relationship wasn't at all central to The Legend of Korra as a series. The pair of them had hardly any time together, and honestly I didn't even think the now-they're-BFFs angle was terribly convincing, but Korra has like three friends in the whole world and so she feels that maybe the one who's a girl can relate to her better than the other two, so whatever, that's fine, and it keeps the relationship to the side where its been clearly established it belongs. The much more appropriate beat to end the show on would have been the one with Tenzin. Book 4 was even called "Balance." The whole series is about Korra finding her place between leader and student, rash impulsiveness and debilitating fear, and Tenzin's journey as her teacher and father figure but also as the son of Aang mirrored hers in a lot of ways. What does Korrassami have to do with balance?
Click to expand...

Mako and Asami started dating after they ran into eachother on a bike. Don't give me that build up garbage. Especially if you paid attention, the signs were there.
 
M

mugurumakensei

Member
roboadmiral said:
What does Korrassami have to do with balance?
Click to expand...

i'll answer this first.

work/life balance. both of them had done terribly at it the past two seasons.

on your questions about korra and asami being into girls, it was never stated that they didnt have attraction to girls. all we can assume from their relationships with Mako is they might like guys too.

on the question about their relationship buildup, id have to assume they bonded quite a bit off screen. for one, korra only wrote asami during her travels. if it was just because she was a girl, why not jinora, opal, or any other number of girl friends she knows? next, asami is pretty much the opposite of korra in powerset. she's a non bender who uses her wits. korra is an avatar that is brash and charges head first. so, there is the opposites attract phenomenon. id also have to imagine they became quite a bit close over the events that transpired during season 1.
 
N

Nesotenso

Member
people who are claiming that there were signs along in season 3 and 4 can't be real. anyway I have had this discussion in the earlier thread and don't want to rehash it.
 
A

Afrocious

Member
Nesotenso said:
people who are claiming that there were signs along in season 3 and 4 can't be real. anyway I have had this discussion in the earlier thread and don't want to rehash it.
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I'm real and you'd be proven wrong quite easily if you did have this discussion so....
 
A

Afrocious

Member
Wow, watching that montage made Korra and Asami look gay as fuck in the best possible way.

Jesus, that's a lot more than I remembered being in the show.
 
H

Hamlet

Member
BKatastrophe said:
And there's the actual emotions...sunnuva bitch.


Also, where'd they get 6 minutes from? Where'd I even hear that? Some warped game of Internet telephone and I got stuck at the end?
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How it started.

Bryan posted a picture that had a timestamp on it for episode 12 - That's a Wrap.

Which led to this and then people started theorizing that the last episode would also be extended. So never any official confirmation about an extra 6 minutes.
 
B

BKatastrophe

Member
AniHawk said:
http://vimeo.com/115101891
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This video may not be the best accumulation of "evidence," but damn...I felt some emotions. Well shit. Reminds me of how they wasted the middle part of Remembrances.

Trey said:
I had heard the same. Just information I suppose, but it was definitely posted and disseminated in this thread.
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Hamlet said:
How it started.

Bryan posted a picture that had a timestamp on it for episode 12 - That's a Wrap.

Which led to this and then people started theorizing that the last episode would also be extended. So never any official confirmation about an extra 6 minutes.
Click to expand...

Alright, makes sense. I'm glad I'm not the only one here. Felt like I was insane for a bit.
 
M

Mr Fahrenheit

Member
roboadmiral said:
I'm going to have to side with Fahrenheit on this. I just couldn't buy Korrassami. Nothing Korra and Assami ever did pushed past the bounds of what good friends would do, let alone even suggested that they might be into girls in general. And yeah, if they leaned on it too heavily it could have gotten sappy and annoying, but that's in the hands of the writers just like everything. To skip the build up and establishment of the relationship is to essentially make it nonexistent.

Further, for being the moment they decided to end on, Korra and Assami's relationship wasn't at all central to The Legend of Korra as a series. The pair of them had hardly any time together, and honestly I didn't even think the now-they're-BFFs angle was terribly convincing, but Korra has like three friends in the whole world and so she feels that maybe the one who's a girl can relate to her better than the other two, so whatever, that's fine, and it keeps the relationship to the side where its been clearly established it belongs. The much more appropriate beat to end the show on would have been the one with Tenzin. Book 4 was even called "Balance." The whole series is about Korra finding her place between leader and student, rash impulsiveness and debilitating fear, and Tenzin's journey as her teacher and father figure but also as the son of Aang mirrored hers in a lot of ways. What does Korrassami have to do with balance?
Click to expand...
I mean... I buy it enough for it to be a thing, not a terribly well done thing, but there was enough to where I can't say it was completely out of nowhere
(and I do enjoy it's existence, despite how much I trash it)
. It just isn't done nearly well enough to be the ending point of the show, as I bolded In your post because thats word for word what Ive been saying and I cannot say it enough. Having the exchange with Tenzin be the parting sentiment would have been almost perfect.
 
A

A-V-B

Member
MartyStu said:
I doubt that they are much different in-universe.

The writers simply chose to de-power the Avatar State because it presented to many hurdles.
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It never presented many hurdles in ATLA in terms of storytelling... It's a dangerous state to be in, it can only be triggered in times of EXTREME distress... I mean, we know at the end of the day the Avatar isn't going to die, don't worry about that. Everyone else? Fair game. So we want to know how the Avatar's gonna react to that. I kinda liked Earth book's opener for that reason. Shows you when and how the State gets tuned in, how risky it is.

I mean, that's one of its interesting elements. It's not just some kind of invincible supermode like Superman. It's dangerous to everyone because you lose control and go nuts with the forces of nature. It's not something you always want to rely on. It's a last resort. And sometimes the consequences of using it might be worse than if you had stuck it out normally. And it makes you vulnerable in other ways. It exposes the raw Avatar. Die there, die forever. Avatar won't die because it's the Avatar's television show, but the Avatar doesn't know that, which will make the Avatar react like a person. That's what you want.

If you de-power the state, you really turn the Avatar State into a shitshow. "Become marginally more powerful at the risk of dying forever!"

You could just say "no thanks" practically every time and make it out alright. So it being insanely powerful and dangerous means there's more risk, more of an important choice to make (or one to not make because it could kick in automatically, and you regret the destruction you caused later) and creates stronger antagonism.

"Become incredibly more powerful at the risk of dying forever!"
"That's a sacrifice I'm just going to have to make for the people I love!"

Bam, more drama. And cooler fights.
 
L

Lethe82

Banned
Honestly the show could have been elevated to god tier status had they made Korra's friendship/growing feelings for Asami a more central focus throughout the series and then tackled the romance angle head on, but what can you do. The show is nowhere near as consistent as TLA, but I still love it and really enjoy the good parts.
 
B

BeatResetsTheWorld

Banned
Lethe82 said:
Honestly the show could have been elevated to god tier status had they made Korra's friendship/growing feelings for Asami a more central focus throughout the series and then tackled the romance angle head on, but what can you do. The show is nowhere near as consistent as TLA, but I still love it and really enjoy the good parts.
Click to expand...

This isn't some romance show. I don't think fleshing it out more would somehow excuse the shows other misgivings and elevate it anywhere
 
M

m_shortpants

Member
Eh. Korrasami aside (and I even have problems with how it was presented at the end), I found this season to be pretty bad as a whole.

Seems like Bryke were either monumentally lazy or were just running out of ideas. Kind of glad it's over TBH.
 
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