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The Legend of Korra: Book 4 |OT2| ALL HAIL THE GREAT UNITER
- Thread starter Toa TAK
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Icyflamez96
Member
I'd like to believe that I'd be infuriated over any pairing of Korra, if we take the miyazaki quote of "a boy and a girl onscreen don't have to be in a romance" and extend it to remove the gender binary to "if we take two people onscreen they don't have to be in a romance" I'd be quite happy.
And we all know it's not a lust/love at first sight, but any person who develops feelings for another person must eventually make the emotional leap of faith to realize you're more than friends. They simply chose to do that at the very end without too much hint that that realization occurred prior.
I (and hopefully others) feel that having what seemed like a "sudden" beginning at the very end was a poor choice simply because many of us felt there wasn't enough of a thread to follow to the end.
The conclusion should be about wrapping up the various story threads, and finale wraps up most of the various threads to varying degrees of success and failure. the Korrasami thread is one of them and I thought it was a failed wrap up, I don't think it's unfair to have wanted it to be longer/more developed "thread" so to speak. It felt more like a new thread rather than the conclusion of an existing one.
Korra has a very similar build and stature to a cousin of mine who's 5"4. 5"7 and above seems a little bit high for Korra, she looks so short.
Asami at 5"10 I can sort of believe, but she's no Stacy Keibler, who stands at 5"11, so I'd remove a couple of inches for Asami.
Astral Dog
Member
"Suyin, i apologize for all the anguish i caused to you and your family,you were my true mother all this time"
"You will rot in prison, bitch"
BKatastrophe
Member
So, wait, why are people saying the whole Kuvira thing is Su's fault? Or is that a joke I'm not getting?
m_shortpants
Member
Mako got teamzoned so hard
Shouta
Member
Ugh Eska and Bolin. It did have a few amusing moments.
But seriously once again. "Show, not tell" is the main thing. Just look at Varrick and Zhu LI, the other couple that got together in the end. Do you see how defined their relationship is? That's the thing that is necessary. All we knew about Korra and Asami are 'We're friends and we fight together!"
Even if they weren't meant to be a thing from the get go, at least build the relationship between the two so it could work. Bryke couldn't even do that >=(
Bryan said she was 5'7". She's around a lot of tall people so she seems shorter than that.
Gotdatmoney
Member
They weren't ever really antagonistic. Korra was jealous of Asami but never actually rude to her nor was Asami ever rude to Korra even though she was pissed about the kiss and how Mako treated her. They were both mostly just antagonistic to Mako because Mako was a jerk for season 1 and 2. (man, they really fixed him in season 3 and 4 as a side note)
Another side note is that Bolin just got hosed relationship wise the whole series. Korra shits on him, his brother shits on him, then they gave him the terrible Eska arc, then Opal who was nice but had no real interactions with Bolin.
Korra and Asami were friends but they really don't interact enough or in a way that would lead me to believe they wanted to try out a relationship. Letter writing and doing hair is not indicative of two people wanting a relationship.
They've done this ending twice before already: in the finale of ATLA and in the last episode LoK S1 which was assumed at that time to be the last episode. Even in the 'penultimate' ATLA episode (i.e. The Ember Island Players, before the 4 part season finale, Sozin's comet) Aang and Kataara still didn't know if their friendship would turn into a romantic relationship. The kiss at the end was a 'sudden' new beginning as well. New beginnings often 'suddenly' happen after winning a big battle... There's a pattern there. Nothing wrong with introducing a new relationship in a finale imo.
With aang and katara though we have a lot more time to seed the idea of their romance from more obvious signs of romance like aangs season 1 crush to indications during season 2s ending where Katara saves aang from the ancient ba sing se underground and smaller moments like when aang finally wakes up in season 3.
Korrasami lacked enough cumulative screentime together during season 3 and 4 where Bryke actually tried to cultivate a bond between them which is the common complaint. Perhaps a longer episode format would help.
Their time together in season 3 was REALLY good in my opinion. But it was also basically the first time korra and asami spent any significant time together to start with since seasons 1 and 2, they were sort of rivals (asami was never supremely possessive of Mako and was remarkably understanding of being turned down) but still allies against the equalists and Unalock/Varrick.
The time in season 4 was sadly misspent in all sorts of areas which very much includes the korrasami relationship.
Lol, nopeeeee.
Plus once Kuvira took over I guess it has to be assumed Kuviras superior military rule stamped out any bandits.
Icyflamez96
Member
Wow I completely forgot about that
so did the writers i guess
I don't think it was ever brought up again ha. Guess it was only there to cause a conflict/rift between Bolin and Opal. Plus make Kai somewhat relevant again.
JadedWriter
Member
Su opted to chill out in Zaofu as people in Republic City asked to help bring peace to the Earth Kingdom. There was really no logical excuse she gave either just said no. This provoked Kuvira to do what she did. Many people have been pretty critical of her nonchalant behavior towards it. I would've been fine with her not doing it personally if she sent a couple of experienced advisers to oversee Kuvira and aid her in quelling the bandits half the crap she did probably would not have happened, but nope she just disowned her and tried to absolve herself of the whole situation while being critical of it as well.
A person is never too late to take a shit on Book 2.Am I too late to join in on the book 2 shaming?
That's a kind way of putting it.
Really? Hmmmmm.....I guess I can see that.
Ironically the talk-no-jutsu was so short it was shocking that it ended. I'd give it a 7 out of ten because at least they they didn't spend a million years on platitudes, but the platitudes they did present were pretty lame
I blame Su for everything that went down in season 4.
JadedWriter
Member
Su essentially put herself in prison if you really want to think about it. The fact that Kuvira kept her together with her family and opted to not have them routinely tortured proves how nice she was.
Korra and Asami had a bond from S1... aang and katara were allowed very explicit foreshadowing e.g. almost kiss in 'The Cave of Two Lovers episode'. That type of overt physical comedy/dramatic romance of Aang+Kataara, Vaarick+Zhuli, Bolin+Eska etc is not allowed for same-sex couples on Nick. Instead Bryke had to show the the bond in other ways. The bond between Asami and Korra is very obvious by the final battle:
Tvtropes/ShipTease Korra/Asami
- Special note should be taken that, during Book 1, this was considered a fringe Ship at best. However, after a buildup across Book 2 and then the chemistry the two showed in Book 3, complementary personalities, and the aforementioned tender moments, this ship has skyrocketed to become the by-and-large most popular ship in the entire series... and by the Grand Finale, an Official Couple.
- In Book 1, many Korrasami shippers see the scene in which Korra rides in Asami's race car as very shippy. More so the scenes before and after where after bonding, Korra removes the one insult ("prissy") she had used to describe Asami. On Asami's part there is her trying her dead best to become friends with Korra, and even after everything bad that happens to her, because of her friendship with Korra, Asami still states that she likes Korra.
- Book 3 took this Up to Eleven, almost to the point that you wonder if they are doing it on purpose. After the relationship drama in the first two Books, Korra and Asami's friendship is played up while Mako and Bolin's family is explored. Korra and Asami thus spend a lot of the Book together.
- The first episode even has Korra calling Asami a "girlfriend" while Asami is giving her driving lessons.
- As the Book goes on it has shown the two train together and eat side by side at big dinners. Not only that, they become somewhat of a Battle Couple, with Korra praising Asami's genius. There is also the fact that Asami is the one that keeps watch over Korra's body while she is in the spirit world, a task usually reserved for significant others (Aang and Katara, Zaheer and P'Li).
- This culminates in the season finale, where Asami is fixing up Korra's hair while the latter is wheelchair bound and recovering from her battle with Zaheer. Asami proceeds to take Korra's hand and tell her that she is there for her in case she ever wants to "talk... or anything".
- Book 4 seems to be continuing the trend. Many fans are convinced that either Korra and Asami are going to become an Official Couple, or the creators are consciously screwing with them.
- When Korra is about to leave for the Southern Water Tribe, Asami tenderly lays her hands on Korra's shoulders and asks if she is sure she does not want her to come with her to the Southern Water Tribe (despite the fact that Asami still has an entire company to run back in Republic City).
- During her time there, Asami, Mako, and Bolin have all been writing to Korra, but Korra only writes back to Asami because she feels the boys just would not understand what she is going through. It may be that Korra simply sees Asami as her closest, most trusted friend, but the subtext is as clear as crystal.
- Three years later, Asami shows no interest in Prince Wu's attempts to flirt with her, but perks up when Mako tells her that Korra would be returning to Republic City that very night.
- "Reunion":
- The restaurant scene is just chock full of this, starting with Asami complimenting Korra's hair (complete with blush from the latter) then the two having to awkwardly admit that Korra actually wrote back to Asami. Even their argument comes across sounding like a lovers' quarrel.
- There's this line from Mako, which is borderline Lampshade Hanging on it all:
Mako: What's going on with you two? - Blink and you'll miss it, but when Korra airbends the Krew plus Wu off the train, she throws her free arm around Asami's waist◊
.
- Korra also helps Asami onto the train when trying to find Wu, making no effort to do the same for Mako.
- Furthermore, despite being apart for three years, Korra and Asami are in perfect sync with one another, while Mako is a step behind. During the car chase, Korra trusts Asami to know which way to go, while Asami maneuvers the car so Korra can leap to the van without either of them having to say a word. In the Freeze-Frame Bonus mentioned above, Asami is already getting ready to jump before Korra even says anything.
- "Remembrances":
- Korra and Asami's interaction is straight out of an (admittedly restrained) Hurt/Comfort Fic, with Korra being down on herself and Asami trying to cheer her up.
- Asami: I brought you some tea. I thought you might be cold out here.
- Korra: You're so sweet.
- Observant fans noted that the teacup in question had Korra's own color scheme.
- Of all the episode stills he could have chosen, this is the one Bryan Konietzko chose to put at the top of his Tumblr post discussing "Remembrances".
- In the Previously On intro for "Beyond The Wilds", Shiro Shinobi says that "Korra is safely back in Republic City". The accompanying clip shows Korra and Asami's hug from "Reunion". Not only did they choose to use this of all scenes as the first thing shown in this episode, but they also took the time and effort to re-touch it and clean up some animation errors (such as Korra missing part of her stomach), making the hug look even closer and more intimate than in the original episode.
- Finale:
*shrug*
JadedWriter
Member
More interesting than what we got.
Tal Shiar Agent
Member
I thought the theory was that she was Su's and Zaheer's kid?
Fun times. Don't forget also when everyone started thinking Suyin was part of Red Lotus.
Ha ha man was that fun especially.
JadedWriter
Member
I really like that theory as well. It definitely ties her to Su better and would pretty much give Su a really good reason why she wouldn't legitimize her or at the very least be far too afraid to legitimize her since it would put her own nuclear family in jeopardy, would also make her like Toph.
Lol Kuvira will get her back story filled out on her fucking tombstone.
Well. Kuvira did try to murder her son with a giant energy beam...and her, and her sister, and the avatar, and blopal, and....
Ah the memories. A lot people seemed so certain she was part of Red lotus after this particular reaction.
JadedWriter
Member
People saying that it was thrown in at the last minute to appease fans just weren't paying attention...for 3 seasons.
I wasn't even shipping anyone for the first 2.5 sesons, but I caught all of those references in that wiki and was like .... there's something going on there for sure.
It was basically obvious by the beginning of season 3.
Didn't say that but it was really awful. Kuvira is wasted potential, the whole toph plot led nowhere really, the finale was trash, whatever happened to the spirits? There where no big character moments like there was in book 3 of last airbender and the finale only gave the spotlight to bolin and mako. Kai and jinora do nothing or are gone.
At least meelo and ikki had their moment.
But book 4 was awful. Zaheer and crew should have been endgame.
Banana Aeon
Member
Just 70?
They did cut something like 6 minutes from the finale, I wonder if Kai and Jinora were part of the stuff that was cut.
The toph plot did go nowhere, but I guess she had firmly committed to being a cranky dirty loner hobo so I'm not really surprised.
I thought the spirits had withdrawn from the mortal plane because a tyrant was fucking with spirit energy and the spirits were just content for the humans to wipe themselves out so they just fucking gg'd back home.
JadedWriter
Member
Jinora did nothing but get captured again. I don't even hate her character, but sometimes it doesn't feel like she earned her tattoos. She knows that spirit stuff and helped Korra take down Zaheer, but you would think she would captured again. And yeah I would've liked seeing her and Kai interact once before the series ended since I like Kai. I thought he turned his shit around pretty well at the end of last season and turned into a nice young man after blasting off into puberty.
No that finale bar the last 5 minutes was awful. CGI everywhere, kuvira...idk wtf she was doing, korra hardly using the avatar state to wreck shit like last time, the "big" moments didn't feel very big outside of mako and meelo, talk no jutsu was trash, asamis father's sacrifice was whatever at best, spirits never showed up again, suyin still sucks.
The last 5 minutes where pretty much the only redeeming factor. And it was very good.
The last 5 minutes where pretty much the only redeeming factor. And it was very good.
m_shortpants
Member
Sorry for the constant Mako ribbing, this shit is just too hilarious.
I actually kind of feel bad for Mako. I think you could make an argument that he was the most useful team Avatar member after Korra. He should have no probs picking up ladies though but its a bit weird to see a character have no potential interest at the conclusion.
I think it's just weird how Korra and Asami eloped, like that's a pretty big escalation after only just discovering your romance. Mako and Bolin didn't even get an invite, or a goodbye as far as we saw.
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