The Legend of Korra Review

The legend of Korra chronicles the events of the Avatar that follows Aaang, who was the last Airbender during his time. There are no specifics about the time skip but it is safe to say that it is anywhere between 60-100 years, considering how old Aang's friends and their kids are.

There are many elements from Aang's story but at the same time, there's a modernized feel about the plot due to the level of technological advancement. Also, the presence of Aang's son that has an uncanny likeness to his dad eases you into the story.

There are many similarities and differences between the current Avatar and the previous. These differences also emphasize some of the information we already know about Avatars over the years.

Despite being reincarnations of each other, every Avatar was unique and handled things based on their personality and preferences. So while Avatar Aang was a pacifist air bending monk, Korra was a hot headed south water tribe girl.

Korra was a protoge who easily picked up bending three out of the four elements, while Aang struggled with every other element but air. Interestingly, Korra struggled with Airbending which makes a lot of sense considering her personality.

Korra struggled with connecting with the spirits due to her brash nature. This is something Aang never had issues with due to his training as an Airbending monk. You get to see the differences between both Avatars and if you're a fan, you will appreciate the general idea of the series.

Four Seasons

The legend of Korra spanned four seasons with each season featuring a unique villain that required Korra to learn new skills and most importantly, learn about herself.

The first season introduced us to Republic city and a villain who intended to eradicate bending from the world. In a strange way, I connected with the villains plan but at the same time, his approach was bordering on terrorism.

Unolok as the season one villain was referred to, turned out to be a total sham and his story ended in dramatic fashion. This villain while having the ability to take away people's bending, turned out to be the least threatening of all the other villains in the series.

In the second season, we got a family feud between the north and south water tribe. This season also introduced us to the sprit side of the Avatar's duties and a very interesting flashback into the life of the first Avatar.

The third season delved into the inner politics of the white lotus. The villains were a radical sect of the the white lotus who strived to bring balance to the world. Again, when you think about it, you'll find that their hearts were in a good place but their approach was extremist.

In the final season, we saw how absolute power corrupted the mind of a military general. Touted as the Uniter, she embarked on a conquest to reclaim land that belonged to her people but again, she took things a bit too far and turned a noble cause into genocide.

Opinion

All four seasons flew by really fast and I have to say, for a children's animation, that was excellent storytelling.

The fight scenes and stunts were well choreographed. There was an excellent mixture of technology and the traditional martial arts undertone of the series.

I also enjoyed the political sub notes of the series. Granted they're meant for demographics of 15 and below, it was still nice to see how it was fused into the series.

We once again, got to see the human side of the Avatar. Despite being so powerful , she was limited by normal human emotions and while being somewhat of a transient being, she still had to win her inner battles before taking on the threat that's outside.

We got to see how the Avatar maintains balance in the midst of the chaos. Her hot headed nature coupled with her sense of responsibility and moral compass enabled her to decide when and when not to get involved in human affairs.

I also like how the subplots concerning the supporting characters were formed. We got to know a bit more about their lives and saw them grow in stature and ability.

I would have loved to see a bit more of the fire nation but I reckon after events in the past, they became passive and would only get involved in conflict when they were directly threatened.

What I would add is that I think the series should consider going down the anime route and if a sequel were to come out, it should feature all the usual elements but be crafted for a more mature audience. I say this because while being a children's show, it was released quite a long time ago and the die hard fans of the franchise are much older.

Making it a bit more like anime, obviously without the sexualization of female characters and all that crap that Japanese pervy artist like to do would be good for us. Maybe throw in a bit more blood, more gory scenes and some dark gloomy colours to give it some dreariness.

For The legend of Korra, though, I'd give it a 4.5-star rating because it was almost perfect. It was an excellent story, with subplots, twists, surprises and a lot of action to keep you hooked for four seasons.