The Legend Of Korra (TV Show Review)

So, along with completing all of Avatar: The Last Airbender last October, I also finished its sequel series, The Legend Of Korra just a couple of weeks ago. I'd heard different things about the series before I started. A few months ago, I heard my brother listening to a review of it on YouTube and the guy said he didn't like it but some of the YouTubers I watched said they liked and enjoyed it. So, I was definitely excited to see it and I was curious to know what it was about. I knew the basic premise. It was the next generation of the Avatar with the next reincarnation, but that's it. I didn't know anything else outside of that. So, I actually watched the whole series on the DVDs that my brother had and I watched the whole thing within about ten days. And, as a whole, I think I actually enjoyed the series a bit more than some people. I really, really liked a lot about the series and there were some aspects about it I absolutely loved. That being said, it's not perfect and it's nowhere near as good as Last Airbender, but I was honestly surprised by how much I enjoyed this. All right, so, like I said, the series is about the next Avatar after Aang, a girl from the Water Tribe named Korra. She's already mastered Waterbending, Firebending and Earthbending, but is now going off to learn Airbending. And she's hoping to learn it from Tenzin, Aang's son. So, she heads to a place called "Republic City", a place that Aang and Zuko created for benders and nonbenders. And, while there, she comes across new characters like two brothers, Mako and Bolin along with another friend, Asami. She even meets Lin Beifong, Toph's daughter. And from there, a lot happens. So, I guess I'll get the negatives from the beginning out of the way. First off, the show didn't open as amazingly as Last Airbender did. I know it's probably unfair to compare this to the Last Airbender, but given how this is a sequel series from that show and given how amazing and popular it is, I figured I might as well. And so, the first few episodes can sorta feel like some parts go on a bit too long and some characters makes some questionable decisions. It also felt like some characters were mostly just complaining a lot and that got really repetitive. I get that it helps make these characters more unique and they don't want them to be a repeat of the characters from the last series and show that this is a new generation, but, at times, their attitudes just didn't sit well with me. I was still enjoying everything and I was still liking the characters, I just didn't like everything that was happening and everything they were doing. But, thankfully, that got out of the way really quickly and got a lot of really amazing moments after that. And we got some really amazing villains. One of the best villains of the whole Avatar franchise is actually the main villain of Book 1, Amon. A masked guy with the ability to take people's bending away, just like what Aang did to Ozai at the end of the Last Airbender. Not only was he cool, but also very interesting when we hear about his backstory with his brother and father. Speaking of his brother, it's exactly like what I was saying for the last series, the fact that this show still continues to have some really hateable and detestable characters. And Amon's brother, Tarrlok, is one of those. Though he does get somewhat redeemed towards the end. I will say, his redemption does feel a tiny bit forced, but I was really happy when it happened anyway. And Amon was a really cool villain, not only with having the mask on for almost the whole time he was on screen, but his power of taking away a person's bending was pretty chilling, especially when we saw him take away Lin's bending. And I was really surprised when Amon died. I thought he was gonna stick around for a while, but, no, Tarrlok kills him and himself in the last episode of Book 1. But not before Amon took away Korra's other bending. Just as she fought Amon, she was learning Airbending and just as she fought him, she finally got the hang of it. But all the rest were taken from her. But then, and this comes to another point, one of the best things about this show is when the characters from the last series appear in this. We have Katara who was in the Water Tribe who's known Korra for a long time, but we also see Aang. Not just in flashbacks, but also with Korra seeing him due to her being the Avatar herself.

And all of Book 1 had a lot of moments that I really loved. I really liked Korra's dynamic with Mako, Bolin and Asami and I liked seeing them together. Seeing them become the new Team Avatar was great. I will say though, the one character I didn't like that much was Bolin. He wasn't bad, but he's clearly supposed to be the comic relief of the show and, I didn't really find a lot of his scenes funny. He was mostly just some idiot with some annoying scenes. He does get some really good moments here and there, but, overall, he was probably the main character I enjoyed the least. That being said, I still enjoyed his interactions with others and I liked the whole thing with him, Korra and Mako with Korra having a crush on Mako despite him being in a relationship with Asami. I know it's weird and some people don't like that part, but, and I don't know why, but I enjoyed it. And, something else I really love in this series is the voice acting. The voices here are so perfect and spot on that I can't imagine any other voices for these characters. I'd say my favourite is Janet Varney as Korra herself. I'd say a good part of why I like Korra so much is due to her design and Janet's performance. And obviously how she's written, but the performance is so good in my opinion. I also really liked Tenzin's kids, Jinora, Ikki and Meelo. They get more time to shine in later seasons, but they're all really good and really funny. I'd say my favourite is Jinora. She's really likeable and gets a lot of really great moments in later seasons and is the most interesting of the three. But, yeah, overall, a lot of Book One, I really liked. Then, moving onto Book Two, this season was apparently one that people really disliked according to my brother. But, again, I really enjoyed it. Although, it did prove something to me that I was thinking in the last one and that is that the show never really surprised me that much. I mean, some things definitely did, but, whenever the show tried to have some big plot twist or something like that, it was always really predictable. Especially whenever it came to a villain reveal. They tried that in Book Two and none of it was surprising. I obviously didn't know the story behind the villain, but in terms of when it was revealed, it didn't surprise me. Anyway, with Book Two, we get a lot of different information about the world. For one thing, we're introduced to Unalaq, Korra's uncle. And he presents a different kinda bending with being able to stop bad spirits, which is something else in this franchise. There being spirits and there being a Spirit World. I liked the concept of that and Book Two did a lot of cool things with that. And this introduces a kinda bending to control the spirits, which is what Unalaq is able to do. But then, it's revealed that he's the villain and even betrayed his own brother, Korra's dad and did everything he could to disgrace him. And he even has a plan that involves Korra and her Avatar power. This is also the first season where it puts more focus on Jinora, Ikki and Meelo, especially Jinora, which I loved. I like these characters and it was fun to watch them get more time on screen. And we even get a really fun character, Varrick. He's this business guy who's working with Asami who's kinda annoying but he does also have some of the funniest lines in the show. Anyway, Book Two is also where we learn the origin of the Avatar. We learn that the first Avatar was a guy named Wan who began to learn all the elements along side the spirit of good, Raava, who was in conflict with the spirit of evil, Vatuu. And it was interesting to learn that. And we learn that Unalaq's plan was to merge with Vatuu just like how Raava was fused with every Avatar, and, when Unalaq and Vaatu merged, they became the Dark Avatar, which was really cool and showed again the example of this show having really hateable villains. And then there's a big fight with Unalaq becoming huge and with so much power and he begins to attack Republic City but then Korra does the same with Raava. And the whole fight with them being huge with their powers and glowing with colours reminded me a lot of the final fight between Naruto and Sasuke. And it was awesome. Though I was surprised when Unalaq didn't survive. I was expecting him to still be alive and thrown in jail, but, no. He just dies then and there. And Korra then decides to leave the portal to the Spirit World open believing it's best. And then Book Two ends with that. And, I'm not gonna lie, a part of me wishes the whole series ended there because we got a lot of answers to different things like finding out how the Avatar began and the world was open to the Spirit World. But the rest of me is happy that it didn't because we got more afterwards that was pretty tense. We then get Book Three where more Airbenders are appearing due to Harmonic Convergence and everyone thinks they should begin to rebuild the Air nation. And we get a lot of really great moments and some more really hateable characters like the queen of the Earth Kingdom. And we get more of Jinora with this boy named Kai who's one of the people who's gotten Airbending. And I like their scenes and I liked how we got more of Jinora with the Spirit World because we get to see her able to go to the Spirit World, especially one part in particular where she goes with Korra. Speaking of which, we even see Iroh back. He's in the Spirit World and he and Korra know each other and I liked their scenes together. It was touching, it was sweet and they were really good together. And we got another new villain, the Red Lotus, which is supposed to be like the White Lotus, except, this time, they're villains who're trying to destroy the Avatar Cycle forever, the head of the group being Zaheer. We even get Zuko back and he's still awesome. We even see him and his son, who he also named Iroh. And so, the whole thing with Zaheer and Korra was cool because, he's not as hateable as the other villains in the series but he still does a huge amount of damage to the heroes. He even comes close to killing Korra, and, while he doesn't, he does manage to cripple her and render her completely emotionally destroyed. We even hear more about Lin here where we see her sister, Su. I think most people don't like Su, but I did and, while you can definitely see why Lin doesn't get along with her, but I did like her. And, I was also surprised by this too because I thought Su was gonna be a villain, but she isn't, which pleasantly surprised me. And we get a really cool fight with all of them against the Red Lotus. But the season ends with Korra feeling completely defeated and the Air Nation being rebuilt. And, finally, we get to the final one, Book Four, which I must say, has probably the most hateable and detestable villain I've seen in a long time, but I'll get to that in a second. Anyway, this season opens up with the rest of the world being protected by a new government but it's also taking over the places it rescues. All under the demands of its leader, Kuvira. This is the character I just mentioned. All the things she does in this season are some of the most despicable things I've seen a villain do and say in ages. I haven't hated a character this much in a long time. Anyway, she's trying to take control of everything and believes the Earth Kingdom is supreme. Her, along with her almost as hateable husband, Baatar Jr, are trying to rule over everything and have the whole world submit due to subjugation. And her specialty is Metalbending, the bending that Toph invented. Speaking of, we even see Toph here and she's still awesome and hilarious.

And we watch Korra have to deal with a lot here, not only with the weight of everything that's happening, but she's also experiencing P.T.S.D and is dealing with depression because of what happened at the end of the last season. And I liked that, it felt new to see for a cartoon character, for me at least. And we even see her going to Zaheer in jail and he even helps her overcome her P.T.S.D. And there's a long plot with everyone just trying to stop Kuvira and trying to take her down because, not only is she a powerful Metalbender, but she also has a huge colossus robot that can fire a powerful canon. And she's kinda terrifying in that sense. I wasn't scared of her, but I can imagine other people being scared of what she's doing with her merciless and cold-hearted nature. I will say, I feel like this story goes on for a little bit too long. I never found it boring, but I felt like a bit of it was dragging for a bit too long. But there were a lot of great moments. I'd say the best part was the final fight with Korra and Kuvira. That whole action scene inside the colossus was awesome. And, yeah, the series then ends with Kuvira getting arrested after she admits defeat and regrets everything she's done and we see them having a celebration in Republic City. And then we actually see Korra and Asami getting together, which was nice because I like their interactions and just the two of them together. And, yeah, overall, from beginning to end, there was almost nothing I disliked, there are definitely problems with the series and it's nowhere near as good as Last Airbender, but, like I said, I'm genuinely surprised by how much I really liked the series. In fact, I loved it. There was just something about watching these characters and watching this series play out that just made me love the series. I'd say I definitely liked the series a bit more than most people and I honestly can't wait to watch it again. And, everything that was great in Last Airbender on the technical side of things is still amazing here. The animation is still some of the best American made animation I've ever seen and the fact that it's an American creation is still super cool to me. Also, and this is something I didn't expect, but I really love the music. Especially the end credits theme.

And, yeah, overall, I don't entirely know why exactly, but I absolutely loved the series and I'm so glad I watched it. And so, yeah, everyone, that's my review for The Legend Of Korra. Thank you all for reading and please comment down below to tell me what you think.