Intro
During the 2000’s, I was out of touch with many modern
cartoons except comic book based cartoons because they were the only cartoons
that provided deep plot, great character
development and fitted my adult demographic at the time. This is why ignored
Avatar: The Last Airbender for most of its time. I assumed since it was coming
from Nick that it was an edgy action cartoon filled with stupid humor and no
story plot. That’s what most cartoons were in that specific era. But as the
seasons past it got harder to ignore because my youngest brother became a big
fan of Avatar. He pretty much had everything from action figures to posters,
etc. So, when my brother was watching the final episode of the series I got
distracted from the internet to the vivid animation coming from the TV screen
and I decided to join my brother watching the show. And boy was I wrong; I
really enjoyed what I saw. I fell in love with the fluid animation and intense
action. I also liked how the characters were a lot older that I remembered
which is very rare in many cartoons in general and what was more interesting
was seeing Aang’s struggles with the world’s weigh behind him and the people
depending on him like a god. After I watched every episode of the series I
honestly thought it was unique show that was very different from many cartoons
in this era especially from the network itself and I was amazed that an
animated series that wasn’t based on any franchise can be so well written and
be able to hold on its own to become its own franchise. Avatar: The Last
Airbender was definitely one of the best cartoons I’ve seen from that time. So,
when I heard about the Legend of Korra series, I was fondly excited because I wanted
to see how much of the old cast and the world has grown. But as this show has
come and gone I really fell in love with it. It definitely is one of my
favorite animated series of all time and it is just as good as its predecessor.
Legend of Korra dealt with a lot of great topics that is relevant to today’s
world like religion, civil war, chaos, self-governing and lastly
dictatorship. It was a very political
show and I feel not many animated shows don’t do which is pretty amazing. It
also has a lot of ground breaking moments like Asami and Korra’s relationship,
Korra finding herself through deep depression and the world no longer “needing
her” and it also gave moments of understanding each villains’ different
perspective in so many levels. This is the reason why I have chosen this title
in the review itself.
Story
As the destruction of Republic City continues on, Korra and
her friends are finding ways to take Kuvira and her colossal army down.
The Good
The Legend of Korra is a true masterpiece that ended so
well. Even though, it wasn’t a perfect finale I still found many great things
about it. The battle between Kuvira and Korra was an amazing battle. It was
nice to see both characters struggle to defeat each other. It didn’t look like
neither one them was overpowered than the other. They were both fighting in
equal terms of skill and not many animated series can do it as well as they
can. Another great moment was with Mako. It was a great emotional moment to see
him take down the machine. The scene even created a great emotional bond
between him and his brother, Bolin. It really made me felt for them even after
everything they went throughout the series. I know a lot of people didn’t like
the way it turned out at the end of this battle. But I was okay with it because
maybe the writers needed to determine Mako’s strength and it could have
overshined another characters great moment. I also loved the closure Asami had
with her father. It was great to see him decided to have a moment of redemption
and made me truly forgive him after everything he did in the first season. It
really conveys that a bad man can truly change by seeing the effects of what
his actions caused to many people even his daughter. The animations in this
episode were very solid too. The colors were very vibrant and the motions of
the characters were smooth and fluid especially when it came to the battle of
Kuvira and Korra. It was visually well done and one of the best battles I ever
seen in this series. I also like the electrical powers that were shown when
Mako was fighting the machine. Overall the animations really demonstrated the
power each character had in them.
The Bad
The Most difficult thing in this season is truly
understanding Kuvira and seeing if her actions were justifiable. There are
often contradictions even in the season finale. They made it more evident to
contradict her actions further. Over the season she seemed like a Dr.
Doom-esque character even despite the green colors. She wanted world peace and
she felt the only way could happen is if under her/one rule. But it started
coming into question if she truly wanted peace by enslaving people to build
weapons for her and she was willing to kill people for not wanting her loyalty.
It made her a bit different than Dr.
Doom because he never went that far to get through his goals. Anyways, it
seemed like the writers were trying to make us sympathize with her when it came
to her answering why she wanted her ideals was because she didn’t want “her
people” or people in general to go through being orphaned and disowned by their
parents because of their talents and not to live in fear or vulnerability. It
felt like the writers tried to make us care especially how Korra looked at her
and tries to understand her “good reasoning or intentions”. But I could not feel sorry for her the minute
she said didn’t want her people to be feared or vulnerable because she did made
her people be feared by enslaving them and forcing them to obey her loyalty which
in this made them vulnerable. This reasoning is why her actions can contradict
her beliefs. I honestly think they should’ve focused on her being contradicting
in nature and seeing some of her past. So, that in some way we can see her mind
being demented thus makes us feel sorry for her that she is unable to see why
she acts towards her people. I think the best example of this is like Kingpin
in the Daredevil TV series. It’s a great example of how we can feel sorry in
some level with a man but at the same time not feel totally sorry because they
are so demented that their actions contradict their morals or ideals. The
contradiction isn’t really the problem with Kuvira. In essence, her contradictions
are what makes her more human. I just wish they had time to explain that flaw
in detail and make us understand the character a bit more. Another failed
attempt in this series finale is the battle with the colossus. I honestly felt
the characters went through an unnecessary way to defeat the colossus. It
really didn’t make sense to dramatize all this cool stuff if it ended up
causing a lot of destruction or death in the end. Instead they could have one
team distract the front and another to distract the back, then let Korra freeze
the colossus and use the robots or make bombs to blow the thing inside. The
reason why I thought of this is because the colossus was way too slow to turn
itself around. So, the distraction could make it a very easy target without
much destruction. It seems like they just wanted the battle to look elaborate
instead of being tactical. I also think Kuvira should’ve built something more maneuverable
and fast moving so it can actually be more difficult to defeat. There’s one
more thing that always bothered me a lot in this series is that Asami was
really undeveloped in terms of her tech skills. It’s like we never seen her at
her full potential on what she can do. It seems is if she was an obsolete
version of Sokka and they failed the chance to exploit her skills especially
during the colossus fight. They could’ve showed what she learned from her
father and see why she was able to lead the company after her father. Don’t get
me wrong Asami had wonderful character development especially this season with
Korra’s relationship. But I felt they never gave her a chance to shine or hold
her own when it came to skill. She often times felt very amateurish even when
it comes to other characters and maybe this would have been the reason to make
her more compatible with Korra.
Thoughts on “Korra/Asami”
Over the course of the series, when I heard of people
shipping Korra/Asami as a relationship I always had mixed feelings about and
sometimes till this day I still feel funny about it. Mainly because the way it
was perceived in the show. It really looked like it was embracing an intimacy
level in the value of a best friend. Something
we rarely see on TV because American culture likes to perceive it as taboo or
“gay” to see a friend of the same sex hold hands, hug, or share feelings with
each other. When I saw this happen in Legend of Korra I saw the total opposite.
I saw two friends only understanding each other as best friends and never
thought of crossing that boundary of kissing or having sex because they know
they are not meant for each other It’s the boundaries that set best friends or
lover apart from each other. It’s very much like my friendship for instance
we’re both gay and are males. We have hold hands or hug/share feelings, etc.
But we never crossed that boundary because we know our likes and dislikes that
makes us incompatible with each other. We really don’t have much in common when
it comes to what of kind activities we like. That’s how we know we can’t give
each other what other man can give. The main problem with this message is that
it gives Americans the false idea of friendship on having an intimacy level
without being gay about it. But overall, I’ve grown to accept the idea and
loved it because it brings us another message. It allows the chance for gays
like me to have a place in American animation someday in the future and finally
get rid of the false idea that it will influence children to be gay. Let’s just
face it people can’t be influenced to be gay because of TV. In all honestly,
for a man and woman to already have gay thoughts is automatically gay, there’s
no way around it and this is coming from a gay man himself. You have to be
either born or develop being gay naturally without environmental influences.
Hello, it’s the main reason why a small population is gay instead of everyone
because it isn’t something that’s easily gained by looking at it.
Theme
The theme of this season I feel is “understanding” because
we or the characters themselves go throughout the entire season of trying
understand people through many different perspectives. We all see what is like
to be under their shoes and try to sympathize with them or see the justifiable
reasons why they go through these dark paths. Like for example, with Korra we
see her being physically and mentally or emotionally handicapped by the end of
season 3. But once season 4 begins we see her distancing herself from her
friends and the onset trauma of the fear what Zaheer put her through. It really
made me understand that because I went through the same thing going through
depression. We distance ourselves from the people we care about and at times we
can’t feel or can’t move psychically and mentally or sometimes become
emotionless. But eventually when see a friend that actually cares and be there
for us we change our perspectives and make better for ourselves which is what
happened to Korra when she kept running to Asami. Asami never gave up on her
and made her realized that her friends and family still needed her or cared for
her no matter what. Other examples is seeing the relationship between Lin and Suyin,
when we see how many times Suyin was never there for her family even when they
needed her thus it separated Lin to never see her again. But eventually we see
them try to talk to each other and Suyin tells her she was young and naïve and
didn’t realize her being a delinquent affected her family but when she did she
changed herself to being a better person. So once Lin realized she has become a
better person they finally got along and put the past behind them (I realized
this was a season 3 but the two characters reconcile their relationship with
their mother Toph in season 4, so I guess you get my point). When it came to
Asami and her father we see them understanding each other on why their
relationship fell apart and Asami talking to her father every day in prison.
Once they truly forgave and understood each other it leads to a path of
redemption and sacrificing himself to defeat the colossus. This theme even
tested our limits even when it wasn’t clear when we see how Korra and Kuvira
come to terms on how they were very similar to each other and Kuvira being
opened about her past made Korra understand her which led to forgiving and
giving her a second chance. This is why I chose understanding as the theme.
Because it’s the understanding that truly leads the changes between these
characters and I felt it was the main focus of these relationships. I also feel
they were testing us to see us if we understand these and many other
relationships as well in this season.
Verdict
Overall, I give this finale a 4/9 out of 5/10 stars. It’s an
amazing finale that brings character development, action and beautiful imagery
into one place/episode. It truly makes this American animation into a
masterpiece. I can go on and on, on how much I love this series. But I just
want to say I loved the great rivalry between Kuvira and Korra. They really
proved how similar they are when it comes to determination. They never want to
stop what they are doing until they achieve their goal. That’s what makes these
two characters great. We also got to see the redemption of Sato which for me
made the greatest villain of all time because he finally saw through all his
faults to make himself the hero. It always amazes me to see villains go through
that light because it shows a true potential of what a human can go through. I
also loved seeing the buildup throughout the whole season of Mako and Bolin;
they truly show their brotherly love with each other. They really pull through
in helping each other out no matter what obstacles tries to overcome them.
Finally, it’s great to see depending how you viewed it the friendship and love
for Korra and Asami to go through many hardships and still find ways to
understand each other. This series had a great ending delivered great art and
animation. But it had downsides as well like making Kuvira into an unsympathetic
villain, character development based on skill for Asami and a not so good tactical
battle against the colossus. But still this finale is amazing for anyone to enjoy
it’s really enrich and powerful in every way.
Overall Series
The overall score of the entire series as a whole would be a
4.7/9.7 out of 5/10 stars. Legend of Korra has been a great series especially
with the final season. The character development is so amazing because we see
all the characters change and grow. This series is one of the very few that
makes the supporting characters just as important as the main character. None
of them depend solely on Korra to achieve at anything and that’s what I like
the most about this series. Bolin is my all-time favorite character mainly
because he’s very much like me, very funny, charming and shy kind of a guy. But
in time, he grows into a very confident guy with the ability to do lava-bending
which is something unique of its own and it makes him a very strong skill set
for the team. There are others like Mako, who’s terrible with woman, but has an
unbreakable bond with his brother and becomes a great leader and detective for
the police force. We also get to see great character development and sisterly bond
between Lin and Suyin who grew from hating each other to understanding and
loving each other. We also see another brother and sister bond grow from Tenzin
and his siblings as well. Even for characters like Asami we see her growing
from being a vulnerable person who loved Mako very much but eventually she
became strong and giving good advice for Korra which lead into a strong
romantic relationship. There’s another great relationship dynamic with Vartick
as well he went from being an obnoxious jerk who orders Julie around to do
dirty work into a very charming guy who actually loved Juile. Once she was gone
he finally realizes the faults of his action and changed himself which was one
of best things about the character. And most of all we see Korra get beaten
over and over again emotionally and physically by the end of Season 3. But she
eventually manages to build enough strength and will to rise to top and beat
the villains in any civilized way she can. But even though there was many great
characters getting developed there was others who were left in the gutter and
trashed to the side. For like an example, we see Jinora learn her spiritual
abilities and getting along with her father in season 3, but when once we get
to season 4 she gets tossed aside and never get the chance to see the full
extent of her abilities in battle. Even Kai goes through this too, he
eventually learned from being a thief to being a good kid who likes to help out
others. But after that he becomes a character that’s just behind the scenes and
doesn’t really do much. That’s what happened to a lot of characters in the 4th
season. There were too many newly introduced characters especially with the
airbenders to flourish or get anywhere with them. I honestly feel like 13
episodes each season certainly wasn’t enough to show’s ever growing characters
with their skills and personalities. Maybe if they got 22 episodes like the
pervious Avatar series these characters would have gotten developed at least a
little more. We also didn’t to learn more of the old characters past like Zuko,
Kitara or even Sokka who we have no history as to what happened to him. Many of
the old characters had no involvement in the main story and were very much left
to dust as cameo like roles. That’s why I’m hoping more and more great stories
come from the Dark Horse comics because sometimes I feel Nickelodeon limits
them on how much character development or story they can expand on. But for a
show to have so much character development than many other shows is a rarity.
So, it’s really a minor issue with this series. Another great thing is how each
season had a political theme that relates to human history and the types of
governments. Each villain had something worth fighting for like for example
Amon wanted equality and banned all people from any type of bending because it
was unfair to anyone who couldn’t bend. Unalaq had examples of the civil war
times because he wanted the spirit world and the real world to live together.
But people were split with two sides on why the spirits should live with them
and Korra had to find a way for people to accept them. Zaheer had a theme of
having total freedom with chaos because he was tired of having order from the
government and he felt without government there would be a chance of having
peace. Kuvira’s theme was dictatorship. She wanted the entire world controlled
under one rule and enforcing peace throughout the world. But she had a strong
contradiction by enslaving people to do the dirty work for her. This is why I
feel this is one of the best animated series on TV because they focused on
things that many series doesn’t focus on that can relate to the real world. The
political themes were a very strong point here and they really go on hand on
what are people’s opinions about the government and how we should live and
having equal rights. It really works on what’s happening currently in this
world. One more thing I would like to add is the animation and the fighting
scene of this show. Many influences of the art styles and fighting were very
anime-ish. They even had a comedy based episode that focuses on many of chibi
tropes that anime uses on the 4th season. It wasn’t my favorite
episode because it was a recap. But the anime-style humor made it more
entertaining that I didn’t mind it much. The characters are even drawn with
anime-looking eyes as well from both series alone. One thing I love about the
animation in the series was the high quality of the graphics and colors use. It
really demonstrated the true “art” of animation. The fighting scenes were anime
influences mixed in with comic book style fighting as well. Many of scenes had
Kung Fu or martial arts fighting and were kind of over the top but in a good
way at times that felt like watching Dragon Ball Z but better. For example,
when Zaheer was fighting Korra, there were a lot of rocks being thrown around,
charging and rapid punching. It’s one of the many reasons why I consider this
series an Anime. There are many things I can go on about this series and it
always leaves you wanting more. It’s why I’m happy they are having more Dark
Horse comics continuing both series which is pretty good so far. I suggest you
read the books that are already out if you’re a big fan. You will really enjoy
them. Also, if you’re one of those who haven’t tune into Legend of Korra I
strongly suggest you should because this world so enrich with great stuff. It
really is a world worth investing in.
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