The Legend of Korra - Book One: Air

[highlight]***SPOILERS AHEAD***[/highlight]​

​

Official Website | Korra Nation | IMDb Page | Wikipedia Entry
Trailer #1 | Trailer #2​

 

So will it be an ongoing series, then? I thought when it was announced they said something like it would be just 12 episodes. (I could be way wrong)

 

Brikar, you're right. It was just 12 episodes originally, but it's changed since then.

 

Yup, up to 26 episodes now, last I heard

Interesting the first batch/season will be called Book One: Air, following the Avatar: The Last Airbender format, I wasn't expecting that.

 

Damn, I can't believe this is actually happening.

 

The first episode was flippin' great. It's like they picked up right where the last one left off (decades later, of course). Same tone, same great voice work, humour, action... can't wait to see where the series goes.

 

I only caught the original series on DVD after the fact, so I am dead excited to see the sequel live

 

Me too, I got S1 on 5 individual disks for $2 ea, and sought out the other 2 seasons because I had to. The First Series is so engaging, I can't wait to see what Korra Brings us. Really looking forward to Daniel Dae Kim's character Jin, Gavin Park, Corporal Chang, Lt. Matheson, Chin Ho, and so many other awesome characters he's played

 

I liked the first episode. I think it's probably a stronger pilot than the original series had, though it feels like a mild letdown in the sense that it's coming after that series reached its prime. But that bodes well for the future.

 

Just watched it. Loved it. Excellent successor to the original.

Spoiler: The Legend of Korra

It was odd seeing Katara as an old woman. I was hoping to see Sokka as well but turns out he past away.

I wonder if Zuko and Toph are still around? They teased Zuko's mom, but I really hope they reveal what happened to her.

 

Spoiler: avatar

The characters from the original are all dead with exception to Katara.

 

Really good. Love the 1920s feel.

 

Man, the opener was fantastic! So great to see new adventures in this universe - so many familiar things and yet so different too!

Spoiler: Spoilers!

I think Republic City's going to be a great setting, and the difficulties Korra's having make a lot of sense in such a place. The "pro bending" looks like it'll be a lot more central than I expected, but it looks pretty good so far - especially as a way to hone Korra's "outdated" tactics. Tenzin's moment of glee was fantastic.

Speaking of, it's great to see more airbenders and also funny to see how completely different in personality Tenzin is from Aang.

 

That was awesome. I had a smile on my face practically the whole time. I loved the original show so much, I'm just so happy that we're getting the chance to see more of this fantastic world. All of the characters seem pretty good so far. Korra's a nice change of pace from Aang, and Tenzin is great as the oft-frustrated mentor. Republic City is really cool; I love the mix of influences we saw in the pilot. And the pro-bending was pretty fun, too. I wonder if that's the only variation of it, or if they'll show other formats to change things up.

The series officially starts on April 14th, right? Can't wait!

 

Oh, something else I forgot to mention:

Spoiler: Spoilers!

metal-bending cops hopping around Republic City Spiderman style? Awesome!

 

This was a great beginning, a gorgeously made continuation of the Avatar universe. The animation was spectacular, feature-quality work, continuing everything that was great about the original but ramping it up. It felt like a Miyazaki film, even more than A:TLA did. Even the 3D computer animation on the cityscape and airships was very smoothly integrated with the 2D animation; the opening shots of the cityscape and the statue of Aang looked like paintings but had 3D movement. The "satomobiles" (cute) looked a little more like digital constructs when in motion, but I guess that's been done for so long that today's viewers are probably used to it, and it's certainly not unprecedented for this franchise.

Korra is a good character, well-played by Janet Varney. She's got a nice strong voice that reminds me of both Mae Whitman (Katara) and Cricket Leigh (Mai). It took me a few minutes to realize it, but in a real sense, Korra is Aang, or rather the same soul in a new life. And she does have Aang-like qualities in her impetuousness and self-doubt, and in her impulse to heroism. But she's different too, and her difficulty with airbending drives that home. She's a lot more aggressive than Aang, and a lot less polite.

Spoiler: The Legend of Korra Chapters 1-2

Great to see "Master Katara" again, but it's a shame that Aang, Sokka, and evidently many of the others are gone. That's surprising, really, considering that it's only been 70 years and A:TLA showed us a number of characters who were well over a century old. I guess they wanted to keep the A:TLA characters' presence to a minimum so they wouldn't overshadow the new cast and storylines, but it's still a bit odd.

Oh, and that was wicked of them to tease us about what happened with Zuko's mother. (I think that story's being told in the new comics.)

It's interesting to hear J. K. Simmons as Tenzin; I'm used to hearing him play angrier, sterner characters (J. Jonah Jameson, Generator Rex's White Knight), so I didn't initially recognize him in this softer-spoken role. Although Tenzin does seem to have a Jameson-esque temper boiling beneath the surface. It's interesting... he's Aang and Katara's son, but he takes more after Sokka in appearance and maybe in some aspects of personality (though he's serious, not the jokester Sokka was).

Not sure I'm crazy about the sports focus that emerged in episode 2, but it was well-handled. The climax was entirely predictable, but the execution still moved me.

I still find it surprising that they've gone so quickly from the early-industrial tech of A:TLA's Fire Nation to this early-20th-century environment with cars and electricity and radio and cameras. But then, this is a world where it took them about six months to go from the Mechanist's first prototype hot-air balloons to a fleet of massive war zeppelins. I guess they're just very, very efficient. But I would've liked it if the tech had been a little less advanced, a little more steampunk and bending-based.

By the way, if Republic City is in the former Fire Nation colonies, then Air Temple Island can't be older than about 70 years. So how come there's a 2000-year-old teaching aid there? I guess it could've been moved there from somewhere else, but that line still threw me. (Not to mention that I doubt wooden flats like that could survive 2000 years outdoors.)

 

It'll probably be a while before I see it, but I'm glad to hear so many positive reviews.

It seems to be agreed that this is a worthy successor, which is pleasing.

 

Wait, can you LEGALLY watch the show now? I thought people were saying it was a honey trap.

 

No, there was an illegal site before, but it's up legally on Korra Nation for the duration of this weekend (meaning today is your last chance, if I understand correctly). It's a very clean, high-quality stream.

http://www.korranation.com/

 

I hope that the show just isn't limited to Republic City. I'd love to see how the outside world has changed too. I'd love to see Ba Sing Se and the Fire Nation Capital during this time period.