...Or at least it shouldn't. I was shocked at the 8.6 rating this show has. Now before we get to the review let me say this: I WATCHED THE FIRST SEASON OF KORRA BEFORE I EVEN TOUCHED THE LAST AIRBENDER SERIES. I had no bias, no expectations. I was drawn to Korra by its beautiful animation, the dark plot, and the 1920s-inspired setting. I had heard of ATLA and had friends who were fans but I myself was never interested until I watched this show. At first, it was looking to be one of the best animated programs on television, perfect for kids and adults alike, but as the season wandered on, the quality plummeted.
The main plot itself is great: several non-benders are joining a terrorist organization after being mistreated by the benders for decades and there is question as to whether or not the avatar is even relevant in the modern world. You'd think the writers would have had a field day with this concept. They do not. Instead they waste time with one of the worst love squares in fiction.I think the writers did this because of the fans' interest in the romance of the first series, arguing over whether Katara belonged with Aang or Zuko. I say let the fans' do all that romantic speculation and save the soap opera plots for their fan fiction. If they wanted romance, then they should have kept it all low key.
The characters had so much potential to be great. Korra is the anti-Aang: more physical than spiritual, impulsive, and competitive. It would have been cool to see her grow as a character, but instead she gets everything handed to her on a silver platter by the season finale: she loses her most of her bending ability and we're tantalized with the idea that the next season will involve her getting in touch with her spiritual side, slowly regaining her power. Nope, instead she sheds one tear and all of a sudden ghost Aang shows up saying, "Congratulations, you've gotten in touch with your spirituality! Here's all your powers back and then some!" Stupid.
Mako and Bolin are terribly handled as well. Mako is truly appalling, stringing one girl along and then abandoning her for the main character. He doesn't break a sweat when his brother (whom he is supposedly protective of) is kidnapped by terrorists, but when Korra is taken he flies into hysterics. And the creators want us to like him. Yeah right. Bolin starts out cool, but slowly devolves into a watered down version of Sokka who exists only to pine after Korra and make wisecracks while the other characters do the heavy lifting.
And then there's poor Asami, the one decent character of the main four. She's lost her mother, become estranged from her father who disowns her once she refuses to accept his radical political views, and now has to deal with Mako, who tells her he loves her whilst he makes out with Korra while Asami's sleeping a few feet away. He never even takes responsibility for it. Poor girl... Luckily most of the minor characters are interesting, in particular the antagonist Amon and Toph's daughter Lin, a metalbending police chief.
For those who say the writers were handicapped by having only twelve episodes to work with, let me give you an example of why this assumption is hogwash. There's an excellent anime called Princess Tutu (2002) and its first season is in many ways a self-contained narrative. With only thirteen episodes to work with, they packed in as much character development and plot as they could, and did it extremely well. Korra has no excuse. It should not have wasted its time with so much filler and teenage hormones if the writers were so concerned about having only twelve episodes.
As of this writing, season two is set to come out next month. The only reason I gave this series a rating of six instead of four is because it's not over yet. I cross my fingers that the writers have learned from their mistakes and improved significantly.
The main plot itself is great: several non-benders are joining a terrorist organization after being mistreated by the benders for decades and there is question as to whether or not the avatar is even relevant in the modern world. You'd think the writers would have had a field day with this concept. They do not. Instead they waste time with one of the worst love squares in fiction.I think the writers did this because of the fans' interest in the romance of the first series, arguing over whether Katara belonged with Aang or Zuko. I say let the fans' do all that romantic speculation and save the soap opera plots for their fan fiction. If they wanted romance, then they should have kept it all low key.
The characters had so much potential to be great. Korra is the anti-Aang: more physical than spiritual, impulsive, and competitive. It would have been cool to see her grow as a character, but instead she gets everything handed to her on a silver platter by the season finale: she loses her most of her bending ability and we're tantalized with the idea that the next season will involve her getting in touch with her spiritual side, slowly regaining her power. Nope, instead she sheds one tear and all of a sudden ghost Aang shows up saying, "Congratulations, you've gotten in touch with your spirituality! Here's all your powers back and then some!" Stupid.
Mako and Bolin are terribly handled as well. Mako is truly appalling, stringing one girl along and then abandoning her for the main character. He doesn't break a sweat when his brother (whom he is supposedly protective of) is kidnapped by terrorists, but when Korra is taken he flies into hysterics. And the creators want us to like him. Yeah right. Bolin starts out cool, but slowly devolves into a watered down version of Sokka who exists only to pine after Korra and make wisecracks while the other characters do the heavy lifting.
And then there's poor Asami, the one decent character of the main four. She's lost her mother, become estranged from her father who disowns her once she refuses to accept his radical political views, and now has to deal with Mako, who tells her he loves her whilst he makes out with Korra while Asami's sleeping a few feet away. He never even takes responsibility for it. Poor girl... Luckily most of the minor characters are interesting, in particular the antagonist Amon and Toph's daughter Lin, a metalbending police chief.
For those who say the writers were handicapped by having only twelve episodes to work with, let me give you an example of why this assumption is hogwash. There's an excellent anime called Princess Tutu (2002) and its first season is in many ways a self-contained narrative. With only thirteen episodes to work with, they packed in as much character development and plot as they could, and did it extremely well. Korra has no excuse. It should not have wasted its time with so much filler and teenage hormones if the writers were so concerned about having only twelve episodes.
As of this writing, season two is set to come out next month. The only reason I gave this series a rating of six instead of four is because it's not over yet. I cross my fingers that the writers have learned from their mistakes and improved significantly.