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Post by Gris on Sept 27, 2014 9:34:57 GMT -5
It starts October the third. Spoiler tagged things, just in case. Trailer: Comments: They seem to focus on the serious and dramatic side, will see how it ends. It looks bad ass as hell, but it's just a trailer, so... The timeskip idea may have been fine, will see. |
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Post by takewithfood on Sept 27, 2014 9:59:40 GMT -5
I really don't like this show, but I'm going to watch the whole season. The trailer looks like more of the same.
~TWF
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Post by Ushima911 on Sept 27, 2014 11:23:49 GMT -5
With that trailer alone, I will guess she will be kidnapped and imprissoned 3-4 times.  Honestly, though, I enjoyed it enough to watch the last season. So, bring it on. |
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Post by takewithfood on Dec 24, 2014 8:34:22 GMT -5
The series has now completely aired, and it may be the last we see of the world of Avatar (at least in animated series form, though I kind of doubt that, too). What did you guys think? SPOILERSAnd what did you think about the ending? Specifically the Korrasami part, that is. Anyone else saw it coming? ~TWF |
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Post by Gris on Dec 24, 2014 9:08:57 GMT -5
I enjoyed it in general, maybe the pacing or the characterization were hit and miss, specially when the airing issues started to hit on (like the recap episode on Book 4) but I think their heart was in the right place. We all differ on how we'd had done a second Avatar series, since most of us already wondered how we'd done it, so there is no way of pleasing everyone as it is. That said, they could have handled the tone a bit better, not the mix and max of dramatic and goofy moments with no pause in between, but all in all I enjoyed it quite a lot, and liked the shift towards more grown up characters (despite it not meaning more mature more often than it should). The animation and choreographies were quite good, maybe one of the best part of the series, and the character design was solid. So, all in all, a very good idea that due to execution felt just all right too much of the airtime. I had a feeling since the beginning of book 3, but I thought that it was just a mislead, or that they wouldn't dare. But by the ending of book 3, it was just a matter of if Korra felt the same way Asami did, or if they would dare. In the end, they didn't have the time or the permission to do much else than the ending they did. I thought it was quite obvious, but seeing people deny it and having the creators explain it makes me see that maybe it wasn't as clear as I thought. With that out of the way, I liked it. Even if rushed, and sometimes hamfisted, we got a grown up Avatar, who started capable of kicking ass and ended knowing that kicking ass is not always the answer. She (and Asami, whose character deserved and needed way more screentime than she got) make a good couple. |
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Post by takewithfood on Dec 24, 2014 9:49:04 GMT -5
I enjoyed the finale a little, too, which surprised me as I've been very, very critical of the series as a whole, and in general I would almost say I hated it. I'm working on my video editing skills over the holidays so that I can edit together a supercut of all of the times Korra got beaten up, captured, tortured, and rescued by her friends, plus all the times a friend or ally overruled her authority, dismissed her opinion out of hand, congratulated her on accomplishments that weren't her own, and all the times a small group of children accomplished what she could not. And of course that one time she got her soul raped in a kids tv show. U__U' Can't forget that. It's going to be like an hour long if I'm not careful. But the finale, though kinda brief and cheesy (very few people know how to end a show, and this was slightly better than par, I'd say), wasn't nearly as bad as I predicted it would be. The one thing that really hoped would happen, happened. That one thing is Korra bending the spirit energy from the spirit vine weapon. About damn time. As for the other ting.. Looking back, I'm actually impressed with their use of imagery to hint at the relationship between Korra and Asami. Someone else pointed out this image, which I absolutely love:  One of the minor themes in Korra is the recurrence of cycles of 4, and that imagery is very deliberate. Everything, even the arrangement of height, is preserved. There's also this observation that the colour scheme in the scene in question is deliberately tinted to match the colours of the bisexual flag:   I put together a couple stills from the last scenes of both series to show some of the parallels in composition (not included is evidence that Appa and Naga are each napping in the exact same relative position):  And now it's confirmed cannon by word of Lion Turtle. But I actually find this all very disappointing, too (I know, aren't I so upbeat?). People are making this out to be this giant victory for the representation of LGBT characters, but I call BS. The creators were able to openly portray Mako's relationships with Korra and Asami both. All the straight couples got to be seen and discussed out in the open: Varrick and Ju Li, Zaheer and P'li (aka Sparky Sparky Boom Girl), Tenzin and Pema, Tenzin and Lin, even Bolin and Eska for what that was worth, etc. Only the one in-universe gay relationship has to be conveyed in imagery and ambiguous gestures. Weaksauce. If it's progress, it isn't very much. I guess I'll take it, though - and either way:  |
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Post by Gris on Dec 24, 2014 11:12:09 GMT -5
The hate the series receives, even on my part when it goes wrong is more of a "you could be so good" kind of, born from disappointment, more than a "you are just plain terrible and I expect nothing of you" thing, I guess. The four couples thing is pretty cool. The flag issue feels more of a happy coincidence, but it could be deliberate, don't know. And yeah, it feels like a too small step, but it's a step. Maybe even bigger than pictured due to where it happened, a channel for kids and all that. They probably couldn't be obvious about it, I guess. |
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Post by takewithfood on Dec 24, 2014 11:28:47 GMT -5
My reaction started out as "This could have been so much better" after the first season. I loved the pilot double-episode, and still feel it's the strongest part of the entire series, but it went downhill rapidly after that and I don't think it stopped nosediving until partway through Season 4. The reason I've turned from "Bleh" to "I think I hate this" is that I think it actually did damage to the portrayal of female action heroes. Korra loses almost every fight she engages in, through all four seasons, and is captured and abused more than any action hero I can think of - especially in a kids show. It's great that she eventually recovers, sort of, but overall it's still a pretty rough treatment. If I were to sum up the difference between the way each series treated Aang and Korra, it's that Aang needed allies, time, and training, while Korra needed protection, rescue, rehabilitation, and often people to do her work for her. It isn't just disappointing, I think it's a little toxic. About the flag thing: I thought it was a bit far-fetched, especially since the initial pictures that were discussed were altered slightly to brighten the colours so that they better matched the flag:  But apparently one of these pictures was actually retweeted by one of the creators, so it's believed that this was actually intentional. They also say there are other clues they left behind, but I haven't found them all yet. |
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Post by takewithfood on Dec 24, 2014 17:52:35 GMT -5
While I'm at it.. I just want to add that one of the big things that caused me to lose interest in the show was the insane technological leaps they made. It's so much that it's unrealistic as it is simply not what I want to see when I tune in to an Avatar show. When I watch Avatar I want to see bending and spirit stuff and the awesome Four Nations.
I do not want to hear lines such as:
Varrick: "I know I can stop the mecha-suits with an electromagnetic pulse, so it stands to reason that I can stop a GIANT mecha-suit with a GIANT electromagnetic pulse!"
or
Korra: "But how are we supposed to get inside?"
Hiroshi Sato: "Future Industries has plasma saws for cutting platinum. If we had one on the mecha-suit-"
Asami: "But the saws are way too big, we'd never get the suits off the ground."
Hiroshi: "I think I can add an electrical element to the welding torch on your suit and convert it into a plasma saw. Then we'll just have to land on the giant and cut a hole big enough for someone to get in."
Asami: "Like a metal mosquito!"
It sounds like all that "reroute power to the main deflector dish!" technobabble from Star Trek. There are a million shows about armies of mechs, but only one show about bending. Just do what you're good at! |
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Post by Ushima911 on Dec 24, 2014 19:44:54 GMT -5
You mentioned some points I totally agreed with, TWF. Especially the technology part. Instead of focusing on bending, as the show would suggest, they focused a LOT on the tech, which sort of leaned away from, and stole the spotlight for, the elemental bending.
I will say, though, that I loved the last 2 villains. Kuvera, Zaheer and Amon were all good villains to me; Amon being last place of the three. Didn't really care much for Unalaq, though.
As to Korrasami, well, I'm glad she didn't end up with Mako. I really would have hated that. -_- But, Gris pretty much said how I felt.
Even if it was rushed a bit, at least they hinted at it for awhile, rather than just throwing it in our faces like Bolin and Opal, Jinora and Kai, and Ju Lee and Varrick (Wtf?). With Korrasami, I can understand and agree why they would be with each other.
Overall, I enjoyed the ride, and liked where it ended. Now to wait for the post apocalyptic avatar series. |
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Post by takewithfood on Dec 24, 2014 20:21:13 GMT -5
I think there were some hints about Ju Li and Varrick for quite a while. Their relationship was always weird, and one was always left to wonder why Ju Li put up with him. Their attitudes did change pretty quickly, but it's easy to believe that she always had feelings for him, and he realized his own when he stopped taking her for granted.
I didn't really like any of the villains because they were all overpowered for no discernible reason. Amon could bloodbend at will and he could spirit bend, a trick that Aang and Aang alone was given directly from a lion turtle. Unalaq could control spirits for no reason. Zaheer instantly mastered airbending beyond what even Aang or Tenzin were capable of, again, for no reason.
Kuvira was the most reasonable in terms of her power level, but my complaint with her arc is that she hardly had anything to do with Korra until the latter quarter of the season. It was a lot like the first Captain America movie, where the hero and villain are each off doing their own thing, and they only really wind up fighting at the end. There was no real emotional connection between them, and so the conflict resolution felt rushed.
I liked the rest of the Red Lotus, though (Ghazan, P'Li, and Ming-Hua). They weren't very well fleshed-out, but they didn't need to be - and in some cases, particularly Ming-Hua's, it helps that we didn't know much of anything about them. Being left to wonder how Ming-Hua lost her arms, if she even had them to begin with, adds a lot of mystique to her character. I felt they were effective in the role they were meant to play.
Still, nothing anywhere near as good as Zuko, Azula, or Ozai. The first series did such a great job of gradually developing Zuko into hero, while never really redeeming Azula, and never over-exposing Ozai, who was always best served as an ominous, looming threat. Korra suffered from a very obvious "THIS IS YOUR VILLAIN OF THE SEASON,WHOM YOU WILL FACE AFTER HOWEVER MANY EPISODES NICKELODEON ORDERED THIS TIME" syndrome. |
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Post by Gris on Dec 24, 2014 20:48:50 GMT -5
The technology advance thing didn't bother me, it made Republic City feel modern in contrast to the rest of the world (that we didn't see it much, but it felt more advanced than the water tribes or the backwater earth kingdom small towns) but I thing that it was again a matter of not dealing with it properly. Instead of "lets limit the technology to awesome bending chases on Satomoviles and making some toys if Asami wants to be a bit Batman with the rest of the Avatar team" they used it to create and fix those weird plot troubles that you spoke of.
And yeah, being four short books instead of three long ones gave us interesting but underdeveloped villains in the best cases (Kuvira, Red Lotus despite hax airbending powers, and the Equalists despite their leader) and just plain nonsense in the worst scenario (hope you enjoyed this bit of Avatar mythology, LETS GET SILLY)
Now that all happened, I'd personally made 3 books, one for the Equalists (with an Amon that is charisma+chi blocking things, just that) the second one you could escalate the trouble of the first, making the Equalists release non-bender Zaheer to replace Amon (and see what they had done when Zaheer uses the Equalists for his own ends) and the third about Kuvira. |
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Post by takewithfood on Dec 24, 2014 21:27:57 GMT -5
I would have done things pretty differently. I think I would have taken the idea of Korra being a very aggressive, blunt, direct, and even violent Avatar and run with it. Aang's major plot arc had to do with him finding a way to defeat the Fire Lord, as was his duty, without compromising his own moral code. Korra's, I think, could have been about her learning that, even though she can ROFL-stomp the whole world whenever she pleases, it isn't always the best solution. I liked the ATLAB finale when Aang meditates and is visited by all the past Avatars, who give him advice from their own, unique points of view. I like how they all had their own strategies for bringing balance to the world, but I can't really describe what Korra's is. Her strategy always seemed to be "flail in the problem's apparent general direction", though she hardly got to do that because most of the time Team Avatar was obsessed with protecting her from every damn thing. (Seriously, what good is an Avatar if you constantly have to protect her. She's not a princess.) When Korra first went to confront Kuvira and her giant mech army outside Zaofu, I couldn't help but imagine how the other Avatars would have gone about it. Aang probably would have helped everyone escape, or found a way to sabotage the enemy or relocate/aim Kuvira's attention elsewhere - a very Airbender-y strategy. Roku probably would have taken on Kuvira directly, like the way he dealt with Sozin. Mostly it occurred to me that Kyoshi probably would have given a brief warning before calmly dropping a literal mountain on the whole damn army, and named it "Mt. Dealwithit". And Korra should have marched down there and facerolled everyone. Korra is the Avatar. She was bending three elements without any instruction at the age of four. Her story should not have been about finding a way to physically defeat superior foes, and yet that was basically the plot every season. |
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Post by Gris on Dec 25, 2014 9:43:23 GMT -5
Nice one! But yeah, the approach was off. I don't know if they were too wary of wandering into Mary Sue territory and ended up nerfing Korra like crazy. Every season was like "You are supposed to be the most talented Avatar ever, with a temper to match and kick ass, but you won't do any of that until the very end of each book". I know that she can't just stomp the bad guy on the third episode and just be idle and having fun the rest of the book (or maybe...) but I think it was lazy writing. They couldn't come with a challenge that wasn't focused on fighting bad dudes, so they made the bad dudes crazy hax.
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Post by takewithfood on Dec 25, 2014 10:26:58 GMT -5
I know that she can't just stomp the bad guy on the third episode and just be idle and having fun the rest of the book (or maybe...) but I think it was lazy writing. They couldn't come with a challenge that wasn't focused on fighting bad dudes, so they made the bad dudes crazy hax. See, I think the first season was a perfect opportunity to have Korra ROFLstomp the badguy early on - and then have her deal with the consequences. Because the Equalists were exactly about opposing the use of bending to enact change by force. Curb-stomping their non-bender leader in front of everyone would have only made things worse; perhaps it was even part of Amon's plan, to martyr himself (not necessarily to death, but maybe into a body cast) and have his cult's membership swell and turn mainstream. The more Korra uses brute force, the worse things get, until she learns how to settle things in some other way. Because the Equalists actually have some valid points; being a bender really is unfair. It's a common discussion about ability and disability that is worth having, and that most people can relate to in some way. Sadly, they dodge all of that, because after Amon is defeated, they Equalists just sort of become disillusioned, give up, disappear, and are never heard from again. I would have preferred to see Korra take Amon and the radical, violent part of the Equalists down, then turn around and nurture their more moderate views and membership. Or something that effect - that at least sounds like achieving balance, and it creates a nice little character arc for Korra where she maybe learns something. Man, I'm so picky. ^__^ |
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