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Legend of Korra |OT| - Saturday Mornings Just Got Better
- Thread starter Wiseblade
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So he used her glove while it was in her hand?
And it shot one single bolt instead of an electrical discharge like the glove usually does?
What about his stance? It looked a lot like he was bending
I'd like to address the thing about bending that viewers of the previous show might consider that the amount of "over powered" bending in The Legend of Korra cheapens The Last Airbender's bending.
Lightning bending might have seemed like it was something only the most powerful benders could do, but in reality, it was just a refined technique that was kept in the Royal Family. Like with any bending skill, some are better at it than others. But it all boils down to knowing the technique and then doing it.
Metal bending was discovered by Toph because of her particular situation. Her blindness coupled with her learning earth bending from the badger moles gave her a specific connection to the earth that earth benders before her didn't know about. Then when she was put into that metal box, it was her sheer will and emotional state that made her realize that she should be able to bend the earth inside the metal.
Blood bending was "discovered" by Hama and thought only to be perform-able during a full moon. However, Hama was easily defeated by Katara, a 14 year old girl. I'm sure at Katara's rate, she would have gotten more powerful and if she had the willingness to, she could have blood bend without a full moon. It's not a stretch to think that someone with the mindset like Yakone could "discover" it and refine the technique.
Now, all of these types of bending came from an era where knowledge of bending was still passed on the old fashion way. From master to apprentice. And not everyone has a sky bison that they can fly all over the world with. Most people would have lived their entire lives without having experience other cultures, philosophy, and learning from other masters.
In Korra's time, there's something that's the equivalent of the printing press. When the printing press was invented, knowledge no longer became such an elite thing. If you were taught the most basic ability to read, you could then, if you so choose, go out and learn more about things you would have never learned if you had lived in a previous time period.
The bending types that are "elite" are now common knowledge that can be easily attained by most people. The printing press, the radio, and the telephone are the catalysts in all of this.
If anything, it's realistic that all of these forms of bending are known by many people now.
And it would appear Avatar Aang made sure that blood bending was outlawed.
Lightning bending might have seemed like it was something only the most powerful benders could do, but in reality, it was just a refined technique that was kept in the Royal Family. Like with any bending skill, some are better at it than others. But it all boils down to knowing the technique and then doing it.
Metal bending was discovered by Toph because of her particular situation. Her blindness coupled with her learning earth bending from the badger moles gave her a specific connection to the earth that earth benders before her didn't know about. Then when she was put into that metal box, it was her sheer will and emotional state that made her realize that she should be able to bend the earth inside the metal.
Blood bending was "discovered" by Hama and thought only to be perform-able during a full moon. However, Hama was easily defeated by Katara, a 14 year old girl. I'm sure at Katara's rate, she would have gotten more powerful and if she had the willingness to, she could have blood bend without a full moon. It's not a stretch to think that someone with the mindset like Yakone could "discover" it and refine the technique.
Now, all of these types of bending came from an era where knowledge of bending was still passed on the old fashion way. From master to apprentice. And not everyone has a sky bison that they can fly all over the world with. Most people would have lived their entire lives without having experience other cultures, philosophy, and learning from other masters.
In Korra's time, there's something that's the equivalent of the printing press. When the printing press was invented, knowledge no longer became such an elite thing. If you were taught the most basic ability to read, you could then, if you so choose, go out and learn more about things you would have never learned if you had lived in a previous time period.
The bending types that are "elite" are now common knowledge that can be easily attained by most people. The printing press, the radio, and the telephone are the catalysts in all of this.
If anything, it's realistic that all of these forms of bending are known by many people now.
And it would appear Avatar Aang made sure that blood bending was outlawed.
Sentenza
Member
A much shorter way to put it is that like with martial arts, you must be pretty talented and experienced to invent a new technique or style, but then any decent performer can learn it from you (to various degrees of success).
Unspeakable Evil
Member
Nah in episode 3 he was using lightning bending at his job
Here's Bryan's latest piece of artwork to look at because, well, this next bit is long.
I've been thinking about things that are good and bad with the show, and some people would say Bryke have been trolling fangirl shippers at the expense of story, but...
...Bryan expressly denies this, at least.
Though trolling aside, I think this bit is key to how I'm feeling about the show:
I can't really argue with this, they've achieved what they set out to pretty well if you judge the show by this criteria (and it's really damn good), but some bits are just stronger than others, and closely looking at these individual facets highlights where the show could be better:
Character arcs: Some of them are brilliant. Korra's has been very good and multifaceted, as any strong protagonist's should be. Lin's has also been excellent. I quite liked Asami's and Tarrlok's too. Tenzin comes across as a bit pre-cooked, since his character arc seems to have ended a long time ago. He's just there as support for Korra, but it works because we see his whole family and they define him as much as he defines them. They're a good unit. Bolin and Mako might as well not have one, because their 2D character "development" is dragging on the show a bit, especially when Bolin is just a bit of a joke character who sometimes does useful bending, and Mako is like a Zuko blow up sex doll for fangirls.
Dynamic character relationships: I think this has been done very well. Lots of characters have their own unique, and sometimes conflicting, relationships. I was worried at first that there'd be two segmented groups -- the teens and the adults -- and that Korra would interact with them rather separately. However, they seem to have brought the lot of them together very well and formed some unique and funny relationships between characters that you'd think would be unlikely. Even little things like Lin zipping up Bolin's fly was an amusing interaction, and just a small detail in the scheme of things, but shows that they've been thinking about this kind of thing.
Humanized characters with virtues and flaws: Yes, sort of. Many of the characters are well-written. I think Tarrlok is a power-hungry asshole, but one who ultimately wanted Republic City to prosper. He was just a douche in going about it. Korra also has good intentions, but is hot-headed and jeopardizes herself with her actions. Amon is self-explanatory, but I'll say it: equality is an honourable intent, but the way he's going about it is monstrous. Some of the other characters have the potential to look more human -- I'd love to see more about Mako and Bolin's bending triad past, and it would've made for a good episode 5 instead of what we got -- but for whatever reason come across as rather generic and two-dimensional.
What I also like about character relationships is that there's no status quo. Allegiances change throughout the course of the show, and interpersonal relationships on different levels, sometimes very publicly, sometimes privately. It's really well-written in that respect.
Action, danger, intrigue, humor and drama: Korra's got all of these in spades. For what it's worth, I think the balance of all of these has been pretty perfect. I know some of you want more bending fights, more creative bending, whatever, but I think what we've got has been really good. Lots of great setpieces, especially when Korra was fighting the Lieutenant on the arena roof.
Teen romance: Ugh. Just have to accept it's part of the show, but I still wish the romance part was just a tad more convincing. Mako seems a bit too much of a cardboard cutout of Zuko for him to actually have any "feels". :/
Scary stuff: Amon and Tarrlok definitely fill this one. Amon is just terrifying because he's so capable, and we know so little about him. Tarrlok just has (or had) a really sick and creepy power.
So for me, it's pretty much relationships and character arcs that need improvements. In this show they skirt too closely to each other, especially with Mako, where romance pretty much defines his character. Short of a brief boo hoo story about his parents (muted by the fact that firebenders seem to have killed a lot of people's parents in this show) and the obvious genuine concern he shows for Bolin, we actually don't know much about him.
At least this is how I'm feeling about Book One so far. Maybe it'll make a marked improvement in the next two weeks, and we'll see some characters coming into their own before the whole thing comes to a close, but I'm thinking we'll have to wait for Book Two before we see any Mako and Bolin character development, which is a big shame because out of the core cast of four (Korra, Asami, Bolin and Mako), only two of them are actually strong characters at this point.
I think one thing he missed out in his appraisal of the show's criteria that works really well is the intrigue. LoK's plot is a lot like a pass the parcel game, where you're unwrapping a new layer each time, and every week new pieces drop out. It's all very expertly crafted and we're learning more each week. They basically keep throwing things at us to keep us guessing, and it's all building into a bigger picture.
I've been thinking about things that are good and bad with the show, and some people would say Bryke have been trolling fangirl shippers at the expense of story, but...
...Bryan expressly denies this, at least.
Though trolling aside, I think this bit is key to how I'm feeling about the show:
I can't really argue with this, they've achieved what they set out to pretty well if you judge the show by this criteria (and it's really damn good), but some bits are just stronger than others, and closely looking at these individual facets highlights where the show could be better:
Character arcs: Some of them are brilliant. Korra's has been very good and multifaceted, as any strong protagonist's should be. Lin's has also been excellent. I quite liked Asami's and Tarrlok's too. Tenzin comes across as a bit pre-cooked, since his character arc seems to have ended a long time ago. He's just there as support for Korra, but it works because we see his whole family and they define him as much as he defines them. They're a good unit. Bolin and Mako might as well not have one, because their 2D character "development" is dragging on the show a bit, especially when Bolin is just a bit of a joke character who sometimes does useful bending, and Mako is like a Zuko blow up sex doll for fangirls.
Dynamic character relationships: I think this has been done very well. Lots of characters have their own unique, and sometimes conflicting, relationships. I was worried at first that there'd be two segmented groups -- the teens and the adults -- and that Korra would interact with them rather separately. However, they seem to have brought the lot of them together very well and formed some unique and funny relationships between characters that you'd think would be unlikely. Even little things like Lin zipping up Bolin's fly was an amusing interaction, and just a small detail in the scheme of things, but shows that they've been thinking about this kind of thing.
Humanized characters with virtues and flaws: Yes, sort of. Many of the characters are well-written. I think Tarrlok is a power-hungry asshole, but one who ultimately wanted Republic City to prosper. He was just a douche in going about it. Korra also has good intentions, but is hot-headed and jeopardizes herself with her actions. Amon is self-explanatory, but I'll say it: equality is an honourable intent, but the way he's going about it is monstrous. Some of the other characters have the potential to look more human -- I'd love to see more about Mako and Bolin's bending triad past, and it would've made for a good episode 5 instead of what we got -- but for whatever reason come across as rather generic and two-dimensional.
What I also like about character relationships is that there's no status quo. Allegiances change throughout the course of the show, and interpersonal relationships on different levels, sometimes very publicly, sometimes privately. It's really well-written in that respect.
Action, danger, intrigue, humor and drama: Korra's got all of these in spades. For what it's worth, I think the balance of all of these has been pretty perfect. I know some of you want more bending fights, more creative bending, whatever, but I think what we've got has been really good. Lots of great setpieces, especially when Korra was fighting the Lieutenant on the arena roof.
Teen romance: Ugh. Just have to accept it's part of the show, but I still wish the romance part was just a tad more convincing. Mako seems a bit too much of a cardboard cutout of Zuko for him to actually have any "feels". :/
Scary stuff: Amon and Tarrlok definitely fill this one. Amon is just terrifying because he's so capable, and we know so little about him. Tarrlok just has (or had) a really sick and creepy power.
So for me, it's pretty much relationships and character arcs that need improvements. In this show they skirt too closely to each other, especially with Mako, where romance pretty much defines his character. Short of a brief boo hoo story about his parents (muted by the fact that firebenders seem to have killed a lot of people's parents in this show) and the obvious genuine concern he shows for Bolin, we actually don't know much about him.
At least this is how I'm feeling about Book One so far. Maybe it'll make a marked improvement in the next two weeks, and we'll see some characters coming into their own before the whole thing comes to a close, but I'm thinking we'll have to wait for Book Two before we see any Mako and Bolin character development, which is a big shame because out of the core cast of four (Korra, Asami, Bolin and Mako), only two of them are actually strong characters at this point.
I think one thing he missed out in his appraisal of the show's criteria that works really well is the intrigue. LoK's plot is a lot like a pass the parcel game, where you're unwrapping a new layer each time, and every week new pieces drop out. It's all very expertly crafted and we're learning more each week. They basically keep throwing things at us to keep us guessing, and it's all building into a bigger picture.
QuiteWhittle
Member
I just wish Aaron Ehasz was still on the team. The best writer of A:TLA.
At the moment it's really the intrigue that's keeping me hooked. I've tried rewatching a few episodes and after a bit I just skip to the fight scenes. On the other hand, I could watch "The Blind Bandit" or "Tales of Ba Sing Se" over and over and over again in their entirity... the only one that really comes close to that for me is probably the finale of the pro-bending tournament, which I thought was pitch-perfect.
I'd love the chance for some "filler"/character development episodes like we had in the first series but to be honest, with the way they set things up in Korra, it feels like it would keep devolving into the lovers quarrel stuff. I'm ok with a bit of romance but yeah, not the way it is now. I enjoyed Bolin trying to appeal to Korra, but Mako isn't engaging at all on that front. I wonder what they're planning for Asami, if she somehow betrays them because she's feeling jealous my eyes will roll so hard I'll be able to see my brain. Hopefully it's not as prominent in the next season. It's actually a nitpick for me though, the show has been excellent and, like Omikaru said, the unwrapping is very involving with every new episode bringing a new layer to the table.
I feel for Bryan, he does seem to enjoy it all but tumblr isn't the best place to get feedback for your product. Going through all those tags and reading what people write in the reblogs of his posts... I'm glad he doesn't get discouraged and keeps posting.
I feel for Bryan, he does seem to enjoy it all but tumblr isn't the best place to get feedback for your product. Going through all those tags and reading what people write in the reblogs of his posts... I'm glad he doesn't get discouraged and keeps posting.
I dunno, I felt his episodes- which often dealt with spirits- tended to be world breaking and inconsistent to me.
I am confused... this was episode 9. There are 12 eps this season. The preview for this episode was for the 1 hour season finale on June 23. Is there not an episode 10 this upcoming Saturday?
I love this show so far. I feel like yeah it's true the chemistry isn't strictly as strong between Korra and her allies as it was with Aang and his allies, but I think that's ok. This show should feel different, and it does. Personally, the relationship Korra has with Tenzin and the kids fills in that sort of gap for me.
I really really love this season so far in most ways.
I love this show so far. I feel like yeah it's true the chemistry isn't strictly as strong between Korra and her allies as it was with Aang and his allies, but I think that's ok. This show should feel different, and it does. Personally, the relationship Korra has with Tenzin and the kids fills in that sort of gap for me.
I really really love this season so far in most ways.
Infinite Justice
Member
Yea his actions could have been an example of showing how Mako passionately cares for someone he deems as his friend/family due to the shit he went through when he was younger (due to losing his loved ones and having to survive on the tough streets with his bro as the only familiy he has left). Once your in that circle for him he will go out of his way to help you and it goes for anyone in that circle .
Bolin could have sold it by explaining that a bit given he knows his brother but sadly Bolin threw him under the bus instead with that kiss scene thing and the whole scenario devolved into an interpretation of shipping.
Now we have Asami with doubts and if she confronts Mako he will start to have doubts again imo.
Yes there should be.
Its just Nick is drumming up hype for the finale early.
That's what I think as well. But when he stroked her hair I can't help but feel that the writers are messing with us.
I think the reason the chemistry isn't strong (yet) is just Korra's personality. She is bullheaded, sometimes to a fault, and doesn't rely on her friends as often as Aang did. Taking on Tarrlok and Amon were solo jobs and she often leaves poor Mako and Bolin in the dust even though she has been with them more as of late.
no its obviously because there is no breathing room in this series
Honestly, the only time I think they went out of their way to troll the fanbase was the Zuko's mom joke. Everything else was just them having fun. From day one they said teen love/drama would have a focus int he show.
Infinite Justice
Member
Its stuff like this and the Bolin explanation which makes it unfortunate since it starts to push the shipping angle again instead of fleshing out Mako and to a lesser extent his bro.
I get the feeling it's their idea of drama and conflict amongst New Team Avatar. I don't think they're genuinely out to screw with anyone, not even the shippers. I just think it's shameless pandering that's been handled really poorly.
I think at this rate Korra is going to get with Mako after he breaks Asami's heart (or makes it easy on him by "letting him go" -- ugh), and the Makorra shippers (who are mostly residual Zutara shippers, believing that this is an "apology" for ATLA's canon relationships) will be delighted. Those of us who don't care about relationships will look at it as a fanservice conclusion with some netorare sprinkled in for good measure, shrug it off and move on, but the appallingness of how it's handled has rubbed people the wrong way.
In short, I think the romance isn't necessarily the problem. It's the pandering, fanfiction element to how it was handled and written that's bothered a lot of people. Whilst it so far hasn't interfered with the plot to the point of ruining it (thank goodness), it's lingering around like a bad smell.
It doesn't help that said romance practically defines who Mako is as a character, his good looks notwithstanding.
Infinite Justice
Member
It was at first but Nick bought another season of episodes and supposedly has the option for more.
Nick also queried if the team could make the season kinda stand on their own with a new problem to deal with for that season but we'll see if the creators ultimately agreed or not
Rebel Leader
THE POWER OF BUTTERSCOTCH BOTTOMS
How would they top Amon?
TacticalFox88
Banned
Like I said, I believe absolutely NO ONE in this thread has a problem with romance specifically, it's the poor execution (my entertainment from shipping mainly comes from the shippers, not from the show itself) of it all. Not that the romance in the original series was handled any better by any objective viewpoint, but they did have a lot more wiggle room considering they had 60+ episodes to spread it out.
A Human Becoming
More than a Member
Full scale war? Another time jump?
Infinite Justice
Member
Yea that's why i'm wondering if the Amon thing would fully end this season since he's a great enemy that they placed a lot of time in (and its likely his fans are now huge).
Speedymanic
Banned
Zuko's mom.
shira
Member
Avatar mode
Dragon
Badgermole
Unagi
Sky bison
Lion turtle
Comet
Space sword
White Lotus elite
Kyoshi elite
Koh
Yue/moon
Hei bei
Blue spirit
Painted lady
Ssbm
The romance in the original show was pretty clearly defined. It was Aang and Katara. From the first moment Aang met Katara they made it pretty clear the romance subplot was between those two. Anything else is just, well, fucking crazy. It was cute to see it develop, and it was relatively inoffensive. Any romance stuff in ATLA that was awful was entirely down to the shipping wars.
In The Legend of Korra they've had two terribly-written love triangles, forced "feels" from wooden characters, netorare and god knows what other tropes. Even worse is that whilst it's not bad enough to disrupt the plot, it's certainly obnoxious enough to distract from it.
The one thing I'll give credit to Mako for is that now I know how women feel when they see a generic character who just happens to be a really attractive trophy for the protagonist.
A time jump might happen. They're not constrained by the comet as they were in ATLA, so they could fast-forward a year or even more to Korra being a far more proficient (but still in training) airbender when another threat comes along.
I think Amon will make an appearance next season. Probably locked up. He's too good of a character to completely be shot of, and I think it'd be pretty amazing if he makes an appearance again. He's the kind of character who could give you chills, even behind bars.
Of course all of that depends on the nature of his existence. If he's a spirit, they'd have a hard time doing that.
Infinite Justice
Member
I'd say a year max. Gives time to let things cool down a bit, but longer and too much change would have happened off screen.
If the show gets renewed for season 3 and 4 (Which it think/hope it will), I could see them bringing him back after a season or two off, maybe as a twist or something. I'd love that. Amon is so good.
Of course, I'd rather they just keep him on as the villain, but all signs seem to point to that not being the case.
yeah he was dead to me after that
you dont yell at or push Lin Beifong
you just dont
also the characters dont really look aged in season 2 so i dont think theres much of a time skip
We've seen pictures of season 2?
Sentenza
Member
I surely didn't.
shira
Member
Unlike the other equalizings you dont see the actual energybend, cuts away and tarlok falls down.
Could easily be a ruse. Bloodbending is pretty easy to fake.
Infinite Justice
Member
Dubbedinenglish
Banned
I'll take an entire episode of more boomerang please.
Napoleonthechimp
Member
Whoever Amon is, I'm going to assume he has complete mastery over Energy bending to the point where he can negate other bender's control over him. They kept on referring to people with unique bending powers so perhaps he's one of them.
This is a biggun (about 7.4mb) so I'm going to just post a link.
Korra meditated on the wrong Aang story, methinks...
http://i951.photobucket.com/albums/ad360/chrisplayedthat/korra-tlafilmshymalan-1.gif
Korra meditated on the wrong Aang story, methinks...
http://i951.photobucket.com/albums/ad360/chrisplayedthat/korra-tlafilmshymalan-1.gif
shira
Member
Nsfw spoilers
He probably did something with his chakras. Amon is god, god is amon.
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