Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra
A few years ago, Nickelodeon had this totally awesome anime-like series called Avatar: The Last Airbender. I know what your thinking, that movie with the blue people right? Wrong, It was awesome show where there are people called Benders who can control earth, fire, water, or air. The war has been at war for 100 years due to the Fire Nation, and the only one who can stop it is the Avatar who has been frozen in an iceburg for 100 years after running away. Oh, and he is the only Airbender left as while he was frozen, the Fire Nation tragically killed all the Airbenders. So the Avatar Aang, a Waterbender who found him named Katara, her non-Bender brother Sokka, and later a blind Earthbender girl name Toph Bei Fong travel to have Aang master the elements to end the war. There's also Zuko, the exiled Fire Nation Prince who wants to capture the Avatar to redeem himself and his uncle Iroh goes with him, but wants his nephew to realize that he's doing the wrong thing. The big bad (who is rarely seen) is Zuko's father Ozai who wishes to rule the world and his second-in-command is his daughter Azula, a cruel girl and Firebending prodigy.
The show ended after three seasons, and it was an amazing show! I loved it so much! it had great and well developed characters, the female ones were strong which is something I like in an action series, the plot line was great, the world was interesting and fun, and it had a strong ending. It continues as a comic book for what happens after the series ended, but I'm not posting this just because of nostalgia. I'm doing this to talk about the sequel animated series and currently my new favorite show, The Legend of Korra.
You know, since I was a kid I wanted an action series with a strong female lead as either a cartoon or an anime. I found a few anime's when I got older that did but either had the girl needing the male lead to protect and save her all the time, a romantic plot involved which made me lose some interest, or had to much fanservice which made me annoyed and disgusted when watching it. But finally The Legend of Korra came out and my prayers were answered. Korra, the new Avatar, is a kick-butt girl who doesn't need to hide behind a boy and even without bending, can kick butt. And she has flaws as well such as her arrogance and impulsiveness, something you normally only see in boys. So yeah, awesome female lead! But that's not my only reason for liking this show.
The Legend of Korra has a dark plot line involving a group trying to eliminate Benders and the leader, Amon (voiced by the amazing Steve Blum) who can take away bending permanently and unlike Ozai, is pretty terrifying. The characters are great with Korra as a great lead and Amon as a great villain, but the others are also great. Mako is a kind of serious but good character and has a Big Brother instinct, something I love seeing. Bolin, Mako's younger brother, is a hilarious and sweet character and it is just impossible to hate him. Tenzin, Korra's airbending master and Aang's son, is the sane character we need and seeing his stoicness break is hilarious. Lin Bei Fong, Toph's daughter, runs the police and while she is pretty mean, is also a strong woman who definitely earned her spot as chief of police. Finally is Asami, a non-Bender who is proper and wealthy but kind, a great racer, and has self-defense training and can kick-butt. SO yeah, great cast and a great plot.
My only problem with this series is the increased focus on shipping compared to the previous series, which has it but it wasn't as focused on. I guess because it had 61 episodes, Korra will only have 26 so I guess they do have to fit everything into a certain amount of time. But just like last series, people are not happy with how the shipings are going and really, I don;t care much for the shippings. I lean a bit towards Kora x Mako, but just a bit and the shippers reactions over how Mako is with Asami is really getting on my nerves, especially after the most recent episode and how people still hate Asami just because she's dating Mako. The shippers can flame me for this all they want, it's my opinion and while I'll be fine with Korra x Mako, I'm also be fine with Mako x Asami and heck, I kind of want Korra x Bolin more now, probably because I like guys like Bolin more and the Korra x Mako stuff is getting on my nerves.
Okay, sorry but that was a rant that needed to be let out and I'm sorry if I offended anyone by it. But anyways despite the shipping stuff, The Legend of Korra has a great plot, well-developed characters, the world has changed which still makes it interesting, and while it's a darker story, the feel of the previous series is still there. So watch The Legend of Korra if you get a chance but if you haven't yet seen it, I suggest you watch The Last Airbender first so you understand the world a bit better. Thanks for reading folks and remember, Toonami returns this weekend so anime fans try and catch it. Later!
The show ended after three seasons, and it was an amazing show! I loved it so much! it had great and well developed characters, the female ones were strong which is something I like in an action series, the plot line was great, the world was interesting and fun, and it had a strong ending. It continues as a comic book for what happens after the series ended, but I'm not posting this just because of nostalgia. I'm doing this to talk about the sequel animated series and currently my new favorite show, The Legend of Korra.
You know, since I was a kid I wanted an action series with a strong female lead as either a cartoon or an anime. I found a few anime's when I got older that did but either had the girl needing the male lead to protect and save her all the time, a romantic plot involved which made me lose some interest, or had to much fanservice which made me annoyed and disgusted when watching it. But finally The Legend of Korra came out and my prayers were answered. Korra, the new Avatar, is a kick-butt girl who doesn't need to hide behind a boy and even without bending, can kick butt. And she has flaws as well such as her arrogance and impulsiveness, something you normally only see in boys. So yeah, awesome female lead! But that's not my only reason for liking this show.
The Legend of Korra has a dark plot line involving a group trying to eliminate Benders and the leader, Amon (voiced by the amazing Steve Blum) who can take away bending permanently and unlike Ozai, is pretty terrifying. The characters are great with Korra as a great lead and Amon as a great villain, but the others are also great. Mako is a kind of serious but good character and has a Big Brother instinct, something I love seeing. Bolin, Mako's younger brother, is a hilarious and sweet character and it is just impossible to hate him. Tenzin, Korra's airbending master and Aang's son, is the sane character we need and seeing his stoicness break is hilarious. Lin Bei Fong, Toph's daughter, runs the police and while she is pretty mean, is also a strong woman who definitely earned her spot as chief of police. Finally is Asami, a non-Bender who is proper and wealthy but kind, a great racer, and has self-defense training and can kick-butt. SO yeah, great cast and a great plot.
My only problem with this series is the increased focus on shipping compared to the previous series, which has it but it wasn't as focused on. I guess because it had 61 episodes, Korra will only have 26 so I guess they do have to fit everything into a certain amount of time. But just like last series, people are not happy with how the shipings are going and really, I don;t care much for the shippings. I lean a bit towards Kora x Mako, but just a bit and the shippers reactions over how Mako is with Asami is really getting on my nerves, especially after the most recent episode and how people still hate Asami just because she's dating Mako. The shippers can flame me for this all they want, it's my opinion and while I'll be fine with Korra x Mako, I'm also be fine with Mako x Asami and heck, I kind of want Korra x Bolin more now, probably because I like guys like Bolin more and the Korra x Mako stuff is getting on my nerves.
Okay, sorry but that was a rant that needed to be let out and I'm sorry if I offended anyone by it. But anyways despite the shipping stuff, The Legend of Korra has a great plot, well-developed characters, the world has changed which still makes it interesting, and while it's a darker story, the feel of the previous series is still there. So watch The Legend of Korra if you get a chance but if you haven't yet seen it, I suggest you watch The Last Airbender first so you understand the world a bit better. Thanks for reading folks and remember, Toonami returns this weekend so anime fans try and catch it. Later!