The Legend of Korra (season 4) 720p - (2014 Lang: English)

Like many people out there, I am a massive fan of the original series, "Avatar: The Last Airbender"; and was awaiting the release of this series with baited breath. After all, how can you top the original? How can you take the established lore and the incredible universe in which "Avatar" was set and make it better? Well, I'll tell you...not like this. The series centers on the Avatar that comes after Avatar Aang; (who was the main protagonist in "The Last Airbender") a 17 year-old girl named Korra and her coming to terms with her duties and as the Avatar. It takes place in Republic City, founded at the end of the 100 Year War by Avatar Aang and Firelord Zuko where Benders and Non-benders may live together in peace and tranquility; however, since Aang's death the city has fallen into disarray despite the best efforts by Aang's son Tenzin and the Chief of Police.

This series takes the established lore from the original universe and flips it on its head in a good way. Here's what I mean; in the "Avatar Universe", you can only Blood-Bend during a full moon...or can you? Only the Avatar can Bend Energy...or maybe not? These all serve to ensure that the audience tunes in the next week, which is fine, but it seems that the creators were more concerned with showing off the aesthetics and new technology, rather than exploring these new and exciting characters. When the audience is more interested in the origin of Pro- Bending than the main protagonist, then, well, something's gone amiss.

Let me bread down the characters for you: Korra, is about as far from Aang as you can get. While Aang was usually characterized as a calm, peaceful, and good natured person; Korra is crass, abrasive, and tough as nails. You can tell by the way that she acts that she'll obviously grow and change over time, but after re-watching several times now, I have to say; Korra doesn't have much of a character arc. Please understand that I do realize there are only 12 episodes thus far, and that this series is just one excerpt from this particular Avatar's lifetime worth of adventures, but the fact that there are no real changes to her character's traits or actions/reactions in certain situations by the end doesn't speak very well of the writing. Let me clarify; this show isn't like James Cameron's Avatar in the sense that you can accurately predict what the ending will be and how it will happen within the first 15 minutes, and I give the writers due credit for it, but when you boil it down to its elements (no pun intended), the show just isn't balanced like its predecessor. All this being said, I do actually think that a character like Korra a great choice as the next Avatar. Because Aang was so reserved and mentally focused, a more spontaneous and openly passionate character is the only real choice for the new Avatar; otherwise you run the risk of repeating yourself from a creative standpoint.

Mako (named in memory of the actor Mako, who voiced Uncle Iroh in the original series) and his brother Bolin are homeless teenagers turned professional athletes in the city's favorite sport, Pro-Bending, which is essentially the Avatar Version of MMA. Initially, Mako is the more serious/closed-off character, very reminiscent to Prince Zuko in the original series, while Bolin is the goofy character that hearkens back to Sokka. Both do work perfectly in conjunction with Korra, and Mako even plays off as a love interest for Korra. This is where my biggest problems with the show arise: WAY too much teen romance and drama and too much time is spent on the subject of Pro-Bending. I really don't mind romance in cartoons when it's done right, but when one whole episode out of the 12 can be phantom-edited out because it has nothing to do with the rest of the series what so ever, that's not good. There are literally half a dozen other things going on in Republic City, all of which deal with Korra directly or indirectly, that could have been covered rather than a forced love triangle with Mako and Bolin. We get it. Can we please show something besides this blasted sports arena?

Lastly, Tenzin is the only Airbending Master in the world and his children are the only other Airbenders. Tenzin has a stern, no nonsense personality and is very comfortable in his skin. This is disrupted however when Korra arrives and essentially reminds him that he has just as much to learn from her as she does from him. Predictable but effective.

One thing that is great to see is the respect that the series creators have for their source material. The creators are such fans of Chinese and Japanise Manga and Anime that they manage to infuse every square inch of the TV screen with beautiful architecture and designs that hearken back to the designs of Hayao Miyazaki, and Hajime Yatate. One thing to be aware of is the jump in technology from the original series to this one. In the original, the architecture and landscaping of each location was reminiscent of the ancient Chinese Dynasties: the times of Emperors, the Great Wall, and Attila the Hun. In this series, it's more like 1920's Shanghai. That's actually not a gripe, and it works perfectly for the story, but at first it's just hard to wrap your head around it when you go from carts pulled by animals to cameras (yes, I said cameras), cars and glass store fronts with clay tile roofs. That's all I'm saying.

Overall, the series is a good continuation to the Avatar Story, but not a great one. I hope that in the upcoming seasons of The Legend of Korra there's a greater focus on characters and story rather than just the scenery.

I always seem to have a problem with the way superpowers are used in movies and series. The Legend of Korra is no different, unfortunately. It is just that I can think of so many smarter ways to do things, considering the abilities the characters possess, and it gets annoying when the character does nothing like it, and further complicates the situation he or her is in. Korra is still a young apprentice, but considering that she has lived with these powers her entire life, she should know what she is capable of. This goes for most movies and TV series that involves powers. The Legend of Korra is not as bad as many others, but it is still something that needs work.

Having said that, The Legend of Korra is a great series. I'm not a big fan of anime, I find it repetitive and constant, where I prefer that there is actual progress in each episode. In The Legend of Korra, the main objective is always clear, and it is not repeated in similar ways throughout the series (this goes for many series other than anime).

This is a very worthy successor to The Last Airbender (And that's not an easy feat considering ATLA is #10 on IMDb's best TV Shows of all time list). The characters are well developed and very realistic, this isn't some kiddy cartoon where characters are perfect 1- dimensional archetypes, no these are real teenagers that make mistake after mistake and learn from them! And these are fascinating character arcs which parallel each other and resonate with the viewer as the plot gets more complex.

The main villain of Book 1 is not only the greatest Avatar villain, but one of the best in recent years! Amon has great psychological development and ethical world-views, that of which opposites Korra's. This makes Amon the perfect villain and the final scene with him and his younger brother is thought provoking and very engaging!