Legend of Korra - New Avatar Cartoon

[Lucien21]

Taking place 70 years after the events of “Avatar: The Last Airbender,” this story follows the adventures of the Avatar after Aang – a passionate, rebellious, and fearless teenage girl from the Southern Water Tribe named Korra. With three of the four elements under her belt (Earth, Water, and Fire), Korra seeks to master the final element, Air. Her quest leads her to the epicenter of the modern “Avatar” world, Republic City – a metropolis that is fueled by steampunk technology. It is a virtual melting pot where benders and non-benders from all nations live and thrive. However, Korra discovers that Republic City is plagued by crime as well as a growing anti-bending revolution that threatens to rip it apart. Under the tutelage of Aang’s son, Tenzin, Korra begins her airbending training while dealing with the dangers at large.

I loved the original Avatar cartoon, but was sceptical that they could capture the magic again.

Saw the first couple of episodes and loved them.  

Korra is a different sort of character, short tempered rebellious and totally useless at air bending. With her polar bear side kick she moves to the big city where the world of Avatar has moved on. Now it is like a modern city with all the new technology and problems that comes with it. Magic/Bending is seen as elitist or as a sport and there is a growing undercurrent against bending.

The art style is very much like the original series (although there is a bit more CGI) and it retains it's mixture of humour and action. It's nice to see the links to the old show with some old characters and their decendants and it's slowly adding new people into Korra's life with the brothers from the Pro-bending team and hinting at a big bad.

It will be interesting to see where this goes.

Did anyone else see the episodes yet? It's official date is the 14th April, but a couple of episodes were released at the weekend.

[Farrell]

Thanks for the heads up.  Sounds like I'll be watching this at some point.  I'm also looking forward to getting my hands on the graphic novel that Gene Yang did that bridges the two series.

[Scotchlander]

I totally thought this was some kind of James Cameron spinoff

[Night (Travis) Nurse]

Missed it, new it was coming, thanks for the heads up.

Travis

[aelfinn]

absolutely loved the original animated series... this has some HUGE shoes to fill, but i'm definitely excited for this.

[valance_the_hunter]

That sounds awesome.   

I don't know about you guys but I have found a lot of people really apprehensive towards giving Avatar a shot   

BIG mistake, cause I thought it was a fantastic show.

[Kenney]

I don't know about you guys but I have found a lot of people really apprehensive towards giving Avatar a shot   

BIG mistake, cause I thought it was a fantastic show.

Yeah, I think it is one of those cartoons, like BTAS, that transcends just being a great cartoon, and is instead just a great show. I'm really excited about Korra, but it is going to be a bummer having to watch the show live like everyone else. I came to Avatar late, so I was able to mainline the series in a matter of days. Now, I will have to exercise patience.

[leafinsectman (Dan)]

Just saw the first two eps. Great stuff! Much better than the first 2 eps of the original Avatar which really turned me off because of the bratty kids. Good to have a girl as the star of the show, animation is top notch, fight scenes are fantastic. Looking forward to more! Watch it peeps!

[Kenney]

It only took me 40 minutes to fall head over heals in love with this show. For my money Avatar is one of the best shows of the first 10 years of this century, so Korra has some big shoes to fill, and this show came out swinging.

[Lucien21]

3rd episode was really cool. Gave more of a look at the big baddie and what his plan is.

Lots of fun.

[Jordan]

Last weeks premier was strong.  STRONG.  Totally loved it.  I thought the introduction of technology would be a little weird, but I love it now.

I really loved the MMA/Bruce Lee vibe from the bending game that Korra wanted to join; how it's a modern synthesis of the old styles in a more real world situation.  Really cool. 

The Animation is gorgeous. 

[nilcam]

The Legend of Korra is the final piece of the puzzle that is the return of Saturday mornings. My wife and I wake up early for Thundercats, hang around for Green Lantern but the real payoff is the Young Justice and Legend of Korra hour. Both shows are amazingly beautiful and well done.

Korra is much fresher than I expected. I love that the creators went in a totally new direction with the show. They avoided replacement characters and created an update to the original world that feels natural and "real." As much as Aang was a refreshing lead character, Korra is just as refreshing despite being a bit more of a standard hot-headed character.

[leafinsectman (Dan)]

I like the fight choreography a lot. It seems more real than a lot of the animated stuff that I've seen lately. Korra moves like a real fighter as opposed to someone who's just zipping around throwing wild punches/kicks. There's a sense of weight to her and her moves when I see her fight and I love that about the show.

[Kenney]

I like the fight choreography a lot. It seems more real than a lot of the animated stuff that I've seen lately. Korra moves like a real fighter as opposed to someone who's just zipping around throwing wild punches/kicks. There's a sense of weight to her and her moves when I see her fight and I love that about the show.

I was telling my friend that I think Avatar (and by extension Korra) has the best fight choreography I've ever seen -- animated or otherwise. You are so right to say that the moves have weight to them. I think Young Justice gets the fighting right too, because you can see how when Robin fights he shifts his weight accordingly, but that show isn't on the same level of Korra when it comes to fighting. We've only seen 3 episodes, so I'm including feelings of Avatar as well when I say these things, but the fights alone make these toons worth watching. I loved when Korra was being taught how to throw punches and you could see how she learned to throw punches from her shoulders to get more power.

[nilcam]

I like the fight choreography a lot. It seems more real than a lot of the animated stuff that I've seen lately. Korra moves like a real fighter as opposed to someone who's just zipping around throwing wild punches/kicks. There's a sense of weight to her and her moves when I see her fight and I love that about the show.

I completely agree about this. The aspect of the story that really has me hooked is the societal upheaval going on. In Republic City, there is a clear line between haves and have nots. While the story is being told from a bender's point of view, I feel that Amon is not being strictly portrayed as a villain. It's a very heady topic for a Saturday morning.

[JoeyN]

I got caught up on Avatar the last week or so. Such a fantastic series. I just watched the first episode of Korra. It rocks 

[valance_the_hunter]

I like the fight choreography a lot. It seems more real than a lot of the animated stuff that I've seen lately. Korra moves like a real fighter as opposed to someone who's just zipping around throwing wild punches/kicks. There's a sense of weight to her and her moves when I see her fight and I love that about the show.

Can't agree more.  

I recently got a chance to catch up and I really enjoyed it.  I think it's coming out at a good time too…where nostalgia hasn't jaded me and kept me from enjoying it, and some of the elements from the world itself are still relatively fresh in my head.

Good shit!

[leafinsectman (Dan)]

I think Young Justice gets the fighting right too, because you can see how when Robin fights he shifts his weight accordingly, but that show isn't on the same level of Korra when it comes to fighting.

Agreed. The fight scenes in YJ are great but it feels a little sped up at times so there's a sense of weightlessness to them. Plus I find the Korra fight scenes to be really memorable. Like the kick she gave to one of the mob guys in the first episode or how she evaded those multiple attacks in the second episode. They're burned into my brain.

I recently got a chance to catch up and I really enjoyed it.  I think it's coming out at a good time too…where nostalgia hasn't jaded me and kept me from enjoying it, and some of the elements from the world itself are still relatively fresh in my head.

I'm coming to it fresh because I've only seen a handful of episodes from the original series (been meaning to get into it but haven't done so at this time) so me loving the show isn't even based on nostalgia. I really think it's, as you say...

Good shit!

 

[leafinsectman (Dan)]

I just saw episode 6. This show is so damn good. How awesome was that team-up?

Also, Spike Spiegel himself (Steve Blum) as the bad guy? Forget it!

[JoeyN]

Yep, pure gold