TangerineCloud
Banned
Got my Blu Ray in the mail yesterday as well. Going to watch all the extra stuff today.
Nice! The commentaries are so much fun to listen to. Bryan, Mike, Janet Varney, and David Faustino need to start their own podcast.
-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
Legend of Korra Book 2 HYPE Thread (Book 1 & 2 Spoilers inside)
- Thread starter Satch
- Start date
- Status
Nice! The commentaries are so much fun to listen to. Bryan, Mike, Janet Varney, and David Faustino need to start their own podcast.
I ordered the Blu-Ray months ago, and finally got it last week, only to open it up and to my horror realize they sent the DVD version - _ - I had to return it through UPS and just have to wait until Amazon decides if they will send the Blu-Ray or not... The DVD only has commentaries for two episodes.
#1 defender
Member
Same thing happened to a bunch of people on blu-ray.com. Apparently the product page that went up first was for the DVD, but mistakenly said it was for the Blu-Ray or something like that. They fixed the product page afterwards, but people who pre-ordered before that all got DVDs instead of Blu-Rays.
The thing is, it didn't change for me since even after the product shipped it still described the package as the Korra Blu-Ray... Any idea if those people were able to get the Blu-Ray after all? The amount I paid was definitely that of the Blu Ray and not the DVD.
Ghad damit... If it were up to me I would just head to Best Buy and buy it, but I was still hoping to not waste the money I spent on Amazon. Now I'm angry:
Items Ordered Price
1 of: Legend of Korra: Book One: Air [Blu-ray] [DVD]
Condition: New
Sold by: Amazon.com LLC
That's what my Amazon order said, see how they kept the [Blu ray] in the product name but it said DVD in the description, which I did not notice. Should I call Amazon or something?
Infinite Justice
Member
Call/Email Amazon and see what they can do since their customer service is usually top notch.
WrenchNinja
Member
Got the korra blu ray for my birthday. Listening to the commentary has been pretty fun. Im way too hard on this series, there's so much passion and excitement coming from Janet, Bryan and Mike in the early episodes. Maybe I'll accept their justification for some of the choices they made in the end with the later episodes.
The series is very good, great for some. Non-fans of Avatar I know, but people whose judgement I trust when it comes to movies, television and literature in general, loved LOK even after acknowledging its shortcomings (to which I point out afterwards that ATLA is worth a look then) like the hurried pace of the final two episodes. It's just that a lot of people I think were expecting simply a newer version of The Last Airbender, but the series are really very different in many respects, which is what Bryan and Mike wanted in the first place.
We fell in love with a group of heroic kids in ATLA, but falling in love with teenagers and much more nuanced stories (or so they tried to make it a nuance story in Book 1: Air) are a bit harder and difficult to actually pul off, but still a very worthwhile show to make and watch for other reasons.
I'm very excited for Book 2 and its potential. Just by seeing the first episode and the trailer, we can guess that it will have several distinct story lines similar to ATLA, but that are ultimately part of the main adventure, specifically:
And that's just some of what we can look forward, since we will still have some other subplots like what will happen between Verrick and Asami's partnership, how Korra's parents will fit into all of this, etc.
We fell in love with a group of heroic kids in ATLA, but falling in love with teenagers and much more nuanced stories (or so they tried to make it a nuance story in Book 1: Air) are a bit harder and difficult to actually pul off, but still a very worthwhile show to make and watch for other reasons.
I'm very excited for Book 2 and its potential. Just by seeing the first episode and the trailer, we can guess that it will have several distinct story lines similar to ATLA, but that are ultimately part of the main adventure, specifically:
- The "Aang's children" plot after they head out and explore the Air Temples under Katara's behest.
- "Korra's Spirit World and Training" plot, which I will kind of separate from the tensions revolving around Unalaq and Tonraq's relationship between brothers.
- Of course, all subplots are just part of the main story, but another big subplot I'm looking forward to is "Wan's story" and how that relates to the current Spirit World problem.
- Also, very much looking forwad to Jinora's journey with Korra and how her character evolves.
And that's just some of what we can look forward, since we will still have some other subplots like what will happen between Verrick and Asami's partnership, how Korra's parents will fit into all of this, etc.
Schadenfreude
Member
Hey guys. Did you hear? In Book 2 of Korra, Bolin and Asami move into a new place together.
Apparently they're living in a quaint little place on Lonely Street called Heartbreak Hotel.
Apparently they're living in a quaint little place on Lonely Street called Heartbreak Hotel.
I'm kidding, of course. Just a new sneak peek courtesy of Konietzko.
Hey guys. Did you hear? In Book 2 of Korra, Bolin and Asami move into a new place together.
Apparently they're living in a quaint little place on Lonely Street called Heartbreak Hotel.
I'm kidding, of course. Just a new sneak peek courtesy of Konietzko.
LOL
Oh god. More shipping, and more people being angry. I saw the first episode and
fans are already making gifs of this moment between Bolin and Asami in episode 1 and getting their shipping boners all wet.
Update: It was a blast to listen to. Totally worth the money, these guys do great commentary.
Unspeakable Evil
Member
Hey guys. Did you hear? In Book 2 of Korra, Bolin and Asami move into a new place together.
Apparently they're living in a quaint little place on Lonely Street called Heartbreak Hotel.
I'm kidding, of course. Just a new sneak peek courtesy of Konietzko.
Fuck it! Bolin X Asami all the way.
Well I for one would approve of that relationship!
We all know the problem with shipping in LOK isn't admitting that teenagers HAVE relationships, is how they're handled. And Korra and Mako's relationship was pretty clumsily written from time to time. I enjoy a good love drama from time to time, heck, I even enjoy some good rom-coms, why not, but the love story between those two wasn't handled well towards the end of the series (it had potential)
Well...sure beats Mako. Really disliked that character. =/
Asami was actually one of my favorite characters. And I also really liked Bolin. So if they do plan on pairing these two (I don't even mean romantically, just as friends) - I think that would be a great plot. BTW this is the GIF I was talking about: (Obvious spoiler don't click if you don't want to see something from the first episode):
Infinite Justice
Member
Hey guys. Did you hear? In Book 2 of Korra, Bolin and Asami move into a new place together.
Apparently they're living in a quaint little place on Lonely Street called Heartbreak Hotel.
I'm kidding, of course. Just a new sneak peek courtesy of Konietzko.
LOL
this is honestly the only thing left for me watching the series now (the shipping reactions for the lulz)
NHarmonic.
Member
I love the concept art and the little bits that have surfaced lately, and i have no doubt they can beautifully pull this 2 new seasons
TangerineCloud
Banned
Man, now that you mention it, I would love to see a platonic Bolin x Asami friendship. That'd be a good way to flesh out those characters a little more without going overboard on the shipping again.
And on a completely different note, I'm really digging Korra's new outfit for Book 2.
Her original costume just looked boring (colors too desaturated, bland armbands), but these new 80% sleeve-things are looking pretty fancy, and the use of more vibrant colors looks great. Now if she'd just keep her hair down, she'd have the perfect character design!
Man, now that you mention it, I would love to see a platonic Bolin x Asami friendship. That'd be a good way to flesh out those characters a little more without going overboard on the shipping again.
And on a completely different note, I'm really digging Korra's new outfit for Book 2.
Her original costume just looked boring (colors too desaturated, bland armbands), but these new 80% sleeve-things are looking pretty fancy, and the use of more vibrant colors looks great. Now if she'd just keep her hair down, she'd have the perfect character design!
I could look at that GIF of Korra's hair all day, awesome animation. And yeah, Korra with her hair down is teh shizzz
Hey guys. Did you hear? In Book 2 of Korra, Bolin and Asami move into a new place together.
Apparently they're living in a quaint little place on Lonely Street called Heartbreak Hotel.
I'm kidding, of course. Just a new sneak peek courtesy of Konietzko.
MUST NOT READ SPOILERS AHHHHHHH!!!
Discotheque
Banned
just finished rewatching this.
honestly i think the backstory with the villains and the brother-murder scene on the boat was fantastic.
this series' biggest problem is that it should have been a lot more than 12 episodes. it would have arguably been better than last airbender's book one easily if they planned this well
but it was originally intended to be a mini-series, and now is being stretched into a full fledged animated series. hence rushing some developments here in order to transition to their second season. the villain was dealt with way too quickly, korra just randomly becomes an airbender, avatar state just happens too quickly too. they don't give you enough breathing room to mourn lin or korra's loss of bending.
all of this would have been easily dealt with if the season was longer.
Korra is awesome, the relationship thing is only dominant in one episode. If this was a 22 episode season it wouldn't even be a problem amongst so many fans.
Tenzin rocks when he fights.
the fights are better choreographed imo. I just think everyone is more aggressive in this series.
mako's lame though. and using zuko's voice for that general was corny. he sounds like a 12 year old kid. otherwise i like the shift from children to older characters in here. makes the action more interesting for me.
honestly i think the backstory with the villains and the brother-murder scene on the boat was fantastic.
this series' biggest problem is that it should have been a lot more than 12 episodes. it would have arguably been better than last airbender's book one easily if they planned this well
but it was originally intended to be a mini-series, and now is being stretched into a full fledged animated series. hence rushing some developments here in order to transition to their second season. the villain was dealt with way too quickly, korra just randomly becomes an airbender, avatar state just happens too quickly too. they don't give you enough breathing room to mourn lin or korra's loss of bending.
all of this would have been easily dealt with if the season was longer.
Korra is awesome, the relationship thing is only dominant in one episode. If this was a 22 episode season it wouldn't even be a problem amongst so many fans.
Tenzin rocks when he fights.
the fights are better choreographed imo. I just think everyone is more aggressive in this series.
mako's lame though. and using zuko's voice for that general was corny. he sounds like a 12 year old kid. otherwise i like the shift from children to older characters in here. makes the action more interesting for me.
What I remember hating most about that last episode is how much of a dick Mako and Korra are. As far as I can remember, although the romance between Mako and Korra was brewing, he was still dating Asami or at least was still "together" with her. That moment Mako and Korra kissed really ruined their characters in my eyes. It's hard to root for Korra when she pulls out a move like that. Maybe I'm just misremembering.
Bryan and Mike actually talked precisely about that on the Book 1 Blu Ray commentaries. Asami and Mako did indeed break-up during episode 11, Skeletons in the Closet, before Mako and Korra go to Air Temple Island and find Tarrlok imprisoned there.
A couple of pages back in this thread somebody posted a transcript, lets see if I can...
Here it is:
I swear Bryke are the biggest trolls...always messing with their fans...I love it.
Are you talking about when they kiss in front of Bolin or the end? I think the former can be attributed to teenage hormones and bad judgment while the latter just needed more episodes/story time to flesh out. Otherwise I saw it coming far away.
Maybe I'm just easily impressed or something but the romance didn't bother me at all. I thought the entire season was pretty good, maybe a 9/10 even. For reference I'd put Book 3 of TLA at a 9.5, and Book 2 at a 9 as well. Book 1 maybe 8.5/10.
Discotheque
Banned
if this was a longer season it'd be the best of the franchise. but it's length made for really rushed pacing on some plot points so it's just book 3 level for me.
i like bolin a lot though. him and tenzin i prefer over the last airbender crew.
i like bolin a lot though. him and tenzin i prefer over the last airbender crew.
Yeah, I agree. Everything about it was incredible, at least to me. The animation, dark story, characters...contrary to popular notions I'm even okay with Mako.
This scene (spoiler if you haven't seen season 1) is one that really stuck out when I was watching it. Thought it was brilliant, especially considering the backstory you get later on. Chilling.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hqs44zr4rMo
And don't get me started on the boat scene...
HuhHey guys. Did you hear? In Book 2 of Korra, Bolin and Asami move into a new place together.
Apparently they're living in a quaint little place on Lonely Street called Heartbreak Hotel.
I'm kidding, of course. Just a new sneak peek courtesy of Konietzko.
I think I might be a shipper now.
The related videos for this introduced me to the world of Korra/Tarrlok shipping.
This fanbase. Why.
I just try to ignore it (them)
I also see a AMV about Azula using Nelly Furtado's 'Maneater'..............
.........................
Thanks to this thread I'm rewatching LoK, and I still like it. Saw 'the spirit of competition' yesterday, and just finished ...'and the winners are.' After the pretty dramatic episode that was "The voices in the night," an episode that focused on some light hearted romance felt pretty tension relieving. And it gave us drunk on noodles, care free and optimistic Bolin. I honestly don't mind it all that much. And the season has so many other awesome things going for it, that I genuinely do not get the haters.
Stumbled upon this post by Tumblr user "Katorra" , who caught a very interesting piece of information from the trailer:
Apparently, the ships seen forming a blockade that Asami, Mako and Korra are seeming to run by with a plane are made up entirely of Water Tribe ships:
He goes on to post his theories about what's going on, considering the trailer also featured a solemn looking procession with Korra on Naga in the front and people with torches behind them, so it looks like maybe Team Avatar holds off a Northern Water Tribe blockade against the Southern Tribe?
UPDATE: Another cool catch from the same Tumblr user:
Team Avatar aren't alone, and you can barely make out the front of a United Forces ship accompanying the plane towards the Water Tribe blockade.
Apparently, the ships seen forming a blockade that Asami, Mako and Korra are seeming to run by with a plane are made up entirely of Water Tribe ships:
He goes on to post his theories about what's going on, considering the trailer also featured a solemn looking procession with Korra on Naga in the front and people with torches behind them, so it looks like maybe Team Avatar holds off a Northern Water Tribe blockade against the Southern Tribe?
UPDATE: Another cool catch from the same Tumblr user:
Team Avatar aren't alone, and you can barely make out the front of a United Forces ship accompanying the plane towards the Water Tribe blockade.
Recently re-watched all of Avatar The Last Airbender. I know I'll get a lot of shit for saying this, but I don't feel like all the criticisms thrown at Korra are entirely fair, as I actually see a lot of the problems in Korra in Avatar the Last Airbender as well (I mean with regards to the writing). I've seen some people say the writing has dropped off drastically between the two shows. And I actually see more similarities than differences.
At the end of the day, I think Avatar had better characters. And that's a huge part (obviously). But in terms of how the writers handle plot elements in Korra, I don't see a huge difference tbh. Just me though. I can see why it was even more so a problem given the Book 1 was originally going to be a self contained story.
At the end of the day, I think Avatar had better characters. And that's a huge part (obviously). But in terms of how the writers handle plot elements in Korra, I don't see a huge difference tbh. Just me though. I can see why it was even more so a problem given the Book 1 was originally going to be a self contained story.
Yeah, that is what I was trying to say.
I'm not saying the criticisms of Korra aren't legitimate. I think they are. I guess I just never noticed some of these writing flaws/traits in Avatar as well, because I hadn't seen it in a long time. But after watching it front to back with Korra I noticed a lot of similarities with how they went about handling some plot points (rushed/ lacking).
I think at the end of the day, Korra's problems actually make a lot of sense when you consider it was to be a one off story and was only 12 episodes vs 21. That's a huge difference when it comes to having the ability to story build. But yeah, I think what really made Avatar great was the characters + the world building. I guess none of that matters though if you don't like the characters. Honestly, the only character I didn't like in Korra was Mako (personally). Hopefully they are able to build up the show a bit more, so those that weren't happy with Book One can start to come around to it.
It would be really interesting if Korra somehow helped to usher in an era of more substantial, dramatic American animation to replace the children-focused slapstick comedy genre that's been the status quo for so long.
Seems unlikely to me, but if the president of Nickelodeon is banking on it, who knows?
Pretty sure they are stand alone, though some things were left completely unsolved (*Cough*non-bender equality*cough*) in season 1 that I hope they address in subsequent seasons.
I'm guessing it will move more towards Avatar where there will be arcs that carry over across seasons. Initially it was only going to be a one off side story, so they tried to wrap everything up in Season 1.
That said, unlike Avatar there isn't a central conflict they are working towards. So maybe each season will just be stand alone plot arcs. I have to think in order to sustain Korra series though, they will need some kind of conflict to arise. Because if the whole point of this series is to just show another Avatar mastering being an Avatar....
At least, I hope that's not all they are doing. But if I had to guess, I would say each season will be more stand alone, but they will probably start having some arcs that will carry over (again I hope).
They'd never do this, but I really feel killing off a character is something that has to happen.
From a drama perspective, they're always going to be limited if all the characters are essentially invincible, it removes any tension for the audience as we know no characters can die.
Edit. IMO, of course.
From a drama perspective, they're always going to be limited if all the characters are essentially invincible, it removes any tension for the audience as we know no characters can die.
Edit. IMO, of course.
Hmm yea, maybe they'll foreshadow a threat in S2 and S3 and then have S4 the big reveal of this enemy.
I'd love it if they did that.
Amon was a really great antagonist, and the whole equality movement SHOULD have been the central conflict. It added a really interesting aspect to the series. If you read the the comics after The Last Airbender (they are still going, but the comics will bridge Avatar and Korra) -- it really builds off an important plot point that revolves around Aang.
I think in hindsight, this will be the shows biggest failure (the fact that they sped up the Amon plot so quickly, vs building him and his movement up over the seasons).
Agreed.
I was so dissapointed when they revealed Amons identity as early as they did. That could have been such an awesome mystery and led to a brilliant twist when they did reveal him. Instead they lazily connected him to Tarlok which was just meh.
Perfect Cha0s
Member
Well, the connection to Tarlok gave us a fantastic finale to the season, but yeah, it was sort of lame how it was like "He's Tarlok's brother! And Yakone's son!"
The Tarlok-Yakone connection shoud have stayed, but Amon would have been separate from them, and been sort of an anomaly. Keep the Amon/Equalist plot unresolved and developing, and continue building Tarlok as a rival for Korra. Over the course of the series he can sort of redeem himself similar to Zuko. The two realize they can learn a lot from one another, and that there's no true ill will between them. There could also potentially be a segment where Korra realizes she needs bloodbending to defeat Amon, but struggles with the idea of becoming a bloodbender since it's forbidden and evil, leading to episodes where she chats with past Avatars (similar to how Aang dealt with the idea of killing the Fire Lord), and developing a teacher/student thing with Tarlok.
This could then lead to Tarlok (being the only other person to have bloodbending) and Korra facing off against Amon. Maybe Tarlok dies in the battle or something, to make us finally be like "No, Tarlok!".
Catatonic said:
I can sort of agree, but I think Avatar's writing flaws don't hamper the series as much because the show gave the episodes breathing room, which allowed the plot development to feel a bit more natural.
One of my biggest issues with Korra S1 is that Mako and Korra just come off as unlikeable, which I think is due to the fast pace of the plot. Their romance comes off as way too impulsive, because there's no room for things to cool down and heat up. There's no slowly degrading relationship between Asami and Mako, or any build-up for Mako and Korra. Things just happen.
Things like Korra suddenly being able to airbend, and not giving the loss of certain characters' bending time to sink in are also problems, for sure. Giving the reveal of Mr. Sato being an Equalist more time would have been good, too.
I guess I'm using a lot of words just to say that the show will benefit greatly from having more episodes to each season, and having the characters already familiar to the viewer. Maybe I'm just rambling because I haven't had my coffee yet.
That said, even though the teen drama aspects of S1 wore thin on me, I have a good feeling about S2.
As for Book 1, I agree that everything seemed to happen way too fast in those last couple of episodes. I read somewhere that they weren't sure at the time whether they'd be picked up for a second season, so they wrapped up the whole Amon storyline in just two episodes, when it was probably meant to last through the entire second season. It was apparently only after the end of the season was finished did they find out they got renewed for another season. Makes sense in hindsight. It's boggling that there was even the question of being renewed, though.. the Avatar series is ridiculously popular, it's hard to imagine the suits at Nickelodeon taking a "wait and see if it's successful" approach with a show like this. The reality is more like a "if we make it, they'll buy it".
Oh yeah, don't get me wrong. I'm not saying Avatar is on the same level as Korra in terms of the flaws. Rather, I just noticed that some of the writing habits (or what people say was wrong with Korra) was also present in Avatar. So it makes sense that these flaws would rear their ugly head even more - when the plot is more rushed and the story is in a bottle (as was the case with Korra).
That said, I agree with you 100%. I think a big issue with Korra was the characters. I personally liked a lot of them (such as Amon, Bolin, Tenzin, Asami etc.) But on the whole, characters were less likable, and no where as good as the characters from Avatar. Not that I'm writing them off. I think there is a lot of room for growth over the next 3 books and I think some of them could be as good as Avatar. And yeah, Avatar did a better job pacing out things, that arcs felt more natural. Although I could point to something like Sokka and Yue, and how that love/romance basically was made in 2 episodes. Or how Aang was a better waterbender than Katara but within 3 episodes she's already a "master". And those moments to me felt rushed and unnatural. Although to be fair, Avatar always established that single episodes sometimes would = weeks.
In general, the complaints about Korra characters not being likable, I think, mostly has to do with the fact that there were no filler episodes that developed them, simple as that. My brother and I share almost the same taste in series, books, movies and other geekdom universes, but he's never given the Avatar series a chance because, 1) he loves to pretend he's too cool for cartoons, and 2) he's only seen some small bits of the series and thinks that Sokka, Aang and other characters are one-demensional, especially in the first season. Of course, I point out to him that he should give the series a chance because it does a great job of developing great characters, but I think he symbolizes the main issue with Korra.
Most people are tying themselves in knots when explaining the problems with LOK, but the simple fact is that Bryan and Mike came-up short in their attempt to create a 12 episode season that didn't feel rushed. They actually indirectly confirm this in the Blu-Ray commentary about Episode 5, the Spirit of Competition; they loved writing a filler episode because they recognized how important they are for character development. I have no doubt that they would've written Book 1 differently had they known LOK would get 4 Books in total, with each having more episodes than the first.
Most people are tying themselves in knots when explaining the problems with LOK, but the simple fact is that Bryan and Mike came-up short in their attempt to create a 12 episode season that didn't feel rushed. They actually indirectly confirm this in the Blu-Ray commentary about Episode 5, the Spirit of Competition; they loved writing a filler episode because they recognized how important they are for character development. I have no doubt that they would've written Book 1 differently had they known LOK would get 4 Books in total, with each having more episodes than the first.
Well.. they did hint at it numerous times throughout the season. All those Yakone flashbacks...
It's neat.
TangerineCloud
Banned
It's great. You get about a bunch of character and environmental concepts, promo art, and 5-8 pages of concept art for each episode (compared to 1-2 pages-per-episode in the ATLA artbook) and it's able to go into a lot more detail since it only covers one season. It makes me wish that Avatar: The Last Airbender had gotten artbooks for each season. Definitely gonna get the artbooks for seasons 2-4 when they come around.
- Status