A comparison between the beloved Avatar series and its predecessor, The Legend of Korra. How does Korra compare as a protagonist? Do her flaws (i.e. temper and arrogance) give more or take more from the story? How do the strong female leads compare in each series? How does the continuity compare? Is the lack of a single, ultimate villain in Korra limiting, or freeing as compared to Avatar? How do the "comic reliefs" compare (Sokka versus Bolin)? There is a lot to work with here!
I believe the creators were going for higher age group with Korra. Korra's flaws made her less ideal character, but in turn made her more realistic. When you think about it, it is only normal for people to have flaws and self-doubts, especially when they are tasked with something big, like being the Avatar. Also, the lack of the centric antagonist might have made the show less organized, but it also showed that being Avatar isn't just about beating one bad guy. It is also interesting to note that antagonist of each season represented extreme political ideology, such as fascism or anarchism. I would say this freed Korra's creator a bit more because it allowed them to tackle different conflicts into the story. – idleric9 years ago
A friend and I talked about this, and essentially Last Airbender was a great kid's show in the sense that the conflict was obvious. There's a bad guy, he's got a timer until doom, and unless the hero learns self-mastery before then, the villain can't be stopped. Everything else is frosting on the moon cake. Korra is a more "adult" show because its conflicts is rarely archetypal. Amon in the first season was defeated not by bending but political hypocrisy and Korra contemplates suicide because of the existential damage her "victory" demands of her. (One of the reasons I disliked the first season ending of Korra is it way it just Deus Ex Machina's the ending) Does being a grown up make for better stories or does it just make us miss a simpler part of our lives? In a sense, to compare Aang and Korra to see which is better does a disservice to both, because they aren't telling the same story. – rj2n9 years ago
avatar shares a lot in common with Harry Potter in that the audience is expected to grow and mature and be able to deal with more complex subject matter.also in the legend of Korra you can find out who the heroes in The Last Airbender grew up to be I'm actually surprised that more feminist weren't as impressed with Tov as they were with the ending of the series she stayed a strong character into our old age she was happy being alone she loved lost loved again raised her children and broke the rules anyone tried to assign her in her youth and her old age. – fchery9 years ago
Korra is also more adult in the sense that romance is explored a great deal more in that show. Her flaws add to her personality, the flaws in her potential partners add more because it makes things seem more realistic. Part of the reason is that while we watched Avatar as kids, we watch Korra having grown up. Strong female characters are a real presence in both shows. Katara is actually a leading figure when Aang needs to learn water bending, Toph surpassed her own blindness and is a eading earth bender as well as a metal bender and Korra herself is very strong as a character. Korra has four villains while Avatar has one. The problem is this is more objective. It depends what kid of story people prefer. I personally prefer Avatar's style of a single villain but others like things to be wrapped up in a single episode/season. It depends on the person. The comic relief characters offer a sense of humor but it can be argued comic relief characters are better reserved for more serious shows where humor is rare. A show that is generally light-hearted doesn't need comic relief so examining fan's liking of Sokka might be interesting. – SpectreWriter9 years ago