I finally finished Nickelodeon's THE LEGEND OF KORRA, Season 1. I was able to do so because I was supplied a download copy from a friend and was able to view it on my home PC, which was hooked up via HDMI cable to my TV, so actually I watched it on my full sized flat screen TV with the sound coming from the computer speakers, which was an acceptable compromise.
Like AVATAR: The Last Airbender, while it is not technically an Anime, it is very much inspired by and influenced by Anime style and tropes. KORRA was originally pitched as a short mini-series and this is obvious from the way Season 1 has such tight storytelling and wraps up all its loose threads by the final episode. The creators were prepared to do "one and done". What they did not anticipate, however, was the enormous popular success and ratings of the show, which prompted interest from Nickelodeon in more seasons.
Besides being an engaging tale in its own right, we get to see (through flashbacks) the story of the adult lives of Avatar Aang, Toph, Sokka, and Katara (who is the only one of the original band still alive in Korra's world, albeit quite elderly, and the mother of Tenzin, the most current Air Bending master). There is so much of the tale left to tell that one hopes there will be more room to explore these avenues in future seasons of KORRA.
Like Katara, Korra hails from the Southern Water Tribe and is beautiful and immenently likeable, if a bit of a hot head; She is not wholly unlike Prince Zuko in her impulsivity and impatience. At a tender age, she managed to master the arts of not only water-bending but also earth and fire-bending as well. Her only stumbling block is Air Bending, which she seems to lack the finesse and above all patience for.
At the heart of AVATAR: The Last Airbender was the love story between impish Aang and more mature Katara. KORRA does not forget this secret of AVATAR success and gives Korra a love triangle (love trapezoid?) to contend with as well. The artwork and animation in KORRA is quite beautiful and visually arresting. The dub also brings in the talents of veteran Anime voice actor Steven Jay Blum in the role of the central antagonist of LEGEND OF KORRA, namely the "Equalist" cult leader, Amon. Steve brings the right level of presence and gravitas to the role, in the same way that Darth Vader is inconceivable without the deep bass voice of James Earl Jones.
I would like to take a minute to gripe about Nickelodeon's failure to re-run LEGEND OF KORRA, Season 1 in the "off season" while waiting for Season 2. This was, I think, a mistake. Likewise, the only legal/legitimate venue for LEGEND OF KORRA has been iTunes, where the digital version is very much overpriced. I have subsequently put down money on pre-order via Amazon for the DVD release of LEGEND OF KORRA for actually *less* than the digital version costs. This is just not right. If the price-point for the digital version of LEGEND OF KORRA were more reasonable, like from $5-$7, I might have bitten my toungue and gone for it. But at a price in excess of $20 USD for digital-only release? Forget about it. And even though I ended up resorting to slightly shady means to watch it the first time, this did NOT hurt the publishers because I opted to buy physical media at the end of the day anyway.
I am hopeful for future seasons of LEGEND OF KORRA, though I am a bit anxious because of how neatly self-contained Season 1 ended up being; I'm unsure where they intend to go from here and hope they do not screw it up.
