February of 2020, I had the absolute pleasure of diving into Avatar: The Last Airbender when it hit its Steelbook collection. Having been new to the series, I didn’t know much about it other than people absolutely fawned over it like it was the next coming. What I found with it was a meaningful story, compelling characters that progressively grew in a proper manner as the story changed from childlike to serious, and an appreciation for the good folks at Nickelodeon, who took a chance on a series that went beyond episodic idiocy (looking at you, SpongeBob – I do appreciate you, though).
In short, it was one of the best-animated experiences I had since Robotech emerged decades ago.
Yeah, it’s that good.
This year, the folks at Nickelodeon and Paramount felt the need to bring out both the Avatar series and the follow-up, The Legend of Korra. A lot of folks have told me that Korra doesn’t live up to Avatar, and I say that the assessment is more than fair. The problem is that Avatar set such a high bar for a follow-up that there wasn’t a chance in hell that you could create the show to go down the same route as its predecessor, which means a different take had to be taken and had to be absolutely perfect to succeed. Honestly, The Legend of Korra is far better than people realize, though it certainly doesn’t set a new standard for the ongoing Bender storyline. And that is okay.
Let’s dig into it.
Look at it differently
Korra’s difference from Avatar is mainly in the lead character’s attitude and presentation. While Aang was someone who was innocent and understandably growing/making mistakes. People accepted this and understood why he did what he did on his way to becoming the Avatar. That character development seemed deeper and had more time to cook in the character oven. People didn’t seem to feel the same way about Korra. I think people thought Korra was just nothing more than an angry teen. Her character arc was certainly rougher than most, as she was cast into this role of having to be the Avatar, rather than choosing to be one. If you have raised a teenager, the portrayal of Korra’s reaction to bearing the burden of Avatar is appropriate. She is angry, confused, unwilling to want to change her ways because, as every teen does, she thinks she’s right about everything and doesn’t want unnecessary expectations placed on her. Her character is older and less willing to change than Aang was in his story. For me, I thought Korra’s development was accurate and how she ended up by the story’s end was more than believable. You get to see her grow from irresponsible, limited logic Avatar to someone who fully comprehends the consequence of her actions and ultimately accepts what she must become, learning the hard way, which is the sad way. Again, her age range and how she is treated throughout the series of The Legend of Korra seems spot on and well-written.
I will agree that the show may be stretched itself out too thin. There is a lot to take in with The Legend of Korra and a short amount of time to explain it. Bringing in the spirit world, introducing motives from third-party enemies, and feeling far less structured than Avatar probably did the show in a little bit. I saw during my viewing time with this show that the creators/writers tried to keep the story in a boundary and didn’t reach far out like Avatar did, where the world seemed huge and new. Korra’s show was more city central than it was worldwide, which was supposed to set boundaries for how far the show went. The boundaries worked for the most part, but the introduction of new characters and new Benders brought about tough decisions on the introduction and secondary character longevity. Some of it worked, some of it didn’t. All the world felt tight and packed, which meant that enemy/friends character connections may not have been sincere. Avatar did all this right, Korra seemed to be structurally messy in its execution. It happens, but it does work in the end.
What did work in this series is the message of Benders versus non-Benders, which had an X-Men sorta feel to it. The first book had a clear prejudice theme going on underneath it. There was a lot at stake and the story started out strong with mysterious and creepy bad guys all around. I sincerely enjoyed the hell out of how serious the first book became and how real the consequences were. While the trope of changing and converting people from one way to another was thick, it was still very beautifully executed. The second book had a hodgepodge of hero/villain, not sure which one, regarding Benders. It was more about permanent damage to Korra’s world, rather than discrimination, though the latter was still present. Lots of new things were introduced and a lot of change was made to the physical world that changed how people lived and what they thought. Not as intriguing or as serious as the first book, but still entertaining. The series stretched its legs out regarding new main characters and side stories. It did seem a bit lost. The last book? Gosh, it was good, and it seemed to end with a conclusive inconclusive direction, where you weren’t exactly sad to see Korra go where she went, but you were interested enough to see how her storyline really ended up. I’m not sure we’ll ever see that conclusion, but it was good.
In the end, much like almost every sequel in the film industry, it’s tough to follow a successful first. Avatar created some pretty darn big shoes to fill. It was unlike any Nickelodeon cartoon in the history of the network and provided a very adult storyline that hit hard at times, even amid humor. The Legend of Korra could never fairly meet the expectations Avatar created and tried to go on its own route, though borrowed themes and history from Avatar to keep the two connected. It ultimately couldn’t match the same fame and fortune of the first show, but it did a helluva job creating its own path. I found it incredibly entertaining, but not as revolutionary as Avatar.
It’s a good ride.
The full package
Outside of both complete shows included in this Blu-ray set, you get a ton of special features to play around with after you spend all those hours with the shows. Here’s what you have to look forward to in the set:
Bonus Content:
Avatar: The Last Airbender:
- Book One: Water
- Behind the Scenes Kung Fu Featurette
- The Making of Avatar – From Real Life to Animation
- Behind the Scenes: The Voices of Avatar
- Ask the Creators Featurette
- Original Uncut Animatic – Episode # 15: Bato of the Water Tribe
- 4 Audio Commentaries with Creator, Cast & Crew
- Features Dee Bradley Baker (voices of Momo and Appa), Ben Wynn (sound effects), Aaron Ehasz (Head Writer) and Co-Creators: Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino
- Behind the Scenes with the Avatar Cast & Crew
- Avatar Pilot Episode with Audio Commentary
- The Making of Avatar – Inside the Sound Studios
- The Making of Avatar – Inside the Korean Animation Studios
- Book Two: Earth
- Original Uncut Animatic – Episode # 21: The Avatar State
- 7 Audio Commentaries by Creators, Cast & Crew
- Interview with Creators and M. Night Shyamalan
- The Essence of Bending with Bryan Konietzko and Sifu Kisu
- Avatar Super Deformed Shorts
- Bending Battle
- Swamp Skiin’ Throwdown
- School Time Shipping
- Escape From the Spirit World: Animated Graphic Novel
- Book Three: Fire
- 11 Audio Commentaries by Creators, Cast & Crew
- The Women of Avatar: The Last Airbender
- Book 3 Finale Pencil Test Animation
- Into the Fire Nation at San Diego Comic-Con
The Legend of Korra:
- Book One: Air
- Audio Commentary (episodes 101-112)
- The Legend of Puppetbender Presents “The Making of a Legend: The Untold Story – Part I”
- Creator’s Favorite Scenes: Animatics
- Welcome to Republic City
- The Revelation (2)
- The Voice in the Night
- The Spirit of Competition (2)
- And the Winner Is…
- When Extremes Meet
- Turning the Tides
- Endgame
- Book Two: Spirits
- Audio Commentary (episodes 113-126)
- Scene Bending
- Rebel Spirit Scene 1
- Rebel Spirit Scene 2
- The Southern Lights Scene 1
- The Southern Lights Scene 2
- Civil Wars, Pt. 1
- Civil Wars, Pt. 2
- Peacekeepers
- Beginnings: Part 1
- Beginnings: Part 2
- The Guide
- A New Spiritual Age
- Night of a Thousand Stars
- Harmonic Convergence
- Darkness Falls
- Light in the Dark
- Kindred Spirits: Tenzin’s Family
- Inside the Book of Spirits
- The Re-telling of Korra’s Journey
- Feuding Spirits: Korra’s Family
- Book Three: Change
- Audio Commentary (episodes 201-213)
- The Spirit of an Episode
- A Breath of Fresh Air
- Rebirth
- The Earth Queen
- In Harm’s Way
- The Metal Clan
- Old Wounds
- Original Airbenders
- The Terror Within
- The Stakeout
- Long Live the Queen
- The Ultimatum
- Enter the Void
- Venom of the Red Lotus
- Book Four: Balance
- Audio Commentary (episodes 214-226)
- Kuvira vs. Prince Wu
- Republic City Hustle: Parts 1-3
- The Legend of the Puppetbender Presents “The Making of a Legend: The Untold Story – Part II”
- Legend of Korra: New York Comic-Con Panel Featurette
Bonus Disc:
- Auditory Exploration with the Avatarverse Creators
- A Conversation with Janet Varney and Dante Basco – Hosts of the Avatar: Braving the ElementsPodcast
This is an insane amount of bonus features. Enjoy the heck out of it. You also get freaking cool art cards that will certainly make any collector happy as heck to put on their shelf. Ultimately, this is a great set to own and it’s coming in around $100, which is not bad considering what you get.
The only thing I think this is missing are digital codes to redeem. Usually, you get with Blu-ray releases, at least good ones, a digital code to accompany the physical discs. For collectors, this is important because they don’t necessarily have to keep opening and re-opening the Blu-ray cases. The more wear/tear you do, the less valuable this set can become. Yes, there are people out there that think this way, and it isn’t wrong. I collected comics for the longest time and carefully read them a finite amount of time. Having a digital version of the shows means that I don’t have to use discs, which makes me happy. It couldn’t have hurt to include these with the price.
Anyway, small complaint aside, this set is definitive and epic. When this gets to a 4K release it will have reached maximum excellence. As it stands, 1080p is just good enough to say it’s nearly perfect.
There are plenty of features and lots of shows to keep you happy.
