TVQuesting: The Legend of Korra

TVQuesting: The Legend of Korra

TV Questing

Properly executing a sequel or a spin-off to a beloved franchise has always been a difficult task. For every Stargate: Atlantis there are dozens of failed projects that make it a single season, or more often never get past the pilot pitch. The worst or craziest get tossed around by pop culture buffs as examples of terrible, terrible choices on the part of networks. You can see it just as badly with books, too. The epilogue at the end of the final Harry Potter book was a sour, superfluous note to end the series on — and with a lot of examples you can find plenty of ranting online about it.

The announcement of a sequel to Avatar: The Last Airbender originally had me worried. Too often a poorly executed sequel or successor winds up souring the memories of the awesome original and causes fans to cast a critical eye backwards, which can run the risk of exposing flaws, inconsistencies or terrible writing that can wind up destroying the affection fans have for that fictional universe. So when fans were told if they participated in a Facebook event that would allow them to see the first two episodes of The Legend of Korra they jumped on the chance, and were rewarded with a peek into a show that found an ingenious way to deal with the direct sequel issue.

Seemingly set in the large, multicultural metropolis of Republic City and almost a century after the events of the original series, The Legend of Korra is almost both a sequel and a completely new work. It shares common elements with Avatar: The Last Airbender, most prominently the ability certain individuals have to manipulate one of the four primary elements of their world: earth, fire, air, and water. The Avatar returns, reincarnated as the young Korra, who has the potential to manipulate all four elements and who’s job it is to bring harmony and balance to the world.

But where The Last Airbender told the story of the Avatar and his friends traveling their world to end the global conquest at the hands of the ruthless Fire Nation, The Legend of Korra seems to be more focused on Republic City as the issue. Here citizens of all four nations live together, and instead of a global threat to peace there is civil unrest. Without a war to bind people together anti-bending sentiments have arisen. Some of the regular people feel oppressed, and the new villain is at the head of all of it. Additionally, without a war to draw the attention of people a new sport has arisen — Pro Bending. It’s a meticulously thought out sport, and in the first two episodes Korra joins a team, which makes it look as if this sport will be a constant, enthralling subplot.

The differences don’t stop there, though. With the passing of almost a full century technology has taken a drastic leap forward. Instead of the regular rural homes of the original show, Republic City has apartment buildings, electricity, cars and trains. While the original show did have the occasional tank or massive machinery it wasn’t nearly a staple of the show, but an occasional issue to solve in an episode. In The Legend of Korra it’s a constant companion, always reinforcing the fact that this is a world that has changed.

The most appealing aspect of the show, though, isn’t as simple as a change in character, setting, or a leap forward in time. It’s the almost stunning animation. As far as cartoons go this is just about the most fluid, well animated thing out there. Avatar looked fine, of course, but often it relied on slapstick humor and timing only possible in an animated show to really grab the viewers. It had a lot of characters standing still, talking to push the plot forward — which is fine, of course, because it also had cool action scenes. But The Legend of Korra is alive with movement. Even something as quick as Korra diving into the water is vibrant, conveying an almost surreal sense of realism.

Basically what I’m saying is that any doubts about a sequel to Avatar: The Last Airbender can be put aside. What we have here is a new spin on the franchise; something that can be adored by fans and newcomers alike. There’s enough of a link to the original show to give die-hard fans something to talk about, and the visual style has been updated enough to not alienate new viewers. The show premiers officially in April, so keep an eye out.

Also, if you didn’t catch it in the first image? Yeah, that’s a polar bear dog. How awesome is that?