Legend of Korra - Season 1 Review

It's no secret that I am a huge fan of the previous Avatar: The Last Airbender series.  It was one of the very few animated series on American TV that combined fantastic high quality animation with strong, mature character writing. It was one of those shows that was entertaining for kids but much of the meat of the show was really geared towards teens and adults.  The story in general for Avatar is that there are four nations centering on the four elements (Earth, Fire, Water, Air) Within these nations there are those with special gifts based around chi called Bending.  Each person can only master one bending skill.  However, the Avatar is able to bend all four elements with practice and study.  When an Avatar dies (natural or unnatural) that Avatar is then reborn into the next generation (male or female as you will see) in order to keep balance in the world.

So when they announced that there would be a second series taking place many many years after the events of the first show and centering on a new Avatar (Korra, a spunky girl with much to learn) my mind exploded.  I couldn’t wait to see how it would turn out.

Thankfully, my expectations were met and then some.  The animation took a huge step forward coming extremely close to a full feature film in terms of quality.  Emotions are conveyed on the characters faces perfectly as well as their movements showing life-like grace.  The same goes for the story.  While the first series was definitely aimed at a mature audience, this takes that one step farther.  Much of the content will be lost to the very young and there is much more meat for teens and adults to dig into.  The story is filled with strong character emotions, powerfully driven scenes of action and beauty. 

The new Avatar is also very different from Aang.  Where Aang was much more spiritually centered, Korra is much more bullheaded.  She’s aggressive, passionate and even a little cocky at times.  It’s a huge joy to watch as the character evolves into a more peaceful Avatar as she masters the elements and her own emotions while dealing with the attraction she feels for a man who can’t quite decide if he loves Korra or the daughter of a wealthy industrialist.

Season 1 was filled with fantastic quality and depth rarely seen in American TV (live action OR animated) and is highly suggested for anyone who isn’t close-minded in believing that animation is only for kids.