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Psycho Mantits posted:I actually really, really enjoyed Book 2 and thought it was better than the first in some ways, though admittedly I did binge watch it. Might've been different if I'd watched week-to-week. But yeah, bring on Book 3! Yeah, I'm honestly still trying to decide if I'm going to watch Book 3 live or wait and binge on it like Book 2. I think the reason I enjoyed Book 2 so much is because I binged, and if I hadn't I would have been a lot less happy with how it played out. That said, I still like LoK more than AtLA, to the extent I've pretty much had zero interest in rewatching the latter since the former started. AshB posted:Book 1 was stupid in that if the creators thought they were only getting one season, I don't know why they would ever bother telling such an unimportant story. Book 2 at least had Avatar Wan's story, which is the best thing to come out of the show. I'm pretty sure they knew they were getting more than one season almost immediately? As I remember it, they were given two seasons originally and that was quickly expanded to four.
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Jun 27, 2014 16:47
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Sithsaber posted:I wouldn't have pursued this subplot. Normy Bumi had to act out and struggle before accepting himself, and even then he was laughably resentful of Tenzin. This continued cheapening of non benders trivializes their role in society when they could be world builders and avenues for exploring things like the military or industrial super dickery (a la Varis) At this point the only non bender left (Asami) is only good for teenage angst and the occasional invite to fancy parties. (Because gently caress peasants) Hasn't Asami been more useful in combat than Sokka ever was? Hell, Sokka started as a joke and the progression of his usefulness amounted to "we're going to say he's not a joke, but he still is."
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Jun 28, 2014 00:09
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Oh Snapple! posted:Sokka was saddled with a weapon he couldn't use due to kids show, but he was still consistently proficient and contributed heavily to several important strategic undertakings. Or I was just pointing out that both stories have their good and bad parts and maybe Korra isn't as terrible and Avatar isn't as perfect as people like to say? SpiderHyphenMan posted:In Korra's defense, that was a good idea that only didn't work because that's how stories go. I liked that it not only didn't work, it got worse, because vines are spiteful.
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Jun 28, 2014 00:22
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I like that it was Bolin that finally suggested the plan that actually worked, ditching the "rebuild our culture!" in favor of "learn to control your new powers!"
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Jun 28, 2014 00:51
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FourLeaf posted:These new villains look promising; I'm pretty optimistic at this point. Yeah, I'm really digging this group. Especially with all the elements being represented. Also is it just me, or is the Earthbender Lavabending?
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Jun 28, 2014 00:53
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Man, I really enjoyed those three episodes and I'm glad to see the general opinion in here is that things are looking up. I'm definitely optimistic and looking forward to more.
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Jun 28, 2014 16:12
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pentyne posted:Zaheer is the most interesting, because he's a really proficient airbender who just got the power. I think he was a massive historian of Airbender culture and learned their martial arts styles and philosophies which made it really easy for him to master the his skills once they emerged. I'd love to see him in some flashbacks to know exactly why he was so dangerous even before he was a bender. He strikes me as the philosopher criminal sort, and given he was said to be the leader in a group of incredibly powerful benders he was probably both already an extremely strong fighter and very intelligent and learned about a wide range of subjects. I think it's kind of funny and convenient that the only fourth in a quartet that wasn't a bender was given the element they were missing.
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Jun 29, 2014 03:57
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tribbledirigible posted:He was their evil Sokka. He bended the element of love I'm okay with this.
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Jun 29, 2014 04:17
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ImpAtom posted:Except there are plenty of other examples of that not happening and also plenty examples of those sorts of things happening in TLA. "blasting stuff with fire" in particular is like 90% of what the Fire Nation does in the original. What the thread has taught me is that while things like this might be true, it's completely wrong for reasons I don't yet understand.
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Jun 29, 2014 04:48
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MrAristocrates posted:Those aren't the spoiler rules. If it's aired and you haven't seen it, stay out of the thread. I would second that stance. The leaks sound neat and all, but I don't see much point in discussing events a month in advance.
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Jun 29, 2014 17:35
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MrAristocrates posted:Don't argue with Sithsaber, guys. This is what he does. I see, so the Korra thread is the New Jersey of TV IV, forsaken and desolate with a weird smell and a population of orange-colored troll-people. Makes sense.
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Jun 29, 2014 18:20
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Jorghnassen posted:It seems we'll be getting 2 episodes (4 and 5) on July 11th. It appears Nick really wants to catch up to the leaks. I'm completely okay with this. I love LoK and more of it sooner is always good in my book, and Book 3 specifically is looking really just fantastic. I actually shelved Book 2 after the first couple of episodes and waited for the whole thing to come out before watching, but the start of Book 3 is strong enough that I intend to catch it live.
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Jun 29, 2014 20:09
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DrSunshine posted:I am sure you could train someone to simply bend the meat out of any creature on an industrial scale. Get some Firebenders in on it too and you could sell the meat pre-cooked.
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Jun 30, 2014 04:00
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achillesforever6 posted:Man I knew Platinum Games was making a Korra game, but didn't expect Korra to start taking stuff from Metal Gear You see, the parts of her name mean "Lightning Bolt". I just picked that up on the summer sale and holy poo poo if I'm not even more excited for a Platinum made Korra game.
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Jul 1, 2014 04:33
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meristem posted:I think that what dj_clawson may to some extent mean is power creep - remember how lightning was a big deal in ATLA, Zuko himself couldn't do it, and that was a big deal in itself, etc. etc.? And then in Korra Book 1 Mako used it to power a power station. To me, at least, it felt... well, wrong and disrespectful, in a way, of the original series. It's almost like Korra is set 70 years after Avatar and the world has changed and advanced in that time. As I recall, Zuko couldn't Lightningbend because of personal problems, internal conflicts, not because he was physically incapable. It's a skill that could probably fairly easily be taught at all Firebenders, and odds are good at least a small percentage of them will be able to pull it off. Just like Metalbending becoming the cornerstone of the Republic City police force. Those people aren't all Toph's kids, they're benders who were taught a new skill and now put it to functional use. That's part of why I liked pro-bending too, if for no reason than it showed how bending could change. Bolin's entire Earthbending style reminds me much more of boxing than the last series' Earthbending, and I think that's really neat. It isn't just "this element is always this style of martial art", things can change as time passes. It makes the world feel more alive.
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Jul 3, 2014 16:08
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I'm not sure how LoK has changed that, though. We've seen more people Lightning and Metalbend, but it doesn't seem to be something everyone can do. Psychic Bloodbending was unique to a single family, just as what was basically Psychic Firebending was unique to one person (and Combustion Lady might even be related, for all we know). Hell, Korra's whole thing was she couldn't grasp Airbending because she had a difficult time connecting with her spirituality and there's a decent chance some level of spiritual awareness determined who got Airbending when the spirits went around handing it out after Harmonic Convergence.
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Jul 3, 2014 16:57
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MrAristocrates posted:It's a burnoff. They released the first three with next to no marketing after a week's notice and are then airing two a week for four weeks. That's not how you treat a show you want to keep around. Everything I've heard from beyond this thread is that Legend of Korra is still insanely popular and well received too, at least on par with most of Last Airbender, so I doubt I have to side with the whole "the audience is older and more likely to buy DVDs than watch our commercials" thing. Though last time I watched Nick, they seemed to be skewing towards that "live-action TV is cheaper than animation" trend, so maybe that's part of it? I can't say I paid attention to commercials last week.
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Jul 3, 2014 17:58
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SpiderHyphenMan posted:Actually psychic bloodbending was how Amon dodged nearly every attack that was thrown at him throughout the season. I'm pretty sure a normal Bloodbender could have done the same thing, it would have just been more obvious. All it would generally take is gently pushing a limb slightly to get the incoming attack to miss. That said, I do freely admit that Psychic Bloodbending wasn't nearly as visually interesting as Psychic Firebending though I don't see it as being any worse from a narrative point than Psychic Firebending. If anything Psychic Bloodbending, being basically mind control, makes for a better story hook than "shoots fire good". DrSunshine posted:Have you guys never watched/read a shonen anime/manga before? LoK pretty much follows the standard shonen power-creep model to the tee. In the first series, bloodbending was like this "Oooh, super scary, super-strong forbidden art While this is a good point, I don't think shonen usually jumps 70 years for a time skip. It makes it a little easier to swallow the world as a whole moving on to such a point where specialty bending and super-bending are more common/better. Edit: I think the time between Avatar and Korra gets overlooked a lot. A generation is generally seen as 25 years, which means it's been almost three generations since the events of Avatar. That's a lot of time for things to change, and given Korra is set during an industrial revolution a lot of things are guaranteed to have changed and to continue to change and that applies to a lot more than just technology. RyuujinBlueZ fucked around with this message at 22:37 on Jul 3, 2014 |
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Jul 3, 2014 22:26
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", same as lightningbending and metalbending. So in order to make new antagonists seem like a credible threat after the time-skip, they had to show these as more common-place and try to push it the next step up with psychic versions of the same techniques. It's just like in Bleach, One Piece, or Naruto!
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Jorghnassen posted:There is power creep, but nowhere near the scale of those unending manga/anime series. The 13 episode books, 4 books total also prevents things from going too much over the top. I hope. At least it's not 300 episodes of power creep and cheap filler. I also want to point out yet again that 70 years have passed in-story. I would wager the average martial artist today is stronger than a martial artist of similar dedication 70 years ago due to the overall advances in society allowing them to work smarter to achieve more. Doesn't explain Psychic Bloodbending, but in a setting that's already had what amounts to X-Men style mutant benders I don't know that it needs much more explanation.
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Jul 4, 2014 03:12
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ImpAtom posted:Also Lightning, as we see, has a non-combat purpose. When Lightning-bending is used as a source of power you can drat well bet people figured out how to teach people how to do it. Hell, it's probably easier to Lightningbend out of combat than try and use it while fighting. Off the top of my head, I can't actually remember Mako really using it during any fights. Maybe in a car chase once? I wonder what the rules in pro-bending are about Lightning and Metal bending. They let Korra join on the grounds she only Waterbend, so I assume it's just "only use an approved element". Oh man, I wonder if they'll start allowing Airbenders to compete? gently caress Legend of Korra, I want to see Bender Baki.
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Jul 4, 2014 04:38
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Darth Nat posted:My issue has always been that introducing "psychic" bending arts goes against one of the core conceits of the show, which is that bending battles are basically souped-up martial arts fights where a punch or kick can also send a wave of fire or a boulder shooting at your opponent. When you introduce characters that can utilize their powers with their minds and don't need to do the actual kung fu fighting, you're taking away the most visually interesting part of the show. I don't want to see psychic bloodbenders tossing characters around like they've got telekinetic powers. It might as well be X-Men or something at that point where you have people with godlike psychic powers over various elements. It would bother me more, but every instance of a (truly) psychic bender has been a villain, someone who breaks that core conceit and ignores things like hard work and training in favor of mind-fire and blood-telekinesis. It strikes me as a narrative way of saying "these things are possible in this world, but they're wrong". Assuming Combustion Man's power was also genetic, though, it then becomes a message of "people born naturally gifted are assholes" which doesn't quite line up with at least the last couple Avatars being superheroes. Bumi is a different case, though he was at very least originally somewhat antagonistic and was less truly doing Psychic Earthbending and more using very small movements to achieve larger scale bending. The phantom limb bender is very neat though, and I'm looking forward to how she fights and whatever justification they give for her water arms.
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Jul 4, 2014 16:10
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Spergatory posted:Metal City looks cool as fuuuuuuq, but it's kind of... creepy? It reminds me, somehow, of Krypton. Might be intentional (man of steel, city of metal)
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Jul 12, 2014 01:40
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SpiderHyphenMan posted:Varrick's back, fuckers! I feel like Varrick shouldn't be as entertaining as he is. As far as the writing, I've only been really annoyed with Lin so far. Or, rather, the sister's not just loving saying what the problem is. Feels like padding for time.
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Jul 12, 2014 01:52
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dude789 posted:That Zaheer Kya fight was pretty cool. We haven't really seen Kya do much but I guess it makes sense that she would be a pretty badass Waterbender. I didn't like his new hair cut at first, but thinking on it I kind of like how it's similar to an Air Nomad. I'm really liking the villains, and especially Zaheer, so far. SpiderHyphenMan posted:There's the Wilds Vaatu made in his fight with Korra, which is where the spirits had centralized. Bolin getting called out was great. I hope it sticks. Bolin is great, and an uncomplicated romance with him and Opal could be adorable. Also I'm pretty sure this is just finishing off Lin's arc where she goes from getting over Tenzin, to getting over herself and opening up to people again.
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Jul 12, 2014 02:04
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SpiderHyphenMan posted:So wait did I hear right when Suyin said "Neither of us knew our fathers"? I get the feeling it'll be left at that to let people decide for themselves. If they're pushed they can say it was the former, even if they intend the latter. SirKibbles posted:If Bolin being a dick is just a long arc on not having to be an rear end to get someone to like you (and that being a jerk will actively harm you)all is forgiven. Whether it was intentional or not, that seems to be where they're going. I'm curious if Opal will actually stick around, or if she'll just teach him to be himself instead of trying too hard. And yeah, I really like that even Aang hosed up pretty seriously in his parenting. I have to wonder if his kids being at all reasonably balanced individuals doesn't fall on Kitara's influence. Though, thinking about it, the only one that really seems all that balanced is also the only one who would have spent most of her time with Kitara. Tenzin was with Aang, Kaya was probably with Kitara, and Bumi was raised by Uncle Sokka.
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Jul 12, 2014 02:24
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Yeah, Zaheer reading the locket aloud wasn't a problem for me at all. Not only did it make sense, given it seems to be an idea he follows closely, but Zaheer's already established himself as a warrior-philosopher, randomly waxing on about things isn't all that odd.
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Jul 12, 2014 02:43
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Squidster posted:I'm pretty sure Opal is Lin's daughter. Her mother can't talk about it openly because it would wound Opal deeply, and Lin doesn't feel like she could possibly be mother material after abandoning her kid for so long. That is actually a surprisingly plausible theory. To crazy that poo poo up some, what if Lin didn't so much choose to give Opal up as Suyin took her in while Lin was otherwise indisposed? Doesn't quite line up with them not having spoken for 30 years, though. Actually them having not spoken in 30 years puts a big hole in the "Lin is Opal's mom" theory in general.
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Jul 12, 2014 05:05
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ImpAtom posted:None of the people beaten so far have been the best bender of their generation. Zuko specifically was less talented than his father and sister but more stable. The most impressive thing he did was the Last Agni-Kai and even that was largely build on Azula going loving nuts. The main thing going for Zuko is that he's now an old man in a martial art setting, which means by default he has to be pretty badass and in turn means beating him is impressive. I'm willing to ignore the villain squad coming out of prison in fighting shape if it means we don't have to justify a time skip or spend four seasons letting them beef back out to credible threats.
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Jul 12, 2014 06:36
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ImpAtom posted:Zaheer probably can't beat Tenzin in straight-up airbending but Zaheer was considered a high-class danger who needed to be locked in an ocean prison before he was a Bender. It looked a lot like he was a pretty drat capable hand-to-hand fighter, even when dealing with benders, when he broke out. He started off only really using Airbending to augment his normal attacks, and while he's grown to using it a lot more often now it still seems to be a very straightforward and aggressive (especially compared to Air Nomad-style) evolution from a non-bending martial art.
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Jul 12, 2014 06:54
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Caros posted:I have to say, I was sad Zuko got punked like he did. I was really looking forward to watching Zuko smack the poo poo out of some people in an Iroh like fashion only to be brought down by trick or by numbers. I get the feeling he'll have a better showing later on. It seemed a little weird that he didn't suspect that snow storm either, but I guess he's going senile. I'd say he could end up dying to really show how badass the villains are, but I can't think of any reason (almost) anybody in-universe would give a poo poo so it'd literally only be done to get a reaction out of fans. Which would be stupid and very bad writing.
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Jul 12, 2014 07:16
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Fried Chicken posted:I always like the sequences of the brothers fighting, they make a point to show them working as a team rather than two people fighting alongside one another. In that sequence Mako makes them dodge to the left, which is right where Bolin's shot goes as he leaps over Mako. I'd bet the reason these fights are always so short is because scripting something like this is more involved, but they are always worth seeing. Mako and Bolin fights are always great, for that exact reason. They also both use slightly different styles of their respective bending then is traditional, which is neat, on top of the brotherly synergy. Honestly, the fights so far this season have all been really loving awesome. They're a big part of why I'm pumped for more.
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Jul 12, 2014 19:19
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Tezzor posted:The bad is comparatively little stuff. Milo is still a dumb character designed to appeal to literal infants. Bolin is still largely useless to the plot compared with Sokka. The bending still feels a lot less "epic" than it was in the original series, although this has also improved. 2 1/2 seasons in we haven't seen a glimpse of s Fire Nstion city. For as long as we had to wait to see Zuko I was expecting him to be an Ozai-level superbadass, but in this he chucks two small fire blasts and then gets KOd. Milo gets exactly enough screen time to still be funny without getting old, and Bolin has already been more useful in combat than Sokka ever was and I get the feeling his B-Plot with Opal is going to end up going somewhere. A lot of the "epic" bending I remember in the original series was at the end of the original series, so we've got a while to compare. Everybody else has touched on Zuko, he was always pretty crap and seems to have focused on his strengths instead, namely being an effective leader.
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Jul 13, 2014 16:32
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Fried Chicken posted:If we cut something that advanced the plot and showed the development of the main characters to instead have some c-listers throw flashy blobs of color even longer? Yes, I would be complaining. You can go back a few pages where I was doing just that, complaining about pro bending being over used in the first season. I disagree with you on pro-bending (though I'll be fair and say I enjoy the concept more than the execution), but I do fully agree that I'd probably be bitching if we'd gotten a 10 minute fight with the final in the Quartet of Evil's escape. Even if it was the flashiest, best animated, most super-awesomest fight ever it would have sucked a lot of rear end to piss away half of an episode at the beginning of a 13-episode season on a meaningless fight. The fight itself might have been cool, but if literally the only reason you're watching this series is for the fights you might want to just stick to YouTube where they'll stitch them all together for you. I'd rather get some plot with my sexy magic kung-fu fighting.
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Jul 14, 2014 02:57
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Squall posted:They did, Book 3 and Book 4 was a single 26-episode order. And they got the episode order for Book 2 early enough into making Book 1 that they could have gone for a longer season. They'd just already decided they wanted to do smaller, more focused seasons.
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Jul 15, 2014 16:50
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Squidster posted:The Joker hatches a fiendish plan to kill Batman! When Batman survives, did the Joker win? An antagonist foiled is generally considered to be a victory by default for the protagonists. The fact that Batman's totally awesome bat-escape had collateral damage just makes it a more investing story. I think you're missing the point of the argument, though. To use your analogy, it would be more "The Joker hatches a fiendish plan to kill Batman! Batman survives, but a bunch of people are killed/seriously wounded! Did the Joker win?" That's both a more difficult question to answer, and you're a lot less likely to say Batman "won" or count it as a victory in his favor. At best it was a draw. TLA was a lot of the same sort of giving ground for the greater good type thing.
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Jul 16, 2014 02:58
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Ferrinus posted:Meanwhile, for two whole books Korra was the powerful force that on paper should long ago have crushed all her weaker foes but in practice kept getting outplayed and surprised by plucky, determined underdogs. She didn't even get intermittent, filler episode wins because she was up against the big bad guys of each book pretty much from turn one, such that any definitive victory on her part would necessarily have precluded the entire rest of the season happening - just as Zuko immediately capturing or killing Aang would have. Two whole books of LoK is barely more than one book of TLA, though. And I'd argue that Korra was never the powerful force in her first two books. Book 1 consistently treated her as a child who still didn't know what was best for herself, let alone anyone else. People outside her immediate circle placed more responsibility on her, but she was never given any actual power or authority to do jack poo poo. Hell, even working with Tarlock he was the one who had the authority to arrest people and round up the Equalists. She was just a weapon he used to that end. Her Airbending failures could be seen as a reflection of that, she spent the entire season trying to find what she was missing so she could be a powerful force. Book 2 then continued to build on that, with her being forced to face even more poo poo she was functionally powerless to defeat. She's only a "powerful force" in the sense that she's the Avatar and a good fighter, but that's about it.
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Jul 16, 2014 03:29
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Ferrinus posted:The station of Avatar had authority... with a variety of scrappy rebel factions that were trying and failing to resist the awesome might of the Fire Nation war machine. Korra, meanwhile, was pretty much a government sanctioned superhero trying to put down a secret terrorist group. The Equalists pulled a bunch of warplanes out of their asses in the season 1 finale... because the entire might of the republic army was being called down on their heads, because Korra was an agent of, not an enemy of, the status quo. You actually have to wonder what Amon's endgame was because, what, he and his dudes and his one pet CEO are going to take on, like, the armies of the world? Good luck, friend. Din't the Republic Navy come because Korra specifically called General Iroh? Zuko's grandson? The guy who has ever reason to jump when the Avatar calls? If she'd called anyone else, there's no real indication that anyone would have cared. She's constantly jerked around, ignored, and then yelled at by the status quo authorities who couldn't give two runny shits that she's the Avatar beyond what using her can mean for them. She is a badass fighter, and I'd put money on Aang not being able to even go toe-to-toe with her until nearly adulthood. Then again, Korra doesn't seem all that fond of using more than one type of bending at a time, which I'm kind of disappointed in.
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Jul 16, 2014 03:50
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It also sort of makes sense for mid-to-late teens to be a bit more interested in things like romance. And, from what I gather, the creators always loved loving with the shipping part of their audience so it's a more direct way for them to do that. Hell, that's probably what all the stupid bullshit with the Mako/Asami/Korra love triangle was really all about. They've just now realized that it was stupid and nobody liked it.
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Jul 18, 2014 14:44
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Sydin posted:Or you know, maybe he'll just job like usual against Zaheer so somebody else can look more awesome at his expense. You know, I think it'll be fighting Zaheer that finally gets through to Tenzin. When he sees someone else who has just as faithfully learned, mastered, and memorized Air Nomad culture and even mastered Airbending take it in such a very, very different way everything's going to click for him and he's going to realize he can't just stubbornly huff and puff and hope to blow anything anywhere. I suspect this change will be shown in Tenzin finally letting Jinora have her tattoos, illustrating that he's ready to accept new people as his equals with new ways of thinking.
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Jul 19, 2014 06:30
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Sithsaber posted:They better do a post credits tattoo pain gag to appease the censors. I'm pretty sure it'll be more of a "Tenzin says she can have it, she hugs him, fade to black" kind of deal and she'll just casually have them next time we see her, possibly not until next season.
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Jul 19, 2014 06:36
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