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SpiderHyphenMan posted:The reason for the title is because the UK title for Avatar: The Last Airbender is Avatar: The Legend of Aang, because "bender" is UK slang for homosexual. I read a cracking review for TLA that described the cinema audience's response to the word bender as "deafeningly immature"
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Sep 2, 2013 18:46
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Just binged through Book 1 today, and I've got to say, a lot of the issues I had with the show when I watched it as it aired ended up smoothing out really well when you take the season as a 3-hour event. For example, Mako's a lot more likable when you're not spending a week reading about  stupid love triangles, and everything else is kind of the same way. Pro bending seems like a blip at the beginning once you reach the halfway point through the season, though I always enjoyed it thought it was just the right amount of that.I still think Book 1 could have used Bolin a little better and I hope we get to see more of
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Sep 2, 2013 21:14
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Serella posted:Just binged through Book 1 today, and I've got to say, a lot of the issues I had with the show when I watched it as it aired ended up smoothing out really well when you take the season as a 3-hour event. Binging through shows is a much different experience than watching it on a weekly basis. It's true for Korra, but I've felt similar pacing issues much attenuated in other shows when watching them over a short period of time. I guess you don't have time to dwell on the flaws when the next episode is available immediately. Hopefully we won't agonize as much in Book 2.
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Sep 2, 2013 21:31
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Jorghnassen posted:Hopefully we won't agonize as much in Book 2. What did you just say? Jorghnassen posted:Binging through shows is a much different experience than watching it on a weekly basis. It's true for Korra, but I've felt similar pacing issues much attenuated in other shows when watching them over a short period of time. I guess you don't have time to dwell on the flaws when the next episode is available immediately. There will be much agony.
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Sep 2, 2013 21:47
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Just since it wasn't getting enough love, the .gif in the final post of the last thread was absolutely magnificent. Real top notch stuff.
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Sep 2, 2013 21:56
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RembrandtQEinstein posted:Just since it wasn't getting enough love, the .gif in the final post of the last thread was absolutely magnificent. Real top notch stuff. Just went back to check that since I abandoned the previous thread months ago, and the gif turned out exactly as I'd hoped it would.
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Sep 2, 2013 22:16
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tsob posted:I think those worked because Asami was played up as a possible spy during her initial appearances so there was some tension from that in the scene too.
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Sep 2, 2013 22:18
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She was for all of two seconds after Hiroshi was revealed to be Amon's bankroller, but her shocking the poo poo out of him and running off with Korra and co. pretty much slammed the door shut on that one. But, you know... Fandom. 
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Sep 2, 2013 22:57
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RembrandtQEinstein posted:Just since it wasn't getting enough love, the .gif in the final post of the last thread was absolutely magnificent. Real top notch stuff.
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Sep 2, 2013 23:04
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Serella posted:A lot of the issues I had with the show when I watched it as it aired ended up smoothing out really well when you take the season as a 3-hour event. Am still slightly blown away by a discussion in the previous thread, where people had watched it with a week gap between episodes AND commercials between the episodes themselves. That would drive me insane. Presumably they're in half hour slots, so it would have 8 minutes of commercials for a 22 minute episode? That can work with some forms of entertainment, but there's good reasons that, say, Batman Begins wasn't interrupted every eight minutes with three minutes of ads, with the film shown in four instalments over a month. quote:Don't believe the hype of the haters : Asami was never played up as a possible spy for the Equalists. Never. This is probably a reference to something that flew completely over my head, but apparently Asami was originally going to be Super Betrayal Girl until the writers realised that's what everyone would naturally assume she was. Edit: One comment that made me go Hmm was about Episode 6, when Korra goes after Amon as he escapes the probending arena. I'd assumed that Korra just ran out of water or something similar, but then someone pointed out that it could equally have been Amon countering her water bending with his own. Whether or not there's any weight to that (it would be impossible to show a shot of Amon at that point without alerting the entire fanbase to what was going on) it certainly gives a different perspective on Korra's surprise when the water just suddenly evaporates beneath her. Aertuun fucked around with this message at 00:38 on Sep 3, 2013 |
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Sep 3, 2013 00:21
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Is this going to be the final season of Korra? Or is Nick going to play touch and go with how the ratings are?
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Sep 3, 2013 02:09
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Harlock posted:Is this going to be the final season of Korra? Or is Nick going to play touch and go with how the ratings are? Nick has ordered three additional seasons of it. It suggests their confident in it as an IP, but then again history has proven they always love to plumb the depths for new ways to gently caress with the franchise.
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Sep 3, 2013 02:12
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Harlock posted:Is this going to be the final season of Korra? Or is Nick going to play touch and go with how the ratings are? Last anyone's heard, they're working on all the remaining books simultaneously.
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Sep 3, 2013 02:13
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There will be two more books after this one, 13 episodes each, and then Korra is done. Also, episode descriptions for the first four episodes of the season have appeared, and all I'm going to say is that poo poo is going to get real fast, so tread lightly if you don't want to be spoiled.
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Sep 3, 2013 17:15
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SpiderHyphenMan posted:There will be two more books after this one, 13 episodes each, and then Korra is done. Aw, I was hoping for longer seasons.  Makes me less confident about the next two books not being rushed.
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Sep 3, 2013 17:48
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Gravitas Shortfall posted:Aw, I was hoping for longer seasons. Well, wasn't the reason book 1 was as rushed as it was that they didn't think they were going to get a book 2, so they had to make it an entirely self-contained story, complete with ending? That's less of an issue when you have 3 seasons to work with.
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Sep 3, 2013 18:55
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Someone near the start of the thread said the creators have stated that the season's central conflict will be self-contained too though. Edit: Actually, it's in the OP. It only mentions the conflict will be though (with no source so no idea how accurate it is), which doesn't mean they can't set up some character development to carry between seasons. It does make me worry regarding the pacing regardless. tsob fucked around with this message at 19:13 on Sep 3, 2013 |
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Sep 3, 2013 19:06
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Random prediction: Avatar Wan will turn out to be very much like Korra, as in, a sort of pedal to the metal hothead who excels at physical bending but have no spiritual side whatsoever. Wan's journey to achieve spirituality will parallel Korra's own journey and from accessing that memory Korra will learn a valuable personal lesson about yada yada etc pshh why don't they put me in charge of this show (no please don't that's a terrible idea) 
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Sep 3, 2013 19:19
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NO LISTEN TO ME posted:I am an adult talking about a show on Nickelodeon.
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Sep 3, 2013 19:28
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BrianWilly posted:Random prediction: Avatar Wan will turn out to be very much like Korra, as in, a sort of pedal to the metal hothead who excels at physical bending but have no spiritual side whatsoever. Wan's journey to achieve spirituality will parallel Korra's own journey and from accessing that memory Korra will learn a valuable personal lesson about yada yada etc pshh why don't they put me in charge of this show (no please don't that's a terrible idea) We've seen shots of him already and he looks to be a gigantic hippie.
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Sep 3, 2013 19:34
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While I can kind of understand what people mean by "self-contained", think a bit of clarity is needed. The Simpsons has "self-contained" plots, and the Sopranos could also be said to have "self-contained" plots. Labelling something as self-contained doesn't really describe anything, and taken literally makes no sense in a show that's designed as an ongoing narrative. There's no episode in the first season that doesn't affect the episodes that come after it. Having a single plotline that follows through an entire season is something the vast majority of shows do. It's why shows are structured into seasons in the first place.
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Sep 3, 2013 19:46
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While I'm hoping they decide to go for more than just 52 episodes, 13 episodes per season is more than long enough to tell a story. That's six hours total per season.raditts posted:Well, wasn't the reason book 1 was as rushed as it was... Why did you think Book 1 was rushed? The pacing seemed fine to me.
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Sep 3, 2013 19:59
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Aertuun posted:While I'm hoping they decide to go for more than just 52 episodes, 13 episodes per season is more than long enough to tell a story. That's six hours total per season. Just off the top of my head, not having watched the series since it aired: Themes like the class disparity not being explored at all beyond a plot device for bad guy henchmen. The city not being characterized at all beyond a series of random locations after the first 1-2 episodes. Amon / Tarlok info dump in the penultimate episode. Lame, shoehorned romance plots that seemed to exist only so everyone could kiss and be happily ever after at the end of the season.
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Sep 3, 2013 20:21
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Aertuun posted:Why did you think Book 1 was rushed? The pacing seemed fine to me. raditts posted:Themes like the class disparity not being explored at all beyond a plot device for bad guy henchmen. quote:Amon / Tarlok info dump in the penultimate episode.
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Sep 3, 2013 20:36
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raditts posted:Just off the top of my head, not having watched the series since it aired: Hrm, am not really a fan of long exposition either, but some people really go for it for whatever reason. Am guessing the writing idea behind it was as a big reveal. Was really surprised when I went online and saw it was a lot of people's favourite part of the series (!). I'm not sure how the rest of your points address the pacing of the season though. Setting the issue pacing aside; while a fantasy series is an excellent medium for introducing and flirting with social issues, in my opinion they make a very bad one for exploring them in detail. Play to the strengths of your format  Have talked about the romance plot already, but really head-scratching about saying the city was poorly characterised. It was one of the stars of the show!
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Sep 3, 2013 20:47
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raditts posted:Just off the top of my head, not having watched the series since it aired: Zuko's grandson, who was introduced at the very last minute, had no chance to develop as a character and yet was still played off as if he was an important part of the main cast.
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Sep 3, 2013 21:06
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I do hope they keep Iroh around a little bit. I want to see Zuko's legacy more : ) Whoever was talking about Aang meeting his grandkids... This is an amazing picture to behold. http://atla-annotated.tumblr.com/day/2012/12/09 Also the NC Last Airbender review is out, http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/thatguywiththeglasses/nostalgia-critic/40488-the-last-airbender Ahaha... ahahahaha... HAHAHAHAHA!
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Sep 3, 2013 21:25
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SpiderHyphenMan posted:Hell no there were absolutely serious pacing problems. The last seven minutes should have been its own episode. I can see what you're saying with that, but I'm not sure how that translates into "serious pacing problems". In the theoretical universe where there was the budget to add two extra episodes to the series, no-one would be able to agree on what they contain. I'd have definitely structured the last two episodes differently, but everything you change as a writer usually breaks twice as many things as it fixes. This goes double for endings, and animation poses its own problems. The goal is never to fix everything, but to make everything unbroken enough that people who want to enjoy your writing don't notice.
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Sep 3, 2013 21:29
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Aertuun posted:The goal is never to fix everything, but to make everything unbroken enough that people who want to enjoy your writing don't notice. Also the NC review is not funny at all and reminds me why I stopped watching him in high school. He made some decent points, but overall goddamn I guess I just don't get why people find him funny.
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Sep 3, 2013 21:36
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SpiderHyphenMan posted:Also the NC review is not funny at all and reminds me why I stopped watching him in high school. He made some decent points, but overall goddamn I guess I just don't get why people find him funny. He isn't particularly hilarious. I enjoy his point of view because it is different than mine and I enjoy listening to what other's think. Mainly, my laughter was about how he finally loving saw it. If there's one thing I'm looking forward to in Korra Book 2, it's the twin action. If feats of great strength and imagination can come out from just two people working together, then I can't wait to see what two perfectly in sync characters can do. (Or at least what the writers think of what they can do)
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Sep 3, 2013 22:02
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Irish Joe posted:Zuko's grandson, who was introduced at the very last minute, had no chance to develop as a character and yet was still played off as if he was an important part of the main cast. Good points. I'm still scratching my head over his voice. There's such a huge disconnect between how his character speaks and how he looks. Having a character we've only just met go off to stop some planes attacking another character we haven't met is a bit... odd. There isn't really any audience stake in that scene, except maybe from fans of the The Last Airbender who liked Zuko? SpiderHyphenMan posted:I noticed. This is a really good forum for actually being able to discuss the show, but if it's not possible to articulate criticism beyond saying "I noticed" we might as well be on Tumblr. Edit: Edit to clarify. Aertuun fucked around with this message at 22:27 on Sep 3, 2013 |
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Sep 3, 2013 22:13
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SpiderHyphenMan posted:The Equalists were basically anti-bender bigots, led by a charismatic man who told a carefully crafted sob story in order to hide his true identity as a self-loathing bender. Yes, I know. But they seemed to suggest actual issues that would make people want to follow that guy, then proceeded to gloss over them and ultimately forget they existed when the bad guy was defeated and revealed to be a fraud who is really good with makeup. So I guess you can either mark that one down as "poor pacing / development" or "poor writing" depending on how you want to look at it.
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Sep 3, 2013 22:29
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raditts posted:Yes, I know. But they seemed to suggest actual issues that would make people want to follow that guy, then proceeded to gloss over them and ultimately forget they existed when the bad guy was defeated and revealed to be a fraud who is really good with makeup. So I guess you can either mark that one down as "poor pacing / development" or "poor writing" depending on how you want to look at it. I can see your point. The focus of the show was on Amon using that (genuine) social injustice to take power. They could have put time into showing Korra fighting the good fight against social injustice directly but I'm not sure where that plot could have gone. Amon would still win that particular battle, and at the very least stalled it while he took power. The situation had gone on for too long for it to be plausible for Korra to fix it. They could have definitely done with Korra addressing the issue personally though, in some way beyond what happened at the riots. One missed opportunity was Asami's fathers motivation thingy. If they'd turned that into something along the lines, "Yes, I'm rich and successful, but the benders still hold all the power" that would have added a lot more to the show than another rampaging fire bender. I'm hoping book 3 will return to the issue, as there's a lot more there to explore, and Korra will be in a much better position to be a protagonist at the centre of it. Aertuun fucked around with this message at 22:47 on Sep 3, 2013 |
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Sep 3, 2013 22:44
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The most popular suggestion for that is/was to have Asami as an Equalist who thought Amon's methods were too harsh and defected so you could get a look in to the issues that inspired them, a look in to how they work and what people would think was too far. It's not something that would have to be one episode with a self contained plot to wrap it around, just stuff dropped here and there over a few episodes with a climatic scene in one instead if you wanted.
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Sep 4, 2013 00:58
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SpiderHyphenMan posted:I'm all about positivity when it comes to Korra, but hell no there were absolutely serious pacing problems. The last seven minutes should have been its own episode. I'm all with this. An extra episode would have done wonders for the show. quote:The Equalists were basically anti-bender bigots, led by a charismatic man who told a carefully crafted sob story in order to hide his true identity as a self-loathing bender.  scapegoating of real societal problems on people he both hated and could easily get otherized by the masses, and past that playing a great terrorist game of getting his enemies fearful enough to play into his hands and make his accusations even more true.This was further compounded not even by the week to week time gaps for fan discussion, so much as the prerelease hype and reveals cementing "the Equalists are in the right of things but just being extreme about it" in the mindsets of many before the show even properly aired so that all evidence against fell onto deaf ears. I'd say I wished an ideal Legend of Korra would have spent some of its extra time better getting the point across, but it's not the first show where part of me feels that any storytelling blunt enough to get all the basic story points across to fandom would be too blunt for the children in the intended audience. quote:I think a lot of people would have reacted to that episode better if it wasn't aired as the first part of a two-part finale. That's one of those things where you need a moment to take a step back and process it, not be immediately flung into an action pact climax. I hadn't much thought of that, but that's a possibility. The two halves of the finale do fit together rather oddly in a way.
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Sep 4, 2013 09:36
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quote:The Equalists were basically anti-bender bigots, led by a charismatic man who told a carefully crafted sob story Carefully crafted sob story? His backstory was the backstory of about five thousand other characters in the Avatar world. "Fire Benders (disfigured me / murdered my parents / destroyed my home)!"
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Sep 4, 2013 11:04
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SpiderHyphenMan posted:Her uncle Unalaq, Chief of both the Northern and Southern Water Tribe, is a spiritual fundamentalist, in stark contrast with his brother, Korra’s father, Tonraq, who was next in line to become Chief of the Northern Water Tribe, but gave the position to his brother so he could move to the Southern Water Tribe and raise a family. It is unknown how Unalaq became Chief of both Tribes. Hate to break off of Equalist chat but am I reading this right? On top of being a fully realized Avatar and only the second one to master energy bending, Korra is also a princess of the Northern Water Tribe and the Southern Water Tribe? Isn't that a bit much?
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Sep 4, 2013 14:59
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If Korra turns into the moon will you all stop bitching?  Anyways, when the hell did she master energy bending? Or is that the logical consequence of the writers' handwaving commentary as to why people lost their bending, and how Korra gained the power to restore it, that I couldn't be assed to keep track of? Anyways, she was only ever shown doing it in the Avatar State, at which point she has access to all the power and knowledge of her past lives, which would include Aang.Jesto posted:Carefully crafted sob story? His backstory was the backstory of about five thousand other characters in the Avatar world. A sob story so well-crafted nobody would ever question its plausibility because of how banal it is? Besides, I think throwing Zuko into that category is a bit harsh, because it's not so much "Fire Benders" as "My psychotic dad who happens to be a Fire Bender", and in A:TLA, it's not as surprising because the Fire Nation, of which there seem to be a lot of Fire Benders serving in its military, were the aggressors in one-hundred years of war against the whole drat planet. I also somehow think it's less gruesome when it's "Fire Benders disfigured me/murdered my parents" than, say, an earthbender or waterbender.
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Sep 4, 2013 15:18
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Legend of Korra Book 2, Who you gonna call? If they don't have a cameo of Bill Murray I will be unhappy.
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Sep 4, 2013 15:56
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Iron Twinkie posted:Hate to break off of Equalist chat but am I reading this right? On top of being a fully realized Avatar and only the second one to master energy bending, Korra is also a princess of the Northern Water Tribe and the Southern Water Tribe? Isn't that a bit much? Ugh, I didn't even think of that. Having the avatar be the princess of a water tribe chief (let alone two tribes  ) is dumb. Dumber than Roku's "my best friend is the fire lord" random coincidence poo poo. I mean sure, statistically, the avatar is gonna be born into a prince or king or lord, but that should be backround fluff detail for past avatars, not "Korra is extra special because she's a double princess". That's fanfic territory.
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Sep 4, 2013 16:35
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