Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra

[Concept]

It's an American cartoon, made in English. Given that your first language is English I'm going to go with no, there's no reason to watch a foreign dub.

[Emp]

It's not anime. It's made in america so there isn't an English dub.

Also it goes without saying you need to watch A:TLA before watching LoK

[Kindrindra]

Ah, I suspected that was the case but wasn't sure because of the obvious eastern influence. Thanks, guys!

(I just always like to watch the original because translators suck)

[DaveTheFishGuy]

It's funny because apparently Avatar is really unpopular in Japan because they feel the Fire Nation strikes a little too close to certain prefer-to-forget activities during the 1930s/40s.

[Kindrindra]

So I had written a nice and long review of my first impressions last night, didn't copy it, and my internet ate it. Grr. So, in short:

It's nice to see a western anime.
Art Quality: B
Animation Quality: A
Plot: TBA
Characterization: A
Subtlety: F
Fight Scenes: A+
Overall: A-


I probably forgot a character or two but w/e.

[DaveTheFishGuy]

How far did you get?

[Amras.MG]

Originally Posted by Kindrindra

It's nice to see a western anime.

Subtlety: F

It's not western anime, unless Spongebob Squarepants also counts as western anime >>;

Also lulz at subtlety. You'll realize why you're wrong about that later ;p

[DaveTheFishGuy]

Yeah I was going to say what EmGee did but wanted to be nice.

It's not anime Kin, it's a cartoon. There's no getting away from that. Sure, it's 'anime-esque', but by that logic Megas XLR is anime because it's also inspired by anime. Albeit to take the piss out of it.

[Kindrindra]

I define 'Anime' as an animated show with an overarching plot with a solid beginning, middle, and end, while I define a 'Cartoon' as an animated show focused on one-shot stories rarely lasting over an episode. Under that, MLP, Spongebob, and various Japanese shows which I don't watch are cartoons, while Shana, Avatar, and just about anything involving superheroes is an anime.

[/unpopular opinion]

[DaveTheFishGuy]

Originally Posted by DaveTheFishGuy

How far did you get?

[kusari]

Something something anime is a blanket word for all animation in Japan something something Spongebob technically anime something something.

[Copygoo]

Originally Posted by DaveTheFishGuy

How far did you get?

[deoxys]

Not to get off topic but I'm pretty sure anime refers exclusively to Japanese animation, unless you're in Japan in which case it means all cartoons.


Anyway, how far did you get?

[Concept]

Originally Posted by deoxys

New Korra trailer: here

Does anyone have a different link to this trailer? Automatically re-routes me to nick.co.uk, which seems to lack anything Korra related.

[deoxys]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMKTxVp9rCA

[Concept]

Thanks man.

[deoxys]

Apparently Studio Pierrot is partially animating this upcoming season of Korra. I had no idea.

[Kindrindra]

I had posted that after the first two episodes- Finished the first book now, and, well... Yeah, the subtlety did go upwards nicely. And it's really cool to see how Aang is kinda mixing things together as he learns- I distinctly recall him treating air like it was water in the pirate episode, that was cool.

Though they're still terrible at writing romance. :P

[Kindrindra]

Riiiiiight, I might be taking the romance comment back.

[DaveTheFishGuy]

I wanted to say that you would, but decided to keep my mouth shut :p

[Talon87]

Really? I wanted to say that he was spot on the money but meh it's a kids show so what do you expect? The romance in A:tLA (and LoK too) is preeeeeeeeeeeeeeeetty tweenie. Zuko's romances largely feel like what tweens imagine an adult (read: high school ) romance is like, while the whole subplot of Aang's feelings for Katara is about as painfully awkward to listen to as is reliving one's own or one's childhood best friends' childhood romantic memories.

There are a few things they nail in the romance department, but all are Season 3 so I'll have to be quiet for now. (Light spoiler: they're pretty light. Nothing too profound, nothing that impacts the plot much.)

[Jerichi]

I'd be interested to see what you think those are, Talon. I don't know why you'd hesitate to share on the basis of spoilers; if you haven't watched Book 3 of the original, why would you be reading this thread? The first episode of Korra basicallys spoils the whole plot of A:TLA.

[Talon87]

Because this thread isn't just for LoK discussion? It does say "Avatar: the Last Airbender" out front.

As for the minor examples I was thinking of:

Spoiler: show

Toph's feelings for Sokka were probably the best handled in the series.

The exchange between Zuko and Sokka about their love lives (on the hot air balloon, as they were heading towards Alcatraz) was very short but very funny.

Like I said: nothing too profound, nothing that affects the plot too much.

[Kindrindra]

Well. That was fairly excellent. Onto Korra!



...After some sleep. ;^_^

[Kindrindra]

Watched first two episodes of Korra. Interesting, very different from tLA, has a little more 'modern' vibe, and thus strikes closer to home.

Also, seeing the influences from tLA are really cool.

Spoiler: show

I mean, come on. Just look at the way the police move. Just as languages have dialects, so too do fighting styles, and the police have a heavy Dai Li accent. Considering that Metalbending is a derivative of Earthbending, I suppose this isn't too surprising. I also like how they got around the issue notable from tLA, that metal doesn't really deform smoothly, by using implements that only ever have to move in straight lines- Of what I've seen so far, that means cables and sliding slabs.