Why The Legend of Korra was so Great: Mike DiMartino Explains that the Focal Point of Avatar is the Message

Gigi

Great point. I also think Mike and Byran's responsiveness and interaction with the fan base is great. How many times have we seen them directly answer a fans question (you being a great point in case)? Even with twitter, we've seen direct responses to some. That gives me more respect for them, personally. The show is great because they put the message in there and because they actually care and reach out to their fans. I'd love to meet them
- http://avatarthelegendofkorra.wordpress.com Keval
  
  Hey Gigi,
  
  Yeah, I completely agree. I've never seen guys that are so interactive with fans. They make the show for themselves as well as us, so I guess they see the importance in interacting with us.
  
  This blog idea is great for Mike, in my opinion, because it gives fans a better chance to interact with him and vice-versa. I was a little surprised that he responded in the first place, but it looks like he's starting to respond to a lot of fans.
  
  Hopefully he doesn't stop as his blog continues to the grow and the comments begin to overflow.
  
  Thanks for leaving your thoughts, by the way.
Sabrina

I've always thought that about Avatar, though when I tried to explain it to my brothers they didn't get it. There's actually a point (besides laughing your head off) to watching it, and I love it!
- http://avatarthelegendofkorra.wordpress.com Keval
  
  Explaining Avatar to folks who don't watch it is tough. The show seems so childish on the outside, but you need to watch it to really get hooked because the show is so far from childish.
  
  I just gave up on explaining why I watched Avatar. It's honestly their loss.
  - Sabrina
    
    Too true.
  - Azulas Insanity
    
    Avatar is a special show in a lot of ways. My first exposure to it was when I was 15 years old. At the time I was watching it I knew it was a good show but I foolishly didn't watch a lot into it. It wasn't until 7 years later that I sat down and watched it through lots of recommendations. Some
Lina

I think this was a great post.
I couldn't agree more that Avatar is such an amazing show that actually have so much meaning. If you compare to the most tv entertainment doesn't have much of a point at all.

Many of my friends, and even my family ask me ''Why are you looking at that?, isn't that a show for kids?, I don't see the point in this show or isn't you too old to look at that kind of things?''
Yeah, I might be 15, but I haven't found a more beautiful, exciting, loving, meaningfull show in my life.
And when I am trying to strike back to all those people that don't understand why I'm looking at ATLA & LoK.
I don't even know how I should put the words right.

And now, when I'm reading what you are writing.
That's exactly how I feel about the show.
Those words are what I was looking for that never seemed to come
through. But now I know what I would say.

I love reading your blog, it's amazing! So, thank you for sharing your thoughts and you're doing a great work, keep going!
- http://avatarthelegendofkorra.wordpress.com Keval
  
  Thank you for reading, Lina.
  
  Never let people tell you that Avatar is childish, because the it's more adult than most shows that air on TV. It just doesn't have the dirty humor that most are accustomed to.
  - Gigi
    
    Ugh.. Don't even get me STARTED on Jersey Shore >_>
  - http://avatarthelegendofkorra.wordpress.com Keval
    
    I was on Twitter and I somehow found myself on Snookie's Twitter. I then found this link to her Instagram basically showing off all her make-up:
    http://instagram.com/p/V3SOWNhjsQ/
    
    She's a clown. Like, literally. A clown.
Kristina

Really great post. When I started watching Avatar when I was about 8, I liked the show for the Asian culture and the synopsis (Avatar has to master all four elements), but as I got older I realized there's more to Avatar than this unique idea. Just like you said, Avatar has messages that people can learn from and I think that's what's intrigued me over the years. That's what makes both Avatar shows special.

PS I can't stand some of the shows they have now: Jessie, ANT Farm, Dog With A Blog (worst one). It's not that the ideas are bad but the writing is horrible! Ok, I'm done with my rant =)
- http://avatarthelegendofkorra.wordpress.com Keval
  
  Thank you for sharing your experience, Kristina.
  
  My experience was similar. The Asian Culture of the show was intriguing and I loved the setting. But as I got older, I learned to appreciate what the show truly meant.
  
  And I agree with you, the Disney Channel show are just AWFUL. Like literally unwatchable. I tried to get into them at one point because I used to LOVE Disney Channel when I was younger, but it's just not the same.
  
  It's better just to watch re-runs of old shows off the internet.
  - Sabrina
    
    I used to love Disney channel. And now, it's completely fallen to pieces. Phineas and Ferb is still good, though to be honest it's lost a bit as well and doesn't have quite the same feel to it.
BBking

It's probably worth telling people who haven't given Avatar a chance that IMDB has rated it the 14th best show of all time with a rating 9.0, it is truly up there among the greatest shows ever made.
This is generally what I do and it seems to hush people down a little bit. http://www.imdb.com/search/title?num_votes=5000,&…
- BBking
  
  I'm not entirely sure whethere the ratings on IMDB are from critics or fans, but either way it shows there is a big following of the show, which is likely to induce people to give it a viewing. I feel sorry for the ignorant people who don't give it a proper chance.
  - http://avatarthelegendofkorra.wordpress.com Keval
    
    I'm at a point where I just ignore these people and let them watch their "Dog with a Blog" or "Jessie".
Tumas-Muscat

Great post and I agree completely. I think the message was part of the many factors – such as the Asian setting and concepts, good writing and interesting characters – which attracted me to 'Avatar' in the first place, despite my age (I was almost 17 years old at the time). I grew up on series which often had such a message (like 'X-Men' and discrimination, 'Spider-Man' and responsibility, the myriad in 'Ulysses 31', 'Batman' on justice and tragedy, amongst many others), so I'm always nostalgic for great and intelligent writing in cartoons and entertainment and love when I find it again in newer ones. Of course, when it comes to 'Avatar' I have, by this point, moved on from mere evocation of nostalgia to full-on fandom, but I can't deny my initial impulses.

Despite my love for a good message and writing, I admit that I didn't manage to identify the theme 'Korra''s Book 1 as a whole, but after reading this I can definitely see it. Learning how Mike and Bryan actually thought out the central theme beforehand and went on from there makes me appreciate the series so much more, and I agree that it should be recognised. Luckily with Mike's new blog and the commitment and response he and Bryan have shown to the fans, I suspect such recognition can steadily gain momentum.
- http://avatarthelegendofkorra.wordpress.com Keval
  
  I'm kind of in the same boat as you are. Except for the fact that I'm 17 now, I too long for shows that are the least bit intelligent.
  
  I just feel that they are more worth my while when I know that they actually mean something. That's why I fell in love with Avatar in the first place. All this new music and television, it's just garbage. Seeing a show like The Legend of Korra is refreshing.
coolman229

Hahahahahahahaha

BULL CRAP.

The Legend of Korra had some of the worst messages I've ever seen.

The Last Airbender had some great messages, and Bryke shouldn't get any credit for that. There were plenty of other writers and producers and the like who deserve more credit than Bryke.

Yeah, Bryke interact with their fans. By insulting people who point out their flaws. They called anyone who didn't like Mako or the ending "fangirls." GREAT INTERACTION. You just called me a fangirl and laughed at the fact that I can actually see through all the pretty colors to the fact that The Legend of Korra is infinitely inferior to The Last Airbender.

The Legend of Korra teaches us that it's ok to be judgmental of someone's who's different than you. Korra was nothing but rude and a complete dick to Asami…until she found out that she was into racing. Korra never learned to respect that some people are different, and that girly stuff isn't bad.

Bolin is nothing but kind and considerate to everyone, and he gets tossed away and stomped on. He barely get's any screen time despite him being infinitely more interesting than his jerkbender brother Mako. So Bryke teach us that being funny and nice will get you nowhere, because you're not worth anything besides making a few jokes.

Mako gives us SO MANY good lessons, such as:

-Cheating is ok as long as you like the person you're cheating with.
-You can be a complete jerk to everyone around you, even to your elders and girlfriend, because they'll all love you anyway.
-Being hot gives you a free pass to pull said crap.
-And many, many more!

Asami is easily the nicest character in the show. She sacrifices so much, and what does she get? She get's tossed in the mud. Even her boyfriend can't bother to be there for her because he's too busy being obsessed with Korra. So you can give up everything you have to do what you think is for the greater good, and then no once will care. It was all for nothing really, because you're going to get the worst ending out of everyone.

Korra teaches us that you're only worth is bending. She never grows out of this mentality. She never learns to be patient, she never becomes more spiritual. She just get's everything handed to her. She never worked for anything. She didn't even have to deal with losing her bending. In fact, she still had Airbending. Something Bolin pointed out….and then everyone got pissed at him. What the hell? And she just gets the Avatar State, COMPLETE CONTROL over the Avatar State, Energybending, COMPLETE CONTROL over Energybending, and all of her bending back before she really had a chance to deal with it.

Tarrlok and Amon teach us that you can't escape your past. If your daddy was evil, then you will be. There is no escape. You should just kill yourself because the world would be better off without you. GREAT LESSON TO TEACH KIDS.

And the entire show goes out of its way to invalidate the Eqaulist Movement. They had legitimate points, and those are ignored because OMG THEY'RE EVIIIIIIIIIIILLLLLLL. Great going Bryke.
http://fuck-mako.tumblr.com/post/25902402929

DO NOT praise Bryke for sending out "good messages." Because they are so full of Unfortunate Implications that nothing good came out of The Legend of Korra. What really made The Last Airbender great was EVERYONE ELSE who worked on the show….who were mysteriously absent from The Legend of Korra.

Go ahead and vote this comment down. If you do than you're blind to the show's faults, and praising two guys who can't take well deserved criticism.
- http://avatarthelegendofkorra.wordpress.com Keval
  
  Let's wait until all four seasons of The Legend of Korra are out before we totally bash the show. There is still a lot to be explored.
  
  The characters in The Legend of Korra a bit extreme and less simplistic than the characters from The Last Airbender. They already have a lot of depth to them whereas the characters in The Last Airbender had no depth to them.
  
  The character development in LOK will be different because character's personalities will be molded and changed rather than given. I see where your frustration lies, but I urge you to give the show a chance and give the creators some time to truly convey their show.
- JB
  
  I agree with Keval, not even 1/4 of the series has been aired yet and these kind of judgements are being made. At this point, there is plenty room for improvement and besides, you can't really expect the show to be perfect in the first season; ATLA's first season wasn't. Things like Mako's rude demeanor and Korra's mentality that bending is her only worth are character flaws. You can't expect them to be these perfect beings (though Mako is far from perfect), and again ATLA's characters had their fair share of character flaws.
  
  Now its not like I'm "blind to the show's faults," I'm just saying that its not this awful tragedy that there were issues with the first book. I agree that nearly everything related to Mako and Korra's relationship was a mess and that Asami and Bolin were shafted for Korra and Mako screen time, but it seems that you're making it more of a deal than it needs to be. I agree that the writing was not perfect too, but it's still much more of a quality series compared to stuff like Disney sitcoms which are basically just an existence, with virtually not humor value and mindless writing. At least the show has enough of a storyline and depth that it can be discussed like this.
- Kristina
  
  There goes another angry Mako-ranter…..didn't we already here enough of this last year?
- Mitch
  
  You know that Bryke were the creators of the original show? Thats means they came up with character arcs, story arcs, and the world itself. Why dont you learn to know what you're talking about before you start ranting on things you dont know.
  - coolman229
    
    Alright!!! Here's where people are unwilling to admit the faults of a creator.
    
    YES. Bryke came up with the show, but without the other writers and producers, it wouldn't have been NEARLY as good as it was. Toph was going to be a guy originally, and be in a love triangle with Aang and Katara. Bryke fought the decision to change Toph to a girl, but caved in. Azula was originally going to be a guy was well. Oh, and romance was going to be more prominent. Bryke are great idea guys, but are pitiful writers.
    
    Don't be a jerk Mitch. I know exactly what I'm talking about.
    
    If you guys really want to know why I don't like Mako, I will direct you to the Roast Mako and F*** Mako Tumblrs. There are plenty of reasons to hate him.
    
    He's a tribute character named after the late Mako. Bryke obviously didn't want anything bad to happen to him. He get's away with CHEATING ON HIS GIRLFRIEND. I'm sorry, but if you can forgive that so easily there's something wrong with you. He lied to Asami, treated her like crap, and then guess what? He's rewarded for that!
    
    @Keval
    
    "The characters in The Legend of Korra a bit extreme and less simplistic than the characters from The Last Airbender. They already have a lot of depth to them whereas the characters in The Last Airbender had no depth to them."
    
    ARE YOU FREAKING MAD? The characters in TLA had infinitely more depth than the ones in LoK!!! Alright. Tell me Mako and Bolin's backstory. Now tell me Sokka and Katara's backstory.
    
    I'm,not just "bashing" the show just cause. I'm very angry at the show for promoting being unfaithful to a romantic partner, failing to properly punish Korra or Mako for it, and then shoving Asami and Bolin to the side to shove Makorra down our throats.
    
    Oh, and the narrative disaster that it was. The pacing was good for about 7 episodes, then spirals downward into the horrible finale. I gave y'all some examples of the messages that the show promoted. How can anyone like it?
    
    And I'm sorry, but there is no comparison to the first seasons of TLA or LoK. Even in TLA there was character development. The show wasn't perfect, but we see Sokka get over his sexism in the first four episodes. We never see ANY character growth of main characters in LoK. I can only think of Asami and Lin. They're not main characters. At most, they're side characters. Mako goes through ridiculously inconsistent characterization over the season, as does Korra. Korra ends up stagnant, without changing at all. Mako goes from a cool,collected (and might I add LIKABLE), to an indecisive jerk, to full on obsessed with Korra. He's not recognizable by he end of the show. Really, there is no way for me to like Mako. I can't see how anyone could watch the finale (who's not a rabid Makorra shipper)
    
    I don't see why the show getting mad at the show and critiquing it is so wrong. Just because the show is getting more seasons doesn't mean that I can't say anything bad about the first season. The reason I get so mad is that Bryke are oblivious to the flaws. They refuse to acknowledge that they did anything wrong. THAT pisses me off the most. They think that what Mako did was fine, right even. They see no problem with
    
    And might I remind all of you people that this was going to be the end. They had no plan to expand the story. So there goes your argument. I have absolutely no faith in Bryke to make it work. Even with the writers they're bringing in. Apparently romance is supposed to be more prominent in Book 2. Yay……
    
    @Kristina
    
    I'm glad that you just think that my only issue is with Mako. Just because I don't like Mako (how could you like a lying, cheating, douchebag? Oh yeah, he's OMG HAWT). The show was a mess. The only good thing was the animation and the music. The characters are good, but none of them really develop. I'm not just a hater. If that's what you call people who disagree with you, then I'm sorry that you can't even be bothered to defend your points.
    - http://avatarthelegendofkorra.wordpress.com Keval
      
      I don't mind if you have a different opinion than others, I welcome that.
      
      But you are currently treading dangerous waters. I understand that you believe strongly in your opinion, but don't start disrespecting others and hold off on the name calling. Consider this your warning.
      
      I'm not going to let you harm the friendliness of our community just because you believe in an opinion that's been belabored over the past year.
  - JB
    
    @coolman229
    
    I was expecting something like this. Again, I said the first book was not perfect, Mako was a mess, and Mike and Bryan have some fault in this. But also as I said, you're kind of blowing this out of proportion. You went and disliked all of our replies and basically had a conniption just because we disagreed with you.
    
    There's nothing wrong with voicing your opinion, but to this extreme seems a bit unnecessary to me. But whatever, to each their own. You have a point with some of what your saying, but I don't see it as something that ruins the series, as you seem to believe. I'm still going to enjoy Book 2 regardless of how bad you argue Book 1 was.
  - coolman229
    
    @Keval
    
    I know this may be a bit extreme, but I'm just soooooo tired of Bryke getting all the credit for TLA and none of the blame for LoK. They're worshipped for it, and it pisses me off.
    
    Sorry if I'm being obnoxious, but LoK is just one of those shows that pissed me off more than anything.
    
    @JB
    
    I want the show to improve. I really do. But with how Bryke have responded to criticism, I'm not optimistic.
    - http://avatarthelegendofkorra.wordpress.com Keval
      
      You're not really being obnoxious. I love the fact that you have such a strong opinion. I just wanted you to keep the conversation FRIENDLY with everyone. That's all. Please carry on the discussion.
  - coolman229
    
    I really just needed to vent that. Sorry that it came out on your post. It's been a while since I've written something on Korra.
- Demon-Pyromaniac
  
  I have to agree with coolman229. He is completely right that LOK has a ton of horrible messages. Even ignoring the mess that was the love triangle, the show doesn't really deal with Korra's identity issues at all. She loses her bending for all of five minutes (of screentime) and then gets it handed back to her just because she was sad. Not only that, she gets a fully mastered version of the Avatar State and energybending. That's not really addressing her identity issues at all. Then of course there's the fact that while the people of the Fire Nation weren't portrayed as some monolith over evil, over time the Equalists just devolved into one-dimensional bad guys who Korra had to beat up. Even though social inequality between benders and nonbenders is shown to be a problem, we never really see Korra acknowledge it at all, with the exception of her fight with Tarrlok. Then it gets dropped completely. It amazes me that Bryke can know enough random details about history to say the the Equalist propaganda posters are based on Maoist and Communist Revolution propaganda, yet utterly fail to understand how systems of power and oppression operate in real life.
  
  coolman229 is also right that Bryke can't take criticism. I get that as a writer it can be difficult to know whether or not a criticism is valid or listen to everyone. But dismissing everyone who dislikes Mako or has any issues with the show at all is not cool and is sexist.
  
  Speaking of which, Byke does get credit for being good idea guys, but seeing how LOK turned out when they wrote it by themselves, I realized that before I never gave their writing staff enough credit.
  
  I don't think it's too soon to criticize Book 1 because
  
  1.) Book 1 was originally supposed to be the entirety of Korra's story and it had so many failings.
  2.) Each Book of LOK is supposed to be a stand-alone story, so it is highly unlikely that the problematic things from Book 1 will be addressed later.
  
  Since I know I'll get a bunch of responses complaining about me watching the show if I don't like it, how about no? I'll still watch the rest of the show for Asami and Bolin and if nothing else because it makes good critique fodder. Also, I did start off really liking the show. That's way I'm so disappointed that it turned out to be such as mess. Believe me, I would be happy if the writing quality improved and if they spent more time telling an interesting story well instead of having a bunch of teenage love soap opera crap, but I'm not getting my hopes up. And once again, better writing in future books won't undo the bad writing from Book 1.
  - http://avatarthelegendofkorra.wordpress.com Keval
    
    You'll never be yelled at for stating your opinion here, as long as you do so with respect and carry on discussion with the same respect.
    
    Thanks for sharing your opinion.
  - coolman229
    
    Hey! Thanks! I've seen you on Tumblr. What they said.
  - Demon-Pyromaniac
    
    The thing wouldn't let me directly reply for comments, so here's a reply post
    
    @keval Thanks!
    
    @coolman229 I've seen you on tumblr too. Hi!
- Sabrina
  
  Quick Point: The creators didn't know whether or not they could do more than a quick, few episode mini series. They had to seriously crush character development to fit it into something small, but then they were given the go ahead. Trust me; it would have been handled differently if they'd known from the start that they get four books instead of one.
  
  I do, however, hate Mako for every reason you just mentioned. Yeah, he's a dirty rotten cheater. But that doesn't mean that the creators still aren't genius. Just wait, this leaves the series in an interesting position with Asami having lost a lot. Will her friendship with Korra survive? Sometimes to see the message we have to look at more than just the main characters. In this case, we can see how Bolin and Asami react to this situation to get the message.
  
  We know that Bolin gets a new love interest. This shows how even when bad things happen *cough cough* Korra cheating *cough* you can still pull away and come out on top. Who knows what direction they may take Asami in?
  
  The series hasn't fully had a chance to show every message yet. Give it time,
  
  But since I don't want this to turn into a debate, I'm done.
  - Demon-Pyromaniac
    
    Maybe it would have been handled better if Book 1 was 20 episodes since they're more used to working with that, but I don't really feel like the episode length excuses the issues in Book 1. There are many animes that are the same length as Book 1 of LOK that turned out great and didn't have as many issues with the pacing/storytelling. Having just 12 episodes isn't really an excuse for the writing issues. I think you're right that Bryke did have to cut down on some ideas to fit it all in to Book 1 because the Making of a Legend commentaries seem to imply that. However, that raises the issue that even though they had a limited amount of screentime, they decided to waste it on the character derailing romance subplot. They had to cut out stuff, but deemed the love shape from hell worthy of screentime.
    
    I hope they take Asami's character in a better direction, along with Bolin. However, I'll wait and see if Bolin's new romance actually has any positive messages. It's described as "bizarre" and so I'm worried that they're just going to make fun of him again. (During the commentary track for episode 5, we find out that apparently Bolin's heartbreak over Korra kissing Mako is supposed to be hilarious and in no way an indication that Korra and Mako are jerkbenders.) So, I wouldn't say whether the romance has a positive message or not yet.
    
    As for Mako, yeah I don't like him too. But I don't know that they will actually deal with any of the repercussions of how he and Korra badly screwed Asami over. That would mean admitting that their pampered tribute character had flaws. And the whole message behind the Makorra pairing is that they're soulmates because of reasons, therefore it's totally fine if other people get hurt so that they can pursue a relationship with each other and fine if neither of them tries to make up for it.
    
    Korra and Asami are barely friends, but actually dealing with Asami disliking Korra and Mako due to the way they treated her is a potential plotline and would be a good way to go. But like I said, that would mean admiring that Mako and Makorra have faults, so it's unlikely.
Pingback: Mike DiMartino: Por que “Korra” foi tão bom? | Mundo Avatar v3
coolman229

http://korracritique.tumblr.com/post/43451244598/…

Good messages.
- Kristina
  
  Dude, if you don't like the show then don't watch it. I'm not saying that LOK doesn't have it's flaws but seriously, I'm so sick and tired of people like you beating a dead horse on topics that have already been talked about. Can we please move on?! Get over yourself.
  - coolman229
    
    I'm going to let you in on a little secret….
    
    I LIKED THE LEGEND OF KORRA! I did! For the first 4 episodes I thought it was the best show ever. I was even in denial of all the bad stuff until the finale, where it just pissed me off. Don't assume that I just hate LoK. I really REALLY wanted to like it, but the show is just bad.
    
    And guess what? Some people like analyzing an critiquing stuff! Just because somethings's bad doesn't meant that I have to stay away from it. I've watched Skyfall numerous times to point out all of the bad writing in it. That kind of thinking is obnoxious.
    
    And I'll stop complaining when Bryke actually realize their mistakes. If you only let people who love them talk then they'll never improve (and Lord knows they need improvement.)
    - http://avatarthelegendofkorra.wordpress.com Keval
      
      Lol… Skyfall sucked. The best part was Adelle's song.
  - coolman229
    
    Yes! Thank you! I thought the action was great but the story was just weak.
    - http://avatarthelegendofkorra.wordpress.com Keval
      
      Story totally sucked. I've only seen it once, but I'm going to watch it again to fully grasp it.
      - coolman229
        
        Watching it multiple times helps to really grasp why the movie was bad. I actually did some videoes on Skyfall
        
        (inserts shameless self-promotion here)
        
        I think that Skyfall and LoK have a lot in common. They both had great action, but the story seemed to move along at an awkward pace (though personally, I think Skyfall was worse in the "Moving at the Speed of Plot" department). The messages for both is muddled in the writing. Korra's journey of spirituality and understanding what it means to be the Avatar and Skyfall's attempt to show us…..that the old ways are the best? It was really confusing.
        
        I think both had unfortunate implications, especially Skyfall. I've already……… expressed some of the things that I found problematic in LoK, but Skyfall taught me that women are less important. That really disturbed me.
Jeremy

WHAT is their website for that blog?!? I HAVE to know! I simply must speak with them. They have created a show that has not only a meaning but a real feel to it. I don't know if any of you are spiritual people, but when I'm watching this show I know there's something that makes it different than all the others because I get a warm feeling when I watch it. It's just unbelievable what they've made.
- Jeremy
  
  Never mind that I missed that you had linked it in the post.
AvatarFollower

I couldn't agree anymore with this blog post Keval and reading that comment by Mike makes me even more excited for Book 2. On a side note the comment I posted several weeks ago on Book 2's release date probably being around June/July….God I hope I'm wrong.
- http://avatarthelegendofkorra.wordpress.com Keval
  
  Thank you AvatarFollower. Glad you enjoyed the post. Look for Book 2 to air in late April or early May. I'd be surprised if we had to wait until June.
koolaidman

Immature comment: Self recreation.
- http://avatarthelegendofkorra.wordpress.com Keval
  
  ?
  - koolaidman
    
    nevermind, bad joke. nice post though. took me about an hour reading all the comments.
    - http://avatarthelegendofkorra.wordpress.com Keval
      
      Thank you, and yes the comment are always great!
      
      And sorry, I just wasn't sure what you were saying, but thanks for reading!
sarai brooks

Guys really I admit that the legend of korra did have it's false well…… writing mishaps but doesn't mean u have to bash the show aka I mean
That The show was supposed to be a mini series
- coolman229
  
  Well, that's no excuse for poor writing. Plenty of shows have done complete stories in less than what LoK had. There are plenty of well done anime that had 12 or less episodes.
  
  The problem with LoK is that Bryke tried to squeeze at least a 20 episode season into 12 episodes, and it showed. Heck, I'd say it was more like two 20 episode seasons.
  
  Bryke should have written the show to fit in the allotted time. Just because it was originally supposed to be just a miniseries doesn't excuse any of the mistakes made in the writing.
  
  They introduced a whole lot of stuff, such as Korra's Airbending training and her spirituality, poverty in Republic City, orphans, Triads, the Equalist plot, the political corruption, Probending, and then they dedicated a lot of time to the love triangle (or love shape), which prevented most of the other stories from properly being told. And Yakone's story is squeezed in there with the old Team Avatar. This isn't even getting into all of the characters' backstories., none of which are properly elaborated on. It was too much story for too little time, and the length of the show isn't to blame.
- Demon-Pyromaniac
  
  Have to agree with coolman229. I also don't see how it's "bashing" to point out flaws in a show or to critically analyze something. They make you analyze books in grade school all the time. Analyzing a show like LOK or any other visual media isn't all that different.
  
  Like coolman229 pointed out, there are plenty of animes out there with the same run-time as LOK that don't feel rushed. Two examples are "Puella Magi Makoda Magica" and "Another". Madoka does a pretty good job at establishing character motivations and resolving the conflicts in its plot and actually keeping the plot interesting. None of the screentime is wasted.
  
  LOK on the other hand, introduced too many plot-points and didn't properly resolve anything. In spite of the time limit, a character derailing love shape was deemed important over more interesting plot-points, like the conflict with the Equalists, or Korra actually learning spirituality, airbending, and patience. While I did like the Pro-bending arc, in the end it was pointless because it turned out the Korra didn't even need to use real airbending moves to airbend and just pseudo-firebending moves work just as well.
http://winterseeker.wordpress.com winterseeker

Couldn't have said it better myself, thank you. Your comments are pretty thoughtful as well!
- http://avatarthelegendofkorra.wordpress.com Keval
  
  Thank you reading and commenting!
david

I don't know much about the creators of Avatar, but the show kind of talked to me while watching. I always found it cheering me up, while watching the next and then following episode… . The show is amazing, because it has saved up that bit of pureness and simple, naive beauty of life with a message. I think this is all that brings usefulness, sense and life to a story worth telling. This is all that the world's real values should be- friendship, forgiveness and untouchable good nature qualities. Don't get be wrong; healthy humor and cool action scenes is the stuff to cheer for as well. I love the main idea of of the show- bending, which is great and not to flatter; an excellent display of showing the different usage and effects of it. Right now I'm finding "The Last Airbender" part of the show more effective, but I'm sure there is still a lot to come for "The Legend of Korra"
To be honest, I didn't think that so many other people would appreciate the show and it's a great job putting your thoughts down. Also, thanks Keval for keeping the discussion up there on this page, I found your article thoughtful and well worded.
I'll be sure to check out Mike's blogs… looking forward to it to see some inspiration.
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