Book 1: Air

[formerlyfreedom]

Discussion of Book 1: Air (aka, Season 1) will be done in this topic! This is a place to discuss particular episodes, arcs and moments from Book 1. Please remember this isn't a complete catch-all topic -- check out the forum for character topics and other places for show-related talk.

[Kromm]

I hated how the story inherently got compromised by them having to assume only 1 season, but very much enjoyed the actual last episode.

 

Certainly the way they ended the story with the bad guy would be startling for ANY show, and was doubly so for a so-called "kid's show", for example, and the way they moved Korra's own status forward was well done (even if I'm half convinced they wasted a lot of opportunities with that with the 2nd season). 

Edited May 30, 2014 by Kromm

[FAU]

I hated how the story inherently got compromised by them having to assume only 1 season, but very much enjoyed the actual last episode.

 

Certainly the way they ended the story with the bad guy would be startling for ANY show, and was doubly so for a so-called "kid's show", for example, and the way they moved Korra's own status forward was well done (even if I'm half convinced they wasted a lot of opportunities with that with the 2nd season). 

 

Exactly, I felt like the series started off really strong for the first few episodes and then it got muddled in the middle, the ending was somewhat disappointed but expected considering they pretty much wrapped this story up asap in the finale.

[Eegah]

Here's my friend Greg's review, which is pretty much the same as mine.

 

http://blip.tv/pop-arena/legend-of-korra-season-review-6302236

[VCRTracking]

Now that we have the Korrasami ending, I wonder what if they had gone with their original concept for Asami. Michael Dante DiMartino from the The Art of LOK book:

 

"Asami came a little later in the development process. Once we had the idea for a nonbender revolution, we knew we’d need a character who wasn’t a bender. At first, we had planned for Asami to be an Equalist spy who was using Mako to get close to Korra. But we ended up liking her so much that we thought it was better to keep her on the good guys’ side. The development process was so important for Korra, because it allowed us to play with various story and visual concepts before the full production started."

 

 

They still could have had her do a heel face turn and be a good guy a la Zuko and then have her friendship develop with Korra and lead to the same ending. Asami also being a villain would have made the love triangle a lot more easier to resolve and made Mako look less of a douche!

[Ravenya003]

I marathoned the first season today with a sharp eye on Korra and Asami,and there's some interesting stuff in there when you're aware of what Bryke's plans were.

 

It's pretty obvious that Asami was initially created as a Honey Trap working for the Equalists, and that some of this idea remained in the final product. Asami running into Mako on her moped actually makes more sense as a trap than as a coincidence, organized by Hiroshi to ensnare a guy they all knew was playing pro-bending with the Avatar, all designed to eventually lead her to the trap set in Hiroshi's secret workshop.

 

But even knowing that Bryke didn't start teasing Korra/Asami in earnest until season three, there's still some funny stuff here. Korra initially describes Asami as "that prissy, rich, elegant, beautiful girl" and Asami gets the line (delivered to Korra): "sometimes you have to mix it up a little."

 

Anyone with half-way decent editing skills and a desire to make a Korrasami YouTube video could easily re-construe some of the wary glances they send each other's way, and with the power of hindsight, it's pretty clear from the moment Korra starts smiling at Asami's driving skills as they whizz around in her race-car that these two were made for each other.