BloodRawEngine
Video Game Engine of War
So I'd finally gotten through the current entirety of Legend of Korra. All I can say is that Doug Walker had pretty much hit the nail on the head with alot of things I could say. The first season started good but waned a tad by the end, and the second season was just inconsistent, and too much so to really stand as something as cohesive as it seemed to make itself out to be either--basically, the subplots were either unnecessary or uninteresting. Beginnings was definitely the highpoint of the season and more or less the show ever since Amon, and it essentially didn't even center around Korra beyond using her as the subject of a pretty contrived and almost emotionless take on self-discovery, especially compared to Wan himself, or Aang for that matter. That doesn't say very much on how well they establish and develop her as a protagonist. In my opinion, the most dramatic turn was when she broke down in Tenzin's arms after admitting how scared she really was of Amon. Otherwise, she's not very relatable. In fact, how she treats the others is what makes them all much more relatable and feel more established. Some moreso than others, of course, and in the sense that these characters should have had more time for development instead of just shoving the blandest villain in the franchise into us more and more. While they've said her attitude in season 2 was very much intentional, it was so much a rehash of season 1 on a basic level that it really did feel more like a contrivance than a supposed sense of self-discovery in its overall execution. In my opinion, I could bring up Kung Fu Panda 2 as something that did a better job of that story structure (but that's my all time favorite animated film so, yeah, I'd prolly end up coming off as biased). Basically, LoK simply lacks the same level of perspective-driven execution that TLA had. That, to me, is one of the most defining aspects of any good story-heavy character-driven series (also why I loved Kung Fu Panda 1 and 2 so much, but I digress).
Did I mention Unalaq was a really friggin' bland antagonist? One of the few things that keeps me from being as bored of him as I am utterly hateful of the like of Skyward Sword's Ghirahim is that Unalaq was actually a genuine threat.
And yes, I'm in agreement with the vast majority that these writers have no sense of priority or inspiration with writing good romantic subplots, and even less in the chemistry and/or build-up meant to have justified it. Even before LoK, I thought the romance between Aang and Katara sucked, not because I thought they should've ended up with other people, but because it wasn't handled well at all in terms of pacing. When I finally got to watch the terror that was "Spirit of Competition", I was asking myself, "Where the hell was that implied again?" Oh, that little 'sleep together' clip? Sorry, writers, there's generic, and then there's just insubstantial. You're BOTH. If them saving Bolin from the equalists was their idea of introducing the chemistry between Korra and Mako, then they're even worse at writing love stories than everyone is saying they are, and that's CRIPPLING amount. Honestly, even with how quick Mako and Asami got together in S1, their brief rekindling in S2 felt a lot more justified than their entire attempt across season 1 to enforce Korra and Mako as "star-crossed" lovers. Don't get me started on how utterly pointless I think Eska was as a love interest for Bolin, but again, I really despise her archetype; the only time I ever so much as chuckled from her or her status-quo brother was when she "proposed" marriage to Bolin.
Also, most of the voice acting is solid (ie Steve Blum delivers as always), but some of the voices can be WAY TOO friggin' monotonous. Namely that Tahno guy and Jinora.
Basically it's good, and close to great at times, but just not groundbreaking. My nick-shtick is still more or less exclusively with Ninja Turtles, personally. I'll probably stay tabbed for Season 3 just to see if the title of Change proves to be a bit meta (though I still think leaving the portals open was the worst idea/writing twist ever).
