Wall of text on LOK even though it's not anime but who cares:
Yeah, Legend of Korra had all of the tools to be great except the writing. If you just read descriptions or watch tiny clips of it, it seems like it should be great. The music, the artwork, the animation is all fantastic. But the stories in it don't make any sense. The characters were also, well, just assassinated.
Katara would never just sit around in the South Pole on her ass and nod her head at the idea that the avatar should be locked away from all society. Even if she herself was too frail to leave, she would've been heavily involved in Korra's training. Aang would never show favoritism to one child over the other in the way it's implied in this show. I have no doubt that Katara and her children would ALL be mentors to Korra in some capacity. They would all have air bender spirituality to impart to her from Aang. Seeing them apply the lessons of their parents in their own unique ways would've been interesting. It could've been a tug of war or a competition between them about how to best mentor Korra. It's a really sad, missed opportunity.
And Zuko, who became a friend to the avatar... who became, we should say, the most powerful and important friend to the avatar in terms of the global scale of this world. He's just also completely unconcerned about her all of this time? I don't buy it. Zuko at the end of ATLA became a young man who knew he had to make amends. Not just for his own actions but the actions of his father, paternal great-grandfather, and even of his sister. He also had a duty as the leader of his nation and the great-grandchild of Avatar Roku. He would've been heavily involved as well with the new avatar. Even if not him directly, then General Iroh or someone in his stead. To make sure the avatar remains not just protected but educated in the ways of the world. The Order of the White Lotus was presented to us as somewhat serving this role but it was just to villainize them as stuffy old men. It's a fucking insult to Iroh, King Bumi, Jeong Jeong, Pakku, and Piando. They were not just a bunch of stuffy old men.
Cutting the line of avatars is heresy. Also, making all the air benders come back is so fucking cheap. It would've been more powerful if Zaheer was somehow able to get air bending for himself. Because now there'd be another air bender but Korra and friends are faced with the fact that he's dangerous and wants to hurt people. The whole benders vs non-benders was a fantastic concept but it was clearly above the writers. Instead of showing how Korra, Lin, Tahno and whoever else lost bending has to learn to compensate without it, it becomes a "lmao, just kidding, here's yo powers back."
They also needed to outright cut some of these characters out or re-use some of the people we met earlier. I lost interest into S2 and would come back and chell out of the show intermittently until the end of its run. Often there would be all of these faces on the screen and I'd have no idea who they were. Whoever was in charge of this show slammed too many characters in it. A bunch of the earth kingdom and water tribe characters were completely unnecessary. New sets of villains every season? WHY? Keep the story set in Republic City and reuse people we've already met. Make the triad a greater threat. Make the Republic city council a greater threat. Make Zaheer's group invade the city. Imagine if in every instance we encountered Suki in ATLA, it had been a new character instead. Or having the Order of the White Lotus appear at the end of the series and it was five completely new old men instead of the five old guys that had appeared earlier in the show. That's pretty much what they did here.
Also, I really, really hate Bolin. Like, I hate Mako, too. Mako should've been some Mai-type character who appears in a few episodes and then fucks off to brood by himself in a corner. But Bolin is Sokka minus all of Sokka's charm. This is another writing assassination. Bolin was supposed to be a confident ladies man. It was in his 2012 description on their official website, I shit you not. I looked for citation and couldn't find any aside from a stray comment or two on the internet where other people make reference to it. I recall it clearly because I thought his looks didn't match with how that type of character is portrayed and was interested in seeing the result. He was not supposed to be some pathetic, unfunny, insecure chud that cries when his crush kisses his brother, has a stalker that's played for laughs, and forces a kiss on an actress without her consent. But somewhere along the way, someone (or someones) turned him into the butt of the joke and the second fiddle to his hot boring-ass brother.
Someone behind the scenes loves the Discount Sokka model. They made both Bolin and Lance from Legendary Defender into Discount Sokka which is just a goofball cracking a bunch of jokes. Sokka, however, had a duty to his tribe, his honor as a fighter, clear goals, and planning/strategic abilities. He was insecure but developed against those insecurities to earn a place of value with all of the bending characters. Being an "idiot huckster" is a trait among his other traits. For Bolin, it's like the main trait and it's so obnoxious. (I didn't stick with new Voltron so can't speak about Lance.)
Asami was supposed to be evil in this show and they made her good. Which is fine because I like her design and wanted more Asami. But then they gave her nothing in terms of further development. Making her evil, then good, then a friend, then a girlfriend to Korra would've been great. Having her develop with Korra and Korra's mentors would've been really nice.
And also... I really liked Tahno. I wanted a redemption arc for him and I wanted him to live without bending anymore and needing to adjust. It's been almost eight years since I've seen the episodes he was in and he still left an impression on me. He had a presence that the brothers and Tenzin's kids just don't have. They should have those three and maybe Bolin but the way he was originally conceived as a smooth ladies man earth bender that doesn't simp his friends. Mako just joins the police force and is a tertiary character.
Also... have Korra actually use the damn bear. I picture it in a parking space somewhere with a bunch of parking tickets slapped to her face. You don't sell us on her having an animal like Aang and then shoving the animal aside. Honestly, if I knew I wasn't gonna actively use the bear character, I would've ditched it. Keep Pabu with Bolin and add in a bird or something for Asami. Or keep the bear but make it smaller.
Sometimes, I really just want to reboot all of this into a fan fiction but I really should be writing my own stories.
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OT, I watched Laputa Castle in the Sky around when I first found out I got sick. Like LOK, it has all sorta of elements that should make me fall in love with it so why do I find it so goddamn boring?
