Random Thoughts Thread

[Zurvan]

no

[Mattias]

Slayers

[SpoonyViking]

no

Why not?

Let's see, the new Ducktales, the new She-Ra, The Good Place, Doctor Who, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure... Uh, I guess that's it? I've heard good things about Wynonna Earp, but I haven't seen it yet.

[Laserman]

Why not?

Because Legend of Korra isn't as good as the original Avatar. At least that's what people told me when I asked.

I'm happy Aang got a giant statue though, he deserved it.

[purple_teardrops]

Aironi mucchyo? Can't talk, all this conversation is suffocating me.

'Wants to mistreat me', 'wants to look smart', 'i'm saving your life', 'still haven't done this to this one', 'lies all the time with no need for doing so', 'has been on the forum for mere two weeks'...
When i think of Kirakishou having a contract with me, i can't help but wonder whose thoughts are these...

[SpoonyViking]

Because Legend of Korra isn't as good as the original Avatar. At least that's what people told me when I asked.

I'd recommend you watch it. It's very uneven in quality, but overall, I like it better than the original - even its bad episodes aren't as bad as some of Avatar's stinkers, like The Great Divide or that one episode where Aang is judged for Kiyoshi's crime, for example.
Basically:
- it has a really good first season with a very weak ending (the writers didn't know if they were going to get new seasons, so they wrapped everything up too neatly), and there's a plot twist which kind of defangs a lot of the season's overarching conflict.
- Season 2 starts out really badly, and never quite recovers from it, but the final episodes are awesomely crazy. It also has some lore revelations regarding bending which are somewhat difficult to reconcile with the original series, and what's worst is that the show itself never tries to do so.
- Season 3 is really, really good. This one is heads and shoulders above even the best Avatar episodes.
- Season 4 is alright. It's not bad, but after season 3, it just feels bland. It does have a strong finish.

[Zurvan]

Why not?

Because Legend of Korra isn't as good as the original Avatar. At least that's what people told me when I asked.

I'm happy Aang got a giant statue though, he deserved it.

Compared to the original group, Korra and her friends are far less fun to watch, and honestly Korra isn't a good person, nor does she really change throughout the story.
The villains either start interesting, and then end up being terrible, or are terrible from start to finish.
It handles its characters and the previous show and its characters rather strangely, Tenzin (Aang's son) is wasted for most of the show, only really having some significance when the airbenders return because, well, spirit magic xd.
Aang, the previous avatar and an air prodigy, mastered air bending when he was twelve. Korra... controls all but air when she's first shown... as a 4 year old...
Even the setting feels weird since its hardly used for anything regarding the story. The statue is weird, it feels like fan service, and Aang isn't really the type to let a statue be constructed.
You know who had giant statues made of himself, the Firelord, the original series antagonist

I could go on about this for far longer than I'd like, but I won't, the second series feels very inferior, and the original series is better if you don't watch it, imo

[SpoonyViking]

Let's see, the new Ducktales, the new She-Ra, The Good Place, Doctor Who, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure... Uh, I guess that's it? I've heard good things about Wynonna Earp, but I haven't seen it yet.

Oh, and Zurvan, if you have Prime Video or similar, I've been rewatching Monk, and it's just as good now as it used to be.

[Zurvan]

I'd recommend you watch it. It's very uneven in quality, but overall, I like it better than the original - even its bad episodes aren't as bad as some of Avatar's stinkers, like The Great Divide or that one episode where Aang is judged for Kiyoshi's crime, for example.
Basically:
- it has a really good first season with a very weak ending (the writers didn't know if they were going to get new seasons, so they wrapped everything up too neatly), and there's a plot twist which kind of defangs a lot of the season's overarching conflict.
- Season 2 starts out really badly, and never quite recovers from it, but the final episodes are awesomely crazy. It also has some lore revelations regarding bending which are somewhat difficult to reconcile with the original series, and what's worst is that the show itself never tries to do so.
- Season 3 is really, really good. This one is heads and shoulders above even the best Avatar episodes.
- Season 4 is alright. It's not bad, but after season 3, it just feels bland. It does have a strong finish.

Oh I've watched it

The first season's antagonist start out really interesting, especially after seeing a world at war with the fire nation
but then, they reveal that he's (fuck you previous series I want to have hax) basically a force user a la star wars. It's really, really dumb

Season 2 starts out dumb, stays dumb, has the Wan episodes which I'll admit aren't terrible (but don't make sense if you keep the previous show in mind) and the final battle is... sigh... fighting a dArK AvAtArrrrr, yeah.......

Season 3 I'll admit I enjoyed, mainly because the antagonists are actually good and the characters are doing stuff thats either cool, is fun or is just good character moments. It has its flaws, but its vastly superior over the previous seasons

Season 4's antagonist is dumb, Korra needed to be weakened for her to be relevant, and the laser mech nonsense is so far removed from what avatar starts out as that it actively hurts to watch. Toph is great tho, that and the ending is about it for whats good there

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Oh, and Zurvan, if you have Prime Video or similar, I've been rewatching Monk, and it's just as good now as it used to be.

I don't have that, but I can try and check up on that

[SpoonyViking]

Aang, the previous avatar and an air prodigy, mastered air bending when he was twelve. Korra... controls all but air when she's first shown... as a 4 year old...

Justifiable, really. Aang also picked up new forms of bending really quickly (remember that episode where Katara feels jealous about how quickly he surpassed her in waterbending? The one with the pirates?) - actually, all the avatars did -, and Korra's bending is focused entirely on the physical side of things. Even in the series opener some of the White Lotus elders say she hasn't really mastered the elements, it's only because of Katara she can go to Republic City to continue her training.

Even the setting feels weird since its hardly used for anything regarding the story. The statue is weird, it feels like fan service, and Aang isn't really the type to let a statue be constructed.
You know who had giant statues made of himself, the Firelord, the original series antagonist

Wasn't the statue built after his death?

[Zurvan]

The previous show has both Aang and Roku shown that they were found to be the avatar through a system of picking toys (which is kinda adorable), and they're revealed to be the avatar around their teenage years, after which they traveled the world and studied the elements and the people living in those nations

Now a 4y old can bend 3 elements, on the south pole, with lots of earth around I guess...? But instead of previous rules, here's a 4y old who can bend 3 elements ez pz. "Deal with it" -Korra

Then there's the whole point about how she's incapable of air bending because her lack of spirituality, which is good, I like
so, how does she unlock it? After Amon blocked her other elements (thats another weird point but whatever) and her boyfriend is in danger... nothing spiritual happens

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Wasn't the statue built after his death?

i don't remember, but regardless it doesn't feel as something Aang would've wanted, so it just feels weird

[SpoonyViking]

The first season's antagonist start out really interesting, especially after seeing a world at war with the fire nation
but then, they reveal that he's (fuck you previous series I want to have hax) basically a force user a la star wars. It's really, really dumb

Yeah, it kind of cheapens the season's conflict, since

Spoiler:

instead of the protagonists being forced to consider whether the system is inherently broken, it's now either just a bender manipulating the populace's feelings of genuine unrest for his own power, or him genuinely sharing those feelings, but with the systemic issues being reduced to a personal crusade. It's like one of those feel-good movies where racism is over because a white guy learns to like jazz and fried chicken or something.

Season 2 starts out dumb, stays dumb, has the Wan episodes which I'll admit aren't terrible (but don't make sense if you keep the previous show in mind) and the final battle is... sigh... fighting a dArK AvAtArrrrr, yeah.......

Not a fan of the kaiju battles, I take it? :-P

Season 4's antagonist is dumb, Korra needed to be weakened for her to be relevant, and the laser mech nonsense is so far removed from what avatar starts out as that it actively hurts to watch. Toph is great tho, that and the ending is about it for whats good there

Eh, I was never that much a fan of Toph. But yeah, the season's villain worked better thematically than in actual execution. But is the mecha really that much of a stretch, considering we already had anachronistic technology in the original series and the setting undergoing some rapid technological changes from one series to the other?

[Zurvan]

White Lotus elders

From elder masters and good characters to beatable nobodies... how the mighty have fallen

[SpoonyViking]

From elder masters and good characters to beatable nobodies... how the mighty have fallen

Yeah, they didn't really add anything to the new series. But hey, gotta serve the fans, right? They're much like Iroh (Zuko's grandson) in that regard.

[Zurvan]

But is the mecha really that much of a stretch, considering we already had anachronistic technology in the original series and the setting undergoing some rapid technological changes from one series to the other?

It shoots a spirit energy beam Spoony..., as opposed to the technological advancements of the fire nation, noted to have an era of peace and technological advancement prior to starting the war (this was part of why sozin started the war), noted to be a people of ambition and the people that have the power of fire in possession.

I'd be less bothered about the kaiju battle of season 2 if it wasnt "The Dark Avatar" (only possible because of the weirdness of raava and vaatu)

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But hey, gotta serve the fans, right?

This is unironically a lot of korra tbh

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Eh, I was never that much a fan of Toph.

Fair enough, i do like Toph, so its probably bias on my part. Tho the part I really liked about that is the "some friendships last beyond one lifetime". That part just gets to me

[SpoonyViking]

It shoots a spirit energy beam Spoony..., [...]

Yeah, but the world was changed when the spirit portals were kept open, and we had been hearing about Varrick looking into harvesting spirit energy since season... 3? 2? Can't remember, but before the villain ever weaponised it. It doesn't feel like a stretch to me.

This is unironically a lot of korra tbh

Agreed. Like with Toph; it's not that I dislike her, but I never felt we really needed her there to meet Korra - the whole thing with Korra's poisoning was stretched out much further than it should have in the first place. (Although I agree, that was a very good line.) There are others examples, like the character who appears in the spirit world in season 2, but basically, I do wish the writers hadn't wanted (or felt the need) to rely so much on the original for fanservice.

[Historia]

toph still being alive was too yoda for me in korra

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they should've setup one of the season villains as the overall antagonist from the start, like whatshisface steve blum guy, instead of having a new one each season. or do what they did in season 3-4 with kuvira but way earlier.

[Historia]

not having korra go on a traditional avatar journey of mastering the 4 elements and instead setting her up as living a sheltered life having mastered 3 of 4 elements with only the one she couldn't connect to was a fine plot, it was different, i really liked it, it could've worked really well--if they that as the overarching plot in all 4 seasons. like, she only truly learns what is and what it means to become "the avatar" near the end of the final season until after she masters this 4th element, gradually, after being beaten time and again trying to rely on her use of the martial prowess with the other 3. show her getting confined to a wheelchair earlier, coupled with losing her bending powers, the severing of the spiritual connection she shared with her past lives, all of it, in seasons 1-3 and have her recovery that was all but completely skipped over between seasons 3-4 as the season 4.

a video i watched talked about a scene where one of the new airbenders is freaking out atop a bridge not letting anyone get close and korra simply flys up there, nonchalantly sits with him, and talks him down like they're just having a normal, everyday conversation and not something live or death--this scene or something akin to it should be the final culmination of korra's character, putting aside her more brash tenancies in solving her problems with something more diplomatic, something non-korra-like while still preserving the "spirit" of her character.

I guess you say her avatar journey should be a total reverse of aang's avatar journey in the original. that's the legend of korra i wanted to watch.

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you know, or something like that, anyway

[Zurvan]

it might've been better at least

what we have now isn't bad, but it pales in comparison to what we've gotten

alas, that's not unusual for a sequel, just one of those things

[SpoonyViking]

Personally, I maintain it's a better show than the original, just not as relatively groundbreaking.