Review: The Legend of Korra

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The Legend of Korra is the sequel to Avatar: the Last Airbender.  It follows the adventures of Aang's successor- a hot-headed, impetuous sixteen-year-old named Korra, who has already mastered Water, Earth, and Fire, and is now to learn airbending.

However, when she travels to the United Republic to train, Korra finds that all is not well in the depths of the capital city.  Amon, the charismatic leader of the anti-bending Equalists, is causing unrest among the many non-benders.  In the name of Equality, he plans to eliminate bending from the world.  It is up to Korra and her new group of friends, Mako, Bolin, and Asami, to put a stop to his ominous plan and save the future of benders around the world.

Fans all over, including myself, anxiously awaited the arrival of this sequel.  And, when the series was finally released, we were not disappointed.  

The series is very different from Avatar: The Last Airbender in that it takes place in a much more modern time-period.  The technology in Republic City is like that of the 1940's.  This element lends a whole new feel to the world of Avatar, but manages to do so without losing the original attitude.

Korra, despite her sometimes arrogant behavior, is a strong, admirable hero, especially near the end.  Her new friends, Mako and Bolin, are similar to previous characters from The Last Airbender, yet simultaneously, they are their own characters as well.  The new Team Avatar is a fun group to watch.

The series' new villains are also great, just like in the original series.  Amon is truly terrifying... yet believable as well.  He is not evil for the sake of being evil, but it seems that he truly believes what he says.  He was my favorite character in the whole story.

As far as spiritual elements go, this new series is actually much better than Avatar: The Last Airbender.  At one point in the series, Korra experiences visions of memories from one of her "past lives.  This is a reference to the fact that the Avatar is supposedly the same spirit, reincarnated generation after generation.

Korra is visited once by the spirit of her predecessor, Aang.  However, other than this, there are no instances of contact with spiritual forces.  There are no episodes that need to be skipped for false teaching.  The entire series seemed to focus on the plot instead of the spiritual elements that were occasionally present in the previous series.

If you liked The Last Airbender, then I highly recommend this series to you.  If you are a fan of light action adventure, I also recommend this to you.  :)  It is a very enjoyable series, and I am looking forward to the next season, which is said to premier in April.

However, the creators have informed us that the spiritual elements are to return in the second series, so I will wait and see if it is as good as the first season.  

In closing- The Legend of Korra is a very good show, if not quite as in-depth as the first series.  I still re-watch it every now and then, and I am glad for a good, exciting adventure story to love once more.

-Rayne Speryll