Legend of Korra Book 3: Change

rtil · June 11, 2014 10:29 PM

following the leaks, it looks like nick has rushed together a trailer for book 3 and plans to release it sooner than they had wanted.

The Legend of Korra: Book 3 Official Trailer

some things we know based on what's been revealed/leaked:

zuko is alive and kicking ass and also has a dragon or something
a lot of people can airbend now because of something Korra did
there is a sparky boom boom/combustion woman
Lin has some sort of relative or sibling, or is close to someone in the Earth kingdom who looks a hell of a lot like her
lavabending is a thing

personally i have higher expectations for this season than the last. the middle arc of season 2 was good, but the first few episodes were mostly trash and the ending was way overdone to the point of being absurd. looks like season 3 is more grounded than the previous one, and has a lot more characters and familiar faces we've missed.

Binary_2 · June 11, 2014 11:32 PM

Quote from: rtil on June 11, 2014 10:29 PM

lavabending is a thing

Please lava surfing please please please

Gilthwixt · June 12, 2014 03:13 PM

Judging from some of these scenes I get the feeling we're going to see a lot more flashbacks and stories from the past. It looks like the new villains are a sort of anti-thesis to Aang's group that they previously mentored and/or ended up imprisoning. For example, check out the imprisoned airbender @ 1:04. I think this airbender is also the bald man with the glider and the young airbender @0:49. It looks like he's friends with the water bender that attacks Mako (notably using Katara's signature tentacle arms), the Lava/Earth Bender and the SSB Chick, judging from @1:45.

rtil · June 12, 2014 11:08 PM

it's kind of funny how the best way the writers can resonate with the fans is to have flashbacks or bring back old characters from ATLA, because they failed to create a character that fans could get as attached to in LoK.

dilly · June 17, 2014 04:05 AM

that's because all they focused on with the new characters were love triangles

which i hope to god doesn't happen this season.

rtil · June 17, 2014 05:48 AM

i think they learned their lesson in book 2. everyone's tired of the shipping. focus on the story not the relationships

Bamyasi · June 19, 2014 10:06 PM

Come on rtil, we already have two book threads.

rtil · June 19, 2014 10:14 PM

they are for specific books

Bamyasi · June 19, 2014 10:20 PM

Shall I write a book about how you just ruined my hilarious joke?

rtil · June 19, 2014 10:22 PM

only if i can write a review about how it wasn't funny

Bamyasi · June 19, 2014 10:40 PM

Only if it's titled Lies and Slander: A Personal Journey by Rev. Tittybang Idiot Loser, PhD.

rtil · June 19, 2014 10:41 PM

you're a regular card

Bamyasi · June 19, 2014 10:56 PM

Then you must be a holographic one, because I wouldn't trade you for the world.

rtil · June 19, 2014 11:11 PM

i never knew stockholm syndrome could be so pathetically cute

Bamyasi · June 20, 2014 12:22 AM

I'd kiss you but this barbed wire is really tight.

rtil · June 20, 2014 09:39 PM

season 3's premiere will be June 27th at 7pm on Nickelodeon (NOT Nicktoons!)

there's a preview clip here

Korra's tone of voice is worrying, as is the stupid shoe-in of a reference to something we all know happened at the end of book 2. but w/e, it's just a half minute clip.

Bamyasi · June 23, 2014 12:40 PM

More like Book 3: Change the Channel !!! Am I right?
[spoiler]But seriously is this show any good I've heard mixed things. I didn't watch much of the first series but I guess some of what I saw was okay. I might be biased but it seemed to have this bland multiculturalist slant (sort of like a certain other similarly named franchise) and if I remember correctly the arch-villain had no motives (by which I mean James Cameron's Avatar) and was an obvious metaphor for American imperialism (in case the allusion wasn't obvious).[/spoiler]

rtil · June 23, 2014 01:41 PM

Quote from: Bamyasi on June 23, 2014 12:40 PM
More like Book 3: Change the Channel !!! Am I right?
[spoiler]But seriously is this show any good I've heard mixed things. I didn't watch much of the first series but I guess some of what I saw was okay. I might be biased but it seemed to have this bland multiculturalist slant (sort of like a certain other similarly named franchise) and if I remember correctly the arch-villain had no motives (by which I mean James Cameron's Avatar) and was an obvious metaphor for American imperialism (in case the allusion wasn't obvious).[/spoiler]

ATLA is mostly good, i think its strongest point is its character development. while Ozai is the main villain and the "final boss", he is definitely nowhere near the most interesting part of the series. the best part about ATLA is watching "Team Avatar" grow up (even if the course of the events in the series are about a year long iirc), and the story of Zuko's internal conflicts. every main character has their own story arc as well, revealing more about them than is at their surface. so there's a lot of dimension to them and the strong writing helps reflect that.

and even though the Fire Nation is painted with a broad brush, it's less about the people and more about the leadership. Same with Ba Sing Se, which is an Earth Kingdom city and has arguably even worse problems than the Fire Nation.

now Korra is kind of a different story. at the end of ATLA you are pretty attached to the main cast because they've been through so much and generally they are all relatable and likable in some way. but Korra spent too much time dealing with romance and Korra spends most of her time being a stubborn bitch to everyone so it's hard to root for her. same with the lead male Mako. he is kind of one dimensional and somehow Korra falls for him seemingly mostly for his looks. i guess they sort of resonate with the attitude. anyway, the villain of Book 1 was awesome, but the season was so short so everything felt stunted.

Book 2 was bizarre. It started off horribly, had a strong middle, and then a totally absurd ending. The best characters in it were a comic relief character who did actually tie in to the plot and the return of a beloved ATLA character.

and that's the main issue with TLOK. the best way TLOK can resonate with Avatar fans is by referencing or calling back to ATLA, because ATLA had much more memorable characters.

i think the only thing about Korra that is better than the originals is the animation and art. ATLA's art and animation can be wonky at times. and it has more of an "american trying to draw anime" look that doesn't do it many favors. but it's not bad by any means.

i don't think ATLA is a classic, but i do think it opened a lot of doors for american animation fans, and showed that serious animated series with ongoing stories that deal with very human and sometimes even dark themes is something that viewers of all ages can enjoy. it's an important series and is successful for good reasons. it has its flaws, and Korra has more, but they both get decent markings in my books.

Bamyasi · June 23, 2014 03:29 PM

Okay I'll give the first series a watch. I think we already have the DVDs anyway. From what you're saying it sounds like the creators should have made a new franchise rather than milking this one, but it's a wonder something like it (a linear Nickelodeon series) even got made in the first place (still mad about Constant Payne). Did they replace all the writers or something for this one? And yeah that "American trying to draw anime" feeling is what put me off from the first series originally, but I can look past it.

Also Korra sounds like a bitch. Really all I know about her writing is what I learned from a troll chart comparing heroines in Japanese vs. American cartoons which I don't have because I am not at home.
[spoiler]Still confused as to why the seasons are called "books".[/spoiler]

Gilthwixt · June 23, 2014 04:51 PM

Quote from: Bamyasi on June 23, 2014 03:29 PM
Okay I'll give the first series a watch. I think we already have the DVDs anyway. From what you're saying it sounds like the creators should have made a new franchise rather than milking this one, but it's a wonder something like it (a linear Nickelodeon series) even got made in the first place (still mad about Constant Payne). Did they replace all the writers or something for this one? And yeah that "American trying to draw anime" feeling is what put me off from the first series originally, but I can look past it.

Also Korra sounds like a bitch. Really all I know about her writing is what I learned from a troll chart comparing heroines in Japanese vs. American cartoons which I don't have because I am not at home.
[spoiler]Still confused as to why the seasons are called "books".[/spoiler]

When the teasers for Korra came out a lot of us were pretty excited. The 70 year time skip to what is essentially industrial-era New York should have made for great world building and served as a strong base for a continuation of the Avatar mythos. Some of that was present in Book 1, with the amazing villain that rtil described, it's just that the execution was so poor with the bad romance subplots and terrible development of our heroes. Honestly, this series could have been completely different in a good way. Brian and Mike (the creators) took over much of the writing duties this time around, with only 2 out of 8 other additional writers from AtLAB continuing on to write Korra and only 1 out of 5 previous episode directors. It really feels similar to what George Lucas did with the Star Wars prequels.

Korra is a bitch. If you want good female characters (protagonists and antagonists) watch the first series.