The Legend of Korra renders viewers to the edge of their chair

One of Nickelodeon’s most popular shows, Avatar: The Last Airbender, came to a conclusion in July 2008. However, this year in April, the show’s creators, Michael Dante DiMartino and Brian Konietzko, returned with a new sequel series, The Legend of Korra.

If you didn’t watch Avatar: The Last Airbender, I highly recommend that you do. First of all, the series takes shape in a highly Asian-influenced world: a home to magical animals, spirits, and humans with the awesome power to “bend” the four elements of air, water, earth, and fire. The nations of the world are also divided into four parts: the Air Nomads, Water Tribes, Earth Kingdom, and Fire Nation. The protagonist, Aang the Avatar, sets out on a journey with his friends to master all four elements and end a war that has haunted the world for nearly a century.

The Legend of Korra takes place 70 years after the events of its preceding series, Avatar: The Last Airbender. The new protagonist, Avatar Korra of the Southern Water Tribe, is an ardent and ambitious girl, who is also the reincarnation of Aang. Korra travels to Republic City, a city founded by Aang and his friends, to learn airbending from Aang’s son, Tenzin. During Korra’s journey, she allies with Mako and his brother, Bolin, two young and energetic teenagers who bend in sport tournaments.

In addition to making new friends, Korra also makes some enemies. Korra’s antagonist counterpart is Amon, an ‘Equalist’ who claims that he may strip people’s bending powers, a legendary skill that only the Avatar is known to possess. Marching through Republic City, the Equalists prove to be formidable enemies with Korra and put Korra’s skills and bravery to the test.

The first season of The Legend of Korra features 12 action-packed episodes of Korra’s journey throughout Republic City, keeping viewers at the edge of their seats during every episode.

The level of creativity in the animation and setting is stellar. Children and young teens that grew up watching Avatar: The Last Airbender are also stepping closer to adulthood. The Legend of Korra sets a more mature environment, seeming as if the creators had fashioned older characters to complement an older audience.

However, the series does have its faults. Since season one was packed into only 12 episodes because it was ordered to be a ‘mini-series,’ the show is extremely fast paced, and all conflicts seemed to be resolved too quickly. Character development also seemed to be lacking, unlike Avatar: The Last Airbender, which spanned for 61 episodes.

Although The Legend of Korra has its flaws, the series is still fantastic. Because of the series’ success, Nickelodeon has ordered the 12-episode season to expand into a full 26-episode season, and another one after that. This leaves plenty of time to fix any problems made while rushing to cram the entire season into 12 episodes. With DiMartino and Konietzko rendering viewers to the edge of their chairs from previous episodes, many can expect the same thrill and excitement the future episodes will bring.