For those of you who may not know, Avatar: Legend of Korra is being released on Sundays. OK, I didn’t get this information from Nick themselves (Korra’s not even on their website for some reason) but, from three different anime streaming sites. It’s also worth mentioning that this episode was available to stream/download this Sunday so, I’m pretty confident its being released on Sundays is true. I know there’s been a lot of confusion on the subject so I thought I’d share this with you guys! Anyway, on to what I thought of this episode!
Wow, so, best episode so far, am I right? There was action, intrigue, character development and, my favourite, plot progression! Yay! Take notes anime, this is how it should be done!
So, in order to raise money to be able to take part in the next set of pro-bending games Bolin gets involved with some shady gangsters, which eventually led us to the revelation there’s some kind of turf war going on between three different gangs: the Agni Kais, the Red Monsoon and the Triple Threat Triad. Now, I was majorly excited about this- I’ve been wanting to watch another show with some kind of inner-city, gangland struggle for power ever since finishing DRRR!! Not for any particular reason, I just find gang wars to be incredibly fascinating! There’s something wonderfully animalistic about fighting for territory, it’s as though gang members get in touch with their inner-cavemen, throwing today’s social conventions aside, wonderful. But alas, it seems as though that disclosure of there being a gang war was little more than a throwaway comment. The gangsters, but, in particular, their leaders’ sole purpose was to the overarching storyline introduced during the very first episode, the Equalists’ rebellion.
The whole Equalist rally scene was astonishing! It’s hard to believe a children’s show can churn out a scene like that! I was so impressed by the way in which it challenged our pre-conceived perceptions of who the bad guys were, the benders or these Equalist guys. I mean, spirit bending, or stopping one’s bending for good for those of you who haven’t seen the first Avatar series, was previously presented as being a force for good, the gift bestowed upon only the Avatar, *FIRST SERIES SPOILER* Aang’s peaceful solution to stopping the Firelord *END FIRST SERIES SPOILER* so, it was really unsettling to see it used in such a brutal fashion. Yet, was it really brutal? Is what Aang did and what Amon did really any different? Both acted on behalf of the wellbeing of others and only took away the bending of those inflicting pain on those individuals so, is Amon really a bad guy? Our allegiance with our protag, Korra, naturally disposes us to think that way, as do all the low-angle camera shots of Amon, making him seem all evil and devious but, what solid evidence do we really have to suggest he’s evil? … See what I mean!? It’s all very confusing but, kudos to Avatar for not spoon-feeding us the answer to this predicament. Shows that provoke thought are always the ones that stick in your head!
My only, baby complaint in relation to this episode was that it made the show’s intention to pair up Korra and Mako crystal clear. Now, I mentioned during my last post why this is less than desirable- the characters’ stubborn nature means progression in their relationship will be extremely difficult to achieve but. You know what, whilst this episode didn’t entirely warm me up to the idea of them as a couple, it did show there was some potential for progression after all, provided the two both soften and open up to each other as they did during this episode!
An extremely good episode, though I expect next week’s will be a little more down-tempo I still anticipate its release!
Me cave man. Me use poor grammar. Why u no like idea of those two pairing up?
In all honesty, too tsundere a couple for my liking.
How so?
I need to watch this soon, last two episodes were pure awesome. n.n
Have you been watching ponies?
Have you been getting my skype messages?
This one was better!
Of course! Half-way through series 1 now. Don’t worry, you’ll still get your post on it at some point!