Avatar: The Legend of Korra (so far)

[mjmacky]

I don't know if you've heard, but I love me the fuck out of some Avatar: The Last Airbender. If you haven't watched that series, please consider it my most family friendly recommendation, even if you have no family and live alone skinning cats in your cellar. Well apparently I was really excited about this new continuation series when I heard the news about a year ago. Strange, but I had forgotten about that, and I leered at this one as if it was an attempt to milk the franchise. Naturally, my teats waiting to be drained, I gave the first 2 episodes a shot. I had a little boost in confidence once I saw that some of the same writers were involved.

My first worry, how will they devise a main plot conflict? I mean, he already saved the world, was it all pointless, will the new conflict feel forced? As of the second episode it hasn't been fully declassified, but it hints at the inequality between benders and normal folk and an organization of people completely fed up with it. This seems an all too natural conflict, so sugar needed for this medicine. There also appears to exist the simple technology that would prevent bending (which requires uninhibited movement) in a combat situation. So there's promise there too.

It takes place 70 years in the future, the only one alive from the original cast is Katara, who is a little old lady now. One of my favorites from the original series is Iroh, however, no replacement seems to have even reared his/her head. The only time I ever teared up in the original series involved a scene with Iroh, I mean, there was some talented writing involved.

They seemed to have introduced an element of a competitive sport. This seemed a bit of pandering to me, but they managed a way to cheaply link it to the development of the main character, Korra, so I'm only slightly less annoyed.

Conclusion? Still too early to tell, I'll keep watching though. In the end, I understand this is a Nickelodeon series, which is off-putting. It was the reason I ignored the original series for a few years. Definitely give the original a viewing if you haven't already, and if you're already a fan of it, this one is worth your own investigation. Would love to hear your thoughts if any.

[mjmacky]

Since none of you like wholesome programming, I'll give you something you perverts

108859

[IdolEyes787]

I'd rather watch Castle than this shite.

[mjmacky]

I'd rather watch Castle than this shite.

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[mjmacky]

So, I had only 2 nose pinches in episode 3 ("we are orphans", and when he said he watched his parents killed in front of him I yelled out, "I'm batman". Come on, seriously?), but other than that I'm pretty satisfied with where this is going. Apparently a bunch of people have gone to the school of Ty Lee, and it was a pretty fucking cool fight scene.


http://vimeo.com/40856315

[manker]

Video removed ^.
So what, this is a Japanese cartoon possibly with English subs, right?

I'm not sure how you expect this to appeal to non-weaboos.

[mjmacky]

Video removed ^.
So what, this is a Japanese cartoon possibly with English subs, right?

I'm not sure how you expect this to appeal to non-weaboos.

I'm currently working on it, I can't get around YT's content blockers, even when I removed the sound. Encoding to VP8 with slight degradation in quality and mirroring the image to see if that'll work.

Speaking of which, item #2 on this page
http://anidb.net/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=anime&aid=4552


OK, I am trying Vimeo, see if that works (have to wait for it to be processed). If it doesn't then fuck all.

I degraded the video so poorly (from 60 MB to 4 MB @ 1280x720) and it still got picked up by content id match. That's a pretty broad fucking filter.

[manker]

Oh, I feel quite embarrassed now. You've gone to all this trouble and I was only trying to view to see if it was some anime shite or not.
I would never have watched more than a couple of seconds of it.

Just an idea but maybe you could introduce a couple of 13 year old girls to the forum who might then mirror your interest in the matter :idunno:

[mjmacky]

So Vimeo works, YT content ID catches the clip even if the image is mirrored and been encoded with a different codec. That's a pretty vigorous content ID system. How is that not completing raping their servers?! Does this have anything to do with why YT gets fucking slow as balls all the time?

109068

[mjmacky]

Oh, I feel quite embarrassed now. You've gone to all this trouble and I was only trying to view to see if it was some anime shite or not.
I would never have watched more than a couple of seconds of it.

Just an idea but maybe you could introduce a couple of 13 year old girls to the forum who might then mirror your interest in the matter :idunno:

I was driven by my own challenge, Mary vs. YT. They won, the fucks. Oh, and I view your refusal of the series the same way we view squeam's refusal of BSG. Well, maybe I can't speak for you, but snitty is what I feel. That's snooty + pity. Saying pooty would sound kinda gay.

Edit: I feel like an idiot not having used this series as an in with 13 year old girls. I know what my costume will be next Halloween. I haven't done a costume in years.

[manker]

Well, maybe I can't speak for you, but snitty is what I feel. That's snooty + pity. Saying pooty would sound kinda gay.:glag: :earl:

I actually lifted my hand to my mouth for mirth stiflement porpoises.

[ckrit]

Oh, I feel quite embarrassed now. You've gone to all this trouble and I was only trying to view to see if it was some anime shite or not.
It's not even that, rly. It's a cartoon made by merkins, imitating animus. And it's for kids.

srsly, mary, you need some better shows. Go watch Puella Magi Magicka Madoka or something, it's p girly so should go over well with 13 year old girls, but somehow it's still kind of awesome.

[mjmacky]

Oh, I feel quite embarrassed now. You've gone to all this trouble and I was only trying to view to see if it was some anime shite or not.
It's not even that, rly. It's a cartoon made by merkins, imitating animus. And it's for kids.

srsly, mary, you need some better shows. Go watch Puella Magi Magicka Madoka or something, it's p girly so should go over well with 13 year old girls, but somehow it's still kind of awesome.

Avatar series is an easy show to slam given that it's 1. American animation, 2. Nickelodeon, 3. Made for children, but a gem is a gem is a gem. Anyway, I'd assume you're loaded with preconceptions without informed perspective on that one. I should point out that I spend virtually no time diddling in any show that I find less than excellent. The ONLY currently airing things I'm watching right now are Community, Game of Thrones, The Legend of Korra, Real Time with Bill Maher, The Daily Show, and The Killing (2 of those are the only reason I have some idea about what's going on in the world since I usually miss the NPR news segments... fucking all night jazz).

Show's that I've given up on this season (after 1 or 2 episodes) are: Awake, Touch, Shameless (season 2), 30 Rock (season whatever), Missing, House of Lies, New Girl, and Thundercats. That last one was an attempt to catch some nostalgia, but besides the pilot being pretty cool it's just horrible.

No good anime airing atm, well besides the One Piece and the Hunter x Hunter, but they don't count for me being long ongoing series and remakes. I just looked at that Madoka thing, and I think I gave up on anime for a brief period since everything that was airing around the same time was absolute rubbish. Also wouldn't have helped as the cover picture of it was something I'd just ignore (thrown in spoiler).

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However, it does not get much bad feedback, and since it's a grand total of 4 hours viewing I might give it a shot.

[mjmacky]

I hate being forced to break character, but that kind of image represents crap anime series that come round dime a dozen.

[ckrit]

I hate being forced to break character, but that kind of image represents crap anime series that come round dime a dozen.

That's kind of the point of it, the character design and premise says one thing, then it turns out to have hidden depths. You basically have to watch the three first episodes to see the greatness, or perhaps miss the point, idk what you're like in that respect, really. I'm saying this as someone who usually skip shoujo stuff, especially if it's slice of life, at that. (Madoka isn't, but you know, people keep saying Aria is sooo fantastic :ghey:)

As for Avatar, I have seen a few episodes, and still consider it a bit shit. The reasons for why it's shit is probably the aforementioned.

I agree on thundercats, however.


edit: I could go on about what makes Madoka fantastic to me, but in case you'd end up liking it, I really don't want to ruin it.
editII: In other animu news, as for stuff recently released, I'm thinking of picking up Steins;Gate again. It's got potential, but I think waiting for the next episode just put me off it at some point.

[mjmacky]

3 episodes is my general rule for any anime. For the longer series I tend to bump that up to 6. Still saying you're missing out on the Avatar though :/

For the series Monster, I was kind of interested but ready to dip out on it after 3 eps; I think by the time I hit around 6 episodes I was a fucking addict. Not that I was thinking it was bad, but the series length was a bit of a turn off. In the end, one of the best shows I've ever seen, period. That's when I created the 6 episode rule for myself.

[gon69]

Love the Last Airbender.

[mjmacky]

Love the Last Airbender.

This is a Korra thread, no comments about Last Airbender allowed.

[mjmacky]

I think I can finally concur that this series is far dumbed down compared to the original. A big fucking disappointment indeed. However, since my current cartoon list is pretty damn short, I will probably finish the season with an unlearned glimmer of hope.


edit: I could go on about what makes Madoka fantastic to me, but in case you'd end up liking it, I really don't want to ruin it.

I watched the Madoka series. It was good, but I couldn't rave about it. By the time I reached the final two episodes, I started comparing the series to Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni, which was a far better series IMO.

[mjmacky]

I did finish the season, and though my opinion kept swinging back and forth, mostly negative during the middle, this season ended on a fantastic note. The final 3 episodes were pretty great and final educed an emotional response from me by the last episode. However, the major conflict has been resolved and I have no idea how they'd pick up from there. So, I guess it was worth it as a one shot, at the least.

[Missing]

I did finish the season, and though my opinion kept swinging back and forth, mostly negative during the middle, this season ended on a fantastic note. The final 3 episodes were pretty great and final educed an emotional response from me by the last episode. However, the major conflict has been resolved and I have no idea how they'd pick up from there. So, I guess it was worth it as a one shot, at the least.

I felt that the finale was a bit rushed. I guess I understand why though, the creators were only given 12 episodes and thought they were only going to do one season. I wonder what major conflict they're going to come up with in season 2. Since Korra basically seems to have everything down, which was a bit silly in my opinion. She never really worked hard for it and her gaining that specific ability made the entire equalist movement pointless and Amon's power useless.

[clocker]

You people are freaks.

[mjmacky]

I felt that the finale was a bit rushed. I guess I understand why though, the creators were only given 12 episodes and thought they were only going to do one season. I wonder what major conflict they're going to come up with in season 2. Since Korra basically seems to have everything down, which was a bit silly in my opinion. She never really worked hard for it and her gaining that specific ability made the entire equalist movement pointless and Amon's power useless.

I had no appreciation for her basically not needing to work for anything. But then I remembered she's a chick and men who are hiding theirs desires to bone her are the ones giving this stuff to her. I also think it was probably smarter to wrap up the equalist uprising, I don't think it had enough potential to carry the series.

[mjmacky]

You people are freaks.

If I was embarrassed about watching cartoons, I'd put on some pants and work for private industry.

[Missing]

I felt that the finale was a bit rushed. I guess I understand why though, the creators were only given 12 episodes and thought they were only going to do one season. I wonder what major conflict they're going to come up with in season 2. Since Korra basically seems to have everything down, which was a bit silly in my opinion. She never really worked hard for it and her gaining that specific ability made the entire equalist movement pointless and Amon's power useless.

I had no appreciation for her basically not needing to work for anything. But then I remembered she's a chick and men who are hiding theirs desires to bone her are the ones giving this stuff to her. I also think it was probably smarter to wrap up the equalist uprising, I don't think it had enough potential to carry the series.

Well I just read that Nickelodeon is adding 26 more episodes that will be divided into Book 3 and 4. I hope that means we'll get a bigger conflict and greater story. Not to mention they might be able to work on developing the other characters on the show, since no one really changed that much.

[mjmacky]

Well I just read that Nickelodeon is adding 26 more episodes that will be divided into Book 3 and 4. I hope that means we'll get a bigger conflict and greater story. Not to mention they might be able to work on developing the other characters on the show, since no one really changed that much.

I will only watch because I found some redeeming qualities in the writing of that last few episodes. As soon as it starts to slope down in the new season, I'm bailing.

[Busyman]

Season 2 has been picked up. It will have 2 13-episode runs.