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kirin85I basically copied this from my Tumblr, with a few minor edits, so this post is staying public.
Spoilers below the cut:
Since it’s still very early in the series I haven’t formed any particularly strong opinions yet. (I think this is one of those me things? I’ll often read reaction posts and think “Wait, but we barely know what’s going on yet. How can you be so sure this is happening/that’s going to happen/that’s what this means?” Compared to most of Tumblr I’m practically a robot. XD Well, not really but I’ve never been into OTT-emoting. Perhaps I’m too British for Tumblr. ^^; )
My first impressions are very mixed. The biggest positive point is probably the new animation. Admittedly, the character/dialogue-centric scenes aren’t always on par with the fight scenes but the fight scenes are fantastic. The spirits look pretty impressive and there’s some really nice scenery shots as well as fluid animation.
Another positive is the focus on family dynamics, which I think Bryke do better than romance, tbh (I loved Kataang and liked Maiko and Sukka but I’m afraid Makorra is a different story, at least imho). Poor Tenzin and Katara. I do find his siblings entertaining though. Korra’s dad now has a name and actual plot involvement and characterization. Now can we have some for Korra’s mum, please?
I also hope Katara and Kya are going to have bigger roles as the series progresses; Korra’s pretty much the only female character involved in the major series plotline so far. That said, Jinora’s subplot is shaping up to be quite interesting. I wonder if that statue is the first avatar, Wen? (He’s been mentioned in the promo materials and we’re supposed to find out about his story this season.)
Speaking of Makorra, Mako’s behaviour towards Korra has improved (even if he still has a tendency to be a bit over-protective) but again, it’s like the Korra-Mako-Asami triangle never happened. I get the impression that the writers are really keen for people to like Mako (and don’t quite get why so many people had a problem with him the first place) but this change in personality/attitude does feel a bit forced. At least it’s an improvement on last season’s badly-written love square, although I can’t say I see myself becoming a Makorra fan in the future.
Bolin looks to be getting a new love interest too. I have mixed feelings about Bosami (it has a lot of cute potential but I’m not keen on “pair-the-spares” scenarios). I’m still not sure what to make of Eska or her brother. They could just be comic relief or there could be reasons for their deadpan personalities (like having a creepy dad :p ). Bolin/Eska… eh, my thoughts on that are going to depend on the direction the writers take her character in. And can Bolin please have some character development while we’re at it? He’s barely had any focus outside of comic relief since season 1 :/
I’m actually not too upset by the way Korra’s been acting so far, even though she’s not exactly handling things brilliantly because it does at least make sense character-wise. What I do want to see is actual, meaningful character development for Korra, not another cop-out ending like we got for season 1. I’m also a bit bothered by how all the major figures in her life this season are men - I’d like to see more of her relationships with the other water tribe women and Asami. I hope Asami’s going to get involved in the main plotline too, if only because she has so much potential as a character and the writers have barely touched upon it so far.
The situation with the spirit world is actually quite interesting. Unalaq *does* seem like an incredibly obvious villain so far but it’s possible that the situation is more complex than it first appears. I’m not holding my breath though. I think I’ll at least stick around to see what the spirit world is like.
The biggest criticism I have so far is that it’s almost like season 1 never happened. The only major fallout from the Equalist uprising is that Republic City is now ruled by an elected president rather than the council of benders. Whether this has improved the situation for the non-benders remains to be seen. Given how badly the writing staff dropped the ball last season, I can’t say I’m too surprised that the benders vs non-benders plotline has been more or less swept under the rug but that doesn’t stop me from feeling disappointed.
There are some flaws that have carried over from the first season, such as the rushed pacing and very on-the-nose dialogue (I don’t know what happened between AtLA season 3 and LoK season 1 but the original series was much better when it came to dialogue). Whether the series will find its feet this season remains to be seen. For now, I’m just going to keep watching until the writers do something that pleases/annoys me enough to form a definite opinion. ^^;
Spoilers below the cut:
Since it’s still very early in the series I haven’t formed any particularly strong opinions yet. (I think this is one of those me things? I’ll often read reaction posts and think “Wait, but we barely know what’s going on yet. How can you be so sure this is happening/that’s going to happen/that’s what this means?” Compared to most of Tumblr I’m practically a robot. XD Well, not really but I’ve never been into OTT-emoting. Perhaps I’m too British for Tumblr. ^^; )
My first impressions are very mixed. The biggest positive point is probably the new animation. Admittedly, the character/dialogue-centric scenes aren’t always on par with the fight scenes but the fight scenes are fantastic. The spirits look pretty impressive and there’s some really nice scenery shots as well as fluid animation.
Another positive is the focus on family dynamics, which I think Bryke do better than romance, tbh (I loved Kataang and liked Maiko and Sukka but I’m afraid Makorra is a different story, at least imho). Poor Tenzin and Katara. I do find his siblings entertaining though. Korra’s dad now has a name and actual plot involvement and characterization. Now can we have some for Korra’s mum, please?
I also hope Katara and Kya are going to have bigger roles as the series progresses; Korra’s pretty much the only female character involved in the major series plotline so far. That said, Jinora’s subplot is shaping up to be quite interesting. I wonder if that statue is the first avatar, Wen? (He’s been mentioned in the promo materials and we’re supposed to find out about his story this season.)
Speaking of Makorra, Mako’s behaviour towards Korra has improved (even if he still has a tendency to be a bit over-protective) but again, it’s like the Korra-Mako-Asami triangle never happened. I get the impression that the writers are really keen for people to like Mako (and don’t quite get why so many people had a problem with him the first place) but this change in personality/attitude does feel a bit forced. At least it’s an improvement on last season’s badly-written love square, although I can’t say I see myself becoming a Makorra fan in the future.
Bolin looks to be getting a new love interest too. I have mixed feelings about Bosami (it has a lot of cute potential but I’m not keen on “pair-the-spares” scenarios). I’m still not sure what to make of Eska or her brother. They could just be comic relief or there could be reasons for their deadpan personalities (like having a creepy dad :p ). Bolin/Eska… eh, my thoughts on that are going to depend on the direction the writers take her character in. And can Bolin please have some character development while we’re at it? He’s barely had any focus outside of comic relief since season 1 :/
I’m actually not too upset by the way Korra’s been acting so far, even though she’s not exactly handling things brilliantly because it does at least make sense character-wise. What I do want to see is actual, meaningful character development for Korra, not another cop-out ending like we got for season 1. I’m also a bit bothered by how all the major figures in her life this season are men - I’d like to see more of her relationships with the other water tribe women and Asami. I hope Asami’s going to get involved in the main plotline too, if only because she has so much potential as a character and the writers have barely touched upon it so far.
The situation with the spirit world is actually quite interesting. Unalaq *does* seem like an incredibly obvious villain so far but it’s possible that the situation is more complex than it first appears. I’m not holding my breath though. I think I’ll at least stick around to see what the spirit world is like.
The biggest criticism I have so far is that it’s almost like season 1 never happened. The only major fallout from the Equalist uprising is that Republic City is now ruled by an elected president rather than the council of benders. Whether this has improved the situation for the non-benders remains to be seen. Given how badly the writing staff dropped the ball last season, I can’t say I’m too surprised that the benders vs non-benders plotline has been more or less swept under the rug but that doesn’t stop me from feeling disappointed.
There are some flaws that have carried over from the first season, such as the rushed pacing and very on-the-nose dialogue (I don’t know what happened between AtLA season 3 and LoK season 1 but the original series was much better when it came to dialogue). Whether the series will find its feet this season remains to be seen. For now, I’m just going to keep watching until the writers do something that pleases/annoys me enough to form a definite opinion. ^^;
