The everlasting question. Which is better? The Last Airbender or Legend of Korra.
While it is an opinion base question, very subjective, there is great argument. Like most franchises the original is always better but Legend of Korra brought some really cool things that we wanted to see from the Last Airbender. The problem with this battle is that both protagonist are set in different time periods of the Avatar world. So their skills and abilities are of use according to their time line.
That being said this isn’t a battle between Aang and Korra, although we will be talking about that. This is going to be a discussion about which show was of higher quality. Which had a better story? which one had better fight scenes and which one had better character development?
So lets go
Fight Scenes & Bending
There is no denying that Legend of Korra has more variety as far as bending. I mean Legend of Korra brought back blood bending. They introduced lava bending, metal bending and higher level airbending techniques. Lets not forget lightning.
One of the most unforgettable part of Legend of Korra was when Zaheer from season 3 was able to fly. That was the highest airbending technique. Also the astral projection spiritual airbending technique was incredible as well. Although I would not call that airbending but hey, I don’t get to decide on that.
With the Last Airbender everything was much more simpler. There were four elements and sometimes we would see other forms of bending that branched off from the four main elements such as swamp bending.
I would say that if it was not for Aang, the fight scenes in Last Airbender would not so great. Sure you have Zuko, you have Kitara, Azula and some other villains. However, in the last airbender, Aang was the star of the show and every battle scene that involved him was full of tricks, techniques and what I love about Aang the most is that he changes his fighting strategy and adapts to the situation and what his opponent throws at him.
Now with Korra, there was definitely more action and the best fight scenes were not all focused on Korra. With all the bending variety, the spotlight was not always on Korra. Like when Bolin learned lava bending. Everyone was shocked. When we saw the return of Toph in the swamp, Korra got creamed. I would say in the beginning of the series, Korra was kicking ass. When she fought Amon and we saw her get her bending removed for the first time, that was devastating. Then moving form season 2 to season 3 it seemed that Korra started to diminish. So she was going backwards instead of forwards. By the end of season 4 she got her ass beat by Kuvira.
So Legend of Korra has more action than Last Airbender but it does not always involve the main character. As to the Last Airbender, Aang was the start of the show and from beginning to end, we saw him getting stronger until he finally defeated the fire lord Ozai.
I am not sure how you feel about this but I like it when Aang goes into the Avatar state as oppose to Korra. When Korra goes into that state all she has is her eyes glowing but she does not use the four elements in the Avatar state like Aang does. Korra really ruined the avatar state.
However when Aang goes into the avatar state, his eyes and tattoos glow and a sphere of air surrounds him. Aang just felt like more of an Avatar.
Now as far as fighting style. Aang is a strategist and changes according to the situation and according to his opponents way of fighting. Then you have Korra who is bullheaded and does not change the way she fights, that is why she got her ass beat by Kuvira.
Story and character development
With Avatar the Last Airbender, things were really simple.
You have the protagonist who got frozen for over a hundred years and when he was released he had to deal with all the shit he avoided. There is a final boss that has to be defeated at the end so the entire story revolves around Aang and his friend on a journey to defeat the fire lord Ozai before the comet arrives in the summer. The story takes 9 months with the seasons, winter, spring and summer. We see Aang learning the elements little by little and we grow with Aang. In the end he reaches his goal and defeats the fire lord and he is finally able to be with his girlfriend Kirata. Bravo.
The story is so simple and yet it takes us on a roller coaster. We are always excited to see what happens next. Mainly because we love Aang and the gang.
However, with Korra is more episodic. Each season there is a new villain to deal with that is threatening that balance of the four nations. Season one we have Amon, season two we have Tarlock(waterbenders just dont make good villains), season three we have Zaheer(best villain in the whole series) and finally season four we have Kuvira.
Each season Korra deals with a villain that wants to change the world with their own political view. Amon is equality, Tarlock is Faith, Zaheer is Chaos and Kuvira is order. Each season we are dealing with a different problem as oppose to the Last Airbender which had its own linear story. The thing about legend of Korra is that her villains are very realistic but the character herself is….for lack of a better word, dull. That is why previously I had said that Legend of Korra is a cool show but not because of Korra.
Each season we know what the mission is but there is no anticipation or yearning for the next season because the story is more episodic rather than linear, as an “alright dudes, we beat the boss in this level now lets go home and come back tomorrow.” Don’t get me wrong, the story is still amazing but it makes the show feel so much shorter.
The problem with Legend of Korra is…well….Korra. Aang is just more memorable. With Aang we saw the rise of the Avatar and with Korra we slowly said goodbye to the Avatar. What makes me sad is that with Korra it feels like it was made so that there wont be anymore Avatar since Tarlock beat it out of her(literally). Korra was very dramatic as oppose to Aang was more driven by his mission.
