so I found this concept background art that's supposed to be related to aang's iceberg or something and someone theroized it might have something to do with the spirit world's collapse

the fact that korra actually tries to talk to the spirit before resorting to violence makes me pretty giddy for some reason

>>111988
Water/ice everywhere. Earth underneath. Air recently purchased on a buy one get one Spiritually off sale.

>Korra shoots the creature with fireballs

I know she has a long way to go in this diplomacy emissary thing and that she's can't into defense/strategy as of the end of Book 1...but come on!

>tentacles

They're just rolling out the red carpet for Zone.

>>111991
It's been pretty obvious since the first episode that fire is Korra's go-to element

Well they had the Miyazaki and Evangelion references in the first show, mech in the first season on Korra, so tentacles would have to be in there somewhere.

If catgirls and a hot spring episode happen though I'd be kind of annoyed.

>>111996
>Evangelion
Wait, what?

>>111996
Eva references? I must have missed that.

>>111996
They'll go to the beach

UMI DAAAAA

>>111997
>>111998
You guys didn't buy the art book I see.
Bumi is regular Unit 01
Hei Bei's angry form is Unit 01's Beast Mode.

>Sorry again for the lack of posts! Our production schedule is simply brutal as we are working on Books 2, 3, and 4 simultaneously, and I have little time for anything else once I try to fit “being a human being” in there.

-Bryan

WHAT THE HELL?

>>112024
Nick

>>112024

On one hand, great! that means the release of the books should be really close with each other

On the other, god almighty, I can't imagine how many hours the team must be clocking to get this done.

>>112026

>Book 2

post-production. animation touch ups

>Book 3

mid-production. writing. storyboarding. recording.

>Book 4

pre-production. brainstorming. concept art.

>>112024
>we are working on Books 2, 3, and 4 simultaneously

HOLY BALLS

>>112026
I guess you weren't around for the Book 2-3 hiatus where Book 3 was essentially finished for like a year, but just never got to see the light of day.

>>112029
Seriously? Fuck Dickelodeon.

Didn't The Boiling Rock actually come out on DVD before it aired on TV because of mismanagement and hilarity? That's not even counting the hilarity of the kid's book version of the Sozin's Comet finale being released months before the actual air-date in late summer thanks to similarly bullshitted time-management.

>>112036
>Didn't The Boiling Rock actually come out on DVD before it aired on TV because of mismanagement and hilarity?

Yes, yes it did, but I managed to watch a leak of the episode online even before that. Still bought the DVDs anyway.

>>112036
>>112038
And if I'm also remembering correctly, didn't The Boiling Rock air first in another country, like, a week before it aired here?


I think Nick was just upset that Avatar hadn't sold all those toys they didn't make.

>>112039
>And if I'm also remembering correctly, didn't The Boiling Rock air first in another country, like, a week before it aired here?

Yeah, I think that's where the episode leaks came from.

>>112039
That happened with the two previous episodes airing on a canadian channel.
TBR got published on dvd around April, long before it was shown on Nick.

>>112049

>Awesome storyboard drawing of Asami by (awesome as usual) Ryu Ki Hyun from a Book 3 animatic.

http://bryankonietzko.tumblr.com/post/50638775261/awesome-storyboard-drawing-of-asami-by-awesome-as

>>112051

On a boat?

>>112052
Looks it, and now I'm strongly reminded of all those people who were crying for Asami to become a villain in Season 2...

>>112053
Villain Asami wins in Book 2. Books 3 and 4 follow her misadventures

>>112052
that's a really short oar.

>>112053
god, i'm getting so tired of that. i thought it would fade away as time went on but i still see people theorizing that asami is going to 'get back' at mako and korra by taking up amon's mantle. it's like they totally glazed over the part where asami was AGAINST the equalists in season 1.

and i know some of it is just harmless fantasizing but i've encountered a few people who legitimately think this. even though it was non-benders who ruined asami's life.

>>112055
Nah she isn't going to do anything like that, she's just going to continue to have her life fucked over because she isn't Korra.

>>112056

Nah. It ain't because she's not Korra. It's because Asami is the reincarnation of Sozin.

>>112055
Shipper bitches be crazy, yo.

>>112058
She looks more like the reincarnation of June. Or if June and Mai had a lovechild.

>>112056
>she's just going to continue to have her life fucked over because she isn't Korra.
man this way of thinking is annoying too.

>>112060
Wasn't Asami being Zuko and June's bastard one of the many, many joke theories floating around atone point? Then again, at one point, people were joking that everyone was.

>>112040
Actually someone who worked at Blockbusters borrowed the DVD as soon as they came in, ripped these episodes, and put them online. I know because I was one of the people lurking in the thread where he was giving updates.

why the hell would asami be a villain because "WAAAHHH YOU STOLE MY BOYFRIEND WAAAHHHH"

>>112201
95% of 'asami becomes a villain and enacts her revenge on mako and korra' theories aren't serious, it's just people projecting their problems with the show onto asami.

>>112185
Now that you say that, I think it's coming back to me. Was that in a thread here, or was it on LJ? Or both? I might have been confused because there were other season 3 episodes that aired early in another country and were leaked online. Or am I getting it wrong again? It's hard to believe it's been so many years ago I can't keep all the details straight.

>>112201
Pretty much this. >>112210

Crazy shippers be crazy. Perhaps literally in some instances.

>>112201

Because a lot of people in fandom are kind of insane when it comes to characters they don't like?

Looking forward to where Asami's character arc goes in the next season, personally.

>>112210
I consider a storyline where Korra and Mako are killed as Asami becoming the hero.

>>112231
well it's a good thing that isn't going to happen, huh?

http://fucknhasook.tumblr.com/post/52507383647/heres-the-commercial-everyones-been-talkn-about

new literally a split second footage from book 2

>>112284

>>112285
people seem to hate the cgi, but i think it'll only be for these shadowy little dudes who probably move so fast they're a bitch to animate. they animated spirits in atla so i can't see why they would stop now.

>>112285
Alright, I really don't want to be the pessimist here, but I have a concern.

One of the things, I really enjoyed about the original was the intensity of the fights. In fact, it's really why I like martial arts movies in general. Two fighters pushing themselves to their absolute limit, physically and mentally. When you see Zuko or Aang fighting, you see the devotion they put into those moves. That devotion translates to action and that action becomes the expression of their will. It's more or less the fundamental quality of any action scene.

The sequence where Korra fights the equalists for the first time is amazing because the moves they pull off is just jaw-dropping. You can't help but be impressed by them, they must have trained for days and days till they bled. There is an immediate understanding to the devotion to their cause.

My concern is that with these spirit monsters, you get absolutely none of that understanding or respect. They are merely foes to defeat. No matter how strong a monster is, I would never say what skill or willpower it has. Thus, fights no longer become a contest of wills, it merely becomes a matter of the protagonist overcoming an obstacle. That dynamic that so many martial arts films and the original Avatar thrived on will no longer be present.

Or at least that's what I'm afraid of as we go further and further on with only pictures of spirit monsters to keep us going.

I get what you're saying, but let's keep in mind that we don't know if Korra might be facing off against human opponents as well.

Chances are the writers have already considered all those things you mentioned and decided to throw in some human foes for good measure.

I'm willing to bet that bodily possession or something might play a role with some of these spirit monsters or that some human is in league with them in some way. Either that or there are slightly more grey characters like how Tarrlok was for Korra to fight as well.

mako looks like he could be using blue fire. probably not, it's likely just a coloring error + the quality of the film and blue overlay of the south pole at night making it look that way, but god imagine how pissed people would be.

>>112291

That's not blue fire. That's the, I dunno, called it the "Spirit Energy" of the Shadows they're fighting. Mako's fire is still yellow/orange.

>>112291
Looks like lightning and the snow poofing up as he lands.

>>112293
actually i think >>112294 has it right, probably a combo of lightning + snow + maybe steam?

I can already foresee rule34 dark spirit tentacles.

New preview on IGN:

http://www.ign.com/videos/2013/06/10/the-legend-of-korra-first-book-2-footage

>>112305
CG aside, the animation style looks a little different, I like it.

>>112305

my body is ready, get hype

>>112305

HNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG DAT ANIMATION

>>112308

Did anyone else notice how pissed Mike was during the airbending gag?

>>112309
Now that's a bitchslap.
I also love the Godzilla feel of the other scene, is that the southern water tribe?

>>112305
>Still only talking about spirit monsters for baddies.
>Korra flailing arms around ineffectually a la the movie.
>Big monster just hops and slaps Korra.

Please let there be real kung-fu. Please please please, let there be actual martial arts.

>>112313

She was forming ice. Katara swept her arms around the same way to freeze Zuko in the book 1 finale.

>>112313

Quiet.

>>112315
Not to belabor the point, but seriously compare the effects of the two. Sure they both whirl the arms around, but Katara makes a huge ice ball while Korra makes some snow swirl?

>>112317

I thought the color change and frost on the spirit suggested that she was freezing the spirit itself?

>>112318
Go away with your logic, we're supposed to complain about the lack of kung fu as soon as we see a choreographed kung fu move.

She was obviously trying to cleanse the spirit, hence the white. There's no freezing going on.

>>112320

>Korra

>Knowing how to cleanse spirits on the first episode.

Nope, she is freezing him.

>>112322

>Nope, she is freezing him.
>freezing him
>no ice

okay.

>>112327

It gets all frosty and turns light blue.

>>112327
the white/frosty look is her trying to freeze it. like others have already pointed out, korra wouldn't know anything about purifying spirits.

Too bad Korra faces Bang Long, the Spirit of Rape

>>112330
You think every spirits the spirit of rape.

>>112329
>>112320
actually after a thread on /co/ i'm thinking there is some kind of purifying going on, but korra isn't doing it intentionally and is just trying to attack it instead.

>>112332
Purification through punching

>>112333

PUNCHES FROM THE PUNCH DIMENSION

Looks like Bolin is gonna get a job as a rickshaw puller.

http://avatarthelegendofkorraonline.com/2013/06/19/three-new-leaked-images-from-book-2-of-the-legend-of-korra-discovered/

>>112418
i saw two more on /co/ last night, one of tenzin in rc with bumi in the background and another of korra's dad, i think. it looks like they're already in the process of dubbing in other languages. book 2 maybe for august?

>>112418
Being a mule is all Bolin's good for

>>112418
Threesome?

>bryankonietzko:
>Mixing some Book 2. Adrian on the board. Mike is my copilot.
>Varrick!!

>>112436
That was quick

>>112436
>>112437

Welp, Korra and Varrick have shared a screen together. Time to start shipping them in earnest.

>>112436
>>112437
i thought the crease/button/whatever line on her shirt was supposed to be one of her breasts, i was seriously disappointed in the animators for all of 2 seconds before i realized what i was looking at.

>>112441
Not everything is boobs, anon.

>>112446
You shut your lying mouth right now!

>>112426
he can be the transport and Asami can be Korra arm candy.

So it's come out that Asami was originally intended to be a villain, but that changed as her character developed (presumably over the course of scripting S1).

http://avatarthelegendofkorraonline.com/2013/06/27/mike-dimartino-appears-at-barns-noble-panel-says-asami-was-planned-as-a-villain/

>>112535
Thats pretty old news

>>112535
>Lastly, Mike said that he was surprised with the fandom’s reaction to Mako. Apparently he had no idea that the fandom would be angry with Mako for effectively cheating on Asami with Korra.

Now I'm curious as to what the exact words were because this seems just so tonedeaf.

Bolin/Korra is so superior anyway

>>112537
It wasn't even just Mako. Did he not hear about how despised Korra was for being a "home wrecker" after taking Pema's horrible advice?

>>112559
Pema's advice wasn't horrible, except in the minds of nerds.

>>112559
Oh yes, that. It seemed to be COMPLETELY FUCKING LOST on most people that the term "home wrecker" is assigned to those who break up existing marriages/families through romantic shenanigans. Tenzin and Lin didn't have a family and the relationship was probably deteriorating anyway, so there was no home to wreck. Lin and Tenzin probably had an amicable but tense breakup that was in no way Pema's fault.
Yeah, I know we've beaten this one to death but I just had to chime in.

Leaked panel of the Kataang kids. Still weirded out by the lunatic Zutara shippers who try to say that they're actually Zuko's.

>>112535
I'm really glad they changed their minds. And I hope the rabid Asami-haters never read this, they'd have a field day with it.

>>112567
I love seeing them all together like that.

>Still weirded out by the lunatic Zutara shippers who try to say that they're actually Zuko's.

I'm still waiting for an appearance, or at least mention, of badass Old Lady Mai to crush any hope of wrinkly Zutara sex those morons are anticipating. But really, there's no deterring shippers that insane. I mean, these are the same people who compared Aang kissing Katara in EIP to "rape", yet claim Zuko tying Katara to a tree was a sign of True Wuv.

>>112568

>Old Lady Mai

>>112570
Haha, nice find.

>>112569
>And I hope the rabid Asami-haters never read this, they'd have a field day with it.
do those even exist anymore? most negative feelings concerning asami are directed towards her batshit fans than her character, it seems.

and what's interesting is that i remember a few asami fans actually being really mad that she used to be a badguy but then bryke changed her because they liked her too much. like, they had a problem with a character's creators liking her and not wanting to get a bad end.

>>112578
Its not like things went all that great for her as a goodguy

>>112582
well, at that point if they wanted to give asami a happy ending (sans mako breaking up with her because that was always going to happen) they would have probably had to rewrite a good chunk of the show as far as future industries' involvement was concerned.

like, even if hiroshi did change his mind in the end, he would still have to go to prison and future industries would start to go under because it wouldn't null the fact he had funded a terrorist organization, and if you make asami someone else's kid you also lose that sort of connection to it.

i think the only thing they could have done to soften the blow to asami was to just axe the love triangle. if they wanted tension, korra could have misinterpreted mako and asami's relationship or whatever.

>>112578
>do those even exist anymore?

As long as there are rabid, insane shippers, there will be rabid, insane haters. Look no further than the people who still bash Mai and Aang after all this time.

>>112595
>implying the only reason those characters are bashed is shipping based

The vast majority of it is, but some people plain couldn't give a shit about shipping and have legitimate criticisms against the character.

>>112596
>legitimate criticisms
>character bashing

Pick one.

>>112597
Someone can mindlessly hate a character and bash them whilst still having legitimate complaints. Just because some of their hatred ins't logical, doesn't mean all of it is.

>>112598
right, like there are plenty of legit criticisms concerning mako, but then you have those same people people go and draw comics where he's a fedora wearing mra.

Season 1 of TLOK will be airing on YTV in Canada this fall:

http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/1191691/ytv-fast-forwards-to-fall-with-eight-side-splitting-new-series

MTV has some info on July 2nd's release of TLOK: Enhanced Experience game. I'm not going to include the link here, as I've inexplicably been getting temp banned for linking to prohibited content despite not including links in a few of those posts.

But I digress:

As these might be construed as spoilers, I'll black some of it out for those who want to avoid such things. And believe me, there's actually some pretty major spoilers leaked here...

KORRA'S FATHER: Tonraq was a general in the Northern Water Tribe and next in line to be the Chief. As a warrior, he relied on his physical strength to protect the tribe and was never very connected to the spiritual world. He is brash and hotheaded, not unlike Korra. Now living in the South, he’s determined to live a simple life. But when fate intervenes, he’s forced to lead his people in battle against his own brother.

^ I'm really not joking. There's a major spoiler there for S2.

KORRA'S UNCLE: Tonraq’s younger brother. He is an incredibly powerful Waterbender who also has a strong connection with the Spirit World. Because of his deep spiritual connections, he always believed that he was better suited to rule the North and the South than his older, brutish brother. He’s a firm believer in the old ways of the Water Tribe and a true fundamentalist when it comes to honoring the Spirits.

>>112614
Yeah, that was everyone. See >>>/baw/375023

So link away.

That said, I don't really want to know any major spoilers, but I do want to know if it bodes well or not for next season's quality, so I'd appreciate spoiler-free thoughts on it.

So a conflict of that importance mean the show's going to suck? Explain that to me, please.

>>112616
>>So link away.

I got temp-banned, again. If want links, just google Michael DiMartino's tumblr page. He posts them in the first two articles.

>DESNA (Waterbender), ESKA (Waterbender)

>Korra’s cousins are sixteen year-old twins who have a strange connection and seem to communicate without saying a word. They’re both Waterbenders, and when they work together they can accomplish amazing feats, such as shooting entire icebergs at opponents. Korra has always found them incredibly annoying because they look down on her for being a rube from the South, even though she’s the Avatar.

>VARRICK (non-bender)

>Billionaire shipping magnate from the Southern Water Tribe. He’s a little eccentric, but very charismatic. He spends most of his time traveling the world on his monster yacht and living a fabulous lifestyle. Born a poor seal-hunter’s son, he built his business from a single canoe into a global power. A consummate dealmaker, he’s always looking for angles to expand his business empire. He is currently making a deal with Asami to become Future Industries’ shipping partner. There are rumors that he deals with underworld characters and gangsters if he thinks it will turn a profit, but that has not been verified.

Is anyone else slightly bothered by the name "Varrick"?

It just doesn't sound very Avatar to me.

>>112621
well, korra is actually celtic in origin and katara is taken from the word cataracts.

Inb4 Tumblr declaring Korra the most racist cartoon in all of history because both seasons have water tribe villains.

>>112625
Nah. What griping I've seen on tumblr mostly has to do with accusations that they're repeating the plot from Season 1:

* Main villain is a waterbender
* Rival brothers from the NWT on opposite sides of a civil war
* Also, to dip into AtLa, that Tonraq/Unalaq::Iroh/Ozai::Zuko/Azula.

Although I have seen a few jokes about how half the fanbase is going to repeat their uncritical love for the villain's cause and support Unalaq's agenda: "Ein Tribe, Ein Chieftain."

>>112614
Major spoilers? Really? I'm avoiding them for now, but I'm tempted to look.

>>112618
>shooting entire icebergs at opponents

I wonder how big an iceberg we're talking here, because that seems kinda hax.

>VARRICK (non-bender)
>Billionaire shipping magnate
>He is currently making a deal with Asami to become Future Industries’ shipping partner.

>shipping partner

IT BEGINS.

>>112627
but... these two plots are completely different? its like comparing harry potter to star wars: the sound exactly the same in simple words but are actually completely fucking different.

anyways, I'm really excited to see how this whole civil war thing is going to pan out, and how korra's going to deal with it

>>112634
Stomp her feet, cry a little, pull something out her ass

>>112614
Did they say anything about Korra's mom?

I wonder how many Tumblr folks are going to complain about the patrilineal-centrism of the plotline, even though I'm pretty sure it was established quite heavily in the original series that the Northern Water Tribe was heavily patriarchal and likely still hasn't shed all of those elements yet.

>>112748
i've seen a few minor complaints, nothing along the lines of 'bryke are sexist assholes', just disappointment that it looks like senna isn't actually going to be playing that big of a part.

>I'm pretty sure it was established quite heavily in the original series that the Northern Water Tribe was heavily patriarchal and likely still hasn't shed all of those elements yet.

well in part 2 of the search katara mentions 'it isn't like that anymore' concerning the nwt and women learning how to use waterbending to fight. this, along with eska knowing how to fight pretty much kills any chances of unalaq thinking women shouldn't waterbend. so, there's a good chance that by korra's time they're open to the idea of a lady chief (is there a word for that?) but it's too early to tell.

>>112750
>>just disappointment that it looks like senna isn't actually going to be playing that big of a part.

Before Season 1 started, we knew next to nothing about Asami and Tarrlok, and Toza seemed like he would play a far bigger role in Mako and Bolin's storyline than the one scene he had. The previews and SDCC panel only really told us about the first three episodes.

>people saying bryan was too mean in his post
i don't think they know that most showrunners/creators probably feel a lot more negative feelings towards their fanbases than they let on.

>>112755
Thats not a hopeful comparison to make.

>>112762

Hope is the first step on the road to disappointment.

>irohsami was going to be canon
i am so glad asami dodged that bullet.

>>112782
Too right, IrohJr is so goddamn lame.

>>112782
Yeah, it sounds pretty dumb.

>>Executive producer and creator team Bryan Konietzko and Michael DiMartino (Avatar: The Last Airbender) and co-executive producer Joaquim Dos Santos (Avatar: The Last Airbender) discuss what's in store for the highly anticipated Book 2: Spirits. The mind-bending panel will be full of never-before-seen artwork and the ultimate of sneak peeks. You'll also get to hear from your favorite characters, as talented voice actors Janet Varney (voice of Korra), David Faustino (voice of Mako), and P. J. Byrne (voice of Bolin) share their experiences working on the series. Moderated by Bryan Konietzko.

>>Friday July 19, 2013 11:15am - 12:15pm

http://comiccon2013.sched.org/event/4be5a0f03cd15267d7b6dba3e54b9a3e?iframe=no&w=680&sidebar=yes&bg=no#.UdjFYuB9nzI

>- Scene with everyone in the south pole is the first storyboard Lauren Montgomery did on Korra. Came on for Book 2 but helped out with some Book 1 stuff.

>Mike: “We had a whole scene…Iroh was here…Asami was like, I’m gonna join the United Forces, see you later. Lauren boarded that.”

>- It was said as part of a joke pitch, but Bryan gave the impression that General Iroh is “like 36”.

ha, wow. him having zuko's voice really messed things up.

>>112791

>>Friday July 19, 2013 11:15am - 12:15pm
>3:15pm EDT

Can't Wait!

>>112873

It's funny because Dante Basco was around 36 when he recorded Iroh Jr.

snippets from the dvd commentary, i tried to pick out what i thought were the more interesting ones:

>Bryan: Ran into a battle making Korra a girl, some departments for silly economic data reasons said series with female leads don’t preform well.

>“There was a point where everybody’s kid was a character and we settled on these two as the main ones” Confident people were gonna like Lin.” Lin and Tenzin weren’t initially dating. Eventually added.

>“In book two [of Korra] we changed all their designs…subtle…made them all taller [the kids]
visible aging, yaya

>“Toza…had a bigger story for him. This was a guy who took Mako and Bolin under his wing and showed them the ropes”

>Janet cried first time seeing animation for Korra. “Also not the last time Janet cried”

>“Network note” saying ‘slow down’ to Amon fight scene right away.
dunno what this means, i guess it was too fast paced

>Hasook originally one who got taken by chi-blockers in this episode. Hasook had a whole backstory at some point. Had a family, was an adult.

>Makorra was not just something like kataang. Not love at first sight. “Man, hated this person at first” “drove me crazy” “don’t like everything about them but…they light my fire”

>Mike: Originally had much more involvement to intro of Amon in 103. Girl next to Korra originally “foaming mouth girl”. Super excited for Amon

>Bryan on taking bending away: blocking chi paths: Lightning to fire

> Bryan: “We’re gonna make up a fake story about how we met Seychelle” “Going to obscure the context…road on an airplane with Seychelle….she was wearing Katara boots. …Going to a wakeboarding event or something….Table read for wake boarding…were like I really like that actresses voice … when that wakeboarding competition didn’t work out…were like she was really good in that wakeboarding competition, had her read for this part.”

>Bryan about Mike saying: Korra feels her bending is who she is.. losing her bending is her greatest fear because of that

>Bryan regrets how brutal initial slab of rock, person into wall was.

>Aang Island is a museum/memorial dedicated to Aang’s journey. Toph made the statue.

>Mike: “Can’t have Avatar without some shipping.” “I think this is the episode where everyone stated hating Mako.”

>Bryan: did get note from network about Bolin being drunk on noodles. Response was to forward an episode of Spongebob with a similar thing. Happened a lot on Avatar: where similar thing happened on spongebob, they found that out later after they had to change it. On drunk noodles: “that one worked, we got away with it.”

>Bryan: “We’re not interested in characters that have no flaws.” (Dylan insert: no mention of Suki here)

>Bryan: “It’s not our planet, it’s a different one.” (December 5th, 2012) “That’s going on tumblr somewhere.”

>Bryan: romance stuff in Korra a lot based on personal experience in art school. Was reluctant at first to include some stuff in 105 because thought people wouldn’t like Korra, but thought it was realistic

>Mike: originally Hiroshi and Asami both bad. Then “worked in Hiroshi thing” Bryan: Asami “seemed too good to be true” so knew people would think she’d be bad.

>Bryan: Idea is lightning bending becoming common now is just the evolution of it. Similar to sports where much more complicated things being done now. “Once these things are pioneered they become more common.” Backstory idea that Mako learned lightning from Zolt. Picked it up on the streets. “We like this theme of good guys learning things from bad guys” Mike: “But using it for good.”

> Bryan: “The idea is Korra was left there with Asami’s car [when everyone else got arrested] but she doesn’t know how to drive….She somehow made it from Dragonflats burrow to the docks.” Seychelle: “Maybe the Avatar State knows how to drive.” Mike: “All the past Avatars are like, ‘what we don’t know’”.

>>112879
>Bryan: Sometimes we get notes from the network: ‘there’s not enough dialouge, they’re gonna get bored’ And we’re like this is tension

>Bryan: “Mako didn’t really know how he felt…he had these feelings he didn’t recognize yet…didn’t come to the surface until he thought he was gonna lose her.”

>Bryan: This was challenging, to see our old characters in these flashes. Very hard to cast the voices. Had to recast a few times.

>Bryan: “We really shied away from potty humor” (on ATLA). Ryu wanted lots of potty humor on Korra

>Bryan talks about how he’s frustrated that fans think things like Lin getting her bending taken away is trolling. He thinks eliciting emotion from viewers is good.

>Mike: (Scene with Mako and Asami talking) “This is supposed to be their breakup moment”. “Tried to play it more subtle where both Mako and Asami realized it wasn’t working out and said their goodbyes. It’s a moment where it’s not appropriate to have a big breakup argument or something….It might have been a little too subtle.”

>Bryan: “The chi flowing through her body…you can use waterbending where they make it glow and they’re clearing out those pathways, they can open it up so the chi flows better. What Amon did is that he took that technique and he used it to hurt people, he used it to block those pathways…That’s a philosophy Mike and I believe in, anything can be u’sed for good or bad. Any philosophy or any ideology, it’s really in the person’s intentions in how it manifests. These things aren’t good or bad, it’s just there…So she hadn’t opened up that particular chi path, being the avatar she has crazy chi energy flowing, so he was able to close the ones he could detect, not the one she hadn’t opened up yet. He couldn’t feel it.

>Steve Blum: “I have to say it, Amon a boat.”

>Mike: “There was some criticism that it was like a magic button got switches and Korra got all her powers back, but to me it’s way more than that, she had to reach this point of like total despair to be opened up to the idea of connecting to these other spirits and her spiritual side.

>Bryan (re: people hating on Mako): Hey, when you’re in college and this is happening to you (the whole Korra-Asami thing), you tell me how it felt.

>Bryan: “We really shied away from potty humor” (on ATLA). Ryu wanted lots of potty humor on Korra

Why Ryu

Why

Why do you do this

>>112879

>Bryan: romance stuff in Korra a lot based on personal experience in art school. Was reluctant at first to include some stuff in 105 because thought people wouldn’t like Korra, but thought it was realistic

The problem with a realistic teenage relationship is that it has the bullcrap drama of a realistic teenage relationship.

>>112880

I love the idea of Zolt teaching Mako lightning. Hopefully we'll see more of the brother's triad background in later seasons.

Also I think people wouldn't have much of an issue with Mako if he'd actually given a proper apology at the end (and also hadn't been the only bender complimented by Amon; I can live with him summoning lightning in the second Amon was distracted). Saying "sorry things got messed up between us" in no way shows he felt responsible.

>>112883
>and also hadn't been the only bender complimented by Amon
well shouldn't people be mad at amon for saying this? feels kind of dumb to be mad at mako, he can't help what amon thinks of him.

>>112880
>Mike: “There was some criticism that it was like a magic button got switches and Korra got all her powers back, but to me it’s way more than that, she had to reach this point of like total despair to be opened up to the idea of connecting to these other spirits and her spiritual side.
It really feels like he's just completely blind to this criticism. He hears it, but then none of it registers and he just says no, it's so much more than that. If getting really fucking depressed was all it took to make a spiritual change, you'd think there'd be a lot less depressed people.
>Bryan (re: people hating on Mako): Hey, when you’re in college and this is happening to you (the whole Korra-Asami thing), you tell me how it felt.
I'll tell you that I fucking hated people like that, what do you expect? When I was in college, my best friend tried to dump his girlfriend by flat-out ignoring her and I told him to fucking man up and talk to her because to do anything less was unfair. If you're trying to make realistic relationships then give it realistic consequences, otherwise what's the fucking point, it just becomes the aggravating drama of people doing awful and dumb things. And sure there's a ton of that in the real world, but being a good person isn't unrealistic and neither is a healthy, understanding relationship, it's just something you have to work for.

>>112884
It's more of a complaint as to how much of a pet character Mako is for Bryke.

>>112884

Because it was put in to show how amazing Mako was. It's just evidence of him being the favored character of the staff.

>>112885
>It really feels like he's just completely blind to this criticism. He hears it, but then none of it registers and he just says no, it's so much more than that. If getting really fucking depressed was all it took to make a spiritual change, you'd think there'd be a lot less depressed people.
i think you kind of missed what happened with korra during that part. it's not just that she's sad, it's that she's accepted that her bending was gone. she had effectively recognized that korra as she knew was gone, and of course she's not going to be all sunshine and rainbows. acceptances doesn't always involve happiness.

it really doesn't sound like he's blind to the criticism, more like he's addressing a certain kind of it because there's a lot of criticism for that scene. it just sounds like he's addressing the people who say, "korra getting her bending back makes no sense."

anyway, here's this other quote with some clarification:

>There's something coming up in Book 2, I don’t want to give it away, but I was very particular about, “No, after this, they do this, and that means this." You have to be careful too, because you can’t get too romantic. We wanted it to be like they weren’t maybe “officially" together yet, but definitely on the way.

the last line of this is actually talking about masami, not makorra. bryke said this during the part where mako and asami were on their date in the park. the couple in book 2 though is most likely makorra.

>>112888

I get what they were going for, but it was just presented badly. Even if they had her stand up, look resigned but focused, and then turned back from the cliff before getting her bending back it would have worked better. It really did just come off as cry a bit and then someone will solve your problems. Whereas the message should have been that even when it's bad, don't give up because if you don't better things will come.

>>112890
>Whereas the message should have been that even when it's bad, don't give up because if you don't better things will come.

i don't really like this as a message for lok because it would just add fuel to the fire that is the non-bender vs bender argument and that bending isn't all that important to benders. the whole point was that amon was taking away a huge piece of these people's identities, pieces that many of them build their lives and careers around. i think by having korra cry and break down and by having lin looking so utterly defeated was supposed to send a message that what amon did was truly evil and it's not something you can just 'be determined' about and get over.

i would have been okay with korra getting up and going back, and maybe spending some time without her bending before aang showed up.

people keep saying the message of lok was 'if you cry you'll get your way' when i really think what aang said was actually it. korra wasn't actually GIVING UP, she had accepted that she would have to start over and rebuild her identity, it just made her fucking sad and she was right to feel that way.

>>112888
>i think you kind of missed what happened with korra during that part. it's not just that she's sad, it's that she's accepted that her bending was gone. she had effectively recognized that korra as she knew was gone, and of course she's not going to be all sunshine and rainbows. acceptances doesn't always involve happiness.
Since when did that mean unlocking Avatar? We get one minute of screentime of Korra feeling bad in comparison to Aang spending an entire episode unlocking his chakras one by one, a serious trial that put him through every emotion imaginable - not just sadness or acceptance - and even after all that he failed (temporarily).

But I don't want to just make that comparison for comparison's sake, in terms of narrative, unlocking the Avatar state after one minute of feeling bad is UNFULFILLING. It's probably impossible to narratively justify unlocking complete control of god-like powers within a minute, but that didn't stop Bryke from trying.

So yes, Mike missed the point of the complaint. He can talk about how Korra was in despair or whatever, but if you just tell us with only a few seconds to actually show for it, then yeah it's gonna feel like you just flipped the deus ex machina switch (because that's what it is).

>>112891
and i will agree that yeah, they didn't really do a good job explaining this in the show. the whole last part was very buddhist to me, in that to reach enlightenment you have to let yourself go, but it was obviously lost on a lot of other people.

>>112892
well, concerning the avatar state, aang was a special case because he specifically tried to avoid using it and by extension mastering it (he could choose not to use it all he wanted but he still needed to learn how to master it). korra, on the other hand, while lacking in spirituality was readily accepting of her job as the avatar, her only really big thing blocking her from accessing the avatar state and her airbending was how weighed down she was by that image.

i'm not super familiar with chakras but just from gleaning how they were used in atla, they seem to revolve around the idea of letting one idea go that's doing you harm and accepting a new on in its place.

http://insidetv.ew.com/2013/07/10/legend-of-korra-book-2-aubrey-plaza-james-remar-lisa-edelstein/

>>112913

>>112913
>april is gonna be eska
oh god best casting

>>112914

I can hear the whitewashing bitching already.

>>112916
>>I can hear the whitewashing bitching already.

There... are some. Just not in the way you'd expect.

http://klainelynch.tumblr.com/post/55131894813/insidetv-ew-com

>>112915

yesssssssss

>>112917
i... guess i can understand where they're coming from this still kind of says 'poc sound a certain way' which i think is some form of racial stereotyping.

i mean, if a poc woman with an american accent also auditioned for korra but they just felt like janet got her personality down more, why shouldn't janet get the job? because she's white?

>>112917

>>112913
>Cuddy is Kya
Oh God my brain was not ready for this.

>Like they had a little joke where Asami was going to run off with Iroh, and Mako was going to be all “What the heck? He’s 36." and Asami was going to be all “So, I’m 29." And Mako was going to be confused, “What!?" Then Asami: “Wait, how old are you?!" Then Mako was going to be all , “I’m 19!!!"

>michaeldantedimartino:
>Earlier today, Bryan and Korra’s resident After Effects master, Matt Gadbois, finalized the titles for the Book 2 trailer.

>The panel is next Friday, July 19, 11:15am-12:15pm; Ballroom 20.

>bryankonietzko
>Yes, glad the network has announced these great actors, among many others, who are lending their talents to Korra in Book 2. One that was unfortunately not mentioned in this article is the always hilarious Richard Riehle (Office Space) as the voice of Bumi, Tenzin’s brother. I was a fan of his before, and I’m an even bigger fan now that we’ve worked with him so much.

>And no, that is not the accurate color on Desna, Eska, and Tonraq’s skin tones in those images… and I’m not happy about that. They were stills taken directly from the footage, and then once they left our hands they were messed up. Not happy one bit.

>>112916

>And no, that is not the accurate color on Desna, Eska, and Tonraq’s skin tones in those images… and I’m not happy about that. They were stills taken directly from the footage, and then once they left our hands they were messed up. Not happy one bit.

~Bryan's tumblr

Someone at Dickelodeon/Viacom fucked with the screenshots for the press release. I hope Bryan ruffles some feathers tomorrow morning at the office.

>>112927
>>112928
this is reminding me of the drama surrounding amon last season (and even without taking the lighting into consideration i do agree, he did look much lighter). i'm white myself so i obviously have no idea, but IS it possible that because amon probably spent so long with his body covered up that he did get paler? i remember there also being something about melanin in his diet or something.

>>112929

Fucking around with people's souls might also not have had the best impact on Amon's health.

>>112931
Souls? Wasn't Amon's SHOCKING TWEEST that he wasn't energy bending at all but just disabling people's bending using pressure points and his clan's BLOODline limit?

Man Amon was so much cooler when he wasn't connected to that dramabomb and was either just a chiblocker who had taken it to its greatest extreme and found a way to emulate the effects of the techniques Aang had brought back and could stand up to a super-bloodbender through sheer force of will.

That didn't take long.

>>112941
you can only get your bending back with divine intervention, i'd say that's a good indicator amon is fucking with their souls.

>>112950
There's absolutely nothing which indicates that a bloodblender with the same level as skill as Amon couldn't have unblocked them all. Heck, one could suppose that's what Korra did, and had done to her by the Avatar Spirit.

>>112953
>There's absolutely nothing which indicates that a bloodblender with the same level as skill as Amon couldn't have unblocked them all
well, considering there are none of those left, the only other option is divine intervention. and if there were others who could bloodbend during the day, that doesn't mean they have an intricate knowledge of the chi-paths and how to block them like amon did. the guy probably took years to perfect that technique.

there's also the fact that amon is taking away something that's very, very important to these people on a spiritual level. he isn't taking away a hobby they picked up one day, he was taking away something they were born with. even if there WAS another bloodbender who conveniently know how to manipulate chi-paths on the level that they could give someone their bending back, it doesn't erase the fact that amon seriously fucked with these people's psyche.

>>112956
Yeah, what Amon managed was incredibly difficult, would only ever be achievable by the select few and screwed with people's heads due to the trauma it provoked.

But someone else who studied for long enough and hard enough, it shouldn't be out of reach to either replicate or reverse those feats. So no, restoring their bending wouldn't necessarily require divine intervention (though that's what happened in the show), unless we assume that Amon wasn't actually bullshitting when he said that spirits gave him the power to remove bending, and that knowledge simply can't be learned without a spirit's tutoring.

>>112953

You can be the best Dressmaker there is, but you can't uncut another person's work using a pair of scissors.

>>112961
Its less like he removed their bending and more that he put a block on it that didn't wear off.

>>112966
i like katara's way of wording it better, that he severed the ties rather than just blocking bending.

>>112913
Is Desna supposed to be a pun on Sedna? The only places I can see "Desna" being used are Eastern European, whereas Sedna is more directly connected to Inuit culture, not to mention the sea in general.

>http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/07/11/korra-creators-bryan-konietzko-michael-dante-dimartino-on-book-1

shortish interview with the guys here, doesn't say too much except that they've always thought the idea of there being some other avatar was never compelling to them, and that benders are in fact the minority in avatar (i swear they've said this in the past but whatever they're saying it again).

boop.

>>112982
Simple and gorgeous.

>Bryan: Backstory idea that Mako learned lightning from Zolt. Picked it up on the streets. “We like this theme of good guys learning things from bad guys” Mike: “But using it for good.”

Why would Zolt teach Mako this? How high up in the Triads was Mako meant to be?

>Mike: (Scene with Mako and Asami talking) “This is supposed to be their breakup moment”. “Tried to play it more subtle where both Mako and Asami realized it wasn’t working out and said their goodbyes. It’s a moment where it’s not appropriate to have a big breakup argument or something….It might have been a little too subtle.”

If you know what's going on because you've written the whole series and you think something is subtle it's too subtle for your audience. Sadly too many writers believe that because they understand something that everyone else will understand it, without ensuring that the viewer has enough information to understand it.

>Mike: “There was some criticism that it was like a magic button got switches and Korra got all her powers back, but to me it’s way more than that, she had to reach this point of like total despair to be opened up to the idea of connecting to these other spirits and her spiritual side.

Korra: sad for one minute, past avatars fix everything.

Aang: sad for much of the series because he couldn't prevent the Fire Nation invading the earth kingdom, multiple people are trying to capture/kill him, and he loses access to the Avatar state. Past avatars don't give him any help.

So is Brian saying that it Aang was sadder the past Avatars would fix everything for him?

>>112958
Katara was a skilled healer and knew blood bending but she couldn't undo Amon's chi blocking. So it's unlikely anyone other than Korra could have.

>>112986
>Why would Zolt teach Mako this? How high up in the Triads was Mako meant to be?
it might have just been a matter of zolt liking the cut of mako, i mean they've probably talked lots of times before.

>If you know what's going on because you've written the whole series and you think something is subtle it's too subtle for your audience.
i don't know how people didn't get it was a breakup scene. mako had basically volunteered to go on a suicide mission with another woman. asami's face as he walked up to her, and their expressions during that part made it obvious.

how do people think, "i care about you too" and a kiss on the cheek translates to "we're still boyfriend and girlfriend yep"? they didn't even get close to each other or anything and barely looked each other in the face.

>sad for much of the series because he couldn't prevent the Fire Nation invading the earth kingdom, multiple people are trying to capture/kill him, and he loses access to the Avatar state. Past avatars don't give him any help.
well, he lost access to the avatar state AFTER he had his chakras opened. his block was more of a physical one instead of a mental one.

his past lives not helping him is kind of weird, but since his unlocking it again was just because he hit a rock in the right place they may not have known themselves considering aang was probably the first avatar to ever go through dying and basically coming back to life.

Bryke are getting too used to this little magical buttons of theirs for fixing their plot holes...

>>112987
Katara also hated bloodbending, and has never once been shown to have studied either it or healing in depth. Therefore, she may not actually have the knowledge that Amon did.

>nickanimationstudio:
>BREAKING NEWS: The Legend of Korra co-creator Bryan Konietzko just shared this art with us!

>It’s to announce that they will be screening the entire, long-awaited first episode of Book 2 at the San Diego Comic-Con Korra panel, Friday at 11:15am in Ballroom 20!

>Get in line early!!

>michael dantedimartino:
>Hey everyone, we can finally tell you that we will be screening a full episode at the panel this year! That’s right, the entire first episode of Book 2! We can’t wait to show you. Bryan did this awesome artwork, inspired by Korra’s battle with a dark spirit in that episode.

>Also, nickanimationstudio has its own tumblr page now. They plan to have a lot of cool, behind the scenes stuff of everything that goes on at the Nickelodeon studio where all the animated shows are made.

>>113024

GAH

>>113024
Please tell me that they're going to release a digital version as well because there's no way I'm going to be able to resist watching a camrip no matter how shitty the quality is.

dat ghibli influence

>>113028
um okay wow. I really like this.

can you provide the tumblr for this?

>>113028
Reminds me a lot of Lilo and Stitch.

>>113030
http://owldee.tumblr.com/

>>112986

Despair being the key to unlocking the Avatar State was something that was present in the older series, with Aang seeing the skeleton of his adoptive dad, Appa being kidnapped and Katara seemingly dying all triggering it, for example.

With Korra she still thought that Katara could fix it, but the revelation that she couldn't put her to her lowest point, as she'd been brought up thinking that she'd be the Avatar, and having that taken away from her meant she was having an identity crisis on top of the whole "psychic crippling" thing.

>>Korra has become a fully realized Avatar with all the power that the role entails. But even the strongest of Avatars can fall and Korra discovers she has much to learn when she steps into the realm of Spirits – a mysterious world that is both beautiful and dangerous. in the Spirit World, Korra soon learns that the Light cannot exist without the Dark and the in the cycle of creation and destruction, only she can restore balance to the world.

Go to "avatarthelastairbenderonline" dot com to find an article about this SDCC swag that had the above description. I'm not going to link it directly, after getting temp banned for posting links despite that problem supposedly being solved.

>>113032
thanks for that, bro

>bryankonietzko:
>To give you a sense of just how long it takes to make animation, and how much overlap there is in our production, here is a photo from a meeting this past Monday to kick off the storyboards for the first episode of Book 4––and we’re not even finished with the last episodes of Book 2 yet! Colin Heck (seated next to Mike on the right, and blocking Ryu) is directing the Book 4 premiere episode, and he also directed the Book 2 premiere episode we are screening tomorrow at the Korra San Diego Comic-Con panel.

http://bryankonietzko.tumblr.com/post/55788253484/to-give-you-a-sense-of-just-how-long-it-takes-to

>>113042
>David Faustino, voice of Mako, also in for a Book 4 recording session the other day, and also joining us for the Comic-Con panel, signing, and interviews tomorrow (along with Janet Varney, voice of Korra, though I don’t have a picture of her in a yellow submarine, and yellow submarine, they all live in a yellow submarine).

version of the pic not taken with a camera phone, but of course bryan didn't upload it at full size.

http://www.wired.com/underwire/2013/07/walking-dead-legend-korra-steven-yeun/

>Steve Yeun voicing Avatar Wan, the first Avatar

Hold on to your butts

>>113046
>dat artstyle

>>113047
I wonder: if they were going for the Cave of Two Lovers story style why use the regular character design animation?

>>113046
>first avatar
>wan
>one

Ha.


Also, this could be interesting:
>Steve’s vocal quality and acting can range from an innocent, naïve young man, to a trickster anti-hero, and all the way to a full-fledged action hero
>trickster anti-hero

>>113051

>trickster anti-hero

Wan confirmed for golden age Bugs Bunny

>>113046

Huh. Is he Fire Nation? His eyes and shirt color imply it. I figured the first Avatar would be an Air Nomad. If you consider Zuko's Story canon at all, I think Journey to the West was mentioned in it, and the FN is the western most country. From his description, he does sound kind of Monkey King inspired. It'd make sense if they referenced the tale for the Avatar's origin. Anyone familiar with The Journey to the West want to chime in? I've only learned a bit about it from Asian art history classes. I wonder if he's a prince since they'll probably be borrowing from the historical Buddha as well.

It is 10,000 years ago, so maybe he's from some civilization prior to the nation split?

>>113051
>trickster anti-hero
Goddamnit I love characters like that.

>>113054
his eyes look to be more brown than straight up amber, and since pale skin and black hair aren't unique to the fire nation i'm going to go with the theory that he's a mutt.

>>113056

They have a slight amber tone to me, but I'm on my laptop right now which hasn't been properly color calibrated. If they're showing up just brown to other people, I'll switch my guess back to Air Nomad (or whatever pre-Air Nomad ethnic group). This episode should be awesome. Hopefully we'll get to see more of the ancient civilizations in Avatar along with whatever spirit world journeys he's going on.

>Korra comic-con staff promising a secret surprise at 5:00 PM PDT tomorrow

Hopefully it's a digital release of episode 1. That would be excellent.

>>113058

I hope so. Otherwise it's gonna be a pain in the ass to transcribe the episode using an out-of-focus iphone rip overlaid with audience chatter.

>>113057
Was the world always divided along the likes of Air/Earth/Fire/Water? Maybe the ethnicities were different back then, possibly a single group. Or maybe he's from the Spiritbender "race".

>>113062
>>Or maybe he's from the Spiritbender "race".

I'm leaning toward this. After that earlier description from the merch about how Season 2 will Korra coming to appreciation the balance between Dark/Light::Destruction/Creation spirits, I'm wondering if the pre-Avatar world will be a unitary thing. No division between human and spirits, no humans divided into nations or benders/non-bender, no spirits divided into Dark/Light categories. So the era of Avatar Wen will be about the world self-segregating for... some reason. Maybe because before that the world is static or something without a dynamic cycle?

On the other hand, having the pre-Avatar world be a bunch of little statelets and regional cultures would be pretty sweet.

>>113066
Does the Avatar world have a creation myth? The most likely possibility, China, has a whole bunch of them including native ones like Pangu/Nuwa or the Buddhist/Taoist ones, and there's the story of Izanagi and Izanami which might be a bit more thematically appropriate. Not sure what the Koreans have, and Indian stuff generally teaches the world is cyclic (which applies to humans like the Avatars, but I think the actual world proper is treated by the show as following an arrow of progression).

>>113062

You're right, I probably should be using the term firebender or airbender instead. I was using the modern nation designations to mean whatever early groups that later developed into the modern avatar nations.

I wonder if certain regions always only bent one type of element or if different people from the same area used to be able to each bend a different type of element. Maybe overtime certain elements came to dominate each region and slowly the other elements got choked out? Were there different beginnings to each element from different cultures within the ATLA national boundries. Like did completely different earth tribes individually discover earthbending and later band together, or did one tribe discover it, conquer/influence the surrounding area and teach it to the new people?

>>113071
I wonder whether bending ability is hardcoded into your DNA, or if it's possible for pureblooded Benders of a certain nation to have their expertise actually be in a different element. It's probably the latter since you've got the Air Acolytes, most of which probably aren't descended from the Air Nomads and it's only been a few generations since Ozai for the people to intermarry.

>>113046
He looks kind of like Bolin and now I'm going to go on a massive tangent proving without a doubt the Bo is actually his descendent and the most important character in Avatar

>>113066
I don't think that Wan would be a spirit bender. Being a bender of the elements seems to be a sort of downgrade from spirit bender, I think, that and the ability to spirit bend is regarded as the Avatar's ultimate ability, not in fact their ability to bend all four elements.

My theory is that there was the age of spirit-bending where all people were of one tribe, the spirit benders. Then people started to take allegiances with certain spirits/animals learning the ability to bend the elements while losing the ability to spirit bend, thus creating the four nations.

So after the age of spirit benders and the founding of the four nations, that's when the Avatar comes into play to bridge the gap between the four nations and also be the connection to the spirit world that people lost when they stopped being spirit benders.

So Wan initially being of the Fire Nation makes a lot of sense to me. I think it'd be cool too if he wasn't even a bender until he awoke his Avatar powers.

Being the first Avatar ever technically makes him also the shittiest. No Avatar State to crib off of, no reincarnated soul shit to give him natural bending aptitude, no past lives handing him free shit (no offense Korra) and no past life ghosts to manifest in his body and bail him out when he fucks up (no offense Aang)

>>113083
Given the evolution of benders in general, with Korra-era benders very commonly being able to bend lightning and metal, I'd wager that benders back then kinda sucked. So I'd say that Wan would still be Jesus-level compared to everyone else of his time.

>>113085
what if in Wan's time bending is like TLA Movie bending and it takes a group of six people doing a choreographed dance routine to move a fist sized rock

>>113081
I like this theory. And I'm remembering the Lion-Turtle's "In the era before the Avatar, we bent not the elements, but the energy within ourselves" speech, and wondering if we'll get to see more of him or his kind this season.

The other part of his speech, "To bend another's energy, your own spirit must be unbendable, or you will be corrupted and destroyed" also makes me wonder if perhaps Energybending was too dangerous, and that's why people sort of "downgraded" to bending elements. I can only imagine people getting corrupted/destroyed left and right if there was some sort of war or conflict and they tried to use Energybending on each other. Maybe that's where some of these spirits come into play that the Korra Krew is fighting?

>>113090
Then rocks fall and everyone dies. But only one pebble at a time. And it takes them several days.

>>113083
Will also make him the most badass. Bet he can wreck shit hardcore without even using his bending

>>113051

>>113100
>>113055
>>113051
Wan: Next, you're going to say, "Was this a part of your plan too, Wan?!"
Rebel Spirit: Was this a part of your-? (gets taken out) Was this part of your plan too, Wan??!!
Wan: Damn Straight! I plan everything...FROM THE VERY BEGINNING!!!

How long until the panel?

>>113106
11:15 pst, which is about 45 minutes from now. there's an ign stream up, but it's only for the interview with bryke AFTER the panel.

jennyatsdcc should be doing a liveblogging of the panel, i've always followed her for these sort of things.

>>113107

Thank you.

I've got a friend at the panel, said he loved the first ep, that it introduced a lot of new stuff and we're looking at a September premiere.

It's allo so quiet, where's everyone?

The trailer's up.
The Legend of Korra - Book 2 Trailer
I'm speechless.

>>113111

My feels.

Gorgeous. Just gorgeous. Wish we'd seen more of Asami, but I don't have it in me to complain right now.

Wonder why we see Jinora going into the spirit world with Korra?

>>113111

Animation looks like it's taken a tick upward in quality this season.

Also, Jinora and Korra going on a Spirit World adventure TO THE LIBRARY sounds pretty awesome.

>>113113


Screw that question, how long until the first episode leaks for non comic-con viewers???

Small spoiler.
http://dongbufeng.tumblr.com/post/55888870730/benditlikekorra-eska-and-desna-bolin-just-said
Looks like there's already some 'problematic' material for the sjw crowd.

Was the plotting better for this season's opening? I don't remember the first episode of S1 being all that interesting.

>>113116
He's male Cis Scum, I doubt SJW care about the misgendering of such people.

>>113117
all i've heard is that the dialogue flows a lot better.

http://www.nick.com/videos/clip/comic-con-2013-legend-of-korra-rebel-spirit-clip-sn3.html?xid=NickTwitter

First clip, finished version of animatronic from last year.

>>113118

>>113121
How much after the first season of Korra is this by the way? Even with people's antipathy against Makorra I think it would be interesting if eventually at some point the two marry (hopefully quashing any further relationship drama), and then she continues to have adventures after that. I almost never see cartoon protagonists being married women (or mothers for that matter) who continue to be the heroes of their own adventures afterward.

>>113123
You know what, you're right. I can't think of any badass married woman protagonists in cartoons. A smattering of supporting characters I suppose, like, say, Izumi Curtis, but having a husband-wife team where the wife is the focus character? I'd be totally down for that.

Does anyone know of some good married main characters in cartoons?

Korra would have to become a good character before she can become a good married character

>>113123
season 2 takes place six months after season 1.

>>113127
Mmm, I could cut myself on all that edge.

Officially released episode one clip,
Legend Of Korra: "Rebel Spirit Sneak Peek"

What the gang are up to in the new season.

Wondering what's up with Mako's voice. Sounds like a robot.

>>113134
maybe it's just the low quality of the Youtube clip but Asami's face seemed a bit QUALITY when she was talking to that guy

>THE KORRA PANEL

>WE FILMED IT. WE’RE SEPARATING IT INTO 3 PARTS. IT’LL ALL BE UP TONIGHT

http://korracast.tumblr.com/post/55912013755/the-korra-panel

>>113121
Korra/scratches OTP.

>>113134

>this video has been removed by the user

>8pm surprise
>Fucking swagpack scavenger hunt for congoers
>no digital upload of Episode 1

Ya blew it.

>>113121
this sucks

my uniform is itchy

i wanted to be on the same team as korra

the firebender keeps picking his nose

i just wanna go home and eat chips

i'm never gonna get korra's autograph now

>>113146

>the firebender keeps picking his nose

She's the firebender

>>113140
>nobody recorded it
>nobody is probably going to leak it because nick has everything locked in a vault

>>113111

Loved that. I'm glad we finally got some new music too, instead of them re-using the one from the ATLA S3 trailers again. It suits the atmosphere of this book.

>>113121
>>113134

Can someone re-upload this to a file sharing service, like mediafire or something? I can watch it on the official site, but my computer's been having a lot of lag lately and it's slow. I'm also really hoping >>113137 managed to record the episode itself and somebody can upload that before Nick's Hired Goons take it down.

>>113123
>>113125

I agree, and it would be cool to see that, but it'd probably be in the third or fourth season if they were gonna do it. Besides, there probably isn't any rush for them to get married. And as long as we're over the DRAAAMAAA aspect of shipping (for Makorra, at least) I'll be satisfied.

>>113129

You're confusing "idiocy" with "edge".

>>113154

I'm also really hoping >>113137 managed to record the episode itself and somebody can upload that before Nick's Hired Goons take it down.

They turned their camera off during the screening of Ep 1.

Fuck Nickelodeon and SDCC boot thugs. WHY ISN'T THERE A DIGITAL RELEASE? IT'S FUCKING 2013. Now you have a room full of 4500 people able to spoil the the episode for a solid two months! Good job assholes!

>>113111
Looks like it's going to be way more interesting and plot-heavy than the first season which suffered from too much boring Probending/relationship crap.

>>113156
I get that some people did not like certain parts of the first season of Korra. I get that some people did not like the shipping. I get that some people did not like certain characters. But I'm starting to think you're the same guy who keeps bringing this up over and over and over again. And if so, please shut up already. We get it. If you're not trolling and you have legitimate complaints, discuss them in another thread, preferably the debate thread. Otherwise, shut up about how much you hate Korra. Why would you even waste your time here if you feel that way?

>>113164
...Huh? This is literally the first thing I've said anything bad about Probending. I didn't think the first season was bad mind you. Just that it was held down by a lot of things that in hindsight could have been easily avoidable, and that the second season is going to be more focused in comparison.

>>113164
The first series writing had issues, multiple people will naturally point this out, don't try and pigeonhole everyone you disagree with into one person for easier "us vs them".

>>113171

Not exactly. We had one particular dude who was really constantly insistent on disparaging the first season of Korra, to the point of "...okay, we get it."

>>113171
There was one repetitive samefag who was insisting on how Bryke were the worst writers ever, the animation was terrible, Korra is a horrible protagonist, etc. etc. But he was using incredibly incendiary language and extreme leaps of logic a lot of the time, and I should hope people haven't become so overly defensive because of him that they can tell the difference between posts such as mine in >>113156 and stuff that's actually on his level.

I'm actually looking forward to seeing whether or not they ironed out the kinks in the writing and if they're going to stop using Twilight-tier interpersonal drama to make up for plot with the actual writers on board.

>>113173
>>113174
You two are just being overdramatic about me.

>>113178
>stop using Twilight-tier interpersonal drama to make up for plot

If you're comparing Mike and Bryan's writing to twilight. I can tell that you've never read twilight. I have (The first one at least), and Mike and Bryan may have issues when it comes to trying to helm the writing for an entire series themselves, but they are nowhere near the same universe of shitty as Stephenie Meyers. Please stop with this horseshit.


Now, for a little back story on that above mentioning of my reading materials just to clear the air. One of the best pieces of advice I've ever read was from Stephen King's "On Writing" in which he says that he belives the single most important thing to do if one wants to become an author, it to read. Read a lot. Read any and everything. Good books and bad books. That, in fact, reading bad books can sometimes be even more important that reading the good ones.

Seriously though, even with that advice in mind. Don't read Twilight. Just don't.

>>113178
0/10. Nice try, Fire Lo.

>>113179
No need to defend yourself, I'm pretty sure everyone here knows Twilight is basically a trainwreck in written form. No, scratch that, at least a trainwreck is interesting and involves real drama.

>>113169
In that case, I apologize, but there's been a lot of character hate and bitching in general, even recently. Look no further than >>113178 and >>113127 for an example.

:3

>>113181
I have some friends with otherwise decent tastes in literature who thought the first books of Twilight were decent reads. And they're very much not racists, misogynists, or homophobes (self-hating or otherwise). Surely it's not so bad that it's on the level of, say, the Turner Diaries or Eye of Argon, is it?

>>113123
Its a stupid teen relationship, the only reason they would get teen-married is if Mako gets her knocked up and teen-pregnant.

Make more sense if they broke up.

>>113193
It doesn’t matter. What matters is whether Bolin will get with Eska…

…or whats-her-face.

>>113203
Bolin will date Eska but she'll tell him she has a huge pegging fetish and secretly switch off with Desna every once in a while

>>113178

Dude, do I have to do something about you?

>>113193
i don't wanna watch this show anymore

>>113213
How DARE you not like Makorra.

Their love is the truest and should be applauded! It is truly something to look up to.

>>113213
>get offended when the main character does couple stuff with her boyfriend
you people have had over a year.

>>113213
k, feel free to stop watching anytime now.

>>113214
Your bitter sarcasm aside, should ANYONE try to emulate relationships they see on TV? Cuz that's not a very good idea in general. Yes, Makorra has issues and Mako was being stupid and irresponsible, but FFS, the people bitching about them being together are more annoying than watching a teen couple be young and dumb.

>>112881
>Why Ryu

Because Koreans.

>>113211
How come you don't? It's clear by now he's just looking for excuses to shitpost.

>bryankonietzko:
>Let’s take a break from all this SDCC stuff for a new sneak peek still from Book 2!

Two characters in the same shot? Shipbaiting!111

>>113263
And all dressed up in finery!

>>113257

>Bolin: *sigh* Women.
>Asami: *sigh* Men.
>They both turn to look at each other, gazing deeply into each other's eyes, and...

"Disregard relationships, acquire yuans."

>>113269

>>113274
If they silver medal with each other I will be less than excited

>bryan posts a cap of bolin and asami looking miserable
>nickelodeon's tumblr posts this
oh they so know what they're doing.

>>113274
Aw, I was hoping you had captioned it with the last line.

>>113278
They've mastered the art of shipteasing by now.

stop baiting the tumblerdyks....

The last thing the new season needs is for Bryke to attempt to write romantic drama again

>>113279
The only thing you have to do to shiptease is have two characters in the same scene. Some socially stunted land whale will latch onto it

>>113284
1 - bryan isn't a writer anymore, they said this at comicon.

2- mako and korra's "drama" this season seems to be a lot more interesting and less eyeroll worthy than a love triangle, if i do say so myself.

>>113288
>mako and korra's "drama" this season seems to be a lot more interesting and less eyeroll worthy than a love triangle, if i do say so myself.

How do you know that? From what I've seen so far I got the impression they were arguing over trust issues or some BS.

>>113289
it really didn't look like trust issues to me, more like a matter of korra wanting honest input when she asks for it but mako holding back because he knows he can't ever really empathize with korra's situation easily and is therefore not in a position to tell her what to do concerning her duty as the avatar (and also he probably does truly believe korra should be allowed to make her own decisions, he seems to trust her on making the right ones). korra got frustrated with him because he gave her the most passive and unhelpful response he could give when she actually asked for his opinion on it.

from what it seems, this season might be about korra struggling to become an independent avatar in her own right. she doesn't want people dictating what she should do, but she also doesn't want them to smile and nod at whatever decisions she makes. she wants input, but she wants it at her own discretion.

>>113288
What different aspects are Bryan and Mike in charge of? I know Bryan is also an artist, not sure about Mike.

>>113294
Mike's in charge of making sure that the sacrifices in the girl pit apply the appropriate amount of lotion to its skin.

>>113294

I think Mike's more involved in writing.

Part 1 of a 4 part webseries about Mako and Bolin's life on the streets!

Republic City Hustle Part 1

>>113432
Who knew that actively showing the hard life of Mako and Bolin would make them likable characters!

Seriously, I'm amazed at how much two minutes did to make me like the brothers so much more.

>>113433
People are still saying Mako is a horrible person and that the episode just further proves it. It's amazing how far people will shove their heads up their asses just to avoid having empathy for a character they don't like.

>>113435
To be fair, it was some pretty serious cognitive dissonance for me to go from wanting him burned dead to having a little bit of sympathy for him.

>>113432
So cute.

>>113432

That was really cute. I wish we'd gotten more of this in the show. Just imagine if they cut probending time at least in half and spent the time used on love triangles to delve into Mako and Bolins backstory.

>>113435

I can kind of understand that. It doesn't really matter how much they show Mako's struggle, if no one on staff actually addresses how much of a dick Mako was to Korra, Asami, and Bolin in the first season, how everyone really forgive him? I love asshole characters, but the show has to acknowledge that they're assholes.

>>113441

Why'd they need to address a problem that doesn't exist?

>>113441
Well, the show kind of did address it, it just didn't make a big deal out of it.

Bolin gets mad at Mako in the fifth episode, Mako apologizes and Bolin values their relationship and everything Mako did for him more than a girl he's known maybe for a month, so he forgives him.

Every time Mako is a jerk to Korra, he's proven wrong and apologizes to her and she accepts, because she's a decent human being. They don't really need to make a big deal out of Mako making mistakes and owning up to them.

He DOES apologize to Asami. He uses the words "I'm sorry". It's not a very well written apology, but it happens. And Asami wasn't even taking any of Mako's shit before then, she told him he had to figure out how he really felt and be honest about it and that she wasn't going to put it on hold because of what was happening with Amon.

Mako being a jerk is acknowledged, just in most cases he ends up apologizing for what he did. Is everyone just forgiving him right off the bat necessarily realistic? For Bolin and Korra, I'd say so. Asami, I'm not so sure, but if she's over it, I'm fine with that and I'm willing to let that stupid love triangle stay buried in book 1. If she isn't, Mako will apologize and everyone will be happy.

I'm not saying anyone has to like Mako, but at this point it's beating a dead horse.

>>113432
>French looking bread instead of bao
What. Aside from that it was pretty cute, did they use CG for it or Flash animation cutouts?

>>113444
Haha, yeah. I would have killed to have bread with a crust like that in China.

>>113443

Except he never honestly apologizes, he just apologizes for the general situation. See to Bolin how he says he's sorry girls got between them (no mention of himself being at fault) or to Asami about how he's sorry stuff got so messed up (again no mention of how pretty much just he messed stuff up). It's like he refuses to accept actual responsibility for anything, which can work if it's meant to be something for him to work on. Hell, they don't even have to readdress the drama shit in book 1, just have Mako grow and start to actually own up to his mistakes. If they address this problem, he's got tons of potential for interesting character growth, but I'm really worried this won't happen considering how much the Korra staff blows off complaints and spend so much time defending him. I don't think they really see any of this as a problem seeing as Mako's final scene with his brother is him shutting Bolin down, and it's played for laughs. If they really meant for Mako to be learning from his mistakes and stop being an ass, why would that scene still be in there?

>>113448
>Except he never honestly apologizes
There's nothing to indicate he doesn't. He really is not some sneaky guy who tries to divert blame from himself (he did NOT blame Bolin for Asami finding out, if anything he was trying to buy time to figure out what to say to her). He calls himself an idiot when he realizes Korra's the Avatar, he owns up and admits he misjudged her later on, he apologizes for his attitude towards her in the seventh episode. I'd say that's him owning up to his mistakes.

>If they really meant for Mako to be learning from his mistakes and stop being an ass, why would that scene still be in there?
Because Bolin was legitimately being insensitive?

I mean, they aren't going to acknowledge it. There isn't going to be a "Mako gets humbled" arc, because the guy fucking grew up on the streets and already knows what it is to be humble.

>>113449
I have nothing to add, but I want to let you know I agree with you because you're probably not going to hear it much on this board. Everyone's so on board the Mako hate wagon that they have built a fanon version of him that just doesn't exist so they can hate him more.

>>113449
This. Just because there's no dramatic "shaming" scene (Tumblr seems inordinately fond of that word, by the way) doesn't mean Mako doesn't at least acknowledge that he's hurt others. You don't have to think it completely makes up for his actions, but for gods' sakes you can at least stop pretending he's totally unrepentant for his own actions.

>>113453

Look. I don't think he's the devil incarnate like tumblr does, but he never owns up to his own mistakes. It really doesn't take much to make him repentant, but the show never does that. Saying "I'm sorry things went wrong" is not an apology, it's half-ass bullshit to avoid personal responsibility, especially when all your actions say that you don't care. The show, nor the writers ever acknowledge the issue that he's the one causing problems, and that's what I have issue with. Everything works out for him despite his actions. Honestly, I love douchebag characters as long as the show/book/whatever acknowledge that they've wronged people. Mako in no circumstance is portrayed by the writers to be a dick at any point. Everything works out for him at the end despite his dickhead actions. I'd like to like him. His character should be likable, but everything about him screams "creators' favorite," and that is recipe for disaster. He should be a fantastic character, and he could easily become one, but denying him any responsibility just robs him of that.

>>113452

Hold up, what the hell is this? I don't give a rat's ass about what the fanon thinks of him. I just find him to be a woefully underdeveloped character. For gods sake Asami of all people is more interesting than him, and she's barely developed at all. ATLA never used Zuko's backstory to excuse his actions, why should Mako's backstory excuse his? Zuko's tale explained why Zuko did what he did, but ATLA never pretended that Zuko was in the right or that his tragic story made his actions ok. Why should Mako's backstory (which was never fully elaborated on in the show) excuse his actions?

>LOK BITCHING THREAD #63865326

FUCKING STOP ALREADY. STOP.

>>113454
>Mako in no circumstance is portrayed by the writers to be a dick at any point.
Dude, I gave you three examples in a previous post. His attitude in those examples was understandable (thinking Korra was just a fangirl and not wanting Bolin to get distracted because probending is how they earn money), but he was still a dick. And hey, Korra was unrelenting about it until the guy apologized to her. Her own attitude towards him was the show's way of acknowledging that hey, this guy can be a bit of a jerk but when he realizes he's wrong he owns up to it. Whenever it's made obvious he's getting closer and closer to Korra, they always cut to Asami to show her reaction. Again, it's the show acknowledging that Mako isn't flawless and that he hurts people sometimes.

And I'm getting a little tired of "but he gets a happy ending!!" Okay, the breakup with Asami could have been handled better, I like that they tried to go for a things better left unsaid situation, but I will admit his apology is pretty odd considering in the past when he's fucked up he doesn't really shy away from the fact that HE messed up in his apologies. I can only figure that a breakup is harder to word than an apology for a guy like Mako, because he's basically the emotionally stunted one in the group. Anyway, back to the happy ending bit, what exactly did Mako do to NOT get a happy ending, outside of botching his first relationship? Maybe I could have understood wanting to leave him and Korra hooking up as vague (though Jesus Christ it was obvious), but other than what happened with Asami, I... can't think of anything he's done that warrants a long-term punishment. Korra, Bolin and Asami all call him out when he's being a jerk, I don't know what show people are watching because it does happen. It seems people have a problem with him being surrounded by people who love/care about him and can recognize he has flaws but they don't cloud their perception of him and are more willing to forgive him, if anything, but just because they do doesn't mean they don't call him out when he messes up because that's what leads to him apologizing in the first place.

Here's the thing: Mako is still probably going to "jerkish" things in upcoming books, because that's his thing. He's the emotionally stunted one who wants to protect everyone. This isn't going to be the writers acknowledging how "fucked up" Mako is to soothe fandom's tears, because it's been happening since book 1.

>>113457

>I'm getting a little tired of "but he gets a happy ending!!" Okay, the breakup with Asami could have been handled better, I like that they tried to go for a things better left unsaid situation, but I will admit his apology is pretty odd considering in the past when he's fucked up he doesn't really shy away from the fact that HE messed up in his apologies.

Except for the time he didn't actually apologize to Bolin in episode 5 and did the exact same "sorry stuff happened" bullshit. Also within 5 minutes of making that non-apology to Asami, he once again shuts Bolin down.

Also the reason we're mad he gets everything in the end is because Bolin almost gets completely ignored by the narrative and Asami gets completely shit over. Both of those characters deserve better. Meanwhile Mr. creator's favorite gets everything he wants even though he's been an asshole to his brother and to whichever girl he isn't currently interested in. Not only does he get totally rewarded for all this, but the show itself goes out of its way to show how special and amazing he is by having him break out of Amon's bloodbending, form lightning with barely any movement, and having Amon compliment his bending when he's never done that before. Then, after the show ends, Bryke go out of their way to defend him rather than address complaints. None of this gives much confidence to his assholery being addressed in the show.

>>113456
>>113456
>>113456

THIS. Take it here >>101898 if you absolutely must continue. This thread has been derailed far enough.

>>113459

Because Mako isn't an asshole at all, it's just your own lack of grounding and maturity which makes him seem so unreasonable. He's just a decent guy trying to do the right thing.

I've just decided to love the bomb at this point. Stir stir stir.

>He's just a decent guy trying to do the right thing.
Lol, since never.

Seriously, I wouldn't even blame him, growing up homeless on the streets is sure as hell going to mess with your principles and that's clearly reflected in his "us" vs "them" attitude to the world.

>>113465

See, I totally agree with this (I'm the one calling him out in here btw), and I want to show to address this and have him grow. Mako is not at all irredeemable because nothing he did was that bad; the show just ignored that he did anything wrong at the end.

Y'all are right that I'm getting too negative here. Here's my biggest hope for Mako's character in the next book because he's got tons of potential: He's a cop now, so I really want his triad past to come up and cause problems. No one can really blame him for turning to the triads when he was a poor street urchin, but it's still something he's going to have to deal with now that he's older, and I'd like to see Korra and Lin's reactions. I also want him to have been more involved in the triads than he told Korra - maybe even more than Bolin knew - which would add some great tension once she finds out. Lightning Bolt Zolt apparently taught him how to bend lightning, so he had to have been important to them, and there has got to be a good story there.

>>113466
>Lightning Bolt Zolt apparently taught him how to bend lightning
Isn't that just a really popular fan theory?

And, to be honest, after how the Triads were used in S1, I'm not holding out much hope for their portrayal in S2.

Seriously Bryke, where was my mob-fixing of sport events? The Triads leaning on Mako to throw the match with the Wolfbats would have been far more entertaining than the love triangle stuff.

>>113469

No, Mike and/or Bryan were the one's who said that.

>>113471
Got a source on that? I haven't seen anything about that, and people have been trying to form a personal link between Mako and Zolt ever since we saw the latter.

the legend of korra book 1 – air the art of the animated series
>MD: Lighting Bolt Zolt (far left) is the head of the Triple Threat Triad and the first to have his bending taken away by Amon. Bryan and I think that Mako probably learned his lightning skills from his former boss. Near left: The doorman at the Equalist rally was modeled after our martial arts videographer, William Rinaldi. Ryu would draw William in the production meetings and he asked if we could make him a character.

>>113473
>probably
That word, I feel, is so very telling about Bryke's approach to the Triads.

Though, I find it incredibly odd that Zolt - the gang's leader - would take someone as a student and then let them walk away from the lifestyle unharmed. Especially when that something was a high end skill like lightningbending. So, on the whole, I'd say it's pretty unlikely Zolt ever taught it, and since Bryke haven't said anything definitive, so I'm going to go with the interpretation that I consider more logical.

>>113474
>That word, I feel, is so very telling about Bryke's approach to the Triads.
I'm going to need more detail about what you mean by that. It sounds like you disapprove of the fact that they didn't write extremely in-depth biographies for minor throwaway characters, and just had basic outlines for them instead.

>>113477

Not that guy, but I think that perhaps if they'd put more thought into the Triads and shown Mako and Bolin's initial connections to them a little more, it would've made the start of the series more interesting.

But hey. 12 episodes. What can ya do?

>>113477
Mako and Bolin spent most of their streets on the life and worked for the Triads, so I'd expect Bryke to have had a solid idea on how the two got along with others in the gang, just as they had a fairly solid idea as to how Aang was treated by, and got along with, the Airbenders.

So no, I don't want in-depth biographies of throw away characters. What I want is for the sibling's past to have some kind of relevance, and for Bryke to show that they have put some thought into it. So, if Bryke mention the possibility of Mako being taught by Zolt, I want them to be definitive about it since whether he did or not does actually drastically change how the Triads are likely to view the two, and thus have a pretty big impact in two of the main characters lives.

>>113478
Yeah, and pulling the plot in too many directions makes for a worse narrative unless convoluted is what you're going for. And even if it is what you're going for, you actually have to be good to pull it off--most people who attempt convoluted are nowhere near good enough to pull it off. Film Critic Hulk explains the danger really well:

http://badassdigest.com/2013/06/12/film-crit-hulk-smash-the-age-of-the-convoluted-blockbuster/

Though the article focuses more on the modern addiction to Enigma-based story telling, the same logic applies to overplotting. Unless the triads are important to Korra herself, their story is chaff. Because the story isn't about "What's happening in Republic City," it's about "What does Korra want, and how does she attain it?" or in the specific case of Act One, "What is wrong with Korra, and how can she overcome it?"

>>113478
They could've done literally anything. They chose dodgeball and shipping. Others have done more with less: FLCL.

>>113481
This is completely stupid and ridiculous to say because Korra doesn't actually have any agency in anything that happens to her. She doesn't "overcome" shit. Things happen to her; that's what season 1 was: the things that happened to Korra in Republic City. It would be really easy to work an actual story into that instead of three episodes of set-up and then 9 episodes of misdirection, bickering, "tweests", and propping up a firebending Mary Sue because you think he's an awesome tribute to this dead guy you knew.

>>113483
>propping up a firebending Mary Sue
Yeah, because they really did that, by making him nothing more than an extension of Korra, and ultimately reducing him to something for her to obtain. Seriously, after the third episode, there is very little that Mako does which does not correlate to Korra and her interest in him.

Cool, more whining!

>>113483
>Mako
>Mary Sue
There should be a fandom Godwin's Law for shit like this.

>>113485
What can I say? It's fun.

>>113483
>>113487

Stop posting.

SEPTEMBER 7TH, ASSHOLES

http://www.kpopstarz.com/articles/37739/20130814/legend-of-korra-book-2-release-date.htm

>>113482

True.

>>113482
The dodgeball was fine, really. What was disappointing is the fact Bryke, despite choosing to bring in a rather evident case of corruption during the Final, for some reason didn't think to include the Triads - a group, who by all rights, it would ahve made perfect sense to tie in.

>>113490
It won't be long then!

>>113492
Well, they are involved in the rigging according to that new short about Bolin and Mako's past.

>>113492

I still think it'd have been great if the Triads were paying off Tarrlok and huge swaths of the police force. That way, the Triads get pulled into the larger story, Mako and Bolin's Triad past becomes relevant, and the government is actively working in the interests of the Triads who see themselves as bending warlords over the rest of the city. Add in how many of the Triads see nonbenders as weaker and the perfect targets (and untrained bender can at least throw a rock at you), and of course they'd have a sense of superiority over nonbenders as well. Then Amon enters giving the nonbenders a voice and chance to fight back. Of course as in the show, he goes beyond trying to stop the Triads and starts attacking all benders. His army is solely funded by Hiroshi who is bending-racist and rich as fuck. This adds in the question of if it's bending that's oppressing people, or wealth disparity. Hiroshi's wealth and nonbending is contrasted with Mako and Bolin's poverty and bending, which is then contrasted with The Lieutenant's poverty and nonbending (yeah, he'd have a backstory in this one. Preferably similar to the brothers but without the bending to fall back on for odd jobs and protection). Basically just extend When Extremes Meet into the entire show, and Korra's stuck between the two and has to find some solution. Also, the Tarrlok-Amon backstory is optional in this one, since - while interesting - it didn't really add anything to the equalist storyline. Plus I don't think Tarrlok-as-is would be working with the triads.

>>113495
So you're saying you wish you had watched a cartoon about magic gangsters instead of Korra. May I suggest Baccano! instead? It is much better than what you would have gotten from a Nickelodeon cartoon on that front.

>>113497

Stop posting here.

Go the fuck away.

>>113496

Never heard of it, but I'll have to check it out.

>>113496
Given that these magic gangsters formed the majority of two main character's background and were the primary reason for the antagonist's revolutionary movement, I'd say yeah, getting some more screentime with the magic gangsters would've been nice.

>>113504
But they didn't form the majority of two main characters' backgrounds. They formed a small part of two supporting characters' backgrounds. You may as well be asking for Xander's parents in Buffy to get more screentime.

>>113505
>Talking Buffy
>Using Xander as an example
>Making me go completely offtopic with Buffy while not spoilering anything because this is an Avatar board
But we did learn a lot about his parents, it's just that the majority of that was from indirect contact. Xander complains about his parents at the slightest mention of family, he fucking despises them and he makes it known all the goddamn time. And we also get some really great Xander-centric episodes (some of the best Buffy episodes honestly) that show just how badly they have affected his self-confidence and his attitude to relationships. And I don't just mean talking about how past experiences have affected him, we really see it and we really do learn a lot about Xander and his family. I don't want to get too deep in Buffy spoilers on an Avatar board, but hopefully you'll know the episodes I'm referring to.

On the flip side of the coin, Willow's parents more accurately have no bearing on the story whatsoever, but critically they have no special affect on Willow herself. While Buffy's mom inspired Buffy constantly to be a capable woman and Xander's parents abusive nature made him a social awkward mess who relied on jokes to get by, Willow's parents just did normal things and shaped Willow to be a sort-of-normal geek and thus never had any reason to be brought up.

So for "parents" like Lightning Bolt Zolt and the other Triads, yes we should learn more about them to get a better understanding of Mako and Bolin. Or in the same way Buffy handled it with Xander, we should learn just how deeply they've affected Mako and Bolin and not just through saying, "Oh you don't know what it's been like for me and my brother to live on the street. We've done things for the Triads!" Sure, that carries a lot of implications and it'll help our understanding of the characters a bit, but it doesn't carry the same weight or meaning as to actually being shown just what sort of "things" Mako and Bolin we're forced into. What was the actual extent of their crimes? Was there ever any good in these adoptive Triad parents? Did Mako and Bolin even care so long as they had food? All this would've been great to learn to help the audience get a better understanding of these two central characters.

That and the Triads were still the catalyst for Amon's revolution and that definitely deserves some more screentime to their evils.

>>113506
Your entire set of desires for Korra seems to consist of "It should have been more like my fanfiction." Don't assume that the audience would've been any happier with that than they are with what they got.

>>113508
>find faults with Korra = "it should have been more like my fanfiction"
nice

>>113510
I don't say that because you find faults with it. I say that because you find faults with it and then offer shitty suggestions about how to fix it.

>>113513
There were a total of two fart jokes in the entire season, I cannot believe that over a year later people are still hung up over them. There are other flaws people can discuss, but I still see a lot of it go back to the fart jokes.

>>113511
Dude you have not even seen book 2 so I don't know why you're stomping around saying everything that happened is irrelevant. We don't know that -- what we know is that the Equalist movement is dead or either so near death Korra doesn't need to worry about it, and I don't see why anyone should give a shit about their wants considering they're a terrorist group.

We know Korra is still struggling with patience. Like, wow, that's the narrative acknowledging that what happened at the end of book 1 wasn't Korra ascending to some higher tier of existence and understanding, more like she had just learned that patience has values but it's still not something she's big on. We know she still has hang ups about being locked up all of her life, we know she's still struggling to make her own decisions as the Avatar and learning to trust them. And for all we know, she still has fucked up identity issues (because that's really not something that's going to go away very easily).

ENOUGH. THAT IS FUCKING ENOUGH. YES, I AM UNLEASHING THE MOTHERFUCKING FURY OF THE GODDAMN CAPSLOCK, AND EVEN BOLD! MAYBE THEN YOU WILL PAY ATTENTION TO THIS POST.

WE HAVE A THREAD FOR THESE SORTS OF ARGUMENTS. IT IS HERE:

>>101898
>>101898
>>101898
>>101898

OTHERWISE, KINDLY STOP DERAILING THIS THREAD WITH YOUR BITCHING. THANK YOU.

>>113514

No idea what the missing post you're replying to you said, but we should care because it makes for interesting storytelling. Korra was pretty good, but for a story we were told by the creators was going to be more mature, it sure lacked nuance in regards to its antagonist group.

>>113505

Mako and Bolin are main characters. For god's sake, Mako is the principle love interest. Delving into the Triads shouldn't be considered a side story. They should have played a primary part in exploring Republic City's corruption and Amon's manifesto.

>>113507

Pretty good points here.

Pity I didn't get to see the posts which got everyone so mad.

>>113500
It's very good. I hear the LNs are even better, though I don't think they're all translated.

>>113525
Yeah, having read most of the translated LNs thus far, they're pretty good. I wouldn't say the're better than the anime, though that could be because I'm a fan of the kind of chaotic storytelling that the anime had jumping between the different stories, which the LNs lack.

Still haven't gotten round to checking out Durarara!!, though.

>>113527
It starts off interesting and promising and kinda fails to deliver. I'd say good for the first third, a mess of a middle and a very disappointing anticlimax. Revelations about characters are kinda stupid because they just sorta happen without much build up.

Not one mention of the official premiere date in this thread yet?

Goes to show how badly the shitposters have hurt +/a/. It's fucking sad.

>>113534
What is there to say about it?

>>113534
So I'm guessing that >>113490 is wrong, then?

>Lin is VERY heavily featured in book 3

>The Equalist plot is not coming back; Bryan said there’s probably an underground bookstore where they’re still having meetings. Other than that it’s not on their minds.

>Mako and the gangs, are we gonna see some backstory: they said Republic City Hustle and didn’t really add anything else womp

>someone just asked “if the benders and nonbenders were getting along before legend of korra, what made them not get along now”

>bryan says: it’s a very large world out there, what made you think they were getting along in the first place? it was republic city, with benders as the ruling class, with the power, but they’re still the minority; it’s like china where there’s a minority in power [something else about China] the melting pot situation where you have people from all over the world, all kinds of benders and nonbenders, moving to the same place made people realize that it’s not about fire vs. water or earth vs. air… but some nonbenders felt that they were doing all the hard dirty work and [missed the rest]

I don't think that bit is about Bryan saying that yes benders are valued more in Avatar (because we know they aren't, not on a wide scale) but more like him acknowledging that there's always been tensions between the two groups (which is common in most mediums where there's magical users and people who can't use magic) and cramping them together in RC made it skyrocket.

>>113545
I think it's more that in a place like Republic City where people from all four nations peacefully coexist there's no longer any great national animosities, so other social issues start bubbling up to the surface. Kind of like how conflicts between political and economic ideologies didn't start to become a major part of western society until freedom of religion was well established.

>>113545
>it’s like china where there’s a minority in power
wut, Han Chinese make up more than 90% of the population.

>>113545
Nice to have official confirmation on the power disparity issue within Republic City. A shame that he doesn't see the need to address it beyond the Equalist movement because the amount of arguing I've seen over whether or not there even was a power disparity issue makes it clear that the first season really didn't convey Republic City's problems well.

>>113547
Yes, but less than 1% of the population is made up of Prime Ministers.

>>113547
He might have been referring to Qing China, before the 1911 revolution, when you had a minority of Manchus holding the reins of power and being embarrassingly bad at it.

>>113550
Or because China isn't a democracy.

http://www.nick.com/videos/clip/legend-of-korra-republic-city-hustle-episode-2-vf5.html?xid=korranation

Part 2 is up.

>>113432
>>113565
Holy crap why the hell am I only hearing of this now. I almost wish the whole show had been like that.

>Those big damn Windwaker eyes on Bolin.

And there's the melancholic flashbacks, been a while since those hit me.

>>113568

Aww, Pabu :3

The art book says Bolin rescued Pabu when he was 14, so I guess this is 2-3 years before book 1 (I can't remember if Bolin is 16 or 17).

Someone recorded the discussion panel at the recent LoK art book signing:

Legend of Korra Signing/Discussion Part 1

>>113565
Dammit, someone had this on youtube and it was already taken down when I clicked on it. The videos on Nick's site always lag for me.

>Bolin getting more character development in 3 minute shorts than he did in episodes 5-12

>>113612
It's awkward but at least they're going into it.

Republic City Hustle part 3: http://benditlikekorra.tumblr.com/post/59147085874/legend-of-korra-republic-city-hustle-part-3

>>113651
That was pretty good. Too bad it looks like it's the last part, but it wrapped up nicely. What do you guys think of this style of animation? They look a little awkward when they move, especially when walking, and Mako's fire looked a bit wonky when he was shooting it, but those are just minor nitpicks. I think I like it overall.

>>113654

There's one more part.