In honor of Alaska Day, Nick’s given us a double-offering of Korra. And to make sure it’s not a hollow gift, these episodes were actually good. A bit derivative, yes, but I liked them. It was nice to get a little origin story that stood apart from the Water Tribe’s monotony. This reminded me of how good Avatar could be, and what the show has to offer to stand apart from other stuff on basic cable. Yeah, it’s not much….
Remember the episodes where Aang didn’t appear, and we focused on somebody else like Zuko and Appa? Remember how those were probably some of the best episodes in the show, depending on how you viewed The Beach? This feels like one of them. It allows for the side characters to stretch with the lead out of the way. The show did a nice job focusing on how the North-South conflict was affecting everyone else, such as Bolin’s film career and…
Well, this was a 180 from Civil Wars. Cool characters like Lin and General Iroh come back, while a political side is thrown into the conflict between Korra and Unalaq. Plenty of different perspectives are thrown into the fire so don’t we get saddled with teenagers who argue more than they actually bend. I know conflict is the soul of good storytelling, but conflict for conflict’s sake only adds to the tedium instead of avoids it. Thank the Gods that…
At least Bryke didn’t prolong the Unalaq charade for half of the season. We still don’t see much motive for being a backstabber other than how he wants power over all of the Water Tribe. What’s he up to? Why’s he evil? Why does he let his daughter claim ownership over Bolin? Those are things the show should be in the cusp of uncovering. Also, why did he want Korra to stay by his side while admitting a few minutes…
So this week gives us yelling. Kya calls out Tenzin. Mako calls out Bolin. The twins reveal why expressing positive emotions can be a bad thing. On top of that, the Korra family’s inability to communicate properly has led to a whole mess of misunderstandings between everyone. Also, Northern and Southern Water Tribes are now at odds with each other. With the Northerners stepping on the South’s turf like it’s their neighborhood. And you can’t step on someone else’s territory…
Well over a year after a season finale that satisfied no one, Korra’s back. Can the show do better than Amon’s reveal? Will Mako be more than a bit of a douche? Hopefully and probably not. Unlike Young Justice, the gap between seasons doesn’t give us a load of already-developed plot lines. Asami still has trouble reconstructing Future Industries. Korra’s still training. Bolin is a pro-bending captain for some rookies. And Mako is still a douche, but he’s now a…
At last, we’ve come to the end of the road. Throughout these past three years, the show has been quite an interesting journey. And by interesting, I mean a huge slog where I wish Kirino was a real person just so I could have the chance to throw rocks at her. When Oreimo was first introduced, I thought it would be a satire on otaku and how they’re obsession leads them into futility. Unfortunately, this show is not watamote. Instead,…
Always the Demon fidgets here beside me — Destruction. Roy Campbell, Poems of Baudelaire (New York: Pantheon Books, 1952) Aku No Hana—adapted from Shūzō Oshimi’s manga by Hiroshi Nagahama of Mushishi fame—proved to be ambitious, to say the least. Beyond all the controversies over questionable designs throughout the show, the series can be peeled back to reveal a story about a boy forced into a pact with the devil and not knowing what else to do. The mentality of a…
Before I begin, let me allow this one matter to be perfectly clear… Yes, I am a hater. I spit on your holy territory. I dance the dance of Jazz singers on your loved ones’ graves. You may now proceed to ignore the rest of this article and post some petty, misspelled, improperly punctuated drivel in the comments if you wish under the tl;dr clause. However, for the benefit of those who agree with me about the current mess of…
As today’s market of dystopic fantasies and misunderstood loners can tell you, gritty storytelling sells. Darkness has been selling since before Nietzsche could count to ten. You’d be struggling to find a story without a bad case of dead moms, totalitarian government, murder, or something about rape in modern drama. But instead of adding realism, too many attempts at proving a tale to be mature only elicit disbelief and scorn towards the work. Make something too dark, and the whole…