Poll: Last Airbender or Legend of Korra

[Gizmo1990]

First off this is not a I hate LoK thred. I am a big Last Airbender fan and so I was very excited when I found out about Legend of korra and while it is not a bad show I find myself not enjoying it as much as The Last Airbender.

I like the characters in TLA alot better and it took 5 episodes for me to actualy begin to get interested in the new characters (except Mako, the guy is a douche). I find myslef missing Sokka and his terrible jokes and Toph and her sarcasum.

Also the action seems to be slower and smaller. Korra has mastered Earth, fire and water but it seems to me that Aang, Katara, Zuko and Toph could pull off moves way bigger and more impressive then her.

So my overall opinion is that it is good but really needs to kick it up a notch to compete with TLA.

 

[Popadoo]

The Last Airbender.
Maybe it's because we haven't seen everything the show has to offer yet, considering it took me about 10-20 episodes of TLA to really appreciate it, but right now I much prefer the original series.

 

[Shock and Awe]

If I'm comparing the first season of The Last Airbender to The Legend of Korra then the latter is not just better, its better by far. The characters were more interesting and I enjoyed the setting and themes of it. However if you take into account seasons two and three, The Last Airbender is better because you get to see the whole character ark and that makes a lot of difference. However if The Legend of Korra continues that may change.

 

[Scarim Coral]

Honestly it's hard to say even when I only using season 1 of the Last Airbender only (it's unfair to use the who series to compared when we haven't seen season 2 of Korra yet).
While they both got their pro and cons but it's the fact that The Last Airbender created the franchise in the first place while Korra is the byproduct resulted by the demand of the fans who wanted more.
If I got to choose then I'm going with Korra since it was more mature compare to Aang (it's the only war were we saw no real battle involving deaths) and Toph wasn't in season 1.

 

[Mr Companion]

First off this is not a I hate LoK thred. I am a big Last Airbender fan and so I was very excited when I found out about Legend of korra and while it is not a bad show I find myself not enjoying it as much as The Last Airbender.

I like the characters in TLA alot better and it took 5 episodes for me to actualy begin to get interested in the new characters (except Mako, the guy is a douche). I find myslef missing Sokka and his terrible jokes and Toph and her sarcasum.

Also the action seems to be slower and smaller. Korra has mastered Earth, fire and water but it seems to me that Aang, Katara, Zuko and Toph could pull off moves way bigger and more impressive then her.

So my overall opinion is that it is good but really needs to kick it up a notch to compete with TLA.

Well to be fair having everything be an explosive or impressive spectacle can sometimes detract from the action by making everything hard to relate to. Furthermore I think 5 episodes is a pretty good amount of time to get engaged, I mean for about 12 episodes of Legend of Aang I couldn't shake the feeling I was watching a children's show with terrible animation but it came into its own nearing the end of chapter 1 and onward. I mean, do you remember being five episodes into TLA and being like 'OMG this is so good im hooked!'. If you do away with nostalgia Korra is just a better first season, as somebody watching the two back to back first time through I would say Legend of Korra is objectively better. Give it time is all im saying.

 

[CODE-D]

Korra is more streamlined with better animation and I cant really watch the old ones anymore...unless its a toph or zuko episode.

 

[Moonlight Butterfly]

I much prefer Korra as the avatar but the show just felt rushed. If the next season has better pacing it will probably be preferable to Aang for me.

 

[Smertnik]

I'm actually rewatching TLA at the moment and I still enjoy it noticeably more than LoK, despite the less refined animation quality. The show has more charm, in my opinion, and I prefer the medieval theme much more than the 20th century one. In fact, it was one of the things that made me stop watching LoK, combined with the cheesy writing.

 

[soren7550]

I want to say Korra, but then again, Airbender has Toph...

 

[Zhukov]

LoK.

In my view, the only thing the first series has over the second is Toph.

 

[Frozen Donkey Wheel2]

Hard to judge as Korra isn't over yet, but right now I'd have to say Last Airbender. (People should stop calling it Legend of Aang. It already has perfectly good name and it's not that, so what's the point?) The pacing was much better, and the final payoff was MUCH more epic. But like I said, Korra's not over yet.

OH! And the first Team Avatar is better, mostly because they had Appa. But they were also a lot more diverse and well developed then Current Team Avatar, in my opinion. On the other hand, Korra does have Master "Lemon Grenades" Tenzin.

 

[malestrithe]

Aang has a more optimistic tone and upbeat storyline. Sure some of it got dark, but not all of it. It was teenagers on the greatest adventure of all time. They had the burden of the world on their shoulders, but they did not let it known.

I could not watch Korra after 3 episodes because of its more serious tone. Possibly due to Korra wanting to prove something at all times.

 

[spartan231490]

I think they're both pretty much equal, but in different ways. TLA has a much more epic feel and pacing, but Korra is just a quick little thing. They're both good at what they do IMO, but they do different things.

 

[eventhorizon525]

Comparing just the first seasons? Legend of Korra. The Last Airbender just seemed like a very "childish" (and no, I do not use that term negatively, but rather as expressing how I see it relating its message/entertainment value). Korra has managed to skip a decent amount of that, but at the fault of some really bizarre pacing and really odd plot points. Some of the lore developments seem, unexpected, as well. So lightning bending is relatively commonplace, with even some

Spoiler

redirecting lightning.

Also, it wasn't until the finale I felt like I was seeing the creative aspect of how to use the elements in a situation (something I loved in TLA season 3). Probending was really disappointing imho.

 

[Navvan]

As of right now TLA is better. Both are great shows, but due to TLK having roots as a mini-series its first season seemed a bit rushed. The fights seem to be lacking most of the time and the characters haven't been given the appropriate circumstances and time to really develop and pop like they did in TLA.

That said I like the animation and music better in TLK. The overall idea and storyline for TLK was also more interesting but it just wasn't executed as well as it could have been if spread out a bit more. Directly comparing the Avatars I like Aang and Korra about the same but in different ways. Overall cast I'd say TLA wins, but again the characters haven't really been allowed to develop yet in TLK.

I'm guessing that when all is said and done and TLK concludes I'll like TLK better. It just hasn't hit its high notes yet.

 

[ThatLankyBastard]

Slightly unfair as of yet... Why not redo this post on a couple of months when more Korra is available?

But the thread demands I answer...

... I like Airbender better simply because of Sokka and Toph... Sokka is just hilarious in his lameness and Toph is one of my face chats of all time... She was badass and funny! Plus Airbender had Sparky-Sparky-Boom Man which means Youraegumentisinvalid!!!

Korra just doesn't have the characters to match it... Yet

 

[Angelblaze]

Korra is a miniseries quickly turned full scale show, you can't really compare the two.

 

[Donnie Restad]

Also the action seems to be slower and smaller. Korra has mastered Earth, fire and water but it seems to me that Aang, Katara, Zuko and Toph could pull off moves way bigger and more impressive then her.

Personally, that's one thing I like more about this series. The bending is much smaller in scale, but it makes up for it with precision. You don't see people moving mountains or causing tidal waves, but we have waay more lightning-benders, blood-benders, and metal-benders than before.
To me, the action focuses on strategy and technical aptitude rather than brute force and pure talent. Especially with the Pro-Bending Arena, the fights are more about reading the opponent and finding the perfect time to strike than they are about bending skill.

OT: I've really enjoyed the ride so far - it took a while to get going for me, but so did TLA. In fact, I'd say I got really invested in LOK much sooner (episode-wise) than I did with TLA.

 

[Elamdri]

Both shows are excellent in their own rights. I think that they both have some strengths. It's difficult and somewhat unfair to judge the whole of Aang's story against Korra's since we know it's getting more seasons.

I like that Legend of Korra had older protagonists, it allowed the story to explore some more mature themes, that are quite frankly more relevant to the audience that watched the original show.

I'm not sure I liked the over-arching plot. It felt very rushed. You get a HUGE exposition dump at the last episode (Which even then doesn't do a fantastic job of explaining things) and overall it seems like Amon's schemes culminate very quickly and end even quicker. Although, I must say, the way they end Amon's story, well. Wow. That was bold for a children's cartoon.

I'm also not a fan of how they handled the Asami-Mako-Korra love triangle. You kind wind up with a bad taste in your mouth at the end. You feel bad for Asami, It's hard to feel good for Korra, and Mako just comes off looking like a jerk. I suppose you could say that this is more indicative of these situations in real life, but honestly that's not what I'm looking for in my entertainment. Especially when I like the characters. It would be different if they had made Asami's character unlikeable; but she was pretty, kind, intelligent, competent, resourceful, brave, skilled and independent.

Actually, I think Asami get's a very raw deal during the ending of the show. The final resolution between her and her father is sorta very unbelievable and very sad.