korra is cocky, bratty, and rude, and while i love it, it doesn't work for her in watching the first season since it was a stand alone viewing at the time, but from a lense looking at all four seasons it's a really GOOD start for her since her development as a mature compassionate character is p good, while aang, while a charming character from the start, doesn't change nearly as much
the supporting characters in atla were much better from every angle, mostly because yeah, they had a lot of room to breath and develop in subtle nice ways, wherein korra everything was very fast paced and intense.
sokka is MILES AHEAD of bolin as comic relief. sokka's comedy is easy to react to and has a place in the pacing since he acts as a straight man at the same time. bolin's jokes are often out of place in the intensity of the show, and most of his jokes can't be reacted to and are met with the same disgruntled look every time. it's repetitive and can get annoying. the only time he worked really well was paired up with varrick, who is a much better funny man, and let bolin be funny in a more natural way
katara is cool but boring (this is a personal preference as i dont like motherly characters), mako is also cool but boring (but he's a pretty fuckboy so i like him), asami is ALSO cool but boring, BUT also underused so she could have been better
a lot of the new side characters in korra were introduced sloppily and then casted aside randomly so it was hard to care for them
zuko and azula's villain arcs were the best of all time and there's really no comparison for the villains in korra. kuvira was the best villain by far in korra, but there could have been more attention payed to fleshing her out as a complex character.
the world-building in atla was much more compelling than any of the more condensced stuff in korra, honestly i dont think the 1920's aesthetic contributed to the avatar universe much at all. it's not a story that should be modernized.
the animation in korra was better, but i think the animation in atla had more raw charm to it? there was more diversity in the characters, the designs in korra are more realistic and therefore lack as much dynamic, interesting appeal.
the romance in both was pretty mediocre, but korra obv wins at the last second with a great development to korrasami (they are very cute and GREAT A+ representation, but a boring couple tbh) and zhu li/varrick (ULTIMATE COUPLE). bolin/opal is bland as hell, aang/katara is.......eh.....n.....sokka/toph is way better than sokka/suki
the story in atla worked better in korra's as the prolonged threat built up the danger of the solar eclipse. the pay off was much more satisfying as it was constantly building towards one goal that aang had to accomplish, and when he seemed in danger of failure it was more nerve-wrecking, as with korra's contained plotlines, there wasn't any room for korra to fail to defeat the villain by the end of the season. there wasn't as much urgency
this allowed a lot more subtlety to build up plot points and characters as well since the atla plot had a lot of room to breath
the bending in atla was better too, mostly due to the setting. this was a warzone, and the benders were all either professional soldiers, or some sort of rebel fighters for the most part. it was a vast world made up mostly of nature, so the bending itself was also vast and large, it seemed more powerful. because korra takes place in a modern setting with more restrictive areas and modern bending techniques (ie the pro bending). the bending was more large and impressive in the last two seasons though, especially korra's battle with zaheer, which, while it wasn't as satisfying as aang and the firelord's pay off (the lighting was also better), the actual battle had a lot of good dynamism, and seeing the raw power of the avatar state in korra is so just so great
IROH IS SO COOL. no one is cooler than iroh wtf. iroh wins avatar
end thoughts: atla is a better story, has more emotional impact, and has amazing world building. korra is sloppy, and yeah you could say it reached out for a more divisive, meaningful goal; it reached it in some ways, but the awkwardness along the way made the pay off less satisfying. korra's emotional arc was a wonder to see, but it would have had more impact if it was jammed in with so many other loose plot threads crowding korra's growth. atla is just a more successful piece, even though i love both shows to death.
sachi can we please marathon the whole 7 books together over the summer
