Message: Do you think that the ending of LOK would get as much as buzz as it has if Korra and Asami did NOT become canon? (BTW I love your account so much)
Thank you so much! I love positive feedback about the blog.
To answer your question, no. I think that’s a very easy question to answer. Yes, the ending to LoK would have been great even if there was no canon Korrasami, or any other relationship. Honestly I believe that they could have only ended it two ways: to either end it with Korrasami, or with no relationships at all for the main protagonists. The fact that they ended it with a bisexual couple, including women of color and a non-bender, is why is blew up and grabbed the attention of so many. This is in no way a bad thing. I love how they ended it.
A lot of people were upset because they believed that there was no build up to the relationship, but I ended up going back over the last two seasons, and it is actually somewhat obvious. You have to understand that because they were dealing with Nick, it had to be very subtle. This isn’t bad writing. This is Bryke trying to get across as much of their story as possible without upsetting Nick. They had to walk a very fine line with this ending and I think they pulled it off, considering that most people understood the coupling of Korra and Asami without Bryan and Mike’s blog posts on the matter to confirm it as canon.
Do I think that it was a forced decision made to appease the fans? Absolutely not. If that was the case on how they worked, Zutara would have become canon (and I kind of think it should have been). Bryan stated that Korrasami was discussed early on in the development of the first season, before they even knew they were going to be able to pull this off.
So to sum it up, no it would not have gotten as much praise or publicity, but I’ve very happy that it did. Coming from a recently “outed” bisexual woman, this means so much to me. Not only because I connect with it but because it is such a step forward for not only television, but for children’s television. Teaching our youth that being who you are is okay, and that love boundless, is such an important message and I could not be more proud to be considered part of this fandom. I’ve been a part of this journey since the first episode of ATLA aired and to see how much the art style, the plot lines, and the character development and relationships have grown gives me such a warm feeling.
