Bending=Awesome...sometimes

          As I mentioned briefly in a previous post in the new sequel Avatar: The Legend of Korra the antagonists are a group of people who are against benders of any kind. From what I have learned so far in the first new episodes they are led by a man named Amon who wears a mask and is against benders, seeing them as corrupt individuals who abuse their powers. 

          In a way he does have a point. In both series you witness benders who misuse their bending powers. Benders from all nations-not just the fire nation-used their powers to kidnap, enslave, and even kill others. It is an incredible ability and if I lived in that world I would definitely want to be able to bend an element. However, even if I was not able to manipulate fire, water, earth or air I would still be alright because as awesome as bending is, it is not what make a person awesome. 

          My favorite character is the series is Sokka and in the group of heroes he is the only on who can't bend. How does someone with no capabilities become my favorite? Well for starters it is because of his personality. The kid is absolutely hilarious and is obviously the comic relief in this show. He's witty and curious and very very very sarcastic (he calls himself the "meat and sarcasm guy" in an episode). This combination gets him into all kinds of crazy situations. And sure his friends help him get out of trouble but he also helps them because he is intelligent and possess a great imagination. 

          Besides the episodes themselves the creators also created these funny, mini shorts that serve as self-parodies of the series. This overly exaggerated bending battle does show one thing that happens to Sokka a lot during the series. By hanging out with a group of benders he does suffer a lot of bending accidents. Despite being soaked by Katara's water bending or being blown away by Aang's air bursts from time to time he always manages to get back on his feet. It is the way he makes me and brother laugh and the things that he accomplishes by being intelligent, resourceful, and inventive that make him a hero in my book any day 

          

          

I have seen evil and her name is Azula

          So from the very beginning of this series you knew that the Fire Nation was the villain. More specifically the Fire Lord who was the ruler of the Fire Nation was the bad one. He, like his ancestors took advantage of the Avatar's disappearance and dispatched his army across the other nations in order to try to take over the world. His son prince Zuko was also seen as a bad guy at first. Determined to follow in his father's footsteps he  made a vow to capture the Avatar-the world's only hope and bring him to his father so that his father could restore his honor.

          An angry and fearsome looking firebender he indeed caused fear in many however, he was not the villain in this series. Not even his powerful ruthless father the Fire Lord who stole the crown from his brother was the evil one. No, the character who caused chills to run down my spine-the one whom me and my brother vowed we would never cross paths with if we lived in this fantasy world was the essence of pure evil. Her name was Azula and she was the Zuko's little sister and the princess of the Fire Nation

          I think she was the the world's greatest threat. She might have been beautiful, graceful, and behaved like a spoiled princess on the outside but do not let that fool you. I'm telling you the only person that did not fear her was her father and I think that is only because her father was the only one she would never lay a finger on. Princess Azula was cunning, manipulative, merciless, and a very, very powerful firebender. She would quickly assert herself over anyone who crossed her path and had no qualms about turning against any member of her family (except for the fire lord of course).
          Though she was the little sister she would overpower Zuko. She would take anything she wanted by force, destroy her friends' lives if that is what it took for them to help her and enjoyed watching people suffer. She definitely enjoyed watching her brother get that scar on his face and she even attacked Uncle Iroh in an episode. I mean it's Uncle! If that does not prove that she is evil then I do not know what else would. I think I would have rather faced a hundred Unagi and Saber-toothed Moose Lions than face her. Whenever, she would appear in an episode my little brother and I would groan because we knew that things were going to end badly. She never repented or regretted any of the the things she did, not even at the end when she was finally defeated which is further proof that she was the real threat.

"Just...bear"

          Hahahaha so good. One of the things I really like this show are the animals. Can you imagine living in a world with Platypus bears, Skunk bears, or Armadillo bears? I mean don't get me wrong I love animals and some of the animals that exist on our planet are extraordinary but you will never encounter a sky bison of this earth. The various bears listed above are just a few of the crazy animal combinations seen in this show. Here are ten other hybrids that were seen in the series. Which ones did you think were the most impressive? 

1.) Armadillo Tiger

2.) Badger Mole

3.) Porcupine Boar

4.) Catfish Alligator

5.) Cow Hippo

6.) Giant Eel Hound

7.) Koala Sheep

8.) Ostrich Horse

9.) Rabba-Roo

10.) Saber-tooth Moose Lion

Uncle Iroh

           There is one episode in Book 2 that always makes me cry. It is called The Tales of Ba Sing Se and maybe those who have seen it understand why it causes me to tear up and sniffle. If not, then you would probably agree with my little brother who thinks I'm a silly girl for crying and rolls his eyes when I reach for the tissue box.

http://www.digavatar.com/avatar-tv-chapter-15-tales-of-ba-sing-se.html

          I know that I say this about pretty much all of the episodes but I really love this episode! The tale that always gets to me is The Tale of Iroh. Maybe it's because Uncle is one of my favorite characters (second only to Sokka) or maybe it is because of the way his story is played out. 

          Right off the bat you see the gentle and kind nature of Iroh when he plays a song for a child crying at the market. There's also a funny encounter with a group of children who accidentally break someone's window. The one that always makes my brother and I say "This is why Uncle is awesome, seriously who does that?" is when he gets jumped and instead of trying to escape or fight the robber off he actually helps the guy with his stance. He ends up having a cup of tea with the guy and convinces him that he does not have to earn a living robbing people and helps the man find his way again. 

          And that is Uncle-he's fearless but kind, funny but wise, and always sees the good in people. When he finally reaches his destination you realize it is to set up a memorial for his son Lu Ten who died in the Siege of Ba Sing Se. He wishes his son a happy birthday and laments that he was unable to help him like he helped all those people through the course of his day. Then he sings the same song the he played for the little boy at the market and begins to cry.

          The death of his son changed Iroh. Where some might be angry and lash out and lose themselves when a loved one dies, he changed to be the best person he could possibly be in honor of his son. Not only does his tale serve to commemorate his son Lu Ten, at the end, the episode is dedicated to Mako. Mako was Iroh's voice actor in Book 1 & 2. He passed away in 2006 after a long battle with esophageal cancer. I think it was a great way to end his tale. It really showed that the emotion in this episode stemmed from a real source and made a beautiful ending. 

Korra makes her debut

          The series premiere of The Legend of Korra aired on Nickelodeon last Saturday. Unfortunately, I do not have cable so I could not watch it then but someone told me that iTunes has the first two episodes available FOR FREE! Now that I have officially watched them I have a better idea of where this new story might be headed.
          When I first saw the trailer I was worried that it would suck compared to the original. However, my roommate pointed out that you cannot judge how good a show will be by the first episode. I liked the original Avatar but as the series progressed the episodes definitely improved as I am sure this new series will improve.

          I do think they did a great job of introducing the characters and relating it to the parent series. Some of the old characters are still alive...most are not. It's sad but I mean you knew they couldn't live forever. You learn a little about the children that the heroes had. For example one of Aang's son is an important character and even Toph's daughter made an appearance!. They also referenced back to some other old characters which was great. I don't know about you guys but I definitely wondered how their lives turned out. 

          Actually, the more I write about the more I realize how much I liked it. It was fun trying to figure out who the children take after. There is a quirky, energetic little boy who is Aang and Katara's grandson and he greatly resembles Aang. I can't wait to see who else they mention in this series. They even mentioned Zuko's mother but her story was purposefully cut off making it an "aw man!" moment.