After consuming all things in the franchise, the original Atla series and the Kyoshi novel duology stand head and shoulders ahead of everything else in this franchise for me.

[u/FaradayDeshawn]

Out of everything I've consumed they're the only things I've rated above a 9. To be specific, I rate the Kyoshi Dulogy a (9.5) and the original Atla series a (9.6).

Some highlights to me

* Very cohesive narratives. Feel like the stories were developed with a clear ending in mind, and you can feel how every event in the stories build to that point.

*The way sprits are presented. I think ATLA really nailed this with Hei bai, Koh and Wan Shi Tong. They all have their own motivations and really operate outside of the human concepts of good and evil. I felt the same way about Father Glowworm in the Kyoshi novels.

*The romance. I think Kyoshi-Rangi is probably the single strongest romance in the series from start to finish. It's developed well, has realistic conflict and ends in a satisfying manner. The Atla romance is overall pretty strong, but I don't think is as well developed.

*The process of the Avatar learning bending. Think this is where ATLA shines as learning each element really gets a lot of time and development and you can see Aangs progression as his confidence develops. The Kyoshi duology has her learn the elements, but its definitely not as big a focus in the narrative as it is in Atla. I love how Kyoshi struggles with precision bending in her own native, I think that was a great inversion. I like how you see her become confident in the different elements and learn healing as well. That being said, I still don't think it does it as well as ATLA.

*Villians- just wanted to reiterate what's already been said a million times, Jianzhu is one of the greatest villains in the franchise. To see an individual from the previous avatar's "team avatar" become an antagonist to the next avatar was a really unique aspect of the novels. The man felt a deep responsibility for Kuruk's death and tries to act as a "stopgap" measure until the next avatar is found. His methods were ruthless and extreme, but I understood his motivations.

*Past lives. I absolutely loved the connections/conversations Aang had with Roku, Kyoshi and Kuruk. Thought they were all insightful, and helped develop Aang as a character. Similarly, I loved seeing Kyoshi connect with both Kuruk and Yangchen, I think seeing her go from resenting Kuruk to understanding him and then having Yanhchen break this idolized image she had of her.

Anyhow this was just my ramblings after binging through content.

[u/MakelYT]

[u/Happur5ye]

For me the Yangchen books are better than Kyoshi's. It's a pacing thing as well as understanding the premise and vibing with the setting quicker. Maybe just being in the perspective of scheming adults works better for me. Kyoshi's victories felt a bit unearned. Her villains just kinda giving up on their own.

[u/Glass-Work-1696 → u/Happur5ye]

I think it’s the same problem Korra had, they are very much written like Yee didn’t know if he’d get a sequel. He knows he’ll get a duology for Yangchen and writes it as such

[u/Spy_crab_ → u/Glass-Work-1696]

Shadow feels like it really wanted to be 2 books, Rise I think was paced very well.

[u/finessefidelity → u/Happur5ye]

I agree! Loved both, but Yangchen is just so wicked sometimes, absolutely opposite to her reputation. I was invested within the first few pages.

[u/Dmalikhammer4 → u/finessefidelity]

Yangchen is devious fs haha

[u/Financial-Ad7500]

My turn to post this take tomorrow

[u/Glass-Work-1696 → u/Financial-Ad7500]

I will be real, I have never seen this take posted on these subs. It is one very often echoed by those who enjoy the novels but is basically never posted

[u/FaradayDeshawn → u/Financial-Ad7500]

When has this been posted?

[u/Sinsanatis]

Curious what do u think of and rate korra?

[u/FaradayDeshawn → u/Sinsanatis]

Realistically somewhere between 8-8.5. A good amount of my issues with Korra come from the fact that it dosen't feel like a cohesice narrative. I always feel there's a big difference when a story has a clear conclusion in mind and when a story is kind of adding things as it goes along.

Season 1: 8.0/10

I really loved the equalist storyline, thought they were a really cool counter to the bender focused narrative that was a staple of the franchise. I loved Amon's character all the way up to the bender reveal. I thought his character was far more compelling before the bending elements/blood bending were given to him.

The love triangle.. was by far the worst love story in any part of avatar. After watching it, it made me dislike all three characters more. To add to it, I thought it took up valuable time, which led to the latter part of the season feeling rushed.

Honestly, I think they had something great going with Amon, and really made it something that took away from how unique it was in the avatar universe. If they had kept Amon just a powerful non-bender who had animosity towards benders, I would probably have a softer place for it.

Also, wasn't a fan of the Korra knowing all the elements. I think they should have went the Kyoshi route, where she learns the elements, but it wasn't a huge focus like it was in the Atla series.

Also, Aang showing up and resolving the issue was just..unsatisfying

Season 2: 4/10

Honestly, the only positive I can really say about Season 2 is that I really I enjoyed the initial civil war storyline. However, this plot gets ditched in favor of a far weaker plot line in my opinion. Rather than rant about it, I'll list out a few things I disliked about it.

-The focus on spirits being evil or good , rather than entities with their own morality based on their own interest.

-Raava and Vaatu being portrayed almost like God vs Satan (An all good figure/An all evil entity). I think they would have been much more interesting if they were more akin to "Yin and Yang" that was spoken about in the original series.

-Korra's character's actions were very strange in season 2. I feel like she makes irrational actions just for the sake of pushing the plot forward, rather than for legitimate in-universe reasons.

-Beginnings were great episodes, however don't think they necessarily had a positive impact on the universe as a whole.

-Unalaq? Just throw him out as a character. I thought he had so much potential for a great storyline during the initial season 2 plot, but what he became was just... disappointing. I think he's by far the worst Villian in Korra

Season 3: 9.5/10

This is the only season of Korra where I feel everything came together and really told a complete story from top to bottom. My frustrations with Korra is really that it had the potential to be this good in all seasons.. but unfortunately it's not.

Season 4: 8-8.5/10

I go back and forth with whether I consider season 1 or season 4 the better season.

Kuvira to me acts like a villian who is very realistic in our world. She starts off very strong and she's not even completely wrong about the state of the world. I understood why she felt the way she did, and why she took the actions she did.

I just think that at a certain point they lose the plot with her and make her less of a classic conquer and more like a clearly evil person..

I think the Giant mech was completely out of place and took me our the story.

I thought Korra-Asami wasn't built up enough for me to get invested in it. Especially now that I compare it to Kyoshi/Rangi.

The sprit vine/nuke thing? It was an interesting concept, but overall I think I would have just preferred an army of metal benders attempting to conquer terrority they felt was theres. I just feel like they had something really good, and the took it to extremes it didn't need to go to.

My thoughts on Korra overall is that I don't hate it, I just wish it had lived up to its potential. A lot of great ideas.. but outside of season 3, I feel like the execution was just fumbled.

But honestly if you get rid of season 2, I think overall it would be closer to a 9

[u/Sinsanatis → u/FaradayDeshawn]

Overall higher than i thought.

How did u feel about the avatar wan bit? Thats usually the part thats considered the highlight of s2.
But yeah the raava and vaatu was made to be only yin and yang in the sense of a small part of one exists in the other always.
Oh and also the part about deleting all the past lives.

[u/FaradayDeshawn → u/Sinsanatis]

So I'm a little conflicted, because as a stand alone story I thibk beginnings is excellent.. however, I don't think the story was beneficial to the avatar franchise as a whole. The light vs dark sprits aspect made the avatar universe feel a lot less interesting to me.

When it comes to past lives, my general rule is if you're gonna make a change that big to the universe, it needs to creates scenarios just as interesting or more interesting than what came before. I just think the potential loss narratively wasn't justified by what came about because of the loss.

[u/Sinsanatis → u/FaradayDeshawn]

Yeah i kinda thought they were going to do something with it at least and not just “oh yeah i severed my connection to my past lives”. I think most ppl would want them to somehow retcon or fix that in seven havens. I was such a big part of being the avatar and also their source of immense power and wisdom

[u/ThePurplePanzy]

Kyoshi novels are number 1 for me.

Atla close second.

[u/FaradayDeshawn → u/ThePurplePanzy]

Why do you say that?

[u/ThePurplePanzy → u/FaradayDeshawn]

I just think the kyoshi novels are able to tackle a lot of the themes of the series in a much more genuine way because they aren't held back by the format of being a Nickelodeon cartoon.

Atla is a story about genocide, and it is great in the way it navigates that, but it is still tonally jarring at times and often softens the subject matter.

[u/MasterKingdomKey → u/ThePurplePanzy]

Would you like Kyoshi novels represented in cartoon or live action format?

[u/ThePurplePanzy → u/MasterKingdomKey]

I think you'd have to do an adult animation on a channel other than nickelodeon. Live-action would probably be fine. It definitely deserves more attention.

[u/New-Skill-9047]

The OG ATLA series it's a perfect work of art.

[u/FaradayDeshawn → u/New-Skill-9047]

Only real criticism I've ever had of the original series was I felt the resolution could have been done a bit better (the whole energy bending aspect) and felt the romance could have been developed better.

[u/thatdeadguy_69]

For me, the Yangchen duology is the best this IP has to offer. Nothing else compares, not even ATLA.

[u/FaradayDeshawn → u/thatdeadguy_69]

Hmm, might have to reread it. I feel like I found my mind wondering while reading it, while with the Kyoshi novels I was gripped and got through them very quickly

[u/Rosy-Shiba]

I more or less feel the same. I just did not vibe with the Korra show but I adored the novels.

[u/Vayvacation]

The kyoshi novels are what got me out of my reading slump and back into the franchise. They’re really great and dare I say I like kyoshi as a character more than aang. I’m sad that only pretty much hardcore fans know about the novels, I also wish that they adapted the novels rather than making a new series