Tag: The Legend of Korra

Animation, Recaps, Television4 Comments

NOC Recaps The Legend of Korra: Friends in All the Right Places

Julie Kang

Episode Twelve, “Harmonic Convergence”

The second half of this week’s exciting installment of The Legend of Korra set things up for what seems like a VERY dramatic finale.

We find Team Avatar on Varrick’s zebra-striped warship, heading south. Quick history lesson: that stripe pattern was actually a real form of battleship camouflage during World War I called “razzle dazzle.” It made it difficult to guess the size, type, speed, and heading of a ship.

Varrick’s ship, the Zhu Li
Varrick’s ship, the Zhu Li
HMS Argus, circa 1917
HMS Argus, circa 1917

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Animation, Recaps, Television1 Comment

NOC Recaps The Legend of Korra: Stargazing

Rodrigo Sanchez-Chavarria

Episode Eleven, “The Night of a Thousand Stars”

I am not going to lie. This season of The Legend of Korra has been better than I expected. So the next four episodes are for sure going to make me drop some F-bombs and some holy expletives with tons of exclamation points to fill in my excitement. So you’ve been warned.

“The Night of a Thousand Stars” was a filler episode and a warm-up to what we all have been waiting for, the “Harmonic Convergence” show down.

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Animation, Recaps, Television1 Comment

NOC Recaps The Legend of Korra: Light and Peace

Rodrigo Sanchez-Chavarria

Episode Ten, “A New Spiritual Age”

The last two episodes of Korra have been intense. Which has reflected the way my life has been the past two weeks as well. A year ago, around this time, I lost a close friend of mine: a family member, the godfather to my son, and one of the biggest nerds of color I’ve ever known.

The wife and I introduced him to A:TLA, and I know he would geek out over LOK. So forgive me, if this post is a little bit different.

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Animation, Comics, Hard N.O.C. Life4 Comments

(Air)Bend it Like Gene Yang

The Nerds of Color

Two-time National Book Award finalist Gene Luen Yang (@geneluenyang) joins Hard N.O.C. Life for a special episode discussing his career as an award-winning graphic novelist and his involvement in the Avatar/Korra comic universe.

Joining Keith (@the_real_chow) on the panel as well are The N.O.C.’s resident Avatar experts Julie Kang (@JulieKang) and Rodrigo Sanchez-Chavarria (@rscspokenword). As always, Hard N.O.C. Life is directed by the indomitable Nelson Wong (@aarisings).

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Animation, Recaps, Television1 Comment

NOC Recaps The Legend of Korra: …And a Child Will Lead Them

Julie Kang

Episode Nine, “The Guide”

This week’s The Legend of Korra was all about Girls Rule, Boys Drool.

The Family von Airbender is still on vacation, this time at the Eastern Air Temple, blissfully unaware of the world burning down around them. Tenzin was in the middle of trying to convince his kids that ancient relics are fun, when in walks…Korra!!! She’s looking good, considering she was a complete amnesiac two weeks ago.

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Animation, Recaps, Television3 Comments

NOC Recaps The Legend of Korra: Wan Where it All Began

The Nerds of Color

Watching The Legend of Korra: Beginnings on Friday felt like watching a masterpiece develop. Like watching Enter the Dragon for the first time. Taking a break from all of the action that has been building up over the last several weeks, “Beginnings” goes back to the… uh… beginning. Literally.

So instead of the regular recap of the episodes, we decided to “bend” our own rules and combine the forces of Julie and Rodrigo — our regular recappers and the two resident Avatar Aficionados — to process the tons of information that was delivered to us in this two-part special.

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Animation, Recaps, Television2 Comments

NOC Recaps The Legend of Korra: Sting and the Police

Rodrigo Sanchez-Chavarria

Episode Six, “The Sting”

When we left off at the end of “Peace Keepers,” we were left with the image of Korra being swallowed by a Dark Spirit as she was being pursued by Eska (by the way, anyone catch the resemblance to Azula here?) and her twin as ordered by their father and full-time bad guy Unalaq. “The Sting” is one of the few episodes in season 2 so far that we get to focus more on other characters, but it really just creates more questions than answers, which is how season 2 of LOK is building up to be.

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Animation, Television1 Comment

NOC Recaps The Legend of Korra: In Love and War

Julie Kang

Episode Five, “Peacekeepers”

This week’s episode of The Legend of Korra was all about the hidden dynamics and politics of war. We learn that war isn’t just about gathering troops and fighting for a single cause, especially when adults are involved. Instead, war can also bring profits and other opportunities for self-aggrandizement if one knows how to look for them.

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Animation, Recaps, Television1 Comment

NOC Recaps The Legend of Korra: Family Feud Edition

Julie Kang

Episode Four: “Civil Wars, Part 2”

Father’s Day comes early this year on this episode of The Legend of Korra, where all the story lines reveal their daddy issues, both good and bad. And like any good dad, this episode was chock-full of jokes, action, and squee-inducing tenderness.

First off, Korra. As we learned from the end of Part 1, Unalaq placed his brother, Tonraq, under arrest for conspiracy to kidnap and assassinate him. At this point, Korra is just starting to feel suspicious of her uncle, but still believes him when he insists the trial is merely a formality, that the judge will be fair, and they can put this all behind them soon. Of course, since we are not naïve teenage superheroes, we knew the following would happen: Tonraq and his friends are found guilty of treason and sentenced to death, but due to Unalaq’s eloquent appeal for clemency, they are given life in prison instead.

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Animation, Recaps, Television7 Comments

NOC Recaps The Legend of Korra: The Civil Wars

Rodrigo Sanchez-Chavarria

Episode Three: “Civil Wars, Part 1”

If last week’s premiere of Book 2 left you with more questions than answers, you are not alone. Here at NOC headquarters, we’re wondering if the family drama that is being foreshadowed so far would lead to more personal stories to fill the gap between Aang and Korra. Well, “Civil Wars Part 1” gave us a little insight into the history of Aang’s children, the pressure that being the Avatar brings, a double date, Bolin’s love life, and internal fighting over power between two sister tribes.

Before we dive into details from our NOC perspective on this episode, we have to say..

***SPOILER ALERT!*** ***SPOILER ALERT!*** ***SPOILER ALERT!*** ***SPOILER ALERT!*** ***SPOILER ALERT!*** ***SPOILER ALERT!***

(So, yeah, read at your own risk!)

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Animation, Recaps, Television3 Comments

NOC Recaps The Legend of Korra: Spirits and Lights

Julie Kang

Ed. Note: Starting on Monday, we’re going to be recapping new episodes of The Legend of Korra. First, here’s Julie‘s look back at last week’s one-hour premiere of Book Two.

Episodes One and Two: “Rebel Spirit” and “The Southern Lights”

 

Set six months after the end of Book One, the first two episodes debuted with tons of action and new characters. We see Korra at Air Temple Island, and she seems to have a much stronger handle on air bending. She can also comfortably enter the Avatar state, but still does not fully grasp the depths of her spiritual side.

One major theme shows up immediately: politics, family, and the messy ways they mix. Korra’s uncle Unalaq is the chief of the Northern Water Tribe, and he pays her a visit. “But Korra is from the Southern Water Tribe!” you exclaim. Well, it turns out her dad was originally from the north, but fled south after being banished from his tribe! That made dinner awkward.

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Hard N.O.C. Life, Television5 Comments

What’s on TV?

The Nerds of Color

“Hard N.O.C. Life” is back for its second episode!

Keith welcomes fellow NOCs Raymond Chow, Julie Kang, Shawn Smith, and Jason Sperber to preview the upcoming Fall television season.

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Animation, School of Hard NOCs, Television12 Comments

School of Hard NOCs: The Legend of Korra

Julie Kang

Vitals: The Legend of Korra is the second animated series by Avatar: The Last Airbender creators Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino.  Set 70 years after the first series, it focuses on the next incarnation of the avatar, 17-year-old Korra of the Southern Water Tribe.

LK002

Plot: After Avatar Aang and Fire Lord Zuko re-established peace in the region, they built a nation where benders (basically those possessing supernatural mastery over air, water, earth, or fire) as well as non-benders can live peacefully and modernize together. However, 70 years later in capital Republic City, the world is not as peaceful as it seems, as the harsh realities of capitalism and bending-based elitism take hold: the government is entirely run by benders, for example, and there is a bender-led mafia scene that terrorizes small businesses and citizens alike.

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