Okay, I'm a little surprised that we don't have a proper thread on this, at least to the best of my knowledge. As you may know, SDCC had already happened, and there, the people behind ATLA have begun their promotion for Korra in earnest. We finally have a trailer, release of character designs for the supporting cast, and some extra info.

Are you psyched? I am. The creators have already confirmed that they wanted to cater to the aging and older demographic of the original series, and create a world which is set much after Aang. And we can see that.

Props to the ATLA people for also deciding to make a strong female MC who's different from a lot of other female superheroes. After what else happened at SDCC, this might be for the best.

SYNOPSIS: The new series will take place 70 years after the end of the Avatar: The Last Airbender story arc, with all-new characters and settings.[1] The protagonist of the new series, Korra, the next Avatar after Aang, is a hot-headed and rebellious young woman from the Southern Water Tribe who is "ready to take on the world".[2] The series plans to follow Korra as she faces an anti-bender revolt while mastering the art of Airbending from Aang and Katara's son, Tenzin.

HD Trailer here.
Extra Info revealed at SDCC here.


The important parts of the SDCC updates:

So we FINALLY see children of a bi-racial marriage. Cool looking supporting male MCs, too.

Ty-Lee FTW.

And the Industrial Age/Steampunk concept looks pretty cool. The characteristic Asian influences can still be seen.

So pumped for this.

 

Coincidently, I was reading the Korra TVtropes page just before finding this thread. I loved the original Avatar and after watching the trailer, I’m convinced this is going to be awesome. The animation and fight scenes look amazing. <3

Is there an official release date yet or is it still up in the air?

 

Mid-2012, they're going for.

 

........Damn it, now I have to go back and watch the last airbender again.

The art style has definitely improved and I'm getting the vibe that this is going to be a more involved story than the last airbender if its aimed at an older crowd. While I enjoyed the lighthearted antics of ATLA it will be a nice change to see a slightly more serious world this time.

 

Seems pretty awesome :awesome

What I'm really excited about is seeing Toph as an old kickass lady. She was the youngest of the characters, and probably the most talented, and I know I want to see what she became in the last 70 years.

 

I'm already cheering for the Anti-Benders!

 

Equalists. And why? Korra seemed pretty bamf in the trailer. Is there a problem with having a strong-willed female MC, as opposed to a male MC? If anything, DLP would cheer for a strong-willed male MC who is "ready to take on the world" and isn't afraid to dish out dirt when it's needed. So why not a girl who can do the same?

I'm loving how Korra is a nearly-fully realised Avatar. Three elements, minus Air. We might get to see some great Action sequences.

@Danisama: The old cast, including Toph, have all died, I think. However, we might see some flashbacks, and Toph has done a shitload during the years. She taught Metal-bending to the police, and her daughter is the Chief of the metropolis's police force.

 

This, so much this. I Hate the sound of the new Avatar.

 

I reserve judgment until I've actually seen the show, but I am pretty stoked.

 

I have the stupidest grin on my face right now...

This! So much this! The universe has always had the potential for massively epic action scenes, but they never really happened until the last couple of episodes.

As for the Equalists(has anyone tried saying that out loud?), all I'm gonna say is that they should've thought of a better name for them. Maybe Balancers?

Can't wait for this.

 

Mid 2012....

The myans better be wrong about the end of the world. Or i will be super pissed.

 

Excited, but not overly so. I'm expecting it to be not quite as good as the original simply because it isn't.

Regardless, if that huge city was built in less than 70 years, that's a massive achievement, bending or not...

 

The thing with the actual first series, is it had a major plot in correcting the damage done because of the war, this, will only have the aftermath and not much cause to worry as they would've only had about ten years or so without an Avatar, right? Because one is born when the other dies...? So I don't see the countries being at much war, maybe a bit of hostility, but that should stop a good amount of plots right then and there... I'll watch it, obviously though, to see what it's like.

 

This is exactly the reason why Korra is going to be a shorter, 26 episode series. They're aiming for a tighter plot which revolves around aspects of racial relations not covered in the original series (e.g. interracial marriages, multiculturalism) while using the (interesting) framework of anti-bending tensions. Hopefully Korra will show us how to do a Muggles vs Wizards/Benders/Demi-gods/insert-term conflict properly.

If ATLA was about external conflicts, Korra is more about internal conflicts and terrorism rather than war. I'm happy with this; the Ba Sing Se drama with the Dai Li were some of the best parts of Book 2, so more politics please.

Plus Republic City is just a disaster waiting to happen. An industrial city with people from all four nations? A police force of ultra-powered benders? Anti-bending terrorists? Something tells me "corruption in the city"...

 

The music in that trailer sent chills down my spine. Nicely done.

 

Agreed. I don't like her already. I hate it when they change main characters; it takes away from the uniqueness of the original. Aang was awesome and I feel like he's getting pushed to the side and replaced.

Also, judging by how old and angsty Korra looks in the trailer, I'm going to go ahead and say that this series won't be as fun and hilarious as the original.

Even so, I'll probably still watch.

 

I don't know, it seems completely reasonable that Korra will be a teenager as Avatar's are normally told they are who they are at that age according to the cannon.

I've learned not to underestimate the Creators of Avatar. I just rewatched the entire series Thrice since the new trailer came out and the fact that I can sit through it and still be entertained, still, is remarkable.

Besides, people will always want a little more Aang and Gang, but thats the sign of a good story. Wanting more when the story has ended.

I'm interested about further in the future, If this series proves a success, I'm sure that there will be a Earthbending Avatar, and Then Fire. If the same kind of progress can be made in technology and Culture, as it is portrayed in the new series. By Fire they should be practically in the Near Future compared to our Tech.

 

Korra is seventeen, and has been training for a year. This means that she was sixteen when she began training, which is the age when most Avatars discover their true identity. Mako and Bolin are also teenagers.

fyi, the creators originally envisioned Aang's successor as a male, but they discovered that Azula, Katara, and Toph were extremely popular, as were Mai and Ty-Lee. Hence, they decided to go with a gender-switch to celebrate female MCs in the superhero genre. Apparently, there weren't enough assertive girls in comics.

It's not like we have a dearth of decent women in comics/adventure stories, but whatever. [/sarcasm]

So yeah. The creators designed Korra by combining what they saw as the most interesting traits in Katara and Toph. She apparently is "headstrong" but still able to "have fun".

I, for one, look forward to Korra. Good them for using a female MC, good on them. At the time, they thought making Toph a girl was a terrible decision and anticipated that the fans wouldn't receive that decision well.

Who's laughing now?

P.S. Even in the trailer, you can see Korra having fun. She was participating in the Pro-Bending, if you didn't notice (e.g. the red uniform). Basically, it's apparently some sort of popular game (a la Blitzball, perhaps?) in which Benders participate.

Extra info, including pictures of the primary cast:

Pro-bending: http://images.wikia.com/avatar/images/5/51/Probending.jpg

Korra: http://images.wikia.com/avatar/images/5/55/KorraFirstLook.jpg

Mako: http://images.wikia.com/avatar/images/a/af/Mako2.jpg

Bolin: http://images.wikia.com/avatar/images/9/90/Bolin2.jpg

Chief Bei Fong: http://images.wikia.com/avatar/images/c/c2/Bei_Fong.jpg

Jinora: http://images.wikia.com/avatar/images/5/53/Jinora3.jpg

Tenzin: http://images.wikia.com/avatar/images/d/d6/Tenzin.png

Amon (previously Oman. You already have this photo): http://images.wikia.com/avatar/images/9/98/OmanHD.png

Naga: http://images.wikia.com/avatar/images/2/22/Korra_SDCC_poster_cropped.png

Pabu: http://images.wikia.com/avatar/images/3/3d/Fire_Ferret.png

 

I am jazzed about this show for all the reasons that others are declaring imminent fail.

Cashing in on the existing characters would be a sign of lameness- they chose to expand and redefine. They also chose to change the setting to accommodate the developments that would affect their world that were seen during the first series.

I think it's particularly telling that the first announcement of the show suggested a movie. It was then expanded into a four-show special, then a 12-episode arc, and is now a full 26-episode season. They got EXCITED, and we will be the beneficiaries.

This crew did experimental things that Nick was really doubting- a sequential tale with a defined endpoint runs contrary to American animation so much that they probably had to bribe the execs to listen to them. Now they're taking the bankable success of the story and going for an ambitious ride. They could still screw it up, but everything I've seen says they are playing to their strengths- literate comedy-adventure with top-notch animation and a compelling set of characters to explore.

If this was a public company, I'd buy stock in it.

 

Actually, that's probably what put me off. She looks a lot like Katara, who I've never particularly liked. I don't hate her, but... I don't know. :/ I love all the other girl characters in the show, but for some reason she just never really made much of an impression on me (though I will admit that whole thing with the blood bending was pretty cool).

Or maybe, it's just because I haven't watched the show in a while and I've forgotten the pure awesomeness that is The Avatar. And, that I'm just a extremely pessimistic person when comes to second seasons/sequel series where MC is different.

But, pro-bending looks exciting.