''Book One: Air'' is the first season of the American animated television series ''
The Legend of Korra
''The Legend of Korra'' (abbreviated as TLOK), also known as ''Avatar: The Legend of Korra'' or simply ''Korra'', is an American Anime-influenced animation, anime-influenced Animated series, animated television series created by Michael Dante ...
'' created by
Michael Dante DiMartino
Michael Dante DiMartino (born July 18, 1974) is an American animator, producer, writer, and director. He is best known, together with Bryan Konietzko, as the co-creator of the animated TV series ''Avatar: The Last Airbender'' and ''The Legend of ...
and
Bryan Konietzko
Bryan Konietzko is an American animator, writer, producer and musician. He is best known, together with Michael Dante DiMartino, as the co-creator and executive producer of the animated series '' Avatar: The Last Airbender'' and ''The Legend of ...
. Consisting of twelve episodes (called "chapters"), it was initially intended to be a stand-alone
epilogue
An epilogue or epilog (from Greek ἐπίλογος ''epílogos'', "conclusion" from ἐπί ''epi'', "in addition" and λόγος ''logos'', "word") is a piece of writing at the end of a work of literature, usually used to bring closure to the w ...
miniseries sequel to ''
Avatar: The Last Airbender
''Avatar: The Last Airbender'' (abbreviated as ''ATLA''), also known as ''Avatar: The Legend of Aang'' in some regions or simply ''Avatar'', is an American anime-influenced animated television series created by Michael Dante DiMartino and ...
'' before the series was expanded to an order of four seasons ("books") of fifty-two episodes ("chapters") in total. ''Book One: Air'' aired from April 14 to June 23, 2012, on the
Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Group. It ...
channel in the U.S., and is broadcast in other countries beginning in June 2012.
''Book One: Air'' follows seventeen-year-old
Korra
Avatar Korra is the title lead character in Nickelodeon's animated television series ''The Legend of Korra'' (a sequel to '' Avatar: The Last Airbender''), in which she is depicted as the current incarnation of Raava's Avatar—the spiritual em ...
from the Southern Water Tribe, and the successor of Avatar
Aang
Avatar Aang ( zh, c=安昂, p=Ān Áng) is the title character and protagonist of Nickelodeon's animated television series ''Avatar: The Last Airbender'' (created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko), voiced by Zach Tyler Eisen. Aang ...
from the preceding series ''
Avatar: The Last Airbender
''Avatar: The Last Airbender'' (abbreviated as ''ATLA''), also known as ''Avatar: The Legend of Aang'' in some regions or simply ''Avatar'', is an American anime-influenced animated television series created by Michael Dante DiMartino and ...
'', as she travels to the metropolis of Republic City to learn airbending and faces an anti-bender revolutionary group, the "Equalists", led by the masked
Amon
Amon may refer to:
Mythology
* Amun, an Ancient Egyptian deity, also known as Amon and Amon-Ra
* Aamon, a Goetic demon
People Momonym
* Amon of Judah ( 664– 640 BC), king of Judah
Given name
* Amon G. Carter (1879–1955), American pu ...
.
Broadcast
Before the series premiered on television, it was announced that the first two episodes would be pre-released online if "Korra Nation", an online social-networking platform for the show, reached 100,000 likes and shares. The goal was reached and at midnight on March 24, the first two episodes were released on a
Viacom-owned website. They remained online for the duration of the weekend.
''Book One: Air'' aired on
Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Group. It ...
and
Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Group. It ...
HD between April 14, 2012, and June 23, 2012. For U.S. residents, the episodes were available for free viewing on the channel's website and for purchase through digital download services.
Nicktoons
Nicktoons is a collective name used by Nickelodeon for their original animated series. All Nicktoons are produced partly at the Nickelodeon Animation Studio and list Nickelodeon's parent company (Viacom, now known as Paramount Global) in their ...
re-aired ''Book One'', with a few minutes of commentary from the series's creators during commercial breaks, from July 9 to July 20, 2012, under the name ''Korra: Making of a Legend''.
This series debuted in Canada on channel
YTV on June 9, 2012, and on Nickelodeon Canada in late 2012.
The series also premiered on
Nickelodeon UK and Ireland
Nickelodeon (commonly shortened to Nick) is a British pay television network aimed at children aged under 13.
On 1 September 1993, a localised version of the US channel launched in the United Kingdom and launched at a later date in Ireland. I ...
on July 7, 2013.
Synopsis
The series opens introducing Korra as the Avatar and showing that she has mastered all elemental arts except airbending. Korra runs away to Republic City so that Tenzin, Avatar Aang's youngest son, can train her therein. In the metropolis, Korra clashes with police chief Lin Beifong (the daughter of
Toph Beifong
Toph Beifong ( zh, c=北方拓芙, p=Běifāng Tuòfú) is a fictional character in Nickelodeon's animated television series '' Avatar: The Last Airbender'' and its sequel ''The Legend of Korra'', voiced by Jessie Flower in the original series a ...
of the original series) after dispensing
vigilante
Vigilantism () is the act of preventing, investigating and punishing perceived offenses and crimes without legal authority.
A vigilante (from Spanish, Italian and Portuguese “vigilante”, which means "sentinel" or "watcher") is a person who ...
justice to the local
triads. Tarrlok, an ambitious member of the city's ruling council, enlists Korra against the "Equalists", an anti-bender revolution led by the masked
Amon
Amon may refer to:
Mythology
* Amun, an Ancient Egyptian deity, also known as Amon and Amon-Ra
* Aamon, a Goetic demon
People Momonym
* Amon of Judah ( 664– 640 BC), king of Judah
Given name
* Amon G. Carter (1879–1955), American pu ...
. As Korra explores Republic City, she befriends the brothers Mako and Bolin and joins their pro-bending team, the "Fire Ferrets". The team is sponsored by
Asami Sato
is a major character in the Nickelodeon animated television series ''The Legend of Korra'', which aired from 2012 to 2014. The character and the series, a sequel to ''Avatar: The Last Airbender'', were created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bry ...
, daughter of a wealthy industrialist, and the four together form the new "Team Avatar".
After Korra's appearance in the city, the Equalists become increasingly violent, climaxing in an attack on the pro-bending arena. When Tarrlok indiscriminately represses non-benders, Korra refuses to support him. In the resulting fight, Tarrlok overpowers Korra with bloodbending, an illegal form of waterbending, and kidnaps her, framing the Equalists. As Amon arrives at Tarrlok's hideout and removes Tarrlok's bending, Korra escapes, only to find Republic City facing an Equalist conquest.
In the two-part finale, naval reinforcements led by Iroh (the grandson of
Zuko
Prince (later Fire Lord) Zuko (), also known as the Blue Spirit, is a fictional character in Nickelodeon's animated television series ''Avatar: The Last Airbender''. Created by Eric Coleman and designed by series creators Michael Dante DiMartino ...
of the original series), are defeated by Equalist sea mines and biplanes. Attempting to find Amon, Korra learns that Tarrlok and Amon are the sons of Yakone, a mob boss defeated 42 years ago by Avatar Aang. Amon strips Korra of her bending abilities but Korra reveals her dormant airbending abilities in a moment of distress, exposing Amon as a waterbender and causing all his followers to desert him. He flees with Tarrlok, who detonates their boat on the open sea. Despondent, Korra establishes spiritual contact with her predecessor Aang, who restores her bending powers, allowing her to do the same to Amon's other victims.
Episodes
Cast and Characters
Main
*
Janet Varney
Janet Varney (born February 16, 1976) is an American actress, comedian, writer and producer, known for voicing Korra in the Nickelodeon animated television series ''The Legend of Korra'', co-starring as Sheriff Evie Barret in the television ser ...
as
Avatar Korra
Avatar Korra is the Title character, title lead character in Nickelodeon's List of animated television series, animated television series ''The Legend of Korra'' (a sequel to ''Avatar: The Last Airbender''), in which she is depicted as the curre ...
*
David Faustino as
Mako
, better known by the mononym name Mako (sometimes stylised MAKO), is a Japanese voice actress, singer and a member of the band Bon-Bon Blanco, in which her prominent role is as the maraca player. She has also performed in a Japanese television ...
*
P. J. Byrne as
Bolin Bolin is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Bert Bolin (1925–2007), Swedish meteorologist
* Bob Bolin (born 1939), American Major League Baseball pitcher
* Charles E. Bolin (1843–1924), American politician
* Jane Bolin (1908 ...
*
J. K. Simmons
Jonathan Kimble Simmons (born January 9, 1955) is an American actor, considered one of the most prolific and well-established character actors of his generation. He has appeared in over 200 films and television roles since his debut in 1986. He i ...
as
Tenzin
Tenzin ( bo, བསྟན་འཛིན) is a Tibetan given name, meaning "the holder of Buddha Dharma". Tenzin can alternatively be spelled as Tenzing and Stanzin as well. Stanzin is generally used by the Ladakhi people, since Ladakhi language ...
*
Seychelle Gabriel
Seychelle Suzanne Gabriel is an American actress. On television, she portrayed Lourdes Delgado in ''Falling Skies'' (2011–2014) and voiced Asami Sato in ''The Legend of Korra'' (2012–2014). She has also appeared in the films '' The Spirit'' ...
as
Asami Sato
is a major character in the Nickelodeon animated television series ''The Legend of Korra'', which aired from 2012 to 2014. The character and the series, a sequel to ''Avatar: The Last Airbender'', were created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bry ...
*
Mindy Sterling
Mindy Lee Sterling (born July 11, 1953) is an American television, film and voice actress. She portrayed Frau Farbissina in the ''Austin Powers'' film series and starred in the web series ''Con Man'', the latter of which earned her a Primetime ...
as
Lin Beifong
is a major character, voiced by Mindy Sterling, in Nickelodeon's animated television series ''The Legend of Korra'', which aired from 2012 to 2014. The character and the series, a sequel to ''Avatar: The Last Airbender'', were created by Micha ...
*
Kiernan Shipka
Kiernan Brennan Shipka (born November 10, 1999) is an American actress, best-known for her roles as Sally Draper in the AMC drama series ''Mad Men'' (2007–2015), Sabrina Spellman in the Netflix series '' Chilling Adventures of Sabrina'' (2018 ...
as Jinora
*
Dee Bradley Baker
Dee Bradley Baker (born August 31, 1962) is an American voice actor. Much of Baker's work features vocalizations of animals and monsters. Baker's roles include animated series such as ''Avatar: The Last Airbender'', '' Codename: Kids Next Door'', ...
as
Tarrlok
Recurring
* Logan Wells as Meelo
*
Darcy Rose Byrnes
Darcy Rose Byrnes (born November 4, 1998) is an American and Irish actress, singer, and songwriter. She is best known for her roles as Abby Newman on ''The Young and the Restless'' and ''The Bold and the Beautiful'', Penny Scavo on '' Desperate ...
as Ikki
*
Steve Blum
Steven Jay Blum (; born April 29, 1960) is an American voice actor. Known for his distinctively deep voice, his most well-known roles include Spike Spiegel from the anime series '' Cowboy Bebop'', Garazeb Orrelios from the animated series '' ...
as Amon
*
Lance Henriksen
Lance Henriksen (born May 5, 1940) is an American actor. He is known for his works in various science fiction, action and horror films, such as that of Bishop in the ''Alien'' film franchise, and Frank Black in Fox television series ''Millenn ...
as Amon's Lieutenant
*
Daniel Dae Kim
Daniel Dae Kim (born Kim Dae-hyun ( ko, 김대현); August 4, 1968) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Jin-Soo Kwon in ''Lost'', Chin Ho Kelly in '' Hawaii Five-0'', Gavin Park in ''Angel'', and Johnny Gat in the '' Saints Ro ...
as Hiroshi Sato
*
Clancy Brown
Clarence John "Clancy" Brown III (born January 5, 1959) is an American actor. Prolific in film and television since the 1980s, Brown is often cast in villainous and authoritative roles.
Brown's film roles include Viking Lofgren in ''Bad Boys'' ...
as Yakone
Reception
Reviews
''Book One'' received very positive reviews from critics, with review aggregator
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
calculating a 91% approval rating for the season from 11 reviews, with an average rating of 8.25/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "''The Legend of Korra'' expands the world of ''Avatar: The Last Airbender'' with narrative substance and crisp animation -- and progresses the drama and action with a female lead."
Elements of the first season that received praise were the exceptional quality of the animation, the background paintings
and the martial-arts action scenes,
as well as the series' innovative and engrossing visual design and style.
The writers were credited for finding a believable balance between magic and technology
and for their mature and nuanced portrayal of romantic relationships and conflicts.
Critics also praised the writers' willingness and ability to tackle difficult themes such as social unrest,
terrorism, Tarrlok's
murder–suicide
A murder-suicide is an act in which an individual kills one or more persons either before or while killing themselves. The combination of murder and suicide can take various forms:
* Murder linked with suicide of a person with a homicidal idea ...
of Amon,
as well as the insinuation of Korra contemplating suicide during the season finale.
While ''Book One: Air'' was generally well received, some aspects of the writing were criticized by reviewers. In ''
Kotaku'', Kirk Hamilton wrote that he felt that the series failed to tackle its central conflicts in a meaningful way, commenting also on the mix of comedy and drama, the many character arcs in a shorter series than ''Avatar'', and the neat ending.
Raz Greenberg of ''
Strange Horizons
''Strange Horizons'' is an online speculative fiction magazine. It also features speculative poetry and nonfiction in every issue, including reviews, essays, interviews, and roundtables.
History and profile
It was launched in September 2000, and ...
'' commented that Korra seemed as though she had things too easy in life in comparison to Aang, and also criticized the show's rapid pacing.
Max Nicholson of ''
IGN
''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
'' praised the series' writing, animation, humor, setting, and characters, and wrote that elements characterized as a ''deus ex machina'' had been foreshadowed throughout. But in his opinion, the love triangle arc between Mako, Asami, and Korra fell flat and the pro-bending arc felt superfluous, although it led up to the conflict with Amon. He also considered that Mako, although a major character, felt underwritten. Lauren Davis of ''
io9
''io9'' is part of Gizmodo media since 2015, and it began as blog launched in 2008 by Gawker Media. The site initially focused on the subjects of science fiction, fantasy, futurism, science, technology and related areas but over the years has ...
'', while approving of the character arcs and the setting, was also disappointed about the series' pacing.
Ratings
The initial airings of ''Book One: Air'', excluding reruns and digital downloads, drew an average of 3.7 million viewers per episode.
Other media
Art book
An art book published by
Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book, graphic novel, and manga publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, Oregon comic book shops know ...
, ''The Legend of Korra – Book One: Air – The Art of the Animated Series'' was released in July 2013. Edited by Dave Marshall and written by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, the art book collects concept art, sketches, storyboards, background paintings,
model sheet
In visual arts, a model sheet, also known as a character board, character sheet, character study or simply a study, is a document used to help standardize the appearance, poses, and gestures of a character in arts such as animation, comics, and v ...
s and other development art from ''Book One'', together with the creators' and artists' comments on the development process. ''
Culture Mass
Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.Tyl ...
'' praised the book as "meticulously executed and impressively comprehensive".
Home video
''Book One: Air'' of ''The Legend of Korra'' was released on
DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
and
Blu-ray
The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of st ...
on 9 July 2013. It contains audio commentary from the creators, the cast and crew. Both versions are to contain, as a special feature, a comical interview with the series' characters in puppet form. The Blu-ray version comprises, additionally, audio commentaries for all episodes as well as the extra "Series creators' Favorite Scenes: Eight Animatics".
Novelization
''Book One: Air'' was adapted as two novels by Erica David, aimed at readers aged twelve and up. The novelizations were published by
Random House
Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...
in 2013:
*''Revolution'' (), adapting episodes one to six, published on 8 January 2013
*''Endgame'' (), adapting episodes seven to twelve, published on 23 July 2013
Soundtrack
''The Legend of Korra'' is set to music by "The Track Team", the partnership of composers
Jeremy Zuckerman
Jeremy Zuckerman (born July 31, 1975) is an American composer of concert music, film and television music, music for modern dance, and experimental music. He is best known as the composer for the animated series ''Avatar: The Last Airbender'' an ...
and
Benjamin Wynn
Benjamin Wynn, (Benjamin Matfield Wynn, born 1979) known also as Deru, is an American composer, sound designer and music producer mostly known for creating the sound design for the TV series '' Avatar: The Last Airbender''. He has collaborated wi ...
. They jointly wrote the music for ''Avatar: The Last Airbender'', but split their roles for ''The Legend of Korra'': Zuckerman composed the music and Wynn was responsible for the sound design.
Bryan Konietzko and Mike DiMartino's concept for the score was to blend
traditional Chinese music
''Guoyue'' ( 國 樂; literally "national music"; also ''minyue'' (民乐), ''huayue'' (華樂) or ''zhongyue'' (中樂)), nowadays refers to the music composed for Chinese musical instruments, which is an extension of the Chinese traditional ...
with
early jazz. On that basis, Zuckerman and Wynn composed a score combining elements of
Dixieland
Dixieland jazz, also referred to as traditional jazz, hot jazz, or simply Dixieland, is a style of jazz based on the music that developed in New Orleans at the start of the 20th century. The 1917 recordings by the Original Dixieland Jass Band ...
, traditional Chinese music and Western orchestration, performed mainly by a
string sextet
In classical music, a string sextet is a composition written for six string instruments, or a group of six musicians who perform such a composition. Most string sextets have been written for an ensemble consisting of two violins, two violas, and ...
and various Chinese solo instruments.
A soundtrack CD, ''The Legend of Korra: Original Music from Book One'', was released on July 16, 2013. It features 26 instrumental tracks.
Konietzko wrote that the album release required "an incredibly frustrating wait and battle" to overcome "a bureaucratic impasse". He wished for the record to be commercially successful to convince Nickelodeon to release an ''Avatar: The Last Airbender'' soundtrack, a subject of many fan petitions. The day after its release, the album was the bestselling soundtrack album and no. 5 in the pop sales rankings at the online retailer
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It has been referred to as "one of the most influential econo ...
.
Track listing
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Legend of Korra (Book 1)
The Legend of Korra
2012 American television seasons
Murder–suicide in fiction
Murder–suicide in television