Asami Deserved Better | The Legend of Korra

[@angusalvarado3064]

I think all of Team Avatar in Korra feels underdeveloped, not just Asami. Like some of my favorite scenes in all of Korra come from Tenzin and his family, not any of the main characters.

[@Godzilla-tu2cd]

Yeah they don't feel like a team most of the time

[@medea__witchhh]

uncle iroh or prince iroh ??/gen

[@angusalvarado3064]

@@medea__witchhh meant to put Tenzin, not Iroh. My bad lol

[@kareyonnadavidson6661]

@@Godzilla-tu2cd Bolin is the best in writing

[@mkwhite5054]

I think that’s part of their mistake. They give so much time and development to aangs children that Korra and her team by proxy feels left behind or like things just kinda happen to them.

[@jairusjackson7799]

Something that always stood out to me, was how Korra's Team never felt like true friends. Half of it's members where dating, and when they weren't dating they all seemed so indifferent to each other. Maybe that's just me, but I feel like this didn't help Asami's case as with a lot of characters on this show, she felt restrained to having the same interactions and dialogue with the same characters every week. I think she may have talked to Bolin only twice in the show's entirety.

[@iceluvndiva21]

That tends to happen when the stakes are more diplomatic and not combative.

[@jairusjackson7799]

@@iceluvndiva21 Interesting point, could you please expand on that a little more?

[@kristenbrinn3940]

@@jairusjackson7799 I’m replying to know more as well

[@ludekmaly3900]

​@@iceluvndiva21 I'd say the fact the story had less plots to include her in would be a large part of why the entire gang feels like acquaintances. When your characters don't go on a journey taking years to build those friendships it be like that sometimes. Legit, considering the fact we have like what 5 plotlines across 4 seasons, that's not enough time to make them feel like anything beyond acquainted. Also just the fact the interesting time periods are skipped over. I guarantee we'd enjoy the show more if we got to see Korra train her bending from a young age. Or if we saw how she dealt with the trauma of red lotus torture instead of skipping to when she's about to find a cure, like we don't see the character work there because the writers decided they don't want to tell a good story

[@L0rdOfThePies]

Fr i loved bolin as a character because im a sucker for goofy types. He was sidelined hard too, but it reallt felt like no one was really _in_ focus?

[@josheydubs]

14:31 when you think about, Mako was not only betraying Asami’s trust and disregarding her emotions. But he’s also taking advantage of Korra’s and her amnesia.

[@samuelclayhills3298]

It would have been kinda akward to just say "sorry Korra but because I stopped you from escelating a war you whent pshyco and assulted my office so I broke upp with you because of that".

[@bobtheball5384]

@@samuelclayhills3298 Yeah no doubt, but it's better than hiding the truth lmao

[@Sweet_Venom0027]

I realize that it was probably a poor time to remind her that they had broken up, given her reaction when they did break up and her current mental state now just before a big battle is about to get underway but it was a tough call to make. Then again if he's gonna re-break up with Korra, being safely locked in a metal prison cell with a whole bunch of witnesses around(some of whom are master benders and experienced fighters) probably would have been a good idea.

[@vetarlittorf1807]

No. He just didn't want to hurt her again. It was a difficult moment.

[@theoutsiderjess1869]

I hated Mako so much he was a terrible boyfriend and a bland character

[@skytiger215]

It's sad that Bryke thought "liking Asami too much" meant that she couldn't be a villain not even a reformed one. Which is odd because one of the most popular and well-liked characters from this franchise is Zuko. An extremely flawed person who learned from his mistakes and became a better man for it. I don't know why Asami couldn't be afforded the same complexity.

[@falconeshield]

Zuko and Catra spent more times as villains before joining the good guys and people still loved them. Why not Asami?

[@happysocialmoth1197]

@@falconeshield *implying that Catra has a well-written “reform” arc in the first place 💀

[@idkidc2573]

@@happysocialmoth1197 Pretty sure she-ra was the kind of show that had wanted to have an extra 1/2 seasons but netflix said no. I can excuse the rushed parts of catra's redemption. I think you can see they did the best they could in the short timeframe they had.

[@BlackDragon-uq1wy]

It definitely would have made things super interesting she had so much potential as a villain with a redemption arc

[@cinthiaMP]

@@Ebh55. did you watch the video??

[@angelaharris9714]

To be honest Asami served as a love interest and a form of transportation. Shoot even in ATLA appa had more of a storyline and development as a character. He was more than their transportation, he was an actual team member with a story. There wasn’t much of a storyline outside of that besides the last minute reconnecting she did with her dad or trying to strike a deal with Varrick. Then again team avatar didn’t have much development anyways. They never felt like a team after Asami joined.

[@adrianrodrigues6210]

😅

[@facundopollacino7956]

El equipó de Korra es un desastre.

[@etienne8110]

Appami. 😅

[@sarah.n.s.c.]

Also the way she was literally used and cheated on twice by Mako and betrayed by Korra, who allegedly was her friend and yet the writers let her be angry about it for like 3 minutes total, only to make her totally docile and agreeable after. I couldn’t imagine staying in a friendgroup made up of my ex who cheated on me, the girl he cheated on me with and his little brother who I never talked to. She deserved better tbh

[@pattytadaima]

@@sarah.n.s.c. I agree. They built a weird team starting for a strange love triangle that ended up bad and, aside, Bolin. That's not a team or a friend group. That's just... awkward. I liked how the story ended in season 1. There was this love triangle that got its resolution... but in the following seasons they messed up with it. It was weird seeing this 4 dudes trying to be friends after that when they never developed a genuine trust to be friends to begin with. Asami wasn't really a friend to Bolin or even to Mako, Mako apparently never truly loved Korra or even Asami. He was just a awkward pressence. And Bolin was the comic relief and was losing his relevance as a character the more the seasons kept going on. For me, the team felt as a good starting point at the end of season 1, but in the rest, it lost its cohesiveness and sense. The korrasami and makorra fight didn't help.

[@UnluckySuperstition]

Asami is treated a bit like Daphne is from Scooby Doo. She's the ultra rich member of the group that people generally like being around, but while she has a large amount of skills she has mastered in her life -whether it be driving stick, martial arts or otherwise- unless the story directly wants her to be in the spot light then none of those skills are truly utilized or mentioned.

[@tuumef1799]

You raised some good points. Asami didn't really have a whole lot invested with things outside of Future Industries. I would have preferred her original backstory as well. An Equalist Asami would have given so much more depth to the show. Still, she got to strut her stuff and made it count when she got the spot. Thanks for the video.

[@matijasostojic4288]

I've commented on a Rewrite of the show that asami Being a villain and trying to get Mako on her side would be amazing And potentially heartbreaking. A scene Like this: "Asami. Why?" "Because a fire bender Took my mother from me!" "So what. You Are going to condone hurting innocents. What about Bolin, Korra And the nomads? What about me?" She looks at him with face of sadness And regret before smiling as she gets An idea "Then why don't You join me! You can just let Amon FIX You And we can be together again!" I am no writter but something Like this could be interesting.

[@jmalfonso7]

Yeah I wished Asami Sato's character arc was more developed into a tragic complex villain turned to good guy like Zuko, but her slowing questioning her beliefs in nonbenders. Instead we have a messy love-triangle of Mako and Korra. If you want my opinion on who Asami should be shipped, it should've been either Iroh II or Bolin. Plus I wished the electrified gloves weren't just the equivalent of tasers. Why can't they shoot electro bolts or repulsor rays like Iron Man? I don't mind Asami wearing two electified gloves instead of one.

[@Themightystar5000]

And when the leader of the eqalist is revealed to be a hypocrite and deceiver with fake motives and a desire for revenge, what do you think Asami will look like next?

[@matijasostojic4288]

@@jmalfonso7 Basically have asami become a Artificer (tech Wizard) from dnd? Actually sounds kinda cool.

[@Talyrion]

About Asami not worrying about Korra missing... wasn't it because Korra was actually writing her letters? I honestly don't remember too well, it's been ages since I watched the seasons, but I remember that the moment where it was mentioned that Korra actually kept in touch with Asami, and only Asami, was the moment I began to wonder "wait, are we flipping the love triangle on its head?"

[@Wright805]

Correct. Asami was the only one Korra wrote to.

[@yolandag8436]

I'm pretty sure the last letter was when she was still in the South pole healing with Katara... When she left and cut her hair, i think that's when she didn't contact anyone not even asami so i think thats what the video is talking about

[@etienne8110]

She only wrote one letter as far as we know. In 3 years... That s borderline ghosting 😅

[@Talyrion]

@@etienne8110 Did she? Once again, I honestly don't remember too well, but I feel like a regular correspondance was implied - as in, Asami got updates.

[@etienne8110]

@@Talyrion iirc at the beginning of the season4 korra narrates her letter to asami saying "sorry for never answering till now but these last three years haven t been easy." That s why i took it she never wrote until then. And since she leaves afterwards, i guess that s the only letter. We can infere that the others and asami wrote more often to her. But it still gave me the feeling of a very shallow relationship.

[@sveipr]

While I think it would have been really smart for Asami to be a chi-blocker (and it would make sense with her father wanting her to have self defense against benders) it feels like the reason why the writers didn't go down that route was because they wanted somebody in team avatar to be proficient in all of the new technology that developed in between Aang and Korra. While I do think having a character that's technically a main supporting character be an example of the new technology is good for world building purposes, I just feel that having Asami being a chi blocker AND being good at the new tech would have worked and made her character more interesting. And let's be real, the real team avatar was Korra, Tenzin, and Lin lol

[@ningmushii]

Exactly, I found the Gaang’s kids far more interesting and they even helped Korra a lot.

[@Sebastianejt]

exactly!

[@toadlord8594]

Agreed!

[@gemma2547]

Asami felt more like a plot device than a member of the group

[@facundopollacino7956]

Porque eso es lo qué era. Una pena, porqué tenía mucho potencial.

[@donovan802]

It honestly sucks considering I think we can all agree Asami is gorgeous and her relationship with Mako and Korra, while undeniably rocky, had some wholesome moments. She could've been great if she had more screen time and more emphasis on the story rather than subplots like that or, as Thomas said, being the frequent getaway driver. Not that Asami isn't a good character; we were just rightfully expecting more. However, I will say this: given how that Asami's voice actress Seychelle Gabriel portrayed Yue in the live-action Last Airbender, even if Asami has some problems writing-wise, you cannot deny she was a substantial step-up for Seychelle's involvement in the franchise with how unforgivable that movie was.

[@SarahGambill-sl9dl]

Asami is evil open your eyes.

[@mr.protagonist5639]

Holy moly. The Asami double agent plot works sooo much better. Think about it for Asami it gives her more to do and she could get a redemption arc throughout the series. For mako instead of him barely having a character make it so he's initially the loner with a small circle of friends Bolin and Korra. Then he falls HARD for Asami and is devastated when her using him Is revealed. This is after having opened himself up more than he ever has with anyone. Have him spiral and develop trust issues eventually becoming bad enough he even closes himself off to his own brother Bolin. That could be his arc dealing with these issues and him regaining his ability to trust.

[@facundopollacino7956]

Asami pudo haber sido cómo Zuko. Pero nooooo...mejor tengamos un triángulo amoroso innecesario y molesto. Mako también pudo ser más qué un personaje estoico y aburrido. Pudo salir beneficiado de esa trama; los fanáticos lo hubieran amado y no sería un chiste en el fandom. Podría haber aprendido a no bajar la guardiá, pensar antes de actuar...y todo eso.

[@Actually_its_Ashely]

She really does feel like the Suki of the Krew. Only relevant and important sometimes, amazing grilboss characters who deserved better, but are ultimately there for romantic relationship(s) with the other characters

[@facundopollacino7956]

La diferencia es qué Suki era mejor qué Asami.

[@twangyflame0969]

The way Mako is described and broken down in this video makes me both relate to him and enjoy him much more as a character. It's also just a laugh because, as a guy with a tendency to be a people pleaser, I can confirm that we do, in fact, sometimes don't realize when we do things out romantic affection for someone else.

[@themoroccanball]

They did Mako dirty. He was supposed to be named in honor of the OG voice actor of Iroh (the wholesome and wise uncle we all loved and wished we had) yet he got reduced to a supportive role. He feels like he has no personality besides being involved in an awkward and well hated love triangle and being that random guy who dated everyone in the team except for his brother and now has to live with it.

[@FarronMoon]

It would have been incredible for Asami to have been the team strategist and using her connections/business savvy to gather information. Your example of Verric supplying both sides could have been hinted at by Asami looking through her logs and finances, perhaps being confused as to why there is Northern Water tribe-associated money in their ledger. Even if she writes it off as a mistake or sympathetic NWT individuals, it can plant that seed and show us how much of a true businesswoman she is.

[@falconeshield]

I hate how even the comics forget that

[@SagemaGrindset1894]

That would've been amazing 🙌🙌🙌

[@bradleyharris774]

Team Korra as a whole feels underdeveloped, mainly because the writers liked focusing on the villains instead of the characters audiences actually care about and Asami got the brunt of it. I can kinda see what the writers were going for with Asami (The non-bender of the team who solves issues with quick wits/brains rather than bending/brawn) but they dropped the ball and she always seemed like someone Team Korra keep hanging out with out of convenience rather than genuine friendship. Personally, I was never a fan of Asami using that electro glove because it essentially gives her the abilities of a Bender when she's supposed to be the Non-Bender of the team. Asami with Chi-Blocking could have been everything and there was a perfect excuse in the plot for it with those self-defense classes her father put her in. I'd imagine Chi-Blocking being a more widespread form of self-defense for Non-Benders against Benders and not something reserved for the Equalists. Oddly enough Asami has a similar problem to Roxy though not as severe. She's important in one season but is then continuously relegated to supporting cast.

[@soccer4207]

"Batman, but make it fashion" That line just made me burst out laughing.

[@ajstudios9210]

Yup. She's basically their one rich friend that they use from time to time.

[@TheMbangel]

One of the pitfalls of Legend of Korra was that the writers never knew how many seasons there were going to be. Unlike with The Last Air Bender, where they knew it would be three seasons from the get-go, and could thus have a more cohesive story across the seasons.

[@krow5099]

Exactly they didn’t know if the end of the series was coming during S1 or S3 and it’s hard to work on a fleshed out story when you don’t know your time constraints

[@SpaceandGoats]

However they could've written the seasons they did have better...which they didn't.

[@facundopollacino7956]

Eso no es excusa para una historia tan floja.

[@gage6314]

@@facundopollacino7956Lol are you slow? They’re literally stating that nick kept rushing and sabotaging the writers. Half of the story isn’t even complete because nick is sexist and racist.🤷🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️

[@LensMusicBox]

Asami had so much potential to be the leader of team Korra. She has the smarts, strength, resourcefulness, and empathy.

[@rclark8688]

Yeah a big issues with Korra in general was how they handled the supporting cast. In avatar the aang gets set up with a wise old person who you think is going to be his teacher, but instead is a younger friend who becomes his teacher instead. In Korea they tried to do this thing where she learns from her enemies but didn't handle it quite right, so both her friends and enemies are kind of messy. The legacy member's children hold far more significance to the story. Maybe they could have made it so each of her friends start of on the villains side, and then after Korra learns a genuine lesson from the villains the person switches sides and joins Korra instead.

[@SunGodNika-bi2jr]

I believe I speak for everyone that Asami not hunting down the fire bender that killed her mother to be a major missed opportunity

[@whatthefisfilipinx]

Similar to Katara hunting down her mother's killer

[@mannyoftheeast3318]

Dude, that would of been so good

[@matijasostojic4288]

While it would have been cool I feel like people might have thought the writers were just copying it from Katara.

[@jorijoestar4998]

The love triangles is what stabbed the heart of Korra.

[@cjoy413]

I like your "Deserved Better" series. Who's next on the list?

[@josheydubs]

I’d say Connie from Steven Universe

[@falconeshield]

Netossa from Shera 2018

[@frauleinzuckerguss1906]

​@@falconeshieldBow?

[@midnightfox3157]

Asami could’ve been handled so much better she deserved to be in the main plot since of being relegated(I dont know if I’m even using that word correctly)to side plots that have nothing it with anything and as a non bender I would’ve loved see her and kinda like a fusion of sokka Mai ty lee and suki But even more badass I also feel like and if I say this wrong plz lemme know that if you look at the cast the korra mako bolin and Asami would be high schooler age so the whole love triangle stuff kinda makes sense for that age range and ofc after high school which would be in the age range of book 4 korra start’s discovering her sexuality and stuff

[@lindsaygleason3754]

The Legend of Korra deserved to be treated better by Nickelodeon. It seemed like they wanted the show to fail but the showrunners had done everything in their power to try to make it happen.

[@psgamer-0199]

Exactly. Nickelodeon was the main issue. If TLOK would have had the liberty ATLA had a little more of, TLOK would have done even better than it already did.

[@14omoon]

Completely agree, they even leaked episodes 🙄 😒 😑 how rude

[@justsomeguy2825]

I always loved how in the original series, Non benders like Sokka, Suki, May, and Ty Lee were always shown to be incredibly useful in every situation, even completely outclassing Benders on multiple occasions. All without modern technology. But even with the technological advancements, and knowledge of chi blocking, Non benders in LOK are always portrayed to be at a disadvantage, even portrayed as second class citizens, when that was never apparent in the original.

[@fanaticentity]

Honestly Alot of the characters just have unexplored potential.

[@lifeline.6144]

Especially Mako. he’s too handsome to be this irrelevant

[@Godzilla-tu2cd]

Asami definitely deserves better

[@sharynmorgan944]

She should have still been with Marko, not ending up with Korra, but they cheated on her, I stopped watching after that.

[@scrrveir]

@@sharynmorgan944 bro what are you talking about? mako didn't work for either of them, the problem was mako...

[@07Flash11MRC]

@@sharynmorgan944 "She should have still been with Mako": Why? Are you mad that two women like each other?

[@themoroccanball]

@@07Flash11MRCI think that the issue with Korrasami is that it seems forced and some people (at least that other person) think that Asami would’ve been better dating Mako than ending up with Korra

[@Hobo-Fushiguro]

​@@themoroccanball But Mako cheated on Asami... I think she deserved better and finding someone else than dating those two

[@NekoYasha09]

In glad someone said she deserved better and made a whole video.

[@KitaraStrife]

22:16 to 22:22 You missed a GREAT opportunity to include Prince Derek from The Swan Princess with his "What else IS there?" line. 😆

[@falconeshield]

I hate those movies but that line is iconic

[@AimFlash2506]

I’m not sure if I was the only one to notice this but I feel like the main reason non benders aren’t seen in cool fights is because in the original avatar series even non-benders had to learn how to defend themselves because of the 100 year war and firebenders but now they don’t really have a reason to fight(still not a reason to have only one badass non-bender)

[@allenwalker23kh]

I'd argue otherwise! Like, te equalists movement showed that there is a lot of opresion towards non-benders in Republic City (despite Amon's manipulation, all of those people decided to collaborate because theuy were indeed suffering even if the show barely acknowledges it), therefore it would seem logical to me that non-benders would have to learn how to fight because of the fear of being assaulted unfairly by the bender supremasist goverment, but hey, that's just me.

[@pinstripe4254]

The only ones who felt like friends were Korra and Bolin, overall the entire group felt like a shallow highschool friend group where everyone is either dating each other or having crushes on each other, except for one of them who at first dated inside the group but then started dating the popular girls at school (Bolin). Eventually the two girls in the group realize they’re bi and start dating each other, which was absolutely the right choice.

[@amourtabb7859]

I thought it was strange how sidelined asami was considering how involved sokka was in the first series and with tech advances it should've been easier to intergrate her into the action

[@blackkitty369]

I agree. She deserved so much more. People get mad when I say Korra ans Asami didn't have much to go on. I'm glad you stated how their friendship was very basic. I wanted more from them the when they get together it would make sense.

[@heehoopeanut420]

Omg for real, I do not see Asami and Kirra as representation tbh. I remember going into the show knowing that in the end they get together.... NO ONE TOLD ME ALL THEY DID WAS HOLD HANDS. Pissed me off so much, it's lazy.

[@blackkitty369]

@@heehoopeanut420 IKR. At the end I honestly said " That's it?!"

[@sophieamandaleitontoomey9343]

Literally. People come at me all the time as being homophobic for not liking Korra and Asami as the endgame. Sorry not sorry, their romance is badly developed. Their friendship is also badly developed so how can we naturally believe it becomes an endgame love? Especially when for the first two seasons, they were not friends but romantic rivals for Mako’s affection? In fact I’m not even sure if Korra and Asami talk in season 2. I’m sorry but Korra and Asami being the endgame just doesn’t work because Bryke did not set strong enough groundwork for those two being together being believable.

[@facundopollacino7956]

El "Korrasami" es una historia de amor muy subdesarrollado y mal escrito. Se siente cómo un fanfic a medias.

[@facundopollacino7956]

​@@sophieamandaleitontoomey9343 no podría haberlo dicho mejor. Su romance hubiera funcionado sí se hubiera planeado con anticipación, y sí ambas hubieran tenido más tiempo en pantalla juntas para qué su eventual romance fuera orgánico y natural. Pero no. En su lugar, parece salido de la nada.

[@3HorsemenOfMovingPictures]

I'm glad everyone's still talking about this show, but i also love how this one actually acknowledge's Asami out of all the criticisms of this show does. We should really put into highlight on Asami's depth as a character and how the writers had a wasted potential on making more than what she really is to be.

[@jimbatter5246]

Mako got done so dirty. Like he was wrong but it's still because they didn't know how to right him and people constantly look over everything he try's to do to make up for being literally just a bad boyfriend NO ONE WON I IN THAT LOVE TRIANGLE AND MAKO IS THE MARTER

[@SaiyanGamer95]

Kinda sucks even more when you remember he was named in honor of Mako Iwamatsu, the guy who voiced Iroh (as well as Aku from Samurai Jack) before his death.

[@stuartcrippen5066]

I don’t agree with making Asami an Equalist would make her interesting. Just expand on when, how and why she was able to keep her morals in spite of her pain while her father went down the wrong path. Then in Book 2 make her more invested in saving company and dealing with the reprocussions of the previous Book, then in the later half get her invested in using her company’s tech to better adapt the world to it’s changes while developing her relationship with Korra.

[@TheLunarboy4]

I wish that we got more moments of Asami doing some Black Widow style judo stuff

[@taoaaao5705]

the insert of mariah after tenzin reveals asami's mother is 💀 was perfect

[@marcusmoutra]

I felt Korra and Asami's relationship was just thrown at us when they ended up together. Like I wish they actually dropped hints throughout the series. However, we all know because of the time this show came out the network wasn't going to allow it.

[@Wright805]

They DID drop hints and plenty of them. You just need to pay attention.

[@wyntahb3968]

​@@Wright805 what hints please tell. She didnt like her at the beginning because she wanted mako an then they were kinda cool then korra disappeared an then they were together like huh they barely spoke

[@jmalfonso7]

Agreed, Marcus. In terms of relationships, I wish it was just back to Mako and Korra, and General Iroh II and Asami Sato if they developed both Iroh II's and Asami's character more. To be honest Asami's character development should've been a villain or double-agent while slowly turning good when questioning her allegiance with Amon and the Equalists.

[@BabyGirlTiny]

The writers didn’t want it either and imma need y’all to stop blaming the network instead of the writers who are using this as an excuse to not criticize their shitty writing

[@SoulKingBK]

@@Wright805 hints that regular people can see not love sick fanfic freaks that see a pairing if anyone makes eye contact for over a second.

[@luiserodriguezserrano4287]

So basically she is the Roxy of the team.

[@litrim1285]

And Mako’s the show’s Riven. With Helia’s voice. 😆

[@ronsorage78]

Asami is probably one of the prettiest characters both inside and out that I've seen in a show in a while. She is also one of the better characters in LoK. Though Zhu Li is best girl. But I'm also a Mai fan too lol. Love that moody girl.

[@kelvindominguez983]

Yes!!! We love and appreciate Asami Sato in this household!! 🤚🏼

[@YumikoYouku]

Korra, Mako and Asami all deserved better than a love triangle. I love the show, but I hate the love triangle centric episodes.

[@caitlina5776]

I just finished legend of korra for the first time. So glad this video showed up because it’s exactly how I felt. I’m more excited to see fan interpretations, because so many characters got introduced that I wanted to learn more about that didn’t really get space to develop on their own (P’li, Kuvira, Opal, and of course Asami)

[@tell-me-a-story-]

I always appreciate it when the girly girl is tougher than the tomboy. Less feminine doesn’t make you stronger.

[@facundopollacino7956]

"Soy una guerrera, pero también soy una chica". - Suki.

[@johnninocovers]

Yeah, unfortunately this is super obvious. She has so little characterization aside from rich, nonbender, tech genius, engineer but it's never to a point those aspects were challenged. Being a nonbender wasn't a problem because she can fight, and she's privileged not to be marginalized during the equalist arc. The most 'test of character' moment was her losing her company in B2, but then Varrick offered a buyout and was never developed further in a bigger narrative for her. Her accomplishments of building a railway and designing the airbenders outfit were done off-screen. She also get very little dialogue and interaction, and most often she's just Korra yes-man. I am a big fan of TLOK but it's super disappointing she was written so little as she was lots of potential for stories. I personally think she's a perfect candidate for espionage missions.

[@ceeford9919]

The thing I feel most robbed out of was Tahno. During Lok's og release I thought Tahno was going to join Team avatar as the token waterbender member like Katara was. I mean think of the character development that he could have had after Korra gave him back his waterboarding.

[@matijasostojic4288]

Dude when he was all sad and depressed after the attack but still made the Uvatar joke I was like "Still was a jerk but hey Zuko tried to burn people to death in S1 so I want to see a redemption" Atleast he started playing instruments.

[@shanepeed8125]

So excited to see you making Legend of Korra content I don't really have anything to say today because you just touched on everything so well already but I guess it's okay when the video is this good! 😊

[@stardustcherry2158]

I agree! Asami in my opinion is the only character who is likable. She was unfairly mistreated by the creatirs thrown in the background most of the time when she had so much potential. I kind of dig the idea of her being antagonist to become later a protagonist. I don't know why the creatore scraper the idea in the first place.

[@dannyphantom3090]

Glad I found this video because I always thought asami was majorly disrespected especially in the love triangle which is why I've never been a korrasami shipper because I just couldn't imagine hooking up with the girl who stole my man twice maybe a close friendship like superman and batman but not a relationship due to all the mess.

[@sharynmorgan944]

I agree with you, Marko and Korra both , behind Asami's back, and Korra knew he was with Asami because he told her but she kept pushing herself onto him, I never liked Korra for doing that, and then to put Asami and her together at the end was an even greater turn off. Asami should have been kept with Marko from the beginning.

[@troubleln42]

I didn't know Asami and Korra got together at the end of the series, in my country the last season wasn't aired on TV, it was promoted as only available on nickelodeon's website but everytime I tried to look for it just showed clips of previous seasons

[@anthyshimemiya]

for me, you really hit the nail on the head when you said that "a lot of your love for asami is within your own [diseased] headcannon" because i have always felt the same exact way about her. like as a certified cardholding member of the asami supremacy support group, even i realize that a lot of the reasons why i love her are for how fleshed out her character is in various fanfics that i've read of her. ie, fanfic authors will often take a certain aspect of her character that was vaguely introduced in the show and expand on it in a way that endears me so much to her character and it's only very recently that i have begun to realize that difference between what the show really truly gave of us her and what i have decided is part of her character because of other fans' creativity. that being said, i do think that asami is a character that if the show had spent more time on, could've been and would've been sooo interesting. she has literally every reason to be a horrible person but she doesn't. she chooses kindness and compassion at every step, even if it hurts her personally (think her choosing the krew/justice over joining her father and the equalists). anyways i need to actually finish this video but kudos to the great analysis so far!

[@ZaphiraX]

The non-bending being very underutilised is an understatement. As mentioned in the video, Soka and Suki never felt as as useless and had their own contributions. And May and Ty Lee were strong opponents that kept the gaang on their toes. But also Zuko, who despite being a bender learned the dual swords. He was just as capable with his swords as with is bending, which is actually pretty impressive seeing as the sole focus of his training was bending

[@Slm99]

I know you said you liked Hellofuterme, but I disagree with him quite a lot, especially on his Beginnings video. His understanding of Hinduism, Taoism, and Buddhism was lacking, as the video shows. Honestly, Asami was treated the best in the final season and that says a lot. I still disagree with making Asami the villain I know it's more "interesting", but people would have compared her to Zuko so much and I am grateful they didn't.

[@mysticdigital5936]

Yeah, Idc what people say, one of Asami's best moments IS betraying her father. She ain't about that!

[@ishika5619]

what do you disagree with him about, out of curiousity? i'm a hindu and i didn't find any glaring misunderstanding.

[@Slm99]

@@ishika5619 he was making generalizations about Christianity and forgot that notion of good and evil existed in Hinduism, Taoism, and Buddhism plus the concept of the Avatar I think he forgot to mention the origin of the world and the most famous avatars who inspired the shows.

[@Rosemont104]

How a character is initially conceived will set the tone for how they are used for the rest of the show (or not used, in this case), so since she wasn't going to be a stereotypical femme fatale, what was she then? The answer was not very interesting - as soon as her role in the love triangle was over, she was practically over as a character as far as the writers were concerned (until that last-minute implied coupling with Korra). At least the crew from "Star vs" was more honest (if more crudely so) about how little their romantic third wheels mattered to them once their time as obstacles in a "Will-They-Won't-They" maze were done; they were all literally left behind.

[@etienne8110]

She was overlooked. she was supposed to be one of the antagonists in season1 and last minute they changed their minds and didn t knew what to do with her. But to be fair the same can be said about mako. He doesn t get any dev at all. Only bolin evolves a little, learning new bending and setting with opal.

[@wolphdrake3714]

I hear you! Everything you say here is so important! It's like I breathe every word in this video😩 Asami's my favorite character in The Legend of Korra aside from Korra herself - the tittle trully says it all. Asami deserved BETTER!!! I mean I know she's not the only one but I feel especially cheated because, again, I love her so much 😭 this is an awesome video👏👏👏 thank you so much, you put so many of my thoughts into words with this😄

[@yasmineroquet8057]

I would love more avatar related videos! Thank you for making one about Asami. Absolutely underrated character. I’m glad that she’s in team Avatar :)

[@icecreamsunday8146]

its funny how one of atla's main strengths was how developed their protagonists (read: the gaang) because the show spends so much time fleshing out their relationships, but its main villain (Ozai) tends to fall a little flat when rewatching. meanwhile, korra suffers from the opposite problem- they fleshed out their villains so much and so well with the turnover of half-baked protagonists. Zaheer, Kuvira, Amon, and his brother were some of the best written villains BOTH shows had, but apparently a sacrifice had to be made in terms of mc chemistry.

[@christopherballero866]

Asami did get pushed aside plus it's almost impossible to not compare LoK to ATLA. Those in ATLA got a lot more time and 1 consistent enemy. LoK is a lot messier planning wise and had too many enemies for its own good.

[@JellyWafflesOG]

I have a lot of issues with the Korra series, I trace nearly all the issues back to corporate Nickalodian interfering with the series. Cutting the seasons down to 12 episodes, adding forced child pandering scenes to help sell merch, moving it to digital release only for the later seasons, what they did to spirits..... So sad what they did

[@kareyonnadavidson6661]

I agree there is another KZbinr who is rewriting the legend of Korra series his name is Hello future me

[@medea__witchhh]

his rewrites are so good

[@kareyonnadavidson6661]

@@medea__witchhh ikr

[@nicolas._.2294]

Gonna watch the rewrite rn

[@faith4657]

Like the video, despite hating Asami's lack of character and the stupid relationship at the end that they confirmed they didn't think about. I still think she deserved good characters. All the members deserved to be good, like the og characters, especially mako, whose name has been dragged through the mud many times over. I just hope that there is ever a reboot they learn from their mistakes. Overall, it's a good video. I also look into fanfics about the characters and are amazed how they dropped the ball so badly, but it's pretty good. Maybe I'll sub, I'll think about it.

[@Sebastianejt]

i love how this portrays a totally different friend group. to show how different children friendship are (gaang) to teens (korras team). watching ATLA is like watching stranger things kinda friendship. while TLOK is giving gossip girl.

[@pythoncasey]

I feel her character design (appearance-wise) is striking because she is designed like a stereotypical female antagonist "bad girl" or "Siren" who lures protagonist men astray or serves as the competition to the "Doe" looking female protagonist (because women with make-up can't be trusted?). The long dark flowing hair, bright green eyes, sharp eyebrows, lipstick and eyeshadow, she looks a lot like Lust from Full Metal Alchemist, or Eris from Sinbad, She-go from Kim Possible, yet her personality defies all the stereotype and confronts the viewers expectation of her. She definitely deserved to be fleshed out more than just an aesthetically distinctive character

[@elsafowl]

That may be why we also love Asami so much. Since she isn't much developed in the canon show, we can all put our own interpretation of her character onto her, and so we love her better for it because she does correspond to the idea we have of her character in our head. I have an entire backstory for her, of course based on what little information we have on her past, but the few data we have is actually a goldmine for the imagination (and it's quite the same for Korra, Mako and Bolin... we truly don't have a lot of info about their pasts). Oh, and Asami fighting the Red Lotus would have been so dope!! Actually, I had this scene in mind, where everyone is outside of the cave watching Korra fighting Zaheer in the sky, and at one point there is an explosion and a cloud of dust on the ground, and there Asami and Ghazhan appear, fighting like hell with dirt and blood on them. Like, Ghazan wasn't really dead under all of the rumble and Asami was trapped under it all until they crossed paths and started their fight again. If Asami had been an equalist, she could have gone further than just chiblocking. Maybe she could have developed specific fighting techniques based on the type of bending of the opponent? Maybe her mother was a pro-nonbender activist in the past, and that's why she was killed by the Agni Kai? Maybe Ty Lee trained her mother, maybe there's a connection somewhere? I don't know, but the possibilities are ENDLESS with her, and gosh I wish TLOK was less neoliberal american and more of socialist ecologist european

[@Kingdream93]

I feel people are forgetting that homosexual relationships was actually showed back then. However, it was on Teennick channel which is where the legend of Korra show should have been in the first place. There was a show I used to watch called Degrassi, which had homosexual relationships. You can argue that it was the Nick system or homophobic Parents but I argue that it was lack of planning (it wasnt planned from the beginning anyways). Because if they had shown legend of Korra on Teen Nick, they would have had more creative freedom and thus Korrasami would have made a lot more sense to people and it wouldn't seem half assed.

[@Kaltagstar96]

I really like that you're both a fan of Legend of Korra and have no qualms talking about the shows flaws (I'm a big fan of the show, but it's by no means perfect) and the editing and clips used had me absolutely fucking dying. Just a shame that Asami seemed so underutilised in the series, wouldn't mind seeing you do a video on the LOK's villains.

[@miguellopes7627]

The poor girl had one boss fight and that was in season 1, she peaks in season 1 and doesn't really get any upgrades afterwards.

[@robertlinke2666]

24:00 yeah, where are the kyoshi warriors during the kuvira take over? they cant have been disbanded right? and yes, Asami's self-defense lessons should have included chi blocking, even if it is fundamental stuff, so she has to learn how to get better at it, fighting her way trough stronger and stronger opponents as her chi-blocking prowess grows.

[@fanaticentity]

She got the Musa treatment

[@eauxkei702]

I may be alone, but I only like romances when they're subplots in other genres. Most stories where romances are the sole focus bore me because they tend to be predictable. I also think it makes perfect sense for two (or more) people to connect when the world is in danger of ending or during some other large conflict. It's the carpe diem of it all.

[@JC-rg2qp]

WOW! Just wow! This was amazingly well done (editing, content, pacing, etc.) great job, great video!

[@lolli_popples]

So with the whole “Asaami was an equalist inventor turned good rewrite” I think it’d be really interesting if they had her like... invent firearms or something? But not give them to the equalists? Basically I want to give Asaami a glock. I know it’s a kid’s show but it’d be so funny.

[@janelleherrera8005]

I agree with…everything lol. Thank you for a commentary on the Legend of Korra and where the writers failed without bashing on Korra or Asami’s characters. The hate I read on both of them (and Katara) astounds me. It always just feels like female leads have no wiggle room for mistakes and growth. Anyways, the one thing I’ll add is that it makes sense to me that non-benders abilities went south with the advancement of technology. I mean, look at us. We rely very heavily on the inventions we have created and a lot of us lack a lot of survival skills. In that regard, I feel like the writers didn’t do too bad 😅

[@Aashbard01]

I actually would've loved Asami starting off as a villain because her motivation would've been to make up for her hand in the rise of the equalists which would eventually evolve into the desire to defend her nation, knowing that she has the ability and the resources to do so

[@whatthefisfilipinx]

Asami Sato as a villian in Season 1 would have given her character a lot of deep.

[@WildWolfGod]

Thinking about it, the Gaang is together consistantly the entire show in the original series which really leads to getting to know the characters through interactions between each other as well as how they handle situations. In Korra they're split up quite a lot which isn't necessarily bad but I feel like it stunted growth of the cast especially when Korra is the main focus and the crew didn't get to grow around her.

[@falconeshield]

S2 ruined that

[@All-ze9cl]

yeah fr, avatar was written so that it wasn't really possible for the gaang to split up for a long time since they were constantly traveling and had to stick together. But in Korra they were all over for a ton of time

[@SMAnthonyW]

Asami was my favourite character in TLOK. With Lin Beifong being a close second. I love these fierce ass women.

[@somebody1170]

I wish they made her an airbender in season 3. Her relationship with Korra would have been way more natural since it would have been the perfect opportunity for Korra to be her airbending teacher and for them to grow together. But since they didn’t do that, they could have given her some cool high tech gadgets to participate in serious fights but the writers hate her and it disappoints me so much

[@mzchocolate009]

I feel like asami was supposed to be the new sokka but less for comic relief and bolin took the comic relief

[@serafine666]

21:53 It was approximately at this timestamp that the lightbulb went on: audience people took the Equalists seriously because the show writers were dunces and forgot to write in non-benders. Thus, the absent mistreatment (another thing the writers sort of forgot) became credible due to absent nonbender characters.

[@Barakon]

7:31 maybe she was a double agent in universe but because she saw how they were people, she became a triple agent!!!!!!!

[@TotalTech2.]

The reason that Asami was so poorly written was because *ORIGINALLY* it was going to be revealed that she was an equalist spy and she wasn't going to appear past the first season. However, she proved to be so popular that they scrapped the idea.

[@sinjinreed2091]

Can I just say that I think Mako gets way too much hate from the fandom? Like, seriously, he's actually not to blame for a lot of the relationship drama that happens in season 1 (I don't know about S2 because I barely watched it). And, I'll just say it-Korra was a bad girlfriend and a creep. Can you imagine how people would react if the genders were reversed? A struggling young woman trying to make it in a difficult sport and lift herself and younger sister out of poverty suddenly becomes the object of affection to the _Avatar_ - the single most powerful man in the world. Then she meets and starts a relationship with the son and heir to a major automobile company, and locking down on this relationship could be their ticket out of the gutters. After that, the Avatar confesses his "love" for her in the most ham-fisted way possible, then starts dating her sister (who had a crush on him), and when confronted about it, starts saying shit like "when you're with him you're thinking of me." And if that wasn't bad enough, the she tries to have a rational conversation with him, the Avatar straight-up kisses her WITHOUT HER CONSENT, unknowing in front of her little sister (who later slut-shames her in an inebriated state). In the end, the Avatar successfully sabotages the relationship she had with the rich boy to the point that he and Mako can get together. Is anyone else seeing how problematic this is?

[@skyrogue1977]

I think the problem is that the original Team Avatar is still around, sans Sokka (still salty about that). If they’re still around, then we’re gonna be investing in their lives, as opposed to the new guys.

[@scorpiovenator_4736]

The last airbender shines because of its heros, korra shines because of its villains

[@litrim1285]

So basically, Mako’s the Riven of LoK. Only voiced by Helia. Gotcha.

[@MarlonOwnsYourCake]

Honestly there was a moment in season 2 I think, around the time I started to question why asami would even want to still be around team avatar, Mako and Korra were running around being jerks somewhere and there was a cool bonding moment between Asami and Bolin and that seemed like more of a basis for a relationship than any other one in the show like varrick and zhu li's abusive relationship and Bolin and Pearl barely knowing each other or having any chemistry and everything going on in that nightmare love triangle. All of the character relationships in that show (romantic and platonic) bummed me out so much

[@SU1_cidalDadbro]

I would have appreciated Korra's "I'm not like other girls" behaviour if they had used it as a reflection of the environment (Water Tribe) she grew up in, and THEN based her character development from growing out of that. There's a lot of complexities in that kind of behaviour that the writers could have used.

[@ahstiasummers5583]

Wasn't Legend of Korra designed to be a 1 season spinoff of Avatar before Nickelodeon demanded it be turned into a new series?

[@nexyiak9698]

yep, then nick shot their budget, they really wanted to kill the franchise tbh

[@WoobiiMilan]

“Kim there’s ppl that are dying” OK YOU JUST GOTTA SUB FROM ME😂😂😂 Perfect use of an iconic meme

[@h6hfelie]

She had so much potential. Had she been a villain/anti-hero in season 1, and given a good redemption arc in season 2? Automatically the best character in the show.

[@corpsenymph4644]

Thanks for bringing up an empathetic point of view of Mako, now I hate how he’s written *even more!* He coulda gotten at least something to redeem himself, instead of being a plot device then being sidelined (prob because he’s unlikeable), and then getting sacrificed at the very end. It really would’ve been nice to see an apology not only to Asami, but also to Korra, and have that put behind them and interact as friends :c

[@Honeymoonsummer]

I love how during 20:15 everything suddenly gets muted.

[@Taevarth]

I think the biggest reason they didn't know what to do with her, or any of the cast after season 1, was because they had only planned to make that first season. But Nick CEOs were like "okay now make another seasons" and then this repeated )I think) after every season ended. That's also why Book 2 of all things went all out on the flashiness. It felt like a "final" story arc instead of a 2nd season out of 4. Probably also why they made Asami a Protaganist instead because they didn't think they'd have 3 whole seasons to flesh her out as much as Zuko. Not saying this is the sole reason why Korra feels lackluster to a lot of people, i'm just pointing out that it probably contributed very heavily, having to make 1 season after another and not being able to plan out any of them in advance because CEOs have no idea what they are doing most of the time.

[@BBS-dl1lt]

Yeah I'm only like a minute into the video and I can already tell we're gonna disagree a lot. You're trying to hold Legend of Korra to the same formula that TLA used. You have a certain expectation from Team Avatar that isn't fulfilled because YOU set arbitrary expectations. These characters are very different from Team Avatar in TLA. They're all older and more independent, they all have lives and homes even jobs outside of being on team avatar. Asami is literally running an international company alongside all this. Additionally, they're also not as tight as TLA team avatar. Korra was sheltered and generally much less in touch with her spiritual side. Interpersonal relationships didn't come as easily to her as they did for Aang. Whenever there's a personal crisis going on with her, she had the habit of withdrawing from her friends. When she was missing for years after the events of season 3, she didn't speak to any of them except for Asami. Honestly I think this show did a much better job at portraying normal adult friendships. Characters in Korra were generally much more human and relatable.

[@psgamer-0199]

I'm so glad I found this comment!! You and I think very alike here.

[@BBS-dl1lt]

@@psgamer-0199 I honestly just shake my head at people who shit talk korra, yet think ATLA is perfect. Honestly aang’s story was so bogged down by mediocre filler episodes, the overall themes get sidelined. I also feel like people over-value the themes of TLA. Likely it’s because they were young when they first watched it, so it seemed much more profound at the time, and that feeling stuck with them as adults. But honestly give the show a rewatch as an adult. Everything is so on-the-nose and lacks any sort of nuance with the exception of a handful of absolutely legendary episodes. Honestly Zuko and Iroh’s story arcs are the only amazing parts of the show. Korra on the other hand had a very unique and interesting formula of introducing a new villain ever season with the caveat that they weren’t really villains to everyone. They were complicated and had noble goals in their own right, but lacked balance and temperance. It introduced politics and world affairs in a way that felt realistic. It portrayed adult friendships in a way that’s honest and messy, mirroring real life. Even the portrayal of mental health and trauma was much better handled than ATLA. Don’t get me wrong, ATLA was amazing. I love the show. But I think Korra was an overal depiction of much more realistic believable characters. Believable motivations, believable villains. I mean come in…Ozai wanted to burn the world to the ground….what kinda ridiculous mustache twirling BS is that? At least with Unalaq, he had the excuse of being corrupted by Vaatu.

[@antiksur8883]

​@@BBS-dl1ltYou know what also portrays realistic adult relationships? A completely generic and boring documentary about a completely normal adult. That must mean it's the best piece of art ever created, as per you, right? No, the simple fact is that the Team Avatar in Korra is boring. None of Mako, Bolin and Asami are half as interesting as characters as Sokka, Katara, Toph and Zuko were. You can keep your realism to yourself. In fact, why you don't you go and film the entire life of a random person on the street and watch it endlessly since you like realism so much? No, Avatar had plenty of nuance. It skillfully depicted varied aspects of war and the impacts it had, etc. The fact that you find that Avatar sometimes wants you to learn morals from episodes as childish and lacking nuance is pathetic. Yeah, they should totally be more like Korra and waste our time with irrelevant romantic BS and side stories that neither have any story or character relevance. Korra made watered down versions of real life political concepts and then didn't even attempt to actually resolve to tackle those concepts. Amon wasn't defeated by tackling his worldview and toppling it, he was defeated by revealing his face. What happened to his ideology after that? The show doesn't care, cuz that's not the plot anymore. So much for realistically tackling concepts. The very interesting civil war plotline in season 2 was completely abandoned for complete BS. How someone like you who whines about how ATLA is on the nose can for 1 second tolerate the complete generic power fantasy, childish BS that season 2 devolved into is a mystery. And no, Fire Lord Ozai didn't want to burn the world down. He wanted to conquer it because he believed that the Fire Nation was superior to the others in every way. Even imperialists have actual reasoning you know.

[@ginal.c6820]

Honestly when I saw this video pop up I was so happy!!! I’ve been looking for someone to talk about Asami- and I haven’t found anyone (until now) I was so close on just making my own video about Asami (and mako/bolin). I always felt like there was more to these characters. Like when I finished legend of Korra I just felt that there was things missing. Mostly character building I think it was. But yeah we love 🫶🏽 Asami in this household!