I actually watched these two series in the wrong order. I watched Korra first since it seemed more interesting and grown up from the original child oriented Avatar series. Avatar had originally gone on the air when I just started high school and I would see it on Nickelodeon but deemed myself too old for those "kiddy" shows even though I was still watching Nickelodeon/Disney Channel in the first place. At the time, I thought it was some dumb american anime rip off and wrote it off without ever giving it a try. So, it's funny that ten years later I finally watch this show and now I consider it one of the greatest animated shows that I have watched. Of course, I had to get through Korra first to see that. Even after finishing Korra and going back to Avatar, it was really strange. The animation was not as good and the story was more oriented towards kids but the show eventually grew on me and I ended up liking it more than Korra, funnily enough. Both are great in their own ways and honestly, I have already gone back and started Korra again to see all of the throwbacks that I missed.
I don't even remember what even made me want to start watching Korra but it was sometime during the airing of the final season that something caught my eye and made me curious about the show. I think it was a gif of a younger/older Aang comparison, strangely enough. I had no idea what the newer show was about so I was pretty shocked to see that it was set so far in the future. Of course, at the time, I didn't understand the whole point of the avatar and it would have to take place in the future for it to make sense but it intrigued me enough to look more into the show. It kind of took awhile to grow on me and I wasn't a huge fan of the romantic plot lines but both shows managed to grasp at me emotionally and make me feel incredibly invested in the characters. I really haven't felt this way about a show in a pretty long time. While it is nice to have been able to digest the entire series without any breaks, it would have also been exciting to been apart of the fandom while it was still airing. Though a new show is probably unlikely, I will definitely watch it if it comes out.
I think why I may have enjoyed Avatar over Korra is because I liked the overarching story. While Korra had some interesting plotlines over the seasons and definitely some interesting villains, the first series always kind of knew what it was doing. I think the characters were a little more interesting as well and experienced a lot of character development. That's not to say it didn't happen in Korra, but I guess it was more easy to get across in Avatar since they were children. Zuko most especially went through a fantastic story arc, as well as the other Gaang characters. Korra served as an amazing female protagonist but I did not love Mako, Bolin and Asami nearly as much as I cared about Katara, Sokka and Toph. Both are very different groups of friends, but I just found the latter more entertaining to watch.
Anyways.. sorry for the long wall of text. But I just like this show so much, I had to share some of my love for it! It is easy to write it off but I am glad I gave it a chance. Both series have great characters and great stories that makes the viewer keep wanting more. Not to mention the animation in Korra is amazing. Both have most definitely become some of my favourite animated shows ever.
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