Coming after a solid but flawed first season, Korra showed that it had the potential to become something truly great. Well, that didn't quite pan out this season, but its high points show that the potential is still there.
Book 2 is kind of a mess in its story. It's about a water-bender named Unalaq who wants to access the Spirit World and retrieve the literal embodiment of evil named Raava. Now, this isn't necessarily a bad storyline and it allows for a lot of lore to be added to the world of Avatar. However, Unalaq is just a dull villain and the storyline feels kind of boring at times. The subplots don't fare much better, as Bolin, Mako, and Asami are mostly pushed aside into random, unfunny side storylines. The best part of the season, at least in my opinion, is Varrick, an entertaining and opportunistic villain who gives the show a ton of energy every time he's on screen. Despite my many complaints, I do think the Spirit World aspect is actually really well-handled. The Spirit World is beautiful and unique, and all of the spirits that inhabit it feel like they're straight out of a Ghibli film. In addition, the final three episodes that make up the season's final battle do a good job of utilizing the cast, upping the stakes, and drastically shifting the status quo of the series.
This mixed level of quality for Korra's second season is made even worse by the animation issues. Usually, Korra's animation by Studio Mir is beautiful and expressive, but this season had another studio, Studio Pierrot, take charge of the animation for the first half of the season. Don't get me wrong, I don't hate Pierrot, they do a solid job on Naruto and Bleach, but they're just not a good fit for Korra. The characters feel less animated under Pierrot and it gives the show a cheap feel, especially compared to Mir's work in the second half. The first half of Book 2 was slow enough as it was, but Pierrot's animation just made it worse. Thankfully, Studio Mir returns once it's time to animate the Spirit World, resulting in some of the most visually stunning animation in both Avatar shows. I also think this season did a solid job with the humor as well. It's way more comedic than the first, but most of the jokes ended up hitting.
While the low notes of Book 2 were dull and boring, the high points were actually really high:
Beginnings: It's odd that my least favorite season of Korra has my favorite episode, but Beginnings is way too good for this season. The whole episode tells the story of the very first Avatar, and does a lot to add to the lore in a way that still feels somewhat consistent with what we already know. Even aside from the lore implications, Beginnings is an amazing fable on its own right, with beautiful and stunning animation that sets it apart from anything in the franchise.
A New Spiritual Age: This episode finally brings Korra into the Spirit World and it's just as visually stunning as ever. This is an absolute trip of an episode that packs in one of the best cameos in the whole show (Iroh's back!) along with ending on a shocking note as Jinora is left stuck in the Spirit World.
Light In The Dark: I know this finale was kinda divisive, and yeah, Kaiju Korra is kind of stupid. However, I think this episode does a good job of tying together all of the season's plot threads, and unlike the neat and tidy Season 1 finale, Korra losing her connection to the other Avatars and opening the Spirit Portal is a massive change that should lead to a drastically different Book 3.
Overall, Book 2 was a mess. At times, it was boring with bad animation. At other points, it was visually stunning and genuinely surprising. The high points were high, the low points were low, but as a whole, Book 2 just doesn't live up to the level of quality that Avatar and Korra usually maintain.
2.5/5 Stars
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