So for whatever reason I was writing a fan fiction about Avatar the Last Airbender, and then watched an episode of Rick and Morty which detailed all the information and ideas which makes a script good, then truly bit into another man’s script, saying how starting off with a non-linear start sequence was bad and how you can hate your own writing and all this other stuff which was pretty good. What Morty said in Season Two, Episode Nine was, “I feel like, you know, we should start our stories where they begin not start them where they get interesting.” I agree with this statement, and it really kind of reflects truly. When a piece of literature really cares about the characters, they will often start at the beginning of the journey. However, the journey’s beginning is one of the deepest flaws in Rick and Morty. So many characters are introduced and all of them are disposable. It feels similar to how the Legend of Korra series was written, what with everyone’s character being important and having speaking roles, making the entire show feel like a technicolor barrage of nonstop graphic violence and comedy, instead of a small, contained family unit attempting to escape the horrors of the universe. This, in part, happens due to the death of the author, but it is still hard to bring yourself to love another character, when the first one was so lovable.
The true irony within Rick and Morty is how it desires to be a science fiction continuation story, what with how Rick is continuing off another scientist’s work, yet it never brings into full view the first beloved series, or really pay any direct homage to it. There is no sense of continuation between the science of the past and today. The series lacks spirituality, and this is seen within all the alien species and races. All of the races are defined by their actions, rather than what they were to the show prior to this iteration.
In contrast, Legend of Korra truly is a love letter, not just to the fans, but the whole concept of reincarnation. It truly ties together how the Avatar brings balance to the world and Korra’s inheritance of the role. It plays out in a much more caring way, and stays to its own tropes, oftentimes calling in more on in cannon lore than outside tropes. The scripts in Korra are much less punchy than Rick and Morty scripts, however. Oftentimes, the character’s lines take a backseat to the plot driving the story, whereas Rick and Morty feels much more relaxed, as a sitcom tends to do. Rick Sanchez’s lines, compared to Korra’s lines, are far more memorable, and are even teased at by other character’s. Korra is a much more physical character, with her desires and capabilities oftentimes played out in arena fights with set rules, rather than the all out shooting spree many Rick and Morty episodes devolve into.
On top of this, the technology in Legend of Korra has been thought out much more than Rick and Morty. Both shows have a very solid government plot line, with Korra being the bridge between the human and spirit world, oftentimes protecting the spirit world from external invasion, while Rick and Morty is about how to use science to save the world from outside alien threats. The technology in Legend of Korra evolved as a way for humans to actively wage war on each other, whereas this is taken for granted in Rick and Morty. You can see this through the fine-tuning of Asami’s machinery in Korra, while Rick and Morty will cop out and use machines from the government, or another shady source, instead of really honing in on the Sanchez inventions.
I thought all of these episodes were good, and while I didn’t actually watch through all of Legend of Korra, they took the “fight to the extreme” to an even higher level, choosing to give Korra an enemy of the season, rather than a full based fight against one enemy. This is where Rick and Morty is superior to Legend of Korra. There is clearly a great enemy Rick Sanchez and Morty are preparing to fight, with these episodic battles training them for the all out war coming. Korra, on the other hand, is treated much more disposable than Rick. She is oftentimes willing to throw herself into any battle needed to protect Republic City, and does not recover as quickly when injured. She spends an entire season in a wheelchair, whereas Rick’s body is destroyed three times over in one episode alone.
I like both these shows equally, but I would pick the Avatar series over Rick and Morty. I know Avatar the Last Airbender and Avatar Legends of Korra are both children cartoons, but the themes of the show and the religion they spread (reincarnation and the animism/spiritism) is much more applicable to everyday life than Rick and Morty (bang bang shoot). That being said, I love the humor and science within Rick and Morty and really can respond to the jokes made for the show, especially when it comes to the amount of time and love poured into each and every weapon design. It feels like you need superior training to really watch and understand the cartoon. Some people would prefer the mass-market appeal, but I want to be blinded with your science.
To finish off, I believe both shows have their place in cartoon cannon. You couldn’t have a full world without gorgeous martial artists or smartest in the room shooters. These shows are why I watch cartoons.
ps: it’s a weak ending, but that’s never been my strong suit.
pps: this wasn’t like edited or anything, it’s a first draft. I’m going to come back to it and see what needs to be worked on. (I’m totally lying and crossing my fingers rn). Now I can get back to working on my fiction where Azula rules Ba Sing Se.
Edit Edit: I completely forgot! The reason I wrote the Azula in Ba Sing Se fiction was so I could show her whole story during the period after Avatar Aang lost in Ba Sing Se. I can probably make another post with the timeline of events, so I can fill them in with court intrigue and bizarre sibling hijinks.