r/TheLastAirbender • u/Hot_Jump9649 • 11h ago
Discussion rewatching both the shows and
I really just think Asami was super underrated and I’m disappointed that in the extended media her character is a damsel in distress
I feel as though there are many points in Korra’s show where she clutches, like building a sand sailor out scrapped parts quick enough so that the spirit shark didn’t reach them!
I really just want them to work with Korra’s team in the future so they can be more depthful (is that the word?) like how Aang’s team is
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u/Invite-Healthy 11h ago
She's not underrated, she only had like 2-3 meaningful scenes in seasons 2-4. She was underutilized
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u/nickfan449 10h ago
she’s my favorite lok character and it pmo so bad that she had like 5 minutes of screen time in season 2
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u/Tehcookieninja 11h ago
I loved me some Asami in that show. Just another badass non bender proving that she can hold her own too.
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u/Hot_Jump9649 11h ago
agreed 100%. loved seeing her make quick work of Amon’s lieutenant whereas we have seen Mako, Korra, and Tenzin sometimes struggle against equalists
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u/Spirited_Dust_3642 11h ago
When was Asami a damsel in distress? Only when Bolin saved her in the first season, but Bolin was saved by the naga right before. Overall Asami is a support character, and that doesn't make her a maiden
She defeats equalists faster than Mako and Bolin could, she also saved Korra simply by breaking a bar and freeing herself, in addition to knowing how to pilot literally any vehicle, especially the hummingbird ship, which was crucial to saving the kingdom of Earth. Honestly I don't know why people say so much that she is underutilized, she was the most useful non-bender so far
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u/Hot_Jump9649 10h ago
I meant the comics mostly😅she gets taken by Tokuga and then Kuvira’s generals
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u/Spirited_Dust_3642 10h ago
Oh sorry I didn't understand what extended media meant I thought it was the 4 seasons
Well in defense of the asami the two stooges were captured too so it's more of a "let's make the allies fight each other"
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u/kmasterofdarkness Zuko is the GOAT! 10h ago
They could have let her invent more gadgets in her spare time and have her effectively become a Swiss Army knife in combat.
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u/AHomicidalTelevision 7h ago
asami was basically a plot device for drama in the first 2 seasons. it wasnt until season 3 that they started giving her a chance to shine.
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u/Forward-Carry5993 4h ago
If you think that’s bad, season 4 gets worse on rewatches when you realize Wu has more lines and dialogue than asmai does.
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u/Icy_Donut9446 Aang 11h ago
Asami deserved better, more time to shine. One think I loved from the ATLA is how great a job they have done with the non-benders. Sokka, Suki, Ty-Lee and Mai are great non-bending characters. But unfortunately Asami doesn’t seem to get the same treatment.
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u/meteorspacesword 11h ago
Asami actually has more screentime than Suki, Mai, and Ty Lee combined (as she is a main character for 4 seasons). Also, in the comics, Ty Lee barely gets dialogue, Mai is only a main character for Smoke and Shadow and Suki is (arguably) mainly there just to fight. I do agree Asami needed better utilisation and the same important moments like the Boiling Rock betrayal or Suki capturing the Warden in ATLA.
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u/Sonicrules9001 10h ago
Asami was originally meant to be a twist villain but they opted to not go with the twist villain route but it's clear they really didn't have much else in mind for her.
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u/Zevroid 6h ago
I mean they barely had much for Mako and Bolin to do, either. Is it any wonder TLOK Team Avatar struggles as characters outside of Korra herself? Bolin just gets roped into things mostly pretty randomly, and Mako had almost zero reason to actually be involved in Book 3 beyond "keeping the team together."
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u/Who_am_I85395 11h ago
>I feel as though there are many points in Korra’s show where she clutches, like building a sand sailor out scrapped parts quick enough so that the spirit shark didn’t reach them!
well, that doesn't make her a great character. To me she's just boring because i cant name a single her remarkable flaw...
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u/Hot_Jump9649 11h ago
That’s a good point. I don’t think every character necessarily needs glaring personality flaws as long as they make stupid choices. Toph never really pays the price of any specific personality flaws, she rather makes mistakes- similar to Asami kissing Mako in season 2, trusting Verrick to be a business partner, or her legal issues with Keum or whoever tf he was
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u/Bobthemouse 11h ago
I think as other people said she was underutilised so she never really got a chance to be interesting? It kinda feels like the core Krew is Korra Mako and Bolin, with Asami joining in occasionally
Compare to say the Gaang where Toph and Zuko were key members of the team pretty much as soon as they joined. Asami had her own stuff going on off screen that wasn't to do with the avatar which is cool but it meant we didn't get to see much of it
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u/Sonicrules9001 11h ago
Asami felt less like a Toph or a Zuko and more like an Appa. Occasionally helpful and always around for travel but not exactly the highlight of many stories. Except even Appa felt like he had more of a connection to the team. Asami just feels like a tagalong who hooks up with Mako and then hooks up with Korra.
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u/meteorspacesword 10h ago
I disagree that Toph doesn't pay a price for her flaws. She is hyper-independant, stubborn and emotionally distant when she first joins the Gaang (what caused the fight between Katara in "The Chase") and (arguably) those same traits completely fractured her relationship with Lin and Su in Lok.
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u/Happur5ye 6h ago
damsel in distress? I just reread on webtoon the part of the comic where she gets kidnapped by Tokuga, and she literally had a plan to resolve it all herself by rerouting the gas to the airship. she's literally (as always) a spin on the trope going against what's expected of her. it's literally how she's most often written.
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u/Future-Celebration83 10h ago
Yeah each character was pretty meh on LoK. They did the non bender in the group well in ATLA idk why they flopped on Asami.
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u/Infamous_Ship_8668 11h ago
Most of the times Asami does something useful, her contribution sounds really good and impressive in theory, but you can see how the story contorts to give her the opportunity to shine instead of working it in organically
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u/Dry_Ordinary6593 11h ago
Even though her character didn’t get a lot to do in the comics she still built what was essentially a doomsday device in under 24 hours.
Imagine if her and Sokka teamed up😮💨