I honestly admit, I’m not surprised to see Asami here and that’s expected…But she was re-sent in again, why? Asami is a good character in her own right, so let’s begin this defense. WARNING: Long rant may be included, you have been warned.
"Gets in the way of Makorra"
Oh, good grief. Makorra isn’t a reverend ship that is filled with awestruck, amazing, storytelling that everyone must support or else be met with hatred. Asami simply decided to date Mako, the boy who was not in any relationship of any sort and was uncertain of his feelings of Korra at the time; Everyone is allowed to support whatever pairing they enjoy, no matter who they support. Adding onto this, according to the creator’s comments from The Making of LoK, Asami was slowly realizing that she and Mako just wouldn’t work out, even if she never said anything about it. They made her realistically react to a relationship falling apart, right down to the internal thoughts humans have when this happens to us… and she gets flak for it, in addition to everything else. I guess showing human nature to such things is wrong, according to the shippers.
"Steals Mako"
Isn’t Mako a young adult male who makes his own decisions? Mako chose to date Asami and it was his decision, no one held a Equalist glove to his head and told him to date Asami or else; Both of them made the decision, got to know one another, and decided to pursue a relationship together and subsequently broke up. So when Korra kissed Mako, (Who was already in a relationship at the time) she’s met with cries of “OTP!” and “Makorra Forever!” from some corners of the fandom, when Asami dares to date a single guy with no girlfriend at the time and she’s slut-shammed and is placed in the Madonna-Whore Complex with Korra as the Madonna for the pairing, and Asami as the Whore. (No offense to Korra, as she’s one of my favorite female characters.)
"Breaks up Makorra"
Are you sure we both saw the same season? Mako and Korra broke up due to their entirely different ideals on how to deal with the Water Tribe Conflict, and Korra was going to do something extreme that could make things much worse. Mako had done the right thing in telling Raiko her plan and she got furious at him for doing such a thing and proceeds to call him out on such an act that he committed; they break up right there and it’s over. Asami wasn’t present there for what happened, nor was she planning for such a thing as if she were a cackling Dick Dastardly in the background; Asami did kiss Mako, but that was AFTER he broke up with Korra and it was in the heat of the moment since her company was about to go under thanks to Varrick. Also didn’t Mako lead Korra on once she lost her memory telling her they were still together? (No offense to Mako)
”Kisses Mako”
Asami was crossing over the Despair Even Horizon at that moment: The very company she was trying hard to save, bending backwards for Varrick who was playing her in a Magnificent Bastard type of ploy, and all her efforts were gone like a summer breeze thanks to Varrick, It was a moment of weakness, almost everyone has had a moment of weakness in their lives and react in different ways to such a thing; Asami needed some form of comfort to deal with her stress that broke out right there and then, it’s not like she kissed a man who was already in a relationship since his’s already ENDED prior to the kiss. They didn’t get back together and acknowledge that it was awkward.
"Slut"
Ah, the word slut. A word thrown around towards female characters that shippers may not like for ruining the “OTP” they have in mind, not just in the LoK fandom but any fandom really. How do we know Asami is a slut to begin with? I don’t remember seeing her sleeping with other men, and Mako just may be the first person she might have dated for as far as we know. If this is in regards to her looks, or the fact that she showed a bit of cleavage one time; Firstly, she’s a fictional character, Bryke could’ve made her look hideous if they wanted to, and Secondly it was a swimsuit and nothing more, not like she was trying to get Mako to solely focus on her for that aspect.
"Bitch"
Asami is one of the most nicest of characters of possibly the whole series, arguably. Asami had gotten money from her father, and paid for the Fire Ferrets to enter the Championship and for Future Industries to sponsor them, Was very grateful for letting Korra and Tenzin to a lesser extent for letting her stay on Air Temple Island, and she even still liked Korra even after finding out the truth of what went down between Korra and Mako. Asami gave up the final remainder of her family and her lifestyle to do the right thing, when she could have joined Hiroshi and face the consequences of her actions; but she saved her friends and wanted to help the Benders rather than destroy them.
"Prissy"
Is this because Asami spat that gruel back out, and fed it to Pabu? It was made from garbage, Asami justifiably spat it back out since dumpsters have germs, and other nasty things in them. If Asami was prissy she wouldn’t have eaten Pema’s food and complain that it wasn’t made by a Five-Star chef, and she ate that with a genuine smile. Let’s be honest, would you like to eat gruel from the dumpster filled with bacteria, animal feces from creatures scavenging some type of nourishment, spoiled food, and other disgusting things?
"Useless Non Bender" / / “Weak”
I’m sorry that Asami, a regular human with no bending ability can take on a HUGE Mecha that could easily swat her away, and possibly kill her unlike the bending-able Korra, Mako, or Bolin. Sokka, Suki, Mai, Ty Lee, Commander Bumi (Pre-Book 3), Kya (Katara’s Mother) and Hakoda were all Non-Benders and did badass things and amazing feats, and yet they aren’t harped on for being “Useless” due to not being able to bend. Also, didn’t Asami save one of the last Airbending masters in existence, single-handedly as he was being taken away by Equalists without Mechas? I don’t think a weak person would be able to do that, and the rest of the Krew were busy with the Mecha’s to even be focused to help Tenzin.
"Clingy"
Asami averts the whole “Clingy Jealous Girl” trope, she goes after Mako for his actions of blaming Bolin who told her the truth.(Something Mako should’ve done himself) and she doesn’t direct her anger towards Korra. Asami watched her boyfriend attend to Korra in a way that was more than just platonic and even saw him threaten a man to burn his face off or even kill him, even if he was a bad guy. Mako was the only one to behave like that instead of Tenzin (Practically a second father to Korra) or Lin since we’re only told their very concerned about her whereas Mako is showing much more concern than either of those two. I mean no offense to Mako, but that his personality swung a bit wildly like that came out of nowhere at least from my perspective. (No offense to Mako, once again.)
"Mary Sue" / / "Too pretty", "Wears makeup"
A Mary Sue is a character that gets everything handed to them, devoid of personality, has men (or women) practically throwing themselves at the Sue/Stu, and gains God-mode powers that owns the Big Bad of a series while they are met with rewards all around. Asami lost her mother at age six, was thrown in prison thanks to Tarrlok using her Non-Bender status and her father’s Equalist infamy, has her father joined a radical cause to wipe Benders out and when she doesn’t join later to refuse him again she is almost killed, saddled with a company going bankrupt and dealing with her father’s infamous actions, is later imprisoned with the Avatar due to men of the Earth Queen capturing them, and when she finally re-connects with her father the man sacrifices himself to save Republic City.
Now if there was anyone with something resembling the “Mary Sue” traits was Korra at the end of Book One: She earns her bending back, is given Avatar State, Gains the ability of Airbending without much build up to it (From my perspective), and gets with Mako facing no consequences. Now, Bryke made that ending at the time because they were unsure if they would be renewed for another Book and wanted to end it there on a happy ending; they were renewed and things changed from there on out. Korra isn’t a Mary Sue, nor am I bashing her; She’s a fully develop character by the end of her own series run, but the ending of Book One did tread a bit close towards Sue territory. Also, Asami is a fictional character once again; Bryan and Mike could’ve made her ugly and they didn’t so this complaint is rather pointless.
“Not getting enough screentime/character development in the last two books” / / “Suddenly a supergenius who can invent anything”
Asami did get screentime in Book 3, in fact she and Korra spent over eighty-five percent together in that Book. Someone did the math to find out exactly how much time Korra and Asami spent together in Book 3:
Over a third of the entire book consists of scenes shared by Korra and Asami.
Two thirds of Korra’s screen time throughout the book is shared with Asami.
Over ninety percent of Asami’s screen time is shared with Korra.
Book 3 showcased how the two went from rivals for Mako’s affections, to true and genuine friends that cared deeply for one another that would later develop into something much more. Book Four admittedly did do the whole “Demoted To Extra” trope to not only Asami, but also Mako, and Tenzin since we needed to focus more on Korra’s recovery, and what changed since she was out of action. This doesn’t mean Asami didn’t develop; she had to think whether, or not to reunite with her father and forgive him for his actions. When she went back to visit him and the played Pai Sho together that showed her growth from being resentful and angry to a recovery between the two.
Regarding her intellect, Asami has the intellect from Hiroshi since this man build a bunch of Mechas out of platinum in a world that is supposedly around the time period of the 1920’s. Asami built the train system, the Airbending glider suits, and other things to aid her friends; but somehow she can invent “anything” and is a “super-genius” when Hiroshi build the planes, the Equalist gloves, and the Mechas? This isn’t even getting into Bataar Junior’s aid with Kuvira of making the Colossus or Varrick using the vines for firepower. That giant robot that was built by the Bad Guys is seemingly more probable than anything Asami has contributed?
“Steals Korra from Mako at the end of the series”
How can Asami steal a woman, who wasn’t in a relationship at the time AND Mako states that he will be there for Korra in a platonic way. Bryan has stated that despite ending the show single, Mako will find his true love one day and make it work with them thanks to how both Korra and Asami helped him mature past his early romantic issues. Even if Bryan and Mike made Makorra the endgame ship, that would’ve been pandering to a group. This is what Bryan posted himself:
“Once Mako and Korra were through, we focused on developing Korra and Asami’s relationship. Originally, it was primarily intended to be a strong friendship. Frankly, we wanted to set most of the romance business aside for the last two seasons. Personally, at that point I didn’t want Korra to have to end up with someone at the end of series. We obviously did it in Avatar, but even that felt a bit forced to me.I’m usually rolling my eyes when that happens in virtually every action film, “Here we go again…” It was probably around that time that I came across this quote from Hayao Miyazaki:
“I’ve become skeptical of the unwritten rule that just because a boy and girl appear in the same feature, a romance must ensue. Rather, I want to portray a slightly different relationship, one where the two mutually inspire each other to live - if I’m able to, then perhaps I’ll be closer to portraying a true expression of love.”
I agree with him wholeheartedly, especially since the majority of the examples in media portray a female character that is little more than a trophy to be won by the male lead for his derring-do. So Mako and Korra break the typical pattern and end up respecting, admiring, and inspiring each other. That is a resolution I am proud of.
However, I think there needs to be a counterpart to Miyazaki’s sentiment: Just because two characters of the same sex appear in the same story, it should not preclude the possibility of a romance between them. No, not everyone is queer, but the other side of that coin is that not everyone is straight. The more Korra and Asami’s relationship progressed, the more the idea of a romance between them organically blossomed for us. However, we still operated under this notion, another “unwritten rule,” that we would not be allowed to depict that in our show. So we alluded to it throughout the second half of the series, working in the idea that their trajectory could be heading towards a romance.
But as we got close to finishing the finale, the thought struck me: How do I know we can’t openly depict that? No one ever explicitly said so. It was just another assumption based on a paradigm that marginalizes non-heterosexual people. If we want to see that paradigm evolve, we need to take a stand against it. And I didn’t want to look back in 20 years and think, “Man, we could have fought harder for that.” Mike and I talked it over and decided it was important to be unambiguous about the intended relationship.
We approached the network and while they were supportive there was a limit to how far we could go with it, as just about every article I read accurately deduced. It was originally written in the script over a year ago that Korra and Asami held hands as they walked into the spirit portal. We went back and forth on it in the storyboards, but later in the retake process I staged a revision where they turned towards each other, clasping both hands in a reverential manner, in a direct reference to Varrick and Zhu Li’s nuptial pose from a few minutes prior. We asked Jeremy Zuckerman to make the music tender and romantic, and he fulfilled the assignment with a sublime score. I think the entire last two-minute sequence with Korra and Asami turned out beautiful, and again, it is a resolution of which I am very proud. I love how their relationship arc took its time, through kindness and caring. If it seems out of the blue to you, I think a second viewing of the last two seasons would show that perhaps you were looking at it only through a hetero lens.
Was it a slam-dunk victory for queer representation? I think it falls short of that, but hopefully it is a somewhat significant inching forward. It has been encouraging how well the media and the bulk of the fans have embraced it. Sadly and unsurprisingly, there are also plenty of people who have lashed out with homophobic vitriol and nonsense. It has been my experience that by and large this kind of mindset is a result of a lack of exposure to people whose lives and struggles are different from one’s own, and due to a deficiency in empathy––the latter being a key theme in Book 4. (Despite what you might have heard, bisexual people are real!) I have held plenty of stupid notions throughout my life that were planted there in any number of ways, or even grown out of my own ignorance and flawed personality. Yet through getting to know people from all walks of life, listening to the stories of their experiences, and employing some empathy to try to imagine what it might be like to walk in their shoes, I have been able to shed many hurtful mindsets. I still have a long way to go, and I still have a lot to learn. It is a humbling process and hard work, but nothing on the scale of what anyone who has been marginalized has experienced. It is a worthwhile, lifelong endeavor to try to understand where people are coming from.
There is the inevitable reaction, “Mike and Bryan just caved in to the fans.” Well, which fans? There were plenty of Makorra shippers out there, so if we had gone back on our decision and gotten those characters back together, would that have meant we caved in to those fans instead? Either direction we went, there would inevitably be a faction that was elated and another that was devastated. Trust me, I remember Kataang vs. Zutara. But one of those directions is going to be the one that feels right to us, and Mike and I have always made both Avatar and Korra for us, first and foremost. We are lucky that so many other people around the world connect with these series as well.”
But this particular decision wasn’t only done for us. We did it for all our queer friends, family, and colleagues. It is long overdue that our media (including children’s media) stops treating non-heterosexual people as nonexistent, or as something merely to be mocked. I’m only sorry it took us so long to have this kind of representation in one of our stories.
I’ll wrap this up with some incredible words that Mike and I received in a message from a former Korra crew member. He is a deeply religious person who devotes much of his time and energy not only to his faith, but also to helping young people. He and I may have starkly different belief systems, but it is heartwarming and encouraging that on this issue we are aligned in a positive, progressive direction:
“I’ve read enough reviews to get a sense of how it affected people. One very well-written article in Vanity Fair called it subversive (in a good way, of course)… I would say a better word might be “healing.” I think your finale was healing for a lot of people who feel outside or on the fringes, or that their love and their journey is somehow less real or valuable than someone else’s… That it’s somehow less valid. I know quite a few people in that position, who have a lifetime of that on their shoulders, and in one episode of television you both relieved and validated them. That’s healing in my book.”
Love,
Bryan