Country of origin United States Original network Nickelodeon | No. of episodes 14 | |
Original release September 13 (2013-09-13) – November 22, 2013 (2013-11-22) | ||
Book Two: Spirits is the second season of the animated TV series The Legend of Korra by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko. It consisted of fourteen episodes ("chapters"). A sequel to The Legend of Korra: Book 1, it focuses more on spiritual concepts and themes. Ordered in early 2011, Book Two: Spirits began airing on Nickelodeon in the U.S. on September 13, 2013.
Contents
Premise
According to the series' creators, about half of Book Two takes place in Republic City and the other half takes place in other areas of the world. In a panel discussion at San Diego Comic-Con 2012, Konietzko and DiMartino indicated that Book Two takes place six months after the first twelve episodes. They said that it partially takes place at the South Pole in the Southern Water Tribe and focuses mainly on the mystical "Spirit World" (hence the title Spirits) and the history of the Avatar lineage and mythology. New characters include Tenzin's older sister Kya, a waterbender; Tenzin's non-bender older brother Bumi; Korra's paternal uncle Unalaq; and her first cousins, Desna and Eska. A two-part episode entitled, Beginnings, tells the story of Wan, a selfless, kind, compassionate, and caring young man who became the original Avatar as a result of his attempts to maintain peace and balance between the material and spirit worlds.
Development
In early 2011, during the production of Book One: Air – initially conceived as a standalone 12-episode miniseries – Nickelodeon decided to order fourteen additional episodes to round out a standard 26-episode season. As of June 2012, Book Two's writing had been completed and the episodes were in the process of being storyboarded and animated. Joshua Hamilton and Tim Hedrick, writers for Avatar: The Last Airbender, contributed to the scripts of Book Two, and the season's episodes were directed by Colin Heck and Ian Graham.
Casting
Voice actors cast for Book Two: Spirits include:
Animation
Book Two: Spirits was initially set to be animated by the Japanese Studio Pierrot, rather than Studio Mir which animated the series' first season. However, Mir's animation director Yoo Jae-myung said that because of problems with this arrangement, the series's producers asked Studio Mir to step in and animate Book 2 as well, an offer they accepted to preserve their studio's reputation. He said that Studio Mir initially chose to focus on animating the less challenging The Boondocks rather than the second season of The Legend of Korra because of the exhaustion brought about by their work on the first season. Studio Pierrot eventually animated episodes 1 through 6 and episode 9, while Studio Mir was responsible for episodes 7, 8, and 10 through 14.
Broadcast
Book Two began broadcast on Nickelodeon in the U.S. on September 13, 2013, after a 1-year hiatus. Airing on Fridays, it initially premiered at 7:00 PM EST but then shifted in mid-October to an 8:00 PM timeslot. Episodes 11 and 12 were shown on November 15, 2013. The Book Two Finale, episodes 13 and 14, were to be broadcast on November 22, 2013 but became available online on November 16, 2013. It was followed by Book Three: Changes, which consisted of thirteen episodes.
Marketing
Completed footage from Book Two was first made public in a June 2013 promotional video, in which Korra fights spirit creatures in an arctic setting. The premiere episode was shown in full at the The Legend of Korra panel at San Diego Comic-Con on 19 July 2013, together with the release of a trailer video for Book Two.
Reception
The premiere episode screened in advance at Comic-Con was positively reviewed by Max Nicholson of IGN, who appreciated the setup of the overarching conflict and the humorous writing. He also stated that "the animation in Book Two has taken yet another step up in quality, with noticeable advances in the action sequences and color treatment". At TV.com, Noel Kirkpatrick commented favorably on how the episode handled the necessary quantity of exposition, and on its introduction of the theme of conflict between spiritualism and secularism. Writing for Vulture, Matt Patches highlighted the loose, handheld-style cinematography – challenging for an animated series – and the "weird, wonderful", wildly imagined spirits fought by Korra; "a Kaiju parade with beasts that mirror velociraptors". The A.V. Club's Emily Guendelsberger stated that they kept up the first season's plot's "breakneck pace" and appeared intent on signaling a break with the convention of avoiding death in children's entertainment, by showing a spirit dragging a sailor to his likely death in the sea. She appreciated the nuanced portrayal of Korra's and Mako's relationship and Korra's character flaws, but remarked that Unalaq was being set up as the season's antagonist a bit too obviously.
Parts 1 and 2 of the medial episode, "Beginnings", were positively received by critics as well. Max Nicholson of IGN rated the episode 9.6/10 and praised "Beginnings" for its "stunning" animation, "top-notch" voice acting, character origins of Avatar Wan, the friendship and heartfelt relationship between Wan and Raava, "great" new insights in the Avatar universe, and as a "masterstroke in storytelling and worldbuilding." At the end of his review, he opined that "Book 2 has never looked so good.". "The Sting", which premiered before "Beginnings", was equally praised by Nicholson for the improvement of the characterizations of Mako and Asami and their chemistry between each other, in addition to establishing Varrick as a "greedy mastermind" rather than as an eccentric businessman and entertainer as he had been before. For "The Guide", Nicholson praised the character growths of Tenzin and the fleshed-out characterization of Jinora. He lauded the episode "A New Spiritual Age" for a "great character narrative" for Korra and the establishment of Unalaq as a more of a corrupt, twisted, and menacing villain. He was also surprised to see the return of Iroh of Avatar: The Last Airbender; this time, to help Korra with her journey in the spirit world. Parts 1 and 2 of "Civil Wars" were equally acclaimed by Nicholson for the friendship between Bolin and Varrick, the sibling dynamic of Tenzin, Kya, and Bumi, a "strong, complex conflict" for Korra, the respective relationship of Tenzin, Kya, and Bumi, and Korra, Tonraq, and Senna as the heart of the story, and the twist behind Tonraq's banishment from the Northern Water Tribe and his imprisonment. According to him, "Night of a Thousand Stars" brought out the best of Bolin and the worst of Varrick, as well as setting up the conflict for the last three episodes of Book 2. For "Harmonic Convergence", Nicholson praised its spectacular action sequences, fleshing out more on Unalaq's intriguing evil purpose, the heroism of Bumi, and the animation.