Well today was a lovely day. I returned home today to find a gift from Okazu no Miko and long-time sponsor Dan P for today’s Review! And so I was able to sit down and peruse The Legend of Korra – The Art of the Animated Series, Book 4: Balance. And what a delight it is. ^_^

The first thing that really struck me was just how incredibly detailed the art truly was. I’m usually blinded to animation art by the narrative it contains, but stripped of the dialogue and movement, it was really remarkable to see just how much detail every scene was given. It’s a real testament to the care this series received that characters and body language and facial expressions were given as much time and attention as cityscapes and large motions.

The book includes character designs, background art, black-and-white sketches through fully rendered and colored images and story boards, which give you a real idea of just how much work goes into an animation.

In addition to the lovely “Turtle-Dove Date“image and closeup that creator Brian Konietzo drew as the definitive comment on Korra and Asami’s relationship, there is also a lovely page with the screencapped final scene of Korra and Asami walking into the portal hand and hand and a closeup of them in the portal, glowing and holding hands as they are about to disappear.

All in all an incredibly satisfying book, both aesthetically and technically. If I were to say anything was missing, it would be art from Varrick and Zhou Li’s wedding. I found creator Joaquin Dos Santos’ comment that this show has more costume changes than any other he’s worked on amusing. ^_^

Ratings:

Overall –  10 It has all the bells and whistles

Makes me want to watch Korra all over again.

Many many thanks today to Dan! If you’re interested in sponsoring a review ’round here, check out my Amazon Wish List and Amazon JP Wish List for suggested items to sponsor.