"The Legend of Korra," which was recently released on Netflix, ends with a romantic moment between its female leads, a moment that changed LGBTQ+ representation in cartoons forever. The characters are confirmed bi, but people do come out as gay or lesbian later in life, even after having dated (or married!) someone of another gender, and that's just as valid.
The Legend of Korra: Turf Wars confirms Korra and Asami as a canon couple. However, it could have expanded more on issues faced by queer couples. It’s an extremely brief romantic moment, only seconds long, but its impact remains deeply felt since the show bowed out in It was a long road until Korrasami, as the couple is known among fans, could officially canonize their romance in the critically-acclaimed animated series.
And yet, while "The Legend of Korra" is well known for its boundary-pushing finale, the series wasn't allowed to ever be explicit with its two leading LGBTQ+ characters. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Love is love! Animosity Impact Link.
I can't argue with that. I had, and still have to this day, a strong emotional attachment to the imaginative, colorful universe of the series. He wrote on his Tumblr: "We approached the network and while they were supportive there was a limit to how far we could go with it. But the finale made me feel less alone when I felt isolated from everyone around me.
Notably, the same interview revealed that the pair were not intended to become a couple until writer Rebecca Sugar started building that bond between them. I knew precious few bisexual people in real life, and much of what I had heard about bisexuality suggested that it was little more than a pit stop before coming out as gay a harmful and false stereotype.
In the final moments of The Legend of Korra Season 4, Episode 13 titled "The Last Stand," Korra and Asami hold hands and head into the Spirit World after the show's biggest battle, confirming their feelings for each other had developed. However, these shows have not been flawless. Although showrunner Dwayne McDuffie wanted to maintain that in the series, he was only allowed to hint at it.
Fellow co-creator Bryan Konietzko, meanwhile, suggested that the pair wanted to show the pair kissing, but were held back by Nickelodeon. I can't pass up the chance to relive my own queer awakening. In the eighth and final season, the showrunners responded to the resulting backlash by ending the show with a time jump showing that Shiro married a man later in life.
As a result, I felt like my attraction to different genders was contradictory, rather than complementary, and that being bisexual meant that I'd be faced with scrutiny at every turn. Part of this was because I was floating from internship to contract job to freelance assignments in New York, and didn't want to spend the money to keep it short.
This representation gives me hope current young queer children will grow up in a more accepting, inclusive world. My bisexuality started to feel like just another rote facet of my identity: one that I cherished, but not one that I felt like I needed to constantly defend to myself or others. It felt euphoric.
By Palmer Haasch.
In its own series finale, for example, Adventure Time featured a kiss between its female characters Princess Bubblegum and Marceline. The two had more chemistry than either did with Mako, and there were certain scenes between the women I thought might be hinting at something more, but dismissed as me reading into things. If two characters that I loved so dearly could fall in love even after meaningful relationships with men, maybe my attraction to men, women, and nonbinary people wasn't wholly incompatible at all.
Food Wars. Now, as the series arrives on Netflix on Friday, it's worth remembering just how groundbreaking the moment was.
Copyright ©oarrake.pages.dev 2025