Asami Sato
Asami Sato is a major character in the Nickelodeon animated television series The Legend of Korra and is part of the Avatar: The Last Airbender world. The character and the series, a sequel to Avatar: The Last Airbender, were created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko. She is voiced by Seychelle Gabriel. The series' final scene, indicating the beginning of a romantic relationship between Asami and the female lead character, Korra, was unprecedented in its representation of LGBTQ persons in western children's television, with the characters' relationship fully explored in the comic continuations Turf Wars, Ruins of the Empire, and Patterns in Time.
Unlike many characters in the world of The Legend of Korra, Asami is not able to "bend", or telekinetically create, control and manipulate any of the four elements: water, earth, fire or air/wind. She is the only child of wealthy industrialist Hiroshi Sato, who invented the "Satomobile" and whose company, Future Industries, is headquartered in Republic City. Asami is a skilled engineer, pilot and driver, and a competent unarmed combatant.
Asami has been well-received with publications. Many reviewers were content with her growth past being a love interest for Mako, and felt the relationship was not worth reviving. However, reception to her relationship with Korra was mostly positively received.Creation and conception
Asami was initially conceived to be a duplicitous spy for the Equalist movement — antagonists in the first season — embedded within Team Avatar. However, the character became so well-liked by co-creators DiMartino and Konietzko that they rewrote her to be a friend to Korra, involved in a love triangle with her and Mako, and ignorant of her father's Equalist activities. DiMartino remembered that he and Konietzko "knew" they needed "a character who wasn't a bender" after they decided on the nonbender revolution storyline. Konietzko also floated the idea to the writing team that Asami might be bisexual "before the audience had ever laid eyes on" either her or Korra, but initially shelved the idea, assuming Nickelodeon would not allow it to be aired. This decision would be reversed after season two.
An early script for the last episode of the first season, "Endgame", featured Asami joining the United Forces, a military in the universe of The Legend of Korra, at the end of the episode. The script was reworked sometime before the confirmation of the second season. Bryan Konietzko's design of Asami was based on the idea of an actress from the "Golden Age" of Hollywood in the world of Avatar, and her hair was inspired by that of Rita Hayworth, an American actress famous in the 1940s. Konietzko wrote that Asami's resemblance to the character Lust from the 2009 anime series Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood was coincidental, as he had not seen the series at the time of Asami's design in 2010. Konietzko had previously had difficulty drawing women and chose to design Asami by himself, wanting a challenge.Design
Asami's initial character design, from when she was meant to be an Equalist spy, was left unchanged after co-creators DiMartino and Konietzko rewrote her to be an ally instead. Her design led viewers to speculate that the character would be a "femme fatale" when she first appeared. After it was revealed that she was not an Equalist spy, The A.V. Club noted that "it turns out that Asami's not bad—she's just drawn that way."
Throughout the first three seasons of The Legend of Korra, Asami consistently is seen wearing a red and gray jacket, dark red turtleneck dress, pink leggings and black boots. In her introductory episode "The Voice in the Night", Asami is also seen wearing formal attire, two different dresses, one while on her initial date with Mako and the other while attending a gala with him. Asami is also seen during the first season wearing a suit whenever involved in actual combat, which she retains throughout the series and wears the most during the third season when journey with Team Avatar. Her coat, which debuted in the season two episode "Rebel Spirit", was based on one Konietzko saw on a Japanese fashion website. She is only seen wearing the coat during the second season.
The character was given a slightly different design in the fourth and final season of the series, which was revealed via a trailer for the season in September 2014. Asami was shown to have a different hairstyle, different clothing and grown in height. Her design went through a series of revisions, which included appearances with a hat and different hairstyles. DiMartino wrote that he loved the final version of her fourth season appearance, finding it to be a "nice balance of formal business attire and fashion-forward elegance." Entertainment Monthly wrote that while her appearance had changed, she still retained "the image of a businesswoman not to be messed with". Noriel Espinueva of Hallels felt the character looked "even more mature", adding that the design change contributed to the narrative that much had changed during the three-year gap between the third and fourth seasons of the series. The A.V. Club found her clothing to be more business-oriented than her previous attire and her hair to be worn in a similar manner to her mother.Voice
Asami is voiced by Seychelle Gabriel. Gabriel's first involvement in the Avatar franchise was portraying Yue in The Last Airbender. Gabriel initially remembered Asami's name due to it sounding like "salami". Gabriel was announced to be playing the role in March 2011, along with the rest of the main cast for the first season. Gabriel received The Legend of Korra scripts days before recording and was surprised by Asami turning against her father, calling it a "really weird situation to wrap your head around" as Asami had lost both of her parents. Gabriel was well-aware of the comparisons between Asami and Batman, having seen an Internet meme highlighting this and she and her parents were supportive of the friendship between Asami and Korra. She especially liked that they were two girls who did not let "a guy get between them", feeling that they were stronger together as well. While listing actors that he felt bore a resemblance to the characters of The Legend of Korra and could potentially play them in a live-action film, Tommy DePaoli of Moviepilot mentioned her as a suitable candidate, writing that Gabriel "would make an impeccable Asami."Appearances
''The Legend of Korra'' television series
Book One: ''Air'' (2012)
Asami Sato first appears in the series in the season one episode "The Voice in the Night", wherein she meets Mako by hitting him with her moped in a minor traffic accident. Recognizing him as the captain of the pro-bending team "Fire Ferrets", she invites him out to dinner by way of apology. She being a fan of pro-bending, she offers to become the team's sponsor. She meets Korra at a gala thrown in her honor by Tarrlok, commenting that Mako had told her much about her and making Korra jealous. On a date with Mako in Republic City Park, she expresses her trust in him while resting against him. She was a supporter of the "Fire Ferrets" and visible in attending their matches. Without running it by her father, Asami offers Mako and his brother Bolin a place to stay at her father's estate in the aftermath of an Equalist attack on the Pro-bending Arena. Asami takes the brothers and Korra to a racetrack to watch the test-driving of the Satomobiles. Noticing Korra's excitement in seeing them, she takes her on a ride while at the same time racing against one of the drivers, encouraging her to "mix it up sometimes." This is the first time Asami and Korra are mutually friendly to each other. Asami's mother is later revealed to have been murdered during a triad robbery of their mansion when she was six years old. Her father, Hiroshi Sato, maintained a hatred of all benders thereafter - this is his motivation for joining the Equalists, an anti-bending movement that served as the antagonistic group of season one. Upon discovering her father's role, Asami joins with Korra, Bolin, and Mako, to form the Team Avatar, turning against her father. This leads to a battle against Hiroshi Sato and his mecha, during which her father attempts to kill her. With Bolin's help, she defeats and captures Hiroshi. Asami's relationship with Mako faces difficulty when she becomes suspicious of him having romantic feelings for Korra when he only briefly addresses her before continuing his search for her, leading her to wonder why he is so concerned. She questions Bolin about it and presses the evasive earthbender about his brother, who he reveals previously shared a kiss with Korra. Following the group finding her, she confronted Mako over their kiss and when he tried to schedule their conversation for another time, she alluded to the possibility of breaking up with him before they could do so. She shows her disappointment with Mako exclusively, not blaming Korra for the deterioration of their relationship. Mako later pulls her aside to express how much he cares for her. In response, Asami relates her own positive feelings for him and kisses him on the cheek, ending their romance on a good note.Book Two: ''Spirits'' (2013)
Between seasons one and two, and following her father's imprisonment, Asami assumes control of Future Industries. With the reputation of the company in tatters, Asami needs to collaborate with the entrepreneur Varrick to save her company from bankruptcy. However, Varrick is later found to be committing acts of violence, fraud, and theft to entangle the Republic in the Water Tribe Civil War. After Varrick is arrested, the deal is nullified, and Asami regains full control of her company. Future Industries becomes an economic powerhouse; Asami herself becomes an urban planner, leading the reconstruction of Republic City's infrastructure after the physical return of Spirit World creatures to the human world. She briefly resumes her relationship with Mako after confiding in him in the midst of his investigation of the stolen shipment of mecha tanks, though she initially apologizes before he reassures her and the two relive their first date as he was arrested by officers who had incriminating evidence on him after interviewing the arrested Triple Threat Triad members, Asami learning and being shocked that he had explosives and a detonator in his back room and being unsure of what to believe when he blames Varrick. Asami chooses not to visit Mako in prison due to its location reminding her of her father and instead spends time with his brother Bolin and later Korra, who forgot her breakup with Mako after being attacked by a dark spirit and losing a part of her memory. When the three go to pick up Mako from jail, Asami becomes angry with him for not telling Korra that they were in a relationship again. Asami is a participant in the civil war between the Southern and Northern Water Tribes, steering a battle ship she had acquired from Varrick as she picks up a distress signal from the Southern Water Tribe rebels, though she and the others opt to continue towards the Southern Water Tribe where she suggests herself acting as a diversion by launching an aerial assault, which she carries out and is eventually brought down by Desna and Eska, Korra's twin cousins. After being apprehended and while imprisoned alongside the others, she is freed by Bumi and accepts Korra's request to fly her father Tonraq so he can seek treatment for his injuries. Remaining there with Tonraq, Katara and Tonraq's wife Senna, Asami watches over Jinora and learns after she wakes that the others are safe and Korra has saved the world, relieving her.