I guess Mako's mutual respect and admiration with Korra doesn't count either. Or the message about finding healthy relationships that work for all parties.
Mako's is respect but not friendship. The scene only highlights how distant they have become to the extent that Mako while friendly has pretty much forced himself into an ally position keeping her at arms length. They might as well be strangers.
The ending to Korra is still good. It just starts the arc up again.
Though I guess that is a pretty large difference between the first series and the second. In the first series you kind of got the friendship that was between all of them, you got the idea that even after Avatar they probably hung out and found ways to be with one another.
Legend of Korra, however, you get the idea that they are friends but that they just slowly stopped caring for one another on a personal level. They will still do favors but they won't go to eachother's birthdays. Basically they might show up to the wedding.
Then again I am REALLY used to the "Bonds tighter then family" aspect of these kinds of shows.
I am getting Kim Possible Flashbacks. THAT should have been my mindset going into this. Since that is sort of the same logic the show is using. I still remember a lot time ago praising Kim Possible for actually not pairing up the two leads and instead keeping them to a very close and platonic relationship, until the movie.
Though no matter how hard I try I just can't seem to get the Kim Possible Mindset. Can someone help me with that?
OHHH MY GOODNESS I CAN'T BELIEVE I FORGOT ALL ABOUT IT!
I had the same issue with the ending of Avatar the Last Airbender too with Aang and Kitara!
Ahh so I see I just have this general feeling about the series in general. As well it seems just romance in children's shows in general it seems (well SORT OF!). More or less I seem to keep getting confused whenever I see a show develop strong friendships and then the show goes "it was romantic the entire time! I mean wasn't it obvious? They were great friends of COURSE it was romantic" rather then try to develop them separately like how it tends to work as romance and friendship are equal yet separate concepts in my mind. So going from friendship to romance doesn't give you crossover points