I also loved how in the show, Koh the face stealer isn’t described as “evil”, he’s simply described as “dangerous”.

Avatar saw Spirits as embodiments of nature while Korra saw them as Pokémon

The spirits in atla were scary, haunting, beautiful, and mysterious. I hate the way they turned them into like, kid plushies in korra. I didn’t understand it at all.

In ATLA, the spirits felt like something otherworldly. In Korra, they were glowy cartoons.

It's kinda funny how a show with more "adult" characters has an immature take on spirits, while the show where all the main characters are kids have a more nuanced take on spirits.

The ATLA spirits feel like actual spirits or gods, the Korra spirits like cool looking digimon.

The spirits designs are some of the best of all medias. The painted lady is just BEYOND gorgeous.

I saw a comment about the moon and ocean spirits a while back that made me appreciate the scene even more. The moon is "pull", and the ocean is "push". When the moon spirit is gone and Aang basically lets the ocean spirit run wild, all of its attacks are "push". It's such a small detail but it shows the spirits have a domain they fit into.

I find in interesting that they made Vaatu a force of chaos without understanding that chaos exists naturally and is not necessarily good nor evil.

The spirit portals where you can literally walk into the spirit world is one of the dumbest things in korra

I also don't like how the spirits can just be easily beaten with waterbending even though Kuruk lived a life of pain and suffering trying to keep them at bay

Atla : Close to how East asia spirits are in the story
Korra : Bad ghost, casper.

the creation of spirit portals also undermines Iroh's and Aangs own spiritual prowess of finding enough focus to meditate into the spirit world, something that was very difficult for the common man to do.  and Korra's "solution" to appeasing dark spirits feels very much like a psychologist prescribing anti-depresant medication to people who got mildly depressed because they got dumped or something

I was so excited when LoK described Raava and Vaatu as "Order" and "Chaos" thinking they were going to do a proper balance of Order and Chaos subplot and have Korra have to realize Rava isn't goodness personified and Vaatu isn't evil, they just both think the world would be better without the other, and Korra would have to make peace between them to restore the balance the first Avatar failed to understand. It would've made Unalock such a good parallel, falling for the same thing Wan did but with Vaatu, believing Raava's reign was making the world worse, segregating the world between spirits and humans, and Raava would never coexist with Vaatu. Meanwhile Raava is trying to convince Korra of the same thing from the other direction, and having Korra realize that and realize the past can't guide her this time because the past didn't work, and her having to figure out on her own that Vaatu has their own place in the world that they need to fill right alongside Raava.

And then the ending came and it was literally just good kite kills evil kite. 🙄

For those who are wondering. Koh chose the name "Koh" for himself after becoming distanced from his mother, the Mother of Faces, though legends say that, despite their strained relationship, he steals faces as a way to be close to his mother, who has the ability to give faces.

I thought there'd be a twist that neither Ravaa or Vaatu were good or evil. Maybe Ravaa went around oppressing people in the name of peace and order, while Vaatu allowed everyone unchecked freedom even if it led to destruction and harm. Avatar Wan would convince the two to coexist instead of fighting for control

Something that I thought they were going for is having Avatar Wan absorb Vaatu alongside Raava. Where Raava gave him the knowledge to bend every element, Vaatu gave him the power to control them all at once. My thought was that the 'Avatar Spirit' is actually Vaatu and Raava becoming one, which is why every spirit respects the Avatar to some degree. They are the literal embodiment of harmony. Instead Vaatu and Raava are just Jesus and Satan.

The original show, we rarely saw spirits /spirit world. It was meant to be otherworldly and mysterious. Forces of nature basically.
In korra, they basically turned most spirits into Pokémon

Legend of Korra turned godly mysterious spirits into household pets

Imagine if instead of being plain evil, Vaatu appeared evil when imbalanced because he is a being that acts on pure impulse alone, he represents chaos and passion unrestrained
But at the same time, when Raava is imbalanced, she becomes obsesed with order, completely rejecting emotion and change. She represents knowledge and serenity, but taken to an extreme leads her to inaction.