The Lost Potential of Masami
It’s no secret to those who follow me that I absolutely hate how the show handled Makorra and Masami but that isn’t to say I hate the ships (much like my frustrations with Zu/tara, Zu/kka, and K/yaLi/n, it comes down to interpretations).
That isn’t however what I want to discuss. Instead I want to talk about the lost potential of Masami (yeah the title).
I’ve recently been writing a lot about Mako and Asami (a few projects on the back burner for now) and it got me thinking a lot on their relationship.
One thing that’s important to remember about relationships (of any kind even friendships) is that baseless passion and attraction (even the platonic kind) can’t sustain a relationship forever. This was the issue with Makorra.
The two were very passionate about each other but passion isn’t what you need when you can’t effectively communicate with one another. Korra and Mako were cut from too similar of cloths to ever work long term romance wise (that’s not to say similar people can’t date but some similarities are best avoided such as “married to the job” and “stubborn as hell” unless you have top tier communication skills).
(Note: After years of friendship that built up a genuine relationship between the two, and them out growing their worst traits (mentioned above) the two have their own lost potential, either as a romance or a friendship, but that’s not what this post is about.)
Which brings me to Masami. Prior to the episode where Korra gets kidnapped and Mako makes clear his divided emotions, Masami worked. They were cute together and worked well together. Mako had Asami’s back and Asami had his.
Their relationship only started failing due to a communication break down, but unlike with Makorra it wasn’t that Mako and Asami couldn’t effectively communicate (ie: ended up fighting everytime they tried), its that neither one would. This is actually the cause of most relationship breakdowns, leaving things unsaid and never putting in the work to fix them.
When they do finally get around to it, there’s nothing to salvage.
I think Masami had the makings of a loving, long term relationship, in the show, but because it was never intended to be, it slowly dissolved in the wake of (original) endgame Makorra.
However, Mako wasn’t wrong with what he told Bolin, that being with Asami made more sense. They did make sense. They had the romance, the attraction, the mutual affection, the similar interests, the understanding, and the communication needed to float. There was no underlying relationship issue before Mako’s feelings started getting mixed up. Had he realized the truth to his words, rather than chasing a passion that later blew up in his (and Korra’s) face, he and Asami likely never would have broken up at all.
That isn’t to blame Mako of course. Asami didn’t express her feelings to Mako anymore than Mako did to her.
Had the two stopped to actually talk in the kitchen after Korra was rescued, their relationship would have made it. Mako and Asami know how to effectively communicate with each other, they were just refusing to do so.
The down fall of Masami wasn’t a lack of interest, or failing relationship wise, or anything of that nature, its just that at eighteen years old, they weren’t experienced enough to understand that a relationship built is worth more at the end of the day, than one that “fell into place”. That working through issues rather than ignoring them is key.
The show would have been better off, if Masami had been left to itself (or better yet been made endgame) instead of used as unneeded drama in Season 1.
