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.

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.

[8] 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.

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.

[24] 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.

"[25] 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.

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.

[29] 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 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[34] 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.

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.

From that point on Asami and Korra spend a significant amount of time with each other, seeking out new airbenders, fighting against bandits and investigating a faction known as the Red Lotus.

Hiroshi Sato dies in the battle, saving his daughter in an act of self-sacrifice, validating Asami's acceptance, and completing their reconciliation arc.

Upon returning to Republic City, the couple meet tycoon Wongyong Keum who plans to form an amusement park on the land surrounding the Spirit Portal.

In March 2015, Bryan Konietzko posted previously unseen artwork of Korra and Asami embracing, entitled Turtle-duck Date Night.

The art was announced to be sold as an exclusive print for The Legend of Korra / Avatar: The Last Airbender Tribute Exhibition at Gallery Nucleus and that its proceeds would be donated by Konietzko to an LGBTQ suicide prevention hotline.

[62] Throughout the series, she maintains a collected[63] and mature[64] presence in the cast, using her wealth and abilities both to defend Republic City and to help others, defying both the daddy's little girl and bratty teenage daughter tropes.

[65] After the events of the first season, Asami Sato evolved into a major in-universe business leader[64] and was revealed to be a genius engineer/inventor, comparable with Bruce Wayne.

[67] Hallmarked through much of the series by her equanimity, Asami is naturally a very logical and forward thinking person, never allowing her emotions to cloud her judgement, and seldom maintains grudges over time.

However, after receiving a heartfelt apology from jail, and coming through correspondence to understand how much he was suffering from his own guilt, she eventually forgives him, echoing familial-reconciliation themes exhibited throughout The Legend of Korra.

[54] Asami is shown to be a practical thinker and a capable engineer, able to repair and construct vehicles and other period technology with limited resources, such as when she improvised a makeshift sand-sailer using materials from a destroyed airship.

[69] Although she is a non-bender, Asami is highly proficient in hand-to-hand combat, a result of her father having her to be trained by the best self-defense teachers in Republic City from an early age after the death of her mother so that she would always be able to defend herself.

Asami is an excellent automobile and moped/motorcycle driver in a technological period where that is new, having learned through test-driving her father's Satomobile line of vehicles; she taught Avatar Korra to drive, as well.

Having assisted her father in operating their company before assuming engineering and management responsibilities, she has developed a keen eye for discerning high quality design and construction from subpar work, and utilizes this knowledge to further Team Avatar's goals in episodes such as season three's "Long Live the Queen".

[74][75] Tyler Edwards of The Artifice called her "a great example of a formidable woman", citing her status as the only main character without bending abilities and her compensating by using her martial arts and technology in place of it.

While Max Nicholson of IGN enjoyed the rivalry,[77] other reviewers felt that Asami was more likeable and sympathetic than Korra, making it difficult to root for the latter.

Krell commended the character for not prioritizing the relationship when "more important things were at stake", but felt Asami "should know better than to take Mako back for a second time.

Vanity Fair praised the writers for taking "a tired dynamic between two women and turn[ing] it into something fresh and exciting,"[66] while Polygon wrote that by portraying Korra and Asami as bisexual, the series even avoided the error of assuming sexual orientation to be a strict divide between "gay" and "straight".

[86][87] Joshua Rivera of Entertainment Weekly praised the ending scene, writing that after struggling with their legacies, Korra and Asami have rejected the world's expectations of them so as to make their own destiny.

[90] Among the critics who viewed the pairing negatively, E. Steven Burnett of Christ and Pop Culture wrote that the depiction of a same-sex relationship "hijacks Korra's story in service of social causes to the detriment of its own creative storytelling.

[94] Prior to the reveal of the romantic relationship, there was a positive reception to the friendship between Asami and Korra, the two being viewed as "perfect partners" in that their personalities and abilities complemented each other.