7 out of 8 episodes ranging from average to amazing w/ one stinker? Yeah, that sounds about right. I agree Ep. 5 was the weakest one. The more I think about it, the less sense it makes. But all the other episodes ranged from solid to absolutely incredible! Overall, I really enjoyed Season 1 and thought it was a pretty good start to the show, all things considered. There were certainly flaws and issues I had w/ it as you've documented, but it was still a pretty solid introduction to this adaptation. Iroh and Zuko - What more can be said, they're absolutely amazing and you can tell the writers *GET IT* w/ them! I also personally enjoyed what they did w/ Azula and Ozai! If, and by if, I mean when because let's face it, this show was a HUGE success, they do Season 2, hopefully Albert Kim and the team behind this show can take the criticism seriously - Add and refine what worked in Season 1 while fixing what didn't. If they can do that - I think we'll have an excellent Season 2 on our hands!
@tarist Indeed it is! Also, I'm gonna borrow that "A legend is told differently by each who tells it" line for future arguments while referring them to this video! That last line was *MONEY!!!*
@@TheAvatarist Considering Netflix actually listens to your opinions I would personally like it if you gave more objective (and valid) criticisms. If you liked the show, power to you, I enjoyed a good bit of it, but there are objective aspects of film & media, especially when it comes to adapting source material, and there are a lot of valid criticisms to hand out w/ this series... All expressed for the HOPE that Netflix listen for S2!
Thanks for giving me hope that people actually can appreciate things nowadays. It feels like the "woke left" that destroys a lot of stuff infected everyone with this vibe of "everything bad, is bad, very bad". So much negativity.
I find it so odd that Hei Bai even made the trailers, they got everyone excited about Hei Bai but then completely sidelined his storyline. It was just odd.
The biggest thing I hope to take away from this season is that Albert Kim and the others making the show can take any criticisms that the first season got and take them in stride for a potential 2nd season. I've been honest about this season through every step of the journey. It was an ok season that did stuff that I loved and liked but also some stuff that I wasn't a fan of but also I did get a lot of enjoyment through the entertainment value as well. I just enjoyed it for what it was and went from there. At the end of the day I am just glad to be talking about Avatar again. It has been way way too long and so again I am just happy to be in the moment.🍵
Wise words from uncle Iroh as usual. This was an adaptation of the OG show so I also adapted my expectations. Book 2 and 3 progressively got better, so I am hoping for the show runners to take the feedback from the viewers - both positive and negative feedback - and build upon a good (not great) first season.
I love how that Iroh and Earth Kingdom soldier scene was hated a lot during the teaser and ends up being one of the most emotional and heavy scenes throughout the series
I feel like you're fanboying a little. I feel like sokka and kataras characters were completely botched. The writers knowing irohs arc, and then pointing at the fact that we all know it, should not be something that you praise. Sokka being not shit at fighting in the beginning just means the writers are either ignoring or completely forgot his arc where he learns the art of swordfighting LATER. Hes literally SUPPOSED to be ass at first, not to mention his childish jokes in the original are way funnier than anything in the Netflix version. And katara feels lifeless compared to the original. Zuko doesn't really come off as intimidating. Among a million other things the whole season just kinda seems like they're leaning on the original series without actually being faithful to it.
People say not to compare the remake to the original series, or to think of it as it's own thing, despite the fact that the remake is heavily carried by the original show, and would be incredibly hard to understand or appreciate without seeing the original show
People keep saying that, however I have watched through season 1 twice now and I disagree… she definitely expresses herself and has emotional moments. BUT she is not as passionate as in the cartoon as well as the amount of irritation and even anger that is she expressed in the original.
@landofrootsandflowers8140 I liked the actor, I agree she has emotional moments, but I was waiting to see Katara's temper, her lashing out, anger, especially in the moments with master Pakku. Like I didn't get that "girl boss energy" from her yk?😅 ( she did have a few moments i liked like the final one with Jet and the one in episode 8 when she was fighting with Zuko and told him "you're looking at her" when Zuko said she found a teacher). I also miss her bossy side, the way she was kind of the leader of the gang, the mother figure. I do wish to see more from them, I believe they can improve, and I was actually impressed in many other aspects. I want to see book 2 and 3 as well and hope to see them bring out this side of Katara more since she feels too soft and shy to me.
@@babyduck22we could’ve had master pakku or haru over them putting azula in this season tbh, I wouldn’t mind seeing Ozai either but they have Ozai and Azula too many scenes just to cut other more important season 1 characters
The mayor of Kyoshi island being 'disrepectful' to the Avatar is like aligned to the theme of the show, that there is this lingering or bottled-up anger amongst the people who felt abandoned, those relying and expecting that the avatar shd have helped them and fought with them
It's dumb af. When they realize the avatar is just a kid, they are not going to keep acting so resentful, especially if the mayor is a woman who are naturally more inclined to feel compassion for children
The theme doesn't translate well though. The people that were around at the time of Aang's disappearance are pretty much all dead, and more importantly, they don't know why he disappeared or how he came back. For a couple of decades, they probably thought he was killed in the ambush and was reborn as an obscure waterbender somewhere in the boonies of the swamp. When no Avatar turned up after another decade, they probably assumed it was another Spirit World mystery. If anything, the general population would have accepted the Avatar's absence and the ongoing war as a way of life and adapted to it. When he returned, they might have questioned why he disappeared, but they'd probably also hope more than anything that he'd change the tide of the war.
Yeah I think it also made sense in the context of the war and Aang being gone for so long. Most of the people have not only lived their entire lives without the Avatar but they've experienced the terrible effects of the war. To them, the Avatar was nothing but a legend that they heard through stories, not someone they were expecting to help or save them. Why should they feel any reverence toward the Avatar when he's been irrelevant for 100 years?
@@cinderbelle22 well let's be honest too, humans hold on to grudges for as long as we can even passed on to generations especially in war situations, thats reality. And the show being a live-action already has the 'human' element. It's NOT an animated show anymore where any loophole can be ignored coz it's cartoon, anything is possible. Now as audience we can relate as much coz we see real people on screen, acting. unlike in the OG that it's just the human voice on a 2d drawing.
@@unomiguel017 You're right, humans can hold grudges for generations, but it's just weird that they'd be all bitter when they literally have no idea how he vanished. To your second point, I don't see how a cartoon is any less realistic than live-action when in both mediums, the entire world is fictional and the live-action includes a heavy use of CGI. Yes, you see real actors, but voice actors can be just as compelling, if not more so.
I’ve watched the original animated show over 20 times by now I’m a hardcore fan. I watched this Netflix series twice, yes there were changes. Some good some bad but at the end of the day, it had heart, the actors are perfect for the roles with only more room to grow. And it has the essence of the show. They did a stellar job for the minimal time they had with just 8 episodes. I can’t wait for season 2. I loved it
I wouldn't call it minimal time when the screen time is very similar but less episodically flexible. I just couldn't shake how different the charactizations were
@@Ninja_Tudethey have similar runtimes yes but again Netflix only gave them 8 episode seasons and the cartoon had episodes of 15-20 min run times they couldn’t get as much info into the live action as hard as they tried with the time they are given, personally i dont think the filler “silly” stuff everyone is complaining about missing did as much for the story as everyone is saying it did at least imo
Many positive reviews mention fans of the animation series having unrealistic shot for shot expectations as if that’s the reason for so many poor reviews. This misses the mark entirely. The biggest issue holding the live action back is the frenetic pacing and exposition, combined with weak main character performances, specifically the Aang and Katara actors. The animation was able to bring to life multifaceted and flawed characters who grow in various ways throughout the series. The live action completely fell flat here. Aang is solemn and melodramatic, completely lacking the joy and fun he strove to have in the midst of coming to terms with his giant responsibilities. Katara is meek and feeble without ANY emotion. Her face was expressionless across all scenes. The writing is much to blame. The relentless plot advancement and tendency to “tell” instead of “show” doesn’t help. There was no time for the group to bond. Rather, they had to announce how much they were a family instead of it naturally being felt. But even so, the Aang and Katara actors don’t seem able to able to hit the required range anyways. Og fans love the animated series because of the incredible character development. With that missing, it’s simply impossible to get emotionally invested in what’s portrayed. Visuals and CGI are great for the most part. If you are a fan of spectacle than I can see you enjoying this show. However, if you’re looking for more than beautiful sets and fight scenes you will be left disappointed. It’s clear everyone involved deeply loved the source material and their effort is commendable. I do hope the series is renewed for another couple seasons. That said, Season 2 would benefit from slowing down the plot advancement pace by only tackling half the animated series book 2 with focus on giving longer dialogue scenes where we can become more emotionally invested in the characters.
More thoughts.. It’s clear the child actors understandably had trouble portraying emotion on green screen sets. Hopefully season 2 has more outdoor on site scenes. This should help their acting. The biggest concern with the writers is that they did not understand the main characters. Seemingly small changes completely alter their development arc and are somewhat unrealistic to boot (e.g., Aang going up on Appa to calmly collect his thoughts like a cool headed adult instead of choosing to process the avatar news by understandably running away. Aang learning to face his responsibilities and not run away in future scenes is not as impactful now. Or Katara announcing she’s a warrior in episode 1. We know she becomes a bada$$ incredible warrior and we love her for that along with her other courageous, caring, and positivity traits. But she was forced to fight and improve her bending by the reality of the war as they journeyed to the north. She wasn’t a warrior when we first met her). Sokka actor was the most solid of the Gaang. He shows great humor in the behind the scenes interviews but it sadly wasn’t very prevalent in the live action. This is more confidently attributable to poor writing than on him. Zuko was solid. He was able to emote the best of all the main characters. The change to have the 41st division bow to him as their prince was incredible. Absolutely no reason Azula, let alone Mai and Ty Lee should have been introduced in this season. Their scenes were empty and non intimidating. It’s almost like the writers thought they wouldn’t get renewed for a second season, so they shoved everything they could into this season even needlessly drawing from book 2 (e.g., wan shi tong). If any show writers are reading this. For season 2, please have longer dialogue scenes without music and moving camera. Identify the most important scenes in the animated series where a character learns and grows, or a audience reveal happens, expand on it, and cut the rest. For example, when Aang’s friends cut him out from air scooters he realized everything was changing and he was feeling heavy emotion. That could’ve been a way longer scene with more buildup where we can feel the weight of his emotions. Same with him arriving at the southern air temple with the Gaang. Let us marinate in these types of scenes. In translating the animation to live action, the dialogue will probably have to be creatively expanded to make the scene more realistic and last longer but this is what we want! It will lead to much greater character depth. If the characters feel realer but it means less homage to the animated series in terms of fun but ultimately worthless cameos, I believe the fan base will happily choose the former.
@@whole_wheat_soup9321 would you have preferred an EXACT copy of the cartoon then? Then what would have been the point of making this in the first place? I like how there's enough change to keep me interested, while the overall spirit of the cartoon series is maintained.
I too am a real fan of the original but I wont lie to myself and say that Aang wasnt flying in the first episode, he literally was, when gliding he can jump high and slowly fall down but in episode 1 he goes up and down and moves around like Goku would and not like a gliding airbender would
The thing about Aang wanting to immediately ride the elephant koi is that it actually plays into his character arc for the first season...in the cartoon. Hes a kid...that ran away from his responsibility over 100 yrs ago...and wakes up to find out all his people are gone...and feels guilty for it. Its probably why he entered the avatar state to begin with at the southern air temple, because the weight of everything built up and exploded at that point. Being a kid, though, means he doesnt have an adult to help guide him through his feelings, and even worse...he suppresses them until over halfway through the first season. He doesnt jump to ride the elephant koi because hes a kid who wants to have fun. Its because his coping skill, as we soon learn in the cartoon, is avoidance. He runs away. So thats what hes doing by going to these places...to have fun...avoiding his responsibility, as well as guilt. On the surface, it just looks like a 12 yr old kid who just wants to have fun. But we know the show is deeper than that, even if the creators didnt fully flesh out their own characters right away.
I do agree with everything but episode 3 and 4. I feel that the plots don’t aline well with omashu, especially the mechanist. I don’t get why the son was flying through the air like an airbender even if their not at the temple, so it doesn’t support well and feels forced. What really doesn’t seem right is the secret tunnels, not only because its random and doesn’t make sense there, but the fact that aang wasn’t there to be with katara alone. This was used to build the romantic plot between them, and without it, later the romance will seem forced later. Also, the freedom fighters point was to rebel against the fire nation, but they werent even in the fire nation to fight? All of these different plot lines in one were hard to follow, but were ok. Still love characters tho.
Eh.. you were a bit too kind on the show, mostly. I would have rather they just cut certain storylines instead of chopping them up to fit where they originally werent intended. Plus the tell, dont show dialogue was aggrivating. I'd say the episodes ranged from C to D across the board.. except for Episode 6. That was a flawless episode and by itself justified the existence of the entire show. I cried like a baby when Zuko returned to his crew, and the added depth they gave Ozai was terrific.
Well seeing as how they were literal children when they started the project versus 2d cartoon on a screen where you can’t see the GROWN A**ADULTS, who’ve had YEARS of acting, voicing the characters. So idk maybe that’s why the acting is “painful”, “wooden”….
@@Seabasstard22 still doesn’t excuse the terrible acting. There are plenty of child actors who actually know how to act. The terrible dialogue also doesn’t help either.
I didn't see any bad acting , I thought they did good. We also have to remember they are still kids and they will probably have improved in season 2 and 3. Even so, I still enjoyed their performances especially Zukos, Sokkas, Ozai's and uncle Iroh's. I know Azulas performance is controversial and most hate it but I actually think the actor did a great job. The only one I must say I didn't really like was princess Yue's. That one I can agree was not the best, quite bad actually but It didn't ruin my overall experience with this show.
I really enjoyed the season. Watched it with my wife over 2-3 days and we were both entertained the whole time. The only minor complaint I had was that I wasn’t crazy about the casting for Azula, but I think the actress can make it work after getting feedback. I really hope they don’t end up cancelling it, I want to see how it plays out!
I'm so sick of people comparing this to the cartoon in their reviews. "The cartoon does this, the cartoon does that." I've already seen the cartoon, I don't want to hear what happened in it.
Splitting this into 12 episodes would've given them enough time to flesh out many of the flaws in the episodic events that seemed rush or made confusing.
One thing that wasn't mentioned is Azula's firebending. I wish they gave her more power, seriousness, and her blue flames. Also, Mai and Ty Lee... ummm, they need some improvements
I personally didn’t like it. As someone who grew up with the show I didn’t expect a 1 to 1 recreation. I couldn’t even finish episode 4 because of the acting and cringe. Just disappointed I guess you could say.
What I think they did really good is nailing the essence of the world correctly: the world needed the Avatar but the Avatar wasn't there. The loss of hope is felt everywhere. The world keeps reminding Aang that he abandoned them, and Aang is constantly reflecting on it and is feeling guilty. Aang's presence also doesn't fix thing up right away, he needs to work to bring people hope. "Yes, the Avatar returned. But he can just vanish like he did 100 years ago. I don't trust him.". "Where you've been the last century when we needed you?". "Slept on the job." Every time something devastating happens, like the siege of the North or the terror bombs in Omashu, the aftermath is felt hard. People are dying and they make sure to throw it in Aang's face. It's the same darkness there was in the animated series, but this time it's presence is much more clear.
I liked the way they handled Sokka and Suki's relationship. They get more time together and it's all about Suki wanting to touch the outside world she hasn't seen herself yet, so it makes sense that even though she first thinks Sokka an idiot she is still curious enough to learn more about him and spend time with him. Also, in my opinion we shouldn't think of who "should" be in S1 and who should not, if they do it well. Wan Shi Tong was unneccessary, but It makes sense to include Azula and it's done well, if the secret tunnel was to be included at all it is best to do it like they did here, it works to make the fire sages a source of knowledge instead of doing the library episode, and I can see why they made the fog of lost souls to work as the swamp episode from S2 (but they needed more episodes to do that in a way that wouldn't have felt so messy). This is not the cartoon, this adaptation is its own thing and cannot please everyone because people always have diverse expectations on what they want to see. I'm glad they had the courage to do certain things in their own way. It is not perfect, but neither is the original. People only glorify it and then fanatically compare the live action to it without allowing anything new to be established. Live action versions of the characters don't need to be exact replicas, they can and should feel like their own separate versions who serve for different purposes. Like Bumi, for example. I always felt the original Omashu episode was almost a filler episode with nothing real to teach Aang. Bumi is better in live action. He has lived through 100 years of war, he has made the impossible choices about other peoples' lives over and over and over again. It only makes so much sense that he is desparate and about to lose it. That episode is actually the first time we see Aang really achieve what he should be doing as the Avatar: he brings back hope to those that have lost it. The new Bumi is a well written character in his own right.
I could personally only take two episodes and a half. I'm so upset what they did to Katara. And the fact that Aang didn't try to learn bending. He didn't seem to feel the heavy weight of responsibility. And loads of other tiny problems.
20:15 i cried when "Leaves from the vine" started playing. i DID NOT expect my self to shed tears when i started watching the series. a great way to include cut content from the original, loved it
I watched episodes 1-3 with my friends and so far the main issues we agreed on are where the following: 1. Overuse of the "epic fantasy music" especially in the 1st episode. 2. Too much exposition. 3. Lack of mystery. 4. Lack of important character moments. They treat us like idiots when they point out how important Aang's mission is, or how angry zuko is all the time and they try too much to get a feeling out of you with the epic music and tears and a few bad jokes and slow motion scenes during the fights, instead of letting silence and facial impressions do the job. I saw a few comments pointing out that the series needed 2 more episodes or more time overall and I think I agree. They did a great job showcasing the worldvuilding of avatar, and how the 100 year war started but everytime an episode ended i felt a bit emty. Where are all the appa scenes, and casual character moments that will make the audience connect with the crew (and make the crew more connected itself); Why didn't Iroh talk about how firebending comes from breathing, and why didn't aang made the deal with zuko (that if he comes with him zuko won't hurt the village) which would showcase the good side of Zuko. The plot is moving at the right pace but the audience need more time to connect with the characters, understand their story (like with jet and the mechanic), and be a part of this world. As for the positive things I like that they emphasized on how obsessed Zuko is especially with his notebook (a great addition to the plot itself), i find the scene between Iroh and Aang really useful. As for ang, they didnt treat him like an 8 year old. He realised immediately what him being frozen for 100 years had caused and he wasnt fooling around with the little girls enjoying his famousness like an idiot which makes sense especially for live action. They handled Sokka's sexism really well basically with it not existing and instead they emphasized more on his insecurity of being a bad warrior and having to protect his village, his fight with zuko was amazing and his jokes hit rlly well. Katara is Katara But i am not impressed with the acting. Haven't seen enough of Ozai but he seems very smart and ruthless, Azulas small oart was good as well, and the 1 shot of mai and ty kee was pretty accurate. The best thing about the show so far is the majority of episode 2. The Sokka-Suko romance : Amazing Suki expressing how she feels prisoned and wants to see the world: amazing character work: Zhao being a snake only caring about how he will rank up: Check Katara suffering from ptsd making her unable to help Her friends: Check good character work Sokka teaming up with suki: Check I don't understand why Kyoshi was so angry with Aang, why she said Avatar is about being strong as f..(or stg like that. i guess every avatar aang will talk to will give him a different view and he will form his own as he grows up, and he will be the most mature of all) i am not sure why they make sildiers so useless but the fights are good overall so i don't mind that much
The acting is just not good. Very unwatchable to me personally. I just hold acting nowadays pretty highly especially on big projects that should have high expectations.
only positive things about this show were zuko and iroh's padded backstory & the character development of the lt and his crew. Im glad they added that, other than that I give this show a 4/10
POV you actually thought it sucked, but you like avatar so much you want them to try again season two and want netflix to reup the show. so you make a 40 min video saying it was better the more you watched it.
I think the reason Master Pakku called Katara a master was more cause she used an earthbending technique to make a new waterbending technique, like how Aang was made an airbending master cause he made the airscooter technique
watching you for a while but I'm done i feel you have lied to us about your relationship with Netflix was wondering but you wait to get this video out to take time to see how the community thought so you can give the review a balanced feel while still pandering for Netflix i thought the show was okay but i feel you where hit by the corporate world with this review
I want to hear what someone who has never seen the original thinks of the show. Our perspectives are all out of wack because we’ve seen the cartoon dozens of times. We’re invested, but what would someone who knows nothing think of the show?
Honestly, i thought the show was mid. It felt like Zukos show and Kataras show than anything else. I fully went into it and expected a much different adaptation, and honestly i wanted it. I didnt want it to be 1:1 to the OG show. But there was just as much i liked about it then what i didnt. Below are my reasons: Firstly, i think the show shined its best when they did something completely new and original that the OG show didn’t have. Like the genocide. And when they did 1:1 recreation moments, I thought they did good as well. But the biggest issue to me is when they did 1:1 moments, but changed them drastically. I disliked Kyoshi because they basically made her a jerk that had zero sympathy towards aang. She just bullied him for her scene. I disliked Bumi because they also turned him into a bitter jerk. And he became completely unlikable to me. I liked Zuko, and I liked what they did with his character and how it's different, but at times he was too jolly in the way he spoke which turned me off from seeing his character as one who has had serious trauma from the agni kai. Avatar Kuruk was bitter as well which really sucked, and they basically trashed him as an avatar. And roku.... *sigh*... my favorite past avatar they just butcher. Terrible casting, because although he's got the looks he sounds nothing like Roku. And although differences in that are fine, obvisouly the actors arent going to sound exactly the way they do in the OG, roku has a whole demeanor to him. The actor sounds like hes in his early 30's, and talks nothing like the way Roku should. He acts like the fun uncle. I should know because i am a fun uncle lol. And they make him out to be a bit bitter as well, because at the end he tells Aang friendships arent good for the avatar. At this point in the story, the avatars should be lifting up Aang in support, not bringing him down. I thought the way they combined some stories and not others actually fit pretty well, but the one thing I thought was too forced was Jet and freedom fighters. First of all, Pipsqueak was TERRIBLE casting. I actually laughed out loud in disbelief and had to pause the show when he walked on screen. Pip is a grown man, not a teen thats not threatening at all whatsoever, especially when they tried to make him so. Just terrible casting. And honestly made me feel like it would have been better off to not have them in it at all. Production wise it was great, music was great, but some of the costumes were too cosplay-like. Jet and the freedom fighters are a great example. They look like great 1:1 comparisons, but they are too good. It literally looks like a cosplay/fan film costume that isn't realistic to the world. And although Jets actor was great, that hair just looks wayyyyyyyyyy too fake, even if it wasnt a wig. Speaking of, Yua's wig in the northern tribe was laughable. Its ridiculous that got passed to be on screen as realistic. Another issue is that the language spoke just didnt always feel fitting. Media, short of it being a modern day flick or documentary, is supposed to take you out of the world and immerse you elsewhere. 90% of the show did that, but then people would say things that i would hear one of my friends say. Case in point is Katara telling Sokka "Im sure master paku is going to mop the floor with me". Like what? And then the cursing. I get its more mature, but its just not Avatar, especially since its technically based on the past. Aang also seems much more useless in the show. He never waterbends (the spirit at the end doesnt count) which concerns me because he was supposed to at least start learning water bending. He spends every episode "ahh I failed the world, i have to bring balance and learn the elements" but does nothing to accomplish that. Instead, he either bullies himself with the same old i ran away speech, or someone bullies him and he never learns water bending. He never does it once! And next season he's supposed to be starting on earth. I know theres a two year time jump between seasons but is that really how its gonna be? Aang is only going to learn other bending off screen? You cant have him start water next season otherwise how do you expect him to also learn earth at the same time. I feel cheated on seeing that growth, and feels like, as the audience, I'm going to be left behind from seeing that. It also makes me worried for how they'll treat the other elements going forward. With that, aside from kyoshi i just felt the avatar, aang, wasn't really doing much at all. Aang didn't do much as the avatar he just went places. It felt more like Katara's show. The finale fell flat as well for two reasons. One, water bending never really felt different. It always looked as if water bending was the same two to three moves over again, even for the masters. The show shined when combat showed something different, but it didn't do it much. It also felt slow. Sped up, water bending is a lot coolor to watch live action. Secondly, the fish spirit fell flat because it didn't really do anything. In the show, it wiped out nearly all the firebenders with several water moves and waves. The fish did a water slap once, and then did the wave thing at the end which totaled about 30 seconds of screen time. Every other shot was just a godzilla rip off. For the rest of its time on screen it just roared like godzilla and looked around. So it fell flat as a result. I doubt anyone will read this all, but if you do I'd love to hear your thoughts. I had a good time watching, but it just ended up being.. mid.
Been waiting for this video cause you REALLY hyped this before it got released, dropping a video practically everyday but now that it's out you seemed quite In my opinion they did so many things wrong, my expectations for this were so high and they let me down BIG TIME!!! A lot of things we all were waiting to see weren't there, a lot of the arcs were jumbled up and just made it feel rushed Some of the important plots of the animated series were changed badly in my opinion I don't know... But I feel like you're really being biased about this... I think if you watch the live action without comparison to the animated series it would really be cool and awesome 👍🏾 but when you put it side by side to the original... It was a flop
I’m sorry but this was a monstrosity. And these reviews from Avatar channels are obviously going easy on Netflix simply because they all got invites. Guess it doesn’t take much to become a grifter. One Piece got S tier treatment and once again Avatar got slaughtered. Admit it.
So happy to watch a video that wasn't just critiquing. I'm taking in this series as an add-on. I know the story, I know I love the story.. but being able to immerse myself watching this live action and getting some extra moments like the 41st division and gyatso telling aang it's not his fault, is what makes it all worth it. I'm just happy the Fandom and avatar universe is still thriving after 19 years.
This is about as good as a live action adaption can get. And that doesn't mean it's great. adapting a cartoon is not like adapting a book. Frame for frame its extremely hard. Also cartoons can be more silly, more fantastic, more over the top. Half the fun of the live action was nostalgia, which doesn't hold up in future watches. Also rushing the episodes hurts the storytelling. But,like i said, it's about the best you can expect from a adaption. And they really tried hard. And i love it! And is you never watched the cartoon, go watch it! Especially if you are a kid!
I feel like the live action didn't do a good service to the original either. The costumes looked good. They had some good visual effects, and the worldbuilding was great. But really, is that what makes a good film? I'm not expecting it to be a copy and copied show, but come on. They didn't reference at all towards the animated show. Yeah, visuals were good, but that's not enough to make a series. They ruin the personalities of the characters. They made both Aang and Sokka too serious when they were supposed to be the comedy of the team. Don't even get me started on King Bumi! Taking out Soka's sexist thoughts when it's supposed to be a character development was a bad move. And his thought was because in his culture, each gender did their basic roles, and second, it showed how much doubt he had within himself. He was the only male in the village left in charge of protecting it. While all the men went off to war. But later on, especially Suki, he humbles himself, seeing a girl can just be a good warrior as any other person. Even wore the uniform out of respect. No one was accepting his thoughts on girls, Suki and Katara challenged his way of thinking. And I didn't like how his father doubted Sokka being a good leader, when in the original he already saw him great. Same as he thought of both his children. Then, the way the butchered Katara's character really ticked me off. The live action showed her too passive and barely spoke at all. In animated, yes, Katara was a soft and nuturing character, but she was confident and fiery. In fact, it was her fiery personality that brought the iceberg in first place from what Soka said to her. And most of all, she's full of hope. That's what I think about Katara. She makes people believe in hope again. Also, she's automatically good at waterbending in the live action. In the animated version, it showed how bad she was at it at the beginning of the show. Showing her progress of her bending, they didn't show her train with the old guy Hakki in the north water tride enough. Missing the chance to have a moment with when he finds out his previous love granddaughter. She only becomes good by the end of the season through constant practice in the animated version. They didn't even show Aang practice water bending either. That's the point of going to the north in the first place is for him to learn. And the way they did, Suki was dirty. Showing in live action how she's thirtying over Sokka, no development at all in their relationship. If they were so focused on erasing the sexist concept, what they did to Suki right there is sexist. Basically, she's only into him based on Sokka's looks. In the animated, Suki doesn't show Sokka affection until he EARNS it by changing his views. And I don't think the animated showed the two that were interested in each other because Sokka was into Yui first. Zuko and Ironh were okay, but I feel like Zuko needed to have more anger than he provided. In live action, they made him too passionate when he's suppose to act like a jerk in the first season. I didn't feel any anger from him. And I didn't like what they did to the fire lord, especially Azula. They could've still brought them in an early scene but kept the character behavior. The fire lord and Azula are supposed to be ruthless conquers. Showing how witty Azula is and how much of a threating psycho she portrays. Another thing I have a problem about is that there's too much telling. Making no progress and showing the audience the situations the characters. I wouldn't even have to understand for myself, because the people are literally telling me. For the people who are trying so how to make the series into more like 'Game of Thrones', well, unless they only took the last season, the goal shot to hell. Because even the beginning of the first parts of the Game of Thrones were good. And I don't understand that goal in the first place. So are you telling me in me that the kids' show can't have serious concepts? That's what the original avatar series had. Even though the character had some fun moments and showed some silly content, they still had the concept of war. And how horrible it can be towards who are affected by it. I find the thought of animated show can't have serious moments is werid. I didn't like fighting back the enemy in the live action is the whole thing of avatar the last airbender. Yes, it speaks about fighting back, also wanting the world to be in peace and harmony as it was before. Speaking how ugly violence can be. Overall, it was not good for me. I'm disappointed but not surprised. Mostly, after finding out the originals before left because of creative differences, they spoke for itself. I wanted to wait to give a chance, but that went down the drain. But I'm sad for the actors because they really gave it their all in the series. It's the writers and producers who took no concept of the original series. If other people like it fine, that's them. But I find it very dismissive for those getting on people for not liking the series. Not understanding why the avatar was the last airbender was such a big thing. In the early 2000s, it was everyone's favorite childhood show. Even though I was born later, I loved it through my older brother, who showed me the series. Every time I heard it coming, I would literally hurry through the tv to get to Nick to watch it. That's how impactful the series is. It brought meaningful lessons about love, hope, and peace. Showing people that violence isn't the solution to every problem. It only brings out further destruction. And I'm glad Aang kept that role of being a peacekeepers. What avatar spoke that was also key to how important friendship and love are. I also didn't like the live action because they didn't show how the gang friendship was built. The reasons how important those funny moments were needed. Because Aang showed them how to find fun again and be a kid despite everything they went through. Soka and Katara had to grow up too quick, and Aang brought that side of them. Especially Katara. Which why I didn't like how they did Katara and Aang's relationship either, maybe they didn't need to show the kissing scene in the tunnel. But it could've shown they were beginning to care about each other. And I felt what they did to Kyoshi was a bad take. Taking away Roku's spot because he was the one who was the last avatar when the war was about to start. So it would've made sense for him to be his spirit guide. Also, in the live action, she was basically yelling at Aang, making it seem the war is his fault. Same as Bumi. When he's literally 12, even at in the animated in book 3, Kyoshi wasn't harsh towards Aang when he was asking for advice. She was just honset about it. The action misled what Kyoshi was, making a vengeful person. Yes, she knew justice was needed thing at times, but the whole concept of the avatar is to not only bring balance but peace as well. Kyoshi character is a calm person. The live action made her anger. It was werid of her saving the village, not allowing Aang's own mistake, and making a correction. Because in the animated Aang wanted to go to village to ride a giant fish. Which was supposed to present his character. That's why I didn't like how they made Aang too serious and a bit of a coward. Yeah, Aang acted childish, but he's what a 12 year is supposed to act. Especially before he got stuck in the iceberg, his time was happy and peaceful. So it kinda unreasonable for expecting Aang to be caught up in a time period when it's not even his. Plus, when the past avatars became the avatars, each of them were adults. This is why Aang's master pointed that out because he isn't mature enough to be that kind of power. It was sad because Aang missed that when he was eavesdropping the councils. Anyway, in the live action, Aang didn't actually run away, he hop on Appa to take a breather of the situation. He didn't mean to be stuck in a storm. So how are you going to blame Aang when he didn't attend to leaving at all? Also, in the time period before the war started, Roku was the avatar. Not Aang, in the animated it stated he will be the NEXT avatar. Not automatically because Roku was still around. The reason the war started was because Roku's past friendship with Sozin got in the way. That's what he stated in book 3 because avatar the last airbender, is about Aang fixing Roku's mistake. This shouldn't be seen as Aang's fault. And just because Aang doesn't always face his problems doesn't make him a weak character. In animated series, after finding out what happened to his people, Aang feels extreme guilt. Then, he wants to fix things and bring the world to harmony. But it doesn't erase he still acts like 12 years old. But he still takes action and defends people when he needs to. But that's my take on it. It hasn't ruined the avatar series for me. I envy people who liked it. Although, I don't like how nowadays others are thinking animation is only a 'kids' show. As if people watching animated shows or anime are immature. When that's not what animation is about. Animation is supposed to be art. To be able to not only capture children but also adults too. There's a whole different concept when you watch paw patrol and fox in the hound or lady and the trump. I mean, come on. Why do you think the Lion King is such an impactful animation and still to this day. Why do you think people like anime series like one piece and naruto so much. There are so many things you can do in the animated show or movie rather than live action one. And still be able to impress your audience. Hopefully, the next season they do better. Maybe if they want to make this series work, the producers and writers really need to take in the original. And know why the animated avatar became so impactful.
Watching this series made me wonder how close a fight between a full moon amped waterbender and a comet enhanced firebender would be because they didn't include the full moon waterbending in the new series
i think there should've been way more aang and katara 1 on 1 moments. and they're rushing the show too much; they should make the show maybe a few more episodes so they can slow down their pacing on the show. and they're kinda just teleporting places, giving more time from more episodes should give them time to make more scenes that genuinely feel like an adventure, like the original cartoon did. also ur right, wheres aangs waterbending at? There should be scenes of katara teaching aang waterbending and maybe even taking the original cartoons take which was aang is naturally amazing at waterbending without even really trying. also ur right again, katara should be standing up for herself more and should be more like the original katara. i also think they shouldve still made sokka sexist in the beginning, and shouldve explained why suki likes sokka, cause she kinda out of nowhere likes him. and its not a big deal but i also dislike how they made only aang get captured in the omashu - into the dark episodes, when originally sokka, aang, and katara all got captured. and again on the aang and katara 1 on 1 moments, i think they shouldve added way more heartfelt aang + katara moments, ik i already said this, but their relationship is a key part of the show. im not saying it has to be romantic moments, but they should have some time together. other than all of that, i think this show is pretty nice and the cast is done wonderfully. dialogue gets interesting at times but nothing unbearable. i think this shows spin on things just takes some time to get used to. W essay edit: also i think we (myself included) need to stop acting like this show is a cover to exactly portray the original show but just in live action, because its not. Its a remix of the original show with things that are gonna be different. yes some things are pretty key plotlines that in my opinion, should've been kept in. and im repeating 3 more things, 1 : we need more aang and katara 1 on 1 moments, either practicing waterbending, heartfelt, or really anything. 2: aang needs to practice waterbending. and MOST OF ALL numero trace: this show needs to stop rushing and take its time instead of jamming a bunch of plotlines in a single episode.
My only major complaint is that it should've been 10 eps instead of 8, it felt too rushed. Some of their decisions to merge some episode plot points into a single one were questionable (winter solstice p1 & p2, and Bato of the Water Tribe for example) others worked fine (e.g. The King of Omashu, Jet and The Northern Air Temple) but it fundamentaly left them unable to include important details from eps like The Deserter, The Water Bending Scroll and The Waterbending Master. I get that they rolled key points from the Waterbending Master into the show already but I feel like it should've been fleshed out more than it was, including Paku deciding to train her and becoming his star pupil. Because as it stands it goes from Katara struggling with forms, to generally going okay against a master, to being called a master, with little to no training being showcased, especially for Aang which we at least see in The Waterbending Scroll where he picks the forms up extremely easily. In the show he seems reluctant which is weird because when they leave the north he's apparently sufficiently skilled but you never see him waterbend other than when a spirit or avatar is controlling him. Otherwise, generally satisfied with how it turned out. I wasn't expecting a shot for shot remake but it was faithful enough. Some characters are being taken in a different direction and I'm curious to see how it plays it. I'm not even concerned they toned down Sokka's sexism. Some of it could've stayed and it would've been indifferent to the story overall but it seems like they are replacing overcoming that with insecurities about his capabilities as a warrior and leader, which I think is more fitting especially if they end up including the Sokka's Master ep in any capacity. I think I'd give it like a 6/10. It's got room for improvement, but it's not a complete dumpster fire that many people are saying it is.
Great review!!! Putting the lens on the animal characters: I'm so attached to Appa and Momo, they're some of my favorite characters from the cartoon. I wish Appa used airbending more to protect Aang, there were definitely opportunities for it. Momo was pretty spot on and him almost dying after saving that kid had me shook..even if it was used to move the plot along, they didn't need to do that to me.
I’ve been excited waiting to see your review, and I love it most everything I agree with. I hope they do to season two and they get to have more episodes for season two. I also hope they get a really really good writer.
I can't remember how the scene goes in the animation, but something that stood out to me was Sokka speaking to Arnuk. Dude just lost his daughter and it felt like Sokka just made the scene all about himself. Probably just a consequence of the pacing but it was irritating for me
Episode 6: Masks was by FAR my favorite episode of the series!! I will be crying forever about the 41st Division, and Zuko's Agni Kai was even more heartbreaking than I was expecting. Everything just worked so well and really made the series worth it with big emotional payoffs.
I feel like people liked the live action solely because of the fanservice and visual effects. I mean why do they have to show future characters this early unless they thought they won't have another season? But it just ruined those characters' impact for me, especially the Fire Lord and Azula- they literally have more screen time than Appa! And they made Azula look like an insecure little girl when she should've been perfect and cold from the beginning (we only saw her being emotional in the last season). I also feel like the stakes were lower compared to the original. For example, in the original, they had to travel at full speed on Appa to reach the crescent island on time for Roku's temple. They had to risk going through a blockade since it was fire nation territory, dodging hundreds of catapults only to reach the temple on time by sundown. But in the live action, Aang literally just used his glider and flew for like an hour? Not to mention, he got inside Roku's shrine so easily. And no, the fact that they turned Koh into this spider thing is ridiculous. He's supposed to be this wise and ancient being yet also dangerous unless you hide your emotions. They side-lined Hei Bai for a cheap retconning of Koh. My poor Panda.
Also, I think it's important to remember the animated series doesnt achieve perfection until season 2. I hope it focuses way more on Aang tho, im invested in everyone but him, that's not good.
Great vid, your review was a good summary of how I felt about Netflix's Avatar. Also I just now realized Aang hasn't done any waterbending once, I can't believe I never noticed that.
Thanks for the detailed review! I agree wholeheartedly that this was not a bad adaptation. Different, but still works. Some negatives that really stand out that I could think off the top of my head was wardrobes (most of the times they look like they are in a cosplay), looks TOO CGI when often times you could tell it's a green screen and the lighting don't really fit the environment, merging hei bai and koh was kinda meh but I could see that it'd take so many effort to make 1 ep out of hei bai alone. I don't really like how they created yue's spirit fox it was kinda unnecessary? Like the video said they met twice and sokka's the man of her dreams doesn't really make sense but go off I guess. Especially disappointed how they introduced wan shi tong, they don't have to put every single spirit ever into 1 ep when he has amazing arc of himself. I don't know how to feel of their take on azula's. She doesn't look as cunning and interesting as the original was, and then they spoiled her having to bend a lightning? Doesn't look intimidating at all, especially the shot when she unleashead the lightning, easiest one of the worst shot in the series. It could've been better when she lightning bend first in front of aang and others, it'd add a shock value to viewers and team avatar themself to have azula introduced that way, with how different and powerful she is compared to other firebenders they ever met (blue flame and lightning hello??) On the brighter side, they added some things that worked well together. The first ep when they showed the back story of horror of the war now really made a lot of people's disappointments of aang makes sense. Most villages' and tribe's leader are disappointed in him for leaving them alone for a century (the elders mostly, the young ones were still hopeful and glorified him), so I can see they take a more realistic approach to bumi's character. Even the northern water tribe who weren't affected directly from the war are still reasonably skeptical and let down by aang, as he admitted he knows nothing about strategies or any other bendings eventho a century has passed since his birth. But it was all set up pretty well because their disappointments were paid off when aang actually saved their people. They set it up really good as a way of aang regaining the trust of the people slowly. He was deserving of trust and respect once and lost it, but now he really earned it. The build up of zuko's and his crews, zuko and iroh's relationship, fighting scenes and vfx, music, blue spirit arc are chef's kiss. Best main casts imo iroh, bumi, gyatso, zuko (he really captured that hot-headedness and chemistry of uncle-nephew), and aang. Them having aang to transform into sea monster because of the moon's death was a good swap imo. It adds a good back story of why he came to be a sea monster, instead of just him in his avatar's state. The thing with aang calmed down of the thought of monk gyatso was honestly such a good change. Like you said, it made more sense instead of katara who he just met for a few days. Them making zuko's notebooks as the one who informed aang of brief summary of past avatar's knowledge? I think it's pretty slick for a shortcut. It makes perfect sense for zuko because he's been obsessing of the avatar for the whole past 3 years. Thanks to that notebook they could cut budgets and energy without having aang travelled here and there for info lol. All I gotta say was the show was better than my expectations. When news came out that they cut this and that aspects I was pretty bummed out ngl. They cut so much, change characters' personality, add and merge things then tried to tied them together, some of it are good on its own way, and some are objectively bad. But watching this and coming to terms that it would never be a 1:1 to the original, it was honestly a pretty interesting watch. I'm waiting for season 2 and hoping to god they'd do toph justice.
I mean the producers said they were going to have to cut out the episodic mini adventure episodes because they simply weren't going to have the time. Unfortunately a lot of character development occurs doing these more relaxed non major narrative driven stories. But it is what it is. They only had 8 episodes. If they had done maybe 12... But this is the trend now in TV. Especially in streaming. It's like first it was 24 episodes a season, then 14-18, then 12, then 10, now 8. I mean when did Game of Thrones go to shit? When they started doing fewer episodes a season and they started rushing things and doing exposition dumps and such. (And of course when they ran out of book source material) Which is dumb because the whole point of long form television is to take the time to adapt source material where they wouldn't have the time in just one film.
My biggest issue with the series is Yue's wig smh 🤦♂️ literally they have 120 million dollar budget can create all these crazy scenes but mess up on a lace front wig
Aang literally looked like he was flying tho... Both in the air temple and in the sokka's and Katara's village The way Katara broke the ice ball (cause it really wasn't an iceberg like in the cartoon) Aang was in was just absolutely stupid and unrealistic unlike the cartoon Aang and Zuko BARELY ever even trained together because he never tried bending water or any other element once! What adrenaline dump?... Aang's first avatar state is a vital part of the episode and holds so much importance in the hearts of ATLA fans
Holy f*** iv been saying this I thought I was the only one By the time they get to the northern water region katara is basically an expert ready for combat and Aang is still on Air bending And he’s always so uncertain about being the avatar also he keeps apologizing for leaving it kinda gets annoying
@@mrmarcus8772 Also the whole thing feels like they got there in a few days, Katara somehow mastered the element out of nowhere and they had no scenes showing us the relationship between the trio.
A lot of the story had to be changed, shortened, retelling a story taken from animation that has so much in short episodes. They did really well, everything is so much better than what we got over a decade ago.
Aang literally looked like he was flying tho... Both in the air temple and in the sokka's and Katara's village The way Katara broke the ice ball (cause it really wasn't an iceberg like in the cartoon) Aang was in was just absolutely stupid and unrealistic unlike the cartoon Aang and Zuko BARELY ever even trained together because he never tried bending water or any other element once! What adrenaline dump?... Aang's first avatar state is a vital part of the episode and holds so much importance in the hearts of ATLA fans
Katara’s temper and passion is key to her character though, like Aang’s goofiness or Sokka’s sarcasm. I semi-agree her shyness is believable, but cartoon Katara is also a lot like my sister who is very responsible and mature for her age. But also passionate and fiery
Live action Katara is lobotomized. Her fierceness and fire is gone. I’m sure the actress is a very nice person in real life. But OG Katara especially in book 1 drives the story. Messing up such a key character is an unforgivable sin and unwatchable for much of the series.
@@initiate5497This isn't any of the actors fault, though. Actors have to stick to the written script they're given and the direction they are given during the filming itself, otherwise they would just be fired and replaced. She did what she was told to do by the higher ups. This is entirely on the team of writers, producers and directors.
Yeah, I completely agree. Although I am amongst those who actually enjoyed the live action adaptation and liked it overall, there are some changes like this one that bug me a bit. I was waiting to see Katara's temper, her lashing out, anger, especially in the moments with master Pakku. Like I didn't get that "girl boss energy" from her yk?😅 ( she did have a few moments i liked like the final one with Jet and the one in episode 8 when she was fighting with Zuko and told him "you're looking at her" when Zuko said she found a teacher). I also miss her bossy side, the way she was kind of the leader of the gang, the mother figure. I do wish to see more from them, I believe they can improve, and I was actually impressed in many other aspects. I want to see book 2 and 3 as well and hope to see them bring out this side of Katara more since she feels too soft and shy to me.
I don't think that would have written and translated well into live action. But what do i know. Just imagine the faces from the cartoon's version of azula in live action. It would look goofy. I am for once glad they changed things. I don't need to watch a live action version that is a 1to1 copy of the cartoon. Also, this is season 1. Their character have a lot of time to develop IF twitter brains do not make them cancel the show. It's like everyone has like "this was good, this was bad. So therefor it is bad. I said it" mentality.
her shyness is not believable. It's way too extreme and it doesn't make sense. A girl in that situation would have to grow up quickly and act like a mother as a young girl. Cultures like that don't let girls roam free. Sokka was the one who had more freedom as a child, for being a boy. That's realistic. Boys are allowed to stay childish for longer. Albert Kim said "there are gender issues in the original". That's what he meant by it and that's why they changed it-
We needed it 10-12 episodes that would have changed a lot ! We could have got a filler episode of just team avatar living it up and building that relationship!
Netflix really shafted the director and this show heavily by giving it only 8 episodes. Avatar is like the one story where they could add so much more story and it still wouldn't drag out, but instead they chose to remove story. Next season needs more episodes or longer ones.
Many shows have a first season with a few episodes to test if it's worth the investment. I'm sure if they decide to make the other seasons, there will be way more episodes
Less episodes means less writers means less money spend. These type shows will probably never have more than 8 to 12 episodes ever in the coming future
Katara's outburst that broke the iceberg communicated that bending is deeply connected to emotions. It was world-building as well as giving us character. Aang already knowing that Gyatso was dead before seeing his skeleton diminished the devastation and shock of that moment. (Like in Mulan singing "A Girl We're Fighting For" was an immense high right before they see the ruins of the village. Going from such a high to such a low amplifies the impact because it's emotional contrast) Gran Gran revealing Aang as the avatar instead of Aang revealing it himself when Zuko threatens their village completely deflated the impact of that scene. I hope Netflix takes some notes from all of us for seasons 2 & 3. I can clearly see they're trying and I'm excited to see more. UPDATE: I want to clarify that there are changes I did like. I am all for changes as long as they add more than they take away. I love the new scene we get with Aang talking to Gyatso in the spirit world; I always felt like that was a scene that SHOULD have been in the original. I love that Aang is talking to the past Avatars more. I like that Sozin is the one to personally kill Gyatso. My OP was just about changes that I felt were plainly just poor choices that added nothing and, worse, even took away. I wouldn't mind so much but these were REALLY pivotal scenes.
@@SSJRadioBluth it doesn’t mean we want original completely remade and this point is getting annoying to look at. changes are good when they work, when they don’t they ruin what already has been good with the og show. Either implement changes that work, or don’t do them at all and stick to what works best. Changes just for the sake of changing something is a very bad idea.
Season 2 should be divided in 2 seasons, there is more than enough material. Specially since they will probably integrate parts of season 3 into it aswell. It would give time for them to breathe and just talk, build the relationship and practice bending.
@tone They´ll already have to make changes to that. So better be a full, complete story than a "good enough because the age of the actors is more important" one. If thats REALLY a problem they can always film the two parts at the same time, then dedicate full editing time for the first one. Several studios did this successfully. And i disagree about just making a longer one, 2 or 3 more eps wouldnt be enough for season 2 if this one already felt a bit rushed. Also the editing takes a lot of time, so you´d see a later release and might get worse VFX. Edit: Longer episodes could be a solution too, then more eps on season two would be fine. It would just take more time to make, obviously.
Watching the attack on the air nomads was heartbreaking, it felt like order 66 in Star Wars. You know it’s coming but seeing how it went down is still heart breaking.
I agree. The Airbenders seemed totally overmatched. The Fire nation soldiers fly in, and start incinerating people, and the defenders can only knock over a few soldiers. I do not think the Fire nation suffered a single casualty.
@@wimpymcsteel4458 i think it’s the mentality, the air nomads are pew rule ppl. And air bending is a defensive fighting style, firebending is a heavily offensive fighting style. And the firebenders heavily powered by the comet just overwhelmed them. They could only defend for so long before the overwhelming offensive fighters trump them
I agree except for two points. I think they did Gyatso a bit dirty in favour of the woman in the courtyard, and also I think they didn't visually beef up the firebenders enough for the Comet. Visually their power appeared somewhat level with elsewhere And you can't really use Susan because he's supposed to be the strongest firebender in the entire world
How she acts in the original cartoon is exactly how a teenage girl would act- the sweet docile katara is not an good character arc - love the actress but - show runners totally gave no demotion to her character her rage and vengeful character to grow into a compassionate woman was a staple of amazing writing
That's fine if you liked the cartoons take on katara better, but in general (not just with avatar) people getting way too worked up and stating their opinions like they are fact is a big problem. Personally I really think there is no "right" answer here, I liked both, but I think the show was at its best when it did it's own thing. A lot of the creative changes they made felt good without changing the over all feel/theme. To me, the worst episode was the one where they tried to pack like 5 different cartoon episodes into one (the one with jet). It felt like they were just throwing things in there to appease fans without giving it enough time. As far as Katara goes, I am someone who has studied psychology and mental health for 10+ years. Your idea that Katara should be a certain way because of her age is objectively wrong. Personality differences aside, people deal with grief, loss, and stress all very different. Trauma at a young age is a bit like being thrown into the deep end. Most people do end up drowning or at least struggling, but you would be surprised how many people also rise to the occasion. Either way it hurts and leaves scars. It also requires work/healing regardless, but ya, if there is one thing I've learned about mental health is, regardless of age, gender, or trauma, there is no one size fits all. The only way to be objectively wrong, is to generalize.
@@Steve-xo5pq The thing is we loved flawed characters so they can change and grow Me personally and what im hearing others say is that we saw and identified ourselves wirh katara women and queer men and even cis men alike and to see a character so strong and hotheaded and then become so powerful and helpful and sweet was a staple in our lives I do agree with some disagree with you on others ! Thank you for your dialog - it was the fact of do the show runners know their audience or do they makes changes to save face for the idea they have In their own head - do you stay loyal with your original audience or change for people that may not enjoy the craft either way
kataras actress is unbelievably bad. and thats not an opinion, thats a fact. anyone who has a bit of a professional knowledge about acting would agree.
I think my biggest gripe is that by the end of the season it still feels like Katara, Sokka, and Aang are still practically strangers. I fully understand why they needed to condense season 1 compared to the animated version, but it just felt like it was at the cost of building relationships and character development.
That's what happens when all the side quests are removed. That's where you build character dynamics and relationships. Not to mention they spent episode 4, 5, and 6 separated from each other.
I kind of hate the whole "they only had 8 episodes, so of course they will have to rush through some things." excuse. The live action is 430 minutes spread across 8 episodes. The animated series is 440 minutes spread across 20 episodes. There is only a 10 minute difference between the live action and animated series. I think we can all agree that the animated series used their time way more efficiently in their story telling. And I know they took out Sokka's sexism because they felt it wouldn't land properly in 2024 (Even though in the show his sexism is always challenged and he is proven wrong), but in the live action, they portray Katara as being unable to get a handle on her waterbending until a man (with no experience in waterbending) gives her the advice needed for her to get a handle on it. which feels inherently more sexist.
Yea but more episodes makes it easier to control the pacing. You can't bounce around from village to village 2-3 times in one episode, while starting a new mini plot with a biggining middle and ending every 20 minutes of runtime. They had to have a singular story with a plot b plot for each episode which led to them needing to rush. I'm not making an excuse for them. They should've known better than to limit themselves to 8 episodes. But that was the primary problem with the season, and they absolutely have to have more than that for season 2 or it will flop.
@@Aut0KAD I feel like they could have cast way better. Heck Ty Lee and May are supposed to be elite assassins. Not sure either girl they casted could do more than a couple pull-ups.
Eh, I hated it at first but didn’t mind it at the end. It’s much more realistic than the animated series. He’s mad Aang abandoned the world and he did live through 100 years of war.
Despite this show having more run time than the original, everything still felt rushed. We never got those moments of characters just talking so we can get a feel of their relationship. I feel like they tried to expand on a lot of things which lead to them not having time for other things. Maybe they shouldn't have tried to adapt the whole of season one but rather like half of the season. (maybe stop at like blue spirit or something). That way, there is a lot of time to expand and keep all the good stuff as well Edit: Some of u have pointed out that the show actually has a shorter run time than the original. But that kinda validates my point. There just wasn't enough time for all the things they wanted to do. I honestly would've preferred if they removed all the azula stuff. Maybe make it 10 episodes even, instead of 8
Actually the Netflix Show run time is shorter. Yes one hour is more then 30 Minutes but when adding the Runtime across the whole season (and one should as Netflix is a binge show.) the Netflix show has roughly 480 minutes while the original is roughly 600 minutes long. Funny enough adding three more episodes would improve the shows pacing.
More runtime than the original? Did you fail elementary math? The original season 1 of ATLA was comprised of 20 episodes that were just under 30 minutes each. That's almost TEN HOURS. This was an eight episode series that were just under an hour a piece. That's just over 2 hours, or FOUR EPISODES less than the original series.
My issue with episode 6, as much as I liked the focus on Zuko, was the urgency paradox with Aang trying to save his friends from death. I mean, he has time to travel to Avatar Rokus temple, talk with him, being kidnapped by June/Zuko, being kidnapped by Zhao, fighting with Zuko, staying with Zuko for presumably hours to talk with him... I thought he had to save his friends? From a certain point in this episode, he doesn't appear to be urgent enough for me. He "pushes" Giatso aside because he "has no time", but is calm and nom urgent at all when sitting and waiting with Zuko. It felt so weird to me and bothered me a lot. In the cartoon, there isn't this urgency since Sokka and Katara only have a cold and need medicine, it isn't a life or death situation like it is in the LA. The pacing and storytelling was so off in this one...
I agree that’s what made me question the episode aswell and I honestly think they should’ve just left the blue spirit episode out and saved Koh for the end it felt very weird placing them there considering the stakes off the episode with Katara and Sokka almost about to die
it's a bad piece of film in pretty much every department. the directing is so, so, so terrible, the young actors are unfortunately not fit for the job, the script doesn't understand the greatness and the finesse of the original story, editing is lame af and its timing shows it knows about the horrible acting, the costumes look way to clean and are missing any kind of patina, the camerawork is super digital and unsuitable for a historic setting with super obvious green screens, the sets are mostly very shallow and done in front of 'The Volume', the only real location is the same forest over and over again. This is objectivels very bad filmmaking, haven't watched a Netflix show in ages, but if the broad audience really accepts this as passable it is a worrying sign for peoples media competence and the overall direction in which Netflix is developing. Anyone who praises this lacks the fundamental analytical knowledge about what makes good films.
Omg agreed, i wouldn't call super bad, some moments surprised me and very few were intriguing but overall the show is barely a mid that plays on nostalgia for the og show@@derg6222
Aang literally looked like he was flying tho... Both in the air temple and in the sokka's and Katara's village The way Katara broke the ice ball (cause it really wasn't an iceberg like in the cartoon) Aang was in was just absolutely stupid and unrealistic unlike the cartoon Aang and Katara BARELY ever even trained together because he never tried bending water or any other element once! What adrenaline dump?... Aang's first avatar state is a vital part of the episode and holds so much importance in the hearts of ATLA fans
Yea some of his points were not good. The adrenaline dump point I also questioned. If it has purpose then who cares if we get an adrenaline dump? Felt like an extremely lazy criticism. Aang flying also rubbed me the wrong way. Flying is supposed to be a rare feat but hes just in the air moving side to side using his whistle and floating up and down so casually. The scene at the temple I could tolerate because he was descending, but not at the southern water tribe. Its pretty stupid and breaks some rules. Aang has only stayed submerged in air when he is in an air sphere or on top of one.
@@alpha_jasperflair1097 Hopefully the next seasons pull it together. i do like season 1, but I feel like it has a lot of potential to build off of for the second season
I dont like at all the writing of the show. I missed so much the characters growth during the season Katara becoming a master out of nothing was so bad. Felt like bending was not like a martial art anymore , just felt it was magic. Especially the part that Jet, a non bender helps her Aang doesnt even trying to waterbend was also bad, but if Katara mastered so easily, makes sense he's lack of urgency Also dislike a lot that, unlike the cartoon, Aang doest run away this time. But everybody keep saying he ran away. I understood Kyoshi talking like that was the case , but then , it became annoying And that's all kinda sad , because cast was good , effects and visuals look great. Just the writing was bad. My tiers: 1. C 2. B 3. F 4. D 5. F 6. S 7. C 8. B Final grade I gave it a 6/10
I might be the only one who loves the Omashu mix more than any of the other mixed episodes. Also has the least exposition out of all the eps. It still has them ofc but Sai, Teo, and Jet actors were great at handling them that they came out naturally. Got the most entertaining fight scene too. My worst is gonna be ep 5 and ep 7
"Also dislike a lot that, unlike the cartoon, Aang doest run away this time. But everybody keep saying he ran away. I understood Kyoshi talking like that was the case , but then , it became annoying" But he did run away. Just before the fire nation attacked, Aang left the temple on Appa, got caught in a storm, and ended up frozen under water. He couldn't handle the responsibility of being told he's the Avatar so he ran away. Granted, he likely intended to go back and would have eventually had to leave to train soon after anyway. "Katara becoming a master out of nothing was so bad." Agreed. Aang, Katara, Azula, and eventually Toph are all geniuses that barely need to train to become powerful. My favorite part of any show, or game, is the build up. I want to see the progression from barely capable to highly skilled, without reaching master level until late in a series/game. The overall pacing of the show was a mess, in my opinion, as well. They tried to cram too much into each episode and still managed to have seemingly long periods of low-energy. Highs and lows with little in between.
@@goldenduck3931 It's bad. The 3 plots that were combined already very packed each and now being combined together and even adding another plot about Jet assassinating Bumi and the mechanist, and also the spies bs. 1. Aang said that Omashu was famous for it's delivery system (100 years ago) then suddenly Teo said that his father is responsible for the delivery system. Maybe it still make sense cause he just supervising or developing it but they just leave at it, idk. 2. Teo flying around Omashu is just not a good story. If you go deeper there will be a lot of questions and no answers about this. I am to lazy to write, but a few of them would be: why is nobody seems to care about him flying around? Why are no other people who just also flying around after watched how cool someone flying is? Etc. 3. A lot of fire nations people (spies) has already infiltrated Omashu, and even they have weapons made in there. Why is Omashu hasn't fallen yet? Are they that incapable? Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee just 3 of them (well with the help of Dai Li) could conquer Ba Sing Se in just a matter of weeks or even days. 4. Like said in the video, Zuko was angry over his book was stolen by Aang is very funny. Zuko uses the book to write about the avatars and how he will capture Aang, but when he met Aang in person he still angry over the book 😂 So the book was more important than the contents of it, I just can't help to laugh at it. Still many more. I already forget a lot about the episode cause it's too boring and very bad.
I asked my friend Chris why Zuko was so angry he lost his notebook. Chris watched and was a fan of the cartoons. He said "cuz Zuko's an Emo". Zuko is my favourite character
while taking away Sokka's sexism it felt weirdly sexist to me how the watered-down sukis and Sokka's relationship by just showing her to fall for his hots of her creeping on him. In the original, she came to respect him after he showed a willingness to change.
7 out of 8 episodes ranging from average to amazing w/ one stinker? Yeah, that sounds about right.
I agree Ep. 5 was the weakest one. The more I think about it, the less sense it makes.
But all the other episodes ranged from solid to absolutely incredible!
Overall, I really enjoyed Season 1 and thought it was a pretty good start to the show, all things considered.
There were certainly flaws and issues I had w/ it as you've documented, but it was still a pretty solid introduction to this adaptation.
Iroh and Zuko - What more can be said, they're absolutely amazing and you can tell the writers *GET IT* w/ them!
I also personally enjoyed what they did w/ Azula and Ozai!
If, and by if, I mean when because let's face it, this show was a HUGE success, they do Season 2, hopefully Albert Kim and the team behind this show can take the criticism seriously - Add and refine what worked in Season 1 while fixing what didn't.
If they can do that - I think we'll have an excellent Season 2 on our hands!
Crazy how this is a considered glazing a show to all these comments hahah
@tarist Indeed it is!
Also, I'm gonna borrow that "A legend is told differently by each who tells it" line for future arguments while referring them to this video! That last line was *MONEY!!!*
@@TheAvatarist Considering Netflix actually listens to your opinions I would personally like it if you gave more objective (and valid) criticisms. If you liked the show, power to you, I enjoyed a good bit of it, but there are objective aspects of film & media, especially when it comes to adapting source material, and there are a lot of valid criticisms to hand out w/ this series... All expressed for the HOPE that Netflix listen for S2!
Thanks for giving me hope that people actually can appreciate things nowadays.
It feels like the "woke left" that destroys a lot of stuff infected everyone with this vibe of "everything bad, is bad, very bad".
So much negativity.
@@iAmNothingnessfuck of dont bring politics in to this
notice how the most liked episode was episode 6, which is the episode that mostly followed the og with good changes like the 41st division backstory
which was one of two episodes written by the original creators before they left the project. this is important.
This was actually my least favorite episode. I think they absolutely butchered the storm and the blue spirit
i did not expect to tear up on that episode 4 & 6 which is crazy. XD
@@dylansarko1882 how? at least the blue spirit part was copied almost verbatim
@@dylansarko1882 and Roku
I find it so odd that Hei Bai even made the trailers, they got everyone excited about Hei Bai but then completely sidelined his storyline. It was just odd.
Yesss i was so disappointed too how we never saw Hei Bai turn back into his original panda form🐼😭
And they just threw in the face stealer. Its like Hei Bai wasnt even important.
The biggest thing I hope to take away from this season is that Albert Kim and the others making the show can take any criticisms that the first season got and take them in stride for a potential 2nd season. I've been honest about this season through every step of the journey. It was an ok season that did stuff that I loved and liked but also some stuff that I wasn't a fan of but also I did get a lot of enjoyment through the entertainment value as well. I just enjoyed it for what it was and went from there. At the end of the day I am just glad to be talking about Avatar again. It has been way way too long and so again I am just happy to be in the moment.🍵
That’s the right tea 😂 fingers crossed for a 2nd season!!!
I absolutely agree, but for the next season they need better writers.
agree, at this point, it can only get better
Wise words from uncle Iroh as usual. This was an adaptation of the OG show so I also adapted my expectations. Book 2 and 3 progressively got better, so I am hoping for the show runners to take the feedback from the viewers - both positive and negative feedback - and build upon a good (not great) first season.
Who said that they’ll take it in stride?😂😂
I love how that Iroh and Earth Kingdom soldier scene was hated a lot during the teaser and ends up being one of the most emotional and heavy scenes throughout the series
That Earth soldier was waaaay too good of an actor to be some random side character. Phenomenal portrayal of emotion.
@@TheAzarak he's not a random side character. We will name him Patrick.
@@goldenduck3931 I prefer Rocky
Rocky the earth bender.
@@TheAzarak I hope he will reprise his role for next season
@@geezlouise420 There's a chance that he will be Dai Li maybe, i hope so
I feel like you're fanboying a little. I feel like sokka and kataras characters were completely botched. The writers knowing irohs arc, and then pointing at the fact that we all know it, should not be something that you praise. Sokka being not shit at fighting in the beginning just means the writers are either ignoring or completely forgot his arc where he learns the art of swordfighting LATER. Hes literally SUPPOSED to be ass at first, not to mention his childish jokes in the original are way funnier than anything in the Netflix version. And katara feels lifeless compared to the original. Zuko doesn't really come off as intimidating. Among a million other things the whole season just kinda seems like they're leaning on the original series without actually being faithful to it.
People say not to compare the remake to the original series, or to think of it as it's own thing, despite the fact that the remake is heavily carried by the original show, and would be incredibly hard to understand or appreciate without seeing the original show
Katara was kinda expressionless
People keep saying that, however I have watched through season 1 twice now and I disagree… she definitely expresses herself and has emotional moments. BUT she is not as passionate as in the cartoon as well as the amount of irritation and even anger that is she expressed in the original.
no. she is not.
@landofrootsandflowers8140 I liked the actor, I agree she has emotional moments, but I was waiting to see Katara's temper, her lashing out, anger, especially in the moments with master Pakku. Like I didn't get that "girl boss energy" from her yk?😅 ( she did have a few moments i liked like the final one with Jet and the one in episode 8 when she was fighting with Zuko and told him "you're looking at her" when Zuko said she found a teacher). I also miss her bossy side, the way she was kind of the leader of the gang, the mother figure.
I do wish to see more from them, I believe they can improve, and I was actually impressed in many other aspects. I want to see book 2 and 3 as well and hope to see them bring out this side of Katara more since she feels too soft and shy to me.
@@babyduck22we could’ve had master pakku or haru over them putting azula in this season tbh, I wouldn’t mind seeing Ozai either but they have Ozai and Azula too many scenes just to cut other more important season 1 characters
she managed to express clearly, that acting is the wrong field of work for her. every other expression was absent though.
The mayor of Kyoshi island being 'disrepectful' to the Avatar is like aligned to the theme of the show, that there is this lingering or bottled-up anger amongst the people who felt abandoned, those relying and expecting that the avatar shd have helped them and fought with them
It's dumb af. When they realize the avatar is just a kid, they are not going to keep acting so resentful, especially if the mayor is a woman who are naturally more inclined to feel compassion for children
The theme doesn't translate well though. The people that were around at the time of Aang's disappearance are pretty much all dead, and more importantly, they don't know why he disappeared or how he came back. For a couple of decades, they probably thought he was killed in the ambush and was reborn as an obscure waterbender somewhere in the boonies of the swamp. When no Avatar turned up after another decade, they probably assumed it was another Spirit World mystery. If anything, the general population would have accepted the Avatar's absence and the ongoing war as a way of life and adapted to it. When he returned, they might have questioned why he disappeared, but they'd probably also hope more than anything that he'd change the tide of the war.
Yeah I think it also made sense in the context of the war and Aang being gone for so long. Most of the people have not only lived their entire lives without the Avatar but they've experienced the terrible effects of the war. To them, the Avatar was nothing but a legend that they heard through stories, not someone they were expecting to help or save them. Why should they feel any reverence toward the Avatar when he's been irrelevant for 100 years?
@@cinderbelle22 well let's be honest too, humans hold on to grudges for as long as we can even passed on to generations especially in war situations, thats reality. And the show being a live-action already has the 'human' element. It's NOT an animated show anymore where any loophole can be ignored coz it's cartoon, anything is possible. Now as audience we can relate as much coz we see real people on screen, acting. unlike in the OG that it's just the human voice on a 2d drawing.
@@unomiguel017 You're right, humans can hold grudges for generations, but it's just weird that they'd be all bitter when they literally have no idea how he vanished. To your second point, I don't see how a cartoon is any less realistic than live-action when in both mediums, the entire world is fictional and the live-action includes a heavy use of CGI. Yes, you see real actors, but voice actors can be just as compelling, if not more so.
The legend of Aang line at the end made me see this whole thing differently. Well done.
wait what exactly was that line lol
sooo the movie is.................
@@richardzheng2805 ”This is the Legend of Aang, and a legend is told differently by each who tells it”
there is no movie in ba sing se@@spacebreak8032
@@spacebreak8032 Told by someone skipped class the day the legend was told and just borrowed their notes from their friend who slept through it. XD
I’ve watched the original animated show over 20 times by now I’m a hardcore fan. I watched this Netflix series twice, yes there were changes. Some good some bad but at the end of the day, it had heart, the actors are perfect for the roles with only more room to grow. And it has the essence of the show. They did a stellar job for the minimal time they had with just 8 episodes. I can’t wait for season 2. I loved it
I wouldn't call it minimal time when the screen time is very similar but less episodically flexible. I just couldn't shake how different the charactizations were
100% agree I believe this was great actors and fighting scenes
@@Ninja_Tudethey have similar runtimes yes but again Netflix only gave them 8 episode seasons and the cartoon had episodes of 15-20 min run times they couldn’t get as much info into the live action as hard as they tried with the time they are given, personally i dont think the filler “silly” stuff everyone is complaining about missing did as much for the story as everyone is saying it did at least imo
@@Ninja_Tudeexactly, the characterization is horrible
Many positive reviews mention fans of the animation series having unrealistic shot for shot expectations as if that’s the reason for so many poor reviews. This misses the mark entirely.
The biggest issue holding the live action back is the frenetic pacing and exposition, combined with weak main character performances, specifically the Aang and Katara actors. The animation was able to bring to life multifaceted and flawed characters who grow in various ways throughout the series. The live action completely fell flat here. Aang is solemn and melodramatic, completely lacking the joy and fun he strove to have in the midst of coming to terms with his giant responsibilities. Katara is meek and feeble without ANY emotion. Her face was expressionless across all scenes. The writing is much to blame. The relentless plot advancement and tendency to “tell” instead of “show” doesn’t help. There was no time for the group to bond. Rather, they had to announce how much they were a family instead of it naturally being felt. But even so, the Aang and Katara actors don’t seem able to able to hit the required range anyways.
Og fans love the animated series because of the incredible character development. With that missing, it’s simply impossible to get emotionally invested in what’s portrayed. Visuals and CGI are great for the most part. If you are a fan of spectacle than I can see you enjoying this show. However, if you’re looking for more than beautiful sets and fight scenes you will be left disappointed.
It’s clear everyone involved deeply loved the source material and their effort is commendable. I do hope the series is renewed for another couple seasons. That said, Season 2 would benefit from slowing down the plot advancement pace by only tackling half the animated series book 2 with focus on giving longer dialogue scenes where we can become more emotionally invested in the characters.
More thoughts..
It’s clear the child actors understandably had trouble portraying emotion on green screen sets. Hopefully season 2 has more outdoor on site scenes. This should help their acting.
The biggest concern with the writers is that they did not understand the main characters. Seemingly small changes completely alter their development arc and are somewhat unrealistic to boot (e.g., Aang going up on Appa to calmly collect his thoughts like a cool headed adult instead of choosing to process the avatar news by understandably running away. Aang learning to face his responsibilities and not run away in future scenes is not as impactful now. Or Katara announcing she’s a warrior in episode 1. We know she becomes a bada$$ incredible warrior and we love her for that along with her other courageous, caring, and positivity traits. But she was forced to fight and improve her bending by the reality of the war as they journeyed to the north. She wasn’t a warrior when we first met her).
Sokka actor was the most solid of the Gaang. He shows great humor in the behind the scenes interviews but it sadly wasn’t very prevalent in the live action. This is more confidently attributable to poor writing than on him.
Zuko was solid. He was able to emote the best of all the main characters. The change to have the 41st division bow to him as their prince was incredible.
Absolutely no reason Azula, let alone Mai and Ty Lee should have been introduced in this season. Their scenes were empty and non intimidating. It’s almost like the writers thought they wouldn’t get renewed for a second season, so they shoved everything they could into this season even needlessly drawing from book 2 (e.g., wan shi tong).
If any show writers are reading this. For season 2, please have longer dialogue scenes without music and moving camera. Identify the most important scenes in the animated series where a character learns and grows, or a audience reveal happens, expand on it, and cut the rest.
For example, when Aang’s friends cut him out from air scooters he realized everything was changing and he was feeling heavy emotion. That could’ve been a way longer scene with more buildup where we can feel the weight of his emotions. Same with him arriving at the southern air temple with the Gaang. Let us marinate in these types of scenes. In translating the animation to live action, the dialogue will probably have to be creatively expanded to make the scene more realistic and last longer but this is what we want! It will lead to much greater character depth. If the characters feel realer but it means less homage to the animated series in terms of fun but ultimately worthless cameos, I believe the fan base will happily choose the former.
Katara's face mostly looks worried even in the secret tunnel when she shouldve been scared to death
"He displays soooo much emotion" brother, THE ACTING IS SOOOO BAD!!! 💀
Bruh what?
They really shouldn’t have cut out the Agni Kai between Zhao and Zuko
NO WAY
Reason number 7000 I am not watching this excuse for a remake. The game of thrones thing netflix said made me mad asf
@@whole_wheat_soup9321 would you have preferred an EXACT copy of the cartoon then? Then what would have been the point of making this in the first place?
I like how there's enough change to keep me interested, while the overall spirit of the cartoon series is maintained.
I too am a real fan of the original but I wont lie to myself and say that Aang wasnt flying in the first episode, he literally was, when gliding he can jump high and slowly fall down but in episode 1 he goes up and down and moves around like Goku would and not like a gliding airbender would
The thing about Aang wanting to immediately ride the elephant koi is that it actually plays into his character arc for the first season...in the cartoon. Hes a kid...that ran away from his responsibility over 100 yrs ago...and wakes up to find out all his people are gone...and feels guilty for it. Its probably why he entered the avatar state to begin with at the southern air temple, because the weight of everything built up and exploded at that point. Being a kid, though, means he doesnt have an adult to help guide him through his feelings, and even worse...he suppresses them until over halfway through the first season. He doesnt jump to ride the elephant koi because hes a kid who wants to have fun. Its because his coping skill, as we soon learn in the cartoon, is avoidance. He runs away. So thats what hes doing by going to these places...to have fun...avoiding his responsibility, as well as guilt. On the surface, it just looks like a 12 yr old kid who just wants to have fun. But we know the show is deeper than that, even if the creators didnt fully flesh out their own characters right away.
I do agree with everything but episode 3 and 4. I feel that the plots don’t aline well with omashu, especially the mechanist. I don’t get why the son was flying through the air like an airbender even if their not at the temple, so it doesn’t support well and feels forced. What really doesn’t seem right is the secret tunnels, not only because its random and doesn’t make sense there, but the fact that aang wasn’t there to be with katara alone. This was used to build the romantic plot between them, and without it, later the romance will seem forced later. Also, the freedom fighters point was to rebel against the fire nation, but they werent even in the fire nation to fight? All of these different plot lines in one were hard to follow, but were ok. Still love characters tho.
Eh.. you were a bit too kind on the show, mostly. I would have rather they just cut certain storylines instead of chopping them up to fit where they originally werent intended. Plus the tell, dont show dialogue was aggrivating. I'd say the episodes ranged from C to D across the board.. except for Episode 6. That was a flawless episode and by itself justified the existence of the entire show. I cried like a baby when Zuko returned to his crew, and the added depth they gave Ozai was terrific.
the acting was painful at times and I feel like my fav avatar youtubers haven't rlly addressed it and idk why
Well seeing as how they were literal children when they started the project versus 2d cartoon on a screen where you can’t see the GROWN A**ADULTS, who’ve had YEARS of acting, voicing the characters. So idk maybe that’s why the acting is “painful”, “wooden”….
@@Seabasstard22 still doesn’t excuse the terrible acting. There are plenty of child actors who actually know how to act. The terrible dialogue also doesn’t help either.
I didn’t see bad acting I saw some bad writing that’s it
I didn't see any bad acting , I thought they did good. We also have to remember they are still kids and they will probably have improved in season 2 and 3. Even so, I still enjoyed their performances especially Zukos, Sokkas, Ozai's and uncle Iroh's. I know Azulas performance is controversial and most hate it but I actually think the actor did a great job. The only one I must say I didn't really like was princess Yue's. That one I can agree was not the best, quite bad actually but It didn't ruin my overall experience with this show.
@@schofrenzy3444exactly
“A Legend is told differently by each who tells it”
No! Don’t make me cry 😭
How did you not mention that the 41st division would have been sent in the war as frontlines to die and they are alive basically because of Zuko.
Yeah avatarist tripping. That was the best and most important change in the whole series.
I really enjoyed the season. Watched it with my wife over 2-3 days and we were both entertained the whole time. The only minor complaint I had was that I wasn’t crazy about the casting for Azula, but I think the actress can make it work after getting feedback. I really hope they don’t end up cancelling it, I want to see how it plays out!
Did you see the Wire interview where Gordan says he watched your video? How cool its that! Your videos helped influence his portayal of Aang!!♡
I'm so sick of people comparing this to the cartoon in their reviews. "The cartoon does this, the cartoon does that." I've already seen the cartoon, I don't want to hear what happened in it.
The thing that struck me afterwards, is how little we saw of Momo. He was pretty much only there to fake die and land on Sokka's head once.
So the season is called Book 1: Water and Aang, the AVATAR doesn't learn ANY Waterbending in the season, at all? damn.
Splitting this into 12 episodes would've given them enough time to flesh out many of the flaws in the episodic events that seemed rush or made confusing.
One thing that wasn't mentioned is Azula's firebending. I wish they gave her more power, seriousness, and her blue flames. Also, Mai and Ty Lee... ummm, they need some improvements
I personally didn’t like it. As someone who grew up with the show I didn’t expect a 1 to 1 recreation. I couldn’t even finish episode 4 because of the acting and cringe. Just disappointed I guess you could say.
What I think they did really good is nailing the essence of the world correctly: the world needed the Avatar but the Avatar wasn't there. The loss of hope is felt everywhere. The world keeps reminding Aang that he abandoned them, and Aang is constantly reflecting on it and is feeling guilty. Aang's presence also doesn't fix thing up right away, he needs to work to bring people hope. "Yes, the Avatar returned. But he can just vanish like he did 100 years ago. I don't trust him.". "Where you've been the last century when we needed you?". "Slept on the job."
Every time something devastating happens, like the siege of the North or the terror bombs in Omashu, the aftermath is felt hard. People are dying and they make sure to throw it in Aang's face. It's the same darkness there was in the animated series, but this time it's presence is much more clear.
I liked the way they handled Sokka and Suki's relationship. They get more time together and it's all about Suki wanting to touch the outside world she hasn't seen herself yet, so it makes sense that even though she first thinks Sokka an idiot she is still curious enough to learn more about him and spend time with him.
Also, in my opinion we shouldn't think of who "should" be in S1 and who should not, if they do it well. Wan Shi Tong was unneccessary, but It makes sense to include Azula and it's done well, if the secret tunnel was to be included at all it is best to do it like they did here, it works to make the fire sages a source of knowledge instead of doing the library episode, and I can see why they made the fog of lost souls to work as the swamp episode from S2 (but they needed more episodes to do that in a way that wouldn't have felt so messy). This is not the cartoon, this adaptation is its own thing and cannot please everyone because people always have diverse expectations on what they want to see. I'm glad they had the courage to do certain things in their own way. It is not perfect, but neither is the original. People only glorify it and then fanatically compare the live action to it without allowing anything new to be established. Live action versions of the characters don't need to be exact replicas, they can and should feel like their own separate versions who serve for different purposes.
Like Bumi, for example. I always felt the original Omashu episode was almost a filler episode with nothing real to teach Aang. Bumi is better in live action. He has lived through 100 years of war, he has made the impossible choices about other peoples' lives over and over and over again. It only makes so much sense that he is desparate and about to lose it. That episode is actually the first time we see Aang really achieve what he should be doing as the Avatar: he brings back hope to those that have lost it. The new Bumi is a well written character in his own right.
I could personally only take two episodes and a half. I'm so upset what they did to Katara. And the fact that Aang didn't try to learn bending. He didn't seem to feel the heavy weight of responsibility. And loads of other tiny problems.
20:15 i cried when "Leaves from the vine" started playing. i DID NOT expect my self to shed tears when i started watching the series. a great way to include cut content from the original, loved it
It is an adaptation lol that should dispel any grief about plot inconsistencies imo just enjoy it for what it is, and it’s pretty great 👍🏼
I watched episodes 1-3 with my friends and so far the main issues we agreed on are where the following:
1. Overuse of the "epic fantasy music" especially in the 1st episode.
2. Too much exposition.
3. Lack of mystery.
4. Lack of important character moments.
They treat us like idiots when they point out how important Aang's mission is, or how angry zuko is all the time and they try too much to get a feeling out of you with the epic music and tears and a few bad jokes and slow motion scenes during the fights, instead of letting silence and facial impressions do the job.
I saw a few comments pointing out that the series needed 2 more episodes or more time overall and I think I agree.
They did a great job showcasing the worldvuilding of avatar, and how the 100 year war started but everytime an episode ended i felt a bit emty. Where are all the appa scenes, and casual character moments that will make the audience connect with the crew (and make the crew more connected itself); Why didn't Iroh talk about how firebending comes from breathing, and why didn't aang made the deal with zuko (that if he comes with him zuko won't hurt the village) which would showcase the good side of Zuko. The plot is moving at the right pace but the audience need more time to connect with the characters, understand their story (like with jet and the mechanic), and be a part of this world.
As for the positive things I like that they emphasized on how obsessed Zuko is especially with his notebook (a great addition to the plot itself), i find the scene between Iroh and Aang really useful. As for ang, they didnt treat him like an 8 year old. He realised immediately what him being frozen for 100 years had caused and he wasnt fooling around with the little girls enjoying his famousness like an idiot which makes sense especially for live action. They handled Sokka's sexism really well basically with it not existing and instead they emphasized more on his insecurity of being a bad warrior and having to protect his village, his fight with zuko was amazing and his jokes hit rlly well. Katara is Katara But i am not impressed with the acting. Haven't seen enough of Ozai but he seems very smart and ruthless, Azulas small oart was good as well, and the 1 shot of mai and ty kee was pretty accurate. The best thing about the show so far is the majority of episode 2.
The Sokka-Suko romance : Amazing
Suki expressing how she feels prisoned and wants to see the world: amazing character work:
Zhao being a snake only caring about how he will rank up: Check
Katara suffering from ptsd making her unable to help Her friends: Check good character work
Sokka teaming up with suki: Check
I don't understand why Kyoshi was so angry with Aang, why she said Avatar is about being strong as f..(or stg like that. i guess every avatar aang will talk to will give him a different view and he will form his own as he grows up, and he will be the most mature of all)
i am not sure why they make sildiers so useless but the fights are good overall so i don't mind that much
The acting is just not good. Very unwatchable to me personally. I just hold acting nowadays pretty highly especially on big projects that should have high expectations.
I felt like Katara aang and soils got deprecated too much in this and so we didn’t see enough of their relationships
I really like that line you said at the end about legends changing depending on who tells it.
only positive things about this show were zuko and iroh's padded backstory & the character development of the lt and his crew. Im glad they added that, other than that I give this show a 4/10
POV you actually thought it sucked, but you like avatar so much you want them to try again season two and want netflix to reup the show. so you make a 40 min video saying it was better the more you watched it.
I think the reason Master Pakku called Katara a master was more cause she used an earthbending technique to make a new waterbending technique, like how Aang was made an airbending master cause he made the airscooter technique
watching you for a while but I'm done i feel you have lied to us about your relationship with Netflix
was wondering but you wait to get this video out to take time to see how the community thought so you can give the review a balanced feel while still pandering for Netflix i thought the show was okay but i feel you where hit by the corporate world with this review
Pure Yap, shut up.
I want to hear what someone who has never seen the original thinks of the show. Our perspectives are all out of wack because we’ve seen the cartoon dozens of times. We’re invested, but what would someone who knows nothing think of the show?
Im really enjoying this video so far! I love this show
If the original show is 20 mins and the Netflix is 40 mins then why is there a comparison saying there is not enough episodes
ITS HEREEE
Yessss
Honestly, i thought the show was mid. It felt like Zukos show and Kataras show than anything else.
I fully went into it and expected a much different adaptation, and honestly i wanted it. I didnt want it to be 1:1 to the OG show. But there was just as much i liked about it then what i didnt. Below are my reasons:
Firstly, i think the show shined its best when they did something completely new and original that the OG show didn’t have. Like the genocide. And when they did 1:1 recreation moments, I thought they did good as well. But the biggest issue to me is when they did 1:1 moments, but changed them drastically.
I disliked Kyoshi because they basically made her a jerk that had zero sympathy towards aang. She just bullied him for her scene. I disliked Bumi because they also turned him into a bitter jerk. And he became completely unlikable to me. I liked Zuko, and I liked what they did with his character and how it's different, but at times he was too jolly in the way he spoke which turned me off from seeing his character as one who has had serious trauma from the agni kai. Avatar Kuruk was bitter as well which really sucked, and they basically trashed him as an avatar.
And roku.... *sigh*... my favorite past avatar they just butcher. Terrible casting, because although he's got the looks he sounds nothing like Roku. And although differences in that are fine, obvisouly the actors arent going to sound exactly the way they do in the OG, roku has a whole demeanor to him. The actor sounds like hes in his early 30's, and talks nothing like the way Roku should. He acts like the fun uncle. I should know because i am a fun uncle lol. And they make him out to be a bit bitter as well, because at the end he tells Aang friendships arent good for the avatar. At this point in the story, the avatars should be lifting up Aang in support, not bringing him down.
I thought the way they combined some stories and not others actually fit pretty well, but the one thing I thought was too forced was Jet and freedom fighters. First of all, Pipsqueak was TERRIBLE casting. I actually laughed out loud in disbelief and had to pause the show when he walked on screen. Pip is a grown man, not a teen thats not threatening at all whatsoever, especially when they tried to make him so. Just terrible casting. And honestly made me feel like it would have been better off to not have them in it at all.
Production wise it was great, music was great, but some of the costumes were too cosplay-like. Jet and the freedom fighters are a great example. They look like great 1:1 comparisons, but they are too good. It literally looks like a cosplay/fan film costume that isn't realistic to the world. And although Jets actor was great, that hair just looks wayyyyyyyyyy too fake, even if it wasnt a wig. Speaking of, Yua's wig in the northern tribe was laughable. Its ridiculous that got passed to be on screen as realistic.
Another issue is that the language spoke just didnt always feel fitting. Media, short of it being a modern day flick or documentary, is supposed to take you out of the world and immerse you elsewhere. 90% of the show did that, but then people would say things that i would hear one of my friends say. Case in point is Katara telling Sokka "Im sure master paku is going to mop the floor with me". Like what? And then the cursing. I get its more mature, but its just not Avatar, especially since its technically based on the past.
Aang also seems much more useless in the show. He never waterbends (the spirit at the end doesnt count) which concerns me because he was supposed to at least start learning water bending. He spends every episode "ahh I failed the world, i have to bring balance and learn the elements" but does nothing to accomplish that. Instead, he either bullies himself with the same old i ran away speech, or someone bullies him and he never learns water bending. He never does it once! And next season he's supposed to be starting on earth. I know theres a two year time jump between seasons but is that really how its gonna be? Aang is only going to learn other bending off screen? You cant have him start water next season otherwise how do you expect him to also learn earth at the same time. I feel cheated on seeing that growth, and feels like, as the audience, I'm going to be left behind from seeing that. It also makes me worried for how they'll treat the other elements going forward. With that, aside from kyoshi i just felt the avatar, aang, wasn't really doing much at all. Aang didn't do much as the avatar he just went places. It felt more like Katara's show.
The finale fell flat as well for two reasons. One, water bending never really felt different. It always looked as if water bending was the same two to three moves over again, even for the masters. The show shined when combat showed something different, but it didn't do it much. It also felt slow. Sped up, water bending is a lot coolor to watch live action. Secondly, the fish spirit fell flat because it didn't really do anything. In the show, it wiped out nearly all the firebenders with several water moves and waves. The fish did a water slap once, and then did the wave thing at the end which totaled about 30 seconds of screen time. Every other shot was just a godzilla rip off. For the rest of its time on screen it just roared like godzilla and looked around. So it fell flat as a result.
I doubt anyone will read this all, but if you do I'd love to hear your thoughts. I had a good time watching, but it just ended up being.. mid.
you just kiss their ass because you was invited to see the first episode you don't say what you really think in my opinion!
Been waiting for this video cause you REALLY hyped this before it got released, dropping a video practically everyday but now that it's out you seemed quite
In my opinion they did so many things wrong, my expectations for this were so high and they let me down BIG TIME!!!
A lot of things we all were waiting to see weren't there, a lot of the arcs were jumbled up and just made it feel rushed
Some of the important plots of the animated series were changed badly in my opinion
I don't know... But I feel like you're really being biased about this...
I think if you watch the live action without comparison to the animated series it would really be cool and awesome 👍🏾 but when you put it side by side to the original... It was a flop
Zuko and the 41st Division 😭🧡
Absolutely loved that. Gold.
I’m sorry but this was a monstrosity. And these reviews from Avatar channels are obviously going easy on Netflix simply because they all got invites. Guess it doesn’t take much to become a grifter. One Piece got S tier treatment and once again Avatar got slaughtered. Admit it.
Or you’re just a crybaby with impossible expectations. Who knows…
So happy to watch a video that wasn't just critiquing. I'm taking in this series as an add-on. I know the story, I know I love the story.. but being able to immerse myself watching this live action and getting some extra moments like the 41st division and gyatso telling aang it's not his fault, is what makes it all worth it. I'm just happy the Fandom and avatar universe is still thriving after 19 years.
"Masks" rightfully deserves S tier. It was soooo good
This is about as good as a live action adaption can get. And that doesn't mean it's great. adapting a cartoon is not like adapting a book. Frame for frame its extremely hard. Also cartoons can be more silly, more fantastic, more over the top.
Half the fun of the live action was nostalgia, which doesn't hold up in future watches.
Also rushing the episodes hurts the storytelling.
But,like i said, it's about the best you can expect from a adaption. And they really tried hard. And i love it!
And is you never watched the cartoon, go watch it! Especially if you are a kid!
I feel like the live action didn't do a good service to the original either. The costumes looked good. They had some good visual effects, and the worldbuilding was great. But really, is that what makes a good film? I'm not expecting it to be a copy and copied show, but come on. They didn't reference at all towards the animated show. Yeah, visuals were good, but that's not enough to make a series.
They ruin the personalities of the characters. They made both Aang and Sokka too serious when they were supposed to be the comedy of the team. Don't even get me started on King Bumi! Taking out Soka's sexist thoughts when it's supposed to be a character development was a bad move. And his thought was because in his culture, each gender did their basic roles, and second, it showed how much doubt he had within himself. He was the only male in the village left in charge of protecting it. While all the men went off to war. But later on, especially Suki, he humbles himself, seeing a girl can just be a good warrior as any other person. Even wore the uniform out of respect. No one was accepting his thoughts on girls, Suki and Katara challenged his way of thinking. And I didn't like how his father doubted Sokka being a good leader, when in the original he already saw him great. Same as he thought of both his children.
Then, the way the butchered Katara's character really ticked me off. The live action showed her too passive and barely spoke at all. In animated, yes, Katara was a soft and nuturing character, but she was confident and fiery. In fact, it was her fiery personality that brought the iceberg in first place from what Soka said to her. And most of all, she's full of hope. That's what I think about Katara. She makes people believe in hope again. Also, she's automatically good at waterbending in the live action. In the animated version, it showed how bad she was at it at the beginning of the show. Showing her progress of her bending, they didn't show her train with the old guy Hakki in the north water tride enough. Missing the chance to have a moment with when he finds out his previous love granddaughter. She only becomes good by the end of the season through constant practice in the animated version. They didn't even show Aang practice water bending either. That's the point of going to the north in the first place is for him to learn.
And the way they did, Suki was dirty. Showing in live action how she's thirtying over Sokka, no development at all in their relationship. If they were so focused on erasing the sexist concept, what they did to Suki right there is sexist. Basically, she's only into him based on Sokka's looks. In the animated, Suki doesn't show Sokka affection until he EARNS it by changing his views. And I don't think the animated showed the two that were interested in each other because Sokka was into Yui first.
Zuko and Ironh were okay, but I feel like Zuko needed to have more anger than he provided. In live action, they made him too passionate when he's suppose to act like a jerk in the first season. I didn't feel any anger from him. And I didn't like what they did to the fire lord, especially Azula. They could've still brought them in an early scene but kept the character behavior. The fire lord and Azula are supposed to be ruthless conquers. Showing how witty Azula is and how much of a threating psycho she portrays.
Another thing I have a problem about is that there's too much telling. Making no progress and showing the audience the situations the characters. I wouldn't even have to understand for myself, because the people are literally telling me. For the people who are trying so how to make the series into more like 'Game of Thrones', well, unless they only took the last season, the goal shot to hell. Because even the beginning of the first parts of the Game of Thrones were good. And I don't understand that goal in the first place. So are you telling me in me that the kids' show can't have serious concepts?
That's what the original avatar series had. Even though the character had some fun moments and showed some silly content, they still had the concept of war. And how horrible it can be towards who are affected by it. I find the thought of animated show can't have serious moments is werid. I didn't like fighting back the enemy in the live action is the whole thing of avatar the last airbender. Yes, it speaks about fighting back, also wanting the world to be in peace and harmony as it was before. Speaking how ugly violence can be.
Overall, it was not good for me. I'm disappointed but not surprised. Mostly, after finding out the originals before left because of creative differences, they spoke for itself. I wanted to wait to give a chance, but that went down the drain. But I'm sad for the actors because they really gave it their all in the series. It's the writers and producers who took no concept of the original series. If other people like it fine, that's them. But I find it very dismissive for those getting on people for not liking the series. Not understanding why the avatar was the last airbender was such a big thing. In the early 2000s, it was everyone's favorite childhood show. Even though I was born later, I loved it through my older brother, who showed me the series. Every time I heard it coming, I would literally hurry through the tv to get to Nick to watch it. That's how impactful the series is. It brought meaningful lessons about love, hope, and peace. Showing people that violence isn't the solution to every problem. It only brings out further destruction. And I'm glad Aang kept that role of being a peacekeepers. What avatar spoke that was also key to how important friendship and love are.
I also didn't like the live action because they didn't show how the gang friendship was built. The reasons how important those funny moments were needed. Because Aang showed them how to find fun again and be a kid despite everything they went through. Soka and Katara had to grow up too quick, and Aang brought that side of them. Especially Katara. Which why I didn't like how they did Katara and Aang's relationship either, maybe they didn't need to show the kissing scene in the tunnel. But it could've shown they were beginning to care about each other.
And I felt what they did to Kyoshi was a bad take. Taking away Roku's spot because he was the one who was the last avatar when the war was about to start. So it would've made sense for him to be his spirit guide. Also, in the live action, she was basically yelling at Aang, making it seem the war is his fault. Same as Bumi. When he's literally 12, even at in the animated in book 3, Kyoshi wasn't harsh towards Aang when he was asking for advice. She was just honset about it. The action misled what Kyoshi was, making a vengeful person. Yes, she knew justice was needed thing at times, but the whole concept of the avatar is to not only bring balance but peace as well. Kyoshi character is a calm person. The live action made her anger. It was werid of her saving the village, not allowing Aang's own mistake, and making a correction. Because in the animated Aang wanted to go to village to ride a giant fish. Which was supposed to present his character.
That's why I didn't like how they made Aang too serious and a bit of a coward. Yeah, Aang acted childish, but he's what a 12 year is supposed to act. Especially before he got stuck in the iceberg, his time was happy and peaceful. So it kinda unreasonable for expecting Aang to be caught up in a time period when it's not even his. Plus, when the past avatars became the avatars, each of them were adults. This is why Aang's master pointed that out because he isn't mature enough to be that kind of power. It was sad because Aang missed that when he was eavesdropping the councils. Anyway, in the live action, Aang didn't actually run away, he hop on Appa to take a breather of the situation. He didn't mean to be stuck in a storm. So how are you going to blame Aang when he didn't attend to leaving at all?
Also, in the time period before the war started, Roku was the avatar. Not Aang, in the animated it stated he will be the NEXT avatar. Not automatically because Roku was still around. The reason the war started was because Roku's past friendship with Sozin got in the way. That's what he stated in book 3 because avatar the last airbender, is about Aang fixing Roku's mistake. This shouldn't be seen as Aang's fault. And just because Aang doesn't always face his problems doesn't make him a weak character. In animated series, after finding out what happened to his people, Aang feels extreme guilt. Then, he wants to fix things and bring the world to harmony. But it doesn't erase he still acts like 12 years old. But he still takes action and defends people when he needs to.
But that's my take on it. It hasn't ruined the avatar series for me. I envy people who liked it. Although, I don't like how nowadays others are thinking animation is only a 'kids' show. As if people watching animated shows or anime are immature. When that's not what animation is about. Animation is supposed to be art. To be able to not only capture children but also adults too. There's a whole different concept when you watch paw patrol and fox in the hound or lady and the trump. I mean, come on. Why do you think the Lion King is such an impactful animation and still to this day. Why do you think people like anime series like one piece and naruto so much. There are so many things you can do in the animated show or movie rather than live action one. And still be able to impress your audience.
Hopefully, the next season they do better. Maybe if they want to make this series work, the producers and writers really need to take in the original. And know why the animated avatar became so impactful.
Watching this series made me wonder how close a fight between a full moon amped waterbender and a comet enhanced firebender would be because they didn't include the full moon waterbending in the new series
Painfully mid.
Thats what it was.
Theres literally no reason to recommend this when the animation exists.
i think there should've been way more aang and katara 1 on 1 moments. and they're rushing the show too much; they should make the show maybe a few more episodes so they can slow down their pacing on the show. and they're kinda just teleporting places, giving more time from more episodes should give them time to make more scenes that genuinely feel like an adventure, like the original cartoon did. also ur right, wheres aangs waterbending at? There should be scenes of katara teaching aang waterbending and maybe even taking the original cartoons take which was aang is naturally amazing at waterbending without even really trying. also ur right again, katara should be standing up for herself more and should be more like the original katara. i also think they shouldve still made sokka sexist in the beginning, and shouldve explained why suki likes sokka, cause she kinda out of nowhere likes him. and its not a big deal but i also dislike how they made only aang get captured in the omashu - into the dark episodes, when originally sokka, aang, and katara all got captured. and again on the aang and katara 1 on 1 moments, i think they shouldve added way more heartfelt aang + katara moments, ik i already said this, but their relationship is a key part of the show. im not saying it has to be romantic moments, but they should have some time together. other than all of that, i think this show is pretty nice and the cast is done wonderfully. dialogue gets interesting at times but nothing unbearable. i think this shows spin on things just takes some time to get used to. W essay
edit: also i think we (myself included) need to stop acting like this show is a cover to exactly portray the original show but just in live action, because its not. Its a remix of the original show with things that are gonna be different. yes some things are pretty key plotlines that in my opinion, should've been kept in. and im repeating 3 more things, 1 : we need more aang and katara 1 on 1 moments, either practicing waterbending, heartfelt, or really anything. 2: aang needs to practice waterbending. and MOST OF ALL numero trace: this show needs to stop rushing and take its time instead of jamming a bunch of plotlines in a single episode.
My only major complaint is that it should've been 10 eps instead of 8, it felt too rushed. Some of their decisions to merge some episode plot points into a single one were questionable (winter solstice p1 & p2, and Bato of the Water Tribe for example) others worked fine (e.g. The King of Omashu, Jet and The Northern Air Temple) but it fundamentaly left them unable to include important details from eps like The Deserter, The Water Bending Scroll and The Waterbending Master.
I get that they rolled key points from the Waterbending Master into the show already but I feel like it should've been fleshed out more than it was, including Paku deciding to train her and becoming his star pupil. Because as it stands it goes from Katara struggling with forms, to generally going okay against a master, to being called a master, with little to no training being showcased, especially for Aang which we at least see in The Waterbending Scroll where he picks the forms up extremely easily. In the show he seems reluctant which is weird because when they leave the north he's apparently sufficiently skilled but you never see him waterbend other than when a spirit or avatar is controlling him.
Otherwise, generally satisfied with how it turned out. I wasn't expecting a shot for shot remake but it was faithful enough. Some characters are being taken in a different direction and I'm curious to see how it plays it. I'm not even concerned they toned down Sokka's sexism. Some of it could've stayed and it would've been indifferent to the story overall but it seems like they are replacing overcoming that with insecurities about his capabilities as a warrior and leader, which I think is more fitting especially if they end up including the Sokka's Master ep in any capacity.
I think I'd give it like a 6/10. It's got room for improvement, but it's not a complete dumpster fire that many people are saying it is.
Great review!!!
Putting the lens on the animal characters: I'm so attached to Appa and Momo, they're some of my favorite characters from the cartoon. I wish Appa used airbending more to protect Aang, there were definitely opportunities for it. Momo was pretty spot on and him almost dying after saving that kid had me shook..even if it was used to move the plot along, they didn't need to do that to me.
I’ve been excited waiting to see your review, and I love it most everything I agree with. I hope they do to season two and they get to have more episodes for season two. I also hope they get a really really good writer.
Gordon Cormier mention you in the ATLA WIRED interview!!
I can't remember how the scene goes in the animation, but something that stood out to me was Sokka speaking to Arnuk.
Dude just lost his daughter and it felt like Sokka just made the scene all about himself. Probably just a consequence of the pacing but it was irritating for me
Episode 6: Masks was by FAR my favorite episode of the series!! I will be crying forever about the 41st Division, and Zuko's Agni Kai was even more heartbreaking than I was expecting. Everything just worked so well and really made the series worth it with big emotional payoffs.
I feel like people liked the live action solely because of the fanservice and visual effects. I mean why do they have to show future characters this early unless they thought they won't have another season? But it just ruined those characters' impact for me, especially the Fire Lord and Azula- they literally have more screen time than Appa! And they made Azula look like an insecure little girl when she should've been perfect and cold from the beginning (we only saw her being emotional in the last season).
I also feel like the stakes were lower compared to the original. For example, in the original, they had to travel at full speed on Appa to reach the crescent island on time for Roku's temple. They had to risk going through a blockade since it was fire nation territory, dodging hundreds of catapults only to reach the temple on time by sundown. But in the live action, Aang literally just used his glider and flew for like an hour? Not to mention, he got inside Roku's shrine so easily. And no, the fact that they turned Koh into this spider thing is ridiculous. He's supposed to be this wise and ancient being yet also dangerous unless you hide your emotions. They side-lined Hei Bai for a cheap retconning of Koh. My poor Panda.
Also, I think it's important to remember the animated series doesnt achieve perfection until season 2. I hope it focuses way more on Aang tho, im invested in everyone but him, that's not good.
the actress who played Suki was soo good, she displayed more emotion than the actress who played katara
Sometimes when they’re doing the exposition dumps the CG backgrounds looks so bad they reminds me of live action scenes in video games 😂
Great vid, your review was a good summary of how I felt about Netflix's Avatar. Also I just now realized Aang hasn't done any waterbending once, I can't believe I never noticed that.
zuko and his uncle were actually good in this, i liked their portrayal
Thanks for the detailed review! I agree wholeheartedly that this was not a bad adaptation. Different, but still works.
Some negatives that really stand out that I could think off the top of my head was wardrobes (most of the times they look like they are in a cosplay), looks TOO CGI when often times you could tell it's a green screen and the lighting don't really fit the environment, merging hei bai and koh was kinda meh but I could see that it'd take so many effort to make 1 ep out of hei bai alone. I don't really like how they created yue's spirit fox it was kinda unnecessary? Like the video said they met twice and sokka's the man of her dreams doesn't really make sense but go off I guess. Especially disappointed how they introduced wan shi tong, they don't have to put every single spirit ever into 1 ep when he has amazing arc of himself. I don't know how to feel of their take on azula's. She doesn't look as cunning and interesting as the original was, and then they spoiled her having to bend a lightning? Doesn't look intimidating at all, especially the shot when she unleashead the lightning, easiest one of the worst shot in the series. It could've been better when she lightning bend first in front of aang and others, it'd add a shock value to viewers and team avatar themself to have azula introduced that way, with how different and powerful she is compared to other firebenders they ever met (blue flame and lightning hello??)
On the brighter side, they added some things that worked well together. The first ep when they showed the back story of horror of the war now really made a lot of people's disappointments of aang makes sense. Most villages' and tribe's leader are disappointed in him for leaving them alone for a century (the elders mostly, the young ones were still hopeful and glorified him), so I can see they take a more realistic approach to bumi's character. Even the northern water tribe who weren't affected directly from the war are still reasonably skeptical and let down by aang, as he admitted he knows nothing about strategies or any other bendings eventho a century has passed since his birth. But it was all set up pretty well because their disappointments were paid off when aang actually saved their people.
They set it up really good as a way of aang regaining the trust of the people slowly. He was deserving of trust and respect once and lost it, but now he really earned it.
The build up of zuko's and his crews, zuko and iroh's relationship, fighting scenes and vfx, music, blue spirit arc are chef's kiss. Best main casts imo iroh, bumi, gyatso, zuko (he really captured that hot-headedness and chemistry of uncle-nephew), and aang.
Them having aang to transform into sea monster because of the moon's death was a good swap imo. It adds a good back story of why he came to be a sea monster, instead of just him in his avatar's state. The thing with aang calmed down of the thought of monk gyatso was honestly such a good change. Like you said, it made more sense instead of katara who he just met for a few days. Them making zuko's notebooks as the one who informed aang of brief summary of past avatar's knowledge? I think it's pretty slick for a shortcut. It makes perfect sense for zuko because he's been obsessing of the avatar for the whole past 3 years. Thanks to that notebook they could cut budgets and energy without having aang travelled here and there for info lol.
All I gotta say was the show was better than my expectations. When news came out that they cut this and that aspects I was pretty bummed out ngl. They cut so much, change characters' personality, add and merge things then tried to tied them together, some of it are good on its own way, and some are objectively bad. But watching this and coming to terms that it would never be a 1:1 to the original, it was honestly a pretty interesting watch. I'm waiting for season 2 and hoping to god they'd do toph justice.
I mean the producers said they were going to have to cut out the episodic mini adventure episodes because they simply weren't going to have the time. Unfortunately a lot of character development occurs doing these more relaxed non major narrative driven stories. But it is what it is. They only had 8 episodes. If they had done maybe 12... But this is the trend now in TV. Especially in streaming. It's like first it was 24 episodes a season, then 14-18, then 12, then 10, now 8. I mean when did Game of Thrones go to shit? When they started doing fewer episodes a season and they started rushing things and doing exposition dumps and such. (And of course when they ran out of book source material) Which is dumb because the whole point of long form television is to take the time to adapt source material where they wouldn't have the time in just one film.
My biggest issue with the series is Yue's wig smh 🤦♂️ literally they have 120 million dollar budget can create all these crazy scenes but mess up on a lace front wig
Aang literally looked like he was flying tho... Both in the air temple and in the sokka's and Katara's village
The way Katara broke the ice ball (cause it really wasn't an iceberg like in the cartoon) Aang was in was just absolutely stupid and unrealistic unlike the cartoon
Aang and Zuko BARELY ever even trained together because he never tried bending water or any other element once!
What adrenaline dump?... Aang's first avatar state is a vital part of the episode and holds so much importance in the hearts of ATLA fans
One thing that bothered me is that we don't see Aang training any waterbending at all...
Holy f*** iv been saying this I thought I was the only one
By the time they get to the northern water region katara is basically an expert ready for combat and Aang is still on Air bending
And he’s always so uncertain about being the avatar also he keeps apologizing for leaving it kinda gets annoying
@@mrmarcus8772 Also the whole thing feels like they got there in a few days, Katara somehow mastered the element out of nowhere and they had no scenes showing us the relationship between the trio.
@@max2themax exactly and they rushed it too much no time for bonding and appa screen time was too less same with momo
@@max2themaxin fairness the animates series felt too quick too, it just seemed a tad worst in the life action
A lot of the story had to be changed, shortened, retelling a story taken from animation that has so much in short episodes. They did really well, everything is so much better than what we got over a decade ago.
Aang literally looked like he was flying tho... Both in the air temple and in the sokka's and Katara's village
The way Katara broke the ice ball (cause it really wasn't an iceberg like in the cartoon) Aang was in was just absolutely stupid and unrealistic unlike the cartoon
Aang and Zuko BARELY ever even trained together because he never tried bending water or any other element once!
What adrenaline dump?... Aang's first avatar state is a vital part of the episode and holds so much importance in the hearts of ATLA fans
Katara’s temper and passion is key to her character though, like Aang’s goofiness or Sokka’s sarcasm. I semi-agree her shyness is believable, but cartoon Katara is also a lot like my sister who is very responsible and mature for her age. But also passionate and fiery
Live action Katara is lobotomized. Her fierceness and fire is gone.
I’m sure the actress is a very nice person in real life. But OG Katara especially in book 1 drives the story. Messing up such a key character is an unforgivable sin and unwatchable for much of the series.
@@initiate5497This isn't any of the actors fault, though. Actors have to stick to the written script they're given and the direction they are given during the filming itself, otherwise they would just be fired and replaced. She did what she was told to do by the higher ups. This is entirely on the team of writers, producers and directors.
Yeah, I completely agree. Although I am amongst those who actually enjoyed the live action adaptation and liked it overall, there are some changes like this one that bug me a bit. I was waiting to see Katara's temper, her lashing out, anger, especially in the moments with master Pakku. Like I didn't get that "girl boss energy" from her yk?😅 ( she did have a few moments i liked like the final one with Jet and the one in episode 8 when she was fighting with Zuko and told him "you're looking at her" when Zuko said she found a teacher). I also miss her bossy side, the way she was kind of the leader of the gang, the mother figure.
I do wish to see more from them, I believe they can improve, and I was actually impressed in many other aspects. I want to see book 2 and 3 as well and hope to see them bring out this side of Katara more since she feels too soft and shy to me.
I don't think that would have written and translated well into live action. But what do i know.
Just imagine the faces from the cartoon's version of azula in live action. It would look goofy. I am for once glad they changed things.
I don't need to watch a live action version that is a 1to1 copy of the cartoon.
Also, this is season 1. Their character have a lot of time to develop IF twitter brains do not make them cancel the show.
It's like everyone has like "this was good, this was bad. So therefor it is bad. I said it" mentality.
her shyness is not believable. It's way too extreme and it doesn't make sense. A girl in that situation would have to grow up quickly and act like a mother as a young girl. Cultures like that don't let girls roam free. Sokka was the one who had more freedom as a child, for being a boy. That's realistic. Boys are allowed to stay childish for longer. Albert Kim said "there are gender issues in the original". That's what he meant by it and that's why they changed it-
We needed it 10-12 episodes that would have changed a lot ! We could have got a filler episode of just team avatar living it up and building that relationship!
12 episodes. The shit was too rushed and that’s what messed it up thus making the writing difficult.
Also the runtime should've been between 80-90 minutes
@@icry9606cuz of the writerstrike
@@SunGodNika-bi2jr A whole movie per episode is a little unrealistic.
yeah they needed to feel tighter as a group
Netflix really shafted the director and this show heavily by giving it only 8 episodes. Avatar is like the one story where they could add so much more story and it still wouldn't drag out, but instead they chose to remove story. Next season needs more episodes or longer ones.
Many shows have a first season with a few episodes to test if it's worth the investment. I'm sure if they decide to make the other seasons, there will be way more episodes
@@ZolaniGuyoi dont thinks so man these episodes where expensive as hell like an insane budget season 2 will prob also have 8 maybe 10 episodes
@eloyvv I hope they find a way to have more episodes, because having a whole Book squashed into 8 eps isn't ideal
@@ZolaniGuyo thats just the way it is man its an anime made into irl all animas has a ton of episodes thats just not possible
Less episodes means less writers means less money spend. These type shows will probably never have more than 8 to 12 episodes ever in the coming future
Katara's outburst that broke the iceberg communicated that bending is deeply connected to emotions. It was world-building as well as giving us character.
Aang already knowing that Gyatso was dead before seeing his skeleton diminished the devastation and shock of that moment. (Like in Mulan singing "A Girl We're Fighting For" was an immense high right before they see the ruins of the village. Going from such a high to such a low amplifies the impact because it's emotional contrast)
Gran Gran revealing Aang as the avatar instead of Aang revealing it himself when Zuko threatens their village completely deflated the impact of that scene.
I hope Netflix takes some notes from all of us for seasons 2 & 3. I can clearly see they're trying and I'm excited to see more.
UPDATE: I want to clarify that there are changes I did like. I am all for changes as long as they add more than they take away.
I love the new scene we get with Aang talking to Gyatso in the spirit world; I always felt like that was a scene that SHOULD have been in the original.
I love that Aang is talking to the past Avatars more.
I like that Sozin is the one to personally kill Gyatso.
My OP was just about changes that I felt were plainly just poor choices that added nothing and, worse, even took away. I wouldn't mind so much but these were REALLY pivotal scenes.
All the things you mentioned are the changes in the first episode. You want the original completely remade. You shouldn't have expected that.
like how does she magically know he is the Avatar? Zuko was the one who revealed it.
Why y'all complaining on a constant note? Ew
@@SSJRadioBluth it doesn’t mean we want original completely remade and this point is getting annoying to look at.
changes are good when they work, when they don’t they ruin what already has been good with the og show. Either implement changes that work, or don’t do them at all and stick to what works best. Changes just for the sake of changing something is a very bad idea.
@@ronnies732 if you can’t accept the criticism the show clearly deserves and think its perfect, you are delusional
Season 2 should be divided in 2 seasons, there is more than enough material. Specially since they will probably integrate parts of season 3 into it aswell. It would give time for them to breathe and just talk, build the relationship and practice bending.
This. They really need to find a way to let the characters breathe.
If they do this, Aang will be 40 years old by the third season.
We have a live casts that grows up what r u talking about. just add some episode that's it. Side quest doesn't need to be included.
@tone They´ll already have to make changes to that. So better be a full, complete story than a "good enough because the age of the actors is more important" one. If thats REALLY a problem they can always film the two parts at the same time, then dedicate full editing time for the first one. Several studios did this successfully. And i disagree about just making a longer one, 2 or 3 more eps wouldnt be enough for season 2 if this one already felt a bit rushed. Also the editing takes a lot of time, so you´d see a later release and might get worse VFX. Edit: Longer episodes could be a solution too, then more eps on season two would be fine. It would just take more time to make, obviously.
They are going to end it when Appa is stolen at the library
I think it would be cool if Katara says the original intro in season 2 because canonically she knows the story now because of gran gran
I AGREEE!!!!
Watching the attack on the air nomads was heartbreaking, it felt like order 66 in Star Wars. You know it’s coming but seeing how it went down is still heart breaking.
I agree. The Airbenders seemed totally overmatched. The Fire nation soldiers fly in, and start incinerating people, and the defenders can only knock over a few soldiers. I do not think the Fire nation suffered a single casualty.
@@wimpymcsteel4458 i think it’s the mentality, the air nomads are pew rule ppl. And air bending is a defensive fighting style, firebending is a heavily offensive fighting style. And the firebenders heavily powered by the comet just overwhelmed them. They could only defend for so long before the overwhelming offensive fighters trump them
I agree except for two points. I think they did Gyatso a bit dirty in favour of the woman in the courtyard, and also I think they didn't visually beef up the firebenders enough for the Comet. Visually their power appeared somewhat level with elsewhere
And you can't really use Susan because he's supposed to be the strongest firebender in the entire world
The way they handled zuko's season 1 arc and backstory was emotionally wonderful. I teared up till the end 😢
For me the best changes, is is the expanded zuko iroh ozai dynamic, especially the 41st division scene, they got my blessing for season 2.
Intertwining Zuko and Iroh’s story with Lu Ten’s funeral?! Genius!
Yess, I loved it so much! They did great.
@@silvernight7971 When "Leaves from the Vine" started playing in that scene... That got me! I was a freaking wreck!
Best element of the adaptation i think. If the whole show had the quality of the Iroh & Zuko relationship it would be entirely S tier for me.
I totally missed Yue bending after everyone lost their powers. Great detail.
It makes sense if you think about it- she has part of the moon spirit within her.
@@ragingraichu219 facts
@@ragingraichu219 I totally didn't think of that and was like... wait what?
@@ragingraichu219exactly my thought process
Because she had a piece of the moon spirit in her....
How she acts in the original cartoon is exactly how a teenage girl would act- the sweet docile katara is not an good character arc - love the actress but - show runners totally gave no demotion to her character her rage and vengeful character to grow into a compassionate woman was a staple of amazing writing
Honestly... Thank you. The watered down Katara is a very bad change. Made the show hard to watch for me.
totally agree with you guys! they ruined Katara for me @@Neraxleigh
That's fine if you liked the cartoons take on katara better, but in general (not just with avatar) people getting way too worked up and stating their opinions like they are fact is a big problem. Personally I really think there is no "right" answer here, I liked both, but I think the show was at its best when it did it's own thing. A lot of the creative changes they made felt good without changing the over all feel/theme. To me, the worst episode was the one where they tried to pack like 5 different cartoon episodes into one (the one with jet). It felt like they were just throwing things in there to appease fans without giving it enough time.
As far as Katara goes, I am someone who has studied psychology and mental health for 10+ years. Your idea that Katara should be a certain way because of her age is objectively wrong. Personality differences aside, people deal with grief, loss, and stress all very different. Trauma at a young age is a bit like being thrown into the deep end. Most people do end up drowning or at least struggling, but you would be surprised how many people also rise to the occasion. Either way it hurts and leaves scars. It also requires work/healing regardless, but ya, if there is one thing I've learned about mental health is, regardless of age, gender, or trauma, there is no one size fits all. The only way to be objectively wrong, is to generalize.
@@Steve-xo5pq The thing is we loved flawed characters so they can change and grow Me personally and what im hearing others say is that we saw and identified ourselves wirh katara women and queer men and even cis men alike and to see a character so strong and hotheaded and then become so powerful and helpful and sweet was a staple in our lives I do agree with some disagree with you on others ! Thank you for your dialog - it was the fact of do the show runners know their audience or do they makes changes to save face for the idea they have In their own head - do you stay loyal with your original audience or change for people that may not enjoy the craft either way
kataras actress is unbelievably bad. and thats not an opinion, thats a fact. anyone who has a bit of a professional knowledge about acting would agree.
I think my biggest gripe is that by the end of the season it still feels like Katara, Sokka, and Aang are still practically strangers. I fully understand why they needed to condense season 1 compared to the animated version, but it just felt like it was at the cost of building relationships and character development.
That's what happens when all the side quests are removed. That's where you build character dynamics and relationships. Not to mention they spent episode 4, 5, and 6 separated from each other.
I kind of hate the whole "they only had 8 episodes, so of course they will have to rush through some things." excuse. The live action is 430 minutes spread across 8 episodes. The animated series is 440 minutes spread across 20 episodes.
There is only a 10 minute difference between the live action and animated series. I think we can all agree that the animated series used their time way more efficiently in their story telling.
And I know they took out Sokka's sexism because they felt it wouldn't land properly in 2024 (Even though in the show his sexism is always challenged and he is proven wrong), but in the live action, they portray Katara as being unable to get a handle on her waterbending until a man (with no experience in waterbending) gives her the advice needed for her to get a handle on it. which feels inherently more sexist.
Yea but more episodes makes it easier to control the pacing. You can't bounce around from village to village 2-3 times in one episode, while starting a new mini plot with a biggining middle and ending every 20 minutes of runtime. They had to have a singular story with a plot b plot for each episode which led to them needing to rush. I'm not making an excuse for them. They should've known better than to limit themselves to 8 episodes. But that was the primary problem with the season, and they absolutely have to have more than that for season 2 or it will flop.
How are you comparing animations and irl
I do miss hot headed Katara
My biggest issue with the whole season is how dirty they did Bumi.. for seemingly no reason whatsoever.
This! As soon as we put up with this show long enough to watch how they absolutely destroy the character of Bumi. We stopped watching after this.
or what about making Azula fat? *face palm*
@@Aut0KAD I feel like they could have cast way better. Heck Ty Lee and May are supposed to be elite assassins. Not sure either girl they casted could do more than a couple pull-ups.
@@AddictOfLearningactress of ty lee is an competitive ballerina in real life.btw I'm not sure about mai's performance in the future.
Eh, I hated it at first but didn’t mind it at the end. It’s much more realistic than the animated series. He’s mad Aang abandoned the world and he did live through 100 years of war.
Despite this show having more run time than the original, everything still felt rushed. We never got those moments of characters just talking so we can get a feel of their relationship. I feel like they tried to expand on a lot of things which lead to them not having time for other things. Maybe they shouldn't have tried to adapt the whole of season one but rather like half of the season. (maybe stop at like blue spirit or something). That way, there is a lot of time to expand and keep all the good stuff as well
Edit: Some of u have pointed out that the show actually has a shorter run time than the original. But that kinda validates my point. There just wasn't enough time for all the things they wanted to do. I honestly would've preferred if they removed all the azula stuff. Maybe make it 10 episodes even, instead of 8
We have A LOT of moments of characters talking and bonding. Far more that there ever was in book one.
i thought it was shorter than the first season by twenty minutes or something?
Actually the Netflix Show run time is shorter. Yes one hour is more then 30 Minutes but when adding the Runtime across the whole season (and one should as Netflix is a binge show.) the Netflix show has roughly 480 minutes while the original is roughly 600 minutes long. Funny enough adding three more episodes would improve the shows pacing.
@@almas4663lol
More runtime than the original? Did you fail elementary math? The original season 1 of ATLA was comprised of 20 episodes that were just under 30 minutes each. That's almost TEN HOURS. This was an eight episode series that were just under an hour a piece. That's just over 2 hours, or FOUR EPISODES less than the original series.
My issue with episode 6, as much as I liked the focus on Zuko, was the urgency paradox with Aang trying to save his friends from death.
I mean, he has time to travel to Avatar Rokus temple, talk with him, being kidnapped by June/Zuko, being kidnapped by Zhao, fighting with Zuko, staying with Zuko for presumably hours to talk with him... I thought he had to save his friends? From a certain point in this episode, he doesn't appear to be urgent enough for me. He "pushes" Giatso aside because he "has no time", but is calm and nom urgent at all when sitting and waiting with Zuko. It felt so weird to me and bothered me a lot. In the cartoon, there isn't this urgency since Sokka and Katara only have a cold and need medicine, it isn't a life or death situation like it is in the LA. The pacing and storytelling was so off in this one...
I agree that’s what made me question the episode aswell and I honestly think they should’ve just left the blue spirit episode out and saved Koh for the end it felt very weird placing them there considering the stakes off the episode with Katara and Sokka almost about to die
23:13 FACTS man!!! Episode 6 tho was DEFINITELY THE BEST ONE!!!
Nah that scene with MoMo damn near died got me I was not expecting that.
Literally! The way i scream cried! 😭
A handful of changes in the storyline and better writing and this show would be a 10/10 banger
I fully agree. They're right on the cusp of greatness
yes it is mostly the writing for me that ruined it
it's a bad piece of film in pretty much every department. the directing is so, so, so terrible, the young actors are unfortunately not fit for the job, the script doesn't understand the greatness and the finesse of the original story, editing is lame af and its timing shows it knows about the horrible acting, the costumes look way to clean and are missing any kind of patina, the camerawork is super digital and unsuitable for a historic setting with super obvious green screens, the sets are mostly very shallow and done in front of 'The Volume', the only real location is the same forest over and over again. This is objectivels very bad filmmaking, haven't watched a Netflix show in ages, but if the broad audience really accepts this as passable it is a worrying sign for peoples media competence and the overall direction in which Netflix is developing. Anyone who praises this lacks the fundamental analytical knowledge about what makes good films.
Omg agreed, i wouldn't call super bad, some moments surprised me and very few were intriguing but overall the show is barely a mid that plays on nostalgia for the og show@@derg6222
and a few better casting choices.
Aang literally looked like he was flying tho... Both in the air temple and in the sokka's and Katara's village
The way Katara broke the ice ball (cause it really wasn't an iceberg like in the cartoon) Aang was in was just absolutely stupid and unrealistic unlike the cartoon
Aang and Katara BARELY ever even trained together because he never tried bending water or any other element once!
What adrenaline dump?... Aang's first avatar state is a vital part of the episode and holds so much importance in the hearts of ATLA fans
Yea some of his points were not good. The adrenaline dump point I also questioned. If it has purpose then who cares if we get an adrenaline dump? Felt like an extremely lazy criticism. Aang flying also rubbed me the wrong way. Flying is supposed to be a rare feat but hes just in the air moving side to side using his whistle and floating up and down so casually. The scene at the temple I could tolerate because he was descending, but not at the southern water tribe. Its pretty stupid and breaks some rules. Aang has only stayed submerged in air when he is in an air sphere or on top of one.
@@TheRealHerbaSchmurba yes exactly, there's a lot other things he said that didn't sit well with me but I was just too pissed off to write about them
I haven’t finished it yet but man… I have feelings.
Yeah i kinda felt empty afterwards or i just felt like something is missing but dont get me wrong i enjoyed it, its perfectly balanced tho.
@@alpha_jasperflair1097 Hopefully the next seasons pull it together. i do like season 1, but I feel like it has a lot of potential to build off of for the second season
@@Suo_kongque I feel the same as you
@@alpha_jasperflair1097 It's not perfectly balanced, that's why you feel empty
Have you heard gorden cormier talk about you in the latest wired video
I dont like at all the writing of the show. I missed so much the characters growth during the season
Katara becoming a master out of nothing was so bad. Felt like bending was not like a martial art anymore , just felt it was magic. Especially the part that Jet, a non bender helps her
Aang doesnt even trying to waterbend was also bad, but if Katara mastered so easily, makes sense he's lack of urgency
Also dislike a lot that, unlike the cartoon, Aang doest run away this time. But everybody keep saying he ran away. I understood Kyoshi talking like that was the case , but then , it became annoying
And that's all kinda sad , because cast was good , effects and visuals look great. Just the writing was bad. My tiers:
1. C
2. B
3. F
4. D
5. F
6. S
7. C
8. B
Final grade I gave it a 6/10
I might be the only one who loves the Omashu mix more than any of the other mixed episodes.
Also has the least exposition out of all the eps. It still has them ofc but Sai, Teo, and Jet actors were great at handling them that they came out naturally.
Got the most entertaining fight scene too.
My worst is gonna be ep 5 and ep 7
"Also dislike a lot that, unlike the cartoon, Aang doest run away this time. But everybody keep saying he ran away. I understood Kyoshi talking like that was the case , but then , it became annoying"
But he did run away. Just before the fire nation attacked, Aang left the temple on Appa, got caught in a storm, and ended up frozen under water. He couldn't handle the responsibility of being told he's the Avatar so he ran away. Granted, he likely intended to go back and would have eventually had to leave to train soon after anyway.
"Katara becoming a master out of nothing was so bad."
Agreed. Aang, Katara, Azula, and eventually Toph are all geniuses that barely need to train to become powerful. My favorite part of any show, or game, is the build up. I want to see the progression from barely capable to highly skilled, without reaching master level until late in a series/game.
The overall pacing of the show was a mess, in my opinion, as well. They tried to cram too much into each episode and still managed to have seemingly long periods of low-energy. Highs and lows with little in between.
@@goldenduck3931 It's bad. The 3 plots that were combined already very packed each and now being combined together and even adding another plot about Jet assassinating Bumi and the mechanist, and also the spies bs.
1. Aang said that Omashu was famous for it's delivery system (100 years ago) then suddenly Teo said that his father is responsible for the delivery system. Maybe it still make sense cause he just supervising or developing it but they just leave at it, idk.
2. Teo flying around Omashu is just not a good story. If you go deeper there will be a lot of questions and no answers about this. I am to lazy to write, but a few of them would be: why is nobody seems to care about him flying around? Why are no other people who just also flying around after watched how cool someone flying is? Etc.
3. A lot of fire nations people (spies) has already infiltrated Omashu, and even they have weapons made in there. Why is Omashu hasn't fallen yet? Are they that incapable? Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee just 3 of them (well with the help of Dai Li) could conquer Ba Sing Se in just a matter of weeks or even days.
4. Like said in the video, Zuko was angry over his book was stolen by Aang is very funny. Zuko uses the book to write about the avatars and how he will capture Aang, but when he met Aang in person he still angry over the book 😂 So the book was more important than the contents of it, I just can't help to laugh at it.
Still many more. I already forget a lot about the episode cause it's too boring and very bad.
@@goldenduck3931i’m with you 100%. i’m really surprised to learn that so many people didn’t like e3.
You know that Katara in the cartoon became a master after one day with Paku, right?
I asked my friend Chris why Zuko was so angry he lost his notebook. Chris watched and was a fan of the cartoons. He said "cuz Zuko's an Emo". Zuko is my favourite character
bruh he's flying
while taking away Sokka's sexism it felt weirdly sexist to me how the watered-down sukis and Sokka's relationship by just showing her to fall for his hots of her creeping on him. In the original, she came to respect him after he showed a willingness to change.