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#natla masks
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I've been on this site for over a decade now and this is the first time I actually post anything... I don't know whether to proud or embarrassed.
Anyway, I think Zuko's little boat was my favorite part of the Netflix live action, I gasped when I saw it and immediately wanted to paint it. It's been so long since I made any fanart, but the little boat compelled me. Hope you like it!
Watercolor on paper, 5"x7"
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abittersweetraisin · 3 months
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Mmm… interesting. They took into account The Mother of all Faces, but seems like they deemed unimportant the promise Ozai made to Ursa regarding Zuko.
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quillsparkle · 2 months
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Zuko & Aang
ATLA: 1.13 The Blue Spirit | NATLA: 1.06 Masks
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auspicious-poppy · 3 months
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my feelings on the ATLA live action can be summarised as follows: love the additions, but mixed about the changes.
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blluespirit · 3 months
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Overall NATLA Thoughts
Okay, now that I've watched the series, I can give my thoughts.
Overall, I thought it was good!!! I had fun watching it! I'd rate it a solid 6.5/10. It's nowhere as good as the original, but it was definitely enjoyable and made some nice changes here and there that I liked. There were also some things I was also Not a fan of too.
I said in another post that it's best to treat this like an AU of the original. There will things that are great and things that are bad. That's the nature of adapting something.
Having said that, I need to get my initial thoughts off my chest... here we go.
Things I thought were good:
Sokka's characterisation - I really enjoyed him! I thought Ian did a good job! He played the funny moments well and retained the underlying seriousness/cautiousness. It wasn't perfect, but I enjoyed the changes a lot and think it was overall a solid performance.
Zuko's characterisation - Like Sokka, I do think I was most satisfied with their performances. A lot of Zuko's moments from the cartoon are sometimes... well, cartoonish and definitely wouldn't translate to live action, but I think Dallas did a nice job at balancing Zuko's desperate anger and that occasional sassiness well.
Zuko and Iroh moments were great. Had me on the floor crying. As it should have.
The bending looks a trillion times better than the movie - I understand it would not have been easy for the actors but, overall, I was very happy about it.
The scenery was stunning. It just looked so beautiful. I loved it so much.
Absolutely ADORE that they made Zuko a good calligrapher and artist. I read a fic about a million years ago where Zuko is a fantastic calligrapher and I thought it was perfect and made so much sense, and now I can say it's canon. This is perfect for me.
S U K I
The Freedom Fighters were ✨ perfect
They were so real for making Oma and Shu lesbians
Koh, Wan Shi Tong and Hei Bai looked fantastic, but I have more to say about all of them below, unfortunately.
I actually like the change they made that Katara is Aang's sole waterbending teacher.
Aang is not perfect, and needed more goofy scenes HOWEVER, I did like how they've had Aang's guilt more prominent in the story. The original didn't do a very good job with that, imo.
Zuko entering is breaking and entering era by breaking into an impenetrable Earth Kingdom prison is just perfect.
In Masks, I like how Aang and Zuko got a longer conversation - that was pretty cute.
I liked how they changed Yue a bit and got her out of the arranged marriage... how Yue saw Sokka in the Spirit World before meeting him in the real world.
Things I didn't like:
Far too much info-dumping/exposition. So much spelling things out. It was not as egregious as the movie, and I get there's a lot of information that needs to be conveyed well and quickly... but sometimes it really took me out of the show.
Why are Mai and Ty Lee here.... I was hoping the live action would give them a bit more depth (and they might as it goes forward!), but why put them in season 1 at all if they're just going to stand around???
Some odd changes - putting this as one point, but there are some bizarre changes that didn't make sense to me, as they did not benefit the story or deepen the characters. I have two main examples: a) making it so Aang didn't run away from home, and b) making it so Zuko actually fights Ozai in the Agni Kai.
Characterisation of Katara was Not Great. I don't think I got many hints of the reckless, compassionate, badass Katara until the end when she fights Pakku and rallies all the women together to fight (which happens off-screen). She was sweet and kind, but she just lacked the fire that OG Katara has.
Azula's characterisation - Azula is desperate to impress Ozai and so her character is just…. brewing with anger, frustration, desperation. I was SO excited to see the Azula we are introduced too… perpetually and irritatingly calm, calculating and ruthless. She's perfect, she's terrifying! She's literally the character of all time. But this Azula had more Zuko vibes? I don't think there's anything wrong with giving Azula more concrete motivation by wanting to impress Ozai and establishing that Ozai is abusive to both his kids, but I do think trying to do that right off the bat is a mistake.
WHY is Wan Shi Tong here. I love Wan Shi Tong, but like I said: Why Is He Here? Why could we not have his iconic, ominous as fuck introduction from The Library, and instead he's introduced in a random season 1 episode giving Aang Information(tm) about the Spirit World.
When Aang gave Koh the statue, and then he just takes it and immediately lets all the villages go, and neither of them even say anything, I actually laughed out loud. Like, I am so sorry, but what in the jesus fuck was that.
Speaking of Koh - I think Koh is better the less we know about him. Roku saying ~all Koh wants is a family like the rest of us~ just pissed me off?? I like my Koh the Face Stealer Terrifying and Unknowable, thank you.
NOTHING EVER REALLY HAPPENS WITH HEI BAI!!?? where's my precious spirit bear?? Like Aang never really does anything with him and the replacement Koh story is boring and it sucks.
Bumi.... sorry I just didn't vibe with him at all.
Things I can't decide on:
Fancy spirit knife to kill the moon spirit annoyed me a bit, but I guess they wanted to Kuruk something to work with and a little bit more interaction with Aang which I get but idk. I really flip/flop on this one.
I've been very on the fence about having Azula (and Ozai) being in the show in season 1 in general. I'm not sure if it benefited either of their characters.
Azula & Ozai's dynamic - Okay, so, I think they're trying to give Azula more depth, right? They're trying to establish what it was like for Azula to live with Ozai and that she's also (like Zuko) trying to desperately prove herself to him, but Ozai using Zuko's... achievements to do that just felt so weird. I get he's doing it to manipulate her, but that just felt so wrong when in canon it's very obvious that Ozai just didn't give a single fuck about Zuko. Ozai pits Azula against Zuko by saying he's a failure, he's a bad bender etc. Azula is born lucky, Zuko is lucky to be born - like, Ozai says that to Zuko's face. I don't know if I am communicating this point very well, but it just didn't seem right to me??
Zuko vs Zhao in the Siege of the North... I genuinely do not know how to feel about it! I didn't love it, I didn't hate it. I don't know how to feel about Zhao telling Zuko that his mission is a sham and that Azula is the prized one... It feels like it's saying the quiet part out loud? In the OG we all know that Ozai sending Zuko on that mission was an excuse to get rid of him, but we can work that out, no one actually says it. And then Iroh just fucking killing him/mortally wounding him instead of the Iconic scene where Zuko reaches out to save him despite everything Zhao has done to him, but Zhao's own pride gets in the way from letting him accept help from Zuko.
Zuko’s crew being the 41st is not necessarily a bad thing at all!!! But I do just want to say that in the original, the attack goes ahead, and presumably, those soldiers die. It’s horrible. Zuko’s sacrifice is in vain, and it was always going to be in vain because the Fire Nation as it stands would not allow Zuko's compassion to win. Ozai would not allow it. While not necessarily a bad choice (all the soldiers bowing to Zuko on the boat was so sweet I loved it!) but I think it does take away some of the horror of Zuko’s story (same as it does with making Zuko fight back in my opinion) because the whole point is that Zuko did the right thing - and he was punished for it, and those soldiers died anyway.
anyway...
Okay!! got that off my chest. I know I just had a big whine here, but I still had a lot of fun watching this show. I think some of the backlash is a bit over the top and unwarranted. It was never going to stand up to the original - and that's okay.
Enjoy it for what it is!
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coccinelle-et-chaton · 3 months
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OK OK I FINISHED BINGING THE ENTIRETY OF NATLA AND I GOTTA SAY IT WAS A GREAT ADAPTATION!!!
Here are my thoughts so far:
The parts where I still had my reservations for the first half were definitely addressed in the second. There were more Kataang beats, especially in the last three episodes.
Please that whole part before the zutara showdown where Aang goes like "go easy, enough ppl have suffered" and zuko is more or less like "lol it's cute u think i'd hold back" and then aang has this proud little smirk like "oh i wasn’t talking to you"😏 Also his proud little smirk when Katara is fighting Pakku PLEASE HE IS GOING TO BE THE PROUDEST BF
They covered the most important points and had a decent few scenes of fan service, loved that.
However, the adaptation is not perfect and there are definitely parts that were lacking, at least to me. Primarily, I think they did our girl Katara a little dirty not emphasizing as much on her arc as opposed to Sokka's, for example, and also the way her ascension to master was pretty telly instead of showy
There was definitely something to love in every episode, but I think the weakest ones have to be Omashu and Spirited Away.
My ABSOULUTE FAVORITE episodes were Into the Dark and Masks. Dallas, Paul, and Gordon did SUCH a great job in them. I cannot WAIT for the proper leaves from the vine scene and also to have more of zuko interacting with aang.
ZUKO IS BABY BOY AND DOES NOT KNOW ANYTHING NOT EVEN ABCs 🥺🥺🥺
My favorite was Zuko by far, yes. I think the performance and the was he was written struck the best balance of that goofiness and tragedy atla is originally known for. That’s not to say the other kids didn't do a good job, but Dallas' Zuko was by far the best imo
I understand now what the showrunners meant by making the show more mature and serious. I cannot say I didn't like it, but I can see it being an acquired taste especially for the part of the fandom that is more purist/demanding. I like that the focus emphasized more on the consequences of war and that it reflected on the cycles of violence and hurt, what they do to a person and how the wounds pass down generationally. I think this emphasis on war, compassion, kindness, all those things are definitely an important message in this time and day. However, it is a little too serious for my taste, PRECISELY because of the times we are living in. Back when the OG came about the world was in a time of relative peace. But now we get pictures of carnage and genocide mixed in with videos of cute puppies, so it's definitely a different place. It was much easier to understand the gravity of the genocidal/bombing scenes imo, almost to a point that they seemed watered down/kid friendly compared to the real thing that we see on our phones everyday. Because of that, I think erring more on the comedy, the balance between what it ACTUALLY means to be hopeful and not just talking about it, is the one thing the show could improve upon for next seasons.
All in all I am VERY pleased with the adaptation. There were moments where I definitely bawled my eyes out, shouted, and laughed the same way I did the first time I watched the show. All I can say is, for those still on the fence about watching it, so long as you go in with an open mind and with the explicit objective of enjoying yourself, it will be a fun watch.
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phoenix-king-ozai · 3 months
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Why the Live Action Netflix ATLA shouldn’t had Zuko fight back in the Agni Kai duel!
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Apparently, the Live Action Netflix Adaptation had decided to have Zuko accept and fight back during the Agni duel between father and son. This I believe was a major narrative mistake that shouldn’t have been changed from the original animated version.
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Ozai became infuriated that Zuko was a “coward” that would not defend his honor and pride in front of his father and the entire royal court. Which is why Ozai demanded Zuko to get up and fight him or he would be “taught” respect. This is also connected to other “macho” bushido beliefs and attitudes that firebending men and boys are encouraged and expected to fulfill in the Fire Nation’s violent, authoritarian, fascistic militarized society and culture corrupted by Sozin’s militarism and imperialistic ideology. We see this with Zhao when he insults Zuko for sparing his life and calling him a coward. “ Your father raised a coward!” Commander Zhao B1 E3 The Southern Air Temple.
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Zhao would rather get burned, scarred, deformed and possibly killed than have his face and possibly life be spared by Zuko’s compassionate actions. Both Ozai and Zhao were disgusted and disappointed by Zuko’s belief and attitudes toward empathy, mercy, and surrendering. This also explains why Zhao refused Zuko’s help during the fight with Tui and La Avatar State empowered Aang! Fighting a glorious battle to the death even when outmatched and showing no mercy but ruthless is honored and praised in Elite Fire Nation society and culture.
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The point that I’m trying to get at is! Zuko not agreeing to the Agni Kai and kneeling infuriated Ozai which led to Zuko’s scarring and banishment because of Ozai’s dissatisfaction, disappointment, and disgust in Zuko’s fear, terror, and unwillingness to duel his father aka a member of his family. Zuko’s terror and desire to not fight his father also conflicted him in the Agni Kai causing him not to act against Ozai. This is the main reason Zuko’s fight with Azula was so impactful. Zuko didn’t want to fight his family yet had no choice regarding his father and sister.
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I glad that despite Zuko fighting back in the Agni Kai in Episode 6: Mask of NATLA. That the showrunners stayed true to the characters: Ozai and Zuko along with the themes of the Agni Kai. I’m also glad that they didn't make Ozai have a favored child. Ozai wants Zuko and Azula to both prove themselves. Ozai doesn't favor Zuko or Azula. It is about which child will succeed Sozin, Azulon, and his legacy as future Fire Lord. In fact, Ozai doesn't want Zuko or Azula to think that they are the “favorite” child. He wants Azula and Zuko to improve through competition. Because of “steel sharpen steel” mentality. Ozai has the mentality of an imperialist warlord. I think Ozai, Zuko, Iroh and Azula’s characterization were well done and faithful! Iroh being confronted over Ba Sing Se was amazing as well and tied to his grief of Lu Ten’s death.
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biconickyoshi · 3 months
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Okay y’all… I was very critical of eps 3 & 4 (especially 4) of NAtLA. Then all of a sudden eps 5 & 6 kinda slapped me in the face with how much better the show suddenly got.
Spoiler-free thoughts first:
Zuko, Iroh, and Aang have cemented themselves as the best parts about this adaptation - which is really funny considering I’m currently writing a longfic AU where Zuko and Iroh discover Aang in the iceberg right after Zuko is banished at age 13 and end up becoming the first members of the Gaang (albeit reluctantly at first lol). Episode 6: “Masks” (the Blue Spirit adaptation) was so good, I’d venture to say that it actually improved and fleshed out some things from the original series.
Episode 5: “Spirited Away”, while not as good as E6, was not as bad as I heard people say it was going to be. I think that the changes they did make didn’t bother me nearly as much as the changes they made in the last episode, and it was actually entertaining.
There were several scenes that made me cry in both of these episodes (moreso in episode 6, which I’ll get into further down in the spoiler section). These are the scenes that I feel like really tapped into the heart of the original show rather than feeling like a soulless remake.
Now for my in-depth thoughts (INCLUDES SPOILERS):
EP 5: “Spirited Away”
- Staring out, I was bummed because I had just rewatched the first two eps of the original animated series lol.
- It was an interesting choice to have all three members of the Gaang get stuck in the Spirit World, but I think it worked.
- Wan Shi Tong just showing up randomly was a bit unnecessary, but I suppose it will be kinda interesting to see him again in S2 since he’s already met the Gaang
- Hei Bai plays a much smaller role in these eps, but I strangely didn’t mind that either?
- Seeing Katara’s last memory with her mom was devastating, especially the fact that she had to witness her death and hide in the igloo with Kya’s charred body :(( she definitely has severe PTSD.
- Even Sokka’s memory made me tear up a bit
- Koh being the villain and a soul-eater or whatever was a bit of an odd choice, but I guess I can see why they did it. I do prefer him just being an asshole who steals ppl’s faces lol
- Appreciated the Fog of Lost Souls reference from the LoK lore
- Aang reuniting with Gyatso made me cry. I know some people didn’t like him being in the Spirit World, but I really liked it. Also, the fact that Gyatso was the first person to tell Aang that it wasn’t his fault the Air Nomads died, and that if he had been there he would have died too? THANK YOU! My poor boy has been berated enough for “abandoning” the world.
- We got some interesting lore about the afterlife for humans from Gyatso and Aang’s convo, which we’ve never gotten in AtLA media before. Idk if it’s just for Air Nomads, but Aang mentions that Gyatso stayed behind instead of “seeking enlightenment”. I know that the end goal in Buddhism is to reincarnate until you eventually achieve nirvana, so I wonder if that’s what they were alluding to (I’m not an expert on religions so pls correct me if I’m wrong)
- Oh yeah, I forgot June is here lmao. As a queer person I loved her (bc beautiful goth woman) but I didn’t like the weird choice to make her hit on Iroh - I guess to contrast the Iroh being creepy towards her thing in the OG series. I wish they would have just had them interact normally tbh, no weird “flirting”
EP 6: “Masks”
- Here we go y’all. The best episode in the show so far and probably the best the show is gonna get this season. I’m still pretty shocked at how good this one was.
- I think the decision to include flashbacks to Zuko’s Agni Kai was a good decision here. It felt like an appropriate episode for them and the flashbacks were very well done.
- In general, Dallas is doing a phenomenal job at portraying a Zuko who is angry and aggressive, yes, but also so very sweet and compassionate at his core. I love when little inklings of his true self shine through.
- Roku was… not what I expected. He was very much more of a lighthearted and jokey person… I didn’t hate it, it was just unexpected lol. I wonder if they did that to contrast him with Kyoshi. Which, speaking of, I’m glad Roku clarified that Aang doesn’t just need to be a merciless warrior (and that he didn’t berate Aang for “abandoning” the world like she did). But I still am annoyed about the mischaracterization of Kyoshi in general.
- RIP Shyu :/
- Thought it was kind of strange how June captures Aang at Roku’s temple lol. Like how did she get on and off the island??
- Zhao continues to feel like a completely different character to me lmao. I think this version is pretty funny, but it’s so weird to see Zhao being portrayed as so goofy and incompetent when he was such an intimidating force and the main villain of Book 1 in the OG series. Just a weird direction they went with his character.
- The Yuyan archers look cool as fuck. 10/10 no notes
- Still not sure how I feel about Azula already being this insecure and jealous of Zuko. I think it makes her feel a bit more realistically like a child, but the whole point of Azula’s character is that she is really good at maintaining this cool and calm persona on the surface, which she uses to scare and manipulate people. I can see her maybe getting to a point later on to where she hardens herself into that though. We’ll see.
- Baby Zuko asking Iroh how he looks and his little smile 😭😭😭😭 I had a physical “aww” reaction to that. THAT’S MY SON (me and Iroh shouting in unison)
- War Room scene was handled very well. No complaints. I like how Ozai tried to test Zuko with battle strategies.
- Blue Spirit break out scene was extremely close to the original, and it was really good. They adapted it almost shot for shot with all the important parts.
- Here’s probably my favorite part of the episode: Zuko and Aang’s talk inside the abandoned house after they escape from Pohuai!!!!!! Gahhhh I could gush about this scene all day. I love how they expanded it to be an actual friendly conversation between Aang and Zuko. Like we get to see Zuko’s true self coming through - the sweet, kind boy we know he is. Zuko and Aang just have such great chemistry as well, wayyy more than Aang has with either Sokka or Katara. Like I adored them bonding over painting and caligraphy!!! I think this is the best acting we’ve seen from Gordon so far, and Dallas did a phenomenal job switching back to that hurt, angry version of himself (of course a trauma response). And the fact that Aang said “sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you” when he blocked Zuko’s firebending attack??? My sweet boy 😭
- The final flashback to the Agni Kai was really well done too. I’d already heard Zuko fights back, which I wasn’t sure I’d like, but I actually didn’t mind it. I really liked that they showed Zuko’s hesitation whenever he did actually have an opening, and that was what angered Ozai the most - Zuko showing compassion, “weakness”. Daniel Dae Kim is of course doing a phenomenal job (no surprises there), and I really liked that Iroh actually attempted to stop Ozai at one point. It also looked like young Azula had tears in her eyes, which I again actually liked because it humanizes her.
- I loved that Aang was still there when Zuko woke up on the boat 😭 he wanted to make sure he was okay!! I full on started crying when we got the “do you think we could have been friends too?” lines from him. Again, Gordon killed it. I love how you can tell that Aang knows Zuko has been hurt and that’s why he acts the way he does. He doesn’t blame him for any of it. 10/10
- the last flashback to Zuko in his bed recovering from the burn… god the tears just kept flowing. I really liked the choice to have Ozai almost give Zuko a chance to like… idk understand why he did what he did, and how compassion is “weak”?? And then Zuko’s response to give people a chance 😭😭😭 as if I couldn’t love him any more!!! And then of course Ozai gets pissed. But seeing baby Zuko just cry in his bed UGH I’m dehydrated at this point
- Of course I can’t finish this review without mentioning the 41st division. What an incredible way to expand upon the source material by making them Zuko’s crew!!! It shows just how much Zuko truly cares about others and it moved me so much (once again to tears).
I don’t have high hopes for the last two episodes, but honestly, if this is what the live action can be, it gives me a bit of hope (at least for future seasons). I really think that Dallas, Gordon, Paul, and Daniel were the stars of this ep and are a big part of what made it so good.
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ultfreakme · 3 months
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I know no one's watched NATLA because everyone's complaining about how Sokka's arc with Jet got cut but it literally got replaced with the Zuko prison escape scene. Like yes the connectivity between his talk with the Mechanist and Katara isn't there (or the canon arc where it's a conflict between just Katara and Sokka on trust), but we still get to see that Sokka....like, thinks things through. He could've just abandoned Zuko to the EK guards, but Zuko was his only shot at getting to Aang, so he did what he had to.
And it's clear this makes Zuko hella conflicted(even though he freaking chased them down afterwards with no regard ugh but this is S1 Zuko he's got things to work through). It kinda detracts from the Masks episode but, ah well....if we're speeding the redemption you add in more conflicting moral situations.
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Things that natla did do:
- Katara stealing a water pouch from a merchant shop at night
- zuko draws!
- include pieces from the books and comics (mother of faces, Kyoshi‘s personality,
- „water the most promising seed“
- Katara standing by and smirking as Sokka flounders trying to impress Suki but her not buying any of it
- Katara never letting anyone talk over her once diplomacy fails
- Bumi‘s armpit hair
- Zuko talking about Lu Ten
- Azula learning to use a blue flame and failing
- what can I say, the actors make the show very enjoyable 🤷🏼‍♀️
- Kuruk refusing to take possession over Aang‘s body/ Avatar state
- overall I think they drew info from the books about the other eras
- the sound of Iroh‘s firebending reminding of a dragon‘s growl
- Avatar Roku making fun of Avatar Kyoshi
- Zuko basically enthusing about Kyoshi‘s strength only to then get his ass kicked by her
- Suki (and mom) gushing over seeing their role model Kyoshi in action
- random woman with broom and Zuko letting her hit him
- Aang running away at the end, after the battle. He might not have run from his responsibility but he ran from the consequences
- „have you seen my flying bison?“ which is way better because even less believable
- Katara being bold enough to train her waterbending in the abandoned fire navy ship around Wolf Cove
- emphasis on Sokka‘s inventory skills and by elongation his bad ice dodging skills
- Zuko deciding to stay with/ look for Iroh instead of chasing Aang twice
- Lu Ten‘s theme playing every time Zuko and Iroh confess their love for each other
- Omashu‘s part of the earth kingdom being India coded
- Zuko so specifically being triggered by the word „compassion“ but not „empathy/ emphatic“ because he actually does believe in kindness and much like Azula is still trapped in the pressure of having to represent all his father believes
- Zuko looking disgusted all the time
- 41st division bowing to their prince
- I had fun watching it and most of it makes sense tbh.
What I don’t get (logic mistakes):
- Mai being too openly anti fire nation by saying she wouldn’t ever come back if given the chance
- Iroh finding the Blue Spirit‘s mask in Zuko‘s pile of clothes but maybe that’s not even a negative.
- no talk about the meaning of the necklace
- Gyatso Living in the Spirit World (doesn’t Aang have enough guides with all his previous lives?);
- that assassination attempt on Ozai and Azula infiltrating the plan? Was this meant to show Ozai‘s cruelty and Azula‘s strategic thinking??
- what was Bumi‘s point exactly?
- Yue being a spirit fox. Why? It added nothing.
- „i bet you taste like chicken“ no opossum chicken. just chicken.
- Kyoshi being the narrator
- Aang being able to communicate with his past lives only by visiting their shrines and not in the right order (usually the avatar has to contact every avatar before him in the order of their lifetimes before he can get through to the next)
- Aang being shamed and gaslight by everyone
- confusion over what happened to the villagers as well as Katara and Solla by mixing Hei Bai‘s and Ko‘s stories as well as the Fog of Lost Souls and creating a new loophole into the spirit world when people stand too close to Aang while he meditates? Also, Ko‘s „Magic“ with individuality and his reason for stealing faces when showing emotion is lost.
- with all due love, what was Suki‘s mother for?
- Wan Shi Tong randomly sitting at some wayside
- Why wouldn’t normal people understand Wan Shi Tong? How are they planning for Team Avatar to find out about the solar eclipse if not through Wan Shi Tong‘s library later?
- Iroh suspecting Ozai behind the apparent assassination of Zuko so openly in front of Zhao
- Iroh justifying his war crimes with „I was a soldier“??
- Iroh „sacrificing“ himself in Omashu when the earth kingdom forces were looking for the firebender even though they both would’ve gone undetected otherwise
- Iroh killing Zhao
- does Momo carry the spirits‘ life now?
- the fire nation inventing a solar system model to predict Zosin‘s Comet and potentially the eclipse as well
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fossilfan39 · 28 days
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I love your modern jetko ideas :) do u have any more headcanons (modern or otherwise)? u shld write something…
Woah thank you :))))!!! I definitely want to try my hand at writing something BUT I’m shy.. so for now im posting my concepts
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Jet is Not socially ..challenged.. like zuko..BUT after years of having this impenetrable mask + intensely manipulative tendencies as a means of survival, he suffered a sort of burn out. With time he more or less moved past that. Still a bit of benign manipulation, but only in the sense that he has an understanding of people in a way that easily allows him to choose the right phrasing to get his desired response. <- This wouldn’t work with zuko because he’s autistic doesn’t seem to operate using the same social rules as everyone else, so Jet would lean into gratuitous flirting and comments so sincere they almost come off as sarcastic. Attempting to charm zuko by being disarmingly genuine.
Zuko is generally miserable and hard to get along with (at least in the beginning). Jet would be drawn to him because of his scar <- “you’ve had a hard life like me trope. In my au zuko goes to an all boys catholic school, and his family is catholic. Their relationship with religion is complicated at best. it’s more of a performance + Ozai using religion & shame as a means of control. One must imagine God being a surrogate for your father when he cannot reach you. Zuko is a huge dick to Jet at the start, only because Jet lets him get away with it. Zuko’s never been around someone who allows him to take up so much space. Pushing jet away just makes him even more interested. They make me sick.
Jet would .listen to 2010s trap and hip hop, have at least one piercing, and smoke cigarettes
Zuko would listen to 90s emo. I say this because I believe URSA would listen to 90s emo. I have many modern Ursa opinions. Because I can imagine anything….
I have limited knowledge of New York/Jersey BUT☝️I know enough to know jet belongs there (or Chicago perhaps. But east coast ftw)…. He would be chinese + Italian <- inspired by natla jet actor. Adore him.
Zuko would be a native New Yorker. I find the idea of Zuko being from New York & forced to relocate to Jersey to live with iroh funny. He would hate that. He would commute to school <- I’m not sure how plausible this is. Feel free to let me know…
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highfantasy-soul · 2 months
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Masterlist for my NATLA episode summaries:
An explanation of what I'm doing here and my history with ATLA.
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Episode 1 - Aang:
Things I loved bullet point (coming soon)
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4
Episode 2 - Warriors:
Things I loved bullet point (coming soon)
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4
Episode 3 - Omashu
Things I loved bullet point
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
Episode 4 - Into the Dark
Things I loved bullet point
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
Episode 5 - Spirited Away
Things I loved bullet point
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
Episode 6 - Masks
Things I loved bullet point
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5
Episode 7 - The North
Things I loved bullet point
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4
Episode 8 - Legends
Things I loved bullet point
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4
Character analysis masterlist (coming soon)
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the thing is when i say i liked that natla bumi was more bitter it's not really that i like how it was executed, just that i could see him being that way. he seemed a little TOO unbothered in canon and i think giving him a little more depth was not a bad idea. i also like how aang extends friendship to him and he softens, it really emphasizes aang's role in bringing back hope to the world.
but the show is so deeply unsubtle and they just keep hammering the whole "aang ran away from his responsibilities" thing into the ground that in practice it was super clumsy. like if i were to add some depth to bumi it would be that his eccentric king persona is a mask for that hopelessness, he wouldn't be so obviously lecturing aang about it. but that would require nuance, and for characters to not always be directly Saying what their damage is. and natla could not do that
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aanglican · 3 months
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my post-rewatch ratings for each natla episode:
“aang” 6.8/10
“warriors” 8/10
“omashu” 9/10
“into the dark” 7.5/10
“spirited away” 6/10
“masks” 9/10
“the north” 6/10
“legends” 8/10
pilot ep had too much exposition. warriors was a step up though that “merciless warrior” line from kyoshi felt like fanservice. i loved most things about the omashu two-parter aside from the cave bit, which i don’t know what to feel about. i hated spirited away. masks was the best episode. i hated what they did with yue and how underwhelming the pakku vs katara fight was. the finale slayed tho.
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phoenix-king-ozai · 3 months
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Short Review of NATLA!
The main cast cooked! All the characters were very good. However, Zhao, Aang, Sokka, Katara killed it in the finale! Iroh, Ozai, Zuko, and Azula were amazing! I'm actually proud Azula stood up to Ozai and Ozai was proud of Azula as well. That was another test. A dragon is not a slave. Not even to the Fire Lord. Azula has to prove and stand up for herself. Along with having the power to back it up as well! I’m just extremely glad that the showrunners know the character’s motivations and personal heritage of Sozin’s imperialistic legacy caused Ozai and Azula’s ideology. Due to the Fire Nation's imperialism through conquest and colonization. Which is inspired by real-life influences from Imperial Japan and the Mongol Empire.
I glad that despite Zuko fighting back in the Agni Kai in Episode 6: Mask of NATLA. That the showrunners stayed true to the characters: Ozai and Zuko along with the themes of the Agni Kai. I’m also glad that they didn't make Ozai have a favored child. Ozai wants Zuko and Azula to both prove themselves. Ozai doesn't favor Zuko or Azula. It is about which child will succeed Sozin, Azulon, and his legacy as future Fire Lord. In fact, Ozai doesn't want Zuko or Azula to think that they are the “favorite” child. He wants Azula and Zuko to improve through competition. Because of “steel sharpen steel” mentality. Ozai has the mentality of an imperialist warlord. I think Ozai, Zuko, Iroh and Azula’s characterization were well done and faithful! General Iroh being confronted by an Earth Kingdom soldier that lost his brother over the Seige of Ba Sing Se and tied to his grief of Lu Ten’s death was amazing. I was also very happy with how they dealt with Koh and Gyatso. The Mother of Faces reference was pretty cool and Gyatso and Aang bonding and reconciliation with the air nomad genocide not being Aang's fault or burden was very important change to the plot from the original series. Another amazing change was Zuko’s crew being 41st division and that Zuko’s sacrifice saved their lives! OUR PRINCE HAS RETURNED! 🔥💯
Personally, the series is 10/10 for me. However, realistically given some minor flaws and shortcomings regarding the exposition dialogue and inexperience of the young actors and actresses coming into these roles along with some questionable changing decisions. 8.5-9.5 out of 10 is a fair rating.
Phenomenal adaptation with a lot of love, passion, respect and care for the soul of the source material!🔥⚡️💯
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agnisleftpec · 3 months
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i present my stupidly long reactions/opinions post to all of natla. i wrote it all as i watched, and i got more and more words in my head as i went, so it gets long. no i will not be editing this. i am not a review blog, i just have opinions ajhgsfjkf
ep 1 good: -gyatso. i love him so much -overall this was a good enough intro, but not much really stood out to me as good?? it's. kind of a weak intro asjdhgsfh
bad: -fire nation helmets trying to look a little less dopey by adding angles to the eye sockets is stupid af. like i can understand why they might have thought the circle eyes looked dopey, but personally, it felt eery and othering to me, like there aren't people behind those masks. also it's closer to a skull motif than the weird angular half cirlce shape. -aang being able to basically superman fly?? and hover?? it looks really weird, and i also kinda breaks some potential future plots?? like, he can just. hover up into the air and fly away without his staff. and they seemed to have replaced aang's jumping with it. now he just starts hovering. -i dont like that katara doesn't bend aang out of the ice in rage. i dont really care about sokka dropping the blatant sexism, but i still think they should've been fighting about SOMETHING. even without the comparison of their jobs at home, they already had something to bicker about before losing the boat, they should've kept that up. katara's angry bending was such a good way to communicate her character as well as show viewers her raw power and that bending is effected by emotions, i really dont like that they dropped it. -there's a heavy lean into sokka's relationship with aang that's probaly a result of the writers knowing how much the fandom loves sokka lately, but also. it really feels like it's overshadowing katara's role in aang's new life. like, if i hadn't seen the original show, i would assume that the main relationship is aang and sokka from this episode.
overall a servicable intro i guess, but i was. boring. it was really boring asjhgsfh
ep 2 good: -zuko is an artist and they stole his fucking journal im screamin. this is so funny. he's so mad that he lost his fckin diary and aang is using it to figure out his next steps. im just. i love this -actually really liked that waterbending scroll as a gift from gran gran, it makes it a lot more personal and very smoothly sidesteps the original plot for the scroll, which you gotta admit is a lot of screentime that they dont have -sokka trying to impress and relate to suki and looking like a gotdamn fool while doing it. he's fucking smitten. i love this. AND SUKI STARING AT HIM WITH HIS SHIRT OFF LATER. yeah. yeah i like this better than the original episode actually -sokka's dialogue overall is amazing, mostly because he's funny. the funny dialogue is overall pretty good i my opinion. which leads into a bad point: most of the serious and heartfelt dialogue feels pretty unnatural. the actors are overall pretty inexperienced, but the script is doing them no favors
bad: -Lt. Jee has a topknot. how fukcing dare they -they just used "VIP" in a sentence. i dont like the acknowledgment of a latin alphabet. why do they have an acronym for an english phrase using the latin alphabet when we've seen no latin letters anywhere -aang meeting with kyoshi first was fun, but the weird filter they have over the spirit world (?)/the whole scene genuinely makes it hard to look at -NO UNAGI??????? NONE??? NOT A SINGLE GIANT EEL FISH???? -did momo just make a chimpanzee sound. im going. to lose it.
neutral: -zuko and iroh don't know zhao yet… that's fucking wack
a MUCH better episode than the first one, this actually got me excited for stuff
ep 3 good: -love this internal resistence. very cool aspect to explore that i think the main show was missing -CABBAGE MERCHANT -fire nation terrorists in omashu is kind of terrifying. i like it -ok the casting and costume design for the freedom fighters is actually spot on, i love it. also jet's weapon use is so faithful to the original, it's gorgeous -OOOOOOH, sokka's warrior vs engineer, hakoda vs machanist father figure is so good, i love this -THAT FUCKIN LADY WHO JUST STARTED SMACKING ZUKO. im fuckin choking -i did actually really like the fight scene between all the cloths and scaves and stuff, it was short but it was fun. honestly i love every zuko and aang in this episode, it's very good
bad: -did. did they say attitude control on the airship? …did they mean altitiude control…? is attitude a common problem with airships?? (maybe it is, idk shit about air travel terms. mybe attitiude means something else entirely. but i don't think so) -WHy. why are the fire nation spies wearing RED. wh
neutral: -putting teo and the mechanist ("sai" now) in omashu is a pretty decent way to combine plots, but im not sure if i like that it probably wont get aang's grief over his cultural home being changed and partially desstroyed. i always thought that was a super important to aang's character, but also the narrative does have other chances to lean into aang's cultural grief -putting JET in omashu. that's a choice. -Lt. Jee as an informant for zhao… that's wack
side note, this is the point where i really started to notice that the music is… boring. it's super boring. we go from what feels like basically background noise style western orchestral music which really isn't that notable to the credit role remaster, and it's jsut so jarring. have they not been using the og soundtrack?? i can remember hearing the fire nation motif, but like… not much else. might need to go back and listen. what's the point of remastering the soundtrack if you aren't gonna use it?
ep 4 good: -FLOPSY STATUES -im lovin zuko's infiltration thing, it's amusing to watch. but also, maybe a bad point, cuz he's not… very good at it. blue spirit who?? i suppose needinng to talk to people lowers his stealth exponentionally. there's a reason the blue spriit doesn't talk. im leaving this point here cuz im having fun, but it's still got problems -OOOOH they're using this as the iroh captured and zuko choosing to sasve him or find aang, that's clever. the whole "make a choice" thing from that guard was a bit on the nose though. -sokka and katara bonding and chatting about expectations is great. i really like them bonding a lot. HOWEVEER. there is a LOT of focus on sokka's burdens, we haven't once touched on what katara's been doing. this is. an unforseen consequence of removing sokka's (blatant) sexism, isn't it. they cant figure out how to give katara's role the same amount of value without someone to act like it isn't important.
bad: -the implication that sokka is scared of haunted tunnels. why would he be scared, this bitch does not believe in spirit nonsense. unless he does now. natla sokka is supersticious. -i really dont like the mad hatter's tea party vibe from bumi. like, bumi was always off his rocker, but this brand of kooky feels off. -while i like the conversation of soka not trusting katara, i really dont like the seeming personality reversal in the tunnel. it's minor, but it's just so weird to see sokka sasy stuff like "woo love leads the way" without mocking it, and katara beig the one who says that's stupid. -how did they manange to make zuko look older for his flashback. good lord. oh no. -bumi: "you vs me, to the death." im fucking. im so done. i hate this bumi i hate him. i understand him being upset that aang vanished, but he is so fucking mean in this. -ok i. do not like them giving the zhao v zuko agni kai ending to iroh. i really dont like that at all. we lose the point of zhao being a fuckin bastard, about zuko being the type to give mercy (which the show has already thrown out twice now from zuko almost blaasting fire in someone's face after they we on the ground and basically defeated. dont really like that change in character. they added all this awkwardness and these comments about what an honorable soldier shouldn't do, and yet they do this?? dumb), and having iroh defend him with ease. innstead it's replaced with "dont show mercy to earthbenders." ok. -the badgeermoles. sense feelings. and react to them. FEELINGS. im.
neutral: -THE SINGING NOMADS??? i thought this tunnel plto sounded like it could be similar to the cave of two lovers, but i really did not expect to see the singing nomads here. i do love them though -look, i dont care about shipping, but OOF. the poor kataang shippers. they're just throwing out all the kataang scenes but not building up an actual friendship in its place. i'm not a fan
bad episode. did not like this one. there were some goo parts, but overall it was just so disappointing compared to the original. on its own, i supposes it's a servicable episode, but so far, none of the others have really let me down this much in terms of expectations.
ep 5 good -ooooohh. i know this one is going to be controvertial, but i actually love the part where ozai corrects azula in the fact that zuko found the avatar, not zhao, and that he's displaying desireable traits in an heir that she seems to be lacking. like, i wish this came AFTER we had some blatant examples of ozai's favortism towards azula, but i do love the idea that ozai is driving their competition between each other. also that ozai is actually able to be proud of zuko IF he achieves those impossible goals he sets. but we still need more azula favoritism set up. -DID JUNE. FUCK ME, there was so much in two seconds hold on. the western whistle thing. june saying "your dad's kinda cute." she thinks iroh is cute, and she thinks iroh is zuko's dad. im. im fine. -WAN SHI TONG????? WHAT IS HE DOING HERE. my child. i did not expect to see my child in s1. overall, i'm relatively happy with him? wish his face was smaller or the resof him was bigger - he had a lot more poof to his head in the original, in imo a smaller face on the head would help make him look larger in solo shots. he looks pretty scrawny. also the voice is a bit too much old man for my tastes? but i'm picky about this bird. now im just super curious if there will be a library episode if s2 comes, and what that'll look like.
bad: -nothing has exemplified my problems with the changes in this show more than katara not throwing the acorn at aang's head. it's just. her attitude is gone, any whimsy that isn't sokka is gone, and they struggle to meld serious topics with humor. -actual gyatso in the spirit world?? maybe?? first of all, if it is actually gyatso, i dont think they did a good job of prooving that. second, why??? i'm really not a fan of aang actually getting that relief from grief and guilt. guilt is such a huge part of aang's character, i just.. idk, it feels less impactful when he gets actual gyatso telling him its ok instead of learning to manage his guilt on his own, nevere knowing really what gyatso would think og him now, like very other person who loses a loved one. it's just. it feels cheap
neutral -im not sure if i like koh as an actually malicious force in this story. like, it works fine for the narrative presented, but i really liked how koh was in the original, threatening and scary and trying to trick aang into making an expression for snack time, but not actually doing anything but helping aang when asked.
not the best episode, but not the worst. we just did that. it's kind of an in between, so idk if there's much to comment on. overall, im not a huge fan of the plot choices here, but i don't think they're actually bad choices, just not my style.
ep 6 good: -roku: im here to help you with anything you need aang: it has to do with koh roku: …anything but that roku has so much fuckin attitude, i kind of love it -zhao ignoring aang to correct the notetaker guys notes and make he gets his facts straight is both funny and an effective way to show off zhao's ego. also "what are you doing, dont write that down" is makin me think of that one kig who fell of his horse while hunting and said "dont let the historians write about this" and guess what fucking happened -the convo right after was really good imo. aang basically doing a lil test to prove that he and zuko could be friends with their boring old conversation was great. zuko getting mad about compassion is heartbreaking, woohoo. pretty much all around a fun scene, except that last line from aang was a little too on the nose. but at this point, im used to it in this show. -also the journal thing is still great. and i could be totally wrong, but i feel like zuko being super kowledgable about avatar stuff is a fanon thing?? well supported, but i'm pretty sure it doesn't actually come up often how much zuko knows about the past avatars, and fandom kind of took the idea that he MUST know a bunch given his search, and has freuently applied that to aus that turn zuko into this avatar specialist that actuallyhas a lot of info that aang needs. i swear that's a fanon concept, and i kind of love that it's happening here. -Ooohh. omg. the 41st as zuko's crew is DEFINITELY something i've only seen in fanon. the crew NOT KNOWING they were the 41st is completely new, and i honestly adore it.
bad: -not the fuckin mother of faces statue spinning around in his hand like a fuckin loading screen object -zhao yelling "cel - la - brate" like a fuckin party rock song, im. i cant. -blue spirit mask looks plastic. also why'd they make it angrier. i mean, i gujess it doesn't matter, but i dont think it adds anything either. that's a design you shouldn't touch in my opinion, it's too iconic. -the fucking music. the music is so fucking boring. you can't give me one fucking blue spirit motif?? wh. please. i need it -why. why did it take so long to do the whole "i need the avatar alive" and then swords to aang's throat. like. i could deal with that short moment of realization leadinng to a pause, but the actual action of zuko putting his swords to aang's throat feels like it takes forever. the whole shock from the animation was how fuckin immediate zuko's reaction was, how there seemed to be no hesitation from allies with the avatar to betting his life on escape. dont care if they have to speed up the footage, that whole sequence shouldn't have given us time to think. it was too slow from the second zhao told his soldiers to stop. -the agni kai. hm… ok. there's a lot here. at its most basic, i absolutely hate that zuko fought back here, because it feels so incredibly counter to the message of the animated show. like, there's a lot of fuckin weight to zuko's line of "i won't fight you." basically any fanfic can tell you a bunch of different ways this is important. it struck a chord for a reason. zuko fighting back just feels wrong. that said, i don't think it's a god awful scene. it's disappointing and abandons half of the origial meaning, but on its own in the context of the show as we've seen it, it works. we still get the trauma, zuko learns the idea that compassion is weakness, and it's still horrifying in the end. but compared to the original, it does feel like the writers here missed the point of zuko refusing to fight in the original, and that's the most frustrating part.
neutral: -torn on how i feel about zhao tagging along with zuko instead of them being phsycially separate. like, i guess it works, but zhao feels more slimey and less powerful this way. like, i'm not constantly reminded that zhao has more influence and more resources through this partnership. but then again, this episode also kind of solves that issue? i guess it doesn't matter, i just didn't like it. -zuko is a very vocal fighter, and he also makes a good amount of noise during his blue spirit fighting. i guess it doesn't really matter, especially cuz we dont have dante basco's crazy recognizable voice to deal with, but it still feels a bit disappointing for the blue spirit to make noise when we're used to dead silence
i might be going crazy, but i swear i heard some of the original guard grunts from the show when zuko's beating up the guards in front of his cell. i might be crazy, but fuck. ANYWAY. overall i did like this episode. going off the last episode, it still had a lot of plot bits i didn't care for, but overall it's good. yes there are issues, but im honestly more impressed by the things they introduced than i am annoyed with the things they changed. im still thinking about the 41st, like fuck
ep 7
good: -zuko's "ship" blew up!! that's an intersting change, but i think it's a clever one! though i do wonder what will become of zuko's actual ship considering it's fine. my favorite character, alive and well. have fun drowning, zuko. but also, this seems much more brutal to me?? cuz like. jee and iroh were trying to save zuko, and they ended up putting himself in danger in doing so. that's worse than just not being around when danger happened like in the animation, imo. -YUE HAS A FURSONA????????????? -i do love that whole scene of azula putting her foot down and refusing to do more of ozai's dumb little tests of strength. like, maybe not true to her animation arc, but i do like it -honestly the change where katara "wins" the fight with pakku not cuz pakku has a crush on her grandma but because everyone else who watched her figt thought she was badass was really nice. crowd vote says fuck pakku
bad: -OOF THAT FIRST SHOUT OF THE NORTHERN WATER TRIBE. oh that is not good. i haven't mentioned the cgi yet, but this is. oh dear. technically it's eas to miss, but still. -im so sorry, im sure she's lovely, but the first short of yue is so bad, she looks like she does not want to be here at all. i actually startedlaughing out loud wtf -oh i forgot momo existed. but now thtat he's here, he's ugly. i dont like him. -sokka and katara look so fucking pale next to hahn and arnook. i hate it
neutral: -im still neutral about azula and ozai's whole tough love thing. azula's lack of confdence and anger at not feeling good enough really feels like a zuko thing instead of an azula thing. she really doesn't come across in the original as worried at all about how she holds up next to zuko. in a vacuum, i don't think it's a bad choice, but compared to the original it is a jarring shift
overall pretty good. i dont like aang's protective behavior, but i do like that it's showing off some of aang's more negative qualities. we didn't get a bato episode or a intro to the storm episode here, so we haven't really encountered that yet. also im happy katara got to be sort of mad. a little.
ep 8 good: -i do like the early war balloons i think, it feels more reasonable that zhao snuck into the city vs got all the way back to the spirit oasis on komodo rhinnos withou being stopped or followed like they did in the original. -katara mastering waterbending literally without instruction is kind of badass. that whole exchange of "you've found a master haven't you" "yes, it's me" was pretty fun. idk how realistic it is, but like. in the original, she also masteredd waterbending in a matter of days, so. niether are that realistic -i kind of like how fuckin visceral the moon spirit getting stabbed is. like, minor change, doesn't matter, but still. that one shot of the bloody bag with a knife sticking out of it was lovely -ok that's spooky as fuck, the "there is no aang" thing with koizilla. like, the idea that this isn't just aang being possessed or lending his aide, this is him straight up giving up his life to la in that moment -that whole thing about zuko just beig a tool ozai uses to motivate azula was really well done actually. great acting, basically all that fanfic worthy revelation emotion, it was super good. like i was kinda thrown by ozai giving all control around hunter the avatar to zhao after seeming so impressed that zuko found the avatar in the first place, but really, i been played a fool. he doesn't care, he's manipulating azula. this is what the favoritism looks like. yikes. -also obsessed with the visual they talked about with aang/la wandering the world forever in search of a partner they wont find. this new context that koizilla really wasn't just a fuck you to the fire nation, it was meant to be permanent. like, fuck, i love that
bad: -OH THEY GOT RID OF ZHAO GOING TO THE SPIRIT LIBRARY i hate everything. what's the point. they're just gonna nix the library all together. wan shi tong is never coming back. sokka v wan shi tong will never happen. my entire career is over. -kuruk just appearing in a random doorway is wack -koizilla looks bad. baaaaaaaaaaad. where's the glowly lines -ok great yay we got zuko turning his back on zhao and getting attacked, but first of all that meant nothing cuz zuko DID ttry to kill him, zhao just dodge, and second, la should've taken zhao. i just. it's a more satisfying death for him, and also zuko's whole take my hand thing is super fuckin important too. but zuko in this show as a traumatic aversion to compassion, so whatever i guess.
pretty good finale, entertaining and got some good emotion stuff. better than most of the episode's emotions honestly
overall good: -before i speak i need you to look at my icon. scroll down the blog a bit. just take that in. ok? ok. i think zuko kind of carried the story here. overall i was very impressed by his acting, and yes, it was much more awkward and tear-ready than animated zuko, but also that's my fuckin jam. he's out of character in a lot of ways, but all the characters are, and like. lets be fucking real, this is fanon zuko. this is how the majority of fandom characterizes him. -set design was very nice in my opnion. casting choices (minus the water tribe sibs) were amaing visually, maybe no so much in terms of talent but we deal. while the costumes look too new and fee fake, it's not the worst. if you go into this expecting camp and trashy fun, you'll enjoy it. you can't set your standards high -once again, take a scroll through my blog. ok. i love how often aang is just like. clearly dissappointed with zuko's lack of desire to change, how much he wants to connect to zuko but zuko wont stop fuckin hissing and spitting. if aang got to have personality in this script, he'd basically be pointing at zuko like "that's my emotional support enemy," i swear to fuck. i might be pushing it on how much they were really like this in the narrative, but i dont care, im having fun asgjhdfh
bad: -momo and appa both look creepy. they give me realistic pokeon vibes, and not in the detective pikachu type of way. like, detective pikachu is what i was hoping for, something that preserved the cute and still felt semi real. this didn't do that. momo is weirdly top heavy and his eyes scare me, and appa has weird, ever present droopy lips, especially at the corners. it's just uncanny -i dont like how bending looks. it's okay i guess, but it's got so many extra busy particle effects that it feels uncontrolled. i always pictured masterful bending as being really smooth and pretty unnatural looking- smooth water bubbles, fire with weirdly contained flickers and not much smoke, earth without a bunch of crumbling pebblees, air without dust everywhere you dont want it. the wobbly water and earth bending with so many fuckin shards of debris and the firebening with so many sparks is disappointing cuz i would've worldbuilt that to be a lack of mastery thing. anyway. it's fine. -aang is not happy and excitable, and katara isn't angry or sassy. they have the personalities of cardboard boxes. rip.
i actually liked that a lot. lots of good and lots of bad, but overall i had fun and that's what matters. maybe not something i'd rewatch if i didn't have atla brainrot, but not fuckin god awful. the characters were pretty different from their animated counterparts, and that's very frustrating in its own way, and the script was full of poorly written dialogue, and the acting kinda of sucked in a lot of places, but. but. i had fun, and im probably gonna rewatch it, and im gonna enjoy applying these ideas to fanfic and fanart. overall, im glad it exists. it's not going to replace the original, it's not meant to, but it's just trashy fun. i love trashy fun.
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