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low-budget-korra · 2 months

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Comments on Netflix's Avatar The Last Airbender

*spoiler alert*

First of all I'm gonna start by saying it is one of the best adaptations I've seen so far. And that's the key word, adaptation. I've seen a lot of fans and others complain about some things that honestly, doesn't make sense because some things only work in a cartoon(just as much as some things only work in a book or a video game)

And before I start to talk about some topics that I judge important, I also wanna say that the production is fantastic, from the costumes to the CGI. It all looks amazing. (A part from Yue's wig)

1. The Script

It's not easy to pick 20+ episodes and make it fit in only 8 but damn they did a hell of a good job, especially when judging what was important to show and what they could let it go. Some fans commented that since there's no fillers, the Gaang and others miss some development but I think that for the universe of the live action what we got here it worked.

I can express how much I like to see Ozai and Azula's relationship and how it is now clear that he uses the siblings against each other, manipulating them to get what he wants. But I will admit I miss the fear Azula had, since it's implied in the show and some extras that she does fear Ozai, and fears becoming like Zuko.

I hope the 41. Is just fine after the battle in the north. See all of them bowing to Zuko after discovering that Zuko was the one that saved their asses and was heavily punished by that...it was beautiful. I loved the writers did that, give names and faces to Zuko's crew and a beautiful yet sad arc when Ozai banished his son and the men who he saved.

I also loved that they put weight into things that was treated as a joke, like Katara talking about her mother. She was a little kid who saw her mom get murdered in front of her and the live action made sure to let us know that it is not okay to make jokes about something so traumatic. All of the deaths here have tons of weight in it, it's not some random person, is someone we met, someone we liked, someone who helped. The costs of the war, something the cartoon manages to show us but know in live action, with real people, the massage gets stronger.

And they didn't forget Iroh's past like the fandom does, which is great. That actor, the earthbending soldier really let it all out, that's how you use the few screentime you have.

Sokka's isn't sexist and y'all were making a storm outta a cup of water, is not like Sokka sexist didn't go away after like the 4 or 5 episode in the original show. I think the live action was able to bring more depth to him in comparison to the first season of the cartoon. We see how he feels about his father's, the absence of him and his duty as warrior who kinda doesn't want to be a warrior.

I need a Gyatso in my life, I didn't know I needed to see more of him until the live action gave us more of him. Kyoshi was the Thor coming to Wakanda from this season, WHY THE FUCK BRYKE DONT WANNA GIVE US A KYOSHI SERIES? She is absolutely a jewel of a character. Roku and Kuruk, damn poor Kuruk man, so much pain in his words but again that's what it means to be the Avatar, it's not fun and games. Zhao saying to Aang what Korra villains said to Korra😭 that the world doesn't need the Avatar anymore, it hurt.

Guys I'm gonna say it, there's no way in hell for anyone to ship Kataang here. I'm saying this because some shippers complain that the secret tunnel part was different but c'mon, look at Kiawentiio and look at Gordon, it would be so s awkward and weird and just wrong. I know they don't have a big age difference, is only like 3 years but when they filmed Gordon looked so much younger than her, maybe in the next seasons the difference won't be that big.

The pace is good, once you start you don't wanna stop.

2. The Acting

Everyone is really good at capturing the essence of it's characters and somewhat making them their own. The highlights for me were Dallas and Ian, Its like they came straight from the show. Ken Leung's Zhao was also amazing as he was way more threatening here than he was in the show.

Kiawentiio was the Katara we were looking for, she is kind yet strong, brave and caring. And Gordon was Aang, sure, he has to learn a few things since he slipped a few times in his acting but nothing that could ruin the experience, that kid is good and just needs some experience.

Elizabeth Yu was Azula. It was different but yet the same character, is like learning something new of her and I like how cleared she show emotions with her eyes. Maria Zhang had great chemistry with Ian and I can't wait to see more of Suki. Arden Cho and Yvonne Chapman as June and Avatar Kyoshi look like they came out straight from the cartoon. Daniel Dae Kim...man is Ozai, so cold, so sharp, so scary, already way better than the cartoon version. I wanna see more of Paul Sun-Hyung Lee as Iroh since the character he really starts to shine in book 2.

3. The live action doesn't have the spirit of the OG?

Yes, it does have. The thing is now that we are seeing real people, things get dark one way or another but I don't think it ruined the spirit of the show. Aang is still a kid, Sokka still making sarcastic jokes, Zuko still annoying as hell, Katara still hopeful and strong... There's everything there really.

The thing is stuff like genocide, murder, war, death and suffering are, for some people, better to watch as pixels in a cartoon than real people.

I think it's a great adaptation and I would recommend it to every fan.

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i-am-mldy · 2 months

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Now that I've aired out my grievances I think the show does deserve praise in where they succeeded:

fight scenes and the martial arts are fucking badass. Aang and Zuko's fight in Omashu was a highlight for me

the bending looks believable and well-choreographed

costumes are good. same feel as the original but elevated to fit the live action medium

Sokka isn't insufferable anymore thank God (still should've kept his subtle chauvinism but I've already talked about that). I now understand how he pulled so many baddies.

Dallas fucking killed it. Understood Zuko to a T. You can truly feel for Zuko through his acting.

Gordon did so good. Another actor whom you could tell deeply understands his character.

Monk Gyatso made me bawl my eyes out every time he was on screen. He and Gordon did so good.

Suki and the Kiyoshi Warriors are so badass and cool. Episode 2 is my favorite for them alone (plus the chemistry between Sokka and Suki)

Daniel's Ozai has such a presence to him that I couldn't feel in the original. Kudos to the actor.

I actually like that they made Zuko fight back in his Agni Kai with Ozai. He's still trying to be an obedient son by doing what his father asks, but when it came down to it (striking Ozai down), he just couldn't. He tried to fight back his merciful nature but failed, and that for me is much more interesting.

King Bumi is genuinely a good character here for me. He masks his senile bitterness with humor. You could tell he genuinely wants to teach Aang important lessons but is also too angry at him to communicate them well.

Ty Lee's and Mai's actresses also did well in their short screentime. You know who they are even with a few lines.

Uncle Iroh is ok. I have issues with his characterization but the bond between him and Zuko is there. Their flashback scenes are some of the best in the show, like Lu Ten's funeral.

That's all I could think of off the top of my head. The show has its flaws (that I'm sure we all know by now) but it's worth acknowledging its strengths too. It still is a work made with passion by the production and the actors, and it deserves to grow into its potential so they can improve. I just hope they improve the writing ASAP and the direction of the actors (the acting often comes across as stiff and awkward).

#avatar the last airbender #netflix atla #natla #avatar the last airbender netflix #live actio atla #atla live action #netflix

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seasideoranges · 1 month

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favourite side character(s) outside of the gaang? (and why?)

oooh! Hmm I gotta couple! * Piandao. He's just such a neat character, I love the episode Sokka's Master, and seeing him treat Sokka with respect and helping him find confidence in his abilities aah it's just so neat. * Lieutenant Jee. Honestly everything I love about him is completely fanon stuff haha. The few time's we do see him though I always enjoy his screentime. I just look at the guy and think "hmmm look at all that character potential.. the lore... let me make up a million things about this guy" haha. * Monk Gyatso. Ugh, just.. him. I love him. His relationship with Aang, how much he cares for him. The old mentor who's also a bit of a goofball and want's Aang to enjoy his childhood? Goodnight, I'm hit lmao. My heart...

#thank you for the ask! keep em comin!#text #atla #asks #id ad more as to why i love these guys but im afraid my post will get to long lmao

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bendyguitarpick · 2 months

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I've been watching the avatar series and honestly, I think this warrants a bullet points review bc I have a lot of opinions, and some are unexpected. I haven't been following a y discourse online about the show bc I wanted to form my own opinions before I finished it! This is episodes 1 through 5.

Right off the bat in episode 1, the first thing that strikes me as a huuuge issue is that Aang does not argue with monk gyatso before running away. It's a problem that keeps coming up in this show, and its that all the conflict is deflated from the characters and given to the plot. Instead of a young character making a mistake and learning from the end result, our protagonists just respond in a way that's removes any of their decision making from the driving force of the story. Aang didn't run from his responsibility out of fear, he just needed to clear his head!- our sweet baby boy remains the moral compass!

That being said, I do think the rearranging of the plot in thr first episode is absolutely the right move for the show. The pace is immediately set and it works.

The visuals (costume and set design) feel very very shiny and new, like how all netflix shows end up looking, overly saturated and costumey.

The casting for aang and zuko is one of my favorite things EVER. They are probably the most competent actors so far tbh. That little boy is giving it his all 🥲

Sokka and suki!!! Another instance where all the conflict and resolution feels unearned because there was nothing to resolve! Fine, you can choose to remove the sexism arc, at its center, this sokka and suki introduction is about sokka developing a level of humility that he will need in order to learn from the people we see him meet on this journey. Sokka comes in in the live action show a clueless small town warrior who gets shown the ropes on the big stage, but for what? We see suki chew him out but because there's no real conflict, he's just some shmuck getting chewed out for no real reason other than not knowing enough. It's completely hollow.

Ok this leads me to the fight scenes. They're bad! The only one that I liked was Bumi and aang, we had sustained wide shots, a creative use of bending, and the actors movements feeling well rehearsed. The opposite was the case for nearly every other fight smh.

Katara my beloved 😭 she is shockingly underwritten and I'm trying to figure out why. She gets so little active screentime that isn't just parroting the plot back to aang and sokka. All her passion and life is dead flat. I was praying they'd give her her painted lady momentand it never came, she never had a moment. It's such a huge fuck up to leave one of your three LEADS out to dry like that.

That being said, I had my little fangirl squee when jet and the freedom fighters were revealed. The casting just had me absolutely giddy 😭

And that's just katara compared to everyone else! Because at the end of the day this is the most poorly written dialogue I've seen in a show in so freaking long. It is written so stilted and klunky, and the actors are given so little direction, the end result is so dry and lifeless. It is honestly the single worst part of the show.

Our characters are no longer active decision makers in each town they visit! The plot is just happening to them! It's an extention of that conflict criticism, our heroes don't have anything to learn, they're just along for the ride! No opinions or conflict here!!

But... the one thing that absolutely is working for me... is the story. All the plot changes have been the right move every time. Combining episodes has worked so well in this short season format that it's kept me following along every time! Putting like four episodes into one omashu episode??? And having them connect in a way that makes sense??? Ik completely impressed

So far, it seems like awkward dialogue and overly shiny visuals has bogged down a show that really really could've worked in the live action format! The plot has still succeeded in keeping me engaged for the hour run time of each episode, along with the really great aang and zuko moments.

#avatar #avatar the last airbender #atla #avatar the series #bullet points #review time

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chaosthatsmellsgreen · 2 months

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Netflix's Avatar The Last Airbender thoughts part 2/5)

this is the bit about Kataang. i have so much to say.

Kataang (romance vs friendship): okay i can't restrain myself any longer; here we go. by ep 3 i started noticing how it feels like they're deliberately keeping Katara and Aang away from each other. they barely even have scenes together, they just keep getting separated every episode, and even when they are together it's very short and there is not much chemistry between them. and to be clear, i expected as soon as i originally saw the casting that their romantic relationship won't be explored, at least in this season, and that's completely fine - it'd be pretty weird even, if they leaned into it too much, given how visible the age difference is between the two of them. besides, other than Aang's crush, their romance wasn't really an important point in the first season of the original either, it was basically just the Fortuneteller episode that dealt with the subject. so yes, no romance between them, completely fine. in the original though, book 1 established strong foundations for their friendship, for how and why they see each other as a family, why they love and trust each other, and given a background to how that then later evolves into romantic love. here, so many of their big moments are taken from them or changed.

Kataang (secret tunnels) i can excuse the cave of two lovers changes because it was a nice exploration of Katara's and Sokka's relationship, even if i didn't love most of what else they did with it (the whole thing with the badgermoles was kinda dumb). it was also originally not a S1 moment, so who knows, there's still the option for it to come back later in the show. which i really hope it does because my Kataang heart would be so sad if it doesn't.

Kataang (avatar state): i really disliked Aang being able to control the avatar state on his own by remembering Gyatso, because it was both too early in his own story, and i felt that it ripped the carpet out from underneath one of the most defining moments of Katara and Aang's connection - her being the only one who can help Aang control the avatar state for a loooong time before he learns how to do it on his own. i think it was important that it happened so early in the original show, and while i enjoyed the way they recreated that moment to fit it in the last episode, when it actually happened, it felt... somehow more unearned than in the original where it happened after like an hour of screentime. obviously, the idea here was that we'll have a whole season of them bonding, watch them become true friends, see how much of a family they are to each other, and THEN have this scene where Katara helps Aang control his fear and pain, because they now have this real, built up connection. which is a good take! if that's how it went, i may even like how this change reflects on their relationship

Kataang (lack of affection): however, that's not how it went. these two barely even TALK for most of the season. they have very few scenes together, and 1 (one!) hug - btw there is very little tactile affection between them, no hugs, no reassuring touches on the arm, no nothing. and i know not everyone likes physical affection, but i never got that vibe from the Aang and Katara of the OG show, they hugged, Katara kissed Aang's cheek, i vaguely recall that they held hands and had multiple "hand on your shoulder" moments as well. a huuuuuge offender of this is episode 4, when Katara, Sokka and Aang are reunited. Aang collapses after dropping the boulders, Katara runs to him, asks if he's okay and then just... stands next to him, awkwardly. like... that scene was begging for a hug, or at least a helping hand, or dusting him off. i couldn't feel the relief of the characters to have been reunited, even though it was thematically super important in that moment. there is a lack of love and connection, there is a lack of trust and bonding; i mean Katara bonds more with Jet than Aang, and Aang bonds more with Zuko than he does with Katara. the show even explicitly compares Aang's and Jet's impact on Katara's waterbending, and basically says that her connection with Jet is better for her than her connection with Aang. which, i know there is a part of this fandom that doesn't like kataang that likes to say Aang is no good for Katara, that he's just holding her back, i'm not gonna get into that, all i'll say is that i disagree.

No Kataang? and even if they don't want to do kataang at all (which is a little meh, since i love kataang, i just hope that if they don't do it, they don't give an alternate romantic partner to either of them), i want to see Katara and Aang at least being the close friends that they originally were. i can live with them not falling in love eventually, if that's where the show is going, since my ships are rarely canon anyway, but i want their friendship to mean something to both of them. even if i ignore where this leads in the OG series, it's still lackluster, because the show sure is telling us they're very important to each other, but doesn't do a whole lot to demonstrate it. you hear them saying they're a family, but you don't really feel it, which i think is probably because of all these adventures we got to see in the original that were only mentioned in passing in this one

PART 2/5

START // NEXT // PREVIOUS

#natla #natla spoilers #atla live action #atla live action spoilers #kataang

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agnisleftpec · 2 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.

#oofda #im tired #i had fun but good lord #i do want a s2 though #but mostly i want to see people apply show ideas to fanfic #i need more stuff about these ideas with zuko's crew #i cant stop thinking about that #natla #natla spoilers #atla la #but i gotta go change that tag cuz it's not the standard now

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