Netflix Has A 'Live Action' Problem... (Avatar The Last Airbender)

[@alexwang5313]

I have a real problem with people calling the slice-of-life animated episodes "filler." Those episodes were crucial in giving us tidbits of worldbuilding & lore, developing characters & the relationships between them, and providing audience with a tonal shift & break from the drama. We got so many important, quieter moments in those episodes that really made us care about the characters and their stories. Without filling in the blanks & getting to know Team Avatar aside from their connections to the war/genocide, the characters stay empty and one-note.

[@Raspbettyjam]

totally agree with this! the filler episodes always added something to character relationships, or even a little bit of growth that could be skipped but they aren’t “just filler” What the live action missed was that they tried to include every character in the 3 seasons. All the spirits. All the villains. All the side characters. And they THOUGHT they were doing fan service, but in reality they missed what made the show amazing; the thought out dialogue, the strong relationships between characters. The impactful lessons from those mini storylines. One of the biggest criticisms of Korra, IMO, was that the show didn’t make you root for the avatar gang like it did in the original. And the live action missed the mark on that too I think instead of trying to have an episode with EVERY spirit, they should have focused on one storyline. And instead of breaking up the Gaang on all their own adventures, to fit in more side characters, they should have really focused on building the group as a family

[@ladybookworms]

OH THANK YOU!!! That's exactly what I am going around saying to everyone!! This is life happening to these kids not FILLER!! OMG that is how you show not tell and build the world bit by bit so it feels fleshed out! If you call it filler then you're probably the type that hates delayed gratification and probably never dance cause you hate the process and only want results.

[@memebrain2177]

But the great devide

[@Aegisdex]

@@memebrain2177everyone hates that episode mostly because its was aired way too much, yeah aang was a bit out of character but you still got how some people lived in the world and how grudges are held over so long

[@daughterofthelordgodalmighty]

I agree. I love the side quests in season 1 because those episodes SHOW character traits instead of telling. Katara is so eager to learn Waterbending she steals a scroll from pirates and is jealous of Aang. Aang is scared of being alone so he hides the whereabouts of Katara and Sokka’s dad. And Sokka is initially competitive of Jet, but correct in his initial judgement. All of those “filler episodes” are essential so character development and underrated.

[@gaf407]

Katara in the original: “ I will never ever turn my back on people who need me” Katara in the Netflix Live Action: “you can’t help everyone.”

[@shanel4294]

😭

[@gandalainsley6467]

That is the later seasons Katara. The thing I noticed is that most fans have forgotten the og Katara even existed and pretend like the second version was always her. You know , the first version the one people hated so much that the cartoon got nearly cancelled because of her? It seems that being that close to the source material was a bad idea with Katara because she is a mixture of both later seasons and the og Katara. But the what else they could do with her?

[@gaf407]

@@gandalainsley6467 1st season Katara was still like this… “Imprisoned” and “Jet” showed that… her anger against Zuko’s betrayal was foreshadowed by her anger at Jet. “I trusted you Jet, you’re sick and I trusted you”. This is a core part of Katara’s character.

[@gaf407]

@@gandalainsley6467 I am quite curious where you heard about the OG animated show almost getting cancelled? This is news to me and feels quite off given the show was a hit even in its 1st season. Would love to know where I could find this info.

[@gandalainsley6467]

@@gaf407 First half of the season. They changed Katara's character mid season(that is why it feels like there is so much character development for her in the first season. There wasn't. They switched the character because of the backlash) You can google it if you want.

[@myas.6485]

I loved the cast, but I kind of hated that they watered down Katara 😭

[@captaincosmic8153]

Pun intended 😭😭

[@tay32112]

i was thinking the exact same thing, there was more i wanted to see of her

[@Tasha31301]

Same here

[@gaf407]

Katara in the original: “ I will never ever turn my back on people who need me” Katara in the Netflix Live Action: “you can’t help everyone.”

[@Tasha31301]

@@gaf407 live action katara needs improvement for s2

[@brownenerdygurl]

What happened to Katara? They turned her into a passive observer. They took away her importance to generate the plot. I really didn't like that.

[@mr_coffee9917]

exactly now finally people are agreeing to me being this the biggest problem with this show

[@mr_coffee9917]

if Katara was done right this show would have had great status instead of mediocrity also with not cutting out of the funny scenes

[@briannagarcon6980]

What do you mean she had a whole story with Jett and the Southern water tribe battle like in the original y’all are so delulu and just want to hate

[@mr_coffee9917]

@@briannagarcon6980 it is about her behaviour not her arc

[@anthonyjackson4840]

If you think your show is bad just because of single character is done wrong then something wrong with you. The main point of the story is not about. One single character is about the world of avatar and how aang and his friends learn to make it a better place. As long as that storyline is followed, the whole show is good

[@acmanda07]

I can appreciate Netflix tried & the cgi was well done, my only issue was having too much exposition dialogue. I wish there was more “ show than tell “ aspect to it. I wanted more from Aang & Katara I felt Sokka shined the most but the trio dynamic was lacking a bit. Overall I hope they still get a S2 to have an opportunity to make the show better 🙌🏼 solid 7/10 imo

[@lilmamagc]

yep i couldn't get past ep 2 because of this. I just dropped the show

[@pranayacreative]

99% dialouge bending , 1% actual elemental bending

[@Ren_Davis0531]

@@pranayacreative 😂 I’m borrowing this

[@All-ze9cl]

I have no problem with it being different from the original, I just wish they did a little bit more with some characters. Just bc they want it to be different isn't an excuse for the main group to not feel like friends. Also, no water bending from Aang in the first season is a STRANGE way of going about things.

[@illieevorie]

I feel like they gave themselves the issue to solve Aang learning waterbending in season 2, while they could've made him learn alongside Katara, like in the cartoon. I just wish they don't go the road "now I know how to waterbend after I turned in the Ocean spirit"

[@cloudyskiessunnyview]

Thank you!! I was like why are we on the last episode and Aang still has not had one waterbending lesson? Book one is Water for a reason

[@nope19568]

seriously lol, like alot of the changes they made probably could've worked if they'd just had decent writers

[@AwunMG19]

Just shows you the respect they gave Aang the main character of the story. A season where the main focus should be about HIM learning water bending so he can save the world. They just said. Lets just ignore it.... Plus he is supposed to be the most talented airbender and he wrecks zuko, zhao and the firebender soldiers multiple times during the entire first season. Here he cannot dodge a single kick. They understand nothing about what it is being an airbender. I'm speechless at how dumb these people are....

[@Alzrozax]

That’s the problem, in the original show everything and everyone needed no change, the series is still beloved even today so if it ain’t broke don’t fix it🤷🏾 the only way u could rationalize changing a story or the characters is if the original source material had a bad concept and was executed horribly like Sokka was a sexist in the beginning but later on he starts to view women as his equal because suki humbled him real quick that’s character development we wanted to see in the Netflix adaptation we don’t have that, i especially don’t like in ep 1 in the very beginning aang turns to us the viewers and just starts spouting exposition at us the show doesn’t think we have common sense and put two and two together and figure out what’s the motivation of this character they just straight up tell u

[@ithanvega]

I do have my complaints about it. Like some of the acting is bad but the bad dialogue writing makes it worse and the green screen is giving CW a little bit. The CGI animals, the bending and fight choreography look amazing tho

[@imuRgency]

validdd!

[@jsnapt]

they actually used the Volume a lot (the large almost 360 screen used in the Mandalorian) so most times i feel like its not even just bad green screen, with a lil extra set dressing it couldve looked so much better & lived in🥲

[@Amileee-ge3fl]

Yeah... the whole scene with Roku gave CW... but everything else was done well as far as CGI

[@martacastillo6272]

Nah I don't think the acting is bad, the dialogue and the directing was, characterization

[@smoltexan7658]

@@jsnaptthis and lighting design is absolutely why it looks “bad”. i’ve noticed how flat a lot of recent shows are lit which makes things look soooo bad against the LED 😭

[@nnn326]

The thing is: they said they took out the sexism but made it more sexist.

[@Raspbettyjam]

Yea just because Sokka doesn’t sAy he’s the leader because he’s a male, doesn’t mean him claiming to be the leader isn’t misogynistic And they tried to “save” Katara from being too bossy, and gave her no personality And it also hurt Suki’s storyline, cause before she was a baddie who taught Sokka a lesson, and now she’s boy crazy? Because she’s never seen a boy before? Please

[@headintheclouds7905]

​@@Raspbettyjam Right?! It's insane, looking at it as how badass Katara is, and how flawed she also is, it's crazy to see how much of a shell of the character the LA Katara is.

[@Cries_In_Vampire]

THISSSSS. what they did to Katara’s character is straight up sexist

[@shawerful5209]

"Its not sexist when we do" -Netflix

[@tay32112]

it made me a little irritated that we didn’t see aang and katara learn waterbending together, but i also like the idea of katara becoming an amazing WB and teaching aang. but i also feel like we didn’t get to really see katara learn WB, she just kinda gets better. i would’ve wanted to see her get irritated abt how she can’t get it down a little more

[@Therealsoso10]

Yeah I wished they showed aang WB w katara because it can show that they are bonding.

[@curtiszyr]

She’s not a compelling character here, can’t see a girl really struggle and overcome

[@ataiatempleton3726]

The change in characters was a no for me. My favorite part of the series was that the characters were complicated and not seriously influenced by one or two specific played out tropes. They felt real and dynamic and the change made it to align with American values and expectations and somewhat trope-y…

[@transerobotfrog66613]

the animated show really focused on character development and story; almost every character had an indepth backstory (even characters that were in one episode like hama; side note, the hama ep was one of the best ep, fight me)--the live adaptation was netflix-ified jsjsjshshsbs

[@angelsunemtoledocabllero5801]

What American values? They bombed Afghanistan at one point?

[@transerobotfrog66613]

@@angelsunemtoledocabllero5801 lollll, yes, those "american values" -- think they meant it dergoatively (ie the terrible myth of the "good american family" that was made up to uphold so many -isms and -phobias) at leasts thats how i read it; youre correct sjsjshshsbshsj: "american values" = military industrial complex, settler colonisation, neo-fascism, transphobia, racism, queerphobia, bourgois exploitation of "under class", capitalism, christian hegemonies, etc etc etc

[@PlanWithIvey]

Here’s my biggest problem with the series as a whole: AANG DID NOT WATERBEND ONCE THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE SEASON (and no, we are not counting when he was fused with the Ocean spirit). The whole point of book one is him learning water bending so the fact that he did not Waterbend once throughout this entire season gets me worried about any other seasons we could get later on. Because they would have to condense a lot of his practice into those few episodes, and with how much they are working on showing other characters I don’t think we’ll get the evolution of Aang to a fully realized avatar that we deserve. It would probably go from him just mastering one after the other in no time. While the original series does have him learning quicker than most Avatars, he still has to put in a lot of practice with all the other elements, especially earth and fire bending. If they are going to fix anything going forward, it needs to be Aang actually working to learn the other bending styles otherwise the whole purpose of the show is defeated when it will come to him facing Ozai. That moment of him bending all four elements at once during the big battle is one of the most satisfying and epic moments of the show and if they don’t start that storyline soon, the payoff will be just as flat as other parts of this live action.

[@RoraUndercover]

The watered down Katara really disappointed me 😭 It feels like they took away all of the trauma and rage she had from growing up in war. I feel like they just swiped her from so much of the toughness that she had to gain from being forced to act as an adult at a young age.

[@earnieboy54]

It was mid for me. Enjoyable but mid. And I hated how when people got hit with water… they were dry as shit after. I also felt like the costumes needed more wear and tear. Traveling for days, weeks, months in the same clothes reduces them a bit. Everyone looked like they were cosplaying.

[@TckleBxx]

I wondered did anyone notice that. It felt like a glitch to me 😂😂I’m like so their hair nor their clothes or faces are wet, but at least half the time that ppl were hit with fire, you could tell.

[@anakinnotvader]

I agree, Sokka was too serious and Katara was too passive. Sokka has his serious moments but he’s a goofball first and foremost like Aang .

[@steamedbun7194]

character-wise i saw an opinion about how when they take away sakka’s misogyny they take away the parts where the show always *disproved* the misogyny because there was always a capable female character to disprove it - and when they remove sakka’s misogyny, they like reversed/changed him and katara’s dynamic where sakka is the more capable one and katara is like under his wing, in a sense, so they lowkey made sakka’s misogyny into like the show’s misogyny keeping female characters behind male ones (basically the original disproved through actions, and the current is doing all talk no action)

[@kappachino335]

I don't think live action adaptations will ever get better than One Piece. Oda was very supportive of the LA project and was there watching what they did and who they casted (which is why the OPLA did so good).

[@heliotikis]

I really do like OPLA but creators being involved doesn’t necessarily make an adaptation better. The new PJO show was both written and supervised by the author but was one of the most dry, drab things I’ve ever watched.

[@andreastory800]

Wasn’t just Oda but both Oda and the writers have a true love and appreciation for One Piece and its characters. It wasn’t just about making money but to actually bring an incredible story to life and to do right by the characters that so many people love. That’s what’s missing when it comes to these live-actions in my opinion.

[@demonseed360]

@@heliotikis Agreed. A lot of people have the misconception that the creators being involved will guarantee a good show or vice versa, that the creators being absent will make a surefire stinker. There's a lot of nuance there. Someone who knows how to make a story work in one medium won't necessarily have the expertise to adapt it into another medium, even though they might have the ultimate insight on how the characters think and act. A very good example is the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. The creator of the comics is the showrunner and basically ran it into the ground by structuring it as if it was a comic book. He started plot threads that went nowhere, randomly introduced characters that ultimately played no role, etc. A good example of the opposite is The Boys, in which the original comic was written very poorly and was mostly supposed to simply shit on superheroes at the surface level. The people who adapted it managed to add a whole new level of depth to the story. They even completely rewrote certain characters like Black Noir. New fans of The Boys and Gen V wouldn't want to touch the comics with a 10-foot pole even though it's technically the source material.

[@kyemanidavis4060]

My mom, who has never seen the original cartoon, was able to follow along with the show quite well! So I think it’s just a matter of paying attention to the dialogue.

[@DanielHernandez-gx4kh]

This show spoon feeds you every bit. It would be surprising if anyone weren’t able to follow along

[@prettypls841]

@@DanielHernandez-gx4kh​​⁠ Exactly. I don’t think it’s a question on whether or not the story is understandable. I think the main gripe people have is the execution of events that make it feel not as clean in its storytelling mixed with the heavy handed exposition AND dialogue throughout. It’s not a question that this show is digestible or not, but if the storytelling is as good as or better than the original: something that this remake was striving for, but I think missed the mark. If you ignore the original (or didn’t watch it like the commenter’s mom) then it’s probably not only more enjoyable, but also easier to just go with the flow.

[@__Oku__]

Well, it's difficult not to pay attention to the dialogue. Every character tells you exactly what's happening at all times 😂

[@SonicBlue302]

Same I got my parents watching it I thought it was pretty good honestly

[@Tasha31301]

I ageee with you even though some people didn’t watch the animated series, it’s good for new fans of the show to follow along even though it has slight changes to the og. It’s giving the Percy Jackson series on Disney plus where I only read the first book and watched the Percy Jackson movies but not reading the rest of the PJO book franchise. Compared to the 2010 movies of both PJO and ATLA both shows on streaming platforms such as PJO series on Disney plus and ATLA live action on Netflix are way better than the two movies that came out in the mid 2010s along with a great cast and following the source materials which were the books in PJO and the animated series for ATLA 2024

[@LooksByNaheemah]

Cause whyyy did Katara feel like such a small character. Like they showed much more of Sokka and Iroh than KATARA

[@YAELOMAOENG]

for real! there soo cute

[@lewa3910]

How you gonna write out the sexism of the show, and come off more Sexist? It really does feel like they changed Katara's character to cater more to sexists in real life who thought original Katara was bad for being a realistic girly girl who was standoffish and prideful, and hide that by going 'Oh but look, Sokka no longer bad talks women' as if the whole point of that in the cartoon wasn't to criticise and make Sokka look foolish for having that mindset, & having Suki show him up and make him say 'MOMMY!'

[@LooksByNaheemah]

The inclusion of the secret tunnel arc in this season made NOOOO sense

[@KaypainBeats]

Made perfect sense considering its a alternative route to get to Omashu, its always been there. What didn't make sense was leaving Aang out of it

[@TckleBxx]

It didn’t make sense in the way that when Sokka and Katara actually arrived to Bumi’s area, they got stuck in rock shield and Aang had to break them out. So I would’ve rather seen that than the cave. Though I did like the cave singers as comedic relief

[@LooksByNaheemah]

Why did they make Azula and her gang look like Chibi versions of themselves?! in no way is anyone going to be afraid of adorable kids

[@tariqthomas9090]

I feel like they kind of lean into that here though, at least in terms of Azula. Like people take her much less seriously in this version because she’s a child, despite being a talented one. It only adds to her desire to prove herself and I think if done correctly, they can do something interesting with it in later seasons.

[@striderdoodle7804]

tf is that supposed to mean

[@andreastory800]

Azula is supposed to give off this aura of being older than she is but these girls you can tell are just teenagers who don’t look as threatening as their show counterparts. I really do hope we see them in action if renewed, hopefully the actresses are given better material to change our minds.

[@kzvnq]

@@andreastory800yeah the round chubby faces and innocent features aren’t doing it for me and everyone agrees azula is definitely a no for me she just looks too innocent and sweet not fierce at all no matter how hard she tries to act intimidating. Mais actor is good with impersonating her personality traits just the round face and features aren’t giving mai. Wish the directors looked a bit more for East Asian actors that looked like the characters also that can act for the role then the series wouldn’t have so much hate. Also the character who plays katara was so bland in the series I couldn’t even finish it.

[@andreastory800]

@@kzvnq Yeah I agree wholeheartedly.

[@rikaniebangbang]

The runtime of these 8 episodes isn't actually much less than the original 20. They're way longer episodes. It's not a great excuse for watering down almost all characters.

[@sjo8470]

Exactly...thank you

[@Therealsoso10]

Sometimes the way the dialogue is spoken be giving Disney channel original movie 😂. Idk about y’all but I don’t buy that the avatar gang are friends. They spilt up so many times during the show and they don’t really show them bonding that much (ex: aang + katara water bonding together). I really just feel like Sokka + katara are w aang because he just so happens to be the avatar and he has a form of transportation idk those are just my thoughts.

[@LynneaBlaircox]

I really hate that the norm now is eight episodes because I truly feel like if they did this in 10 to 12 episodes they would’ve had the time to fit in some more character development and chemistry between the main characters. I didn’t mind any of the changes that were made really it was just the group dynamic that I was missing between team avatar. Like I don’t know why aang didn’t water bend at all when that was a pivotal thing for him and Katara’s relationship. Or even when he went into the avatar state, and Katara wasn’t the one to calm him down, it was kind of himself instead like idk why they did that. Because that moment really made them feel like family.

[@illieevorie]

For me what lacked was showing more of Aang childish side and Katara short temper, she was more portraied as a danzel, while in the cartoon she gets angry easily and have no fear to fight. Katara in the cartoon also feel sorry for Aang for him being just a kid with such a heavy burden. Both learn water bending together, I just wish the show don't go the road "now I know how to waterbend after I turned in that giant spirit" and show him actually learning

[@promSpooks]

The lack of comments is scaring me 😭

[@imuRgency]

bc you got the exclusive first look heheh

[@forgotrealname9124]

I mean who wouldn't hate exposition gran gran and her sick veneers? She was looking like Quagmire I swear 😂

[@juicybuttercup5393]

no one is talking about the veneers. that's all I could look at 😭😭

[@hannahbass8458]

The main reason i have a bit of an issue with Sokka not being sexist in the beginning, is because not only does it water down Sokkas development, but many other characters as well. Especially Katara

[@monjuexo]

I know they wanted to make some changes, but why would they change things that are huge character/plot points, those were catalysts. Why is the plot running??? The pacing confuses me more than the character changes.

[@LooksByNaheemah]

The CGI was watchable but wasn’t great

[@isabellaspangher1734]

Taking away Sokka’s sexism prevents him from being humbled and growing as a character throughout S1 and the rest of the story.

[@hezelia]

Who was Katara’s acting teacher? I am trying to finish the show but her lines, dialogue and line delivery are… passable to terrible. From the first episode where she tried to be sarcastic to Sokka about having leadership qualities blah blah yet she didn’t sound sarcastic at all. And how her delivery line was flat for “innocent people are gonna die, Jet”. Like, girl, at least show some concern? Oh god, and in that one scene where Katara and Aang were talking, I forgot which episode, it’s the earlier ones. Katara was making a fuss for not being able to water bend properly. Then, Aang talked some stuff and said “I never listened”. He added some more and Katara just stood there listening with a disinterested face! Not to mention, the moment Aang brought up going to the North Temple, she lit up and was like “I could find some water bending pros to teach me”. Like who wrote her to be so selfish?!! And oh my god, that scene when Jet helped them to get in and Jet said to be careful , yet again she stood there blankly! Not even a simple thank you?! And they removed Katara calming Aang down in the air temple when he went into the avatar state?! Sigh…

[@mysticallena1719]

I definitely did not feel the connection between Aang and Katara Katara’s character just wasn’t it

[@1237tnb]

I feel that your review is very generous. Just because the original bar for ATLA live action was in the gutter, doesn't mean that this live action was good. It's still subpar in my opinion. It's just not terrible like the 2010 was.

[@LooksByNaheemah]

Just cause an episode has less action doesn’t mean it’s not important or filler episode. Those slice of life episodes in avatar last Airbender particular were so pivotal and character building and learning nuggets of information that leads to you caring about these characters. And it’s so crazy how as a huge fan of the source material, I found myself, not really caring about these characters in a live action outside of Zuko and Aang because I know very little about them since it was just nonstop action action action.

[@redsun23x]

My feelings are 100% aligned with this review thank you!! I am most upset about Katara’s characterization and how we didn’t see her growth as a bender either, the whole “Master Katara” thing in the last episode was laughable 😭

[@mrlofi333]

Also what sucks is how they couldn't get brown actors for the main characters

[@lisa.222]

My issue was...the pacing was so fast even if i was an ignorant watcher, a lot didnt make sense. We already met characters we were supposed to meet later. Like jet, the scary owl, boomy. They took away a lot of the personalities. Changed so many things that didnt need to be changed. The effects feom the first movie were nicer to watch then this with the water bending honestly. Aang was not as bubbly as he usually is. They did NOTHING with jet. He was supposed to be ridden with hate and we literally got nothing from his character. We didnt get an intro to tylee and mai. They were just...there. boomy was petty and mad as hell and annoying...the visuals and actors are nice tho

[@regina_agl]

100% agree with everything you said

[@tay32112]

i loved zuko’s character in this adaptation more than the other characters. like iroh and zuko’s relationship i loved even more than the cartoon

[@butterflygirl141]

The writing/directing team completely focused on plot instead of character, which is the heart of the original.

[@mooviedude141]

For me it was the writing/directing. They made everyone so stiff and one note, the exposition was on a comical level. Every character tells the audience every single thought they have.

[@hemmojito]

Nothing about this 20 minute action scene made me appreciate the horrors of genocide. Let's be real it's just a cool way to show off some cgi fighting. Showing people get burned alive doesn't make this more adult. Honestly in my opinion this feels more like a Disney version of the original. Pulling punches in nerfing character flaws so that the heroes don't look bad, robbing them of any sort of meaningful development, spelling things out, fitting them into more generic storylines makes this feel more of a kid's show.

[@cathy4697]

Imagine if they did a Live action of Kyoshi's story instead. They would maintain the original audience and a new audience without the whole comparison discourse. If they really wanted to spin it just do Kyoshi instead. But that would require originality so that's off the table

[@wizzytalksalot]

That's what I'm saying!!!

[@deli8868]

the reason people hate it is because they took away the growth and imperfections the characters had. they didn't have that relatability or the flaws that make a character good. not to mention the overexplaining of plotlines like the viewers are 5 year olds when it advertised to an older audience. the cgi and cast were the only parts that were really good and i feel bad for the main actors bc they really act like their characters and they aren't quite able to lean into it in the show bc of the way its written.

[@lewa3910]

No hate to katara's actress. The writers and what they wrote for her on the other hand. Would agni kai them like how Ozai did Zuko

[@Starsongzz]

IS IT SO HARD TO MAKE BROWN CHARACTERS BROWN? Idk to me it reads too scared to commit, I mean the first time around they made all the good characters Europeans and they’re STILL not true to the animation😭😭😭😭 It wouldn’t be such a big deal if there was already such a shortage of dark skinned characters of any race, some more than others. It could have been a cool chance to feature people who hardly get that rep, but idk. It’s not bad, per se, but disappointing. And before people try to argue, there were a bunch of people saying “this isn’t the Ariel I grew up with!” When they changed her, well, a light skinned/white Katara isn’t the one I remember. To me, it kinda feeds into the ‘a dark skinned girl can’t be a love interest’ mindset to make that change. And you can’t tell me there weren’t talented dark skinned actors.

[@GladToBeNatural]

You are right. And ppl shouldnt compare the casting for the little mermaid change when Avatar the last Airbender elements each representing different Asian cultures. The cast of Avatar is depicted in the traditional clothes of the cultures their nations were based on. Aang wears the robes of Tibetan monks. Toph sports a daxiushan, a type of Chinese dress popular during the Tang dynasty. Katara wears a big fur jacket commonly worn amongst the Inuits. Zuko is dressed in a Japanese dress called a kimono and jacket known as haori. Illustration by Kim Ly.

[@lovelylife3012]

maybe they couldn't find actors with actual brown skin cause they might be harder to find nowadays.

[@YB-zx9uf]

I think they should've broken it down. First, Katara and Aang love story needs to be there, and i see no connection between them. Sokka and Aang need to be goofy. And why is azula so emotional, she's always, calm, collected and yet scary. Here, she is SUPER emotional and Ozai seems to favor Zuko more than Azula, which throws off the whole thing. They need to remember that "Azula was born lucky, and Zuko was lucky to be born"

[@_alanawalker]

People now a days want short and sweet. The Avatar is not that kind of show. Adding more episodes (10 or 11) would help the story a lot.

[@NonchalantSims]

It’s better than the winx club adaptation 😞 winx club fans were really played 😭 yall can have ur opinions about the show but at least it was similar enough to recognizable as an adaptation

[@AJ-xc4qe]

I refuse to watch either remake. But I have seen reaction videos of the Winx Saga and it’s the worst live action remake of a cartoon, not The Last Airbender. At least for that movie, the set designs were accurate and the CGI didn’t look terrible.

[@Tasha31301]

I didn’t like the Winx club live action due to the changes as well as not having Tecna and having her replace with a girl named Terra and in s1 there was no flora as well along with the trix

[@nnn326]

Agree to disagree. The winx club one was more watchable.

[@thecoreysams]

My biggest complaint(s) for this first season is not ONCE did Aang attempt or even begin to learn water bending. Which is the ENTIRE reason for traveling to the northern water tribe. He gets there and they pay him dust because he can’t bend all 4 elements? Never mind the fact that Katara is a water bending master in like 3 episodes just because they said so. We didn’t get to see her growth as a bender. If they were gonna make her a master so swiftly we should have been seeing her attempt/do new bending techniques ALL season long. Things like capturing water vapors from the clouds, playing with her beverages to make them cold, etc. all we got was the water whip for a couple of episodes then boom she’s accomplished because Jet said so. My final recommendation, bring the creators back on board or bring the team that brought The Witcher to life on. The Witcher (in the last 2 seasons) did a great job at marrying the source material with original ideas so that audiences across the board could get into it. Had you never played the game you got it. If you played the game you got it even more. That’s what we need here. Including the humor. That’s it. That’s how I feel. Other than that I did enjoy what they presented. I look forward to see what they do in future seasons.

[@cristenkray5192]

I think problems with live actions in general is that most of the stories they’re turning to live action only work in animation. Specifically for fantasy shows and things like anime, the animated format and episodic style are the reason why they work so well. The format now of only having 7-8 episodes per season isn’t able to retain the amount of material they’re adapting. Some things shouldn’t be made into live action because the subject matter and execution of those arcs aren’t handled well whenever an animated show/movie is turned to live action. Honestly, you can actually have more versatility while saving resources with animation than with live action. What we’re really seeing now is the result of capitalism and corporate greed. They’d rather cash in on a pre-existing fanbase and remake/reboot a piece of media when 1) it’s not suited for the format and 2) the reasons a lot of the media being rebooted were originally loved only work in the time period they were made in and with a specific audience in mind. It’s not smart to remake a children’s animated franchise into a live action show/film made for adults. TLDR; Stop making live actions of animated shows. It’s a waste of resources and incredibly lazy.

[@RocketJenGen]

I agree with you about a lot of what you are saying about how this adaptation played out. I will add i hated the use of that dark fliter over everything, i dont know why directors equate dark with gravitas. I was sad about what they did with both katara's and sokka's characters by watering them both down. The whole point to Sokka's sexism and evolution to enlightenment is that it paints how ridiculous his sexism is when he has a sister like Katara and lives alongside so many powerful female characters. He has to recognize it stems from his insecurities and find what makes him powerful in a world of both benders & the equality that comes out of that. I do think that they were spot on with the portrayal of Zuko and Iroh and how important that relationship is to the series... I'm looking forward to seeing how it evloves in coming seasons. And while the pacing was a little frenetic and could have used some down time, I agree for what it is they did a good job. I still wish the original creators had remained with the show because I think it would have been better if they had... Especially in the area of pacing and emotional impact for people new to the material. I kept wondering how much of my reaction was just because of my deep love of the animated series and not due to this particular adaptation.

[@tymiller176]

Maybe because i wasnt a young kid when the OG came out, i dont agree with all his takes here, but its nice to hear another perspective on this new adaptation.

[@sphumelelesijadu]

22:34 Knowing how long we wait these days for new seasons. By that time Aang's actor will be 40 with kids.

[@blazer511]

0:01 you made a joke in the beginning but it's a serious critique. Why does Netflix continue to think it's okay to destroy well regarded animation with a live action adaptation? People need to seriously start pointing that out and telling Netflix to stop tarnishing animation that's held in such high regard to its fans. This is not the first time they've pulled this stunt, it's about time we start speaking up about it. They have billions of dollars in profit and yet all they know how to do is make lackluster live action adaptations, we need a serious video analyzing just how many times they've done this.

[@imuRgency]

i think there needs to be serious partnerships between the production studios and the original creators for sure! also ty for the super thanks 🫶🏾

[@transerobotfrog66613]

AGREEEEEEEEEEEEE jshshsjsjs; the rage every time i see an article about a new adaptation: *ugh*--its not just netflix (*cough disney) the movie industrial complex is exploiting nostalgia

[@jessilu540]

Preach!

[@StocktonMotherFer]

You can go watch the animated series anytime you want ? What you would prefer is that nobody ever try anything because it’s an impossible task … much like trying to please a bunch of marks who would never rate anything as well as the animated series anyway

[@messybarbie]

The actor who played katara couldn’t act she was so flat she had 0 conviction and emotions just looked confused and like she was staring off into space half of the time.

[@messybarbie]

@BellaCastle-lz8nn lol exactly 😂👏

[@liisaa287]

I love how Rumi and Friendly Space Ninja posted about the same topic on the same day! We are being FED today 🤩🤩

[@yemisifamu2169]

Ikr!!!

[@annaaahhhz]

i personally didn’t love the fact they took out the sexism from the show, that was such a huge point of character development for Sokka and Katara and i believe it taught a really good lesson since so many of the women in cartoon were so powerful in think it was just important

[@oo4758]

I don't think it would have been wise to leave in a less than 3 episode long arc in a show that only had 8 episodes instead of 20 to get their point across. It's not like it was a core part of his character like being the "ideas guy" or even his boomerang

[@lovelylife3012]

@@oo4758 Right

[@King_Vic92]

I don't feel the negative responses are overrated cause it's all opinions. Im glad you enjoyed it and can't wait for season 2. In my opinion, I gave the show a 5 out of 10 and more bending, and training would have me give it a 6 or 7. I don't stan ATLA, but I am currently rewatching the anime since I am done with the live action. I don't believe there should be a seaaon 2, but if so, it won't matter for me as im not going to watch it.

[@GabrielOsiuhwu]

I kinda disagree with you on Sokka in the animated series at 4:41. Sure, he wasn't the most likable character at first, but that's a bit of stretch. I mean, he grew up in a place where the men did all the hunting and fighting, and he never left home, so the sexism makes sense.

[@isashutup]

but like i watched the og, i loved the og so much. i loved the live action version it was good!! just i didn’t like how things were so like rushed.

[@torijeri]

I totally agree with most of what you said, I think lots of people made up their minds before the show came out and that’s their prerogative, but I genuinely liked this adaptation. Instead of following the plot 1:1 they actually overlapped a bunch of plots over each other to make sure they included as much as they could, especially in episode 3 and 4. Zuko is easily the best part of the show, I actually cared more about Zuko in this than i did in Book 1 of the original. (they def added things from book 2 & 3 for Zuko) but I think what they did with him here was actually perfect! I do hope it gets a season 2.

[@Tasha31301]

I agree with u like people need to chill out about shows along with the episode counts and hours each episode of a show makes. I remember when the PJO series came out on Disney plus a lot people were complaining about the episodes having been rushed along with the runtime each episode takes along with one of the main actors got backlash due to racism

[@torijeri]

@@Tasha31301 YES EXACTLY!!! I had to stop engaging with anything PJO cus of the amount of negativity it was ridiculous. It feels like the same thing is happening here. I think people just like to be negative

[@johnybozor2765]

One thing I didn’t like about the live action team avatar had their own adventures & did there own thing I felt like they should’ve just kept like the original where they pretty much did everything together 😑😑

[@Urmumlel7025]

The director didn't watch the original film... Let that sink in.

[@kayleehope7083]

I hadn't seen the original but had always been curious about it. After this came out I figured I might try it out and see how much I could follow along without having seen the original. For me since I hadn't seen the original material I actually quite enjoyed it, thought it was easy to follow along, and it actually was what finally got me to watch the original. I feel like in the short time throughout the eight episodes I was able to appreciate the characters and their dynamics. That being said after finally watching the original, I do hope they bring more of the character dynamics and comedic bits of the animated version into season 2 and 3, especially when it comes to bringing in toph. I'm also curious to how they will bring in zuko pacing-wise since the live action seasons are significantly shorter.

[@jessilu540]

I knew this is going to be a mess since the original creators left because they were treated disrespectful (!) and bc of creative differences. If you still support the Netflix Live action I think it's disrespectful towards the original heads and shows that you never really understood the real cartoon to begin with.

[@iamsky_]

I agree with everything you said!! I am a huge fan of ATLA, I remember I used to rush going home after school so I wouldn't miss an episode. With the adaptation, I enjoyed it! I mean it has issues but I understand why in real life, the characters can't be that goofy cause it's cringey. But yeah, sometimes I would think the essence of the characters wasn't there but it gets better every episode but it still lacks connection, probably because I see the lack of fillers that will develop the characters' relationship more. But there are good points, especially with Uncle Iroh and Zuko's relationship. And one of the main points that I was sad, kinda mad about was Aang didn't get to learn water bending! I'm sulking about it 'till now. But anyway yeah, probably the reason why I enjoyed the series was because I accepted this live adaptation for what it is. I'm glad that the characters were as close as it gets to the original and the attention to detail is amazing! But I hope they also focus on the scriptwriters of the dialogues. please Netflix!

[@BeepBeepRayya]

It was alright tho... It wasn't the greatest but, not terrible. I liked it 🤷🏾‍♀️

[@imjustafangirl127]

i really liked the adaptation. i grew up watching the tv show and they basically raised me lol. the live action brought back sooo many memories and made me remember why i love avatar so much. however, there were some parts that were a bit off, for example, the acting and the cgi for air bending, but overall, they did a pretty good job. zuko was the best part of it tho. i really hope they give us a second season and soon!

[@tay32112]

i agree it’s better to have the idea that it’s an ADAPTATION not necessarily a REMAKE

[@sumer3270]

honestly, i completely disagree with the sentiment that transforming a 20 episode show to an 8 episode show leads to important character moments being cut. we are forgetting to incorporate the crucial aspect that the episode lengths GREATLY differ. season 1 of the OG was 477 minutes while the new one was 430. that’s not enough of a difference to be constantly exposition dumping and leaving out character moments.

[@dimaael4224]

Personally, the live action was boring mainly because of how the characters were written and the script overall. The actors are amazing and they look the part, but the writers seem to not know how to write characters right and the way the script was written was.. meh. It seemed as if the show told the story most of the time rather than show. I also don't understand why they included season 2 elements when they only had like 8 episodes? (That damn owl looked good but what was he doing in the spirit world?!). It all certainly looked beautiful and the fighting was good... It was overall just okay.

[@dimaael4224]

Also, Ty lee and Mei served no purpose in the live action? They just stood there, had some lines here and there and that was it. 😬

[@tshwa_nelo]

So I finished watching the live-action about a week ago and I realised I never really watched The Avatar fully from Books 1 to 3 so I'm busy rewatching the animation. I'm more so zooming on Sokka, I’m convinced some people being very critical of him because of what happened casting him, In the animation he was just as bossy and assumed leadership - there was even an episode where he blatantly said he is their leader and Katara argued that it's not true she is more of a leader than the both of them and Aang said he is the leader because he is the Avatar, so this conversation that people are having about Katara is more passive but I do have to agree that Sokka is not goofy at all in the live-action but not to a fault.

[@mknotashley]

I LOVED the leaves from the vine sean but I wish it was in the second season. You’re supposed to not like him in the first season and warm up to him,, I fear that they may be trying to rush his arc to make room to give Azula a redemption possibly…

[@elis2506]

I wanted to keep the cast in my pocket fr. They're so endearing. But the bbs could've been given better lines and direction 😭

[@kanatihd2375]

Really good visuals, important characters were butchered and the live action doesn't seem to understand the characters or want to develop them

[@Soul-cry1]

Azula and her girls were a definite miss cast, not only in terms of how the look but the also the acting, they should have cast older gilrs to play younger, especially for azula, a lot of asian gilrs even if rhey were 18 still could pass for younger, this girl just ain't it.

[@ALtheuncommonicedragon8360]

Showing the air nomad genocide was so unnecessary. It made the slaughter a spectacle and undercut the theme of being a genocide survivor.

[@victoriajohn7079]

I also thought the series was good. They did make some changes to the story that I didn't like, and the pacing is not good in my opinion because there just aren't enough episodes. The look of the show is amazing, a huge step up from most live action adaptations.

[@sol.dia_]

i like some of the changes like when gran gran was the one hiding and giving katara the water bending scroll; it made it more sentimental i really appreciated that

[@rachelmikulinsky5884]

note that even though this version only has 8 episodes, they are way longer than the original show. So in terms of hours, I don't know if this season is that much shorter than the original. It is paced way differently when instead of finishing an episode, you just continue it. I think that just live action focuses more on the action and the effects and less on the story and the goofy parts.

[@lalasecretly]

i actually liked one piece but avatar is just.......

[@LooksByNaheemah]

Yue felt like such an important character in the animated version whereas in the live action her relationship with sokka was really rushed and awkward

[@e_k1mz]

I honestly believe that Netflix did the best with what they had. They had both creators leave the project, as well as changes to the story that had both positive and negative receptions. It does feel weird that the reviews are divided. Not everyone thinks it's a dumpster fire, but they think its just "ok," or "good enough." Edit: Everyone has the right to their own opinions. You can hate the show, or maybe you enjoyed it. But I feel like the people getting bashed for enjoying it as their first exposure to ATLA is not necessary. Everyone tried their best on this remake, regardless of creative decisions. So I feel like we should just enjoy it and let it be.

[@e_k1mz]

*Videos are amazing please keep posting 🙏

[@surette2012]

Agreed. I do hate it when people that like it get shut down as well as people calling people that didn’t like it nit-picky or incapable of objective critique because of nostalgia. Let’s be real, the show wouldn’t have the attention or built in audience without the animation. The animation is this glaring thing that is begging to be compared to the new show. I think it’s unfair when people say: you have to take it as a stand alone thing and ignore the source material. Lol if that’s the case then they should’ve just gone and made a new property within this universe and not touch this particular story. Every book adaption is compared to the book. It’s just the territory and it was Netflix’s choice to green light this and they knew this. They want people to watch, whether it’s hate watch or love watch or to compare to the cartoon. I’m neutral, I didn’t expect this huge levity and amazing experience and I thought it was cute and a good gateway to watching the cartoon. The positives were welcomed and the negatives weren’t world ending…just a bit boring and cringy. Sadly the negatives outweigh the positives and most of the characters don’t even feel like the same characters. The chronological order, exposition, pacing and awkward dialogue and line delivery was its damning moments. The bending and visuals I liked and honestly I don’t even expect crazy sfx and care more about plot and emotional beats. I just..lfeel like I’m watching variants of the og characters that are from a different dimension who have partial amnesia on who they are. The cast are nice kids, they even are fans of the cartoon and know their lore and characters well. they have chemistry off set so maybe now that they’re settled into a friendship the possible upcoming season with have better charisma and chemistry between the characters.

[@lilmamagc]

the original creators left BECAUSE Netflix wanted to change things.

[@Tasha31301]

I agree with u also that the fans complain about the stuff the show left out from the animated series

[@lovelylife3012]

@@lilmamagc I kept hearing that the creators wanted to change things.

[@lavendervisions]

the six earth benders doing a full acrobatic dance just to gently float a rock across the screen kills me every time

[@Tasha31301]

Even though I’m a huge fan of the animated series along with having mix thoughts watching the live action avatar the last airebender series, I love the show even though it does have a few changes and I love the casting. Hopefully Netflix renewed it for a s2

[@Dariusissocool]

I feel like a lot of people forgot how slow the original series was. The team doesn’t really get going until season 2 where they have more time together. Iirc we see Aang practice water bending in filler episodes too. We gotta understand live action has different rules.

[@transerobotfrog66613]

the way that the characters in the animated series were diverse (the va's were mostly white unfortunately)--eg. sokka and katara where obviously dark skinned and their culture heavily inspired by northern "american" indigenous cultures--yet they intentionally chose light skinned actors with euro centric features--do not forgive this white washing *i am mad*

[@ayoogunsakin9223]

ian is another case but kiawentiio has obvious indigenous features (not that that makes her any more indigenous than people with euro centric features as it's a complicated subject). She has been in a good amount of native centered roles or projects prior to this show.

[@Amileee-ge3fl]

I was literally looking high and low for something to watch and then I saw you posted a new video! You made my day!!

[@nihel3144]

They should really do an adaptation for one of the comic books about avatar instead of trying to fill in the massive shoes of the airbender show

[@chana1298]

not making sokka sexist but dumbing down katara’s character to an almost completely different character is beyond me

[@DomEverythingEZ]

We are all spoiled and don’t appreciate the time these people don’t have to make something be so perfect to the story. So many people don’t see how much it takes to even make these episodes and shows and everybody is worried about it being word for word, or the costumes look, like it’s not the Nickelodeon show that we watched as a kid it’s a real show. Folks gotta get over themselves and remember we don’t always have the he ability to make show like this

[@jemormaypa4005]

I like the live action. It's not as great as the original but it was still good. I can't wait for season 2, I hope they won't cancel it

[@Fairysnuff91]

Wait, Netflix did a live action adaptation of Death Note with white people? Why? There is already a live action Death Note in Japanese

[@haselnussbaumfichte]

I loved it i don’t care that it isn’t 100 percent the animation the most annoying is some cast and some costumes but i love the bending and all the places and the animals

[@Setemi123]

I have not seen the animation and I feel the movie is great. Yeah, the jokes weren't all that but I think people who have seen the animation and believe it could be better, might have a point. I might have to watch the animation at this point😂

[@totallynot_rue]

I have seen maybe the first 2 or 3 episodes of the original, I didnt really understand what was happening. This plot was slow and the animation was making me cringe. However i like this better. Its not animated, the plot is easy to follow, and it looks really great

[@tay32112]

it was hard for me bc they squished a lot of the scenes from other episodes, which if i don’t mind. i also wish we saw aang looking more sad at parts. i hope next season we see more sang and katara chemistry, i liked that sokka wasn’t as misogynistic

[@Raspbettyjam]

I think the squished storylines really ruined it. They tried to do too much fan service with all the side characters. I would have preferred them spending time developing the Gaang as a family, instead of separating them so they could meet more characters

[@Natta44]

In season 1 animated i always saw Aang and Katara as stand out main characters of the show and Sokka as a side character. Now in Live, it feels like Aang and Zuko as zuko has been developed more. Thats not a good sign, I mean i love Zuko, but we shouldn't be rooting for him this early, he needs to grow in s2 when hes competing against azula. They need to get Katara right pronto, because she feels so docile and wallflower atm! Sokka is okay but we need more goof before seriousness.

[@nnn326]

I think what made it disappointing was that its message was opposite to the original: excuses for war/aggression instead of incitement to peace, implicit accepted sexism instead of explicit disapproved of sexism, .... It's as if it was written backwards and made a lifeless version of the show by draining its very spirit out of it. It lost its soul. Being "serious" is not the issue.