Netflix Avatar is a BIZARRE Mixed Bag | Before You Watch Netflix's Avatar Season 1 

What really makes me sad is that I'm not even mad at how bad it was because... it wasn't *bad.* It was just not as good as it could have been, and my expectations were not that high, I'm not disappointed because I thought it was going to be perfect, it just didn't do things as well as it could easily been imo, the disappointment is what really makes me feel so... dissatisfied.

I finally realized what Albert Kim meant by removing Katara’s “gender issues.” He’s referring to the motherly role that she plays in the gaang. When you remove that quality of her, you’re essentially removing the entirety of the gaang’s dynamic. Who keeps Sokka in his place? Who helps out and reassures Aang? Who headbutts with Toph until Toph learns how to accept her affection? Who shows warmth to Zuko and is the first to include him in the gaang? When you remove Katara’s motherly qualities (the good and bad) - her assertiveness, compassion, anger, bossiness, stubbornness, etc - you not only water down her character, you tremendously water down all gaang dynamics. Yes, your fave characters might be Zuko or Iroh, but Katara is the heart and soul of the show. When you strip Katara away of her core characteristics and traits, you ruin the whole gaang dynamic - and that’s exactly what happened.

The 41st Division thing was my favorite change

Aang not waterbending in the season he should learn how to do it is really weird to me,idk why they did that

Aang not bending water a single time in the entire season absolutely destroyed me. Like obviously he doesn't need to master it and I like that Katara is fully going to train him, but they shouldve at least laid the ground work for it throughout the season instead of him completely neglecting the option to learn until he was in the north

After some more thought I pinpointed the crux of the problem. Aside from the acting and dialogue issues, the real killer was not having the Gaang be together all the time, naturally relating to each other. One Piece did a good job of this. I was thinking about what I love about ATLA and its simply the Gaang and how they're family. Its like the live action series kept verbally reminding us that they're family but they didnt actually show it enough. The characters split up too often, they didnt have group hugs and if anything they barely touched each other at all. The relationships felt too sterile even when they were together. They acted more like coworkers than family. For season 2 they need to really address that.

Whoever made Yue’s wig needs serious jail time 😂

I hate the change at the beginning where Aang was only going for a ride to clear his head. In the show he chooses to run away because he is afraid of his responsibility and leaves a letter to gyatso before leaving. This is his greatest regret and guilt (as shown in the guru episode) but the live adaptation chose to changed it? SMH

They needed to do 10 episodes instead of eight and I feel like that would have fixed a lot of the pacing for the season. I also do not like how separate the trio were during the omashu storyline and the fact that they did the tale of two lovers storyline but had sokka and katara be the ones to go through them together it was….very odd.

it felt rushed, like they just jammed all the emotional scenes from the cartoon together and it never had time to breathe

I HATE what they did to Bumi. He was no longer the resilient eccentric but wise old man. He felt like a scorned old friend who got jaded and worn down by war. Tho realistic, life time of war and hard choices would do that to you. I like how strong the original bumi despite all of that.

i hate how dirty they did katara. she was fierce in the original and outspoken. here she was so shy. the actress did a great job with what she was given tho

pretty much my exact opinion, the people saying its 10/10 or total trash are both living in another reality

I like when the 41st realized Zuko saved them from the front

They never showed GAND going to sleep and wake another day. It didn´t felt like a journey but a rushed week.

Luten's funeral scene was my favourite in the whole season... The orchestra, zuko sitting next to iroh, the single tear... Man, it gets me every time...

no like as much i loved zuko’s arc and his portrayal i dont think he ever said the word honour 😅😅

Bro can we talk about how aang didn't water bend AT ALL until he went into the avatar state and became that spirit at the north pole??????

I'll tell you what's missing. The humour. Now, people might say nowadays the humour could be overbearing, but as kids, we all loved it. Honestly, if any show needs a remake that's more serious, it should have been Legend of Korra.

My BIGGEST gripe was how the Pakku vs Katara dynamic worked. It's flat out arrogant how Katara crowned herself as a master without training with one herself. As a martial arts instructor, this is beyond ridiculous. Learning Tai Chi based on drawings and intuition is stupid.

My biggest issue was Aang not learning waterbending at all... How is he going to learn bending if he learns completely nothing in this season? I find it so weird no-one mentioned this. But it bothers me so much.

how is no one else not pissed about the secret tunnel change. Aang needs to go through that with katara.

"A mixed bag" is definately the phrase that came to mind for me. There were definately a lot of highs, but some of the choices they made for the series was just confusing. The biggest disappointment for me was the appearance of the previous avatars and how they interacted with Aang, they all seemed weirdly hostile towards him. Roku's character is sadly unrecognisable and his appearance feels like more of a throwaway scene. Overall though, it was an interesting watch and I am interested to see what they do with season two. Hopefully the pacing is a little better in the next one.

I felt like Sokka actually had way more interaction time with Suki and Yue in the live action. These girls falling for Sokka so quickly made even less sense in the cartoon. But I completely agree that Sokka and the whole team Avatar together didn't have enough screen time to shine, and a lot of the dialogue they did have felt off. And it's almost completely the writers' fault

Katara is the character that changed the most, she just doesn’t feel the same, he doesn’t smile, didn’t throw any tantrum (unusual). And we need more self inflicted harm on Sokka The show is better than the movie we got but it’s still a 6/10 for me (the movie was 3/10)

NO MATTER WHAT, at least it blows the 2010 Shamulan disaster out of the water.

I think its because the writers dont understand the impotance of showing not telling

I wasn’t sure about irohs performance at first but by the end of it he ended up growing on me. Zuko and iroh’s relationship was a highlight of the show from episode 4 onward

Is anyone else annoyed that aang didn't water bend once the whole show?

They completely ruined Bumis character. How did Sokka and Katara get Appa to fly without saying Yip yip. Why was Katara able to waterbend 400metres in the sky on Appa to stop a fireblast but not able to waterbend a tiny bubble. Why can Aang fly. Why is Katara laughing in the serious scenes. How did Katara learn to Icebend after barely being a waterbender. I'm not even going to finish it past Episode 4. What a joke of a show.

Zhao was my favorite character this season, surprisingly

That’s exactly what I noticed after the beginning of episode 5… these characters are constantly being split apart and when they’re together it doesn’t really feel like they’re bonding as friends. The beginning of episode 5 where they’re bending together feels absolutely great and reminded me of the cohesion I’m missing between them. Doesn’t feel like a team yet… and I just finished episode 6. Maybe Zuko and iroh work so well is because they’re literally always together. We get to see bonding and disagreements and various emotions. It’s what team avatar should be too, but it feels very hollow.

Aang is a peaceful monk, but also ‘naughty boy’. But he is too serious in this show. In the original, he played around with Sokka on a daily basis, and sometimes got annoyed with Katara. Like a normal child. But now, he just always kind for others and self-destructive. I hardly ever see him laugh, and he just blames himself for the entire eight episodes, which is exhausting for the viewers. He looks listless. He just a sad character now 😢 Of course, even in the original, Aang sometimes blames himself for running away from the Air Temple. But it didn't go too far like this. I guess the director decided to fill this season's theme with only lonely duties to the Avatar. In order to convey the message that even avatars need friends, making the previous avatars say absurd things like "Avatar don't need a team" or showing Aang just blaming himself is really unsophisticated and one-dimensional. It's a hostile method. The director needs to make viewers feel the importance of friends naturally through organic interaction between team avatars. The perfect structure and flow of the original story is ruined by the contrived message. Even in terms of directing, I can't get the thrill of the original at all. To give a specific example, in episode 8, as soon as Yue says, "It's all over now," Aang has to say "No, it's not over" in his avatar state and combine with the ocean spirit to feel the suddenness, but then there's a useless flashback scene to the previous avatar. The flow of direction is broken. That small difference takes away the creepy feeling of the original. Also, when Aang combines with the ocean spirit, the music in the original is much better. Instead of having the mystical feel of the original, the Ocean Spirit has become a just powerful, dull, and stupid, screaming Godzilla. In this show, all the animals except Momo are literally just beasts. Especially to Appa. People who watch this show without watching the original will see Appa as just a ride, not a member of Team Avatar. It may be a spoiler, but Appa's disappearance is a really key part of the original season 2. Likewise, the original 'The Library' episode in which that scene appears is also a very important episode in many aspects. However, since Wan Shi-tong has already appeared in the spirit world in this season of the drama, I think he can only appear in this scene at the entire show for fans of the original's service. Also, since the story is set in a temple, not in the Wan shi-tong Library, where Zhao obtains information about the souls of the ocean and the moon, it seems highly likely that the library episode will not appear at all or will be significantly altered. I think they might not lose appa. Because that is not that dramatic like the original since he is just a ride. Aside from everything else, in order to have an ending where Katara and Aang are dating, there should have been a scene where Aang loses his heart to Katara at least later in the season1. The longer this moment is delayed, the more the love line will feel too sudden and unnatural to viewers. Someone may point out to me that since live-action dramas and animations are fundamentally different, there is no choice but to make major changes in the story and direction. For example, running time. However, I don't think that removing the unnecessary parts I pointed out above and strengthening cooperation and interaction within Team Avatar like the original work will have a negative impact on the live-action drama. I hope that in Season 2, these issues will be corrected and we will have a true 'team' avatar based on each character's personality and charm. Of course, Toph joins! Since the original series is a well-structured masterpiece, it will definitely be a good drama as long as it doesn't deviate too much from the core guidelines😊

I pretty much agree with your take. The most jarring thing for me was when they changed things from the original show but then kept in iconic moments that felt totally out of place with those changes.

The butchered Katara's best moments - Katara getting angry at Sokka early on, and accidently waterbending an iceberg to be broken behind her. Katara holding Aang's hand solemnly when he goes Avatar State during the Air Temple revisit Katara NARRATING THE BEGINNING OF THE SHOW WITH HER PERSPECTIVE. WTF they do to my best girl. She was the main motivator and truly a leader of the whole group. Now she is a passive-observer in the LA

I swear if i hear aang say it's his fault one more time

5/10 for me. Started off decent but had me wishing it was all over by the 5th episode

They def took their own spins but it was okay. Uncle Iroh needs to provide more wisdom

I hate how they made it seem like Kyoshi island was always an island not one made by kyoshi herself

My biggest issue so far is Aangs backstory being shown at the beginning. As much as I loved how they used Gyatso in this version and how well executed the emotional parts were, it just feels too soon. The way it’s framed in the original show is that Aang for the first half is an ongoing mystery. He’s happy and fun and unphased by being frozen because he successfully evaded his responsibility, but signs of the consequences start to bite him in the back and his sense of reality starts to get harsher, which leads to the boiling point of Aang telling Katara about Gyatso and that entire ordeal with how he got trapped in the ice. It feels like a perfect payoff where you fully understand Aang and he becomes more nuanced from it. This version… gets that out of the way for contextual reasons and you’re left with a half-baked Aang.

I hope we can all keep in mind that it’s still the first season. They have a very high standard to live up to and, despite the budget, still had a lot of budgetary constraints. Albert Kim talked about these constraints in the latest EW interview. It’s the classic initial catch-22 of high-budget shows: It needs budget to succeed, but it needs to succeed for budget. That often complicates first seasons. I truly believe it would’ve had a chance to end up a lot better had they just had two more episodes, but alas. Thankfully the creative team seems very open and humble to criticism, so I’m hoping this is just the prelude to something much greater. I think this show and its actors can really grow into themselves. Very mixed bag with dubious choices and execution, but in that mix is also potential. Edit: I’m not trying to defend the writing here. I’m just pointing out that plainly stating that the writing did a poor job or even that they’re hacks is oversimplifying the matter. There are more factors at play than meets the eye and they don’t necessarily have to mean book 2 and 3 will be ass. Budget is just one of these factors.

No, I'm sorry to say it, but this adaptation left a bitter taste in my mouth. I couldn't even make it through the first episode. There were too many things that felt off to me. TBH, it's my opinion that directors need to stop making live action adaptation shows. It ends up just being a cash grab trying to retell a story that was already told. Especially Avatar, they nailed it the first time, hence why it still has 100% on rotten tomatoes. Animation is the perfect medium to portray the story.

They did Avatar Roku nasty, turned it off after his appearance

I wanted to love it so bad😭 Pros- Zuko Iroh CGI mostly First 20 min of episode one Flash backs Cons- Dialog 😭 Writing Representation of past avatars Imbalance tone Pace

I really liked how they added a festival for the air nomads in the beginning

Ngl i definitely started checking my phone more once we got to the spirit episode, it kinda took me out of it.

Azula looks like she's been snacking on a few too many fire flakes.

As someone who watched the original show 5 times and didn't get bored. Binge the hell out of the animated version and save time not watching the Netflix version. The casting was good dont get me wrong but i feel the entirety of the show is condensed down way too much.

Exposition dumps, odd dialogue, awkward catch phrases, dialed down comedy turned cringe, other changes that make no sense. Only thing it's got going is good cgi and actors wich gets ruined by bad writing. 5/10 for me.

my one fear i had with the live action is the directors seemed to think they can do better than the original and i feel that might have been what happened but i could also be wrong, but your burrito analogy was spot on, and bumi actually broke my heart one of my favorite characters which deep in impactful diminished to a man driven to insanity by war bumi is much more

I loved the series. There were a few issues I had with it, but they can be over looked, except for ONE BIG detail that I don't like nor agree with the direction, who ever decided, the show will be going. Book 1 is called Water, Book 2 Earth and Book 3 Fire, in correspondence to each element Aang is suppose to be learning in each Book/Series. I loved the whole arc with Katara learning to bend water and see her excel but I don't like the route they took with Aang. I tried keeping it as vague as possible for people that has not seen it yet, but that was my only issue.

I agree with this for the most part. The one thing I think you didn’t mention enough which is also my biggest issue with it is the writing. The “show don’t tell” rule was ignored heavily. There were so many moments that things were explained right after you made the realization on your own. A big one was Katara using the earth bending technique she saw Bumi use and then Aang calling it out immediately. As well as the repetition of Aang’s drive to make up for the past. Felt like he had no arc. He wants to become the avatar at the start and he wants to become the avatar at the end. But then for some reason he refuses to learn water bending. I could go on but I think my point is made.

I gave it a 7! The Zuko and Iroh funeral moment did it for me and the genocide scene 🥺

You actually liked the 1st and 2nd episodes!? I thought they were terrible, the first scene has the best action of both episodes and it ultimately didn't progress the story forward. I think the story telling was disjointed and just not good. Bad CGI, weird acting, and just overall not good.

you gotta give em credit tho, it was a hard task from the beginning to make an adaptation on this show

The thing I missed the most was Jeremy's music. I think Zuko and Sokka stole the show. I worry about Katara though. I think she doesn't have the acting range for the role sadly But the show shines most when it tries its own thing. Like the Suko and Iroh flashback with a hint of Leaves from the vine. They took bold moves and respected the source material. For me it's a 7/10. The original is a 10/10, and the 2010 one is a 2. So a +5 improvement is what we should focus on. Not the -3

I hated the way they portrayed Azula

yea…I’ll probably get hate for this but man…it’s very…bad writing and it looks cheap ngl. They changed the whole spirit world and I hated how rushed it all was. That’s Roku? That’s Koh? wtf?? 2:18 Bad pacing and weird dialogue, decent visuals but they messed up so many arcs. They messed up Katara big time. If it gets renewed, please just stick closer to the source material. The more I watched the more glaring it became as to why the creators left midway thru production. It’s a 5/10 for me :/ the movie is a -100/10 but damn I was really looking forward to this.

1:06 ok now Im constantly pausing to write stuff. ANTOINE you are a Top tier movie reviewer. You would have been at least 1million plus if you did this exclusively. Although I am glad you do more than just that, I think it might be your calling. In 1 minute, I already knew that you are aware of the stigma behind this franchise in regards to it's live action versions. I knew you knew what the exact problems were, and that you were actively watching the show to see if they learned from their predecessors. Bravo Antoine!

I feel like it started to fall off with Bumi, then completely fell off when all 3 were in the spirit world. It kinda lost me after that. It’s still better than the movie. I completely agree with your rating

Yeah, this was a mixed bag for sure. It’s not terrible, but it could’ve been so much better. I hope that they can do some course correcting if they get seasons 2 and 3. And I want Netflix to give them 10-12 episodes to work with. 8 is nowhere near enough.

I love the show, 8.5/10 can’t wait for more

Yue being a fox also ruined it for me. There is only ONE bridge between the human and spirit world

I think we can all agree that visually everything looks amazing. The problem is Netflix doesn't seem willing to keep with how the Avatar story was told. Choosing to mix things around in ways that simply don't make sense. Given the fact that this is a Series with hour long episode, I can't see this as an issue of time. So why is Netflix self sabotaging?

It is a mixed bag in the sense that the series was cut short by Netflix for not allowing more episodes across more seasons. But in my opinion, they achieved the most that they could do. I just really hope the series is enough of a success to develop more episodes across more seasons.

Much better than I expected, I'm looking forward to season 2.

The trailer was soooo good that I was super disappointed 😔

I enjoyed it! Loved the “MY CABAGES!!” I had forgotten about that 😂😂😂

5/10 just because the movie exists Iroh wasn't as powerful, insightful, and compassionate as he was meant Zuko was too soft. His initial anger didn't shine Katarra was weird Bumi was a tire fire Azula wtf

one thing charlie pointed out that i kind of notice with EVERY 8 episode netflix adaptation is that characters are always standing on top of business being chess pieces in the world rather than stopping for a moment and just being goofball characters like they did every now and then in the cartoon. I notice netflix did this to One Piece and Beebop

It’s not a mixed bag it’s garbage …. I’ve never said what I’m about to say because I don’t like the thought of the average person job being affected but it’s needs to be cancelled. Not because I personally hated it but because it’s rewarding bad behavior to give this show a S2

The show itself is okay compared to Shyamalan's school project. But the acting of Aang is terrible. I understand he is a kid, but still, the portrayal lacks authenticity. They depict him as always crying, endlessly talking about friends, and appearing powerless. His inability to fight and manipulate water as expected is disappointing. It feels like Katara is the main character, and the show should be titled "Katara: The Last Northern Waterbender." Aang's character lacks development; he faces the same issues repeatedly without growth. Removing Aang from the show wouldn't alter its essence. Azula is portrayed as a common teenager rather than the brave, calculated character she is in the original. There's a lack of confidence and strategic plotting, undermining her complexity. While other changes from the source material are acceptable as adaptations, the omission of the love and connection between Aang and Katara is glaring. Their warm moments and sibling-like bond are absent. The Cave of Two Lovers, Katara's mentorship of Aang, all gone. Katara's sudden declaration of needing Aang and their familial bond feels forced. Poor Bumi was butchered, instead of being mad genius that guides Aang and teaches him to think different, he is just old, depressed and self-destructive. He is not wise (God forbid man to be wise nowadays), he is just angry grumpy old man, like your neighbor across the street. There's a lack of connection between the Avatar and other characters as well. They are merely shadowed to give more screen time to secondary characters. While exploring other characters is intriguing, not at the expense of the main hero. Overall, a 6/10. The spoonfeeding of morals and sidelining of the main hero are disappointing

As a person who has never watched the animated version of the show, I didn't have any expectations of how this netflix adaptation was gonna turn out. In my honest opinion, I liked it very much, I really enjoyed the show and I didn't feel bored while watching it. I can't wait for another season where in Aang master some of the other elements.

I give this season 7.5 / 10. I loved the first 2 episodes, especially "warriors" Kyoshi battling zhao and his army was my favorite part of the whole show. i felt like i was there and in fear. I'm actually liked epsidoe 3, while bumi characters is not the same as the original i do like/understand the changes for bumi character in this adaption. for 100 years this king been dealing with war and he knew his friend was the avatar and he disappeared to not be seen until 100 years afterwards. in his kingdom where his people are dying, starving, because of this war. For 100 years of the same thing it gets tiring, you have to make tough decisions to keep things afloat. so when bumi knows it's aang, he's letting all his frustration out while trying to get aang a taste of reality that he NEVER experienced. i actually loved the line "you were gone for 100 years but you NEVER lived for a 100 years" This bumi shows his grieve, but also trying to get aang up to speed about what's to come in this new world. Zuko was definitely the best characrter of all. I felt like katara was the weakest unfortunately she isn't showing the values she carried in the show. I hope they fix this in book 2.

5-6/10 if I’m being generous Your burrito analogy was pretty spot on though

The Netflix adaptation is a good example of "If it ain't broke don't fix"

i cant decide if its bad acting or bad director

Truthfully if we weren't comparing the Netflix version of the series to one of the set standards and goals for cartoons then the Netflix adaptation holds up far better. The show by itself wasn't bad, and while I didn't mind certain changes like Yue being a water bender, the expansion upon antagonists like Azula, Ozai, and Zhao, the amazing performance for the actors of Zuko and Iroh, information on the 41st division, and the bending (water bending needs to be ironed out a bit but it was alright). The show definitely had intermediate expectations. It's definitely better the movie's version of ATLA but would obviously be inferior to the original series. The change in having Aang going for a walk versus running away from his destiny was an interesting change, and while I initially liked it, the series dropped the ball as it felt like the series was trying to beat the lessons of "this is war, take it seriously" to the wrong version of Aang. As you got Kyoshi, Bumi, and others constantly telling him to take things seriously, but he already is. I also believe I agree that the changes to Katara's character, while interesting ideas, fell a bit flat. Unlike the original where Katara was receiving hidden training to hone her water bending skills, she just sort of popped up as proficient in the art through self study which I wasn't a fan of. Personally I'd say it's a 6-7/10 for me. It has potential, and while I'm fine with them breaking away from the cartoon in certain ways, they need to have better long term planning for it.

The weakest part of the show is the dialogue and exposition dumps. The other thing is the filming technique. It's not shot in a way that's conducive to the storytelling. The scenes, camera movements, and sets have the feel of a high budget fan film. It looks good, but the motion feels unnatural and uncomfortable.

Ill give it a 7 overall; It's good but falls short on some things. Personally I think they should have slowed down on the pacing and the information dump. They introduced certain characters way too early and some lack the backstories and time to feel any significance. The animated series (which is like you said untouchable) made alot of scenes & reveals impact the audience because they took their time and let us get invested into the characters.

You're so right about the mixed bag. It's exactly what I felt. Sometimes it hit and hit so good. The 41st division thing was brilliant. DDK managed to still be so disgusting (but sexy). He saved the awkward storyline. And I'm sadly still simping😢. But it's interesting that the best episodes were from the original creators. Yet there was talk about them ruining the show. I definitely wish the writers would have trusted the audience a bit more instead of trying to answer all the questions. I honestly feel like they ruined the southern raiders episode but the reunion between Sokka and Hakoda could be epic. Again, a mixed bag. I don't see how Zuko and Azula can reconcile especially considering the crossroads of destiny. But I guess we'll see.

The 1st 20 seconds of your video perfectly summarizes how I feel about the show, too. That was so perfect, I honestly think it's almost fact.

5 for me, literally just left me in the middle. Didnt move forward or backwards. Didn't feel like a journey, it felt like Plain Toast. It's not bad, it's edible but you can do much more with it.

I feel like the show gets too much credit for being better than the movie. I get that the movie sucked, but that's a crazy low bar.

Agreed totally. I also feel like 10 or 11 episodes would have been better to fit in more of what was missing. They needed more downtime, more Aang and Katara training together. Them just hanging out and camping around a campfire add a bit more whimsy. The pace was definitely very rushed. Fix some of the flat dialogue, Hopefully with all the criticism coming out they will be able to improve on what's being expressed by fans.

I am glad people liked it bit for me personally, I found middling. In my opinion it is a solid 6 out of 10. I don't think it was bad, but they lost points for pacing, character directions that were a break from character, for what story notes they cut out of their version, and for a instance of hypocracy that they display for certain portrayals. Each of those instances were a -1 which is how I got to 6 out of 10.

I really loved the Zuko and Iroh plots and I found it interesting that they went for a darker, grittier theme. The biggest problem in the show for me, is that the writers never let the characters have FUN. The core aspect of Aang's character is his joy in being alive and his curiosity towards the world; in the original, his excitement at everything and his playing and being a kid (penguin sledding, riding the stone carts in Omashu etc) are what make you fall in love with his character. Not only that, but it makes the world feel real and beautiful and makes you really feel how the world has suffered due to war in comparison. In this remake, I think Gordon does a great job of giving Aang that spark of life, but he's thrown around from fight scene to emotional conflict to self doubt to straight up being harrassed. And it's the same with the other characters - we don't get to see any of the Gaang just straight up having fun, and to me it's a huge loss.

Order of adaptations from animated series to live action (series / movie) : 9. Dragon Ball = Trash 8. Street Fighter = Trash Can 7. Mulan = Dry Leaves 6. Sonic = Plastic Cup 5. Detective Conan = Iphone Box 4. Death Note = Bronze 3. One Piece = Silver 2. Avatar (TLAB 2024) = Gold 1. Samurai X = Diamond

I keep seeing so many people saying “this isn’t a 1:1 adaptation” Those people are missing the point. It does not need to be! That’s not the argument. It just needs to keep the KEY elements in which made the cartoon great as far as character arcs and development and crucial plots that flow in order to be successful. The Netflix version fails to do these steps. They nailed visuals, just not the storytelling.

I don’t like how monk gyatso died. He was supposed to die surrounded by fire benders. That’s reflects how powerful he was and how powerful Aang could be. Also showing that bison can fly messes up how we get introduced to Sokka because it shows how would end up getting proved wrong …

Netflix has done it again! They took something great and butchered it until it's absolutely dead.

I think the show was overall good and much better than the 2010 movie, but I'm discontent with Katara and her arc in the show, like another commentator said she seemed so shy instead of fierce and outspoken like in the cartoons plus, her not actually learning waterbending from Pakku but suddenly just becoming a "master" doesn't make any sense

For me 70% of the show felt like the original while 30% was different I was for the most part happy what we got but I can understand if people don't like it

This series desperately needed 2 to 3 more episodes. There was too much crammed into too little space and because of that it lost some of the vital nuances that the OG benefitted from. It’s actual impressive they told a cohesive story in only eight episodes. It should’ve been 10-12 (budget not withstanding). Season 1 of OG Avatar was good but not the top tier masterpiece we all remember due to seasons 2/3. The heart is in the right place here. The actors are all great. Music is excellent. But they need more room to make the story great.

It turned out better than I expected. But I truly set the lowest bar possible. I believe that helped me to enjoy it more than to seek nuances and moments of dissatisfaction. The only thing that wasn't truly a feast to my eye was how mediocre Azula and her besties looked in the show out of all cast. I mean... it isn't the actor's fault, but it was a miscast. I didn't catch the vibe of Azula at all. Though I believe if you look closely to the first season you'll be able to find so much more of the weird things. Like Aang not even trying to bend water or else.

This live action series was amazing. It exceeded the movie and I dare to say even the animated series. This proves that diversity matters, well done to the cast and producers!

Smh Netflix shouldn't make other season if people think it trash it some of us thought it good or great.i dont know why people thought it was going be same as animated series. When they say they want it be like game throne be more serious but add and remove stuff and change it up i give it 8/10 which if they don't take it heart they will make other season if not they will stop but at least we have animated show that come out later when team avatar older but i got feeling people going be mad and trash that to

Good thing i'm not eating my words anymore.

Honestly, my favorite episodes were 5, 6, and 8, with 1, 2, 3, 4, and 7 being somewhat in the middle. To be fair, there's a mix of things in each episode that I like and don't like, its just episodes 5, 6 and 8 had the least of the things I dislike. In all, they should've just made a new series based on the next Earthbender avatar after Korra.

I was honestly really happy with it, and I hope they take the feedback and tweak the show, because honestly it really does a lot of things very well and if they can fix the issues, book 2 and 3 could really be amazing.