Netflix's Avatar The Last Airbender... Why It's Mediocre 

My thought after watching the show: “I’m just gonna rewatch the original for the 20th time.”

I don't agree that showing Azula's insecurity was a good choice. The whole point of Azula is that she was the better sibling at everything - bending, planning things, executing plans, reading people etc. By showing her being this insecure so early on, the stark contrast between her and Zuko fades.That makes her tragic villainry rather boring, BECAUSE we don't see her fall from Grace like she did in the original show!

Last point about Katara learning too fast in the original is not true at all. You have her barely catch a fish in a ball of water. Then she steals the scroll and trains with Aang, gets frustrated that he's learning faster than her. Then she gets to the north where she's rejected, so Aang teaches her what he learns. Pakku catches them and get's angry, demands an apology, so Katara challenges him, and get's her ass handed to her, but he notices her necklace and feels bad. Then he decides to train her and there's a time jump to her beating all his other students. Contrast that to the show? She can't bend, then Aang tells her "it's about the energies" and she bends a 50 meter tower to block a fireball in the first episode...

In the original series no one blamed Aang more than himself for disappearing. By having Boomie blame Aang openly I think it really takes away from his internal guilt. I also missed the mad genius lesson Boomie teaches.

Here’s the thing about Bumi. Yes, an old man who’s resentful of aang because he has seen the entirety of the war and has had to make hard decisions is an interesting character, but it’s not Bumi. Bumi is the type of character to see the classic trolley problem, and find a 3rd, “mad genius” solution. He also told Aang he’d have to rely on his friends. The Bumi we get in this show is a man that presents aang with trolley-like problems, and doesn’t expect aang to find a 3rd, “mad genius” solution because he himself can’t see it, and he calls aang a “cheater” when his friends help him. I agree that this character is interesting to pit against aang, but this character is not Bumi. Other things I disliked was them taking away sokka’s sexist flaws and aangs flaw of being undisciplined. I disliked this because it ended up tearing down other characters. Take sokka, for instance. Originally, he has a conflict with suki because of his sexist attitude. They took away sokka’s sexism, but they still wanted a conflict so what did they do? They gave suki’s character more flaws (which I hated, don’t pull down other characters because you want to lift another up). With aang, taking away his flaws meant that he really didn’t learn anything useful from any of his experiences or mentors because 1) he didn’t have the same flaws (or any noticeable flaws really) so there were no consequences for him to learn and grow from, and 2) almost everyone gave him bad advice, so aang literally regresses because he was actually pretty far along with the right mindset to begin with and listening to others gave him flaws. This makes the past avatars and people like Bumi look antagonistic, when they are supposed to be an aid to aang. Again, other characters are getting torn down because they took significant character flaws away from aang. I really disliked this, and they should have kept aang as the kid that ran away (like you mentioned) and kept him as the kid that was also undisciplined and trying to have fun rather than focus on his responsibilities, then we could have seen him actually grow rather than regress in the show.

Bro you are mixing up self seriousness with maturity, they are not the same thing . The live action version is not more mature it’s more self serious which is actually a lot more childish . You can be mature and playful they aren’t mutually exclusive

Netflix's Avatar: The Last Airbender 0 Years Later

A big thing with Katara, in the og show she doesn't become a master after the fight with Pakku. There's a notable time jump where it shows they were being taught, and then again at the start of season 2, when they leave she's named a master, because she trained harder than any of his other students, whereas Aang was slackin a bit. It's just weird for them to forego that opportunity for them to justify the time skips we know they need to implement since the series will take place over a longer span of time.

Maturity doesn’t mean how many bodies you burn, its how many heads you open ~ someone from TikTok

I can't believe how lenient you're being towards this show. Also, dude, saying that the 100 year war was aangs fault because he ran away in the animated show is plain wrong. It's kinda the whole point that aang being there wouldn't have changed anything and he'd have only been killed himself. Aang has survivors guilt, not genuine blame for the genocide. I'll give you some benefit of the doubt and assume you simply misspoke, but if not, you gotta rewatch the series again man.

Duh the original show mostly focuses on Roku over the other Avatars. 1. He was born in the Fire Nation. 2. Roku played a role in not doing enough to prevent the impending war. 3. Roku was the Avatar right before Aang. 4. Roku had a direct connection/relationship with Sozin, you know, the guy Sozin’s comet is named after. Having Kyoshi play a bigger role simply feels like a fan service move only because people obsess over her character and saw Roku as lesser than her.

For the season finale I have a big issue that they didn’t have Zuko actually abduct Aang in the live action. Zukos biggest drive in season 1 was to finally get his hands on the Avatar and throughout the seasons he always gets close but never is able to finally achieve his goal. However, once he is actually able to achieve his goal of capturing the Avatar it becomes clear that he had no where to go and would of probably died in the blizzard if the Gaang didn’t show up. It ties in to Irohs speech in season 2 about Zuko not thinking things through when he was going to steal Appa and symbolizes how capturing the Avatar was never going to give Zuko the honor he desperately wanted.

My gripe with Katara’s waterbending at the north pole is not that she seemingly learnt super quickly per se, but that all of it was self-taught and she obtained status of “master” by the Master Pakku without having learned anything from him. At least in the original it’s believable that she learned so quickly because Master Pakku trained her.

I’m sorry, but the fact that Katara became a master ON HER OWN is the thing that I have a huge problem with. Yes, she did become a master with extreme speed in the OG AFTER she trained with a master, and it was established heavily in the first season that Katara had skill. In the Netflix she just…. Wills it into existence? Sure, she’s got the scroll but her fight with Zuko at the end was so disappointing. It felt like they were throwing the teaching aspect of bending out the window just for Katara. It made her even more badly written for me. Not that I didn’t like some aspects, but yeah. I hope it goes better for her and the other characters in season two.

I think i disagree with 90% of what you said. Azula should be someone who strikes fear not someone who looks like a scared child. Showing the genocide of the air nomads took away all suspense from the discovery

It still REALLY bothers me that they removed Katara's motherly aspects because its too "misogynistic." Why is being motherly a bad thing? Women aren't allowed to show one of the best traits any human being can have???

Removing sokkas sexism arc only to ironically make suki a creep towards him (when he has no shirt) taking away kataras emotions, jealousy, motherly qualities and her bossiness, Aang not being playful enough and too determined to fulfill his responsibilities when that’s supposed to be the whole arc of his throughout the show. Zuko not being as hotheaded and self loathing as he should’ve been. The worst part is the unbelievable amount of EXPOSITION. This show is all tell and no show. Although episode 6 is what I can call a genuinely good episode. Yes there were some “good” changes, but they weren’t as impactful, you’re spot on about that. The most impactful was the additions. But Sokkas removal of his attitude is the worst about his character. The original show constantly shows it to be something sokka needs to grow out of, and it keeps challenging him to do so. His assumptions of there being “natural” assignment of mens and womens roles ultimately gets him humbled, and it’s his misguided result of him having to step up when his father left him in charge when the men left. His assumptions of the kyoshi warriors having to have been men, calling their practice “dance lessons” only for them to beat him every time. Even though he’s emasculated by putting on the “dress” and makeup, it’s something he consciously chooses to still do in order to learn to fight from them. This completely underscores his jaded concept of there being masculine and feminine roles and changes his worldview by showing that they’re not opposing or paradoxical. You can be both. Which is why suki says “I’m a warrior, but I’m a girl too” after she kisses him. The fact that he gets on his knees and asks suki to teach him, and suki says “even if im a girl?” just shows the importance of his arc. If someone doesn’t think that’s great story telling and an interesting story, I don’t know what is.

That would be such a big mistake in my opinion to make Iroh go through his arc in the actual show because it was canon that iroh was a white lotus spy for the latter years of his fire nation time and was there to make sure things didn’t get worse

I'm sorry but you cannot tell me that they nailed aangs character. They added a few surface level goofy moments plucked directly from the animated show for him in the first two episodes, but other than that he was extremely serious and entirely focused on saving the northern water tribe. I felt like the 12 year old, goofy kid I knew had been replaced by a hyper responsible grown adult. Where was the whimsy? The energy? Aangs arc in the animated show was largely about him learning to stop goofing off and start taking his destiny seriously. But he never goofs off in the Netflix show. He's ALL ABOUT destiny and taking his role seriously there. This wasn't the same character at all. I think the actor did great - he was super cute. But the character they gave him to act out wasn't aang.

I really liked how Hei Bai looked but then they just like... don't use him really. He attacks them for one scene after they immediately figure out he's the spirit of the forest and that's it. In terms of Korra references I think Kuruk fighting Dark Spirits was also supposed to refer to concepts from Korra

You lost me at your bumi take.

I feel like they completely missed the point for most of the characters. A big issue I have with it is that Aang never waterbends at all. It really kinda just nerfs a lot of the characters and makes Katara almost a nothing character.

I have to disagree on Katara's "Master" title. In the animated show, it is implied that at least some time has passed where Katara and Aang trained under Master Pakku. In the Netflix show, they don't receive any training because within at most 2 days the Fire Nation troops are already there. Katara and Aang didn't train at all. Zero training. Katara being called a Master is even more unearned than even in the Shyamalan version, where they trained offscreen. It's summarized in a single sentence of monologue, but at least it's there.

I’m surprised you didn’t mention the change with koh. One of aang’s defining moments from just being a kid to being seen as “the avatar” I feel is with his confrontation with koh. This is because koh takes the face of anyone that shows emotion, and aang is a very emotional character. Because of that, him being able to face koh without showing any emotion is an absolutely astonishing moment that makes you impressed with aang, and it makes you think “this is AVATAR Aang”. It is a great moment, and I am so disappointed that they changed it to simply returning some totem that Roku stole. It’s never explained why this totem is stolen btw, and Roku just lets it go so you get the feeling the totem is unimportant. But then again, why in the world would Roku steal something from a super dangerous spirit if it wasn’t important? It just doesn’t make sense, and it’s no where near as impactful as the original confrontation with koh.

They did Monk Gyatso SO DIRTY with his death

I hate everything you liked about the Netflix version except rhe 41st division being Zuko's crew..... watching this video was hard because you are agreeable with so many reasons the show is bad.

In the original, Katara gets really good at waterbending because she trains with Paku. In the live action, she doesn't train with Paku but is still an amazing water bender.

I disagree, Haru was a good episode. Imprisoned was one of my favorites because it showed just how ruthless and racist the Fire nation was. They had these earthbenders in a prison labor concentration camp and they made earthbending illegal, punishable by forced labor. The warden literally said “there won’t be any of the brutal savagery you guys try to pass off as bending”.

suki’s mom is the most power character in the show, that throw is crazy

This show was AWFUL. I’m tired of the sugarcoating. Let’s stop lying to ourselves. We’re way too old for that. It’s a visually stunning DUMPSTER FIRE 🚮. The acting isn’t “clunky at times”, as stated by the RU-vidr. The acting is absolutely TERRIBLE most of the time. Rent most definitely wasn’t due when you see these actors performances. Enough sugarcoating.

3:55 Sozin has been on his conquest ever since Roku was alive, colonizing some Earth territory already. And he continued again after Roku's death.

One of the biggest problems is, like in Ahsoka, the use of stagecraft. Every single location looks totally fake, colours look wrong, the out of focus thing is out of control, and everything looks as lifeless like Thor 4. Also, this version of Azula SUCKS. Azula is a scary creepy teen, not that whiny girl

I definitely think the nuance of Zuko's fight with his father is lost in this adaptation. In the original he speaks out of turn, yes. But he didn't know he'd be fighting Ozai until he showed up. Zuko was 100% ready to toss hands with what ever General showed up to the fight. Once he realizes its his father, he drops to his knees in shock and begs for forgiveness. Only to have his Father to inflict not only the worst physical pains imaginable by burning his face, but emotional pain by basically disowning his first born. He wants nothing to do with his own son after having his Authority challenge, once, by his like 10/12 year old son. The Grip on his throne is so tight he cant have his son talking back to him. Imagine if it was just a random General who spoke out. They'd probably be killed at the war table.

The show isn’t completely awful, but the dialogue sure as hell does NOT capture “the heart of Avatar.” It’s so bad and mutilates any sense of nuance and depth the series brought

Starting the series in the past and showing the Air Nomads getting wiped out in the 1st episode does not work because it destroys a lot of the mystery on why Aang is the Last Airbender, terrible decision by the Netflix writers. The show is a 5/10 at best.

This may not be a popular opinion, but the only character I thought they did a good job showcasing was Zuko, but they did it in a way that takes away from the overall story. If you are a Zuko fan then you had a lot to love about how he was portrayed in the live action series. He was featured a lot, got a lot of backstory, and a lot of flashbacks. You even got a random, out of nowhere Zutara nod. My problem is that they made him too sympathetic of a character too soon. The original series did a good job leaving bread crumbs to Zuko being a sympathetic character but this show was too ham fisted with it. Alot of his rougher edges such as how he treats Uncle is sanded down and his kindness is focused on His eventual transition is too obvious now. My wife who's never saw the series called it after like the second or third episode. They also hurt other characters to prop him up. Look at iroh telling the 41st fleet that they are only alive because of Zuko, as a way to pretty much say, it doesn't matter how bad Zuko treats y'all, you owe him forever. Uncle would never justify Zuko being a jerk. He would apologize for him and explain why but never excuse it.

You watched it twice? I could only do it once and that was it. Their voices and dialogue, I just couldn’t do it. And I send the animation at least 17 times.

The challenges Bumi had Aang face in the original show were to help him face the Fire Lord. He wanted Aang to have the experience he would need to defeat Ozai.

The decision to skip Aang's waterbend training might have to do with the fact that he didn't go through a emotional arc during this process, unlike his earthbending and firebending training. It's very possible that Aang's training will play bigger role in season 2, specially when he find out about the Sozin's cometh, which the series could easly use to adapt Aang meeting with Jeong Jeong, since that information will justify Aang being so desperate to learn faster, resulting in him making some mistakes.

i hate when it's accepted that tv shows have only 8 episodes and some viewers makes excuses/coping that story is cramped because it's only 8 episodes and say it's better than the movie. of course it's better than the movie. the lu ten's scene is not really effective for me and for my normie friend because the relationship between zuko and uncle iroh isn't that developed.that's why the backstory isn't in book 1. i think it's heartfelt for fans because they know already the story. Avatar Roku became a mcguffin Ozai is weaker than Zuko Azula is no where near the same character as the original. she's no where confident, bully or anything like crazy. is she a secret child? because those rebels didn't know her. Avatar Kyoshi is a fan service Sokka sexism is removed but Northern water tribe is sexist. I'm somehow confused on why the female water benders immediately went to fight in the frontline. they're medic, what are they going to do if the medics are dead? there's a reason why medics don't fight. overall it's amazing visually but it failed because of poor script, dialogue, plot and basically no character development. at the end i asked my normie friends which episodes they like, they picked 1,2 and 8. so just the action. 5/10 ⭐

If the monks were anticipating some sort of Fire Nation attack, then it was pretty stupid of them to decide it would be a good idea to all be in one place at one time. Not all changes are bad, but this change actively makes the backstory dumber. I know they show wanted more of Avatar Kyoshi, but the reason the cartoon was more focused on Avatar Roku, was he's literally the last Avatar before Aang, so would naturally be his most direct connection, and also because Roku at least in part, blames himself as being *responsible for the war* Katara's motherliness was removed for the same reason Sokka's sexism was removed. They don't look upon it favorably. As they showed at the end, with all the healers that are now an army ready to fight (ridiculous), this show has a problem with any sort of femininity that they feel isn't "strong." All in all, because it has the hindsight of knowing what happens, one of the Netflix show's biggest problems is it's constantly showing things without letting the mystery play out (they really don't let the audience wonder or ask questions) and it is constantly setting up things that feel more like telegraphing the obvious, rather than feeling organic. (Which is basically what you brought up with Zuko's redemption being made easier.)

Aang didn't run away in the Netflix show he went to clear his head. Taking away a major character arc from Aang later in the show. From his perspective, he accepted he was the Avatar in 72hrs, and I find ridiculous. Also robs Korra, the next Avatar, of what made her stand out compared to Aang.

Sorry but ATLA Netflix was disappointing.. There are multiple cepisodes that it was painful to watch .. The Spirited something was like scratching ur fingernails to chalkboard

@The Gold Man - I can´t believe you "liked" what they did with Suki... She was my most disliked character in the live action. No: She´s not one-note in the animated show. I always thought it was great how they made her character so complex (in the anime) with just a few lines. She´s one note HERE... She´s a simp who´s making loving eyes to Soka after having ZERO LINES OF DIALOGUE.. They even kiss at the end of the episode (I LITERALLY had to stop watching the LA after episode 2, for a few days... THEY MADE THEM KISS, AND FALL IN LOVE. IN THE FIRST EPISODE... In the anime, they don´t kiss, or even know each other that much, until much later... THAT is one note, my friend). Ive literally seen Steven Seagal movies with a better written (and acted.. tvh) romance than this garbage.

00:05 "After watching the entire season twice"... You are such a brave soul lol. I couldn't even finish it once, i hated it :)

I feel like you should rewatch the show, for example in the original the monks didn't rush him at all, all they did was tell him he was the avatar.

zuko not having his eyesight on honor is a massive change it completely disregards the character growth that builds to the point throughout the show, zuko battles with his honor with whats right the honor he lost when he spoke outta place taken by his father when it’s literally scorched into his face that moment but he grows to not let it shape his life - -he learns through struggles that it’s up to him to deside his own destiny and by being true to himself his honor can never be fully taken from him. i think not including this obsession is a MASSIVE oversight on Zukos overall story.

With Katara When she gets the scrolls from the pirates it seems she was struggling with water bending and just little lines like ‘it took my 2 months to get down this move’ showed there was a lot of frustration and hard work involved in her improvement. It showed she got there through hard work and it wasn’t just this latent natural talent being unlocked. when she got upset at how fast aang could pick up waterbending while she struggled a bit, it shows us she put a lot of time in it. I think they just needed natural dialogue where it informs the audience she’s been chipping at this for awhile.

Biggest disappointments for me were the spirited away episode and Roku, Roku is probably one of my top five favorite characters in the original series and in this show I didn't like him at all, and I really enjoyed the original Hei Bei arc about Aang and the spirit of the forest coming to terms with this new world

Bumi wasn't even a king when aang disappeared. And no your missing the point of the animated show. Bumi is aang only connection to his past and bumi just wants to have fun with his old friend and when aang realize it's bumi his friend and realize him and his friends are not in danger is great they hug and it's nice. They butchered bumi in the live action. The azula would work better if they were doing this before zuko left. But it's to much of a contradiction from her character. Her father is the only authoritative figure she listens to and acknowledge. She would never dare to speak back to him. In the show when she did ozai was quick to remind her of her place and she realized that. It just doesn't work. I do like Elizabeth yu as azula the script needs work

Personally I didn't mind Aang empathizing with Zuko in the Blue Spirit episode since Zuko redemption didn't involve just him bonding with Aang but the whole team. Just because Aang sees something good in Zuko, doesn't mean his friends will do the same. I could easly see this version having the team being split about accepting Zuko, with some like Toph willing to risk while others like Katara refuse to belive in him, with Aang in the middle having to make the big decision. Plus, if the series adapt Crossroads of Destiny, Zuko's betrayal will make things difficult, since the heroes gave him and chance and he betrayed them.

25:17 Bumi’s lessons are very important in the original show. Bumi’s main lesson was “think outside the box” that is how Aang eventually finds a solution to the war without killing the Fire Lord.

Eliminating the Aang-Katara romance probably has more to do with Netflix standards and the social/legal complication of having actual child actors making out on screen. I think its a clear indicator that we're not going to see anything more than a platonic romance over the course of the show and honestly im fine with that.

I think “mediocre” is the perfect way to describe this series. I enjoyed it and I thought it adapted the original world well, but I cannot get around how they did some of the characters.

I'm mixed about this adaptation. Almost everyting like you. The reasons I don't like it are, mostly : - Not seeing Aang (and Katara) waterbending and training a single time. - Katara not learning from Paku. - Zhao, one of my favorite original charater is here made incompetent and not a strategist and tactical genius. Just a pion of Azula. Sometimes a bit cringe, even if the Netflix character is intrintsing, I love too much the animated Zhao to like this change. - Momo disapearing of the screen, like it's too complex or too expensive to animate. - The "lack" of team avatar "interactions". - The Redeeming qualities of Zuko being show way too early. - The secret tunnel being about Sokka and Katara. - Aang's disappearance being "I went for a walk". - Zuko and Ozaï Agni Kai. (- The Maï actress, even if she's a good performer, I thing she wasn't the good one to cast, she doesn't look like her animated alter-ego. But that remains minor). The things I'm mixed about : - The earlier introduction of Ozaï, Azula, Maï and Ty-Lee. - The too early dialogs between Aang and Iroh. - Roku being too "funny", I prefer the OG calm and paragon Roku. Yet I don't mind this adaptation. The things I like : - The opening. - The Luthen funeral scene. - The world building, the effects and decors. - The lieutenant Jee developement. - Iroh's actor performences. - Gyatso developement. - Hakoda being disapointed by Sokka making a parallel with Zuko. - The fighting choreographies. (sometimes identicals to the animated serie) - A lot of the cast actors choice, like Ozaï, Iroh, Paku, Ty-Lee, Aang, Suki, Sokka, etc. - How they articulated the show to put the maximum in 8 episodes. Yet I think they could haved put a ninth episode to fix some flaws. For me, it's a 6.5/10. It's a good show but, they are doing an adaptation of a near perfect show, and I think, they failed on that part.

I'm guessing I enjoyed the show a bit more than the majority of fans, as I would personally qualify it as "good" (though not "great") rather than "mediocre". The biggest flaw for me was the dialogs and heavy exposition (Gran Gran reciting the intro in the first episode felt really awkward and unnatural). I didn't have too much issue with most of the changes from the source material and could understand the reasoning between most of them. For example, a lot of people complain about Ozai being less of a straight evil antagonist (for example, showing emotions when burning Zuko's face), but I feel like this will make Aang's final decision about him more understandable for newcomers (staying vague to not spoil elements from the cartoon). The fact that most additions from the source material worked (the 41st link, Lu Ten's funeral...) means that there is more potential for improvements in further seasons. Now the biggest issue for me was almost everything surrounding Katara. They really washed down her personality and she just comes out as a shy, quiet girl, where the Katara from the cartoon was the motherly figure of the group and showed a wide array of emotions throughout all episodes. The change about her and Pakku was not good either imo.

I disagree hard with the Suki points. In the original, she was a strong warrior before anything else. In the Netflix show, she’s just a girl slobbering over Sokka for no reason.

I have a hard time with creepy Bumi. I know this show seems to exist in its own canon, but Aang literally names his son after Bumi. Their relationship was so sweet in the original. I could never see Aang naming his song after the creepy weirdo that blamed him for accidentally getting caught in a storm while trying to clear his head.

@3:40 You find out a bit later that the air nation knew because it had been brewing a long time.. Sozin had established colonies on the earth kingdom before and only stopped because Roku read him for filth and hung him out to dry. Sozin never changed, he just stayed in line because there was a stronger might than him.

Katara didn’t train with the master she just learned more randomly. It was weird af

Katara absolutely progresses in her training throughout the first season of the original show and it happens across the course of the entire season. The water bending scroll episode, when she frst bends water out of Ang's lungs in the kioshi warrior's episode, the way she learns to bend water she can't see in the jet episode, the way she innovates her freezing water in a number of episodes (on Zuko's boat in the first two episodes, against Jet, etc.). She is seen to gradually improve across the course of the series. We even see her apply techniques from other bending styles, primarily earth bending. When she fights Paku in the original series, we see her do a move where she roots her feet in the ice and says "you can't knock me down" which is not only nearly identical to a move we have seen earth benders perform (but with rooting feet in the earth), but is also in line with the ideology of earth bending as later explained by Toph in tough work. We see her clearly demonstrate gradual improvement in her abilities both through improvisation and active study/practice, and it is a core part of her development in season one. The lessons she learns at the north pole are glossed over because they amount to nothing more than formalized training, which is useful but not character relevant to see. It is her development of technique and consistent effort to improve that she demonstrates throughout season one that marks her as having the potential to become a master, and the formalized training under Paku is merely the final step needed to realize that potential.

Big issue with the fire nation attack in the beginning is the fact that the fire enhanced by the comet looks no different from regular fire bending

I feel like this shows heart is in the right place, but there are ...ahem... "elements" that just don't work. I think generally Aang, Sokka, and Katara's story isn't as strong. It's not necessarily bad, and some changes I actually do like, such as getting more of Aang's relationship with Gyatso, but certain changes just leave me scratching my head. Bumi in particular I really didn't like, though that's a personal thing. Also the relationship between Aang and Katara is a little bit more muddled. Maybe they want to go with an idea of having both characters go down a slowburn romance, as opposed to Aang having a blatant crush on Katara, but it does leave me worried that they might try to rush it all in S3. That said, I absolutely love a lot of what we get with Zuko, Iroh, and a lot of the stuff with the Fire Nation in general. The scene with the 41st Division in Ep 6, and the medal scene in Ep 4 feel like something that would be in the original show. In general I feel this show suffers from 1st Season syndrome. It definitely needs to find its footing, and I'm hopeful that the showrunner is able to take some of the feedback in mind and iron out some of the flaws, while still giving this show its own distinct identity.

I’ve been waiting for this for so long!!!!!! I would check and see if you had posted it everyday. I love your contents!!! ❤

I have a few issues with your statements on the King Bumi section. First of all the challenges were not a game to have Aang guess his name, he literally explains why he gave him these challenges. When asked by Sokka why he did it he says “But I do have a reason. Aang you have a difficult task ahead. The world has changed in the hundred years you’ve been gone. It’s the duty of the avatar to restore balance to the world by defeating fire lord Ozai. You have much to learn. You must master the 4 elements and confront the fire lord and when you do, I hope you will think like a mad genius.” This arguably leads to one of Aang's most important choices in taking Ozia's bending instead of taking him out. I also don't think Bumi being mad at Aang makes sense either. They were childhood friends and IDK about you but if my people suffered because my FRIEND got TRAPPED in ice I wouldn't really blame him, it doesn't make sense. Especially in this adaptation where Aang didn't run away from his responsibilities but was coincidentally caught up in a storm on a nightly stroll. It would make sense if Bumi knew that Aang ran away from his duties but he didn't. I think you need to re-watch the original, especially "The King of Omashu" episode because you clearly didn't understand it.

the cartoon did actually cover how the war started/how the air nomads were wiped out they just attacked everywhere all at once so no one nation could help another but it's not hard to see why that's not the easiest explanation to believe same as all air nomads being in the same place at one time

Zokko and Iroh's characterizations were fired up in this series. Meanwhile, Sokka and Katara's characterizations were watered down. 😂

It got me so weird that people thought yeah its fine to blame a kid for causing a war bc he ran way from his responsibility. Maybe it could work in the OG series. But in the netflix one its different. Aang didnt ran way, he didnt even intended too. Hes just a victim of a bad weather. It also morally confused too, especially with Bumi which is Aang's childhoold friend. Out all of people, Bumi is supposed to be the one that could understand Aang's situation (not even angry to him), hes the only man alive who knows Aang from the past and shared a good relationship. The reason why in OG series when they meet again, he play fun trick with Aang try guessing his name bc Bumi just miss his buddy so much that he thought died in the air nomad genocide.

By far, my least favorite part of this adaptation is the Koh plotline. It really feels more like it interrupts the story rather than progressing it.

i hated that fire nation spy was wearing RED coat. Like wtf, can you be more obivus?

I wish they would have made a new animated show and not waste money on a live action adaptation

*This will be a long comment!* THANK YOU FOR APPRECIATING AZULAS PORTRAYAL!! I watched the live action with no knowledge of the original show, and the only thing I knew about avatar was a Korra comic that my dad gave me for free comic book day, and I barely remember that. He watched the show with me cause he hadn’t seen the og in like 10+ years and wanted to me to see the story and I’ve watched the show twice now and honestly I kinda like it. Like yeah it has its problems, but it also has really great moments! One of my fav characters of season 1 was Azula, I loved her on screen and her actress is great. What I took away from her was that she was so focused on proving to her father that she was,”the one” and better than Zuko, she couldn’t even realize her father was playing her. Watching Ozai clearly toy with her and Azula fall into his manipulation with no hesitation was honestly sad to watch, and when Mai straight up told her that she was being played and Azula seems to be in denial and still believing in her father hit hard. You even see that same thing happen in episode 8 where Zhao tells zuko he was also lied to and that he was never even meant to come back home, and you can see the betrayal, confusion, and denial shoot through him, cause these 2 kids, while being physically/emotionally abused by their parental figure, still have hope that maybe their parent will change if they happen to do something that will make them worthy of love/ affection in Ozai’s eyes. Like idc what anyone says, that was GENIUS writing and was genuinely heartbreaking. I just don’t understand people getting mad at Azulas character not starting off as supervillain evil. I’m watching season 2 of the og show rn and so far azulas come off as annoying and not as intriguing, plus she’s barely relevant in the second half of season 2 so far. The only episode that I really liked her in was her and zukos backstory episode. Not that I liked what she was saying, she was SO mean and cruel and I felt bad for zuko and his mom, but we got to see her before she developed into the one we currently know. That being said, it did feel a little unnatural. Ik people can be cruel from the start considering who they’re raised by but I find it hard to believe her character had hardly any nuance and at least complex characteristics. Like at least give her a more realistic approach instead of just,”she was always a mustache twirling villain from the start!” But that’s my main thing. Everyone wants her to already be completely heartless and cruel in the live action when that’s just not realistic. No one stays the same, especially for an entire show. Peoples views and personality changes, and seeing Azula go from a semi cruel/insecure teen and soon developing into the one from the show with more nuance will be understandable from the audience. But I feel her character arc was done beautifully in the live action and I can’t wait to see what they add to her+zuko cause they were truly great. Other things I loved were:the final battle(unpopular opinion: I feel like it was done somewhat better in the live action in terms of pacing, the og felt rushed in that sense, loved zuko and zhao( especially zhao who was ngl kinda funny but also a pos), I loved bumi idc what anyone says, he felt so much more HUMAN, jet was really good and a lot more cruel and felt a lot grosser, I loved episode 5s ending, the monologue gyatso gives is so good it gave me chills, and the shot of zuko from ep 6 looking into the mirror and seeing his old self smiling and then fading to show him drained was genius and heartbreaking, also that whole episode was great)

The way I look at it is that there’s no way the good parts of season one go on to season two because the good parts of the first are probably a direct result of the original creators working on it to begin with. Netflix has shown that they don’t respect source materials so I don’t see this carry on into the next season

I know She-Ra and the Princesses of Power exists for a while now, but is there a chance you’ll make a video like this in the future? 25:15 Bumi in this show is the most annoying part of the alongside the way Roku portrayed. 37:55 yes, that’s true.

They can’t do a time jump because they already mentioned Sozins comet which is the end of summer. I don’t know how they will explain this being in one summer when aang looks 2 years older but i digress

The characters and the scenery lack depth. The characters because of the bad writing and the scenery because of the volume stage. What we are left with is a live action the feels flatter & more cartoonish than the 2D animation from nearly 2 decades ago.

What does say when the show's writers/directors are also made of executive producers? Maybe it's not a big deal but it feels like there no oversight in the script dialogue. No actor, unless they're multi-million dollar star, is going to be brave enough to tell the writers that their script sucks when the writers themselves are the ones that paying for everything that a studio needs.

46:33 At that point I think the implication was that now that Aang had completely surrendered himself to the ocean spirit he was completely lost. Even if the moon came back and the ocean spirit detached itself from Aang he wouldn't return, and be in the avatar state forever. Thats something he would never want if it meant hurting people. So the Ocean spirit returned because of the Moon's return, Aang came out of the Avatar State because of Katara telling him that she(and the world) needed him which was a doubt that Zhao had put in his mind earlier (which only amplified his doubt that the world needed "The Avatar" or "The Avatar State" and not him, which was something he felt after he met Kyoshi)

Original show is my fav of all time. I enjoyed the Netflix version but nothing could hold a candle to the cartoon! One of the main reasons I love it so much is the relationships between characters which is inadequately explored here.

You say the Netflix show still has Aang's goofy character in it. Which scenes? Where is he acting goofy instead of us being told he's goofy? The only thing I can think of is the airscooter on Kiyoshi Island, but that's more call-back than character moment.

I agree with many of the things that you said in this video. Overall, I liked the first half of the show and the second half had me angry all the time, because after bumi I just didn't see the show with the same lense and I couldn't go back to how I felt about the show before it (before it, I was embracing the changes. However big or small, they still held the soul of the show and the characters). But I will admit that I loved the 41st division (this should've been part of the animated show. It is such a small detail that doesn't need more than a single line in the show, but it adds so much to who Zuko is as a person and as a prince, as well as how abusive his father is), I cried my eyes out with Iroh's flashback, and I also liked Yue better here and her changes make sense. Wall of text incoming. With majour spoilers. I shall now explain my take on the things that I disagree with you on and the things that I really disliked about the Netflix show: The intro: I actually thought it was better that Aang just went to clear his head. So. In the animated show, Aang didn't know there was a war brewing. He is a good person so if he had known he might've not run away from his responsibilities. I know he is a child and he did try to evade responsibility in the animated show, but ultimately he never did. He never ran away far enough to miss the chance to help people, even if he did try to run away. He always changed his mind when there was still time time to help. Knowing how so many people would die, he wouldn't have ran away. In the Netflix show he knew there was a war and that lives were gonna be lost if the avatar didn't do anything (remember the monks taught him all lives are sacred and all that). So it would've been very uncharacteristic of him to run away so far off. That is why I appreciated they changed his motives flying that night. They had to change them since they also changed what people knew about the fire nation at the time. The way he ran away in the animated show was good for how things were happening in that show. The way he ran away here is good for how things were happening in Netflix. As for the guilt, in the animated show it didn't hit as hard in my opinion either, because of what I already explained of him not knowing there was a war. There was not gonna be any immediate danger that he was turning his back from and he would eventually realize that he needs to be responsible (and he did. The fact that it was 100 years later is not his fault). So yes, obviously he feels bad in the animated show, but anything that transpired is not his fault...same in Netflix because he didn't run away, he just went for a midnight flight. Not his fault either way. But he feels guilty either way. Zuko: Indeed...but they kinda showed his honour in agni kai. Not with zhao, but with his father. Which I thought "hey, they did show the honor!" but also "this 13 year old kid wouldn't have been able to land a single hit against the fire lord let alone win. wtf" So for this. I got upset. I agree that Netflix showed the most love to Zuko, but at the expense of other characters, and that is not okay. The tunnels: I found it really dumb that the badger responding to feelings. There was no reason for it to be aggressive and then turn nice because of the feelings. Ijust rolled my eyes at this change. Aang and Katara: After seeing the tunnels I just made peace with the fact that they won't be in love ever. They have missed every opportunity to show their crushes on each other so anything they show later will likely be rushed. Bumi: This was the first change that almost made me lose my mind. Up until that point, I had noticed the changes and I was fine with them. The show was enjoyable and I was genuinely entertained...but they did Bumi so dirty. He is part of the white lotus, which proves that he is not just physically strong and skilled, but also a wise man. And he showed that in the animated show. I disagree that his teachings were not worthy. I think he taught or at least reminded Aang of perseverance, thinking outside the box, reminded him that the path ahead is difficult, etc. On top of that, he is Aang's childhood friend from a time where the world was nice and peaceful, so it obviously means a great deal to aang to have his support and help. So much that he wants to return to Omashu to have him be his earth bender teacher. But in Netflix he only felt like a moppy crazy old man and he shunned Aang for something that wasn't his fault, and he knew it wasn't his fault. I understand being angry at him before knowing the full story, but once Aang told him, he, being the wise and good man that he is, he wouldn't have shunned Aang for it. He can acknowledge that the war is a consequence of the avatar disappearing yes, but acknowledgement and shunning are two different things...idk. My crazy bumi was destroyed. I was so pissed after watching this episode. The spirit world: If bumi almost made me lose my mind. This episode finally drove me over the edge. I feel like they trivialized Koh so much. He didn't feel as threatening as he truly was. I was scared of him and still am in the animated show. Here it was just...meh. Let's negotiate, and it was unnecessary to have him there to begin with. Then they trivialized going to Roku's temple. Aang could do it with minimum help. He even flew there in his glider instead of rushing Appa. Just like that. Easy. As well as Roku failing to mention the comet even thought they do plan to include the comet in the show (I thought they were not gonna include it because Roku failed to mention it). So. Since Roku didn't mention the imminent danger, no one knows about it!!! He endangered the whole world!!! With Aang already not even touching water bending for...reasons? It is even more dangerous! They have no urgency to have him learn the elements and he has no interest in learning them!!! Sokka's father is supposed to be supportive, instead of...letting him win just because? If he didn't deserve the mark like they said, then his father wouldn't have given it and would told him instead that he must continue trying. That way Sokka can become the best he can be without anyone giving him anything in silver platter. A supportive father tells him what he needs to hear without shunning him, and that is how his father in the animated show feels like. But in netflix just talking behind his back like that and letting him win for no reason...it really annoyed me. They also reduced to the owl knowledge spirit to an exposition character. Hei Bai was barely mentioned and barely dealt with. I just felt like these episodes did dirty on so many people and so many spirits and so many plot points. The norther water tribe: Momo shouldn't be able to push a person like that. But I'm being nitpicky at that point xD Jokes aside, Aang not doing waterbending is,like you said, jarring. And like I said earlier, right now, he seems not to have an interest in learning any elements. Roku could've given the urgency with the comet information...but he decided to keep quiet about that. Good job Roku. Good job. I was also very annoyed that they said they were going to remove Sokka's sexism because sexim bad...and then they decided that Paku's sexim was okay to keep?? Why? The inconsistency drove me mad. If they were going to be inconsisten they could've at least remove Paku's sexim instead of Sokka's. Paku is 200% more annoying and more damaging than Sokka's. I absolutely hated how Aang was so demanding of Koruk. Aang has never been one to delegate responsability in such a harsh way. He has a duty and he does his best to fulfil it himself. But in netflix he just begged and whined to Koruk to show up and save the northern tribe in his behalf...c'mon. C'mon Aang. And Iroh! In the animated show he had no time to stop Zhao because zhao tricked everyone. Here? In Netflix Iroh had plenty of chances to stop Zhao but he still somehow allowed him to kill the fish. añdfjañlfjadlkfj Does Netflix have something against the white lotus members? Then Iroh killed Zhao instead of Koizilla doing it and...idk. I don't think Iroh redemed himself with that. He allowed something terrible to happen and a young woman had to give up her life to fix his mistake. In the animated show at least he was tricked and there was no way to stop Zhao unless he were to attack first and seemingly unprovoked. Zhao WAS giving up to everyone's eyes. Here Iroh just stood and watch...I can't take this!!! Justice to the White Lotus!

Thank you for making such a nuanced and well thought out review! I really enjoyed your perspective and the way you made your points :)

In the beginning it seemed they ignored the aspect of aang's insecurities of running away which was a big moment for his character growth. I also didn't like how Aang seeing Gyatso's death was more motivational unlike in the animation where it was more grieving instead. In the animation, it reminded us that he's still a child and we're introduced to his powers as the avatar and how he still has a long way ahead of him as the avatar. We're also foreshadowed to the tone of the show in the future and what our main cast will eventually experience. I do think Netflix was aware of the changes they've made so all the minor changes they made surrounding aang did work but compared to the animation I don't think it was an improvement or better.

My issues: 1. Sokka’s insecurities are absent (he’s season 3 Sokka) 2. Katara’s agency 3. One scene of Aang “playing” isn’t proof of Aang being playful 4. Lovers Cave… why are the siblings there? 5. ExPeRdItIoN 6. HOW can Katara and Sokka enter the spirit world? I didn’t buy the LA explanation 7. We didn’t need Azula yet. I don’t need to sympathise with her. 8. FACE STEALER NOT STEALING FACES? That show emotion? 9. What was the point of having Hai Bai there if they never address why he’s angry? Now I’m LA he’s just a monster 6. I’ll just go watch the animated version 😢 this list is long 😂

Does anyone else feel like Suki's representation was a huge insult?

Best part about the live action is honestly the actors for zuko and iroh they felt the most like the original characters and they had the best chemistry in the show

I honestly was expecting more harsh criticism when I saw "mediocre" on the title

Since Netflix has given the greenlight for a second and third season if the writing has imporved one thing I'm hooing for is that they adapt the comics into live action for a potential fourth. I love Avatar the Last Airbender but at the end of the day I'm not a comic reader so the comics don't interest me on the same level as the show does. I mean I know what happens in them I just wish they were animated for animated watchers only like myself. And I want to be clear I don't even have a problem with the comics existing my main problem is when it explains important stuff that aren't in the show but show should like Zuko's mother for instance.

Great Analysis Gold Man! I found myself agreeing with almost everything you had to say about this show. I liked the changes to Suki, Bumi, and Azula, and I was somewhat surprised that most people didn't like those things, so it was cool to see you shared the same thoughts as I.

Love this breakdown, my issue with episode 4 is i felt like they should have combined bumi with the general that tries to force aang into the avatar state to show that even as strong as he is now he has to get better as a bender. As of now the show aang hasnt even really lost a fight yet

Why did Netflix hire the Ember Island Players to write, direct and act in the live action Avatar The Last Airbender series ? It makes zero sense because everyone hated that episode in universe except Sokka. I know these Netflix writers will just make Katara and Zuko end up together but it will be such a hack job in the writing department that I don't think anyone will enjoy or like it

No its trash

Loved this! Well thought out and communicated. Thanks for sharing.

I really like this video. There's so many people constantly crapping on the show. But I like how you balance out the negatives and positives more than other people do. A lot of people hate on the good changes and it makes me a bit sad.

Now I knew this video would be a must watch, as soon as it shown up in my recommended

I'm calling it now. Aang and Katara won't become a couple in the life action. Thats why there's no hints of it in this season.

I literally couldn't wait for this video. The quality of you reviews has no pair in the whole internet ❤❤❤

Aang's characeter arc in the Netflix adaption was coming to terms with his place in the world, not only as the Avatar, but as someone outside of their own time. He had to accept that he must replace his old friends with his new friends. That he is meant to exist over 100 years after he was born. It took actually saving the northern water tribe and Kataras words to convince him of that. I love your videos, btw they're excellent.

I found the spirit episode the worst because it feels like they start with hei bei and just forget about it. Meeting Roku also felt somewhat pointless in this cuz he already met kyoshi. The only thing I liked was that yue was a fox because it laid a foundation for sokka and hers relationship which I think they needed.

Thanks for the insightful video as I am not an original fan but quite interested in the adaptation for its own strength - which you already summed up very neatly here. I think the show did a decent job enough in intriguing new fans, especially those who do not favour anime. After the season, I can now generally get why the anime show is so loved by almost everyone I know. I am not sure if this is a change or original move but I especially love how the Avatar team travels through different lands and villages presumably mostly to highlight the consequences of the old war which creates much impacts on Aang's own recognition to his Avatar role. Also, I agree that there is something off with Katara and Aang, perhaps mostly comes from the acting considering them being pretty young actors - and that shows when contrasting with other actors such as Zuko and Sokka. I would really love if Katara acts more with her eyes showing more passion, regardless still really love the actress.