I guess I'm calling it Overanalyzing, it's different though. TWO NEW KORRA VIDS ON PATREON!: / overanalyzing Netflix Avatar The Last Airbender came out on February 22nd, for better of worse. #avatarthelastairbender #avatar #netflix
Like and comment on this video to tell me you want me to cover the other episodes! *The next two videos available on patreon are the next two episodes of Overanalyzing Korra.
@@tiablue9106 it's not just gran gran any time someone talks to Ang they become an exposition machine telling Ang how important him being the Avatar is.
Sozin's line "Maybe you'd have defeated us on another night..." Feels very out of character for him. He believes the fire nation is superior, thus wanting to expand it through conquest.
@@eh3744They don't have a military but airbending masters are extremely powerful. When he says "defeat" I think he means that they'd fend off the attack that at least some of them would survive and Sozin's plan hinges on wiping out every airbender at once
Seriously, there was basically no difference between comet and no-comet bending, other than maybe what Sozin did vs Gyatso, but then again, Sozin was probably pretty nuts as a firebender even without the comet.
I know right? Like in the prime continuity the Fire Nation attacked the temples and then conducted a massive operation to clean up survivors. This show was just…. They’re all in one place
@@xanderfulton3186 I find it completely unbelievable that not one air nomad stayed at any of the other temples. No one was sick, or just had a baby? Absolutely everyone was healthy enough to go? And don't they have crops there, or animals that need to be taken care off?
@@fleurtherabbitfunny right? how the live action show thats trying to take itself more seriously ends up with larger strains on your suspension of disbelief... Sozin attacks all 4 temples at the same time in the OG. And it feels like a geocide that took place. In this show its just... one attack on one temple. Its like bad... but the scale is all off
One thing i dont see touched on enough is the fact that aang doesnt leave a note when he "runs away" in fact, they dont even try to frame it as him running away, he just goes for a fly to clear his head!! That is TOTALLY fucking different there is no intention of abandoning the air temple, he literally just gets unlucky, and then the show still tries to use the "you ran away from all your responsibilities" angle, its so crazy how far they went to make their own writing not work
Yeah, he doesn't run away. That's not a part of this story. It's a different story. No one who knows his story actually accuses him of running away from his responsibilities; it's the people who don't know what happened who are upset that he seems to have abandoned his responsibilities for 100 years.
What you're saying would make sense except for the fact that Aang's literal spirit reincarnations haven't gotten the memo that he didn't run away, It feels like the plotline of him not running away was made at the last minute or during reshoots.
@@joshbuoy8661 I think it actually makes more sense. Aang is scared of the responsibility and wants to keep the life he head. Then why would he run away and leave the life he had behind? Like what was Aangs plan in the original show? He just ran away with no real goal and while yes he was scared it doesn't seem in line with his character to leave all his friends behind and then try to live alone in hiding.
@@pandy3848 You just answered yourself, Aang was told at 12 years old that he was the most important person in the world and that he had to stop an oncoming war while going around the nations to learn the other elements, and he was going to until he learned that Gyatso wouldn't come with him, that made all the pressure scare him and made him have the emotional decision of running away, you can't really expect a 12 years old monk who was raise in a pacifistic culture to make the moral and logical decisions right away Now let's be real, if he didn't get stuck in the iceberg he would have come back after a day or two, he simply got frightened of what he had to do alone And it's not like kids IRL don't run away from home for the dumbest reasons, they don't do it with a goal in mind they just do because they are in a volatile emotional state and it feel right to get away from whatever is making them feel bad, after they calm down the realization of what they're doing hits them and go back And if you need an example watch Inside Out
I know this is comparing to the animated version, but it's impossible not to. They really underplayed Sozin's Comet. When Ozai uses it, it's genuinely unsettling because it sounds like a scream as it explodes from his hand. We get nothing about the comet enhancing their powers, except that one hamfisted line Sozin says to Gyatso. My mom had to ask me what the deal with the comet was. Wild how a show that's obsessed with over-explaining everything doesn't explain how the comet works. At least have a callback to Iroh's "Only once every hundred years does a firebender feel this kind of power". It tells you everything you need to know and it fits perfectly for Sozin.
Also, they showed their hand way too early. In the OG you know the comet would make them powerful, but seeing just how strong Iroh has become is shocking. It makes you scared for Aang because you couldn’t imagine Ozai being as powerful as he is.
My sister was disappointed the comet wasn't present in the scene until we rewatched it to catch someone else up and, yep, that giant blazing comet from the cartoon is now a tiny almost Game of Thrones bleeding star way off in the æther where we literally didn't notice it...
@@J__T The way animated Sozin’s Comet turns the sky red and skims across the atmosphere is legit scary A couple more feet and Sozin’s Comet could be an apocalypse event and not an astrological event
"We get nothing about the comet enhancing their powers, except that one hamfisted line Sozin says to Gyatso. My mom had to ask me what the deal with the comet was. Wild how a show that's obsessed with over-explaining everything doesn't explain how the comet works." I fcking hate that line it's so cheesy. "You might have prevailed on another night, but not when we have the power of the comet" that isn't natural, that isn't scary, that is nothing but telling the audience they are attacking the night of the comet WHICH WE CAN ALREADY DEDUCE because of the festival that was mentioned, and the comet over head. My god Netflix just has no faith in our intelligence.
it should fit except if they said that they would have to show that, and just like your mom noticed the comet doest do shit in the show, firebending is terrible all the time
The term you’re looking for is due “plot duration”, which is passage of time implied to have taken. Time is a key component to world building and story. Since the events are implied to be so close together, it gives it a sense that time is shorter, therefore making the world smaller.
Honestly the more I think about the season, with all the changes and writing decisions adding up, the worse it gets. Especially this first episode. - Aang didn't run away so there's no guilt for him to overcome and everyone berating him doesn't work since he literally did nothing wrong - Sozin happens to attack at the same time Aang is gone so a huge convenience there. Also why would all the Airbenders be sleeping if they all gathered to celebrate the comet? - The Air Nomads didn't have a military so why would they be sending people to fight? - Gyatso went out like nothing. Didn't take any of them down really - The exposition is egregious. Especially Exposition Gran Gran - Aang is told like 3 times his people were genocided so when he sees Gyatso's body the impact is gone
The people at the celebration were the ones fighting, OA mentions how few there are considering that's supposed to be all of them but most of them were probably hiding. I have nothing to say about their apparent combat skills but hey every show needs an opening action piece.
I mean in the show it's pretty clear that gyatzo just vaccumed the room and took all of these firebenders with him. In the show, bro just turned into a smore 💀
@@jacklansdale77 Unless it's a children's show made for little babies with an arguably shorter attention span. Guess the mature adultiness of live action doesn't have time for a slow burn introduction of characters.
Honestly. Im just happy its better than that sorry excuse of movie. Hopefully the writers are aware of what the fans are saying pretty much in these comments and do better next season. But yea. I expected more
to be fair they didn't say they were sending people explicitly to fight, only to "help". much more nebulous, and there's plenty people can do in war to "help" without getting involved in the fighting.
Sarcastic Chorus brought up a really good point about character motivations in this version. Everything is centered around power. Aang's entire character is motivated around the power the Avatar wields. Zuko's entire motivation is centered around the power being Prince of the Fire Nation affords him. Katara's is all about how powerful of a waterbender she is. This likely has to with them wanting the show to be more "Game of Thrones" where power and influence mean everything, but in the world of Avatar--which is more about Daoist and Hindu philosophies--it REALLY stands out in the worst way possible.
It isn't even game of thrones since not _everyone_ especially the good guys are obsessed with and driven by power. This is just really really bad post modern influenced writing by people who clearly didn't understand the original show or its characters.
@@ribozyme2899 ??? I don't think you're quite sure what the word means. ATLA was an incredibly traditional hero's journey story with true good and true evil existing in the universe. It borrows wisdom and concepts from ancient eastern religion. It celebrates science and even ties ethics and morality to it. All concepts post modernism doesn't actually believe exist or is deeply skeptical of. No, this is bad _post modern_ writing.
@@MundaneThingsBackwards Just because there exists very good and very bad people doesn't mean that Avatar centers around that. One of the most important messages of the show is the ability one has to control their destiny and fight back against ideals of true good and evil. There are spirits and avatars and all sorts of crazy stuff, but it doesn't supplant the fact that the core of the show isn't just celebrating all of these traditional things. Hell, they even lampshade their own philosophy plenty of times, and when it comes to morality they aren't afraid to say there is no correct answer and morality itself is a nebulous concept, like time and death (and pants). The live action version is failing because there is no nuance present. There is no questioning of the themes or morals in the show, and there is just "zuko bad guy who want power, aang good guy get power."
@@BetaDude40 I mean you completely undermined your argument in the very first sentence. How can people be "very good" and "very evil" if morality itself doesn't exist and/or is a "nebulous concept?" Not very post modern, huh? But it gets worse! No, the point of the show isn't to fight back against the ideals of true good (it definitely is for true evil, a fairly traditional theme in story telling literally as old as story telling itself...) It literally allows Aang to embrace a form of morality so pure, it allows him to continue to remain a pacifist who refused to JUSTIFIABLY kill a genocidal maniac. The more morally grey but still incredibly good thing thing to do, suggested to him not only by his friends and the Avatars of the past, would have been to kill him whether in self defense and to preserve world peace and balance. He even gives Ozai the opportunity to end his plot and walk away. Something he definitely didn't need to do as the war raged elsewhere. Again, I'm not surprised that someone who's so sympathetic to post modernism that they see it in places it rightfully doesn't belong is a little confused about where Aang is on the good vs evil scale. Life is totally sacred > life is mostly sacred, save for those who would end it arbitrarily >>>>> life isn't sacred at all. You understand now? "...and when it comes to morality they aren't afraid to say there is no correct answer and morality itself is a nebulous concept, like time and death (and pants)." The time and death being an illusion thing is literally taken straight from Buddhist and generally eastern philosophy. Things a _little_ older than post modernism itself. Come on, that's supposed to be a easy one. lol. The fact that you're using it to pretend that the sophisticated philosophy the show presented was freaking post modern in any way shape or form is deeply deeply ironic. "There is no correct answer." False. Being given multiple correct answers doesn't mean a correct answer doesn't exist at all. If anything, Aang came to the MOST correct of all the answers because it resulted in the least loss of life. Another head scratcher from you, my friend. No mention of science, of course. the most indefensibly non-postmodern thing the show proudly embraced. (Why I personally call post modernism neo-troglodytism 🤣)
The annoying thing about this show is that it takes character aspects and moments from the cartoon despite not setting them up in their own show. Like their own show depicts Aang as not running away from his destiny then spends the rest of the show acting like he did bc that's how it was in the cartoon.
it always bugs me that somehow the eyebrows are still there, while in the original not only half of his face, his ear's burnt too showing how bad it hurts
@@theorixlux2605"Heads or Tails? Heads, I capture the Avatar and restore my honor, Tails, I leave and wait another day… I’ll be seeing you later, Avatar."
One thing I like about this episode is that there's a more natural range of kids younger than Sokka. It is weird in the original how the tribe apparently stopped having kids for ten years after Katara was born, then had a bunch all at once.
That’s a great point that I didn’t think about. I think in the original it was supposed to make him feel completely alone, like there was nobody else his age that he could lean on to help him lead.
@@brody2590 For sure, I can see how the original works in terms of character and comedy, while the new version fits the more grounded feel the Netflix show inconsistently goes for.
It's also a pretty big plot hole from the original, Sokka and Katara leave the water tribe with some old people and a bunch of little kids to take care of each other.... somehow.
I think the og show traded realism for making a point how Sokka really feels like he was abandoned and can't fulfil the role society expected from him. That ia to be a warrior for his tribe and protect.
I thought in the original they were a dying tribe since all the men were gone, no new babies had been born conceived since they left essentially hence the sudden she cut off. Maybe the island got a "conjugal visit" from some passing ship about ten years before the series starts? XD
people fighting over flying or gliding, but when zuko burns aangs glider in the air he does neither lol just a weird potato falling. this show is laughable lol
20:28 The reason why Katara is able to summon water this high in the air is because she’s using the fabled and famous “Waist-High Wave” technique, the reason why it’s so high is because her waist is higher up. I don’t blame him for not knowing since Katara doesn’t even have the scroll yet.
@@tristinspain1769 judging by how surprised she looks pulling it off, it gives the impression she didn't once train or practice it. it makes bending seem like it's a video game where every ability is just "activated" by doing a specific button input regardless of past experience
Holy shit thats a great point. God why does Netflix always have to make trash live action remakes of amazing animated shows. First Death Note now Avatar 😢
13:40 What's that Roger Ebert quote? "He's learned from better films that directors sometimes tilt their cameras, but he hasn't learned why" or something
Weird nitpick, but I noticed this and that it starts in this episode so I’m gonna point out my own weird gripe: When Aang falls from the iceberg or from the Avatar state, Katara doesn’t run to him and immediately get to her knees to try to physically support him. It’s a small thing, but it does a lot to characterize Katara in a simple way. It shows that she’s caring and has a desire to help people and is a hint at her being a bit motherly. In both instances when she falls to her knees in the cartoon where she failed to do so in the live action, it’s almost especially impactful. First she sees a strange bald kid burst out of an iceberg and fall into the snow. Her first reaction? To be concerned and run over to then get down and cradle him, checking to see if he is alive. A total stranger that she’s never met, which probably never happens to her in the southern tribe (meeting strangers that is). Second time is also insanely crazy. Her new friend goes back into this crazy powerful state, but this time not for any self preservation reasons. She dares to call out to him and reason with him in this state and it works, he calms down then falls to the ground and collapses. She then runs over and tries to help him sit up. Live action Katara just seems to trot over both times and then awkwardly go “Are you okay?” And stare down at him. She’s not on his level and approaching this strange kid she just met simply because she cares. She’s doing a thing the script says which is “Katara runs over looking concerned” and that’s it. It’s flat and undermines a lot of what Katara is as a person.
It depends when it was filmed but I wonder if that's a covid thing. Actors not being able to physically touch in a scene due to social distancing. It's also of course possible in ensemble shows such as this to film every actor separately and composite them in post (thanks, Marvel).
another addition to this. in the original, katara being angry at sokka and waving her hands backwards revealed the ice sphere. it didn't unfroze aang. katara actively grabbed sokka's weapon and smashed the ice because she saw a kid inside. in the live-action, the ice sphere just opened up behind katara because she was trying to pull the boat in front of her.
@@dire213 Thank you I was saying this since I saw the first time. Cuz it doesnt make any sense. In the OG, Katara had to physically broke the ice so Aang cant get out of it by himself. So here the ice sensed Katara's water bending or what? Now I can say why didnt the ice didnt break before I dont know like 10 years ago before the comet? He can have a lot more time to prepare. Also that ice is right out in the open not under the iceberg or anything just covered with them. So before all those ice no one saw that strange thing in the open? Even the set up is messed up by taking sexism aspect of Sokka. Also I dont buy that Katara did that unintentionally cuz she was focus on the boat in front of her so how did she make that ice break behind her? Is she that much of a great bender or incompetent LOL. Another thing is Sokka and Katara left Appa inside the ice so If Zuko went for glow then he couldve captured Appa LOL, just funny. Instead of that Zuko went for the village near them. If Zuko a normal person then he had to go for the glow.
I don't think the line is too bad. After all, it does give weight to his introduction to the people there. How would these water tribe hillbillies know what authority stands before them? He basically says "I'm THE heir the to throne on a world dominating empire. You better leave a good impression on me"
I just recently rewatched _Titanic_ and you can really compare and contrast exposition in both pieces of media really well. Heck you can compare and contrast NATLA and Arcane really well too. In NATLA when Sozin monologues it feels weird cause we know he's talking to us not the character. But when Thomas Andrews is explaining what will happen to the ship now that she's been struck by an iceberg, it isn't off-putting because Thomas is not just talking to us, but everyone in the room. You'd think the scene wouldn't work because we already had this when Mr. Bodine tells Rose how the RMS Titanic sank in a clinical, forensic way in the beginning of the film. But it WORKS because by now, we've gotten so sucked into the story, the reminder of how screwed half the passengers are from none other than the shipbuilder himself is a great "oh this is actually happening". Moment. It helps sink the stakes in rather than shove information down our throats. And yes this is exposition for the characters as well the audience, but it's exposition that the characters NEED because of one single line "but this ship can't sink!" Ismay shouts in disbelief. Only to be immediately countered by Andrews saying in just as much of a heated tone "she's made of iron sir! I assure you she can. And she will. It is a mathematical certainty." then following it up with his diagnosis of how long the _RMS Titanic_ has to live "an hour...two at most" the camera even helps us all get in the heads of each character. It cuts from an extreme close up of Thomas Andrews as he says the line. Then to the horrified look of Bruce Ismay, before the camera blurs into Captain Smith. Then it cuts to Murdoch, who swallows clearly thinking about the amount of souls on board because of how quickly he answers the Captain's inquiry as to how many are on board. None of this exposition is JUST for the audience. We already know what happened to the _Titanic_ she's at the bottom of the North Atlantic. The exposition is for the characters, so everyone in that room can understand the gravity of what's about to commence over the course of the next two hours. I can't honestly think of how I would change anything in that scene, because it's such a perfect execution of how to handle exposition. It's done so in as concise a manner as possible, the camerawork helps really drive home what's being said, and I think what really sells the scene is that it's the shipbuilder himself, Thomas Andrews, who didn't survive, giving everyone the rundown. If it happened any other way I don't think it would've been as hard hitting. Compare that to Sozin just info dumping on the Earthbender only to incinerate him and you realize why that scene doesn't work; it's not natural, it's paced poorly, and it's exposition done just for us because apparently Netflix doesn't have any faith in the intelligence of the viewers. There's no need for Sozin to info dump because he's just going to burn him alive later. It doesn't make sense. It's a dark scene just to be dark. With Titanic, the rundown isn't about insulting our intelligence; it's about driving home the point to the characters (one in particular) that the ship has a finite time to live and no matter what anyone will do, she will end up at the bottom of the ocean simply because of sheer arrogance. Now you tell me which one sounds way more engaging.
Great comparison. Exposition is a pretty hard thing to nail, apparantly, but you hit that nail right on the head. Writing isn't about infodumping. It's about showing characters, showing the world and showing the stakes, conflicts, desires, wants, etc... of everybody and everything involved in order to attain emotional catharsis. The reason WHY infodumping doesn't work, EVER, is because entertaining writing is all about giving the audience an emotional connection. The writer can assume the audience is sentient and intelligent enough to understand the WHAT of the information being offered, but emotional resonance has nothing to do with intelligence, nor with the WHAT of the information being offered. It's all about the implications of that information for the characters involved and how we as an audience can step into their shoes for a brief moment. We, the audience, can assume that a sinking ship filled with thousands of people is a "bad" thing. We can understand that hypothesis morally, legally, statistically, scientifically, whatever you want. But understanding the implications of something in a dry, informative way is NOT the same thing as experiencing the sheer horror of the reality of that fact. When the camera moves to show a character's reaction, it's purpose is to show us the emotional responses of the characters themselves, in the hopes that we, the audience, can feel similar emotions. We are intelligent enough to understand that not every character behaves the same way, and seeing different reactions of different types of people is INHERENTLY entertaining. It shows us that perspective matters, that emotion is complex. It's engaging, thought-provoking, relatable, what have you... That's not to say that all exposition needs to happen within a room filled with different people. Not at all. But it DOES need characters reacting to it meaningfully. It needs to happen with a specific goal, it needs to drive the plot, the characters and the audience's emotional investment forward. This is why there is a general rule to never repeat earlier exposition, unless the repetition carries with it a new meaning. (For instance, in Attack on titan, the statement "I just keep moving forward", is exposition that happens multiple times, but each time, it carries with it different emotional resonance, different implications, and affects the plot in different ways. That is repetition of exposition done right, even if it's only very brief. And it is all the more powerful exactly BECAUSE it is brief.) The first episode of LAATLA failed in this regard because of a bad application of technique on multiple levels. The camerawork didn't particularly do anything special, or did it at the wrong moment (dutch angle example such as in the video), the exposition was offered to the audience and nobody else (appa does not understand, and therefore cannot react meaningfully. We can understand Aang needs to vent, but not in such a blatant "this is my character development" way. And venting usually happens more emotionally, not this calm and collected anyway.) Sozin killing the earth bender makes no sense after just delivering said earth bender the soul crushing information that he just doomed his own people. What's the point of giving him this information? An alternate manner of doing this could have been sozin killing the earth bender, then a soldier questioning whether the plans of the fire nation are ruined because the message got out (obviously not within earshot of the firelord.), then a senior officer telling him it's not his place to question the orders of superiors or to question the fire nation in general, and to trust that their leadership always has a plan for everything. Then show the 3 kingdoms sending their armies to the borders, only for them to never spot any fire nation soldiers. And only THEN do we cut to the fire nation revealing their masterplan, by treating the leaked message as a diversion. This achieves the desired effect of the air nomad genocide being both shocking and world-changing, for the audience (that the fans already know of it is ENTIRELY IRRELEVANT. The cartoon needs to be treated as it if plainly does not exist, in order for your writing to work.) It also shows us military ranking in a short scene. It shows us that the fire nation is clever and will use underhanded tactics. It shows us Sozin's ruthlessness, it will show us the us that not all fire nation soldiers are blindly obedient, and that disobedience is dangerous. All of it with just a few lines of dialogue and a few cool scenes to show the scale of the world. I'm not saying this is the only way to do it, but I consider it much better than what we got instead. And lastly, the acting, I'm sorry to say it, is plain and simply very flat and emotionless. (whether due to direction or sheer inexperience of the actors themselves.) Only the older, clearly more experienced cast really showcased human emotions (except for gran gran. Jesus christ. They really did just pick up a random inuit grandma and called it a day.) This is important. If we can't see what characters are feeling, we can't imagine what they are thinking or if they are thinking at all. If katara barely smiles, doesn't get angry, is immediately on board with the avatar, whereas Sokka is constantly blaisé about EVERYTHING, including dying on a piece of ice in the middle of nowhere, the audience does not get any sense of emotional stakes. I know these are teenage actors, but that should be irrelevant. That would be nothing but a poor justification for this choice of medium, it doesn't take away that the acting remains poor. All of it simply leads us to the question "why is this remake even a thing? If the animation did everything better and conveys the message of the story in a much better fashion, what is the point of making a remake in the first place?" The answer, of course, is that normies love rehashed nostalgia. And fans are starving for content. This crap makes money, regardless of the quality.
But it should work like that. Fire flying should work. Water flying should work. Earth flying should work. They can lift a boulder. They can’t stand in the boulder? They can lift ice. They can’t stand on the ice? Ang can lift a boulder with air. He can’t lift himself with air? WHY couldn’t he fly? That is literally how any powered airplane works.
I figure bend enough air and you can fly like that, but it's not easy to sustain, hence why they usually use gliders, and Guru Laghima's technique is different because it's more about turning the law of gravity into a suggestion than it is about controlling air currents.
@@battlesheep2552 guru laggima kids makes sense since because the air natuon is so spiritual compared to the other is why they're the only nation where everyone is a bender. Laghima took the spirituality to another level by detaching earthly tethers so it makes sense how come he could fly
@@raishirogane7860 They nailed Sozin to a T tho, But yeah the writters absolutely felt bad for Ozai and Azula being evil through the "Victim of propaganda" narrative, which I find hard to use to excuse Ozai when he literally acts like some sort of chosen monarch by monologuing like a one dimensional evil villain multiple times throughout the Aang fight.
that "talking while something else should absolutely be happening" moment at the end of the Sokka Zuko fight should have been a forboding sign to me. stuff like that keeps happening throughout this show and it always feels stupid. I remember literally yelling at the screen "stop talking already" at later points.
Most characters in this show talk like Hello. I am [Character]. I have [traits]. I am doing [goal] because [motivation]. I am here because [background].
@@vasto1532long ago, when they wanted to explain the explanations, they gave the information in the form of… exposing Real answer, it’s giving data about the story, characters, setting. Usually people use it to mean things that are said in words, as opposed to what you see in action or visuals
See in the animated show, we kind of know that the airbenders are all gone already when Aang gets there, for a few reasons. Even if the name "The Last Airbender" didn't tip you off, the episodes all start with a Katara narration that explains the premise. But by starting off the show with the air temples *within the same episode* I think the Netflix show really had the opportunity to pull the rug out from under new viewers by surprising them with the genocide. Obviously they wanted to show some of the genocide, and that's fine, but imagine if we really didn't get to see the extent of it, and more importantly if none of the characters mentioned how much time had passed. Maybe Katara says something like "I've never seen someone dressed like you" and Aang says "wtf do you mean, all airbenders are dressed like this and we're all over the world?" to tell us without saying it. Because then when you get back to the southern air temple in the same episode, the audience members who haven't seen the animated show won't realize HOW much time has passed, and they can be as surprised as Aang that they really missed the genocide and how everyone else in the world just sees it as normal now.
7:03 I think it's a version of "a single McGuffin rule". The original rule states that you can have only one fictional thing that you treat as a fact in your world. Any more severely undermine suspension of disbelief (that's why, for instance, in sci-fi even if you have some sort of magic it is somewhat science-based). So, in terms of a story, one random thing (all airbenders conveniently being in one place to celebrate comet) may be somewhat plausible, but with another random thing on top (Aang learning on that very day that he's the avatar and deciding to fly away) it breaks our suspension of disbelief.
My folks cheered when Katara blocked Zuko's fire. I was more like "huh?!" and just bored I guess. This growing sense of tiredness only grows as the episodes continue. And the Kyoshi thing - _ugh_ I loathe it.
@@StripesW Yes I did actually, I'd elaborate but you apparently haven't seen it yourself to say something like this. I'm pretty confident in that. I'd probably start with actually watching the show first before telling people to stay grounded smh lol.
I'm determined the reason Kyoshi plays such a big part in this season is for Netflix to build a little hype around her being a bigger character in this story so they can eventually try to adapt the Kyoshi books. It comes off as prep marketing so the audience knows the character a little more than they would otherwise (if they're assuming said audience is new to Avatar). The fact they seem to being plucking bits of lore out from the non-show ATLA sources (Valley of Lost Souls, setting up Koh's mother, etc) could indicate they're also building this show to be self contained if (when) it fails, though, which dismantles my point. It feels like they took the guide book the creators had, which was probably a whole bible outlining a sprawling series of adaptations from all around the series' sources with interwoven connections, then gutted it because Game of Thrones is cool. (Side note, the Game of Thrones thing is why Sokka and Katara go through the cave of lovers together. It all makes sense now.)
If they actually took some effort to explain and apply it to bending, it would have been a great intro to bending with yin yang element e.g as it was used to explain lightening bending
When I watched it the first time I was sitting here watching the fire bending and was like “oh they must be getting a head start like day of black sun. When the comet really comes out they’re gonna be juiced.” Then they said the regular fire bending they had been doing was powered up, and that was very disappointing knowing how strong it was in the cartoon
the show showed us that aang can basically fly but like 30 minutes later he falls out of the sky (when zuko hits him) and its supposed to be a big thing??
one thing they never bring up in the old show is that the fire nation never finds the avatar before the hundred years, so they kind of just assume he's dead, if they were gonna do the whole air nation exposition bit they could've added in some dialogue of "wheres the avatar" during the attack or smth like that cause part of attacking the air nation first was because the avatar was supposed to be there
I haven't seen the live action, but in that one scene of aang falling, what is stopping him from just, you know, breaking the fall himself and pseudofly to safety? I mean, he flew twice in the episode
20:24 YES! Katara's ability there was way higher than it should have been. Plus it took a cool moment away from Aang to show off that he's an airbending master. A blast from someone who has spent the last 3 years training with the Dragon of the West should be a master at that point, especially considering Katara became a waterbending master within the first season, which was a year. That's what was so cool in the cartoon, you look back and realize that this was a clash between a firebending master and an airbending master, and they just threw it out the window. It was a cool moment in the cartoon and they threw it out the window to give Katara something to do.
Pretty sure the whole show of avatar takes place in a year... as aang was gone for 100 years and the commet comes every 100 years. So Katara became a waterbending master in at most 4 months.
@@flamingphoenix2464 Even less than a year technically. On the winter solstice, Roku says that the comet will arrive by summer's end, which I'm assuming to be the fall equinox because that's when summer officially ends and fall begins in our modern day understanding of seasons. The winter solstice and the fall equinox are about 9 months apart, so 9 months + a couple weeks that the gaang has already spent together by that point is how long the show lasts.
Great format! I think a few positive things should also be mentioned: - the world looks very good. Instantly familiar landscapes and buildings, the fire nation ship looks great. The costumes look a bit like, well, costumes rather than actual clothing, but other than that they pretty much nailed the visual side - casting is done very well. Yes, some acting issues (which to me are mostly writing and directing issues), but everyone really looks like their character. You also get a really good sense of the different cultures. One of the few things that are shown and not told - bending looks mostly very good
I dont like what they did with letting Aang fly like that. Now that they have done it, they could salvage an interesting story beat from it. After becoming attached to the Gaang and the world, now that he's not immersed in Air Nomad culture, maybe he can't fly later in the show and they make an actual point of it? Sort of an additional beat on Aang not being able to let go of Katara to master the avatar state.
One thing that this show keeps doing (and many others) is a character just deadpan looking into the camera and telling the audience stuff. It feels like they want to break the fourth wall, yet it will not and should not.
i'm surprised you didn't mention it but the fight between gyatso and sozin being boiled down to "fire beam attack vs air beam attack" where fire beam wins just because the fire man is just more extra powerful, it's just the complete opposite of what made bending good. its not about power, its about skill. yeah sure the firebender is gonna go for a straight forward attack but airbending is literally all about "finding another angle to attack from", gyatso shouldn't just stand there and take it.
In this adaptation, i always wondered how King Bumi knew Aang is the avatar. He was literally told the day before the attack and its not like they can text eatchother
tbf if the next avatar was supposed to be an airbender and had disappeared for 100 yrs, I'd prolly assume my airbender friend who hasn't aged a day despite 100 yrs passing must be the avatar
The original was a show for children and it treated them like they were intelligent. This adaptation is a show for adults and it treats them like they're morons, and the story is way worse for it. This show is an easy 1/10.
I watched the first two episodes with my dad (we've both seen the original) and I was literally too bored to continue after that. My dad asked me if I wanted to watch another and I was like "man I want to go to bed." Then again he has the benefit of only having seen the cartoon one time a while ago while I have to live with the knowledge of every single episode in the series.
tot it imediatly after the first episode, korra would be much better adapted then aang, even the bendingis more lose it would fit netflix's pew pew style way better@@sophieamandaleitontoomey9343
can we mention for a moment that Katara is first seen practising waterbending in the abandoned ship, which looks to be like a 5 minute walk away from the MUCH bigger camp which in the og show was forbidden territory and trapped as hell
Every time I think “I should watch the new Avatar remake” it is almost immediately followed with “or I could just watch god damn Avatar and have a way better time”
I don't want to be too mean to this adaptation, but this genuinely sounded like a line from the nonexistent movie to me, especially because of the repeated words
When you were talking about the montage of attacks at all the air temples, the first thing that came to mind was order 66. That scene was so chilling because it made you feel like there was nothing the Jedi could do, it was so well coordinated. If that was done with the air temples, think how scary that would make the fire nation seem.
2:10 What is the point in the expositional opening, when this is a show made for a streaming service? The point of those openings was that any episode could have been someone's 1st
There's good and bad in the series, but I think the biggest problem is: they assume you've seen the animated show. They don't have any desire to hold onto revealing information -- they think you already know it, so why beat around the bush? "Hi Bumi." They think you already know the answers, so they want to subvert your expectations and give different answers, even when they don't make sense.
And I actually don't even mind that. Because I do know the reveals, I did see the show. I don't need to see everything recreated. I was hoping for more new stuff. Like some of the Zuko-Iroh moments. Moments that add layers to the characters and story that I already know. They did deliver, here and there, but there could have been so much more. I think they believed they added dept with all the backstory and emotional talk. But almost all of it is just so flat. But there are some new moments, some moments to love.
@@samuelstensgaard4828 "Hypothetically, let's say, okay, let's say that the 'air nomads', by the way, why are they nomads if they have temples, okay so hypothetically, let's say the air nomads didn't want to feel Sozin's wrath, why did they send their armies to attack the fire nation? Hmm?"
5:33 Why do the Air nomads hold a festival when the Fire bender power-up commet arrives anyhow...? Especially as they knew an attack would happen that day, they just expected it to be on the earth nation. 7:48 The scale feels hillariously small. Imagine if in irl History Hitler just waited for Super-hannukah. The Holiday in which every single jew in the world coveniently gathered in one place and then attacked them.
I'm just gonna say it. The air nomad genocide was left vague in the cartoon because it makes no sense that pacificist "nomads" that can literally fly could be wiped out in basically a single evening no mater how powered up fire benders were.
FWIW in the comics the Fire Nation went on an extermination campaign to track down and kill the air nomad survivors, kind of like the Empire hunting down remaining Jedi post-Order 66.
I personally love the theory that the Fire Nation used dragons to get up to the Air Temples in a proper unexpected ambush Which would then lead up to the hunting of the dragons given they were probs not all that happy being used to commit genocide
@dw1419 That makes sense and is kinda what I figured while watching the show but are you telling me that no air nomads went into hiding or got protection in the Earth kingdom or northern water tribe?
@@galetempus1979 Ppl have theorized that the new airbenders in Korra were actually air nomad descendants that integrated into other nations after the genocide Not to mention the Ty Lee theory
@galetempus1979 could be but then again like in the book the guy is talking about, they had like little markets with Airbender relics to draw out any survivors looking for others, which would draw them to somewhere secluded and kill them. It could be possible some had kids before this happening but most likely the parents wouldn't teach them the art so they won't be captured
Gyatso didn’t make a vacuum in the whole room, I would’ve liked to see him do that and have a bunch of comet powered firebenders suffocate and just flame out since the show is trying to be brutal and depressing
Also, Gyatso geting soloed by Sozin is another feature that made the live action world feel smaller. Can't have random soldiers killing Aang's master, look at this great villain they cannot use in present time anyway, wouldn't wanna waste that
I never thought about how bad the commet scene is. Like sozin kills every air bender with just extra spicy bending? How wouldnt the airbenders have just glew away and hid? The original you never see how it happened but by seeing Ozai rain fire we can imagine they just cooked then alive as they slept. Like aang said the air nomads didnt fight because they had no military. Sozin won via ambush. The LA just throws that out the window
I've come to realize that they've taken every single character and made them the complete opposite of what they were in the original. Katara was never a meek, quiet girl, Aang was never mr doom and gloom except for near the middle of book 3 and that was warranted because he was literally running out of time. Sokka was never Angsty, Zuko wasn't concerned about power, his only concern was being able to even GO home in the first place.
I noticed that too. if we can assume they read it in zuko’s notebook or smth? Bc that’s why they went to kyoshi island. But still weird considering Aang knew pretty much nothing abt the avatar state until season 2 in the original. Just like aang’s backstory, they’re refraining from any mystery bc they assume the viewers know where everything’s going
So, how long had Team Avatar been together by the end of the season? 2 weeks? I think this is how long they knew each other by Kyoshi Island in the cartoon.
Yes but he mentions it after saying to want to go home So even if saying that he never cared about his throne is false you still tell that Zuko cares way more about going back to his home more than anything.
I’ve not seen anyone talk about how dumb Azula’s intro was. We’re going to storm the palace with this girl that looks like the princess but it can’t be because she has a hat… and that Azula thinks this will work
Like it could be explained that they don't know what exactly the princess looks like because outside very high circles people only really know what the royal family looks like from portraits....but then of course the show shoots itself in the foot by everyone immediately recognising her when she removes the hat. I get they wanted a cool reveal scene, but if you're going to add it to a show you have to know how to write it
9:03 I'm glad I'm not the only one who laughed at that. I mean, I thought that actor was good overall but I don't know WTF he was doing or was told to do in that scene 😂
I'm so glad you mentioned Aang flying. I haven't seen anyone mention it when they talk about this adaptation. I immediately knew I wouldn't like this adaptation as soon as I saw that. Aang can't fucking fly, that's not how airbending works.
thats not how airbending works...except for really powerful airbenders like the avatar. seriously, in the final fight we straight up see aang fly all over the place. and he hovers/floats pretty much every time he goes into the avatar state uncontrolled....specifically because of airbending. now i do agree with you that aang shouldn't be able to fly, but its not because that isn't how airbending works. its because he's not meant to be strong enough yet.
@@sillyking1991 Was just about to say that last part. Yeah, it's because Aang hadn't taken airbending that seriously before. Yeah he was good at it, but not "defeat the fire lord" good. And while he didn't have a specific air bending teacher, the audience can organically assume that by training the other elements, (plus perhaps a little spiritual, sozin comet shenanigans going on we don't know about) and achieving different perspectives and different mindsets and by experiencing the wider world in all it's chaotic complexity, Aang also learned to be even more in control of his airbending. One thing I'd like to say is that for the most part, Aang in fact doesn't straight up fly in the final fight with Ozai. He mostly pushes himself away from the giant pillars he's standing on through great gusts of wind. I do think it's only when he's in the avatar state that he straight up just floats in mid-air. But that's entirely acceptable to the audience. That's the avatar state. You don't fuck with the avatar state. It straight up breaks the laws of the world.
The height Aang "glides" down from the top of the Air Temple isn't really all that different from the height he falls over the water. And yet no gliding, flying, falling with style, or otherwise in that situation. Hmmm. Almost like it's a bad idea to break massive rules in your magic system in their first introduction, only to then try following them later on.
I stand by this statement: making aang being lost in the storm a ‘mistake’ that happened while he was ‘clearing his head for a little while’ was the worst possible thing they could have done for his character. There’s no more guilt he needs to work through. No path to maturity he needs to take in order to face his destiny and become the avatar, instead of running away. The original has such a beautiful arc that reaches a very interesting point in early s3, when aang tries to force himself to fight the fire nation when he can barely stand, because he doesn’t want to let the world down again. But because there’s no setup, I guess we won’t be seeing that arc?
The whole show is a lost cause tbh. Even if they make it that far yes I agree with you, that moment won’t have any payoff if they’re too stupid to even to try to include it
When you watched the show as for as Ange's aerial introduction and turned it off in disgust. Left me feeling like I was being harsh and should have given it more of a go. Watching this was comforting, now I know all I was missing was some 8-9 hours I would never get back.
I do have to say, your use of humor has evolved so much, comparitavely to the early OA stuff. Love where it goes, and hope future Episodes are similiar, atleast comedy wise.
I feel like I haven't seen anyone notice how the fire benders do the fire jet flying thing in order to ascend the mountain and attack. This is one of the first times we really see firebending other than the nark getting melted... It feels a little odd to make such a bold power front and center, especially without having explained the importance of the comet until like a whole fight later.
Gosh I love these videos. I completely agree, especially on the viewing aspect, as someone returning to the show all I felt like I was getting was fan service and answers to my questions, but with how it turned out I feel I can't even accept this as the OG story but just an adaptation; while good though it felt like the world was literally a few miles wide, before we would get connected to our characters and watch them travel for episodes but in this it seems like everyone is right next to each other over and over again, and as someone returning I feel like I just sat there reconnecting the dots between the episodes than actually being immersed in Avatar and the new cool details. Overall a little underwhelming but with more seasons to come I hope they learn and grow to connect the viewers like ATLA did. Also Sozin's comet is underplayed so hard, I feel like it should've been displayed as a complete uncontrolled inferno instead of just flames that got a little extra hmmph behind it. Also I think the "All the Air Nations coming together" thing was played off too much like a convenience, especially during a world crisis where the Fire Nation is clearly imperialistic.
12:00 during the blue spirit episode Zuko worried about Zhao capturing the avatar before him, Zuko says "My honor, my throne, my country, I'm about to lose them all"
I actually started re-watching the original series after watching this video and noticed it comes up in the third episode before Zuko challenges Zhao too. He says once he's captured the Avatar, he will regain his honour and take his rightful place as the heir to the throne. Honestly, I think it's just a retcon overall. Zuko's motivations definitely shift towards just wanting to go home, but he does mention taking his rightful place here and there in the early episodes. But the rest of the series isn't entirely consistent with the first few episodes of Book 1. But if you do wanna stretch, you could argue that Zuko is only saying that to Zhao to remind him of his status considering Zhao clearly has no respect for Zuko.
Thanks for putting my vibes from the show into actual words. Like the whole thing feels like exposition was more important than the characters themselves