i wont lie, i was actually kind of pleasantly surprised with the series. i heard sooo many bad things about it that i was prepared for the worst. there are obviously parts where it falls short / doesnt hit the same, but i think they did great with what they had and adapting into a live action series from a cartoon. the choreography and cgi were pretty good! the exposition dumping wasnt great, and some of the costumes (like yues wig) looked a bit off, but overall, i actually enjoyed the series!
Watching the new series was difficult for me due to not being able to look past the negative changes but it is enlightening to see a review focusing on the positive aspects of the series
I love it when ppl make reviews in good faith! The straight up hating gets exausting ya kno!! I do want a s2 so id love it if we all keep things as objective as possible so s2 might have better focus and pacing hopefully!!
Yes! A lot of the reviewa feel like complaining for the sake of complaining. I had to close one video out yesterday from a guy I really like because it was just that.
As an Avatar fan who watched the OG show when it was coming out and many times since, I had mixed feelings about this show. Many negative things about this show but also many positives. Here is a list of some of my positive thoughts on the show. 1. I really like the fire bending in this adaptation. It looks really good. The best looking of the elements, in my opinion. 2. I like the scene with Monk Gyatso telling Aang he is the Avatar in the temple of the previous air Avatar. Gyatso saying " you are my friend" hits so hard knowing that Gyatso and Roku knew each other 3. The scene with Zuko and Iroh at the funeral made me cry. Zuko's relationship with Iroh in general was really good 4. I absolutely love the scene between Iroh and that Earth Kingdom soldier who lost family. I think this scene is important. In my opinion, the show doesn't touch upon Iroh's past mistakes that much. I think this scene is really human and powerful, showing the human tole of war. Every person that dies, even a soldier, was a person with a family and friends. 5. Generally well cast. I think many of these actors are good fits for these roles. In particular, Im a big fan of Zuko's casting. I think his actor did a stand-out job. 6. Most of the sets look pretty good and make this feel like a real world you can step into. There are some exceptions but generally I think the set design was great. 7. I think Appa looks good. Not the nightmare fuel he was in the Shyamalan movie. 8. One of my favorite episodes is episode 3. I think the way the mesh so many different characters and plot lines into one was so clever. They handled Jet and The Mechanist plot lines really well. 9. The cabbage man was funny. Some other good jokes in this adaptation. 10. Many of the fights were well choreographed. Especially the Aang-Zuko fight in Omashu 11. Zhao was such a good villain in this show. So slimy and underhanded. 12. Kyoshi was really good. Felt like Kyoshi 13. I like they included some lore/world building from Korra and the Kyoshi novels 14. The music was excellent. They included music from the OG show and added new music that was really good too 15. I agree with this point. 6:50 (Squidward voice) Oh no, he's hot
Loved this. Looking forward to your follow up video. "Muttonchops" (Lt Jee) is actor Ruy Iskandar and I agree, he knocked it out of the park and elevated a small role with his performance. We stan Lt. Muttonchops in this house too. Liked and shared
Hey, I was wondering if you could react to a band called Roar? They’re one of my favorite bands and I listen to their music quite often, and i think you’d like them too! Not many people talk about them- The songs I suggest listening to are: Duck or Ape, Flightless Bird, The Comfort of a Laugh Track, Truck Stop Tiger, Christmas Kids, and I Can’t Handle Change!!
So I just met you through this video, and you bet your biscuits I paused and clicked meticulously to read your little AO3 snippets. 10/10 would totally read. Also gotta say, I think maybe you and I agree on the likes about 90% of the time, which was heartening that I don't feel entirely vilified for what I did enjoy.
HELP ME THE thethirdbill/Live Action Ozai/June FANFIC?? i loved this video!! love seeing you give this a fair chance, especially given how much you clearly care about the original property. i love seeing you able to express emotion even when not actively enjoying the content; just the processing of it, the thinking about it. the appreciation of the choices they made, and the clear understanding of the directions they were trying to take things and the changes they were trying to make even when you didn't completely agree with them. love you making an effort to be honest about this media i didn't really enjoy this new avatar series, but seeing your thoughts made me appreciate where they'd clearly made an effort to adapt the property and make changes that could've developed the story into something just as meaningful as the original, while exploring new elements and ideas, fleshing out some things we didn't get to appreciate properly before. the editing here is really fun, too-- the pacing of the jokes and the ability to focus properly on the visuals and fill in our memories of the show while still being about your analysis of course i'm excited to see part 2 but knowing that it'll get more attention as a negative video almost makes me a little sad? because the message of this video and the intention and the honesty of it is noble and really well executed but also very excited to see a part 2. can't wait to hear negative thoughts more in depth as always, your content is art
Thank you for speaking up for animation. Although I have enjoyed the Avatar and One Piece live-action series, I feel like one of the biggest reasons for their very existence is, besides more money, that people simply don't respect animation. I'm adding to my comment as I go, so I don't forget anything I might want to say. I enjoyed the contrast between the types of bending. They all felt very unique. I thought the creatures were all very well-done and believable. Gyatso was a highlight for me. He and Aang's actor did a great job together, as did Zuko's and Iroh's. Also was a fan of Katara and Aang's playful moment splashing each other. I think those things are always nice to show the relationships between characters, and also good for breaking some of the tension, especially with the live-action series having much less of those kinds of moments. Fire Lord? More like Fine Lord, amirite??? All jokes aside, I really enjoyed his performance. Every little petty moment from Zuko is a point in my book. I agree with pretty much all you said about Iroh. He is such a fascinating, nuanced character, and definitely a high point for me both in the original series and this one. Much love to you AND your grandpa, Bill. I hope he is at peace. I'm glad that the show was able to give you a scene so important and cherished. It was probably my favorite - definitely top 3. June was ON POINT. Really liked Koh as well, and Zhao's actor really did kill it. He was perfectly in line with the Zhao we all know. I cried actual tears at the scene where they bow to Zuko, it was pretty powerful to me. I agree with you on Mai and Ty Lee! They perfectly captured the characters imo, but it would have been better to give them a moment to really shine. I'm also sad because I keep seeing hate thrown at them, especially Mai's actresses, and I hope it dies down. With you on all the water tribe stuff. Excited to see your video on the things you didn't like!
Heya Bill, First off, the Positivity is always so welcome. There's real value in taking a balanced approach to things in this way. Second: I dunno if you'll see this, or if you take commented suggestions, but I'd LOVE to see a Trying to Stan episode for the artist Fish In A Birdcage, I think you'd really love their stuff, especially Rule #1 Magic
Looking at this as a different iteration of the Avatar: TLA Universe made it pretty enjoyable. Many changes were likely done to accommodate the budget and episode amount/length, but it also added a level of uncertainty to what will happen next. I'll say this, Master Pacu's character arc in the animated series sucked and the changes in the live action series made it a lot better. I'm hoping they do something similar for the Lion-Turtle situation and the well placed pointy rock that helped save the world.
Yeah, I feel like a lot of people just shouldn't watch any adaptations tbh, because they go in with what I see as the wrong mindset. If one wants to see something that is exactly like the original, then they should keep rewatching the original, especially if it goes from animation to live-action. Some things just will never work in live-action like they do in animation. I legit saw people hating on Mai because she had a more square jaw instead of the animation's angular features. How does that even affect the story?
19:43 If i remember correctly they weren't sent to the front lines, but were there for support. Plus i feel like it was something they wanted to do rather than something they were forced to do
The thing i liked most about Suki was that she gave awkward tism vibes. i think you can call it bad writing but as someone with a touch of the tism, i saw alot of how i deal with crushes. she seems like she is a bit interested in Sokka but doesnt know quite how to interact with him. i wish they had Sokka earn her interest a bit more before hand though.
i agree that the movie was a very mixed bag for me (and pretty much all the bad coming from the writing lol), it was definitely interesting to see a review formatted this way and i found i really liked it! loved your takes, i agree with a ton of them, i would say the only thing that surprised me was talking about iron’s arc. i honestly didn’t even think they were going to put him through one at all, so what he said in defense of his actions to the earth kingdom soldier left a very bad taste in my mouth. the idea that he’s also gonna go through a more pronounced arc than in the animated series is interesting, and although i’m nervous about its quality, i’m really interested to see where it goes!
i don't like kyoshi taking the scene from roku and making roku a mcguffin. they mixed so much from other seasons that I'm worried what will happen in the seasons that that scene should be in. I'm worried that we won't get a tales of ba sing se in season 2 since they used that emotional scene card.
My biggest problem with the series is when you got "big brain" moments like the dialogue for the first two episodes was almost entirely unneeded exposition. Lots of tell don't show. The times the show really shined was when they showed the other side of situations from the animated show, like how positively Zuko impacted Iroh, that stuff was awesome.
nothing to do with the video but i need bill to react to hazbin hotel i feel like he'd love the songs and the characters, i'd suggest reacting to the songs on their own first and the in the context of the show😊
Yeah, it definitely wasn't perfect, iffy cgi in certain parts, and lots of changes that weren't the best. But there's quite a few good things about it too. The music, fight choreography, and Iroh were all great to me. It's not as good as the original, but it's definitely better than the movie.
Agreed with basically everything you said, even about Katara bending that ice block which is funny. This show was a frustrating watch for me in a lot of ways, but I recognize that some of that is bias and will readily admit that there was a lot of stuff that I enjoyed. I appreciate your fair take and look forward to your second part!
I did enjoy seeing more of Aang and Gyatso, but I think if they were going to do it they could have shown more of a day in the life, not just this last day. I do also think that the original works better with the audience learning what happened at the same time as Aang, but it feels like the live action didn't trust us with that.
I still can't tell if I'm giving it more credit than it deserves out of nostalgia and affection. Like - I keep recommending it with all these caveats and more worry than usual that I will be judged for having bad judgment.😅
If you liked it and had fun, that's okay, but looking at the show just by itself, it's characters, dialogue, plot, episode pacing, and themes are all poorly written. It doesn't have to be good to be fun, but don't let your enjoyment confuse you. This was barely passable as a show and marginally better than the unspeakable film.
@@SwordTune oh, I'm certainly still looking at it through a critical eye. I can never get away from that with my analytical brain. I see all the flaws in acting and pacing, etc. (In particular, I'm not sold on Ang. He's kind of just a mature and articulate-for-his-age kid who's delivering a good script read. He has none of the playfulness and complexity that he should.) I'm just having trouble weighing the pros vs cons in _my_ viewing experience to see if the pros make up for the cons. (I absolutely respect yours.) Edit: I am inconsistent with my judgments, too. A single detail can also ruin something for me, so I'm surprised by this struggle. 😜
without elaboration, id give it a 7/10 at best there are some GLARING issues that don't ruin the entire experience for me, but they have to be aware of them and fix them asap if there's gonna be another season the biggest one being just how doom n gloom Aang is, and how much enjoyment is lost whenever the scene switches back to him - the main damn character his lines feel rushed, and feels like every other line is him reminding us that he has it rough without enough of that happy-go-lucky wonder that he has in the show despite his circumstances also the writers need to stop it with the handholding holy crap i can't tell you how frustrating it is that they have to spoonfeed us with lines that are so obviously shoved in our faces to tell us how to feel because they don't trust the audience to recognize subtlety
I think my favorite moment was when they made it super clear that Kyoshi was not someone you ever wanted to mess with because she will fucking kill you and then forget your face afterwards. Fucking terrifying person.
Lots of things I disliked, and a fair bit I liked and, so far at least, you seem to have much of the same opinion of the same parts as I do so I'll just say I love every flashback with Iroh, they felt like something we easily could have gotten in the original show, the sets and visuals everywhere are great, which is really saying something as this is not the easiest world to recreate in live action, I'm sure they spent a ridiculous amount on cgi, and yes, they did have some good ideas on things to add, didn't always execute them well but overall they at least had a solid plan going in. Overall.. Unlike the original, its not a show I'm likely to ever rewatch or recommend to anyone who hasn't already seen all of the original and lok, but it was enjoyable enough for what it is.
I honestly am happy with the route they are taking and im glad they following the story line i man yea they changed stuff and did mess with a couple things that was better alone but all in all i rate it an 8 out of 10 and hope they continue into book 2 and book 3
I liked that every one was included they all looked right the setting etc wasn't changed to a high school full of angsty teens dabbing and rapping the music was correct like every box a remake should check was checked. and changes were necessary to make a remake worth it and I like how those were done Down side Not many animals No "Imprisoned" episode any other changed DON'T matter and people jump to the wrong conclusions. I f we never get book 2 we at least got a good book one.
I see what you mean about the blink and you miss it lol bc I blinked and I missed it i thought it was a straight couple lol also you getting lost in……..ozai was surprising I thought you were straight lol
