#they need to do Aangs big fish moment justice

[olivieraa]

I'm 5 eps into Avatar and I'm very... mixed

Now Avatar is one of my most precious shows. For the longest time, Avatar and Sex and the city were my only shows. And then Stranger Things and Barry entered my life and they all became my top 4 (would love a fifth but Lost and OITNB ended so terribly)

These are non-animes ofc

Let's just say my Avatar weekend was planned months ago, and been getting through a few a day

By the end of ep 3 I had thoughts, and by the end of ep 5 I had basically the same thoughts

My biggest con with the show, bc I cant, currently, understand the motives behind it, is... why are they showing season 2 scenes??? And characters??

Like... season 1 of the animated series has 20 eps that are 20 mins each, and season 1 of the live action has 8 hour long eps. There is enough content from season 1 of the animated series to fill your show, no???

Like Ozai's reveal is season 3, but we knew of Ozai's casting quite early, and idk, I dont mind them showing him. But Azula? And Mei and Ty Lee? Why??

And the Owl??? Why??????????? Is it to make Toph the only big reveal/new character in season 2 or something? I've no clue.

But anyway. The bulk of the changes I actually dont mind. I think they did it in a way that flows well. However, they kinda cause something that is truly essential to the story to like... not happen.

So in ep 3, they go to Omashu. Instead of it being like in the OG, they decide to combine the Jet episode and the Northern Air temple episode, INTO the Omashu episode so that the 3 main characters go off and do their own thing. Aang with the wheelchair kid Teo up the mountain (tho they didn't fight off any firebenders which is a fave scene of mine in the show), Sokka with the mechanist talking about the blimp (accurate enough), and Katara off with Jet (accurate enough but would have liked their hideout to be up in the trees, would have been awesome scenery and also made more sense, y'know, being a hideout).

So what this created was separation, and the characters had just gotten to know each other by this point. With the show being only 8 eps, I kinda need to see them connecting more lol this show has a heavy friendship and love theme. Aang and Katara have literally only talked about waterbending every time they've spoke (and Aang has not waterbended once even tho he was an immediate natural at it, but whatever about that).

Again, I didn't mind that they made all these stories happen at Omashu, instead of one of them being Omashu, one of them being at the Northern Air Temple, and the other being in a pretty forest. Missed out on great scenery but, again, wtv.

The most important thing to me is that I need these characters to build their bond first and foremost. Then those changes would matter less.

Even the ep after that, the ep that Omashu should have originally centred around, was Aang meeting Bumi without Sokka and Katara. And instead of Aang and Katara in the love tunnel (since they're basically implying Aang and Katara are not gonna be a thing), they show Sokka and Katara's sibling love as a mean's of escaping the tunnel.

So we're at ep 3 and 4 by this point and they've been separated from Aang the whole time.

Changes from what I can remember off the top of my head (that I want to assume, are for a reason, so I'm not going to say they're changes that I hate, I just, currently, don't get them):

Aang is mildly playful, but defo not Aang level of playful. I'm not expecting him to go penguin sledding or ride the elephant koi, but idk........... something. Anything. It would have been fun if they made him play airball at least. I'm glad there was at least a brief BRIEF scene of them using the mailing system in Omashu.

There's no room at the air temple that shows all the past Avatar statues, which glow when Aang goes into the Avatar state which basically alerts the world he's awakaned. People just kinda........... learn he has awakened. Somehow. But Kiyoshi's statue on Kiyoshi island glowed and it led to a cool scene.

Again, Aang not knowing any waterbending. I wanna believe they've a reason for this.

Zuko doesn't have any moment where he shows any sorta, idk... respect or fear of Aang? Like he hasn't witnessed Aang show power enough to impress him

Zhao and Zuko didn't fight, another fantastic scene to show Zuko's character

Currently no pirates or foretuneteller, but may happen in the next

Iroh's dialogue is a bit... well... its different...

Changes I thought were fine:

Aang can sorta fly

Their discovery of Appa not being as dramatic was fine to me. Classic OG series moment of Sokka realising Appa could fly but I didn't mind them just getting straight to it

Aang not revealing he's the avatar but Gran-gran doing it instead

Aang already having the bison whistle given to him by kid!Bumi

The air temple backstory and Gyatso's speech to Aang not being in a flashback but in the spirit world

Zuko has a briefly important journal

The scroll being given to Katara by her gran instead of stealing it from pirates

Idk why Suki has a mother, she's not really relevant, but its fine

Azula shoots arrows, which is cool

Azula's reveal was half-cool and half-bad. I liked her in the scene, everyone else was an idiot. Did they think it would be that easy?

Aang and Iroh have had two scenes involving a prison together

Koh the face stealer was introduced early instead of during the North Pole eps where he tells Aang who the moon and ocean spirits are, which means he's going to find that out some other way in those eps.

Kioshi giving Aang wisdom before Roku

Katara and Sokka dont come down with a random illness which results in Aang looking for frogs and getting captured by Zhao and saved by Zuko

Scenes I really wish they'd kept:

Okay, this one was really important to me, bc it was the exact moment I fell in love with the show in 2005. Aangs first Avatar state moment.

In order, Aang playfully escapes some firebenders with some slick moves. An alert is made that he's escaped. Him and Zuko have a brief fight (Agni Kai music heck yeah), Aang escapes and attempts to jump off the boat with his glider, Zuko stops him and attacks Aang and then he falls into the ocean. Katara calls his name, he awakens his Avatar state and knocks out Zuko and the firebenders and then Sokka and Katara save him. And then Zuko and Iroh attack Appa and Aang redirects it.

Instead, Aang fights absolutely nobody. There's no alert that he's escaped but Zuko somehow knows?? Aang jumps off and successfully uses his glider and gets onto Appa. Zuko attacks and Katara uses BIG waterbending to save everyone.

That moment adapted well could have sold this show for me.

In addition to that:

The "Avatar" test that proved to the Air Nomads that Aang was the Avatar. Instead they just kinda showed that he was more gifted than everyone else so that's how they knew.

The big change I think most people were a fan of:

Kiyoshi's appearance. Bad. Ass.

What I like:

Sokka and Zuko. I think the casting is fantastic for these two.

Appa and Momo.

People actually being burned alive. Idk, it shows the brutality more in this version

Azula has potential

What I h a t e:

Okay. Ep 1 31:38. This scene kinda shows a few things at once. Its just so… strangely written and acted by everyone except Sokka. Aang overacts (throughout the show), Katara underacts (throughout the show). The way Aang plays with the kids is odd. The way he doesn't even have any sort of reaction to seeing Katara for the first time sucks. Katara looks depressed most of the time and she just stands around a lot without a word to say. Tbh she doesn't even really know how to stand without looking awkward.

Katara did not give Aang her motivational and heartwarming speech at the air temple which basically told Aang that the three of them are now family. He just sorta… calmed himself down. All she did was call his name

Again, the lack of relationship these two have

Ozai continuously praising Zuko and Azula being insecure? So so SO early???

The season 2 stuff. There's enough to gather from season 1 so this makes no sense to me. They've basically shown the swamp ep already. And the swamp ep is where Aang first see's Toph, y'know, super important fan favourite character. Which means she's going to get a different introduction.

Bumi's "tests"? WHERE WERE THEY? HE KEPT SAYING TESTS BUT NONE HAPPENED. ALSO THE LAST ONE IN THE ORIGINAL WAS ABOUT GUESSING WHO HE WAS, BUT AANG KNOWS WHO HE IS THE SECOND THEY MEET. SO HIS CHARACTER WAS COMPLETELD CHANGED. WHY THO.

Uh, that's all I can remember off the top of my head (I just went to check that one timestamp, but other than that, this is all from memory).

I've one ep left and then the last two will be in the North Pole eps.

I know the one ep left before those two will feature Roku's appearance (hopefully on a dragon but prob not) and Zuko as the Blue Spirit as a combo ep, which I think is also combining the Sokka and Katara sick episode but instead of them being sick, they're about to be eaten by Koh (which makes him more menacing, something the OG show didn't do so I'm fine with this). I just hate that these characters are separated so much.

BUILD THE BOND GODDAMIT.