I actually think the Aang actor is one of the few things I’m enjoying. He’s wooden for sure but I still find him endearing mostly.
I seem to be the only one enjoying this. 3 episodes in so far and I'm really digging it. It won't get another season because of the reception so I'm tempted to stop but I'll probably finish it this weekend.
The changes to Aang's backstory strips him of tons of character depth and development. It's a strange choice IMO. Combine that with the actor's really stiff acting and you lose a lot of the fun side of Aang's core personality. Aang running away from his responsibilities not only accentuates that he REALLY does not want to be the avatar, but this shame of feeling like he let the world down (AFTER finding out what happened after he ran away) was a big part of his character arc. He feels regret because he believes he should have stayed and potentially prevented the war or ended it decades ago. It's also weird because Aang didn't know about the war at all when he woke up in the original. So our first impression of him is a happy-go-lucky kid, and THEN we see him reluctantly accept his responsibility because of his own personal values and beliefs. This version of Aang already knows about the war and that his role of avatar is going to entail defeating the Fire Nation before he gets frozen. So it seems much less like his own choice to accept his responsibility and more like he was just tasked to do it by his peers. There's no contrast between seeing Aang's real personality as a kid and then reluctantly accepting what he has to do. Again, they are small changes but they strip away a lot of layers that the original had. Other than that though, I've been enjoying basically everything else in the show (just a couple of episodes in).
I am enjoying it more than I thought I would based on the reviews and reactions in here. Only watched the first two episodes, but it didn’t feel line they made and egregious decisions that soured the experience.
this 100%. it's a seemingly minor change that reeks of a corporate decision, rather than from a place of genuinely trying to improve the show.
I feel like I'm missing something. Aang wasn't running away. He wanted to clear his head and went for a ride on his sky bison. He always planned to come back. Where are y'all getting the running away part from?
In the original show, he ran away. In this new adaptation, he was just going out to clear his head. We are talking about the different implication that has for the character in each iteration.
Just finished episode 2 and I’m enjoying it. There are changes from the cartoon that seem unnecessary, but nothing that makes me not want to keep watching. We’ll see if that changes.
I liked Netflix's Wednesday, RE, and Bebop when most people didn't, but I'm still so hesitant to give this one a chance
Ok I just finished it. I don’t think they did the cartoon a disservice at all. A lot of stuff got cut obviously, but I think they captured the key relationships and themes pretty well. it was never going to be as good as the cartoon and the acting was not great lol, but I’d definitely watch the newer seasons if they make them.
Finished episode 6. The changes are much more noticeable now. Some I don’t mind, some I wonder why? Episode 4 was pretty bad. The love tunnel (which isn’t in the cartoon until S2) was a moment for Aang and Katara so idk why the decided to 1) rush it and 2) not let it be a moment for Aang and Katara. Bumi also didn’t translate well on screen. Other than that the show has been enjoyable so far.
ok the biggest gripe i had was that aang didnt practice any waterbending at all. feels like they couldve thrown in one or two more episodes and a lot of the issues would have gone away
The only Airbender I had seen before this adaption was the movie. I don’t really remember much of anything from the movie. With that said, I liked the live action show. Not incredible, and at times some exposition did some heavy lifting, but I think it works overall. I had a fun time with it. I’m gonna watch the OG now. It feels like I’ve gone from the worst version to a better one and now I’ll see the best. You know, work my way up to it.
Gene Yang also released some books that follow the original series (I believe they’re canon). He wrote the recent Shang-Chi comics and usually delivers.
For the comics, I’d definitely suggest The Search and Smoke & Shadow. Those two specifically drive the story forward in a major way with a certain character. All of them are really good and fun though. There’s some nice connections and setup for LoK.
Just finished the Netflix season 1. First off, the production design and bending were great (visually) and the actors tried the best they could. That said, some of the changes they made don’t make any sense. Before they film season 2 the writers room really needs to revisit the cartoon and pay more attention to the characters, story, and structure. There were character moments and decisions they just totally skipped out on or altered for no reason. Also an 8 episode re-telling of each book is not going to cut it. Make the season 12 episodes and it would be much better. Also lol at this being a re-telling of season 1 which is called BOOK 1: WATER and the writers not including a single scene of Aang training waterbending. How do you not include that? Overall it was like a 7/10 just because I liked what remained of the characters and the visuals. Episode 4 was also hands down the worst episode. Totally butchered the source with that episode. The best episodes were 3 and 6.
Finally finished it and mostly agree with all of this. Aang not waterbending basically at all was so weird to me strictly because they still had Katara become a waterbending master in the meantime. I feel like you have to do both or neither. Katara apparently practiced her ass off off-screen while Aang didn't even attempt waterbending until they arrived at the Northern Water Tribe. And unlike the original, Aang is coming to defend the Northern Water Tribe....so it makes even less sense that he would show up wholly unprepared (even the show points out how dumb it is lol).
Announcing both seasons has me think they will probably be filmed back to back. Which makes sense with the age of the cast.