#daniel dae kim?? why do i know him

[aangarchy]

Alright. I've rewatched the trailer like 20 times by now and i've been processing it.

First things first: anyone that's gonna talk shit about Gordon Cormier is gonna have to go through me first. I've only had Gordon!Aang for a day and a half and if anything happens to him i'll kill everyone here and then myself got it?

Just look at him! This is the exact big eared cute little kid i wanted them to cast for Aang. He looks adorable and honestly his outfit is growing on me.

The glowing arrow looked cool as hell. I like that the light spread through his tattoo almost like veins. I'm still curious on how the full avatar state is gonna look, how they're gonna get the glowing eye effect. Please don't let it look goofy.

Y'know what does look goofy?

Is it better than the m night shyamalan appa? I guess. Does that mean it looks good? Well.... at least momo sort of looks cute instead of some folklore nightmare like in shyamalan's version. But also you can tell in this shot in particular that it's very green screen-y

Then we go over to the bending, the limited shots we have of it. Mainly firebending was shown (a little airbending too but kinda hard to get a stillframe for that one)

Idk how to feel about it. In screenshots it looks alright but the shots while they were moving looked a bit off, especially the one where zuko's kicking. We only got very limited shots and that's intentional. I feel like the bigger cgi fails are gonna show up once we get the full show. If the bending looked good all the time i feel like they'd be showing it off by now.

What i don't like, is how apparently they're gonna SHOW Zuko getting burned. Like sure in atla they didn't bc kids show and Nickelodeon wouldn't allow it, and netflix can take darker turns if they so please. But i personally always felt that scene made so much impact because we didn't see it. Iroh is telling it from his memory and he didn't look when it happened, so we don't see it either. It's like a courtesy the show extends to both Zuko and the audience. We just hear the harrowing scream, and that's enough to know how devastating it is. I don't need a dramatic overlook so we can see the whole thing in detail, netflix.

Another thing is the hair in some scenes.

Daniel dae kim looked better in that promo photo, bc here you can just see how the bulky goatie was glued on. And then Sokka's hair..... where's the ponytail? It's laying completely flat against his head... why? Is it bc that's Ian's hair and they didn't know what to do with it? Literally get a comb and tease that bitch. This is like the complete opposite of Jackson Rathbone's hair in the shyamalan version, and somehow that full maybelline ponytail makes more sense than this sad excuse of a tail. Either way at least Suki looked dope.

Another thing i found weird about the trailer is the narration. I think it's either Iroh's voice or maybe Gyatso's? (I haven't heard Iroh's actor talk yet so idk, but it felt like it was being said TO either Aang or Zuko) but the lines they gave him... it felt like some weird mumbo jumbo tbh. Something something about the past and present being the same and it's up to us to know the difference and be the difference? It's saying everything and nothing at the same time and it felt kind of out of place. They're probably saving the iconic opening narration done by Katara for the full trailer (i hope???) but still they could have just gone with music, or maybe just a few iconic existing lines?

The music? Fire. Nothing needs to be added there. Was i kind of hoping for a different soundtrack? Maybe a bit. But am i mad? Not at all. They clearly took the nostalgia route with the more epic version of the avatar theme, and i can only respect them for that.

So far, very mixed reviews for me. I'm morbidly curious and very nosy by nature though, so i'm absolutely watching.

[atlaculture]

Live-Action Promo Pics: Ozai

Hi everyone, I know I’m pretty late to the party, but I just wanted to give my two cents on the costuming for the second batch of promo pics we got last month. Afterwards, I’m going to be doing a very thorough breakdown of both the fresh and familiar elements showcased in the new trailer. I’ll also be giving my two cents on the casting for the adult characters, as I feel they’re far along enough into their careers to not care what some random person on Tumblr thinks of them.

Ozai

What I Liked

The topknot crown (guan) looks great. They translated the simple look from the animated show into a really elaborate design in live-action that’s fitting of the Fire Lord’s status.

The facial hair looks quite realistic and natural. Facial hair on East/Southeast Asian men tends to grow pretty straight--- until they hit their senior years, when the head and facial hair start to get bushier.

The brocade pattern on his outer robe is cool. The diamond shapes remind me of the sort of patterns you tend to see on traditional Thai fabrics.

They retained his silhouette and color scheme. I know that’s the bare minimum, but I’m still happy that he’s immediately recognizable as Ozai, unlike his movie counterpart.

What I Didn’t Care For

His outfit is really red. I know it’s the Fire Nation’s signature color, but an abundance of bright red tends to be hard on the eyes. This is why most Fire Nation characters dress in much more muted reds, usually with black and grey as secondary colors. His solid red robe with all the shiny, gold detailing makes him look cartoonier than his counterpart in the actual cartoon.

I’m not a fan of the spaulders directly attached to his outer robe. Having them be sewn/glued on to the clothing makes them look flimsy, rather than imposing. It also bothers me that the layers of his spaulders aren’t uniformly curly--- although this is just a personal pet peeve of mine.

I really wish they had incorporated the triangular shoulder pieces from the show into his outfit. It would have made him look more imposing and offset some of the searing red in his outfit. It’s not as if there isn’t any precedent for this kind of armor either; there are real-world examples from SE Asia that they could have used as inspiration. (Picture below: Thai, Burmese, and Lao shoulder armor.)

This design is not amazing, but also not terrible. About what I was expecting: A recognizable, if somewhat underwhelming, interpretation of Ozai.

Overall, I give this look 5 evil goatees out of 10.

I will say that I’ve warmed up to Daniel Dae Kim as Ozai. He’s got an imposing and regal aura, but I still wish a younger actor was playing the role. It would have created an even starker contrast between the vicious younger brother and the wizened elder brother.

[lost-inanotherlife]

Lost S1 Rewatch after 20 years - scattered FINAL thoughts

other thoughts here

I think I'm becoming a bit of an anti-Charlie because I really can't stand him, like at all. He used to be one of my favorites but clearly 20 years did no good to his character. I mean, COME ON, he's hyperfixated on Claire and her baby and wants to protect them at all cost BUT he leaves them alone with Rousseau? A literally stranger, just like Ethan was? AND THEN he takes it out on Sayid and blames him? AND THEN Sayid is the one who actually saves Aaron and Charlie gets the credit? Ugh. S1 Charlie is the worst.

My feelings for the characters' backstories are quite mixed. On the one hand, they are undoubtedly stereotypical, on the other I can't help but admire the writers' command of archetypes. In Lost there are A LOT of main characters but they ALL have a solid backstory. In other words, the characters' stories are coherent, consistent and ultimately extremely well-written. The writers put in a lot of effort and succeeded in portraying each story with a few strokes of the metaphorical brush. The line between stereotype and archetype is a thin one and can be easily crossed; Lost's writers approach it very very closely but they somehow manage to retreat a few moments before the disaster. I'm in awe.

I'll always, always, be soft and weak for Sun and Jin. Maybe it's because Yunjin Kim and Daniel Dae Kim are incredibly talented actors. With the exception of Terry O'Quinn and the two Kims, all other actors don't start off really strong. It's okay because by the end of S1 they have all, to varying degrees, sort of grown into their characters or, at least, they feel more at ease playing them. On the other hand, specifically Daniel Dae Kim's acting choices are precise and beautifully executed from the start. You can't really do anything else but end up liking Jin.

I remember I was shocked by Boone's death and, 20 years later, I still feel sorry over it. I think his character had a lot of hidden potential, I don't know why they killed him off (I mean, maybe the actor wanted out? I don't think so! For shock value? Could be! I should do some research). I liked the fact that he was sort of an anti-hero or, perhaps more correctly, a wannabe failing hero. It would've been cool to see his arc unfold, I think. Too bad.

Kate and Jack confuse me. There's clearly something between them but I'm starting to suspect it's not love? Jack is insanely besotted with her but he's also quite demanding and over-protective and honestly? Dude, chill, there's literally no need, she eats guys like you for breakfast. Kate, on the other hand, is also unfair to him. For instance, she wants him to believe that she would never poison anyone while she herself had drugged him the day before and she was indeed the mastermind behind Michael's little stomach problem (lol). It's like she wants Jack to think the best of her while she's not willing to do the work OR, even better, just to be herself and let Jack decide whether he's in or not. Mmmm.

Locke and Jack as symbolically being one person, as in a dark mirror of each other is chef's kiss. While in "White Rabbit" Locke saves Jack from falling off a cliff, in "Exodus" Jack saves Locke from being dragged underground by the black smoke. The images are the same and it was so beautiful to see. Absolutely blown-away by the command of symbolism in this series, I know it's silly to say because, DUH, it's Lost! Still mindblowing, though.

[natlacentral]

Netflix’s ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ Boss Explains Changes From the Original: Heightened Violence, Bumi Battle and More

A cruel dictator grabs an enemy soldier by the wrist. The soldier’s eyes widen. He lets out a desperate shriek as his skin turns to a crisp — he’s being burned alive. An ashen corpse drops to the ground, and the dictator moves on with ease, ready to discuss war tactics with his men.

This scene takes place just five minutes into the premiere of “Avatar: The Last Airbender,” Netflix’s live-adaptation of the Nickelodeon series of the same name that was originally animated, widely acclaimed and, notably, made for children. 

“It was really important that we start that way,” says showrunner Albert Kim of the bold move to open his version of the story with such a stark image of Fire Lord Sozin’s (Hiro Kanagawa) brutality. “It’s a very clear signal that this isn’t a note-for-note translation. It’s within the mythology of the original, so fans will know what we’re doing, but we’re going off in a slightly different direction.”

The episode goes on to to depict the how the Hundred Year War began; the original series constantly nodded at the Fire Nation’s genocide against the Air Nomads, but it was never put on screen in such detail. “Showing the Southern Air Temple genocide sets the stakes for our world,” Kim says. “It’s one thing for a 12-year-old kid to say, ‘I have to stop the Fire Nation. It’s another to see what the Fire Nation did to his home, his family and everyone he loves.”

Speaking to Variety, Kim dove deep into “Avatar” lore to unpack these changes and others.

The original “Avatar” is ostensibly a kids’ show, but the violence of the story gets more visceral in live action. Were you targeting a more aged-up audience here? What was your philosophy while writing the more violent sequences?

It wasn’t about aging it up. It was about setting the stakes for this world. One of the things we wanted to do was show how dangerous bending can be. Firebending should feel dangerous; it should feel something that could hurt you. Also, as fans know, the tone of the original series starts shifting in the later seasons. It gets to some pretty dark places, so we had the benefit of hindsight. We knew that the fans understood where the show could go, so we were able to just start off in that place. And I will say, if you watch the rest of the season, I don’t think we go much farther than that. But the most important thing for us, always, was to feel true to the spirit of the original. Every choice we made was run by that litmus test: Does this feel like “Avatar”? 

Let’s dive into the lore a bit. In your version, Fire Lord Sozin says that his plan is to wipe out the airbenders before a new Avatar is revealed. Why does he want to kill the Avatar instead of trapping him, since his death will lead to the birth of a new Avatar from the Water Tribes?

This is getting deeper into the mythology than most viewers will know, but there’s usually a gap in time between when an Avatar dies and a new one is born. And there’s a period of time before they are old enough to become the Avatar — typically, they’re told when they’re 16. Sozin is making a calculated gamble as to the window of time he needs to take over the world. There will be a new, reincarnated Avatar, but he’s got time, if he kills this current one, to go on and conquer the world. It’s a tomorrow problem. That’s getting into Sozin’s head a little bit — and whether or not that’s a sound strategy is up for debate. Avatar scholars can debate that. 

The thing we wanted to show with the military strategy when we opened the season is Sozin pulling off a bit of misdirection. He makes us think he’s going to attack the Earth Kingdom, and instead, he attacks the Air Nomads. We close the season with Ozai [Daniel Dae Kim] doing the same thing. It’s a little bit of a bookend that we set up.

How did you envision the parts of the war you don’t show on screen? For example, if the Fire Nation thinks they sucessfully wiped out the Air Nomads, how does Zuko know he’s searching for an airbending Avatar instead of a waterbender?

Actually, I’m not sure that he knows. One hundred years have passed, and no one has seen the Avatar in that time. In the writers room, we realized it’s a little like past mythology. It’s lore that’s out there, like, “Oh, the Avatar, is that for real?” Because a few generations have come down now without ever having experienced an Avatar in their lifetime. In the mythology, there is the possibility that the Avatar line can end, so I’m sure scholars in this world have studied it and thought it has ended, or maybe it passed onto another bender, or maybe they’re in hiding. 

So when Zuko’s sent out on his quest — this is one of the subtle changes we made — he’s studying the history of the Avatar. You see his notebook, his shelf of figurines. He’s traveled the world researching the cycle of the Avatar and who’s next in line. I think he’s considered the possibility of airbenders, waterbenders, all the way down. He’s not leaving any stone unturned. That’s why he’s so surprised when he sees Aang, because he thinks he may be facing someone like Kyoshi [Yvonne Chapman] or Roku [C.S. Lee], but then comes this 12-year-old Airbender. 

This adaptation also offers a different take on King Bumi (Utkarsh Ambudkar). In the original, he’s a goofy old man who essentially plays tricks on Aang to make him realize he’s his old friend from 100 years ago, but here, Bumi reveals himself immediately and is a bit more cynical toward Aang. How did Bumi know Aang was the Avatar if Aang himself didn’t know until right before he got trapped in ice for a century? And why did you add that animosity to their relationship?

Again, 100 years have passed, and Bumi has lived through those 100 years. I think Bumi is someone who has thought a lot about, “Where’s the Avatar? What has happened?” I think he’s done his own research into it and figured things out. Whereas Zuko might have done library research, Bumi was alive during that period. It’s something that he’s figured out, knowing who Aang is, knowing his skills as an airbender.

Something we didn’t show, but that we’re going to, is that Bumi knew Gyatso [Lim Kay Siu] as well, because Gyatso and Aang would visit Omashu together. He knew all this stuff, and he was able to deduce that Aang was the Avatar, but that he’s disappeared. There are hints in the original that he feels like he was abandoned by the Avatar. You’re right. He doesn’t reveal his identity until the end of the episode in the animated series, but that’s a change we made because it helped our storytelling.

How did that help the storytelling?

It helps Aang realize what he’s up against. The original episode is a fun one, with him going through these various challenges. For a variety of reasons, that didn’t work in live-action and for our story. In the original episode, Bumi’s point is to show what Aang needs to go through to become the Avatar, which is part of what we work into our story as well, but the more emotional storyline is what Aang’s departure from the world meant for Bumi. He feels betrayed by his friend. 

For Aang, he’s starting to feel the burden of guilt: “This is what happened because I wasn’t around. Not only did this abstract thing happen — the war — but a really good friend of mine was hurt, and I hurt him.” To tell that story, it helped that the two of them knew who each other was right away. 

As well as changing some characters, you introduced some new ones, like Yukari (Tamlyn Tomita), mother of Suki (Maria Zhang). What drove that addition? Do you think you’ll continue creating new characters in future seasons?

When you think of Kyoshi Island, you think of a female-centric society, a community built around fearsome female warriors of the island. It seemed to make sense that the leader of the island would be a woman, and when we started to put those pieces together, we realized she should be a former Kyoshi Warrior, and she should be Suki’s mom. I had Tamlyn Tomita in mind from the start; we kind of wrote it for her. 

And as for doing that in the future, one of our missions was to fill out the world a little bit as we went along and create some new characters, or tweak the characters that already exist. There’s certain characters who are fairly small in animated series, like Lieutenant Jee [Ruy Iskandar], and we made him a little more consequential in our storytelling. We changed the character of Hahn [Joel Oulette] in the finale. There are things that felt better for us in the live-action version than it would have been for the animated series.

Was there anything you didn’t manage to incorporate from Season 1 of the animated series that you want to explore in the future?

We pulled in elements from Season 2 into this season, so there’s no reason you can’t do the reverse. My biggest regrets in the Season 1 are the stuff we couldn’t include. The original series had so many amazing characters, storylines and scenes that I wish we could have done, but for practical, financial or just storytelling reasons, we couldn’t include.

There’s a great sequence in Roku’s temple when Aang and the gang figure out how to get into the shrine. I would have loved to have done that. We just ran out of resources. We have to make hard decisions along the way, but that’s not to say that we can’t revisit them at some point in the future.

A highlight of the first season has been getting to see Indigenous and Asian actors play these characters that were originally inspired by their cultures. Fans are also excited to see Toph in live-action. Are you committed to casting a blind actor to play her in a potential second season? 

Who doesn’t love Toph? She’s amazing. But at the same time, my entire focus has been getting Season 1 across the finish line. All of those questions — which are all important questions — are a problem for tomorrow, rather than now. It’s not like we’ve come to any decisions on any of that stuff. If you’re like me, a little bit superstitious, you don’t want to jump the gun and start thinking about things that might not happen until we see how we do. All my focus has been on making sure that Season 1 is the best it could be so that we actually earn the opportunity to have those conversations.

[eponastory]

Let's talk about Ozai in the Netflix Adaptation vs The Original

Let's go with the OG for right now...

So, Ozai was never really shown fully onscreen until the end of Book Two. Which was a really great move on the writers part. We had only seen bits an pieces of him, mostly told through Zuko and Iroh, but we had an idea he was bad. We knew from the beginning that Ozai was a power hungry monarch with grand delusions of himself and of course wanting to continue the legacy that was handed down to him. His ideal of achieving peace was war and terror. Everyone under one superior rule.

As a kid, that is scary.

Come Book Three we get Ozai in all his maniacal glory, wonderfully voiced by the legendary Mark Hamill. Now, being someone who grew up with Star Wars (having been inducted into the Rebellion at age 4) and the Batman Animated series (inducted at age 8) I grew up hearing that man's voice, so I know it well.

But yes, Ozai was very well handled in the Original show.

Now...

On to Netflix.

Well, here's where I have mixed feelings.

There is no mystery to him, but I get why they took this approach. If they went with the mystery, it would be a shot for shot rehash and that's not what the show runners were trying to do. It does give us a more personal dynamic between Ozai and Iroh, which I had always been curious about. But there is more to it.

Here, we get a more manipulative, egotistical Ozai. He is manipulating his children against each other to see who comes out on top. We don't really see that in the Original. We get hints that it's happening, but here, it's shoved in our faces and it's brutal. You can already see Azula cracking from this and it's handled much better (in my opinion). I don't want to see the same thing we got with Game of Thrones (I'm talking about Dany going all mad queen all of a sudden). I want to see the strings being pulled. This actually cements Ozai as an even worse father than in the OG.

To be fair, I'm also looking at this from the point of view as a parent (or something of the sort. I can't have children, but I have a niece that is the next best thing). It's funny how as you get older you start to see things from a different point of view.

Anyway, Daniel Dae Kim does an excellent job at this portrayal of everyone's most hated Fatherlord. Although, I think in the OG Ozai is around my current age, if not a little older. Daniel is definitely a good few years older than I am, *checks notes* Yeah, he's two decades older than me.

And

His workout routine.

Anyway, moving past my lustful eyes.

Okay, back to character analysis... (get your mind out of the gutter, Story, you've got shit to write) Ozai in the live action is probably one of the better performances. I mean, you can actually see a little bit of conflict in the character when it comes to Zuko. Ultimately, narcissism wins out.

I'll probably write about Azula next.

[ferretteeth]

Having now watched the entirety of Netflix' ATLA here's some thoughts

absolutely zero confidence in the audience's ability to discern information without directly telling us. Aang has this monologue at the start and it's basically just for us to know. hey this character changed his mind, let's tell the audience. is this to address the poor media literacy or is it directly making it worse? i don't know

Katara doesn't have a lot of personality. I feel like at the start of the animated series her character is kind of Supportive Girl but she gets much more personality as time goes. She has nothing here

removing Sokka's sexism is such a misguided attempt of, i guess, addressing misogyny? but instead it accomplishes the opposite. why would you remove characters making mistakes and growing

removed Sokka in drag when this would've been a great opportunity to build on that scene as well as make a statement in the ongoing culture wars. as a side note I hated how the kyoshi warrior makeup looked I felt like it should've looked more like traditional chinese theatre, kind of smeared on instead of these warriors rocking cut creases

actually on the topic of that Sokka is super clearly wearing foundation the whole show while Katara looks very natural. It's equality.

lots of flashbacks and such which we really don't need?? as well as featuring Azula and Ozai. Ozai in particularly is a miss (even if Daniel Dae Kim's presence always is appreciated) since he spends several seasons as nothing but a menacing silhoutte

a lot of the cameos are just very pandery. people like Azula let's show Azula. people like Secret Tunnel let's feature Secret Tunnel. I'm surprised they didn't just straight up have a Korra cameo

the highlight of the show and the one thing I found myself looking forwards to is Dallas Liu's take on Zuko. I've seen other people say this too. he does an incredible job, he's fun, he sounds and acts and looks like the animated version, a right level of bitchiness, angst, priviliege and drama. If this show gets several seasons, I would be thrilled to see him do the redemption arc

great visuals, also. the bending looks good, the architecture is pretty, i enjoy the art direction they were taking to make the bender cultures look more distinctive

Aang doesn't learn waterbending or frankly do anything but airbending the whole season. Not like Book 1 Water is named that way because he learns to bend water

3/10

[talkingperfectly-loud]

Okay! So, I’ve finally watched the Netflix Live Action ATLA and gathered my thoughts! Spoilers under the cut…

Overall score: 7/10

Overall thoughts: I was actually pleased! I wasn’t going in expecting it to be like the original series, and I was really excited to see how they would tell the story, what they would keep, and what they would change. I think that they did a great creative job melding a bunch of story lines together in a way that made sense, but, on a negative note, they did miss some key character beats that ranged from baffling to unforgivable. I loved this cast, and I think they all embodied their characters so well (Dallas Lui as Zuko?!? Hello?! *Chef’s kiss*). Deliveries were a bit stilted (to be expected with young actors just starting out), but I actually found it endearing, and they’ll only get better with practice. The bending wasn’t nearly as punchy or fun to watch in live action (especially the water bending. Oof), but it was leaps and bounds better than the Movie That Must Not Be Named. Below are the major takeaways:

Things I disliked

- Making the discovery and freeing of Aang completely passive. In the animated show, this was brought about BY Katara and Sokka. Their characters and their bickering, which caused Kataras rage, which caused her to waterbend, which caused her to free Aang. In the live action, it just… happens? Randomly? Nothing caused it, and it was a much weaker moment because of it.

- They took away Zuko’s crucial moments of mercy. Yes, they have him save the 41st, and yes, they have him hesitate during his Agni Kai with Ozai… BUT he was about to burn Katara on Kyoshi island? When she was down and unarmed?? At the North Pole, he was about to burn Zhao, who was also down and unarmed?? Absolutely not. No. No way. He wouldn’t even burn Zhao in the original show, because he knows what it’s like to be burned and despite his rage, he is a good person. There is absolutely no way he would be willing to harm someone who is unarmed.

- Sokka not explicitly asking Suki to train him. We NEEDED to see that humility where he asks for their help, not just him staring wistfully through the door and her taking pity. Humble him!!!!

- Sokka not being involved in the Jet storyline. I know that Katara is more obviously the choice to get involved here (love interest, etc), but Sokka and Jet are foils! They are both young men tasked with protecting people they love. Not having Sokka’s moment where his skepticism and independence saves the day is such a loss for his character. This could have even been kept in the Omashu storyline, with Sokka evacuating a building before a bomb goes off, etc.

- Why the literal heck did Bumi himself come to the front of the palace to receive the inventions from Sai?? What the hell even was that scene??

- Cutting the Haru storyline. This episode is crucial for Katara, who has WAY too little to do in this show, tbh. Her rallying the earth kingdom prisoners, and encouraging them to fight back is so so so important. I think they tried to move this to the Northern Water tribe storyline (when she rallies the women) but we don’t SEE it!! It happens offscreen!!!!

- Minor, but the blue spirit mask looked kinda dumb. I wish they had taken inspiration from real kabuki masks and made it more scary.

- I personally feel that Ozai is TOO personable in this adaptation. I’m guessing Daniel Dae Kim probably had a lot of say over the portrayal of this character, but I don’t think they made him dark enough. Ozai is cruel and that is CRUCIAL. He is abusive and manipulative, and hateful. Framing Zuko’s banishment and mutilation as if these were deliberate “learning moments,” rather than cruel, unjustifiable abuse is character assassination.

- Azula isn’t Azula. No shade to the actress, but the script has her written as a hot-headed, temperamental teenager desperate to prove herself. That’s ZUKO! Azula should be able to make grown men per their pants. Do her bidding. She can command armies. She never lets you see her weaknesses or her walls. She is cold, calculating, and terrifying. She is 13 steps ahead of you. Live action Azula loses her temper during a fight, talks back to Ozai (?!?!), and whines to Mai and Ty Lee about her frustrations. That’s not Azula.

- The “ice moon” thing at the North Pole? Why? Why aren’t there any spirits in this world? There’s no need to change that.

- Zhao’s death!?! What the hell was that!?!? No no no no no. Absolutely awful in every possible way. Where was his karmic justice?!? Why introduce the Fog of Lost Souls if you weren’t going to show Zhao getting pulled down into it?!? Where was Zuko, offering him mercy, despite everything? Where was Zhao’s pride, refusing his hand?? Furthermore, you make Iroh of all people a murderer?!? Fine, you could have him intervene and push Zhao into the water like he pushed him down after the Agni Kai in the original series. But to kill him?? Unprompted?! In cold blood?! Zhao wasn’t even his opponent!! Horrifying and disturbing. Unforgivable.

Things I loved

- The order of events. I actually love starting 100 years in the past and not making it clear what is about to happen. I also love that it isn’t clear just how long Aang has been asleep for! I love love love that dramatic irony if you know, and the reveal if you don’t.

- Aang stealing Zuko’s notebook. Finally, it’s explained how the gaang knew Zuko’s name lol

- Aang & Iroh meeting and chatting on the ship when he’s captured! It’s such a small scene, but felt so reminiscent of their conversation from Book 2 that it made me happy.

- Suki being so awkward!! Yes girl!! You have clearly never flirted before and it is obvious! I also loved having her mother be the matriarch of the village. Makes total sense tbh.

- Fleshing out Omashu! I love that they combined Jet & the Mechanist here. It makes Omashu feel more real, and it’s a natural place to put these storylines. I think this was really well done. Also bringing Iroh & Zuko into the story here was seamless, and worked to further both their characters (Zuko choosing Iroh over Aang, Iroh sacrificing himself to save Zuko)

- Having Bumi be an angry old man. This is controversial, but if we put aside Legend of Korra for a second where canon says Aang and him stay bffs, this actually makes a lot of sense. It’s not fair that Aang got to be asleep for 100 years. Bumi, as he said, had to struggle and suffer during that entire time. I’m glad that not everyone is like “it’s okay, it’s not your fault” because it kind of is!! I’m glad they had someone to actually hold him accountable a bit!

- Aang and Zuko connecting during the Blue Spirit episode. Aang making Zuko smile! Them joking! Them feeling pity for each other! The star-crossed friendship of it all! Gorgeous, gorgeous scene.

- Expanding on the theme of friendship vs. isolation. It’s such a key theme in the animated series that flies under the radar, and I really like how they took it and seemed to run with it.

- Azula collaborating with Zhao. It makes so much sense, since Zhao is just some rando tbh?It sets up both the Dai Li storyline and sibling rivalry nicely in season 2.

- Having Zuko’s crew be the division he saved?!?! A stroke of absolute genius.

- No Kataang!! I’m so sorry, but I honestly always felt that any romance in the original series was gratuitous, odd, and oh so Western. This is a story about children at war. I’m glad the romance is taking a back seat.

- Having Pakku see Katara for HER, rather than for her grandmother!! I always hated that in the original show! She fights her damn heart out and he still won’t train her UNTIL he sees her grandmother’s necklace. It always felt like the age-old blight of men not being able to care about a woman unless they have, or can image having, a personal connection to them (What if that was your mother, daughter, etc). I LOVE this change.

- Katara rallying the other women!! Pulling up everyone!! This is such an obvious change I can’t believe they didn’t have this in the original show. As I said, though, I do wish we saw her speech to them. That’s such an important character moment.

[duckiedaledeservedbetter]

finished a:tla netflix

here are some thoughts (idk, they might be controversial)

Things I liked:

Avatar itself is so good that even a bad adaptation is enjoyable, and i really enjoyed seeing the avatar world in live-action style, especially Omashu !!!

Ian Ousley was born to play Sokka idc what anybody else says, idc about the butchered character arc, or the personality changes or any of that, Ian Ousley is the live-action Sokka we deserve and he ate every scene (except one, which i WILL be mentioning later)

Like seriously Sokka has never given such big bro energy before and i'm living for it, Ian looks like Sokka, sounds like Sokka, and imo carried the show a bit.

I love a good long episode, none of this percy jackson 30 minute nonsense.

Fire Nation costumes HIT - like some of the other costumes were lacking but the fire nation uniforms and armor ? amazing.

They kept so much of the original music !!!

Honestly the bending was pretty good. i fully expected it to suck and be super cringey but there were really only a few moments of cringe for me.

Lieutenant Jee!!! best character!!! best casting!!! amazing, 10/10.

Like seriously though Omashu looked amazing, Agna Q'ela looked amazing, the southern air temple looked AMAZING.

Hahn was cute, i liked Hahn.

Blue Spirit accuracy omg i am so glad they stuck so closely to the original blue spirit storyline.

Gran gran was giving, ngl.

Again, Ian Ousley as Sokka. Show stopping.

Things I didn't like (sorry, the list is long):

sorry, gordon cormier did not do Aang justice. maybe it was the writing? idk, either way, Aang was not Aang-ing and he was honestly boring ? also i'm pretty sure Gordon is age-accurate (?) but if i had to guess his age with no prior knowledge i would guess 9. maybe 10. idk. i get that Aang is a kid but idkkkkkk I was just disappointed ig.

KATARA. ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE. DON'T EVEN ASK, WE ALL KNOW EXACTLY WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT. Like, i never even liked Katara that much in the og show but dang, they ruined her.

besides katara, Iroh seemed the least character accurate to me. like, in the very first scene in the og show when Zuko is practicing his firebending iroh gets on his case for doing it wrong or whatever and he def has some attitude about it. like, Iroh isn't all chill all the time, let him have some attitude. also where was the wisdom? I felt a bit like i was watching endgame Thor - like iroh was kind of a joke? idk, i couldn't take his character seriously. the actor fell flat for me. bland. didn't sound like iroh, didn't really look like him. writing was weird.

THE PART WHERE THEY HEAL MOMO IN THE POND AND AND AND SOKKA - HUGS HIM ???? LIKE THAT ???? WHAT DID I JUST WITNESS ???? IM CRYING IT WAS SO CRINGE LIKE WHY DID I HAVE TO WATCH THAT WHAT WAS THE POINT

Maybe it was just me but Zhao's actor delivered all his lines like jokes with no punchlines. and he also was not remotely intimidating.

SORRY DANIEL DAE KIM I LOVE YOU BUT no. he didn't do Ozai justice (but really, who could possibly stand up to the performance of mark hamil?)

it wasn't funny. straight up. the whole show. just. not funny.

idk maybe i'm just a nitpicky bitch but none of the performances really hit except Ian's. that's my biggest complaint. they can change what they want (it is an "adaptation" after all) but none of the actors felt right. ig dallas liu wasn't bad ? ian ousley was great, but that's about it.

butchered bumi storyline. no thank you. i will be pretending that didn't happen.

i really just wanted to see live action sokka in kyoshi warrior makeup tbh.

ALSO STRAIGHT UP WHY DID EVERY SINGLE CHARACTER HAVE TO TALK ABOUT HOW SOKKA WASN'T A WARRIOR ??? LIKE YEAH VALIDATE HIS ENGINEERING PASSION AND WHATNOT BUT HE IS A WARRIOR? THAT IS PART OF HIS CHARACTER ? AN IMPORTANT PART ? THAT CARRIES HIS ARC TO THE VERY END OF THE SHOW ? LIKE HE IS A WARRIOR? A NON-BENDING WARRIOR ? idk man don't @ me i stan warrior sokka, it's literally a big part of the show, his growth from child to warrior, his training with piandao, his training with the kyoshi warriors, etc etc. like, it's important.

i feel like they took the wisdom and hard-hitting lines right out of the show. "youre just a child." "well, youre just a teenager." etc etc.

idk. it was fine overall. i watched it. i enjoyed it. i wish it could've been better-acted and more faithful to the original but you win some you lose some.

[viciousland]

I feel like I'm in another reality, but I didn't vibe with the avatar the last airbender trailer? And with I didn't vibe, I mean I don't like the majority of things:

Sokka looks so bad why they always fuck with my fave?

Zuko's scar looks so tiny and that's not the point, the point is that it's almost half his face, IT NEEDS TO BE PROPERLY SEEN.

I actually hated Momo and Appa... I don't know, I feel like I'll never like a live action version of the creatures they look so.... idk... unpopular opinion, but I actually liked better Momo in the movie that doesn't exist.

I knew that Ozai was going to be my king Daniel Dae Kim but I kind of didn't want to see him?

Why are we seeing Azula?

I'm a kataang and maiko shipper and it truly doesn't look like it's going to happen as intended. I hate it. If we don't get the iconic "You miscalculated, I love Zuko, more than I fear you" what am I going to do with my life? if we get it but only to sacrifice my Mai. Whatamigoingtodowithmylife?

Enough drama, I loved Suki and her suit and her makeup, and I like the scenery, I really liked Omashu.

[yellowocaballero]

Hi👋

I remember somewhere you said you’re very visual about your writing process which is why Jake’s stupid moustache had to go.

Does that mean you have fancasts?

:D ! Y'all ask me such great questions :D

The short answer to this question is 80% of the time no jalksdf. The fics I've been writing lately (comics, Moon Knight) are already a visual medium, so obviously I do just kind of use what the characters actually look like in the comic I most strongly identify with them or the TV show. In the end everything sorts out into a really generic mental animation style that's not really anything in particular. The longer answer is that I fucking WISH I did because my actual lifestyle gets so fucking messy. Like all of this actually severely really bothers me nonstop.

Because so much of what I write is multimedia I can't just play the OG work in my brain. Hey, do the other SW writers who think visually have the problem of like - so Obi-Wan in your mind is live action from ROTS, but Ahsoka is CGI from TCW, and Anakin is either live action ROTS or cartooney if he's younger than 19, and the clones are simultaneously live action Jango Fett and CGI clones and it makes it KINDA hard to visualize things? And the exact same issue when writing comic fics with a cast that is half live action and half cartooney in your brain? Like, am I the only one with this issue?!

It is so problematic for the new story bc of 3 different works with so many different art styles. Mr. Knives Trigun has a highly stylized 90s anime appearance that I don't think of him as, and a super realistic modern CGI appearance with which is how I think of the character, except none of that works for MY Knives, and obviously Millie is 90s anime, and Meryl is some sort of demented mix, Brad & Luida are 300% CGI, and Wolfwood is fucking impossible since he's from one hyper-super stylized woodcut-ass flashback of the CGI anime and AGH. Imagine new Knives Trigun as the 'I'm a healer but' meme guy because that's all I can fucking give you.

Again like this like 'Meg is this an actual problem you have when writing Star Wars, Comics, and Trigun' and the answer is that it's a BIG PROBLEM that BUGS ME. How the fuck do you guys live??? Is this just me?!?!

In brighter but equally uselessly complicated news, New Wave was more complicated since everybody was really specifically designed in my mind in a specific animation style and since I can't draw Y'all Will Never Know it. Obviously it was very 00s animation - you can really safely imagine Bruce as himself from the 00s Batman cartoon. I really liked how much sleeker and skinnier and younger he looks in that design! Steph has the BIG hair from her first Robin arc and Tim has Jake Animorph style Generic 90s Relatable Teen Boy visuals.

Sorry that's not a very fun answer and also not a very real answer :( Fancasts that I do genuinely have is, obviously, all for TMA:

Tim Stoker as a younger, sprucier, Daniel Dae Kim.

Daisy as Kristen Bell.

Elias as Marc Evan Jackson.

Annabelle Cane from Sucker's Bet is a mix of Jadah Marie and my friend from high school, which is unhelpful to you.

Teen Gerry was the kid from Monster Allergy. Yeah really.

Martin as That One Fanart My Friend Drew Of My Martin.

And. Obviously. Jon as That One Fanart My Friend Drew Of My Jon That Just Made Me Go Oh That's Jon Now OK.

(Think of Standard Fanart Basira and that's my Basira. Sasha, Georgie, and Melanie are just more generally designed by my brain.)

Do YOU want to design one of my characters permanently in my brain forever. Just draw nice fanart of them. It's that easy. I'll look at it and go 'oh this is what they look like' and that'll be what they look like in my head, forever, and ever. I promise it'll work.

[old-people-like-avatar]

Netflix Avatar the Last Airbender S1E6: Masks Review [Spoilers]

I actually really, really loved this Zuko-heavy episode. Probably my favorite so far. It introduced some important new scenes to the canon.

THE GOODS

Ozai: He's just trying to be a good father, guys. Really. Just trying to teach his son a valuable lesson to make him strong. No, but really. I really enjoyed Daniel Dae Kim's fresh interpretation of Ozai's agni kai with Zuko and its aftermath. He somehow made the concept of suffering-as-teacher come off... as parenting. Of course, we can all see the horrific abuse for what it really is, but Ozai the character truly believed. He even showed some hesitation in burning Zuko's face. Kim's performance gave Ozai a depth that wasn't really in the show. I actually really enjoyed watching this character.

41st Division: I loved the addition of Zuko's crew being the division that was supposed to be sacrificed. Awesome.

Zuko/Iroh: While there was a little too much of Iroh "talking up"/exposition-ing Zuko to the crew as someone who "sacrificed" and whatnot, they did also manage to do some really great showing. Little gestures, like Iroh fixing Zuko's gauntlest or putting a blanket on Zuko. <3 Or the way Iroh choked up when Zuko finally came back to the ship.

Zuko/Aang: The Blue Spirit action scenes were great, but what I really enjoyed was Zuko's scene with Aang in the random hut in the middle of nowhere. [Where did the hut come from? Who knows? How come the soldiers didn't see and search the hut? Who knows? Plot device!] Them bonding over goat hair and Zuko's notebook! Their conversation. I liked this expansion of the "Kuzon" scene from the show a lot.

Iroh and Azula in the agni kai: I liked that they had Iroh try to stop Ozai before the agni kai, and that Azula wasn't just sadistically watching.

Admiral Zhao: I loved the portrayal of Zhao's ascension to admiral. He was delicious.

THE I-APPRECIATED-WHAT-THEY-WERE-DOING-BUT-NOT-SURE-THEY-PULLED-IT-OFF

Resolution for Koh: Thematically they were trying to tie Koh's need for family to Aang and Zuko's need for family, but... it just really did not work. Here's this piece of wood totem! (But why did Roku steal it? No idea.) Something about a mother of faces! Family! Yeah! Okay! They didn't really pull it off.

THE BADS

Clunky dialogue... again. "I can't let everyone down again!" Please, make it stop. We've been hit over the head too many times with this. "I have feeling you've been hurt more than enough." No, no, no. Why do you feel the need for Aang to state all the obvious things? This writing team needs an editor.

Aang's capture made no sense: They didn't really explain how Aang didn't escape after the shirshu venom wore off. He was just secured with a rope on a cart. Couldn't he have airbended? If the answer is he was still under the effect of the venom, then say something about that. Otherwise, it just didn't make any sense.

THE UNKNOWN

Roku: I'm not sure how I felt about Avatar Roku as a character. Remains to be seen. Needs further development.

[bigboyplaya]

My (proper) Thoughts on Johnny Gat

Aight this is gonna be long. Might seem disjointed, but trust I have a point to make.

I don't hate Johnny Gat as a character at all. I loved him in Saints Row 1 & 2. I thought he was funny, a semi-decent foil for characters like Julius Little, and I love Daniel Dae Kim. But I do hate the way Volition treats him.

I think it's because they noticed the fans really liked him, and why wouldn't they? He was a crazy ass gangster who preferred to shoot first, don't ask questions later. On top of that, he was pretty charismatic, you know, despite not ever wanting to talk things out. He was a wild-card and someone that literally had to be babysat whenever he was sent out to do something for the gang.

Johnny himself didn't change, honestly, it's more the way the characters and world around him did. It's quite hard to change a character's personality when they didn't have one to develop in the first place. It irks me how all the characters put Johnny on a pedestal, as did the fandom and developers. Thinking him as an unkillable beast. In the writer's mind, it might make him come off as 'totally badass and cool and WOW', but from a character perspective, it dehumanised Johnny greatly.

In Saints Row, he had his leg shot. In Saints Row 2, Johnny survived being stabbed in the stomach, albeit barely. It's not immersion breaking to think of someone being able to survive an injury such as that, even though with the internal bleeding and the fact the weapon was removed from the wound probably would have meant Johnny was more likely to die than survive. But because he lived doesn't mean Johnny's so untouchable that he couldn't be killed at all.

I will preface that I am autistic, and as such, this likely clouds the way I feel towards other's grief and loss in the way where it's very difficult for me to empathise, if at all. But, I have been able to feel for fictional characters in the past, so I'm not a completely stone-cold robot.

Slightly controversial part here, but Johnny's death in SRTT didn't affect me very much at all. Like most Saints Row death's, except maybe Lin as I haven't played enough of the first game to judge, though I wouldn't be surprised if my point still applies to her, the characters aren't fleshed out enough to have much more than a brief shock moment. Or, the deaths are written quite shallow. For example, Carlos' death was horrifying and well executed, I just wish I got to know him a lot more before he was gone so the emotional effect lasted longer and immersed me in Playa's grief, if they felt any at all. I won't speak on Aisha's death either because of the aforementioned reason as to why I won't speak on Lin's, but I also wish we got to know her a little bit to help us empathise with Johnny. If we got to see more of her in Saints Row 1, feel free to disregard her death from my argument.

Johnny had been around for three games at the point of his death so we did get quite familiar with him, yet he was gone off-screen. Not even a shot of the plane cockpit and a fade to black, which, arguably, would have been less of a screw you to his fans than what we got. If Johnny had been killed off in a more tasteful way, and perhaps a few missions later, it would have had a bigger impact on me as a player and I would actually be able to put myself in the characters shoes. And perhaps make Shaundi's reaction to his death less of a poor attempt at character development an actual turning point for her.

In SRIV, it's revealed he was abducted because Zinyak was scared of him, dubbing him as the alleged most dangerous man in the world or something like that. What makes this trigger happy gangster turned celebrity such a deadly threat that an alien dictator is afraid of him? A threat to the general public Johnny may be, but definitely not to the galaxy.

It's just such a cheap way to double down on yourself and bring a beloved character back after backlash. If the devs had maybe done anything other than a blatant deus ex machina, Johnny's return would have been fine. Disregarding the fact that it cheapens Shaundi's entire side plot in SRTT.

Onto the fandom part, and a more personal gripe, it irks me how people claim Johnny Gat is Saints Row, when he barely had main character presence in any of the games, with the exception of Gat Out of Hell. I believe that if Johnny had been written off well, they wouldn't have had to bring him back the way they did, and they would have opened up many possibilities for character development.

That's all for now, I think, as I've gotten kind of lost in my writing. I'll clarify later if anything comes up.

TL;DR - Volition cannot write fleshed-out characters and plot points.

[agentemo]

Netflix's ATLA initial thoughts, ep 6: Masks

Ohhh this is the Blue Spirit episode! Alright alright alright alright alright alright al

Ohhh this is the war council episode. Not alright! Not alright!!!

ZUKO'S SMILE 😭

Leutenant Jee is right and he should say it. Lmao he got nervous at the end of that outburst though.

June is soooo hot. I love women.

I'm not sure how I feel about Roku's characterization after Bumi's character assassination. I do like how it establishes that the Avatars are all their own people. I'm a little confused about how talking to the other Avatars works, though. They can only embody him at their shrines; that makes sense. But can he only contact with them there?

Once again, I like the combination of storylines. There aren't a lot of little villages, for better or for worse, so taking these characters and combining them in an interesting way to storylines that I would never have thought of is fun and intriguing. They failed in ep5 but it is an ambitious thing to do and they've been mostly successful in the others.

"You couldn't have always been this way" BAD DIALOGUE! LEADING THE WITNESS! INTO A FLASHBACK.

Wait, are Katara and Sokka's bodies just alone in a forest with Appa and Momo? 😤

I love seeing Zhao's arrogance shine through. Until now, he was biding his time and using his resources well. But he got cocky once he thought he'd won. And it's totally believable.

Loving the Blue Spirit stuff. No notes. Just a good time... Wait why isn't anyone firebending? Anyway, the scenes in the stronghold were almost shot for shot from the OG and I don't WANT that from the live action show but they did a good job with it here. And the follow-up conversation between Aang and Zuko was awesome. This is what I wanted: appreciating the text while elevating. Bravo.

New drinking game unlocked: Take a shot whenever a child quotes an old or dead person.

I honestly like the change of Zuko fighting back. It makes sense. The scene was not easier to take. The follow-up was tough to see as well.

Daniel Dae Kim is too hot to be this evil. Ugh...burn me daddy.

NOW WHAT, JEE? NOW WHAT THE FUCK YOU THINK?! HE SAVED YOUR DUMBASS!

GOD AND ZUKO HASN'T SEEN THIS REVERENCE IN SO LONG. AND HE DOESN'T EVEN KNOW WHY HE'S GETTING IT BUT HE DESERVES IT. CRYING ON MY COUCH.

Another great episode. So far, here are my thoughts. 1-3 were OK. 4 and 6 were great and 5 was trapped between two great episodes, making it really not.

THE FINAL TWO NEXT!

[igraine-ohnefurcht]

Avatar Live Action Opinions (ep.1-4)

Yes to all the casting, the Sokka casting still irks me, but the rest: perfection.

Showing the destruction of the air temples wasn't necessary. I'm not mad about it, but it didn't make the genocide clearer than Aang's reaction would have.

I'm okay with Gran Gran doing the speech

Iroh and Zuko are great. Love them and the Zuko actor actually has comedic timing which I was afraid they would take away from the character.

The whole Azula and Ozai introduction...I don't know. Stoytelling wise okay, you probably had to do that and Daniel Dae Kim is an actor you shouldn't hide. I still think it's too early and they could have made the Firelord work as a shadowy figure instead.

Also not sure about "fire nation resistance". The fire nation wants war. They see themselves as superior and so far the live action hasn't shown that. Yes they are victims of propaganda and of this war machine that's in every aspect of their lives, but they are also complicit. Now it seems like they are against their regime but just not powerful or brave enough for the resistance. Did/Do real oppressive regimes have resistances? Sure, but the narrative choice to show these first instead of, idk, normal citizens celebrating Ozai makes the narrative clear that they want to show the fire nation as victims instead of a people complicit in their leaders crimes. It fits what is coming up more and more, like "Germans were victims of Hitler". No, not really. And making Germans seem like that takes away the responsibilty to do better (And yes I know, it's more styled after Imperial Japan). I'm also afraid of what that may change around the narrative. Why doesn't Aang try to find a fire nation resistance group to lear fire bending. Why is Jeong Jeong a bitter recluse instead of a high ranking resistance fighter? We'll see how they work with that.

There is A LOT happening in Omashu. I get why, but be warned.

Jet and the rest? Perfect again!

Danny Pudi <3

SECRET TUNNEL SECRET TUNNEL

Oh Bumi. I forgot he's played by Utkarsh. Love him.

Do I remember the "love is brightest in the dark" wrong or did they just change it?

Leaves from the Vine made me cry again. Zuko and Iroh make me cry. I know, I'm repeating myself but they're perfect.

Yay Teamwork

[litcityblues]

Room To Master More Elements

I was just a little bit too old to have the animated Avatar: The Last Airbender be an integral part of my childhood and I never bothered to watch the movie (I have heard it's terrible and might be inclined to check it out at some point, but I'm not going to fall all over myself to do so.). I've sort of half-heartedly started The Legend of Korra once or twice over the years, but it has never really clicked with me the way the original Avatar: The Last Airbender did.

Point is: this wasn't an integral part of my childhood experience. Should they never get around to making a Thundercats movie (or show), I will undoubtedly have feelings about that and what they get wrong versus what they get right- so I understand that people have feelings about the Netflix show. I get that people were worried when the original creators departed the show and thought it was a gigantic red flag. I get that people weren't happy that they toned down Sokka's sexism. I get all of that and I'm here to tell you this:

Take a deep breath and calm down. It's not at all bad and actually has the potential to be really, really good.

Set in a war-torn world where certain people can 'bend' one of the four classical elements (water, earth, air, and fire) every so often, an Avatar is chosen that can master all four disciplines and usually is tasked with bringing the world back into balance. As the show opens, the Fire Kingdom is conquering the other three Kingdoms-- the airbenders have been wiped out, the Earth Kingdom is under siege and the Waterbenders are nomadic tribes clustered at the north and south poles. Waterbender Katara (Kiawentiio) and Sokka (Ian Ousley) find Aang (Gordon Cormier) frozen in the ice and free him, the Avatar, who has been frozen for over a century finds a very different world than the one he remembers. All his friends and family are gone, the Fire Kingdom is after him and he is still 12 years old and struggling to understand his role as Avatar and how to master the elements so he can save the world.

Together the three companions set out to help Aang fulfill his destiny as Avatar, while pursued by Zuko (Dallas Liu) the exiled Prince of the Fire Nation, who wants to regain his honor by capturing Aang once and for all. With Zuko is Uncle Iroh (Paul Sun-Hyung Lee) who is a retired General of the Fire Nation who acts as both mentor and father figure to Zuko, whose actual father, The Fire Lord Ozai (Daniel Dae-Kim) is cruel and sadistic and whose sister Azula (Elizabeth Yu) is almost more sadistic and cruel than their father.

If you've seen the cartoon, you know that the show more or less hews to the plot of the first season of the cartoon. They tweak a few things here and there-- Azula is introduced far earlier here than in the original show for instance, but it ends with a confrontation between the Fire Nation and the Northern Water Tribe. Aang and his friends help the Waterbenders win-- but not without paying a heavy price.

I think if anything slows this adaptation down a bit, it might be their insistence on delivering the 'moments' that fans are going to expect to see in this show. And that's not a bad instinct to have, it's just that- especially when the show gets to Omashu and Aang meets his now elderly friend, Bumi, it becomes a little too much like the cartoon to the point where in the early going, you're left wondering why this feels like a live-action remake, not of the story of Avatar: The Last Airbender, but of the actual animated show itself. I think this show is going to need some time to master all four of the elements- much like Aang and happily, I think by the end of the first season you see signs of growth in that direction.

The casting for Fire Lord Ozai is brilliant- you can't get much better than Daniel Dae-Kim, but somehow, this show does, because they absolutely nailed the casting for Uncle Iroh. Paul Sun-Hyung Lee is perfect for this role and you get to see a little more of his backstory and his trauma of fighting in a war which helps you, the viewer understand the relationship he has with Zuko a lot better.

Did they tone down Sokka's sexism? Maybe a touch, but... not in a way that bothered me. It's a different medium, so an animated show/cartoon might be more inclined to be a little more direct with its themes, while a live-action show can be more subtle, perhaps? I didn't notice a dramatic difference in the character myself-- he's still young, brash, awkward, and sticks his foot in his mouth more than once, but he's also loyal to his friends and shows some personal growth throughout the season, which is what you want to see with the character.

It's largely the same with Katara and Aang. I feel like both of these young actors have the ability to really grow in these roles and while the growth with a little more pronounced with Katara this season (she gains a lot of knowledge and ability with her waterbending abilities throughout the season and gains confidence as well- I feel like Aang will get there as well-- his willingness to sacrifice himself to the elemental spirit in the final episodes (I'm trying not to be spoiler-y here) is a good sign for the next season.

Overall: There is room for this show to master all four elements. I think it will find its feet and while the early episodes could be a bit awkward and hew a little too closely to the animated show, by the end of the season, this show was starting to feel like it was finding its feet and gaining in both quality and confidence. It's earned enough from me to tune into another season- whenever they drop that onto Netflix. My Grade: *** out of ****

[azul41]

I wanted to start off why I orginally liked the try guys. I will be blunt that I latched on to try guys because of Eugene period. (YB as well cause korean) At first it was like OMG a Korean American doing funny stuff and he is famous. I can see myself being reflected in popular media as a high school kid. As a younger teen I did not see much korean american famous people other than sandra oh and daniel dae kim and some other people I may forget. Then when he came out as a Gay korean american I was like OMFG. I can see my identity be reflected in popular mainstream media. My identity felt like it was always in conflict like they should never coexist with each other. When Eugene made that huge production video about coming out I was in awe. He literally made a video showing me that my identity can exist together and not be seperate. To be frank it was easier to hate my korean identity than my LGBT identity. Right before he came out I thought those identity could not exist together. I see things as black and white at times but I wanted to preserve those identity together. It was so amazing to see those things come together and someone like me could exist and embrace both parts. 

I wanna say I like watching the other guys because they grew on me and they were endearing to me. But nothing will compare to the impact and impression of what eugene did to express himself in a landscape that was not meant for people like him and me. 

Moving onto the ned scandal will say that when I see Ned being jealous of Eugene and looking back ned would be unesscessary competitive and jealous of Eugene “overacheiving” for any activity/hobby. I see now Ned only care about to win to beat people and feed his ego. Eugene was overacheiving for his protective instinct of if people saw me as a failure then im nothing to everyone. Especially being an asian gay kid in Texas. Then Euguen would have this instinct like oh if im weak then I will be harassed and bullied. I cannot appear weak in this lion den. While Ned was obviously raised in priviledge and being able to get into Yale. So any pettty over reaction when he lost was just out of feeding his ego. I personally was like watching Ned being like ok I watch him cause I grew to slightly like him. Ned had everything and having a white wife and white kids. It is what American is built to support. Idk if I will get over this Ned thing cause he branded himself of being the loving husband and I want some stability in media. I know I shouldn’t project myself onto media but still.