Is “Avatar: The Last Airbender” TV Series Worth Watching?

Avatar: The Last Airbender The animated series is a brand with a huge fan base around the world. Netflix, which has started to adapt popular animated series into live action one by one in recent years, nickelodeon He turned the production into a new series.

When we look at the structure of the series, we see that they tell a story that does not stray too far from animation, but when we go into more detail, we see that Avatar: The Last Airbender series that he could not tell the same story with the same quality We see. The live series is certainly much better than the movie we’re ignoring, but any Avatar fan’s cosplay is better than that movie, too, so animation will be our benchmark.

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As the story begins, it makes you feel like it’s a different plot.

Although the structure in which the events are told in the animated series is similar to the story structure in this series, There are very serious differences And these differences inevitably start to catch your eye after a while, especially if you’ve watched the original production.

First of all, here you can see some of the characters as much as in the animation. as a frightening, shadowy threat we can’t see. Our enemies, who are unreachable and whose power distance is clearly felt, do not seem that strong in this production.

The second point is the characters. Not much time has passed since the first series, but the world has changed seriously. It seems that they made some changes to modify the characters accordingly. Once you get used to it, the character of Iroh can rise above mediocre, but unlike the main series. Zuko, Sokka, Aang, Katara Characters like these are far from their animated counterparts.

Aang isn’t as childish as he should be; Katara, on the other hand, has moved away from being the heart of the team. While Zuko, whose entire event is based on taking back his honor, does not say honor once and does not even take any action related to honor, Sokka is completely He has become someone else. Sokka, known for his silliness, bravery, jokes and whining, is a completely different person here.

The casting choices are not very successful either.

The casting director commented on the choices he made for some roles: “I wonder if he never looked at the faces of the characters?” It makes me ask: thin faceIt’s strange when you see these iconic characters with round faces and chubby cheeks.
Naturally, the characters have difficulty in wearing the expressions that are associated with them and bringing the characters to life. Still, a significant portion of the actors look similar to the characters they play.

Under normal circumstances, the distribution of roles according to acting skills This situation would be understandable if it had been made, but in general the acting is around the mediocre level. Some places are too much like a play, even Ember Island Actors It is possible to say that he played some characters better.

Visual effects manage to get a passing grade.

Considering the budget of the production, cut expenses It should be noted that although he engages in a lot of close combat with the character, it does not affect the story that much.

Generally No eye-bleeding CGI But they’re not very spectacular either. Only the waterbending scenes are a bit slow and bland, but this seems to be the preference of the creative team. And the backgrounds are as clear as if you were having your military service photo taken. artificiality It stands out. It would have been better if the locations were chosen and the shooting was done accordingly.

Speaking of visuals, a little bit from costumes Of course, it wouldn’t be possible if we didn’t mention it. The costumes are not too far from the original and frankly, they don’t bother me. Compared to The Witcher’s costumes and creatures, which become cartoonish as the seasons progress, Avatar is in a much better situation in this respect.

The fact that there was no concern about being too realistic was enough to make the costumes and effects sufficient. Only those costumes It had to be old, worn out, disintegrated. It looks like they just took it out of the closet.

The story sometimes deviates from what is expected.

When I look at the overall story, Looks like there might be some important changes in the future It seems. First of all, that childish love structure between Katara and Aang is completely absent in this production. This is understandable when we consider the structural difference between animation and a series using real actors. Maybe the producers can find the Zuko-Katara love story, which has been a fan fiction for years, in this production.

On the other hand what ozai The dynamic between him and his family is not typical, nor is the behavior of characters like Bumi. Azula is particularly glitchy, and Ozai also gets a lot more screen time than we’ve seen before. Kyoshi warriors They are exactly as they should be, and we witness a very successful adaptation every time they appear on the screen.

Another problem is that it is not clear who wants to do what or where the issue will be tied. This may have been chosen as a narrative technique, but even so, it’s a bad idea. so much gray It muddies the water badly.

Many characters have retreated into more neutral territory than they should be; This has somewhat eliminated their differences. lack of humor stands out as the biggest problem. It would not be unfair to say that the jokes are not bad or inappropriate, but that the jokes are completely absent.

Eight episodes were not enough for the series.

Omashu, Appa, Momosymphonic playing in a movement Little Soldier Boy; The series, which has good aspects such as staying true to the world and mythology of the story told in general, and not making anyone swim across continents for no reason, seems to break away from the animated scenario for another reason, and that is the ages of the actors.

The actors are still young and the events in the Avatar series It takes place over an indescribable period of time. The fact that the actors, who are real people, grow in age, regardless of the production schedule and script, seems to lead to significant changes in this regard.

Besides, Aang is still where he came from He didn’t even learn waterbending Which was actually the important event of the first season; Considering that it will need to learn two more elements, Netflix should act quickly in this regard.

Compared to the original animation 6/10if we evaluate it independently of the original 6.5/10even if we consider the general poor quality of adaptations lately 7/10 One production we can offer is Avatar the Last Airbender.

Maybe if Netflix gave out more episodes the stories wouldn’t have to be condensed and spliced ​​together, so we your side stories We could see it fully develop and see the bond between the characters and their growth together. The series, which chooses to tell things instead of showing them just to save time, also harms its own story.

Would I watch it again? I won’t watch it, I’ll go watch the original again. If opened as a snack I can watch it, but only while eating or something. But that’s it, nothing more.

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