Sitting here waiting to see Clarus's reaction to Suki removing all of that thick make up with one swipe xD Great episode, and yeah, Sokka WILL have growth, just in different ways, but that makeup removal was the one scene that I was like, "Wait what?!" and I'm a dude lol
lol me, too! I play in a blackmetal band an put on full face paint for live show and I gotta say... I really need one of those Kyoshi-island makeup removal cloths!!!
@@Saphthings kind of but I guess it was a way to make it so Sokka can actually see Suki "unmasked" even though that only happened much later in the original. I don't mind it. Other than the extremely quick makeup removal... it's nice to see her actual face.
People... we only have 3 seasons to tell the whole story. Shortcuts must be taken and changes must be made in order to tell a cohesive story. It's not easy to keep the fans satisfied while at the same time giving the new viewer some content and explanation. I think they are doing a great job marrying the two with this show.
the animated series also only had three seasons and it was much more in-depth... not saying that this is necessarily bad but I don't think the runtime is a valid excuse
@@itsCalamari animated series had 61 episodes. Netflix show 3 seasons / 8 episodes each. 24 episodes total. The have to condense the story. They have no other choice.
Agreed. Although some seem to not fully understand that the show is adapting a cartoon for 7 year olds that was released weekly with 20min episodes that had self contained plots and only by context did they meld together to form the over all narrative. This show is a live PG13 show that has 8 1hour long episodes that are released all at once as a cohesive narrative that truncates the longer more random cartoon. People also underestimate the amounts of exposotion dumps in the cartoon and how it only alluded to or vaguely mentioned the more mature themes. This show can actually SHOW what the cartoon could only IMPLY. People are getting hung up on episodic plot lines and portrayals of characters meant for kids when the medium of both versions is completely different. Anyone who is upset that the live action doesn't do the cartoon justice is just simping on the cartoon for its nostalgia and using hindsight to justify their reasoning. IMHO
@@arielcordero Each episode is also like 2.5 times the length, so overall, its pretty much the same. Yes, the structure of the episodes will have to be different, but its not like they had less time and were forced to leave out key details like sokka's development.
10:40 "Who the fuck is that?" That's Vancouver improviser Daniel Chai as the quail-pole egg salesman ("Vitality?") from earlier! (This is the second reaction video where people have asked that question!)
In Episode One the firebenders were powered by Sozin's Comet. The current firebenders are less powerful. (Not that they made that clear. Sozin comments on it right before he murders the monk.)
Great reaction lol. To answer Clarus's thing about the dark tough moments vs the kid moments and lines. I think that's sort of the point. It's a very dark evil time, and there's this group of kids. Literally small children. So they behave like children through the dark times. In the cartoon they could add music, obfuscate deaths and etc so mask that much better, but for a real live action show it's a tough thing to not show. The live action movie made the mistake of removing the kid like dialogue and behavior, but I don't think going the cartoon route would work entirely either.
I actually didn't mind that they skipped Sokka's sexism in this version. I loved the episode of the animated series that dealt with it, but in the grand scheme of things, it wasn't a big part of Sokka's character; it was really only present in the first episode and the fourth, where the gang got to Kyoshi Island, and it was gone afterwards. I don't think it was even brought up when they met the very sexist Master Pakku at the Northern Water Tribe, when it would have been relevant. Overall, it feels like something that was going to be a part of the character, but they realized early on that it would be grating and worked it out quickly. I think Sokka's bigger character arc in the animated series was about him finding his own place on a team of badass benders, and he did that by becoming the team's planner and "idea guy"
Yeah I did a rewatch of the animated prior to this and Sokka's sexism is basically 1 line in the 1st ep and 2 lines in ep 4 with Suki. After that it is dropped
Was thinking the exact same thing. Of course his sexism stood out but really, it was a very small part of his character and very quickly done away with.
Yeah but that is because he grows away from the sexism and his cultural upbringing around toxic masculinity. And he gets called out for it every time. And I think that that is a good arc to show. Plus they robbed us of Sokka in drag. Also, aside from Aang, he has the biggest character arc of them all. So doing away with his bumbling idiot side is robbing him of that arc. I don’t know, I have mixed feelings about it. That said the actor did a fantastic job with him. And I really like his portrayal. I am more on the fence with the writing choices.
@@Ulriquinho Did the animated series really show that he grew up in an environment like that, though? Because the few times we see adult men in their tribe (who are away at war most of the time), they seem like perfectly normal, friendly guys equally supportive of both Sokka and Katara.
On the point about showing the full in Genocide in the first episode and then having barely any harm done during this fight, some counterpoints to consider: The Genocide was a direct order and mission from the Firelord of the time, who was also THERE...and, as he very specifically points out, they have the comet giving them supercharged firebending. That was a through and through planned invasion and genocide. The battle at the village involved a small investigation force, at least some of which are Zuko's group, of which aren't as murder happy. Zuko himself being someone who would easily leave peacefully if he could *just* have the avatar with no struggle, as has already happened before. Granted, Zhou was also there, and he's more the reason any fight happened at all, and it's debatable how much Kiyoshi possessing Aang would have held back to not put a murder on his hands, knowing how much she don't give a ****. Pointnis, one was an unadulterated full force obliteration of a people, the other was an impromptu skirmish that by all accounts could have been avoided entirely. Maybe that still doesn't excuse there being *no* casualties, but I still think it's more understandable that no lasting damage had been done...yet...
The comments on adapting things that didn't land well but had potential is why I was always more interested in a potential Legend of Korra adaptation. There's so much about that show I genuinely enjoyed but the execution was just all over the place, often due to the network interference, and a properly supported remake of it or reboot of it could really be something special.
I love that for anyone who has used makeup the most immersion breaking thing is Suki's make up just being perfectly gone after like a wipe. New bender type unlock, foundation bender. I think they just really wanted to show her face and I'm not mad about it; she is stunning. Exposition food vendor guy really could have done SOME acting there. Like if he kept moving and tossed off that info it would have been less jarring. Like keep moving through the frame while delivering the line, maybe in a conspiratorial whisper, since he is divulging info on the military commander. As it is I have seen like Bethesda game NPC with less awkward performances. Same for the awkward end of the boomerang scene, they could have given Sokka some line while he was fleeing from Suki. I really dig that they toned down Sokka's macho bullshit and made Suki kind of creeper. Like I assume most of the folks on the island are related to her, and that her position would make it weird to date folks from there. As it is, its awkward but works. As far as Sokka being kinda "done", I don't think that is 100% true, his focus here is more on like dealing with who and what he is, something that we don't really get in the cartoon until like later in season 2 and beyond. He has no confidence and Suki has all of it so he kinda looks up to her. That was the subtext of the original Kyoshi island episode so I am fine with them landing it differently here. He actually reminds of Bolin from Korra here. Katara feels like Katara but kind of full formed in the same way Sokka is just with the guilt about her mothers death being introduced earlier. Also, at times she kind of reminds of the Ember Island Players parody of Katara in that she is like sincere and gives little speeches a lot. Again though, as you move through season 1 her characterization makes more sense. They are compressing information we get in flashbacks throughout the series into these episodes so sometimes they hit a little weird but I think it works overall. Like Cutting the pirate episode content and making it so that Gran-Gran gives Katara the scroll works. Even though the overall runtime of the OG show and this aren't far off, the way time moved in the cartoon was far different so it feels sped up. I know folks Like Marisha Ray have taken big issue with this particular change, I've seen at least 2 videos of her deep dives on how this fucks Katara's character development but I don't entirely agree; primarily because all of the character motivations and portrayal have been tweaked to fit the pacing of this show. There are many awkward parts, that maybe if I was a director or actor I would have done differently but its fine for now. I just hope they do all their learning here in season 1 and then season 2 is better handled.
I would be interested to hear from the movement coach - assuming that had one for the show - about the process of crafting the movements for each bending specialty. I imagine that's something they'll fine-tune as the show goes on, but in the first two episodes, there are some things that work well with the movement and others that don't.
You should've seen the amount of backlash this episode got just specifically when it pertains to the mom not being all about Suki maintaining her purity like a stereotypical tv mom. In every show a king would be telling his son, "have fun, but don't get attached", but when a mom doesn't tell her daughter to stay away from boys it's different apparently lol.
No for me the stupidest line that got backlash was Sokka saying Momo probably tasted like chicken. So so many people complaining about that, saying there are no "just chicken" in Avatar. Turns out there is a very similar joke in S2 of the animated and the creators hand waved it away that there are "Arctic Hens" the Water tribe eat
@@Animalfriend777 The concept that allows them to name thing "pig-hen" implies they know what a hen is, and what a pig is. Just like a pigeon-rat. They know what's a pigeon, they know what's a rat. Bosco, or the bear from the earth kingdom showed that you can in fact have an animal be just one. We just don't know why their world have them merged lol
I love these versions of these characters but also I'm making sure I am not making any comparisons to the cartoon. That's not fair to this show. The movie was bad because it was poorly written and executed regardless of the source material. This show is good regardless of the source material.
i get you but it's an adaptation of a very popular show there being comparisons being made between both not only is fair but warranted since that's kind of the point.
The eyeliner thing also kind of goes into what is supposed to be exactly as presented vs symbolic in a show. The point of it is to show that Suki is gorgeous under that makeup. It doesn't make sense, but most people wouldn't notice, and it accentuates her looks for the scene so that we get to see it from Sokka's perspective.
Its not strange that in episode two no one was hurt in the fight scene with Kyoshi because Aang let it be known to her that he didnt want to hurt anyone. She respected his wishes but did show him how he could use his powers. 🤔
This version is actually better than the original for me, and Sokka is a big reason for that. He mostly annoyed me in the animated show, but I really like him here. Also, I don't think you two understood the nuance of his sexism when Suki bested him out in the woods. You both just acted confused. Does he really need to spell it out in dialogue? I prefer when it's not something we would say out loud but still can't help but feel emotionally. It's also more believable when he can later overcome it. People who are vocally sexist don't change that quickly, if ever. People who can reflect on their sexist reactions can change.
I wish everyone would Stop Complaining & Compairing it to the Anime. It was never going to be exactly like the anime episode per episode. Just enjoy the live action of it. Thank you for all of your reactions hope to see The Bad Batch season 3 reactions.
The Suki-Sokka melon chopping scene was showing how she is just as uncomfortable, inexperienced, and inept at communicating her feelings as he is. She's trying to make him like her, and since he mentioned their commonality of being warriors she thought being super warrior was the way to get his attention.
There is an attention to detail problem in the show. When the elder is like “the only outsiders here are You” Sokka is standing RIGHT THERE in the back and I’m pretty sure he is in his water nation clothes. On the plus side I think the character work does get much better from here on.
While it wasn't exactly your point about Sokka. I really should point out that Suki got Sokka. Not the other way around. The girl saw what she wanted and awkwardly got it
So I'm only secondarily familiar with ATLA the cartoon, but I've consumed a lot of reactions, so in the aggregate I've got the beats. Now when looking at this series, and the reactions... I'm curious about this connection being painted by so many. "They didn't make Sokka sexist!"... why are we mad about this? When looking at the source, why was Sokka sexist? There were no real backstory beats to eatablish why he was sexist? We could maybe theorycraft that it is a leftover from sexism in the water tribes, but the animated set the Southern Water Tribe as being more egalitarian than the Northern Tribe. But then you look at his sexism. As a cishet man, his sexism looks the same as the way most little boys are sexist. #BoysRuleGirlsDrool His being sexist gave his character access to low-hanging misogynist tropes, that they then had to spend story time wiping it away. This Sokka has been matured up a bit... and sits in a much more natural character place. With what they are covering, and the time to cover... why would they include a character flaw that didn't make sense why it was there, in order to fix it? Also, would that more immature version of Sokka make sense, given the level of responsibility that he had to shoulder at such an early age? The same is true for Katara. She isn't as much of a mama bear, because that doesn't fit with these characters? She isn't mothering goofy little Sokka. Aang while a child, he's under the weight of being the avatar, so he isn't really needing mothering either. Also also, given the new placements of the character, a more unsure Katara makes sense to me. She's a waterbender that can only kind of bend. There's Sokka that treats her like a little girl when she thinks she's more than that... that weight makes someone feel more like an imposter and that fits Katara's journey. But honestly, just divorce yourself from the animated version. They are going to hit major beats, but its a different journey for us but also the characters.
I guess I don’t understand the complaints about Sokka’s sexism. I was against removing it at first because i wanted his character development but now that I’ve seen the whole show, I couldn’t be happier with the result. And maybe that’s the difference, maybe by the end, y’all will have no problem with Sokka’s writing or you’ll have forgotten about it. But in the grand scheme of this season, that turned out to be such a small and insignificant change that I am not concerned about at all.
I watched Smash as well, and I did remember the wig thing when you brought it up. It didn't throw off the show for me the first time because, yes, it didn't register. But I watched it a second time and noticed the screw ups with the wigs. I still love that show and bought the DVD's and soundtrack.
8:00 and it is from the Animated intro to! I love the inclusion of it Maria Zhang is indeed Gorgeous! the scene where she reveals the "no makeup" face, I melted! Interesting point on the "Toothless" part, and I think I agree even if I never reflected on it myself. let's see what happens moving forward. 38:16 solid point! 40:52 I believe this sadly is a overcompensation from that movie that doesn't exist, I get you, but I think I am a little more forgiving on this subject. 43:24 I hear you Nerdy, but devils advocate; how would you successfully market something that already have a stink on it? I really agree with you, but this question got me stumped. the person that somehow convinces the stuck up studio execs to dare invest in this would be worthy of praise.
I don't really have a problem with no one dying or being injured in this episode because I think massacre in episode 1 was done with better trained firebenders and it was done with the power of the comet. Also, the Kyoshi warriors were probably better trained than the firebenders that attacked them and they were at a point when they were about to die and/or get injured and the Avatar/Kyoshi stepped in and I think above all else what they are showing in live action series also happened in the animated series, it is just being shown in a different order.
I figured that Suki’s thirsty reaction to Sokka was more over the fact that he was a new boy her age. Presumably there are others her age on the island but their isolation probably makes it hard to make new connections. But hey, I’m a straight white dude in his 40s so I might be way off base! I did enjoy the rapid improvement in her combat-flirting technique, though. It was a little tame, coming off of Blue Eye Samurai, but then again, this is way more of a kids’ show that BES was 😅
They didn't totally remove Sokka's sexism, they just tuned it down from the cartoonish levels it was in the cartoon. When he basically runs away from Suki after the melon incident and short hand to hand was that not him going "WTF, this girl fights far better than me!" just like Redacted's husband in Blue Eye Samurai. He gets corrected by Katara early on when he starts to say "I am protecting the village", then switches to "we are" including his sister in it. He still wears the Kyoshi armor, just with a blue gi instead of green. You can see this clearly at 33m into the show. The makeup isn't as important in this iteration, Suki just wipes it off without a care and doesn't bring it back. Yeah Sokka's fighting is probably too good for this point in the story. I don't know if it's less complex, just different. Instead of Katara, this girl he's known for less than a week, he gets brought back by memories of Gyatso. The Kyoshi instead of Roku change gets better when he meets with Roku. Overall I like the change, but I get not liking it at this point. Broken Bumi. No spoilers so I'll just say I love that change. Minor thing: Aang does no water bending in this season where he's supposed to be learning water bending... weird. Overall the cartoon is still better, some of that is rose colored glasses, but definitely not all of it.
For the combat, I think the difference is the episode 1 attack had all of the best fire benders during the comet and even then you had groups of fire benders being held off by one air bender until an elite fire bender came by. I don't think the current fire benders have any elite aside from the 2 leaders and the battle was taken over by Kyoshi fairly quickly. Sokka is less sexist, though he does have a couple subtle moments and there's another character later on that quite sufficiently takes the blatent sexist role enough for the show to make that point. I think Sokka's role here is more subtle and deals more with his early thrust into responsibility and other things yet to be revealed. Katara I see as having less fire because Sokka is less an asshole. But she still has the excitement to discover her abilities though unsure of herself and haunted by her past. Zuko is portrayed amazingly well, star of the show. I've tried to catch the cartoon marathon that seems ever present on youtube, but I always seem to tune in at the same part or during a highlight session that skips around horribly, so I may not fully grasp the changes from the cartoon.
People are saying this show is terrible because they were expecting perfection, and (surprise!) it's not perfect. Some people are even saying it's worse than the 2010 movie kkk. Honestly, these people need to watch that movie again, cause they forgot how bad it is. For me what is really concerning is how some of the characters were toned down beyond necessary, specially Katara. That being said, the show is far from being terrible and the ammount of exagerated hate out there only makes it harder for us to get a season 2, in witch I believe they can fix a lot of the issues (and I think they will, cause the show is definetely not lazy, so they're at least trying). It's Netflix guys, they cancel shows for no reason, so let's try not to give them so many kkk. Overall, I think there are problems (that can still be fixed), but the hate is definetly excessive for what we actually got.
This show is great, of course they have to take some shortcuts to get the story across, i hate people that automatically roast the show because they couldnt fit 20 episodes worth of animated material into 8 episodes of live action material
I have now watched through Episode 5, and this episode, Warriors is by far the best, in my opinion. There was good narrative structure, the characters were pretty consistent, and I liked the addition of Kyoshi. I totally agree with you on Katara. The writers removed her character flaws and key moments, making a dull Mary Sue. Since they also cut her romance with Aang, there's almost nothing left for her to do. If they had replaced that with other things, it might have worked, but they apparently couldn't come up with anything. Instead of a rousing speech to incite an earthbender rebellion, we get, "Oh, look, she's getting better at waterbending!" Boring!
Ive watched this series three times already! I would give this srries a 8.5 /10! People should stop comparing it to the Anime! This is a more of an adult version which I love and the additions they made have been great! People are complaining just to complain! Why cant they just enjoy a really good series! War is ugle, painful, and terrible! We dobt get that in the Anime becaue it is for kids but you get to hear, see and feel all of that here!
I wonder if the difference in body count ep2 vs ep1 is to show before and after Aang? Aang doesn't want to kill people so he's being reluctant while fighting them. the fire benders were searching for aang, so maybe they weren't trying to wipe out an entire tribe and destroy everything because aang could have been hiding somewhere? Just a thought I had while watching your vid today. I could be way off
Sokka I don't think his sexism ever really made sense, dude grew up with a sister who's mom died in a town of MOSTLY women. This Sokka is nice, he definitely cares but he does have an ego problem in thinking nobody else is good enough. They kind of take sexism and make it more narcissistic, you really start to see it more and more as the show goes and instead of a few episode arch it becomes a seasonal growth. Katara gets better too, Aang also gets complicated it just takes a bit for tensions to build. I personally like the contrast in humor and maturity, life isn't as flat as most movies, and nothing is always super serious, everyone has burst out laughing moments specially in response to stress. Real life is less like Dark Knight and honestly more like Buffy or Firefly and I think this hits that feeling. It's just because it's younger characters that it feels off.
Claroos is right, there’s nowhere for Sokka to go, no arc for him to take, and is he that attractive? I mean I guess you gotta finish the season, but I’ve never seen any man pull women above his pay grade as quickly and effortlessly as this (I guess) attractive young boy… Except for Nerdy of course 😅 Also, I for one would like to know Aang, I mean like everyone else I think Zuko’s story as well as relationship with his Uncle are the best part of the show, it’s the one part of the show that rivals the animated version, but I’m having a hard time caring about Aang, and even liking Katara, who correct me if I’m wrong but are supposed to be the main lead and main supporting lead characters of the show…
I dug episode 1 a lot, but episode 2 sold me on the show! Absolutely loved it (though Sokka's line delivery still irked me a bit at this point, his chemistry with Suki is great and some of his comedic beats are spot on)! The tonal balance of earnestness, darkness, and goofy humor/cheesy dialogue is MUCH more in my sweet spot than even the original, and the action is phenomenal! To offer a little push back on the note about the battle and casualties, i think there's going to be a difference in a comet charged super attack with the intent of genocide and starting a war versus a minor skirmish between two small forces who are in a tenuous armistice and may not want to back down but also may not want to escalate. Not every fight we see going forward is going to be for all the marbles or as high stakes as that first one (but oooooh Lord, is there some beautiful and brutal action with varying levels of consequences to come! 🥰).
I think the sokka and kitara changes are good with the story. One with a huge weight lifted and the other hopeful to be what she's always wanted instead of combative while still being the group mom in a less forward way. I like most of the changes everyone complained about. Where's my sexism, why doesn't sokka own the stupid ball, why don't they waste episodes on aang abusing animals. I think the 4 people in the ava-tornado survival is questionable, and really anyone that was blown back by the landing. I at least counted the 4 as off screen death based on how kyoshi talked to aang Also I wanted to say I really enjoy the disagreement I have with some of the opinions because you approach it in a logical and justified manner and that they're from an informed film perspective. I think I've learned a lot of process details from you that I consider in a second watch of things.
Aang and Katara, they're important characters and we're supposed to like them, but I don't care about them at all. I think it's the acting that bothers me, it's very awkward sometimes.
I don't understand the character problems people have. These actors feel like they are exactly as I see the characters. And I don't understand the problems with the tone. I just don't see why there aren't any stakes or why different levels of violence is off putting. Why does it all have to be the same?
Totally agree with your thoughts on Katara. I get they were trying to avoid the angry woman trope, but they neutered her instead. I can see what you see with Zuko maybe not being interested in adult fun time, and or not interested in girls, but I think it's too early to tell for sure. I think he's just too focused on Aang... not in that way, he's 12. Ew. I totally didn't notice the lack of bodies hitting the floor till you mentioned it, but yeah at least this far into the story. Wait till you see what they do to... sorry, can't tell ya. You'll just have to watch. They definitely depowered Sozins comet, or the air benders were just plain scary powerful. In the cartoon there's no way they would've stood up to comet powered troops, look at Ozai burning an entire soccer field per second. Aang flying in the first episode bugged me, yeah it was more falling with style and they do have on the flowy clothes, but still too flighty.
-I dont know why Suki had to remove the make-up in the first place... plus her without the make-up was a thing later on. -And Sakka didnt get to put on the make-up n garb... instead of Sakka confronting his culture's misogyny and learning from Suki, its just a girl like boy think...boring. -didnt like this eps at all
![BLACK BAG - Official Trailer [HD] - Only in Theaters March 14](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Du0Xp8WX_7I/mqdefault.jpg)
To be a Kyoshi Warrior:
A) super fighter
B) super quiet
C) superspeed makeup removal
D) super thirsty
E) Super pretty
she only had 48 hrs to work with 😅
"Just try that again, drumstick." Remember that Sokka told Momo that he probably tasted like chicken.
Sitting here waiting to see Clarus's reaction to Suki removing all of that thick make up with one swipe xD Great episode, and yeah, Sokka WILL have growth, just in different ways, but that makeup removal was the one scene that I was like, "Wait what?!" and I'm a dude lol
lol me, too! I play in a blackmetal band an put on full face paint for live show and I gotta say... I really need one of those Kyoshi-island makeup removal cloths!!!
@@NewAeonWarlord Honestly dunno why they even did it. It felt very "She's all that" 90s "girl takes off her glasses and she's actually hot" lol.
@@Saphthings kind of but I guess it was a way to make it so Sokka can actually see Suki "unmasked" even though that only happened much later in the original. I don't mind it. Other than the extremely quick makeup removal... it's nice to see her actual face.
People... we only have 3 seasons to tell the whole story. Shortcuts must be taken and changes must be made in order to tell a cohesive story. It's not easy to keep the fans satisfied while at the same time giving the new viewer some content and explanation. I think they are doing a great job marrying the two with this show.
the animated series also only had three seasons and it was much more in-depth... not saying that this is necessarily bad but I don't think the runtime is a valid excuse
@@itsCalamari 8 episodes per season. Yeah.
@@itsCalamari animated series had 61 episodes.
Netflix show 3 seasons / 8 episodes each.
24 episodes total. The have to condense the story. They have no other choice.
Agreed. Although some seem to not fully understand that the show is adapting a cartoon for 7 year olds that was released weekly with 20min episodes that had self contained plots and only by context did they meld together to form the over all narrative. This show is a live PG13 show that has 8 1hour long episodes that are released all at once as a cohesive narrative that truncates the longer more random cartoon. People also underestimate the amounts of exposotion dumps in the cartoon and how it only alluded to or vaguely mentioned the more mature themes. This show can actually SHOW what the cartoon could only IMPLY. People are getting hung up on episodic plot lines and portrayals of characters meant for kids when the medium of both versions is completely different. Anyone who is upset that the live action doesn't do the cartoon justice is just simping on the cartoon for its nostalgia and using hindsight to justify their reasoning. IMHO
@@arielcordero Each episode is also like 2.5 times the length, so overall, its pretty much the same. Yes, the structure of the episodes will have to be different, but its not like they had less time and were forced to leave out key details like sokka's development.
I loved seeing Tamlyn Tomita play Suki’s mom. She played Kumiko in Karate Kid Part II
10:40 "Who the fuck is that?"
That's Vancouver improviser Daniel Chai as the quail-pole egg salesman ("Vitality?") from earlier!
(This is the second reaction video where people have asked that question!)
In Episode One the firebenders were powered by Sozin's Comet. The current firebenders are less powerful. (Not that they made that clear. Sozin comments on it right before he murders the monk.)
Great reaction lol. To answer Clarus's thing about the dark tough moments vs the kid moments and lines. I think that's sort of the point. It's a very dark evil time, and there's this group of kids. Literally small children. So they behave like children through the dark times. In the cartoon they could add music, obfuscate deaths and etc so mask that much better, but for a real live action show it's a tough thing to not show. The live action movie made the mistake of removing the kid like dialogue and behavior, but I don't think going the cartoon route would work entirely either.
I actually didn't mind that they skipped Sokka's sexism in this version. I loved the episode of the animated series that dealt with it, but in the grand scheme of things, it wasn't a big part of Sokka's character; it was really only present in the first episode and the fourth, where the gang got to Kyoshi Island, and it was gone afterwards. I don't think it was even brought up when they met the very sexist Master Pakku at the Northern Water Tribe, when it would have been relevant. Overall, it feels like something that was going to be a part of the character, but they realized early on that it would be grating and worked it out quickly. I think Sokka's bigger character arc in the animated series was about him finding his own place on a team of badass benders, and he did that by becoming the team's planner and "idea guy"
Yeah I did a rewatch of the animated prior to this and Sokka's sexism is basically 1 line in the 1st ep and 2 lines in ep 4 with Suki. After that it is dropped
sokka is a much better realized character in the live action. he's not a bumbling oaf, not a punchline for the entire season.
Was thinking the exact same thing. Of course his sexism stood out but really, it was a very small part of his character and very quickly done away with.
Yeah but that is because he grows away from the sexism and his cultural upbringing around toxic masculinity. And he gets called out for it every time. And I think that that is a good arc to show. Plus they robbed us of Sokka in drag.
Also, aside from Aang, he has the biggest character arc of them all. So doing away with his bumbling idiot side is robbing him of that arc. I don’t know, I have mixed feelings about it.
That said the actor did a fantastic job with him. And I really like his portrayal. I am more on the fence with the writing choices.
@@Ulriquinho Did the animated series really show that he grew up in an environment like that, though? Because the few times we see adult men in their tribe (who are away at war most of the time), they seem like perfectly normal, friendly guys equally supportive of both Sokka and Katara.
On the point about showing the full in Genocide in the first episode and then having barely any harm done during this fight, some counterpoints to consider:
The Genocide was a direct order and mission from the Firelord of the time, who was also THERE...and, as he very specifically points out, they have the comet giving them supercharged firebending.
That was a through and through planned invasion and genocide.
The battle at the village involved a small investigation force, at least some of which are Zuko's group, of which aren't as murder happy.
Zuko himself being someone who would easily leave peacefully if he could *just* have the avatar with no struggle, as has already happened before.
Granted, Zhou was also there, and he's more the reason any fight happened at all, and it's debatable how much Kiyoshi possessing Aang would have held back to not put a murder on his hands, knowing how much she don't give a ****.
Pointnis, one was an unadulterated full force obliteration of a people, the other was an impromptu skirmish that by all accounts could have been avoided entirely.
Maybe that still doesn't excuse there being *no* casualties, but I still think it's more understandable that no lasting damage had been done...yet...
This is just what I think when they talk about it
The comments on adapting things that didn't land well but had potential is why I was always more interested in a potential Legend of Korra adaptation. There's so much about that show I genuinely enjoyed but the execution was just all over the place, often due to the network interference, and a properly supported remake of it or reboot of it could really be something special.
I love that for anyone who has used makeup the most immersion breaking thing is Suki's make up just being perfectly gone after like a wipe. New bender type unlock, foundation bender. I think they just really wanted to show her face and I'm not mad about it; she is stunning.
Exposition food vendor guy really could have done SOME acting there. Like if he kept moving and tossed off that info it would have been less jarring. Like keep moving through the frame while delivering the line, maybe in a conspiratorial whisper, since he is divulging info on the military commander. As it is I have seen like Bethesda game NPC with less awkward performances.
Same for the awkward end of the boomerang scene, they could have given Sokka some line while he was fleeing from Suki. I really dig that they toned down Sokka's macho bullshit and made Suki kind of creeper. Like I assume most of the folks on the island are related to her, and that her position would make it weird to date folks from there. As it is, its awkward but works. As far as Sokka being kinda "done", I don't think that is 100% true, his focus here is more on like dealing with who and what he is, something that we don't really get in the cartoon until like later in season 2 and beyond. He has no confidence and Suki has all of it so he kinda looks up to her. That was the subtext of the original Kyoshi island episode so I am fine with them landing it differently here. He actually reminds of Bolin from Korra here.
Katara feels like Katara but kind of full formed in the same way Sokka is just with the guilt about her mothers death being introduced earlier. Also, at times she kind of reminds of the Ember Island Players parody of Katara in that she is like sincere and gives little speeches a lot. Again though, as you move through season 1 her characterization makes more sense.
They are compressing information we get in flashbacks throughout the series into these episodes so sometimes they hit a little weird but I think it works overall. Like Cutting the pirate episode content and making it so that Gran-Gran gives Katara the scroll works. Even though the overall runtime of the OG show and this aren't far off, the way time moved in the cartoon was far different so it feels sped up.
I know folks Like Marisha Ray have taken big issue with this particular change, I've seen at least 2 videos of her deep dives on how this fucks Katara's character development but I don't entirely agree; primarily because all of the character motivations and portrayal have been tweaked to fit the pacing of this show. There are many awkward parts, that maybe if I was a director or actor I would have done differently but its fine for now. I just hope they do all their learning here in season 1 and then season 2 is better handled.
It was too fast, but it's also not modern makeup with all the fixer stuff, so it's probably esier to wipe.
I would be interested to hear from the movement coach - assuming that had one for the show - about the process of crafting the movements for each bending specialty. I imagine that's something they'll fine-tune as the show goes on, but in the first two episodes, there are some things that work well with the movement and others that don't.
You should've seen the amount of backlash this episode got just specifically when it pertains to the mom not being all about Suki maintaining her purity like a stereotypical tv mom. In every show a king would be telling his son, "have fun, but don't get attached", but when a mom doesn't tell her daughter to stay away from boys it's different apparently lol.
No for me the stupidest line that got backlash was Sokka saying Momo probably tasted like chicken. So so many people complaining about that, saying there are no "just chicken" in Avatar. Turns out there is a very similar joke in S2 of the animated and the creators hand waved it away that there are "Arctic Hens" the Water tribe eat
@@Animalfriend777 Doesn't Bumi ask if they like their chicken without skin in season 1 as well?
@@Animalfriend777 The concept that allows them to name thing "pig-hen" implies they know what a hen is, and what a pig is. Just like a pigeon-rat. They know what's a pigeon, they know what's a rat. Bosco, or the bear from the earth kingdom showed that you can in fact have an animal be just one. We just don't know why their world have them merged lol
People are complaining because that is just what they want to do! Hating is so popular on Social media!
Lmfao literally never heard this “backlash”. Get help. Stop making stuff up for fake internet validation.
I love these versions of these characters but also I'm making sure I am not making any comparisons to the cartoon. That's not fair to this show. The movie was bad because it was poorly written and executed regardless of the source material. This show is good regardless of the source material.
i get you but it's an adaptation of a very popular show there being comparisons being made between both not only is fair but warranted since that's kind of the point.
The eyeliner thing also kind of goes into what is supposed to be exactly as presented vs symbolic in a show. The point of it is to show that Suki is gorgeous under that makeup. It doesn't make sense, but most people wouldn't notice, and it accentuates her looks for the scene so that we get to see it from Sokka's perspective.
Its not strange that in episode two no one was hurt in the fight scene with Kyoshi because Aang let it be known to her that he didnt want to hurt anyone. She respected his wishes but did show him how he could use his powers. 🤔
This version is actually better than the original for me, and Sokka is a big reason for that. He mostly annoyed me in the animated show, but I really like him here. Also, I don't think you two understood the nuance of his sexism when Suki bested him out in the woods. You both just acted confused. Does he really need to spell it out in dialogue? I prefer when it's not something we would say out loud but still can't help but feel emotionally. It's also more believable when he can later overcome it. People who are vocally sexist don't change that quickly, if ever. People who can reflect on their sexist reactions can change.
I wish everyone would Stop Complaining & Compairing it to the Anime. It was never going to be exactly like the anime episode per episode. Just enjoy the live action of it. Thank you for all of your reactions hope to see The Bad Batch season 3 reactions.
The Suki-Sokka melon chopping scene was showing how she is just as uncomfortable, inexperienced, and inept at communicating her feelings as he is. She's trying to make him like her, and since he mentioned their commonality of being warriors she thought being super warrior was the way to get his attention.
Omg he made bumerang excited for him to make his space sword😳
There is an attention to detail problem in the show. When the elder is like “the only outsiders here are You” Sokka is standing RIGHT THERE in the back and I’m pretty sure he is in his water nation clothes.
On the plus side I think the character work does get much better from here on.
That was on purpose though. She's not trying to lie convincingly, she's making a stand. "We both know I'm lying, what you gonna do about it?"
At 13:00 - Clarus stares in amazement at Kyoshi rapid removal of makeup ;)
While it wasn't exactly your point about Sokka. I really should point out that Suki got Sokka. Not the other way around. The girl saw what she wanted and awkwardly got it
One Piece - Worked closely with IP creator.
Avatar - IP creators walked away.
Wheel of Time - Pissed on IP creator's grave
Turns out she lied about not being a bender. She's a makeup bender! Surprise!! 🤩
So I'm only secondarily familiar with ATLA the cartoon, but I've consumed a lot of reactions, so in the aggregate I've got the beats.
Now when looking at this series, and the reactions... I'm curious about this connection being painted by so many. "They didn't make Sokka sexist!"... why are we mad about this? When looking at the source, why was Sokka sexist? There were no real backstory beats to eatablish why he was sexist? We could maybe theorycraft that it is a leftover from sexism in the water tribes, but the animated set the Southern Water Tribe as being more egalitarian than the Northern Tribe.
But then you look at his sexism. As a cishet man, his sexism looks the same as the way most little boys are sexist. #BoysRuleGirlsDrool His being sexist gave his character access to low-hanging misogynist tropes, that they then had to spend story time wiping it away. This Sokka has been matured up a bit... and sits in a much more natural character place. With what they are covering, and the time to cover... why would they include a character flaw that didn't make sense why it was there, in order to fix it? Also, would that more immature version of Sokka make sense, given the level of responsibility that he had to shoulder at such an early age?
The same is true for Katara. She isn't as much of a mama bear, because that doesn't fit with these characters? She isn't mothering goofy little Sokka. Aang while a child, he's under the weight of being the avatar, so he isn't really needing mothering either. Also also, given the new placements of the character, a more unsure Katara makes sense to me. She's a waterbender that can only kind of bend. There's Sokka that treats her like a little girl when she thinks she's more than that... that weight makes someone feel more like an imposter and that fits Katara's journey.
But honestly, just divorce yourself from the animated version. They are going to hit major beats, but its a different journey for us but also the characters.
I guess I don’t understand the complaints about Sokka’s sexism. I was against removing it at first because i wanted his character development but now that I’ve seen the whole show, I couldn’t be happier with the result. And maybe that’s the difference, maybe by the end, y’all will have no problem with Sokka’s writing or you’ll have forgotten about it. But in the grand scheme of this season, that turned out to be such a small and insignificant change that I am not concerned about at all.
Love how they cast so many First Nations actors in this show 👌
I watched Smash as well, and I did remember the wig thing when you brought it up. It didn't throw off the show for me the first time because, yes, it didn't register. But I watched it a second time and noticed the screw ups with the wigs. I still love that show and bought the DVD's and soundtrack.
29:58 As the average person, I can confirm that I didn't notice it.
Sokka, Lord of Snow, and Ice, Bender of Backs. ✌️🤪
8:00 and it is from the Animated intro to! I love the inclusion of it
Maria Zhang is indeed Gorgeous! the scene where she reveals the "no makeup" face, I melted!
Interesting point on the "Toothless" part, and I think I agree even if I never reflected on it myself. let's see what happens moving forward.
38:16 solid point!
40:52 I believe this sadly is a overcompensation from that movie that doesn't exist, I get you, but I think I am a little more forgiving on this subject.
43:24 I hear you Nerdy, but devils advocate; how would you successfully market something that already have a stink on it? I really agree with you, but this question got me stumped. the person that somehow convinces the stuck up studio execs to dare invest in this would be worthy of praise.
I don't really have a problem with no one dying or being injured in this episode because I think massacre in episode 1 was done with better trained firebenders and it was done with the power of the comet. Also, the Kyoshi warriors were probably better trained than the firebenders that attacked them and they were at a point when they were about to die and/or get injured and the Avatar/Kyoshi stepped in and I think above all else what they are showing in live action series also happened in the animated series, it is just being shown in a different order.
Looks like the firebenders can’t kill anyone without a comet to help them 😅
Suki is so perfect, shame she is only in 1 episode. But im kinda biased because its a Polish actress and im Polish 😆
chinese by way of poland? had no idea what a great combination that is. 😍
@@vinsanity40k yeah she is half Polish, half Chinese. Born in Poland
I figured that Suki’s thirsty reaction to Sokka was more over the fact that he was a new boy her age. Presumably there are others her age on the island but their isolation probably makes it hard to make new connections. But hey, I’m a straight white dude in his 40s so I might be way off base!
I did enjoy the rapid improvement in her combat-flirting technique, though. It was a little tame, coming off of Blue Eye Samurai, but then again, this is way more of a kids’ show that BES was 😅
it was my impression that it was an island of mostly (if not all) women. at least i didn't see many dudes.
They didn't totally remove Sokka's sexism, they just tuned it down from the cartoonish levels it was in the cartoon.
When he basically runs away from Suki after the melon incident and short hand to hand was that not him going "WTF, this girl fights far better than me!" just like Redacted's husband in Blue Eye Samurai.
He gets corrected by Katara early on when he starts to say "I am protecting the village", then switches to "we are" including his sister in it.
He still wears the Kyoshi armor, just with a blue gi instead of green. You can see this clearly at 33m into the show.
The makeup isn't as important in this iteration, Suki just wipes it off without a care and doesn't bring it back.
Yeah Sokka's fighting is probably too good for this point in the story.
I don't know if it's less complex, just different. Instead of Katara, this girl he's known for less than a week, he gets brought back by memories of Gyatso.
The Kyoshi instead of Roku change gets better when he meets with Roku. Overall I like the change, but I get not liking it at this point.
Broken Bumi. No spoilers so I'll just say I love that change.
Minor thing: Aang does no water bending in this season where he's supposed to be learning water bending... weird.
Overall the cartoon is still better, some of that is rose colored glasses, but definitely not all of it.
For the combat, I think the difference is the episode 1 attack had all of the best fire benders during the comet and even then you had groups of fire benders being held off by one air bender until an elite fire bender came by. I don't think the current fire benders have any elite aside from the 2 leaders and the battle was taken over by Kyoshi fairly quickly.
Sokka is less sexist, though he does have a couple subtle moments and there's another character later on that quite sufficiently takes the blatent sexist role enough for the show to make that point. I think Sokka's role here is more subtle and deals more with his early thrust into responsibility and other things yet to be revealed.
Katara I see as having less fire because Sokka is less an asshole. But she still has the excitement to discover her abilities though unsure of herself and haunted by her past.
Zuko is portrayed amazingly well, star of the show.
I've tried to catch the cartoon marathon that seems ever present on youtube, but I always seem to tune in at the same part or during a highlight session that skips around horribly, so I may not fully grasp the changes from the cartoon.
Teenage flirting is thirsty work.
People are saying this show is terrible because they were expecting perfection, and (surprise!) it's not perfect. Some people are even saying it's worse than the 2010 movie kkk. Honestly, these people need to watch that movie again, cause they forgot how bad it is. For me what is really concerning is how some of the characters were toned down beyond necessary, specially Katara. That being said, the show is far from being terrible and the ammount of exagerated hate out there only makes it harder for us to get a season 2, in witch I believe they can fix a lot of the issues (and I think they will, cause the show is definetely not lazy, so they're at least trying). It's Netflix guys, they cancel shows for no reason, so let's try not to give them so many kkk. Overall, I think there are problems (that can still be fixed), but the hate is definetly excessive for what we actually got.
This show is great, of course they have to take some shortcuts to get the story across, i hate people that automatically roast the show because they couldnt fit 20 episodes worth of animated material into 8 episodes of live action material
Suki in the live action gives Mizu energy. I said what I said
I have now watched through Episode 5, and this episode, Warriors is by far the best, in my opinion. There was good narrative structure, the characters were pretty consistent, and I liked the addition of Kyoshi.
I totally agree with you on Katara. The writers removed her character flaws and key moments, making a dull Mary Sue. Since they also cut her romance with Aang, there's almost nothing left for her to do. If they had replaced that with other things, it might have worked, but they apparently couldn't come up with anything. Instead of a rousing speech to incite an earthbender rebellion, we get, "Oh, look, she's getting better at waterbending!" Boring!
Ive watched this series three times already! I would give this srries a 8.5 /10! People should stop comparing it to the Anime! This is a more of an adult version which I love and the additions they made have been great! People are complaining just to complain! Why cant they just enjoy a really good series! War is ugle, painful, and terrible! We dobt get that in the Anime becaue it is for kids but you get to hear, see and feel all of that here!
I just think it’s bad… you need to accept that
Imagine if zuko ends up with sparky sparky boom boom man🤷♂️
I wonder if the difference in body count ep2 vs ep1 is to show before and after Aang? Aang doesn't want to kill people so he's being reluctant while fighting them. the fire benders were searching for aang, so maybe they weren't trying to wipe out an entire tribe and destroy everything because aang could have been hiding somewhere? Just a thought I had while watching your vid today. I could be way off
Sokka I don't think his sexism ever really made sense, dude grew up with a sister who's mom died in a town of MOSTLY women. This Sokka is nice, he definitely cares but he does have an ego problem in thinking nobody else is good enough. They kind of take sexism and make it more narcissistic, you really start to see it more and more as the show goes and instead of a few episode arch it becomes a seasonal growth. Katara gets better too, Aang also gets complicated it just takes a bit for tensions to build.
I personally like the contrast in humor and maturity, life isn't as flat as most movies, and nothing is always super serious, everyone has burst out laughing moments specially in response to stress. Real life is less like Dark Knight and honestly more like Buffy or Firefly and I think this hits that feeling. It's just because it's younger characters that it feels off.
Suki is the Thirstiest!
Does that mean Sokka is the quenchiest? 😎
Gran Gran rolled a Nat 18 Wis on her character sheet.
Claroos is right, there’s nowhere for Sokka to go, no arc for him to take, and is he that attractive? I mean I guess you gotta finish the season, but I’ve never seen any man pull women above his pay grade as quickly and effortlessly as this (I guess) attractive young boy… Except for Nerdy of course 😅 Also, I for one would like to know Aang, I mean like everyone else I think Zuko’s story as well as relationship with his Uncle are the best part of the show, it’s the one part of the show that rivals the animated version, but I’m having a hard time caring about Aang, and even liking Katara, who correct me if I’m wrong but are supposed to be the main lead and main supporting lead characters of the show…
3:14 because it's real fur.
I dug episode 1 a lot, but episode 2 sold me on the show! Absolutely loved it (though Sokka's line delivery still irked me a bit at this point, his chemistry with Suki is great and some of his comedic beats are spot on)! The tonal balance of earnestness, darkness, and goofy humor/cheesy dialogue is MUCH more in my sweet spot than even the original, and the action is phenomenal!
To offer a little push back on the note about the battle and casualties, i think there's going to be a difference in a comet charged super attack with the intent of genocide and starting a war versus a minor skirmish between two small forces who are in a tenuous armistice and may not want to back down but also may not want to escalate. Not every fight we see going forward is going to be for all the marbles or as high stakes as that first one (but oooooh Lord, is there some beautiful and brutal action with varying levels of consequences to come! 🥰).
I think the sokka and kitara changes are good with the story. One with a huge weight lifted and the other hopeful to be what she's always wanted instead of combative while still being the group mom in a less forward way.
I like most of the changes everyone complained about. Where's my sexism, why doesn't sokka own the stupid ball, why don't they waste episodes on aang abusing animals.
I think the 4 people in the ava-tornado survival is questionable, and really anyone that was blown back by the landing. I at least counted the 4 as off screen death based on how kyoshi talked to aang
Also I wanted to say I really enjoy the disagreement I have with some of the opinions because you approach it in a logical and justified manner and that they're from an informed film perspective. I think I've learned a lot of process details from you that I consider in a second watch of things.
Dude… no consequences for the fight?! Did you not see Sukis mom’s hair after the fight?
airbenders also are kinda never cold
Suki just needs to refine her flirting techniques.
Shoot. i thought the algorithm goddess would be Avatar Kyoshi
There are no cabbages in Ba Sing Se.
Aang and Katara, they're important characters and we're supposed to like them, but I don't care about them at all. I think it's the acting that bothers me, it's very awkward sometimes.
But but you have to adapt only the most popular stuff, because only that will make ALL the money.
I miss Katara's temper, Sokka's Sokka-ness, and Aang's disregard for the serious.
What are these character changes haha this is so weird. It's like everyone is already at their season 2 or 3 development
Damn....Clarouse are you a parking ticket.....cuz your Mary Jane cosplay has 'fine" written all over it😃
I don't understand the character problems people have. These actors feel like they are exactly as I see the characters.
And I don't understand the problems with the tone. I just don't see why there aren't any stakes or why different levels of violence is off putting. Why does it all have to be the same?
That’s exactly what I thought about the dialogues - they sound like they’re in a Disney channel show 😂
Totally agree with your thoughts on Katara. I get they were trying to avoid the angry woman trope, but they neutered her instead.
I can see what you see with Zuko maybe not being interested in adult fun time, and or not interested in girls, but I think it's too early to tell for sure. I think he's just too focused on Aang... not in that way, he's 12. Ew.
I totally didn't notice the lack of bodies hitting the floor till you mentioned it, but yeah at least this far into the story. Wait till you see what they do to... sorry, can't tell ya. You'll just have to watch.
They definitely depowered Sozins comet, or the air benders were just plain scary powerful. In the cartoon there's no way they would've stood up to comet powered troops, look at Ozai burning an entire soccer field per second.
Aang flying in the first episode bugged me, yeah it was more falling with style and they do have on the flowy clothes, but still too flighty.
HAHAHA Zuko is gay, it was great
right one is bigger
-I dont know why Suki had to remove the make-up in the first place... plus her without the make-up was a thing later on.
-And Sakka didnt get to put on the make-up n garb... instead of Sakka confronting his culture's misogyny and learning from Suki, its just a girl like boy think...boring.
-didnt like this eps at all
i hope Zuko still gets with Mai....please dont change characters to appease the "modern audience" yet again Netflix...🙄