gentfai elyott bergon
Chanelle Kirksey
This is one of those things where I have mixed feelings. IIRC when Netflix tried this the first time around the creators of the original series bailed on it due to what The Big Red N had planned. Did that change over time? I haven't kept up.
Production value looks solid, bending looks proper, but the most important parts of the original, imo, are the overall tone and the arcs the characters travel throughout the series. If they get those right it could be pretty good. Get those wrong and it's just an effects-fest that would fall short of the original. There is a lot more to Avatar than just the action sequences.
From what I have heard the only controversy so far revolves around Sokka's prejudice towards women. The live action has decided to tone that down. I see why some fans are upset, because overcoming that prejudice through conflict and personal growth is part of animated Sokka's character arc.
That is unfortunate, that sort of character growth was one of the excellent aspects of the original series. Each character is introduced with some obvious flaws and gradually learns to overcome/outgrow them.
A little bit of light reading suggests the new series dials back on these character driven aspects for more than just Sokka. No mention of Zuko that I have seen, but there are mentions of "condensing" Aang's growth from silly child to heroic figure as well as dialing back on some aspects of Katara's character as well. Some of this is probably dictated by the limited length of the live action version compared to three long seasons of the original. Just not enough screen time to go through all the "adventure of the week" moments which may not have driven the series arc, but they did drive character growth.
One comment has already mentioned that the live action lacks some of the philosophical depth of the original, which I suppose is to be expected, but I had hoped it would at least attempt to match the original there.
You did not miss Toff. She was introduced in Season 2, and live action is doing seasons as well. (Assuming renewal). Toff's VO actress has expressed her hope to see a green light for season 2 in hopes of seeing live action Toff.
Ep1 moves too quickly - not enough time spent with the characters to become vested in them, and relies too much on dialog to compress the narrative. In general breaking one of the great adages of film making: "Don't talk about it. Show it." They might be leaning on familiarity here; knowing that a significant portion of the audience already knows/adores the characters.
One or two promising moments between Sokka and Katara that echo the original series nicely. In general these two actors are doing a decent job with the rather ... lackluster ... dialog they've been given.
Aang's tattoos are too dark. ? Minor detail, but in some scenes they render as almost black.
Also, the choice to not use Fire Nation air ships, and have the Fire Benders sort of "super-jumping" into the Southern Air Temple sort of put me off a bit.
Zuko's actor is doing well so far - again making the best of what's been given, but selling it nicely so far. This might save the series for me if the trend continues.
Iroh is unconvincing, a bit stilted, and the voice is all kinds of wrong. Sort of a shame that. Hopefully the guy settles into the role better as the series progresses.
Visuals/Bending are done quite well, although the whole thing looks a little too "digital" for my taste. Looks like it was shot on RED cameras; I tend to prefer the more "organic" look of the ARRI Alexa line of cameras, personally. Curious to see if I am right about that.
Appa is suitably adorable.
I'll probably watch the rest of it, in spite of myself, lol, as I figure it will continue to fall short of expectations. That said, ep1 had just enough promising moments that there could be more good than not across the run of the series.
My wife and I were talking about this last night when I turned Netflix on and it popped up. Remember that live action movie we got before that Lake Laogai wants you to forget about? Part of the reason it sucked so hard was it tried to condense all of season 1 into a two(?) hour movie. It pulled out all the filler. But the thing is, the filler is the real soul of the show. There's a lot of character building done there. A major part of Aang's character is that he's a kid. He's avoiding his duties that were thrust upon him unfairly by a world in crisis. Even as he learns to deal with that, he never stops having fun along the way. One of Aang's greatest strengths as a character is that he can find and create joy. That dance episode in season 3 where he teaches the Fire Nation kids to dance really drives that point home.
The first time through, the plot is super compelling. Rewatching the original series for the nth time, it's not the plot that I love. The dramatic tension is gone, I know what's going to happen in the plot. It's those weird filler character episodes that let the cast shine. So I hope this new remake learned something from the movie.
It's basically a fast walking tour through the main plot points. A few moments of echoing the energy between the kids that is found in the original, but moves too fast to truly become vested in either them or the story, and as such the dialog tends to occasionally come off as trite. I don't know who would be watching this without having seen the original series, but it would be interesting to hear if it was effective for someone who hadn't.
I did come around a little on the actor playing Iroh, even if the voice is still all kinds of wrong. Zuko's performance remains the most convincing, although credit to the kid playing Aang for occasionally channeling the character's nature quite well. They'll probably get another season, and if they do hopefully the young lady playing Azula gets a better opportunity from the writers to bring that character into her own. Even the usually phenomenal Ms. Midthunder seemed ... uncomfortable ... as Yue.
Craft-wise, costuming was great, set pieces were great, still a little too "digital" overall but full credit to the design team for the world-building even if the compositing team didn't quite hit the mark.
... I never saw the movie version (never will), but I can tell from this version that they were at least trying to capture some of what made the original series so great. As such they get a "nod of existence acknowledgement" from me.
Netflix has just made the first four seasons of My Hero Academia available in many regions, as part of an ongoing initiative to bring in many exciting anime to the platform. However, this superhero tale is the one to watch out for as one of the best, and will hopefully come back with the other seasons on the streaming service.
Alongside big hits such as Black Clover, Haikyuu!! and Spy X Family, My Hero Academia was announced to come to the platform on March 22, and three days later, on March 25, the episodes landed, making it the first series of the batch to be released.
There is no better time than now to binge-watch the anime, as the series is heading into its anticipated seventh season, which will mark the beginning of the end for the series, entering the final saga. It is not a reach to say that this anime was the biggest in recent years, and has taken the world by storm and contributed to the recent surge in popularity of the medium.
The superhero genre is filled with great anime, such as the ultra-popular One-Punch Man, and they are all great and offer something unique and interesting. However, My Hero Academia blows them out of the water for many reasons and is currently the biggest superhero series. It was so big, in fact, that Avengers: Infinity War did a cross-promotion with the anime. It was also one of the most popular anime in North America during the pandemic, and it is clear that the series' reputation is excellent.
However, popularity is not always a good judge of quality. It is what My Hero Academia is about and how well it does it that justifies its incredible success. In a world where 80 percent of the population have powers called Quirks, Izuku Midoriya is one of the unfortunate ones to be born without one, and his situation is further complicated by his aspirations of becoming a pro hero.
A fateful encounter with Japan's number one hero, All Might, displays Midoriya's selflessness and his determination to help others despite being weak, and this inspired and touched All Might's heart. With his time as a hero running out for All Might, he chose Midoriya to be his successor for his bravery and gave him his quirk, One For All, and thus begins Midoriya's path to succeeding his idol, as he enrolls in the prestigious U. A High School to train to become a hero.
The plot is already good, but the way that Horikoshi executes it shows his prowess as a writer. Throughout, the series stays true to its superhero premise. Heroes repelling villains who want to destroy everything is as simple as it gets, but My Hero Academia is much more complex than that. It displays the intricacies of the hero profession and its dark sides and gives context to why the villains are who they are, leaving it up to fans to decide who is truly darker.
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