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I like that in the netflix version they added scenes that weren't in the original. My favorite is the scene of Lu Ten's funeral. Iroh is just sitting there silent but you can see on his face that is he is broken inside but everyone comes up to him and congratulates him that his son died a hero. No one says it but for me it felt like in the fire nation culture you're not allowed to mourn the death of those who died in battle, which is a crazy concepts but fits with the Fire Nations fascist ideology.
I couldn't find the whole scene, but here is the last part of it (https://yewtu.be/watch?v=hwPn2gJ1B_U). For context, Zuko has gone up to Iroh and said that Lu Ten's death is great honor. But when he was about to leave he comes back and thats when the above video starts.
These scenes add so much to the character of Iroh, Zuko, Lu Ten (whose character we did know anything about in the original) and to war-time Fire Nation culture. It's amazing!
My favorite part of that scene is that the background music is the tune of "Leaves From The Vine"
That was brilliant.
They managed to touch on one of the most emotional moments of the beloved series, recontextualize it on its own grounds, and tie it back to the original in a subtle and respectful way. The series doesn't come close to capturing the magic of the original, but it has a little magic of its own if you let it.
Zuko’s crew being the soldiers he saved is also a great change. As is getting more Gyatzo.
The biggest issue is a lot of the acting and writing. The actors for Aang and Katara just were not the best, though I’m more apt to blame showrunners that don’t know how to deal with kids, as most older actors are great. And the whole series of episodes in Omashu and then the forest/spirit world were convoluted and stupid.
The other issue is changing characters completely. Bumi going from a fun loving crazy old man trying to teach Aang important lessons is now a crazy bitter old man attacking his childhood friend. The past Avatars, rather that being loving mentors, are just useless at best, mean at worst. And with Suki no longer being a foil for Sokka’s sexism, they turned her into a horny flirt.
I agree with you on all of this except the point on Bumi. I think the change to his character is great and makes him feel more realistic! It felt like the live action Bumi was trying to be as fun loving as animation Bumi but can't hide how deeply the war has changed him for the worst, which makes sense since he is probably the only one (or only handful of people) to have lived and fought through a hundred years of war. He's also trying to be a good friend to Aang but can't help but feel resentful towards him for abandoning his role as the avatar.
Eh, they took it too far. He literally became an asshole. He didn’t seem like he was trying to be a friend at all.
They also needed to give him more backstory. We see young Bumi for what, a minute? Show us the kid Aang had fun with.
Small spoilers ahead: making Zuko's crew the 41st division that he refused to sacrifice was a great addition to the story.
This was great addition as well!
I agree and also thought they did a pretty good job. Not perfect, but perfection is never attainable and for having to squeeze everything into 8 episodes, they did well!
Yeah this scene is great. There are a few more good additions, I have written about it at !avatar@lemmy.world already. My favourite episode is "Masks" with the blue spirit.