Netflix's Avatar: The Last Airbender

Ever wondered how Netflix's live-action "Avatar: The Last Airbender" stands up to the iconic animated series? Join us, Dakota and Anthony, as we passionately discuss the new adaptation's impact on the cherished franchise, delving into the complexities of adapting a beloved story. Discover how the original creators' departure might have shaped the final product, and experience a behind-the-scenes look at the grind of producing content for YouTube amid copyright claims. We also share our nostalgic reflections on the "MonsterVerse" and tackle the shifting perceptions in Star Wars fandom.

Grab your lightsabers and anime plushies; this episode is a celebration of narrative arts. We're not just talking about "Avatar"; we're also diving into the Star Wars universe with the "Acolyte" series, exploring the High Republic era and the excitement around the Phantom Menace re-release. Take a walk down memory lane with our thoughts on "Neon Genesis Evangelion," and get hyped with us about the upcoming "Avatar" live-action series. As we analyze the portrayal of iconic characters like Uncle Iroh and Azula, we're unraveling the ties between childhood nostalgia and the re-experiencing of Avatar's deeper themes.

Finally, we're comparing the storytelling and pacing of serialized narratives like "One Piece" to "Avatar: The Last Airbender" and pondering the influence creators have on their adaptations. We peek at the future of narrative in both animation and live-action forms, teasing our next topic: Makoto Shinkai's works. From the legacy of voice actors to the essential role of technological innovation in filming, this episode is a deep dive into the heart of geek culture, narrative analysis, and the artistic journey from page to screen.

Twitter handles:
Project Geekology: https://twitter.com/pgeekology
Anthony's Twitter: https://twitter.com/odysseyswow
Dakota's Twitter: https://twitter.com/geekritique_dak

Instagram:
https://instagram.com/projectgeekology?igshid=1v0sits7ipq9y

Geekritique (Dakota):
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBwciIqOoHwIx_uXtYTSEbA
The Complete MONSTERVERSE Timeline and History - GODZILLA x KONG Recap:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BamyXL7Z_n0

Twitch (Anthony):
https://www.twitch.tv/odysseywow

Music:
Eric Godlow Beats: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRpkcYps82PdSo0tK5rEIPA

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Hey guys, welcome back to Project Geekology. This is episode 70-something. It could be 72, could be 74. We'll never find out Unless we check, but we won't because we have too much to talk about. Today we're covering Avatar, the Last Airbender. We got to cover a hundred years worth of history here. This guy was stuck in an iceberg and the whole world is different. Why was he stuck in an iceberg? We'll'll cover that, probably before we get into any of that. My name is dakota, I'm one half of your host and I'm joined, as always with anthony.

Speaker 2: 0:30

And just to specify, we are talking about netflix's adaptation, since we have already hashed through the animated series yes, we have uh hashed through that.

Speaker 1: 0:41

We've talked about it on and off for a number of podcasts, but we have two very lengthy podcasts like several hours worth each uh on right back when we were doing like hours worth of content yeah, that was absolutely insane and just completely unsustainable for like our type of output and lifestyle.

Speaker 1: 1:01

But here we are, uh yeah. So we had an episode of the last airbender, like animated series. That was non-spoilery, just in case you haven't seen the show. We're interested in it. And then we had one that was like full spoilers where we just went hog wild and, yeah, covered everything.

Speaker 1: 1:17

We just went wild yeah, like a toff bay fongs family crust the the flying boar anyway, um, deep cut. We're talking about the live action avatar, the last airbender, the one created by netflix. Uh, we have a lot of thoughts between us, and last time we were discussing uh, last week we were discussing something entirely different. It was saving private ryan great movie, excellent. But you know, in our recap of like what we've been up to the past week, last week we were discussing something entirely different. It was Saving Private Ryan Great movie, excellent. But in our recap of what we've been up to the past week, we started getting into I don't want to say it was a heated debate, but it was like we were kind of at different ends of the spectrum of whether or not we appreciated Netflix's input on the Avatar franchise. So we decided that this would be a good time to, like you know, stop talking about that on that last podcast and then make just a whole podcast about that this week.

Speaker 2: 2:10

And here we are did you ever get around to re-watching it, or yeah, yes, I did give it a second re-watch, lucky dog I did not get to do that.

Speaker 1: 2:20

Oh no, I've been so busy like I'll just. I'll jump into what I've been into, uh, this this past week, just because it hasn't been a lot. I've literally been editing my butt off um, trying to get this monster verse video out before the new movie comes out next week. I'm struggling. It's finished. It's a finished video, but every time I upload it, youtube copyright claims certain sections of it, so I keep trying to fix it. And this is a moss. I didn't know what I was going to say there. I was going to say massive, but I also wanted to say monster. So I'm sorry, moss.

Speaker 2: 2:56

Yeah, I was hearing mothra.

Speaker 1: 2:58

Well, it is a mothra. No, actually it is not a mothra size, it is Titan size, though it's an hour long video. It's my first hour long video essay, documentary, whatever you want to call it, a timeline of timeline in history, really, of the entire MonsterVerse universe, and I'm so excited to get it out. I haven't gotten the chance to do anything, just fun I've. I've been plugging away extra hours on my computer and it's frustrating because I'm trying to get this out and it was supposed to come out today like it was. It was done, ready to go, but no, warner brothers had to be like nope, that's too similar to my movie.

Speaker 2: 3:38

You have to change it dakota, stop copying and pasting movies into your videos, man.

Speaker 1: 3:47

Well, actually I am. I am doing that, but it's fair use, it's transformative. I am transforming and making educational content. Really it's totally within the fair use grounds, but anyway, Well, you know how it is.

Speaker 2: 4:00

These huge companies get very intimidated by small channels on YouTube.

Speaker 1: 4:07

Oh yeah, I'm really taking a lot of money from them.

Speaker 2: 4:09

clearly nintendo's very bad when it comes to that they really fight the worst? Yeah, they fight the like if you like right, they're probably gonna say copyright, just for us saying nintendo on this podcast I've I've had.

Speaker 1: 4:23

The thing is they're they're not an american company, so they have absolutely no, no desire to follow fair use laws, which is an american concept. So I get it. You know, whatever I I've basically stopped covering. I used to cover nintendo content, but not not a lot. You know, like I I had I made a video back in the day for the most recent Smash Bros game, whatever this is many years ago.

Speaker 2: 4:47

Oh wow, that was a while back.

Speaker 1: 4:49

I did one for Zelda. I did a couple of videos back in the day but everything was claimed so it wasn't worth it to make that content and it wasn't getting reviews anyway, just because it's not my target demographic. But anyway, I'm going off on a tangent. I didn't get to do anything that I wanted to do this week because I've been so busy with this and it's frustrating because I just want to be done with it. I've been talking about it for literal months at this point.

Speaker 2: 5:13

You have been, I feel like the last several of our episodes. You have been talking about making this video and getting it out before the new Godzilla movie.

Speaker 1: 5:25

I have not released a video since my Frozen video in December and I've been working on it since, like, I've been working on this since mid-December basically. So it's been three months of my life into this video and I'm excited about it. I have no idea how it's going to be, you know, recepted, received, but anyway. So I didn't get to watch the new x-men 97 show. Anthony, you were talking, we were talking a little bit that about that before the show, um, but it is supposedly incredible. I'm hoping to watch it after this, actually after we record um, the first, yeah, I need to get into it.

Speaker 2: 6:00

I I used to like watching the older show, so I know I like this apparently it's.

Speaker 1: 6:06

It's like the perfect legacy sequel, um, because it picks up right where the the show left off and I like that they use the same art style but it's crispier.

Speaker 2: 6:17

You know it doesn't. Obviously we're in the era of hd. So yeah, back then there was an hd, so it was, the art was good. But you know, obviously, putting it over you know television, it's not gonna look as good as it does, maybe, on the storyboard but, it looks really good uh.

Speaker 1: 6:36

Another thing, uh that you know on on that line of thought is the, the classic intro for the x-men. Uh uh, nineties animated series. Yeah, you know, everyone knows it. The, the actual intro is pretty much exactly the same, even the like, the fonts they use, like the, the, the old, like 3d fonts that like were like super high tech back in the day but look really dated nowadays. It's the same, just like an hd version of that and it's really funny. So they, they did really good with at least that, because that's really all I've seen, but I've seen clips and everybody's gushing about it.

Speaker 2: 7:16

It literally is the highest rated marvel product on raw tomatoes right now which is good because we know I mean we've talked about how marvel's been kind of in a lull lately and you know they'll throw out something that's really good. But you know it's time for them to to get a win. Hey man, acolyte trailer came out.

Speaker 1: 7:38

I did. I did get the opportunity to spend two minutes watching that, for sure. Uh, that was. That's a really awesome project. I can't wait to see what they do with it. It was receiving a lot of hate online yeah, it was surprisingly seems. You know, I guess par for the course for for star wars fans. You know it's probably the worst fan base. I'll give it to star wars. It's you got. You got some real fandom menace a fandom menace man.

Speaker 2: 8:05

It's literally like they're like sith lords I think you know, I mean they were it's. It's crazy because, like back in the day when the, the prequels came out, like people were absolutely destroying it, now they, they've kind of come around and now they're looking at it in a favorable light.

Speaker 2: 8:22

I feel like there's been some intense, intense scrutiny since disney took over which, honestly, let's be honest, you know, some of it is founded, you know they have they have mishandled a lot of it, and especially you know, and we'll eventually get to the sequel series and talk about our thoughts on that but a lot of people became disillusioned by Star Wars or Star Wars in Disney's hands since that came out.

Speaker 1: 8:56

So yeah, yeah it's. It's a whole conversation we could do a whole podcast about, like the general morale when it comes to um the star wars fandom. But anyway, acolyte looks good.

Speaker 2: 9:07

It takes place at the tail end of the high republic, right yeah, I looked that up and I noticed that that that's when it took place. Yeah, and yeah, there's some people that are like, oh, this is like a, a poor attempt at, you know, appeasing to the fans of the old republic. I'm like dude, this is not even old republic, this is not even close yeah, it's not even close.

Speaker 1: 9:29

Yeah, maybe, maybe they saw the yellow lightsaber and they're like old republic, but yeah darth revan yeah, you're not getting darth revan here um, but what's?

Speaker 1: 9:42

interesting. What's interesting about this is it's led people to criticize Disney, star Wars for an interesting reason and that is the idea that the Sith are showing up before the Phantom Menace. When it was brought up to the council in the Phantom Menace, they were like the Sith have been eradicated for a thousand years or something like that. So how could they, how could the sith possibly be around in this one? And I'm just, I'm like a lot of people are criticizing it as like breaking canon, but like there's so many ways to write around that. Like even in that scene when, when qui-gon brings up you know evidence of a sith lord attacking him, the council didn't even want to believe him.

Speaker 1: 10:20

You know, like he was literally attacked yeah so there's so many ways that, like you know that the crazy, like dogmatic views of the jedi would like cause them to turn a blind eye to any potential sith uprising or, you know, dark side power shift, or whatever, and ultimately that's what leads them to being, you know, blinded by the dark side.

Speaker 2: 10:43

Well, I mean, honestly, there's also, you know just, instances that things were erased out of the Jedi archives, that totally, you know, honestly, stuff that even Yoda could you know kind of omit like the past of the past and you know it's, you know how it is like the, the jedi kind of want, you know, in some ways they wanted to make it seem like they had everything under control and oh, this, you know, there's nothing to worry about when, and honestly, there was a lot to worry about and there was a lot that was in front of them that they did seem to kind of ignore, you know, and or like it kind of was like under their nose. I mean, dude, they had this whole, the whole emperor. This man was playing all everyone. Come on, let's be real. If, if palpatine was able to play the, the jedi council and the entire senate, what do you think? That he's the only mass mastermind, sith. Come on, let's be real.

Speaker 1: 11:48

And he, he did that for like what? 13 years, when he became chancellor? Yeah, because I think he became supreme chancellor in the first movie, if I remember correctly. And he, yeah, so that the second movie was 10 years later and the third movie was three years later. So yeah, for 13 years. He totally fooled the Jedi order.

Speaker 2: 12:10

So right he was like he was the Senator of Naboo before that.

Speaker 1: 12:14

Correct. Yeah, oh, and it was when the Clone Wars started that he became the Supreme Chancellor.

Speaker 2: 12:21

Right and they had given him emergency powers, which?

Speaker 1: 12:25

was all part of his plan was all a part of his plan.

Speaker 2: 12:27

Yeah, he was like, yeah, let me do this. They're gonna allow me to do this and then be able to blindside everyone yeah, dude, he had his, he had his toes dipped in every and every pond man like an e mcdermid. I don't care what you say about the prequels. That man, he did it.

Speaker 1: 12:47

Oh yeah, he's Palpatine for sure. So yeah, I think Acolyte looks fun, it looks interesting, it does, it does. Apparently that was almost shot for shot, what they showed at Star Wars Celebration almost a year ago. Okay, very cool. So it's not necessarily a new trailer, but it is a new trailer for us.

Speaker 2: 13:07

Oh, so actually, speaking of that, I actually just pre-ordered my tickets to go see the Phantom Menace for its 25 años, 25 años.

Speaker 1: 13:24

The 25th anniversary. I love it. Cool, I gotta.

Speaker 2: 13:28

I'm actually gonna jump on that soon because so, but I mean, they're gonna show some acolyte stuff during that, so I'm actually pretty excited. Wait, are they really? Yeah yeah, they said that there's gonna be a sneak.

Speaker 1: 13:39

You know, maybe it probably won't be made it'll probably be like a three or four minute behind the scenes video of the making of or something like that but I'll take it.

Speaker 2: 13:48

I'll take it. So you know, like I said, I'm hoping that we get something in the the vein of of andor. You know, andor was like a dude. Andor was a sleeper hit man like nobody was. Everybody was like, ah, you know, we weren't asking for andor, no, and then all of a sudden that thing was just it was, my dad was like man, this show's so good like everybody had zero right.

Speaker 1: 14:16

It had zero right being to be that good dude.

Speaker 2: 14:19

Come on because you never expect diego luna and everybody in that show.

Speaker 1: 14:23

Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2: 14:25

Just knocked that apart. I'm excited.

Speaker 1: 14:27

I'm hoping that they do the same. Stellan Skarsgård Dude, he killed it. I actually want to rewatch Endor. I haven't seen it in probably a year.

Speaker 2: 14:36

I'm doing that actually right now.

Speaker 1: 14:37

Dude, it's so good. It's like how they were able to create like prestige television show in the star wars setting is just beyond me, but like it's kind of like you know what it is actually. This is a really good comparison. I was really big into arrow, I was really big into the flash and then daredevil came out and I was just like why am I even watching arrow anymore? You know, like we have we have superhero shows. That can be so much more yeah and that's what daredevil was.

Speaker 1: 15:09

For me it was just like an awakening. And andor is that awakening? And I kind of want the same from like mandalorian now, and ahsoka and hopefully the acolyte. But you know we're not there yet, you know right, right.

Speaker 2: 15:20

Well, I mean, you know, when andor was first announced like people were like ah, you know yeah this is not what I asked for.

Speaker 2: 15:27

You know it did. It faced its own backlash, and then everybody's like whoa, whoa, whoa. I mean literally like word for word what you're saying. Like, dude, this has no right to be this. Good, but it is, and I'm loving it. So I'm hoping that we get the same thing with the acolyte. It's actually really, really cool that we're starting to dip our toes, live action wise as far as the High Republic, you know, because there's some really good High.

Speaker 2: 15:50

Republic stuff. I'm actually, I'm actually about to hop back onto the High Republic train. You know, we read, we had read. Lie of the Jedi we actually covered that and I would love to actually cover more books know especially, you want to jump into the second one or just another.

Speaker 1: 16:09

What's the second?

Speaker 2: 16:10

what would the second one be?

Speaker 1: 16:11

uh, it's the rising storm.

Speaker 2: 16:13

Is is the sequel to light of the jedi okay, yeah, I'd be down to to hop onto that. I mean I'd be down to hop onto, like other books in general. I just need like a, you know, a push. I, I, you know like a head well, not a head start, but I need a little bit of time to be able to get through it. I mean, you know we're adults sometimes I wish I was able to get through books like you do, uh, but it's kind of tough to be able to to listen to audio books at the bank and talk to somebody at the same time yeah, what's nice about being an electrician is you get a lot of downtime or not downtime that's that's the wrong word.

Speaker 1: 16:50

You get a lot. You get a lot. You get a lot of alone time, and you know I'll be working on 30 lights or a whole floor's worth of outlets that I have to wire up, and you know that that offers me a whole week's worth of audiobook listening that I can just, you know, play on the background of whatever I'm doing. It's fun. What's what's weird is, if I go back to listening to those books, I suddenly like picture where I was when I was listening to it, like two, three, four years ago ago. It's such a weird phenomenon like that, you know stories can like be built around the places that you first heard or read them. But yeah, so anyway.

Speaker 2: 17:31

I think that's interesting if I, if I were to re-listen to the first or the the game of thrones audiobook, you know where I would picture myself traitor joes, traitor joes, remember like we would like listen like we're stocking the shelves at night and we're like listening to to game of thrones yeah, dude, I feel the same way, yeah oh my gosh, good times, man, good times I love that, um uh, so I I talked about what I didn't do this week for a good 20 minutes.

Speaker 1: 18:05

What have you done?

Speaker 2: 18:10

uh, well, I mean, obviously I I re-watched avatar, the last airbender, the live action on netflix. I I've done a lot of planning of my next pc build, cool, you know, I've been I've kind of been brainstorming with a friend of mine, the, the, my buddy, that I actually built this pc, the pc that I have here, like that, my first actual, like real pc build. You know, I've kind of been like hashing it out with him, like hey, well, not hashing it out, but um, just kind kind of brainstorming and asking, like you know, hey, what do you think about this part?

Speaker 2: 18:46

I'm looking at this part you've created a think tank right, exactly, and so I'm pretty sure that I've got my final like what I'm gonna build, what I want, I'm gonna build it all. I'm planning on building it all in a. So there's a company called height, it's H Y T E, I've heard of it, yeah, and they have a Persona 3. A Persona 3 tower, dude, a tower, a Persona 3. Dude. I know I keep on talking about Persona, but they have a Persona 3 tower. I want to build it in that tower.

Speaker 1: 19:27

Okay, all right, I'm happy to hear it. I'm happy for you, man.

Speaker 2: 19:32

And I'm going with an AMD build. I'm doing a g, an rtx 4070 ti dude. I've got everything planned out. My buddy said like, hey, man, this is a really really solid build. You know so and you know just kind of back and forth, but I'm pretty excited about that. That's something that I've really wanted to do. I'm already in the process of upgrading my monitors. Well, at least I have one. I'm about to upgrade one, I want to upgrade the, the next, the other one eventually, just because, like, I want something that has a better refresh rate and I've been pretty excited about that and I'm thinking that maybe by sometime in may, june I might have that full rig ready to go. Maybe maybe earlier, we'll see. But yeah, man, I've been really working on that and I've been re-watching andor, I've also been re-watching neon, genesis, evangelion, how do you like it?

Speaker 1: 20:32

I mean, I know you like it, right, right, yeah, but yeah, dude, I I absolutely love it.

Speaker 2: 20:36

So I had watched. When I re-watched it a few, a few years ago, I had watched it on the netflix version and I remember seeing there was another version, like back in the day, that I remember seeing, you know when, obviously when I was younger. So I'm watching that version and there's there's definitely parts of the netflix version that I that I like that sounds a little bit better and polished. But there is a lot about the original that I miss, especially especially the, the, the outro, the outro. With this, with the netflix version, it's just, I don't know, it's just some, you know, generic anime ending, whereas the original was a, it was like a, it was a version of fly me to the moon. That sounded really nice and so okay and so I've been really enjoying that.

Speaker 2: 21:38

And dude, I mean neon genesis. I don't know if you've ever seen it before yeah but it is one of the better mech anime that I've seen. Another one that I really like is gararen logan, but that but neogenesis evangelion was definitely. I felt like it was like the matured, upgraded version of because, remember, we watched, you know, there was gundam gundam was so big when we were younger? Yeah, for sure, but evangelion was like the mature mech anime you know yeah, yeah, it wasn't by.

Speaker 1: 22:13

It was by far. It was by far not the first mech anime out there. You had absolutely transformers, you had um gundam, you had tons of them. But neon, genesis, evangelion, it was, uh, just an art form in and of itself and, like you said, it matured the entire genre up quite a bit it did, it did.

Speaker 2: 22:37

And there's just I don't know, it's just, there's something about going back to those 90s anime that I just I look back on fondly, man, like I. I watch some of this stuff and it's like I'll have flashes of memories, like when I was a kid.

Speaker 2: 22:55

Yeah, seeing some of this stuff and I'm like it's so weird because like it hits you almost like in a way that, like you know, say that you're, you know how there's like a flashback in a movie or TV show. It almost hits you like that, maybe not as vivid, but you know, it's just it sits there and you're like man, you know I remember that it's, it's so, yeah, so it's something weird like that.

Speaker 1: 23:20

Um, when I was re-watching smallville a couple months back and season three, um, I remember seeing it at your grandmother's house, your grandparents house. I remember seeing at least a couple episodes, maybe like the first five episodes, but like that first arc. I just vividly remember oh wait, I was sitting on the couch over there, your grandparents place yes, it's just.

Speaker 2: 23:44

It's weird how you have yeah, remember us singing the intro god let's uh, let's not relive that level of cringe um all right we should jump into.

Speaker 1: 23:58

On that cringy note, we should jump into something a little bit less cringy. I guess it depends on you know who whose uh point of view it is, but we're gonna be talking about avatar, the last airbender, the live action adaptation that netflix produced.

Speaker 1: 24:12

You know this was originally, as some people call it, wait, what tila you know tila the last airbender oh, some people, oh, I, I call it atla, like when I yeah atla, I wasn't sure how. So with one piece Piece the live action people abbreviate One Piece as OP, but for the live action they abbreviated OPLA or OPLA. So when this was gearing up I was confused, like what do I call this? Because I can't call it Atlala, you know, because Avatar, the Last Samurais are live action Atlala, but yeah, so I don't know.

Speaker 2: 24:53

I mean, you could call it natla natla. I kind of like that, kind of like natla you know netflix's avatar, the air avatar, the last airbender, I mean, even though I mean it's not their ip, but it is their adaptation yeah, it is their version of it.

Speaker 1: 25:09

so this was originally set to be produced, um and written by the actual creators of the Nickelodeon show, if only man Brian Konietzko and Mike DiMartino.

Speaker 1: 25:23

So there's been a lot of rumors and speculation about why they left.

Speaker 1: 25:28

Apparently they wanted to change a lot more from the original show, to just just be I'm not sure like in what respect, and that's just the latest rumor that I've heard, but it's kind of, uh, something that I kind of believe a little bit because, um, when, when they made legend of korra, they they had some pretty significant like lore changes, um, in terms of like how people got their bending powers and you know just the original benders, blah, blah, blah.

Speaker 1: 25:57

So they, they changed quite a bit, or not changed, but like shifted the history of, like what actually happened to the airbenders or not the airbenders, but like just like the benders in general. So my theory, um and this is backed up by a couple, I guess, people in the know is that they wanted to do more. They wanted to change more from the ground up to stuff that they either couldn't get away with on Nickelodeon or new storylines that they wanted to tell within that three-year timeline of the Avatar universe that they didn't get to tell because of the Nickelodeon restrictions and Netflix wanted a more one-to-one adaptation which we didn't really get, to be honest.

Speaker 2: 26:39

I mean, they hit a lot of the the similar beats, but they changed. They didn't really.

Speaker 1: 26:45

It wasn't really one-to-one no, and I I understand the changes that they made, uh, for the sake of the narrative, and we'll talk a little bit about that, but like there are some episodes, like the omasha episode, where it's just like a mix of like three or four different storylines into one and it kind of works, but it's a little bit messy it.

Speaker 2: 27:04

Maybe it would have worked if there was better execution yeah, I mean they were trying to, you know, obviously, I guess, nod to the great divide, but it wasn't, you know, it didn't really I guess. Yeah, it just it felt rushed, yeah. And to be honest with you, I didn't like the changes that they made to Boomy. He was just like an angry old man.

Speaker 1: 27:36

Yeah, they made him a little bit more world weary than he was. Right, just a cranky, crazy old guy in the original. But they made him a more world weary and you know, just paranoid right.

Speaker 2: 27:44

I mean he, he was a little. I mean he had like a little bit of the crankiness, but he was almost like he boomy. Kind of reminded me a little bit of like yoda when you first meet yoda and yeah and uh and I think that was that was actually the intent of boomy.

Speaker 2: 28:03

Now I don't know that for sure, but like he, he totally falls in that same vein of like you don't expect that pretending the whole time, you know, like he was just messing around with ang, like he knew he knew who he, who it was, but he was just like you know he was pretending the whole time, you know, like he was just messing around with Aang, like he knew he knew who he, who it was, but he was just like you know, he was kind of just messing around with them.

Speaker 2: 28:19

But there was a lesson that was learned in that which I thought was really cool and it's like they kind of almost for forsook that and really rushed those challenges. And you know, it's like Bomy is like, oh, you know, fight me to the death and I, like I really didn't feel like that was within his character. It didn't make sense to me. I understand he was world weary, but his it just didn't make sense as far as, like for the show or for, like you know, to the legacy of the character I also didn't particularly care for the idea that boomy was bitter for ang leaving for 100 years.

Speaker 1: 29:02

It just doesn't seem like obviously it wasn't ang's fault, like that wasn't like a choice that he made, you know right it was like a preservation, thing activated by the Avatar state. Right, yeah, he got stuck in a storm. He crashed into a big wave and the Avatar state kind of you know, froze him in ice.

Speaker 2: 29:23

Right Cryo sleep.

Speaker 1: 29:25

Yeah, so he never really aged. Let's talk a little bit about Aang. What do you think of the actor that they chose for him?

Speaker 2: 29:36

you think of the actor that they chose for him? I think the actor is pretty close to how I would imagine ang. He is a little bit more on the serious side. I mean, you know, I guess they have to adapt it to a, to a live action setting and make it a little bit more believable. Yeah, but ang is a lot more carefree in the animation, and not carefree he cares, but his personality is very much so that of an airbender yeah.

Speaker 1: 30:06

So my uh, the actor, uh yeah, gordon cormier. I think he looks the part 100. He looks like ang, he sounds like ang and in some, in some respects, he sometimes acts like ang um, and I think throughout the course of the series I was able to buy him quite a bit more than I was originally in the first couple episodes, I think. The second half of the the series, I think everyone kind of like picked up their acting, acting game just a little bit more correct and that's I'm okay with that. You know a lot of these characters, a lot of these actors. This was their first gig, um, and it's a huge first gig. Apparently. You know how big one piece was on netflix. This did double the numbers of Netflix's One Piece, which isn't surprising. I mean, atla is huge in the States.

Speaker 2: 30:57

Right, I mean honestly, when they dropped it on Netflix, it really gave it its popularity. Because I mean, honestly, growing up when Avatar the Last Airbender was around the last time, like you knew it existed but like was it widely talked about so I mean it was, it was a cult classic.

Speaker 1: 31:17

People who loved it loved it. People who didn't love it have never seen it.

Speaker 2: 31:21

That's pretty much how it always was and you know me, man, I was, yeah, you were big.

Speaker 1: 31:27

You were big into it. I actually didn't catch it in its original syndication on, uh, nickelodeon. It was actually my wife, or my, my fiancee at the time, who lent me her copies of the dvds and I binged it in, like you know, maybe a week. It was just worth it. It was life-changing. It was such a such a fantastic world building job. Um, I I love the series to death and I've seen it a couple times since, when.

Speaker 1: 31:55

What you're talking about is when netflix released the avatar series on netflix during covid, which was, yes, the biggest possible or the best possible time window that they could have done that, because everybody was at home, everybody was watching something and everybody was looking for the next big thing to watch. And then suddenly this show that everyone loved from, you know, when they were kids, is back and wait, it's still good, it's even better, uh, because I understand more of, like, what's actually happening in the background of the show. Um, and you know it's, it's a, it's a window into, you know, history, our, our personal history and, like you know the world around us and I love that about it.

Speaker 1: 32:34

Um, and I think, to some degree, the netflix show was able to capture some of that I think oh no, I absolutely agree, I agree I, I think you know, like some of the bigger themes of you know, betrayal, and one of the big ones for me when I watched it the first time was the freedom fighters, uh jet and his crew. Like the like in the cartoon, like to have, you know, child characters who are willing to sacrifice innocent people for the greater good is such a crazy concept but that does happen in the real world. So that concept of the freedom fighters being adapted and I think, fairly well in in that two-part uh omashu episode uh, yeah, no, I, I agree.

Speaker 2: 33:19

I feel like they did pretty well.

Speaker 1: 33:22

Obviously, in the animated series that was expanded a bit more, but in condensed version, wise, they did pretty well with, I guess, getting straight to the point as far as their characters what I was really impressed with was that if you took all of those actors and put them in a line and like showed me the comic book counterparts all in a line, I'd be able to point out this guy's playing smeller b, this guy's playing a long shot, this guy's playing jet, this guy's playing uh, pipsqueak. They looked just like their characters and that's why I was so like weirded out or not weirded out, but like kind of let down. When we got like azula and ty lee and may that or may look like her, her uh cartoon, but the other two didn't really have. They had it in the acting department. I would say they were actually fantastic actresses, but they didn't look the part of what you would expect those characters to look like.

Speaker 2: 34:25

I agree.

Speaker 1: 34:25

That was a little weird.

Speaker 2: 34:27

I agree. I also thought it was a weird decision to incorporate them so early in the series. Well, I I I understand I don't mind it. Actually I don't mind it, but go ahead well, the reason why it bothers me is because of the structure of the animation. Is that the structure of the animation is that that first, the first season, is that it establishes Ozai, obviously, as the big bad, but the villain of that first season is.

Speaker 2: 35:00

Zuko and it. The thing is is that because we're only having eight episodes of the season, the incorporation of Azula is taking away of a lot of character building for zuko and and almost in a way it kind of leans on. You already have seen the, the animated series to fill in some of the holes, but that's not the case for everybody. So I I honestly feel like azula should have maybe be introduced at the end of the the season, kind of like not not unlike how I I felt about ahsoka, where I felt like they already had a villain in in balen and they should have just introduced thrawn at the end of that, at the end of that season, and he's like, okay, he's escaped, so that opens up a second season. That's what azula is in the animation. That's the big bad of the second season, because by the end of season one that's where this season ended with Zuko. Zuko he's kind of tired, he's beaten down and now he's in his exile mode. He's still battling with his past, but then he's also battling on what to do in the future.

Speaker 2: 36:17

I wanted more of that, you know, I, I was, I wanted more than incorporated, but they, they wanted to to squeeze in so much in this first season. It's like, dude, you have more seasons. Honestly, if they wanted to, since they are, they are doing some, some things and since it is a condensed season, honestly they could have gone for a season four. They don't have to, they don't have to structure it, just three seasons how the animation is. But you know they could cut out, trim some of the fat. But if they wanted to, wanted to go more of a one-to-one, they should have waited till next season to really really flesh out azula. You know, and and because you know, you know how azula is azula, you get her in that second season season and you're like, oh my gosh, like this girl was like crazier than zuko yeah we thought that zuko was crazy and and and season one.

Speaker 2: 37:09

And then this is where you get to focus on, on, on specific, like this is the bad of this, this is the bad of this season, this is the bad of that season. They incorporated the dude Like why did they bring the spirit of knowledge so quick into the show? It's like dude, like you're not supposed to bring him into the library. Like what are y'all doing so?

Speaker 1: 37:28

stuff like that. I don't have too big of an issue with the spirit of knowledge specifically, and the reason being is because it's the spirit world, anything can happen, anything can pop up. I don't necessarily need a one-for-one for every story. So if that character can be introduced in this season just briefly, which it was and then have bigger stakes, a bigger relationship to the characters because they've already seen, uh, you know the spirit of knowledge in, you know, like once they remade him in the library whenever they go there, I'm okay with that I just felt like it was an unnecessary incorporation.

Speaker 2: 38:06

It was like you kind of. He was put there really essentially for people who knew who who he was yeah, he's like.

Speaker 1: 38:14

Okay, I know who he is.

Speaker 2: 38:15

I agree with that and it's like he didn't really need to be here. You know, yeah, I do like what they did, the the spirit of the forest, like they did that.

Speaker 1: 38:24

They nailed that pretty well and um oh, you know, what I really liked was the spirit of gyatso. I did that was really powerful, like you could tell, like as soon as ang left, gyatso wasn't gonna be there when he returned.

Speaker 2: 38:40

Oh, that my heart I was just like that was a good casting. That was a good cast perfect casting for yeah, yeah he was a really good casting and I'll honestly tell you the truth, man, the casting for iroh. I I just like that actor, like yeah, no, he's, he's good. I, I love that actor. Uh, dan, was it, um, daniel day kim dude, he's a really good. Ozai dude, he's perfect, like he has, he looks he looks like him he looks like him and he it's like.

Speaker 2: 39:08

They gave him the part and he he can't. And he showed up, you know yeah, he ate it it's, it's so.

Speaker 2: 39:16

So, like I said, some of the casting, like a lot of the casting I liked, some of the, the structure and some of the rushing of the story, is what bothered me and that's what hurt it, point wise for me and that's, and I think that that's what hurt it. As far as as reviews also, I mean, you know also, and like you said, some of the casting was maybe not on point. The acting was pretty decent. Uh, we talked about katara. I think katara, the actress that did katara she did very well. I honestly think that the actor that did saka did really well. He's just off-putting for me because he looks a lot older than what he should, kind of like what you're talking about. Yeah, the acting is there. He can't.

Speaker 1: 40:02

He looks like saka, it's just I wish like he's a little younger.

Speaker 1: 40:05

Yeah, he looks a little older than he looks like saka, maybe in like five years I could see that we spoke about it last week, but we, we both really, uh or I would say that, you know, we both really appreciated the acting and, like the, the character that ian owsley brought to saka. He really feels like saka. There's a lot of, a lot of times where I was just like that's saka, you know, like his, his one-liners, especially like in the omashu episodes. I forget there's one line where he basically like he, he admits to being like stupid or something by mistake, or it's, it's, it's really funny um, and and I mean, and he's got the the ladies man saka thing going on too.

Speaker 2: 40:47

Yeah, between uh uh suki and ua. Suki was great, she did really good, yeah, that was actually a really great casting. She looked just like her.

Speaker 1: 40:56

I thought it was interesting what they did with the various avatars showing up throughout the first season. So Kuruk Avatar Kuruk doesn't ever show up in the show. As far as I remember, he shows up in brief flashbacks of the past avatars in like the first intro. I think that's what it is. But uh, the character himself doesn't speak to ang until one of the last episodes on the turtles, on the lion turtles, back in the in the animated series. I really like the change um where you know like he's trying to speak to past avatars to get you know advice and that's that's his primary um means of moving forward right now, because that's all he knows. You know like he had that interaction with kyoshi first on kyoshi island. He had that brief interaction with roku, which I didn't really like the roku interaction, for whatever reason.

Speaker 2: 41:50

I thought it was too playful right and the thing is, is that like that? That should have been like the most impactful one, considering how how important roku is to the animated series and to the fire nation and all that yeah so I wasn't a huge.

Speaker 1: 42:06

I was really excited to see roku like take out those, like you know, fire nation palace guards or whatever, not the palace guards, uh, guards of the avatar stages, yeah, the fire stages. I was, I was excited to see that happen because that's such a great scene in the show. Didn't happen, but, um, what I really liked.

Speaker 2: 42:24

It was like a like a cut yeah, but it was.

Speaker 1: 42:28

It was, and it wasn't meant to be, um roku who had killed them or, like you know, knocked them out. I was, I forget who he, who it even was, but yeah, um. So what I liked about the kuruk thing was that they actually um used quite a bit of lore, expanded upon in the books. That hasn't been, you know, explained in the cartoon series. When it comes to roku's past or, uh, karuk's past, how he, you know, was basically like he. He hunted spirits because prior avatar and yang chen basically neglected the spiritual realm, realm, so he needed to balance that out in his time period and that hurt him physically like um. That's why he died when he was, I think, 34 or something like that.

Speaker 1: 43:16

Yeah, I, I loved that aspect of it and I think they they chose a cool actor to play kurok and I'm hoping that they bring back these, these past avatar, more in the future. I hope we get more than eight episodes in the next two seasons because they actually did like green light, both the second and third season, pretty much like the day after avatar came out on netflix, like it was that I I agree honestly tell you the truth um, I'm not a fan of these eight season or eight season.

Speaker 2: 43:44

These eight episode seasons. Yeah, I'm gonna be honest with you, it limits a lot. I understand budget's a big thing, but if you want to do things right, dude, it's just eight. Eight episodes are just not enough, man I feel like if they had another two episodes they could have, they could have definitely squeezed in some some important stuff. I did enjoy the blue spirit episode. I think they did pretty well on that one.

Speaker 1: 44:10

Yeah, they did a good job with that. I was. I was really surprised with that um, because again they blended a couple episodes together, but the basic gist of like you know you, you have um ang imprisoned by uh xiao and zuko comes trying to you know, stop him with blue mask, blah, blah, blah, and then they eventually kind of realized that, you know, in another life they could be friends and that's such a good scene in the animated series and I think they nailed it in in the the live action.

Speaker 2: 44:41

I think they they did, they did. I I thought it was the name of that episode was so funny. I was like I see what y'all did there what was it uh masks spirited away yes, yes, yeah, the the names of the episodes.

Speaker 1: 44:53

Actually, let me pull it up because um, yeah, so so the warriors omashu into the dark, spirited away masks the north and oh, masks, it was mask.

Speaker 2: 45:05

I think spirit away was when he went to the spirit realm, correct?

Speaker 1: 45:09

yes, yeah, yeah, uh, let's talk about the actor who played zuko, because I think he did a really good job he did.

Speaker 2: 45:15

He I don't know if to you like I mean, there's like moments where it's a little off-putting, look wise, yeah, but then like he kind of slots into that character pretty well, like he does, he's got like that that temper tantrum thing going on, that anger. I feel like iroh's character, although uh and I'm hoping, dude, I'm really, really hoping in the second season that we get the very warm iroh. You get a little bit of that in this one. But that's what makes iroh and daring in this series is that he's this past like ruthless general and he kind of becomes like he's turning away from that and he's become this, this heartwarming, just like lovable uncle that really, honestly, to tell you the truth, teaches some amazing lessons, like I mean, for a children's show. There's lessons to be taken from it that adults need to take.

Speaker 1: 46:14

It's true. So what you're saying about the more warm Iroh We've gotten, yeah, I actually I really like the actor Like you mentioned, dude. Yeah, I love that dude, that actor is.

Speaker 2: 46:31

I love him. He does really good in his Star Wars parts, yeah, but where I got to really see him was Kim's Convenience.

Speaker 1: 46:39

I actually haven't seen it yet. Is it? Is it any good dude?

Speaker 2: 46:42

it's so funny. Oh, I gotta check you need to watch it.

Speaker 2: 46:44

It is hilarious so his character is so funny, like he plays this korean father and in canada and he has this really really funny dynamic. You know, this is where I've ended up falling like I felt like grew to like really enjoy this character. And seeing him in star, falling like I felt like grew to like really enjoy this character. And seeing him in star wars, just I was like man. And so when I saw him casted in avatar, I was just like yeah, I'm 100 on board, like put this man in the show.

Speaker 1: 47:09

So I don't care where you put him, put him in the show so, um, it took me a little while to to get into believing him to be iroh. It took a little bit just because it did, it did I agree in the animated series. He is this super jovial dude. Um, he wants tea time, he wants music. Yeah, he wants, uh, you know, game night on the boat. He, you know, he's that guy.

Speaker 2: 47:36

And they don't really ever show that dude. Remember like he like risked being outed as a as a firebender warming up his tea in a cup yeah, yeah, he's that kind of ridiculous and they didn't really show he did we take at that moment where he got super, he got really excited about a pie show time that he saw.

Speaker 1: 47:54

Yeah, dude, I loved that, yeah so stuff like that, and and let me tell you the first couple episodes I was not sold of, of avatar, not just, not just uh iroh, but like the show itself, the show yeah and I'll tell you when that changed.

Speaker 1: 48:11

It was um the scene that they added that I thought was brilliant, of iroh mourning his son at like a funeral, a public funeral. That's when Zuko basically shows, you know, that he's a good kid at heart, you know, and he he's just like I remember, you know this happened with him and this happened and it basically like it was the most heartwarming thing for Iroh to hear now I don't know if you caught it, but the music that they were playing in that scene was leaves from the vine.

Speaker 1: 48:43

Yeah, which is so? I don't think that they're going to do an adaptation of the actual leaves from the vine scene from season two, and the reason being is because the actor who originally played iroh his name was mako, you know, he's just like a legendary uh actor and voice actor. That was his last performance ever on anything like he knew.

Speaker 1: 49:05

He knew he was going to die. He came in for one more session and sang the most traumatic, terrible, beautiful song ever leaves from the vine and the, the voice actor who took over from him, you you know like he's been constantly asked throughout his entire career to like sing that song in Iroh's voice and he'll never do it because he considers that to be Mako's song and I think that's what you know they're doing here. They're not going to recreate that scene, so they included this episode or you know, that scene with the Le leaves from the vine song over it just as a trivia and I thought that was really good you know, it's funny that you actually say that, because I actually met somebody that they would work with talent at conventions.

Speaker 2: 49:52

Yeah, they were.

Speaker 2: 49:53

They were kind of like a not a talent agent, but something similar along the lines, and they would just work with, like voice talent and one of the people they worked with is that voice actor I think his name is baldwin yes, greg baldwin greg baldwin, there it is, yeah and yeah, yeah, they said that, that, that, uh, because I told him how much of a fan I am of avatar and they said that, yeah, that he won't sing that song and that he says that he pretty much tributes all the success of that character to mako. And, yeah, man, it's, it is powerful. So I did so, I did like that scene, but I was so torn because that song is to me, it's, it's powerful for that reason is because of really what it meant. It was a transition, it was the last performance for that person.

Speaker 2: 50:54

Sure, it was iroh mourning lu 10 yeah but it was also honestly mako, like just mourning his career, mourning his life mourning his career, mourning his life, dude like yeah, no, it's so, you know and, like you, hear the emotion in that, and so that when, when I found out that stuff, whenever I see that scene, it hits me even harder.

Speaker 1: 51:20

Oh for sure so because I had, I had watched that episode like three or four times without knowing that that was, you know, the last time I didn't know that story, that that was his last performance, and then when I found that out, dude, like it's, it's just, it's such a powerful scene, it's probably one of the most powerful moments in animated history it is.

Speaker 2: 51:43

And man, like you know, yeah, like I said in that moment, that so I, when, I, when I do hope that we at least get like a little bit of a moment, because you know it is he, it is a celebration of his son's birthday and he does say that. You know, if only I could have saved you.

Speaker 2: 52:02

You know like yeah, like he saved zuko, basically, or he's trying to yeah, yeah, it's just there's, just, it's so, there's there's so much like emotion that I have invested in this show. You know, I grew, I said, you know I was watching this in high school. This is something that that I I watched along with with, like, my sisters. My sisters, they love that show too and, to be honest, like we had put our our allowance money together, like we, we saved up our allowance money, we put it together and we bought that first season together because we love that show so much and that's why, like, that's why, like, I'm very like, I have a lot more of uh, I'm a bit more critical of this show because I have a lot more that I have invested in. Well, not saying I don't want to say like that, because it makes me seem like that, like, like, I'm not trying to center.

Speaker 1: 52:58

I lost all my allowance on this show, you know but.

Speaker 2: 53:05

But, like you know, I have so much, so much of an emotional investment that like Sure, yeah, I got you, I got you, you know you expect more.

Speaker 2: 53:14

You expect, I expect. Yeah, I expect more, and I think that that's what a lot of people expected. More you expect, I expect, yeah, I expect more, and I think that that's what a lot of people expected. You know, I mean, what you had, was it what you had said before? You know, avatar, it's, it's definitely a children's show and that's what you need to to go into expecting it, and I think that that's what some of the some of the the people reviewing the show are really coming into coming into it like expecting it to be an adult show, but sometimes it tries to be that. Sometimes it tries to be a child show, but then sometimes it tries to be more, it tries to be more, it tries to be mature, which, in some ways, I understand. But the thing is is that you have to understand the heart of the show. When you take away the heart of the show, we take away the heart of the show.

Speaker 1: 53:58

That's that's where, that's where you kind of lose its identity.

Speaker 2: 54:02

And sometimes there was a little bit of an identity issue because there's moments where it felt like it was meant for the fans, but then it also felt like well, who's the show meant for? And you definitely felt that a lot in those first three episodes because I 100% agree with you. But you know, I mean, obviously in the anime series the first few episodes are a little bit on the slower side, but the, the live action, does struggle kind of a little bit with identity, especially those first few episodes. Like you guys, you don't need to find the identity, the identity is there. You just have to you, you know.

Speaker 2: 54:39

You just you know the, the, the lore, the, the stuff is already there yeah you know, you guys just need to just do it, you know, put it out there and you know, and like you said, the, the actors, they do kind of find their own later in the season. I did. I do think that the siege of, or the, the battle of the, the northern tribe, they did that pretty well. Yeah, for the most part, I would say that, like you know, all together, you know I am the a second watching of it. You know there's definitely I.

Speaker 2: 55:11

You know my criticisms have lightened up a little bit yeah but I will say that, and you know, I'll watch the, the upcoming seasons, but I will say, you know, for the most part, I really wish that they didn't. They didn't rush certain characters, certain storylines. I really do feel like azula would have been a lot more impactful had they, they waited, they that's. You know, azula was a build-up, you know the way. Let me tell you the way that they ended the season with azula, uh, conquering omashu. That would have been an amazing entrance, like, oh my god, that's azula, look what she did oh, I see that would have been an amazing interest.

Speaker 1: 55:51

I see what you're saying. You know what. There are certain things that I really disagree with with the show.

Speaker 2: 55:57

What I can't believe they skipped out on was that ang never bent water once like yes, that is so ridiculous, that's crazy that is crazy that is absolutely thank you for bringing that up, because that was one of my biggest things and it like left my mind yeah, yes, that is an absolute no-no.

Speaker 1: 56:21

Like so, even in the announcement of like they, they did a tweet uh, netflix, they did a tweet of like season one, water. Season two, uh, earth. Season three, fire, and they had the logos. But like season one wasn't water, because they didn't have ang learn waterbending. How, how could you possibly? Why not like I?

Speaker 2: 56:44

what I, what I don't understand is like ang wasn't a master no by the first by the end of the first season no and it shouldn't have been expected to, but he should have had his first steps what, what?

Speaker 1: 56:55

what's fascinating to me is that, like most of the waterbending, he learns along the way in the first season, which naturally, I mean comes, comes to him naturally, because airbending and waterbending use the same or similar movements it's free-flowing it's free-flowing, so yeah uh, some of the the scenes where he actually learns are the very scenes where katara is training.

Speaker 1: 57:20

And in those scenes where katara is training in this show, ang is just there, but he's not doing anything, he's just kind of watching her. And I think in the cartoon it was that friendly competition of like, oh wow, and got it instantly. Why can't I get it?

Speaker 2: 57:35

and I think that's what boosts katara up yes, that is where katara really like fights, to strive and to improve herself. Because of how adept ang is. I mean, obviously you know he's the avatar, so he's got a bit of an edge, but still, you know he he has to. It's still something he has to learn. And yes, I dude, that is one of the things that you definitely hit in the nose. He should dude. He didn't even pick up a drop. He didn't even pick up a drop, dude I guess.

Speaker 1: 58:08

I guess he kind of did when he was like the ocean spirit, but that doesn't count um oh yeah, I mean he was in the the avatar. Yeah.

Speaker 2: 58:17

But yes, yes, no, no, yeah, they should have had some sort of waterbending, you know. And that's where I'm saying, like dude, eight episodes is just not enough.

Speaker 1: 58:30

Yeah, it's like they rushed certain stories but they didn't even touch other stories Like that. Like you know, the whole purpose of the first season of the show, um, anyway, I'm, I'm, I'm getting too heated up. I want to talk about something that I actually did. Like you know, before we've been over, we've we've been recording for a little over an hour, so I want to talk about one thing that I think was an actual positive change to the, the series. I like what they did with um zuko, why he originally got, uh, you know, burned by his father because he was protecting the, the 41st platoon or whatever, uh, that, that boat, those soldiers who were originally going to be sacrificed for the war front, for, you know, for the war engine, and I like that he stood up for them and basically he was saddled with them as punishment, you know, to go in search of the Avatar.

Speaker 1: 59:22

I thought that was a super solid change and when it finally coalesced into the soldiers realizing who Zuko really is, I thought that was powerful.

Speaker 2: 59:33

Right, and they all really kind of hounded him too.

Speaker 1: 59:36

Yeah, well, I mean he was hounding them. I understand their vitriol for him, you know they all like really kind of hounded him too, yeah, well, I mean he was hunting them. I I don't, I don't. I understand their vitriol for him, you know.

Speaker 2: 59:42

But right, right, right. Yeah, he he kind of he he did have a knack for throwing tantrums. I mean, that's how, that's how he was in the show and oh dude, something. One of the inclusions that I really liked was that it's very, very minor, but it is a reoccurring thing throughout the series. But that the I know what you're going to say. What.

Speaker 1: 1:00:08

Look, you're either going to say something about Persona 3 or you're going to say the my Cabbage Guy.

Speaker 2: 1:00:14

No, no, I was going to talk something about Appa.

Speaker 1: 1:00:20

Okay, well, I'm happy that they brought my cabbage guy back. No, I'm just kidding, that's what I was going to say.

Speaker 2: 1:00:26

Yeah, yeah, the voice actor for the cabbage guy.

Speaker 1: 1:00:30

I mean, I like that, I thought that was really cool. No, it was cool.

Speaker 2: 1:00:32

Yeah, I like that, I like that, and he actually looked like his character too.

Speaker 1: 1:00:35

Which is weird.

Speaker 2: 1:00:40

Yeah, looked like his character too, so that was like pretty. Yeah, that was pretty interesting, but I I will say that I wasn't a fan. I know it's a little bit on the tough side. I wasn't a fan of the cgi for oppa same and for momo it was a little too realistic video game.

Speaker 1: 1:00:56

Yeah, it was, it was, it was weird and they needed to call up Square Enix.

Speaker 2: 1:01:01

Man, they would have had that Dude. Square Enix is just too good with the CG, oh man it's nuts.

Speaker 1: 1:01:08

What annoys me is that they clearly spent too much money trying to animate Appa and Momo in the first two episodes, because they barely show up throughout the rest of the season.

Speaker 2: 1:01:20

That's another thing that bothers me is because, I mean, momo has his moments, but Appa is actually a very important character for the show. Let me tell you they better, better, not botch Appa's arc.

Speaker 1: 1:01:39

Oh, I don't think they will. I don't think they will.

Speaker 2: 1:01:41

Because it was such a huge emotional thing and a driving. It was actually a very important moment for Aang also.

Speaker 1: 1:01:51

So one thing I want to say before we close out is pretty much, we have to remember that the first season of avatar, the last airbender, the animated series, is the weakest of the three by a long shot. It is, it's, the weakest by a long shot but it's still, it's still better, it's still better.

Speaker 1: 1:02:08

I'm, I'm just saying they have they have more meat to work with moving forward, and I hope that they do. You know, I hope that they take the criticisms, because there's a lot of them all over the place. I hope they take the criticisms to heart. Make something better, make it look better. Stop using, stop relying too heavily on the volume. You know, like the, the soundstage that the mandalorian uses, they use the, a version of the volume, and you can kind of tell that they're all just basically in a circular room for most scenes.

Speaker 2: 1:02:38

You know, and that really bothers me I need to see some blue fire from azula man like come on, dude she.

Speaker 1: 1:02:44

She almost got there briefly she used lightning bending. That was lightning bending okay, okay, all right, all right, that's fair. I will say I don't think azula always used blue fire like, so I'm okay with her working up to it. Obviously that's what they're trying to do. Did she ever use it? I mean maybe momentarily.

Speaker 2: 1:03:05

But Blue Fire was her. Thing.

Speaker 1: 1:03:08

Yes, but what I'm saying is when she's younger, obviously, she wasn't as powerful of a vendor as she was when she is in the animated series, so hopefully, Well, I mean this is her, her in this series is is in the animated series.

Speaker 2: 1:03:19

So hopefully, I mean this is her Like her in this series, is her in the animated series?

Speaker 1: 1:03:24

Yes and no, because we technically didn't see Azula Show up until the second season. So maybe Once we see her in the second season She'll be powerful enough to use the blue flame.

Speaker 2: 1:03:36

I just, I just feel like, I just feel like, I just feel like we should know better.

Speaker 1: 1:03:41

Anthony is let down. I'm looking at Anthony's hope drain from his eyes. Anthony, one out of ten oh my god. Come on, you gotta do it. A generous score and a critical score? Hit me with it. You said a generous score. What would be your generous score and a critical score? Hit me with it.

Speaker 2: 1:04:00

You said a generous score.

Speaker 1: 1:04:02

What would be your generous score?

Speaker 2: 1:04:05

Oh my gosh. I would say, oh my Dude, this is tough. My generous is like barely, barely scraping at a seven. Okay, that's fair.

Speaker 1: 1:04:17

What about your critical?

Speaker 2: 1:04:22

scraping at a seven. Okay, that's fair. What about your critical?

Speaker 1: 1:04:24

I would say that I would say like for me dude, it's like a six, okay, so let's, let's call it a low six for you, like overall, yeah, it's a low six for me.

Speaker 2: 1:04:31

okay, that's fine, critically wise, the you know the the generous is like. When it's like playing like it's plucking on my heartstrings, yeah. But then when it's really upsetting me, I'm like, yeah, dude, it's a six. But then I'm like, oh, okay, it's not that bad, but it's like a roller coaster of highs and lows.

Speaker 1: 1:04:50

Here's the thing. It's really not that bad. It's not that bad. It makes some pretty great mistakes, as like an avatar show goes, but it's not.

Speaker 2: 1:05:01

You know, avatar, the last airbender movie, you know it's not well if I'm gonna grade the avatar the last airbender movie dude, that's like a two exactly.

Speaker 1: 1:05:10

It's not that bad. So and and we're, we're rating it at a six, like a rough, you know, a rough six, I would actually say a rough six, and that's what I'm saying like, like it's, it's not that bad, but it's also not great yeah.

Speaker 1: 1:05:26

so so where I'm sitting right now is, um, it has some pretty low, lows, but they're not so low that I would feel, you know, like I'm never gonna watch the show again because the highs are pretty exceptional for me. You know, like, when the show peaks in terms of, like you know, either plucking up my heartstrings or just getting the spirit of the avatar right, it's pretty, it's pretty, uh, exceptional. So for me I would go a high six, low seven. That's that's where I'm sitting right now.

Speaker 2: 1:06:03

So, so, so that's your generous, or your critical, or your generous and critical.

Speaker 1: 1:06:08

That's my generous and critical when I, when I'm talking honestly, like when I'm being critical, I'm more leaning towards high fives. You know, like it. There were really.

Speaker 2: 1:06:18

There were like poor things okay, so yeah, so you and I are actually very like.

Speaker 1: 1:06:22

Close yeah, I think I'm. I'm giving it more of the benefit of the doubt, though, because I'm hoping that this will pick up in the future. And one last question I got for you before we head out what what made one piece like work in live action so much better than this? Because it's clear that everyone involved in this show loves the source material. Everyone did their homework. You know, all the actors did their homework. They tried to do the best job that they could. Um, the writers obviously knew what they were doing.

Speaker 2: 1:06:54

I guess somewhat, and yeah, I was gonna, yeah, I was gonna say that that's. That's a rough one as far as, like writers, like they kind of knew what they were doing, but then they like sometimes they try to mess with the formula too much and and then ang doesn't you know, then they would then they would, uh, professor, plutonium it and, um, you know it would either explode into chaos or explode to something good.

Speaker 2: 1:07:18

But, um, well, I mean, the biggest thing with, with with one piece, is that I think largely it was obviously it was backed by Oda. Yeah, that was, that was one of the biggest things. But for the most part nothing was out of place, nothing was rushed. I mean it wasn't perfect but it, but I mean the thing is, is that like, one piece isn't perfect? You know that that's, you know it's, it's an amazing, it's an amazing story, it's an amazing show and it dude like I, I love I from what I've seen in one piece, I love one piece.

Speaker 2: 1:07:58

But you know, yeah, they they cut out some stuff. Maybe if they had a couple, maybe if they had like another episode, two to work episode or two to work with, it could have been a maybe a little bit better, but I will say that they didn't rush characters, characters that existed within that arc belonged in that arc, was in that arc. You know it's not like, you know, as putting putting azula into the first season of the avatar was like them putting crocodile and the the east blue saga okay, I see what you're saying, I got you.

Speaker 1: 1:08:34

so you think that pacing in the avatar or the uh, the One Piece series was just so much better because they kind of stuck to the correct story beats even though they changed a few things here or there?

Speaker 2: 1:08:48

I mean dude, like you, you've seen some of the anime, you've read some of the manga. I mean, for the most part am I wrong.

Speaker 1: 1:08:53

No, yeah, I actually just finished. I think it was One Piece, volume 9. I finally got it in the mail, the one that was eluding you, dude. So it actually I'll tell you. This is really embarrassing. So we moved into this apartment and, like we never got the key to the mailbox. So, but we never. We didn't think that we needed it because our mail was still still technically going to another place. So it turns out they slipped the volume into, like the the one piece volume into the mailbox. So when we finally opened up the mailbox it was in there like all by itself dude, that is that that is eluding you like low-key in your in your mail.

Speaker 1: 1:09:36

That's crazy yeah so I I read volume nine, the, the one that eluded me, and it ends with uh nami being betrayed by what's his name arlong arlong. Yeah, he by arlong's pirates, um, and you know, she asks luffy for help and that's basically how that volume ends.

Speaker 2: 1:09:56

So I'm oh yeah, yeah, that that was actually like a really like strong moment in the anime that they that they pretty conveyed, they conveyed pretty well from the manga and and they did that live action moment and the live action too.

Speaker 1: 1:10:12

That's a fantastic scene absolutely.

Speaker 2: 1:10:14

But like I mean, I mean, am I wrong? Like that, the pacing was pretty much like on beat, like it was, it was pretty much a one-to-one, that there were some liberties that were taken, but it was probably just oh, I mean obviously oda maybe trying to trim fat for the sake of it being a live action and that he had less episodes. So you know, I mean, there was obviously, you know, netflix writers like they're, they're pretty much probably doing the bulk of the work, but they probably, but I'm pretty sure that they bounced a lot of those ideas with oda to get the thumbs up and you know, it ended up working yeah and you know, I'm not too sure about what the actual, you know, the creators of avatar, the last airbender, wanted to change.

Speaker 1: 1:11:06

You know if, if, maybe it would have been good if they even wanted to change anything.

Speaker 2: 1:11:10

That that's right, right, right that's the rumor, right, but honestly, to tell you the truth, at the end of the day they they created this world.

Speaker 1: 1:11:18

Yeah, they know it inside out.

Speaker 2: 1:11:21

They know it inside out. They did their research and it all worked well. They had the pacing down pretty well, and so I feel like them not being there. I personally feel like that's what hurt the season, feel like that that's what hurt this year. You know that's what hurt the season. You know, maybe that maybe if they did want to make changes, it's because what you said, I mean and and it's not a lie the first season is the weakest, but it's tough, because the first season of anything is always going to have the lull of finding its footing.

Speaker 1: 1:11:55

Yeah, you know and and you gotta you gotta understand the characters.

Speaker 2: 1:11:57

You have to understand their shtick. You don't, and you gotta, you gotta understand the characters. You have to understand their shtick.

Speaker 2: 1:12:01

You don't know, you don't exactly understand who they are, and sometimes that can be slow yeah, you know yeah and that's what the first like handful episodes are very slow because you don't know who this Aang character is, who's the avatar, why they, why does this person matter, why do they need to bring balance to this world? You know so a lot of that stuff we knew coming into the, into the show, because we're fans of the, the animated series. So I just feel like yeah, like maybe pacing was not the greatest thing for the live action but or the live action avatar, but it was for One Piece.

Speaker 1: 1:12:38

Well said, Anthony. One final question what are we covering next week?

Speaker 2: 1:12:44

We are going to be covering Suzume, another Makoto Shinkai gem. You know, dude, ever since we covered your name, I absolutely became a big fan of Makoto Shinkai. We should definitely cover weathering with you. I really like that one also. Uh, suzume yeah, dude, I went to the theaters to see that one because, like I was like dude. I gotta see this, I know yeah, same here, same here.

Speaker 1: 1:13:12

We'll talk about it more next week, guys. Thank you so much for listening to us here for our 70-something. It's actually 74th, I checked 74th episode of Project Geekology. You guys are the best. If you want to check us out on our socials, you can find all that information and more in our show notes. And go over to YouTube. Go to Geek Critique and watch that MonsterVerse timeline, because it'll be probably available by the time this is out. Thanks, guys, adios.

Speaker 2: 1:13:40

Yes, check in the show notes for that. We'll have it linked in here and I hope you all have a great day. Thank you for listening to the only podcast that could bring balance to all the other podcasts and the Force Bye, bye.