By: Julia Yang

I had just recently watched season 1 of the new live action ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ (ATLA), and I have some things to say about it.

Some things were odd, and some things were really good. For reference, I had already watched the original ATLA a long time ago, and it’s outstanding. When I heard that it was going to get a live action, I was ecstatic; it was one of the most exciting things I was waiting for. When I watched the live action, I was a little dissatisfied with some changes they made, but at the same time, it was a fun experience. I’m here to tell you my thoughts.

One of the larger things I’m confused about is why they decided to make all of the past avatars extremely hard on Aang about having friends, especially Aang’s best childhood friend Bumi.

In the cartoon when Aang and Bumi meet up after 100 years, Bumi is dangerous, fun, and playful. In the live action, he’s just dangerous, cocky, and apathetic. I heavily disliked this change— because Bumi was a fun-loving soul and was changed to having Aang choose between killing him or himself.

Back to the past avatar reincarnations: they’re so mean and hard on Aang. I get the past avatars were working alone and that’s all they know to do, but that’s not at all what happened in the cartoon. In fact, if I remember correctly, Aang didn’t even meet all of the past avatars.

I don’t know, I just find it weird how Bumi and all of the avatars are basically saying “Abandon your friends, or allow the world to be destroyed.”

One thing I love is the fact that they casted actual children/teenagers that aligned with the cartoon characters’ ages. This is something that people tend to complain about when they’re talking about their issues with the live action ATLA, but I find it super fitting. Visually and verbally seeing that Aang’s actor was actually 12 when they were filming is a really nice touch.

Another maybe smaller thing I didn’t really like, is that the Face Stealer (Koh) doesn’t steal peoples’ faces when they show emotion.
That’s a really weird change?? That’s like Koh’s whole schtick. When he sees you make an emotion, he takes your face, otherwise he can’t (emotions is what allows him to take a face).

Alternatively, in the live action, he makes you hallucinate then takes you for later? What does he do with them? Why doesn’t he just take their faces now? Does he have a cooldown or something? Is he picky?

One of the things I loved the most about the live action was Zuko’s actor: Dallas Liu. Throughout the live action ATLA, Dallas was one of the few people that really delivered lines. He showed body language, he said lines with much emotion, and his acting overall was really good. Another reason why I like him is because of the sass he puts into his character.

Some people may deny this, but Zuko was a real baby in the first season of the original ATLA: yelling at Uncle Iroh about the avatar, constantly talking about his honor, always in a bad mood, wanting to chase the avatar no matter the circumstances— it’s pretty crazy, and Dallas delivers it flawlessly.

I’m not trying to put down any of the other actors, but you can’t deny that Dallas stands out.

I believe the live action ATLA will be one of the most grand adaptations of an animated series, but as of right now, there is progress to be made. I’m okay with the current season as they were most likely figuring out how they want to plan out the plot, so I don’t find that there’s anything truly wrong with the live action.

With my personal experience with the live action and original show, I’d rate the live action a solid 8/10. Obviously, you won’t feel the same about the live action ATLA as I do; to me, there are slight imperfections, but most can be ignored.

I highly recommend watching both versions for the full experience, and because they’re both incredible in their own ways.

You can watch both on Netflix.