The fanbase and subsequent mediocre projects in this universe really deluded me into thinking that the original run wasn't one of the best animated shows of all time.

If other fantasy shows, be they animated or not, were even anywhere near the quality of the original three seasons, we would be in such an amazing space.

>>149479475 (OP)
never let a bad sequel sour you to an amazing original. Avatar was a one-off, something that could never have happened before, and will never happen again. EVEN IN THE 2000s it already couldn't be everything it wanted to be. but it pushed through, and it bullshat an almost tolerable pacifist ending in a pretty impressively creative way.

>>149480167
It's just so sad that it couldn't be made today. Even the people who made it couldn't make it today.

>>149480167
>>149480452
It could only be made when tv networks were still fiercely competing for viewership so they had to make atleast a few quality shows, after they got complacent they only began pushing slop

>>149480616
I would do ungodly things for a Game of Thrones adaptation in the style of ATLA with stellar writing and music.

I like ATLA but seasons 1 and 3 weren't nearly as good as season 2

>>149480739
3 was closer to 2 for me than other people may rank it. Miles above most stuff coming out today. 1 is the clear odd one out, but I still love it.

>>149480739
season 3 was my favorite, and I would record it on DVR any time it appeared until my family insisted that I stop

>>149480768
>and I would record it on DVR any time it appeared until my family insisted that I stop
same here but they never told me to stop. I must have watched The Avatar and the Firelord an annoying amount of times.

>>149480739
Season 1 being the way it is was understandable given barely anyone in the western animation industry had experience with shows like this.
Season 3's main fault was not being divided into 2 seasons.

>>149479475 (OP)
I'll never get over Aang being handed the avatar state because of a conveniently shaped rock, absolute dumbest thing in the entire show that undermined his entire struggle.

Things like that will always bug me, for example that they were so weird about sustaining the Katara Aang tension until the very last scene of the show really hold the thing back for me, even if I still like it a lot.

>>149483390
It's the dumbest thing thematically but I think the dumbest thing overall is the end of the eclipse where they go "Oops the invasion didn't work let's all surrender so they take us alive" and then the genocidal emperor doesn't execute the people who just tried to assassinate him.

>>149483390
i hate how season 2 was like, you've got to choose between katara and saving the world, but then in the finale it's like "just kidding!"

as a kid i was kinda just like whatever he got the girl, but now that i'm older I wish he didn't. His crush on katara never stopped feeling childish throughout the entire duration of the show. the kind of naive romantic tunnel vision aang has is one of the more juvenile aspects of the show. like if katara didn't want him, he'd an hero or something. and he's rewarded for it. it'd be more interesting if he had to reckon with his first crush not being the one, and having to grow as a person from that.

and eventually spread his seed like the trees and wind. seriously why didn't he do this in korra. you're the last airbender dumbass. He's lucky korra portal BS bailed him out

>>149483881
As a kid I already didn't like the romance
As an adult who got some experience and doesn't find kissing gay, I realize I was more right than I knew

>>149479475 (OP)
Keep in mind its canon that a lesbian ruined the world in apocalyptic level and has the next avatar clean up her mess

>>149484166
Sozin was trying to save the world when he banned gay marriage

>>149479475 (OP)
It had kino worldbuilding and animation but most characters weren’t that great. Even when they tried giving them depth it was mainly shallow. Terrible romance, unremarkable side characters, boring villains and a deus ex machina ending. It was a good show but never a masterpiece.

>>149483881
They had Aang simping for her as the basis for a solid number of episodes because it's a simple, relatable struggle that the kid demographic can relate to. They basically had to have them end up together after investing so much time into it, but all the meaningful development of the relationship happened by the end of S2 so they really should have gotten together earlier, certainly no later than Day of Black Sun.

I can't help but think that getting Callum and Rayla together part way through Dragon Prince was Ehasz trying to tell us that he tried to argue to do the same thing with Aang and Katara but was vetoed because Bryke was worried it would upset the dynamic too much. Though considering how generally shit Aang and Katara are as a couple in the comics, not to mention Korra and Mako, it might have been for the best.

>>149484259
The worldbuilding is the best part of the show by far, tying supernatural powers to real martial arts disciplines with centuries of tradition and communicating that clearly was ingenious. I wouldn't call the rest of the show bad but it really was just Star Wars assembled in a slightly different order with more overt Asian influences.

>>149484259
>Terrible romance,
yes
>unremarkable side characters, boring villains
I disagree

Having watched ATLA as a kid without social media access and growing up to read these threads is a surreal experience because I disagree with 50% of all the shit said here (95% if it's about the romance).

>>149479475 (OP)
Avatar was mid. Season 3 especially was terrible.

>>149484557
>disagree with 50% of all shit said here
This is the correct relationship you should have with /co/, please continue

>>149484364
The worldbuilding is amazing, and you showed a good example of it. A lot of people I've seen who dismiss it don't even know basic info like that,
Knowing the cultural inspirations gives you tons of potential ideas as much as knowing WWII influenced Star Wars and other media.
Maybe I'm not as pessimistic as most people are about the future of the series, because I'm satisfied with my own fantasies about the series at this point.

>>149484591
I'd say the puppet master, Sokka's Master, and the Wester Air Temple are good episodes

>>149484364
>a slightly different order

No, it's literally the exact same order.

Book 1: Water is clearly A New Hope. "The Siege of the North" is the attack on the Death Star at the end of that movie.

Book 2: Earth is clearly The Empire Strikes Back. It's got a downer ending like Empire does. Ba Sing Se is basically Bespin.

Book 3: Fire is clearly The Return Of The Jedi. It's even got the introduction of the Evil Emperor, who's got the same relation to Azula that Palpatine has to Vader. Having him voiced by Mark Hamill is a very clever in-joke along these lines. And just like ROTJ, Book 3 is a mixed bag as far as quality goes.

>>149484557
I cherished the shit I watched with no internet access, I'm really glad /co/ or whatever other shit fed my dumb bullshit and false info about things.
I still didn't like the romance as a kid.

>>149484619
I've already made Korra comparisons to the sequels in the past, even

>>149479475 (OP)
from the outside looking in what's supposed to draw me into the series other than people saying it's good. the character designs look retarded, the main character is some gay looking monk with an arrow on his head and there's a whole clan of mfs with the same bland outfit

>>149484648
No Korra is the prequels. You can tell because it introduces pro-bending, a shitty sports subplot, just like the prequels introduced podracing, a shitty sports subplot.

>>149484652
>some gay looking monk
And yet he unironically got more pitches than you'd ever get

Anyway, my favorite thing about Legend Of Korra is that it gave us definitive proof that Mike self-inserts as Aang. SO MUCH about ATLA and Korra makes sense when you realize this. A lot of decisions both shows make click into place upon acquiring this knowledge.

Like, it explains the Katara wank in ATLA perfectly. Of course she gets wanked off too much, she's Mike's waifu.

>>149484557
>>149484626
Funny thing: the fandom back then suffered a meltdown because of book 3. The consensus was that it sucked and the ending was underwhelming. I was 18 yo back then.

>>149484723
On the other hand, it led to the creation of Wolfbatman, and that was some of the most fun I've ever had on 4chan. For weeks this board just hummed with creative energy. It was amazing.

>>149480720
>I won't kill you Joffrey...but I have taken away your crossbow

>>149483881
Aang x Azula is the ship that should have been. It would have not only solved all the problems around the shipping wars, but also give Azula the redemption she deserved. How this slipped past everyone on the writing staff is wild to me, but idk maybe they really did have tunnel vision on Katara and Aang getting together.

>>149484852
femdomfag

>>149484852
At the very least, it wouldn't have hurt to have them talk to each other, would it? Aang is the ultimate "I can fix him/her" character, but Azula would be, by far, his biggest challenge. It's thus a natural thing to want to see them interact in a long and meaningful way. Just to see what would happen.

>>149484888
Eh it's more mean girls that have a soft spot for one guy. Plus who else could honestly even handle her? It even makes sense that she'd see Aang as the only guy "worthy" of her. He's a literal god.

>>149480167
>and it bullshat an almost tolerable pacifist ending in a pretty impressively creative way.
Almost is doing a lot of heavy lifting there... the ending was dogshit and the start of where the IP went downhill, which coincides with the faggot creators being allowed to pretend to be writers after being tard wrangled up to that point.

>>149484723
It's surreal. I thought it was fine for what it was and I hold this opinion to this day, specially considering it's a Nick show.
One lesson I take from this fandom is that shippers are the one kind of fan you should absolutely never listen to. Absolute awful taste for everything, and so loud they might fool you into thinking their opinions are widespread.

>>149484723
I am aware. I wasn't on /co/ for it, but I started using this place close enough for people to be nostalgic about it, especially with Korra and Dark Knight Rises coming out around the same time making people reminisce about when /co/ was just book 3 and Dark Knight for weeks.
2008 felt so far away from 2012.
A friend of mine watched AtLA for the first time and he thought book 3 was the best season, I've heard /co/ repeat it was bad for so long that I got kinda shocked.

>>149485196
If you go far away from the usual nerd spaces, you can even find people who prefer modern Simpsons seasons over the classic ones.

It's easy to forget this place is just a bubble.

>>149485098
I dont give a fuck about shipping, this series suffers from heavy nostalgia bias as so much of season 3 outright sucks. Part of why Avatar has a bad rep among co fandoms is because you can't point out the many pitfalls without someone immediately coping with "muh shipper delusion".

>>149485238
explain to me why is it so bad

>>149485238
>Remembers "Daydreams and Nightmares"
whoever thought that episode outside of the zuko parts needs to never write for tv again

>>149484852
impregnate azula

>>149485236
I talked to some old gen x'er who reads and trades a bunch of comics and he talked about how liked Miles Morales when his stories started coming out
/co/ absolutely is a bubble and out of touch, and it's tenfold when it comes to stuff popular among kids

>>149484603
kino world building. i like the references to different cultures, like the influence of chinese and japanese culture and history in the fire nation. zuko's entire journey is about honor.
another cool thing is how they implement bending in their daily lives like firebenders heat their tea. it's cool how the cities work- like the ba sing se mine carts and the northern water tribe's gates.
don't know if everything i said is right tho.

>>149485271
>the first half is loaded with so much bloat and wasted time with the gang's adventure of the week format in what is supposed to be a desperate situation after the fall of ba sing se. Not even the good parts of those episodes with zuko were enough to carry it.
>There is no way we needed more than one episode to know that not everyone in the fire nation is bad. the headband was more than enough.
>the episode with toph scamming people was a pointless retread of toph and katara's issues in the chase
>the puppetmaster and the effects of bloodbending did irreparable damage to the balance of waterbending going forward, creating too many logical inconsistencies
>the entirety of the plan for the day of blacksun was pants on head, and further illustrates how dumb throwing in a pacifist dilemma at the last minute was. Seriously, what was the plan if they had gotten to ozai in time?
>Azula's descent is rushed to hell and clearly needed more time. she crumble's way too quickly at the first sign of instability after the boiling rock, and it just feels like it was done as way to not have her completely beaten at her best in the end.

I'd go on further, but the finale alone has been ripped apart to death for years. Ozai really was a literal retard

>>149485503
I understand it's a kid show but they really should have consulted anyone who understands wartime strategy. so much of the plan for the eclipse seems smart but works right back around to being stupid. Did they not even bother to send in scouts prior to the attack?

>>149485599
At the most they had solid intel on the gates of azulon, hence the subs. But past that, it felt like they were going in mostly blind. The fact that Aang had no idea where to find Ozai within the palace says a lot. given how time sensitive whatever the plan was, how could the gang not have a layout of the place

>>149480739
My exact feelings.
i'm still so upset at season 3, it started fine but dropped the ball hard at episode 3 and never recovered, had it's moments though.

>>149479475 (OP)
This show should’ve spawned a franchise, video games, constant worldbuilding and exploration of the power system. How did this show fail to launch a franchise when it truly had everything to be a cultural powerhouse? How is avatar so barren?

>>149483689
that's a great point and something i don't see people talk about enough.
Didn't zuko hired combustion man to kill them?

>>149485919
The creators, that's how

>>149485999
what's up with them

>>149485999
Wdym

>>149484723
>Funny thing: the fandom back then suffered a meltdown because of book 3. >The consensus was that it sucked and the ending was underwhelming. I was 18 yo back then.
The internet used to allow multiple concurrent opinions on a myriad of different sites.

>>149484723
Total fucking revisionism.
I was on /co/ for the ATLA finale and the Dark Knight premiere and everyone just went foam wild.

>>149486021
>>149486024
They were the ones that pushed for the shamalan movie, the denied their involvement when it got panned despite having producer credits on that slop
They also were the main writers for korra and supervised the comics... i hope i shouldn't have to explain the damage those two things did

>>149485919
Blame M.Night.Shymalam and whatever nepo hire who promised Nicola Peltz a Hollywood shot

>>149486081
i heard a different story. Shamalan aproach them because he thought it would be a huge oportunity to boost his carreer after he watched the show with his kids. Execs agreed because he was still a big name at the time.

Also, you just can't compress a season of TV into a movie without some major restructuring

>>149486100
the entire reason we didn't get a season 4 besides Bryke being deadset on 3 seasons was because they wanted the hollywood money. Shamalan could have approached them to do it, but it was on the table with or without him

>>149484723
You're almost 40, get the fuck off 4chan

>>149486100
>>149486150
see picrel

>>149486150
would do they have been able to do another season tho? what would it be about

youtube.com/watch?v=vdw6YmO8q_k

>>149486174
it would essentially be season 3 across to seasons to flesh things out. a lot the stuff was very condensed in the last season because plots were cut

>>149486190
*across two seasons

Aaron stans get real quiet when you bring up the dragon prince

>>149486190
I mean, day of black sun was obviously scripted as a season finale

>>149486225
Pretty much. Imagine if we got a full season of Zuko on the gang

>>149486165
A DeviantArt comment from a literal who, claiming second hand knowledge?

I'm pretty impressed

>>149486244
You weren't around for how much was leaked here on co by the most unexpected sources. around the same time this was posted, the IP bible leaked confirming some of this literal who's claims.
Hell, the same thing happened here with the new sequel slop avatar show 6 months ago.

>>149486311
then why not post the leaked information instead.

>>149486326
Because this is common knowledge for anyone that's not a newfag. Aaron himself confirmed a season 4 was pitched/talked about, but bryke shot it down.
Check the archives

Avatar and Ben 10 are similar
>Start out kino but ruined by their sequels
>Now only used for cashgrabs

>>149484591
>Last Jedi reaction gif
Opinion discarded

>>149486311
>the same thing happened here with the new sequel slop avatar show 6 months ago.
>literal storyboards for a show still in pre-production
>nick then confirms avatar seven haven's is a thing a week later
Nick's animation pipeline is notoriously exposed. You dont see this shit happening so routinely with any other of their contemporaries

>>149486372
Ben 10 was mediocre

>>149479475 (OP)
>the original run wasn't one of the best animated shows

You wasn't there in that moment, don't you?

>>149480167
>>149480452

Agree with that;And yes, there were many more people who wanted more content, especially what wasn't 'resolved' in the series at that time (The origin of the Avatar, the whereabouts of Ursa, Iroh's journey in the spirit world, etc.) as well as the acquisition of the Artbook and the still non-existent soundtrack of the first series...

I would even dare to say that the series should have remained a 'unique work'; That's to say, something similar to Over The Garden Wall, which hasn't made any more sequels/spin-offs or similar media, with only the comics being official transmedia material without making a dent in the main work.

>>149484619
What I meant is that the characters were slightly combined or seperated as needed. For example Luke's role in the story is split between Aang and Zuko in that Ozai is basically Palpatine to Aang and Vader to Zuko, but they needed Zuko to fight someone else in the finale so they made Azula to play the Vader role in a different context. Iroh is a combination of Obi Wan and Yoda etc

Dave Filoni drew this for the team when he left to do Clone Wars It's too bad he wasn't around for the whole run his episodes are probably the best directed in the whole series and I just don't care about anything he's shoved into Star Wars since. The style of the show got more generic with Joaquim Dos Santos and his DC background.

>>149486530
Good news!
Soundtrack for Book 1 got released!
youtube.com/watch?v=zMrMDvW5MaM&list=OLAK5uy_naRk9G4jxozDgtfTD5LAlE_dyzMayrvNA&index=1&pp=8AUB

Bad news
The other books will be released in tandem with the Netflix show seasons

>>149486075
I'm envious of time when people could just get hyped and insane over things and enjoy them
Oh wait people still do that, just not on here

>>149485919
They had a plan with AtLA along with other creative people with pitching things and giving feedback along the way
They had no idea with Korra after Nick kept asking for more episodes and then more seasons and Bryke were doing shit their own way.

>>149486778
hype is a young man's game.

>>149486632
Roku is also kinda of an Obi Wan to Aang
Also I never knew that piece of art came from anyone who actually did officially work on both series

>>149486859
4chan is still filled with manchildren and underageb& as much as then, they just think hating everything is cool and smart

>>149486681
:D:

>>149479475 (OP)
The new fans have such cringe takes on the original series though. They're literally Harry Potter refugees.

>>149479475 (OP)
>wasn't one of the best animated shows of all time.
Eh, idk plenty of cell animated shows look better. Digital coloring, even good one like in atla, can't really create the same stmosphere as traditional coloring.

>>149479475 (OP)
>If other fantasy shows, be they animated or not, were even anywhere near the quality of the original three seasons
You already have plenty of good old fantasy shows. Watch more stuff, faggot.

>>149486459
Shut up faggot

>>149485503
They really should’ve saved Bloodbending for LOK, it barely gets used after Puppetmaster

>>149480739
You like ATLA but seasons 1 and 3 weren't nearly as good as season 2

>>149486892
>they just think hating everything is cool and smart
But it does?>>149486892

Never ever

>>149479475 (OP)
>wasn't one of the best animated shows of all time.
I always thought that atla was a little overrated. When it comes to western cartoons I always preferred batman the animated series and golden age simpsons to it and of course there are a bunch of anime that are better than avatar. It's still a good show don't get me wrong but most Atla fans never watch animation outside of their darling.

>>149486160
kek

>>149484275
They never should have gone together in the first place. They're only together because Aang wants Katara and Aang gets whatever he wants. Their chemistry is dogshit as a romantic option to the point where when they try to hit romantic beats like in the cave of the two lovers and in the headband episode, it feels forced as fuck.

>>149484591
season 3 was based

>>149484652
then don't watch it
>>149484681
because he's one of the creator's self insert

>>149484852
aang and azula would be nice, but I'd prefer aang and toph.

aang and pretty much anyone but katara would have been better than what we got.

>>149487477
>old fantasy shows
Have you considered that I already have.

>>149487386
>They're literally Harry Potter refugees.
I don't know what about HP and Avatar attracts these kinds of fans, but I would really like to know how to avoid it happening to me if I ever write something people care about.

How do I keep the Tumblr away?

>>149490665
Then you are dumb if you think atla is the best fantasy show ever.

>>149490675
You can't

>>149490696
Please direct me to these other shows

>>149491369
Twin Peaks, classic ear of Doctor Who(it's sci-fi + fantasy), Carnivale. Hell even something life buffy has character development on par or better than atla.

>>149491369
Nta but can I name anime as well?