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A Retrospect . . .

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Post  Swiss Cheese Fri Jun 08, 2018 10:57 pm

Uh, hello. For like the four of you still here, I'm the rando that said they were gonna RP, but life got in the way and I forgot to actually make a profile post and join one (sorry btw). I was taking a stroll down memory lane, and was going over my old posts from AB.net when it was a thing and some old forums I used to post on as a young teen. Now I'm in my twenties, and we've gotten all the Avatar we're gonna get, save for M Night's imaginations of it, but let's not get into that.

I remember joining ABnet when Airbender first dropped, and it had me HOOKED. The aesthetic, the world building, the characters. Even now as a full adult, that show can still command my attention. I just wanted to know: What about Avatar makes you like it so much? And where are you in life at the moment? It's been 3+ years since I joined this forum, and almost more than one since I've been truly active. Let's all catch up and shoot the ****. Just like old times.
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Post  Loyal Subject Sat Jun 09, 2018 9:04 pm

I really think the thing about Avatar is the story and characters. While I won't say ATLA had the best ending, in retrospect, it has ONE of the best endings to a series thus far. The creators had a clear beginning, middle, and end. The characters were likeable and unique. If you compare it to shows nowadays that had a lot of promise, ATLA is the only one that really sticks to my mind as following through and giving us a satisfying ending. Walking Dead, GOT, Lost, Supernatural, there's so many shows that have come and gone since ATLA that were/are train wrecks by the end of the show. But Avatar has stood the test of time for me. And, oddly enough, I've been thinking about it a lot since the latest Star Wars craze.

The only other show that I can think of that has really stood with me and didn't disappoint me by the end of it is Twin Peaks where, for once, the revival was weird as hell but I felt satisfied by the final episodes. In fact, the final episodes were my favorite part of the new series. Also Gravity Falls but again, I feel that's because the creator knew the major plot points and that it had a definitive end. I really think that's the key now with having a successful show.

Besides GOT which just seems downright incompetent without Martin's writing even though there's a definitive ending. It's really sad :p


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Post  Lee Mon Jun 11, 2018 9:45 pm

Avatar worked well because it didn't drag out the series. It began where it needed to be and ended when it needed. That is the problem with long running shows like Game of Thrones, Walking Dead, and whatever else. The show just piles up with one season after another so there's really no way to end with a bang like it started with one. You need to invest a lot of time watching a series like that, especially if you watch it when it first aired. And I'm sure a show like GoT has lost a lot more fans then Atla simply because of how long it is/was and how much time they'd have to invest. It's the reason why I never bothered with those long running shows. It just seems like such a daunting task and I don't want to waste all that time.

If Avatar had six or eight seasons like GoT or Walking Dead, I'm sure it'd be in the same boat. Where these suffered from too much time, Korra suffered from too little.

That's one of the reasons why I enjoyed Avatar so much. Plus the show is so dynamic. It has a great believable cast, a good story that you can easily get behind and isn't trying to be super smart and edgy where you need to constantly be thinking, and it's not all black and white in some of the later parts. I also like that Aang is the main character, but the others shine just as well. He doesn't hog the screen time like Korra did.

And Korra was just a trainwreck, even season 4 was kind of mixed. I don't know what you're talking about with the Star Wars craze, but I've only seen the Force Awakens as far as the new movies go.
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Post  Loyal Subject Mon Jun 11, 2018 10:29 pm

With Game of Thrones though, it does have a set beginning, middle, and end. The writers of the show just sucked towards the later seasons as they ran out of George R.R. Martin's material. First issue being that they were given extra seasons so the stuff they royally screwed up, they couldn't go back and fix. And now that they are out of books, they're falling into cliche writing.

The reason why I bring up those other shows is because, you're right, they just don't know when to end them. Or rather, their goal is to make as much money as possible. Which, they should just focus on creating good content that has a definitive story structure to keep people interested. And that's just the overall problem with cable television and why Netflix is becoming more and more popular. They don't have to sacrifice story for ad revenue.

But Avatar proved you can have a successful show that makes the network a lot of money while not catering to ad revenue as well.

There's a lot of similarities I would say between Star Wars and Avatar. I mean, they both have the standard hero's journey but I think this time around with the addition of Kylo Ren, it feels like Star Wars was trying to be more like Avatar in the sense of having a tragic hero figure set up at the beginning rather than it coming as a surprise later. I see Kylo Ren as Star War's rendition of Zuko. Granted, obviously Zuko is way better developed than Kylo Ren. But the story beats for Kylo Ren and his relationship with Rey are definitely following similar beats to Aang and Zuko's relationship in ATLA. Kylo Ren's journey in Last Jedi is very similar to Zuko's season 2 journey.

And that's kind of what I mean: Avatar just does these better and that's why I appreciate it a lot more in retrospect.
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Post  Swiss Cheese Wed Jun 27, 2018 1:28 pm

Yes. I agree. I love me some One Piece, but being a shonen it requires -- as you've put it -- lots of time to invest. I don't much care for Game of Thrones (mainly due to it being more tired Euro fantasy which is a new conversation entirely), but I guess I can appreciate the people who CAN invest or want to invest their time into its story. Because TLA had a clear start, middle and finish, we felt full at the end of it. It felt like a nice three course meal. And the story is not only perfectly balanced (not too big; not too small), but it's believable. It wasn't contrived until we got to energybending, which did reach around in Korra to fit into the world-building. Which is ANOTHER reason TLA gets such praise. It's able to asspull without ruining its world-building, a rare thing in creative fiction which, as a creator myself, I can personally attest to.

Keep in mind that a lot of long-running shows just want to sell merch. In fact it's why Sym-Bionic Titan, a Genny/Gendy(?) animated CN series was cancelled. The female character couldn't sell enough toys and/or wasn't very marketable. Different topic, but I kind of think the NeoToonami people are stupid. Take it from someone who GREW UP with Toonami. That was my first foray into serious anime. I watched Pokemon when it aired, but it wasn't until CN and Adult Swim and Toonami that I was like, "this **** comes from Japan? Huh." Toonami won't come back because us 90s kids are adults now. I'm sure you guys are pushing thirty! We don't watch TV. We use internet streaming. You wanna know who watches CN and stuff now? Generation Z (or whatever they are). THEY line their pockets so CN caters to THEM. Also, internet is better anyway. All these choice shows, anime, cartoons, tokusatsu -- all at our fingertips and on demand. Where we want it, when we want it, in the fashion which we want it. I'd rather have that than CN anyday. (CN is still trash though; that we can agree on).

But I digress. That's what sold Avatar for me. There was something about it and how different it was that caused me to join the shitshow that was Airbender.net. Korra was/is a hot mess, but I did appreciate its expansion on Avatar lore and deeper worldbuilding. It had GREAT ideas, just executed poorly. I know I keep using that word, "worldbuilding", but having grown up and (haha not really) "matured" as a 20-something, I've learned to appreciate the nuance of art and storytelling. That natural, drip-feed worldbuilding where the characters act like what we're seeing is another Monday for them (as it should be since it's, you know, THEIR WORLD and all) is how to do it, in my opinion. I'm sure I'd get weird looks or even banned if I messaged either of you and said, "here on Earth, humans cannot fly. Our sky is blue." And other obvious crap. Apparently, Overlord and Darling in the Franxx do it well (until the latter dumped on their own worldbuilding in like the second season but I need to watch to confirm it).

I should shut up before I end up creating a spergfest for you to read. TL; DR: Avatar does many things great, and gives itself just enough time to tell its story. When it tells that story, it ends. No cliffhanger, no DLC, no Electronic Arts DRM. Just . . . fin.
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Post  Loyal Subject Wed Jun 27, 2018 11:27 pm

I mean, technically anything on a cartoon channel caters to those in the 6-12 year old range for the most part. Technically, Korra wasn't geared towards us growing up and yet we still watched it. Even with Avatar, I think by the time the third season rolled around, I didn't fit into their main demographic anymore. There's still some great content on those channels, I unfortunately don't have cable so I don't pay as much attention to them. But I have been watching the new Ducktales reboot after getting to meet the cast at Disneyland and that's a good show. I wish it would start to delve more into the overarching story however. But either way, cable in general is becoming a dying breed so I don't think it matters too much.

There will be another Avatar. It won't come right away, but we will eventually get another Avatar. I'm sure people weren't expecting another Narnia or Lord of the Rings but then we got Harry Potter (book release, not movies). People were worrying that Disney was losing its touch again and then Frozen came out. It just takes time and for fresh talent to come on the scene.
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Post  Swiss Cheese Fri Jun 29, 2018 3:29 pm

You got the meet the cast? Lucky you. Then again, don't you work at Disney or summat? I guess it was another Tuesday for you in that case.

Disney is putting in work. They acquired Star Wars, then Marvel. Keep in mind they still shove out the typical princess stuff and they're gonna claim every single ethnic group at this rate. They even have black (princess + frog) and Polynesian (Moana)! Though, I personally don't think Disney can steer Marvel or SW in the proper direction, but again . . . I digress.

We live in an age of grab-ass. If it's not a reboot it's a re-imaging. If not that, an HD re-release. It'll be hard for another Avatar to hit the market I think. Even anime is becoming more and more of a normie hobby. Anime already looks stale and universal now. NOTE: I know anime has an overarching aesthetic. What I mean is, anime is starting to look as if it were drawn by the same studios. Unless it's Mad House or A1 Pictures it's gonna look sterilsed. Not my cup o' tea, thanks.

Note to self: Watch Acca 13.
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Post  Loyal Subject Fri Jun 29, 2018 10:59 pm

I don't work for Disney anymore, I just saw they were going to be at the park on a particular day and bought a ticket lol. Sad thing is, a ticket to Disneyland is cheaper than paying a convention ticket plus a meet and greet for just one actor. It used to be you'd pay the $100 for the weekend and get everything included for free. But now it's cheaper to go to a theme park to meet your favorite people.

Disney should have diversity in its cast for any of their movies, including the animated ones. I don't mind that they are seeking diverse ladies to lead the team of Disney Princesses, especially since there wasn't a single main POC in Frozen. I think they're doing just fine with Marvel properties but that's only because I have no prior knowledge or allegiance to the comics. From the comics perspective, Disney/Marvel really needs to get their **** together. They're rebooting their main characters way too much and it's just confusing.

I think it's too early to tell how Disney will handle Star Wars over all. Marvel movies in the beginning were hit or miss and I feel like we're in the same phase with Star Wars right now. But, even if Disney hadn't taken Lucasfilms, fans would be having hissy fits regardless.

And yes, while we have too many reboots and re-imaginings with the worst offender being Disney, we're still getting some original ideas that I think are pretty good. I loved Gravity Falls for one, I hear Steven Universe is very good, Bojack Horseman is also very funny, there's Rick and Morty, etc. And the fact that anime is becoming more of a norm allows for more potential of another Avatar to come along. Granted, I don't see it happening anytime soon but with the rise of Netflix and companies competing with streaming services, they're going to need more original ideas in order to get an audience.

I don't watch too much anime anymore so I can't really talk on the styles being similar. But I love the director of 'Your Name'. I've loved him since '5 Centimeters Per Second' and I've seen almost all his films and he does have a particular style that you can immediately recognize as being his own. Just thought I would mention him because it is nice to see another director besides Studio Ghibli getting constant recognition and having a distinct style.
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Post  Lee Sun Jul 15, 2018 4:57 pm

I watched some of the earlier episodes of Steven Universe and those were my favorite ones. They had enough comedy and adventure going around that it felt wholesome. Now everything is like drama all the time and they have such a horrible toxic community. They actually egged on two (if not more) people to commit suicide and then celebrated the fact that they did so. For a series that is supposed to promote love and acceptance of all, they brought forth the worst little shits imaginable.

Ok-Ko is the same way. It looked promising with their comedic wholesome adventures in the beginning and then they jumped into the drama bandwagon cause that stuff sells with confused teens. Plus the art style of both shows shifted/downgraded. Again these two shows suffer where like you said (Gravity Falls did not) They have so much filler and they bombed all the episodes at random times.

It seems like a lot of shows are too afraid to step the line like shows like Avatar and Gravity Falls did. Ok-Ko started promising and followed into the drama like Steven Universe. And there's this new show about Magic Camp that looks like a Adventure Time rip-off.
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Post  Loyal Subject Sun Jul 15, 2018 11:52 pm

I watched a couple of episodes of Steven Universe and I don't know how far I got but I stopped. I actually think it took too long to introduce the deal with Steven's mom but that could also be just because I knew it was coming and I was waiting for it. I just like how Gravity Falls and Ducktales introduce a mystery in episode 1 and slowly progress to it. I don't believe Steven Universe did and I think that's it's failing.

A lot of fandoms have the worst little shits. Rick and Morty and Star Wars are also pretty terrible fanbases. Nowadays, I honestly stay out of fandoms because they suck lol.
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Post  Lee Mon Jul 16, 2018 7:50 am

Yeah for Steven Universe, they actually took too long on all plots. I think that's their downfall to. But I still like the lighthearted stuff in the beginning, even the plot-related stuff. Then they decided to have some crazy drama 180 turn on all episodes, filler or not, and it lost a lot of the charm to me. Plus the fact that they never aired episodes and then they'd dump all of them on one random day or week and wouldn't advertise it. They called them Steven Bombs or something. That on top of the drama making me lose interest made me never bother to keep up or hunt them down on the net.

I think I watched the first episode of DuckTales and the second and one about Donald's bad luck? This one seems a lot better. Ok-Ko seemed interesting and then I lost my interest because it decided to have too much drama and they're doing something equivalent to those steven bombs.

I really can't think of any shows of any animation that are new and that I am following. There's a ton of crap shows all the time, but they're probably easier to dish out quality wise and if people (kids) will shovel the **** down their mouth, then why bother to make something worthwhile? I have some kids I sometimes have to watch (neighbors and the such) and when I turn on the TV to Nick or CN, the entire line-up is TeenTitans Go. I'm not kidding, that show is the entire lineup lol.

And it's kind of sad when a show like that is heralded like the best and now even has its own movie. The episodes I watched with those kids (cause it was their absolute favorite garbage) had some of the worst messages to lol) reading books is evil was one of them.
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Post  Loyal Subject Mon Jul 16, 2018 10:46 pm

oh yeah I hate TeenTitansGo and yes, I've seen it on TV way too much for my liking. Bleh.

Yeah, the only thing that is now irking me about Ducktales is that they introduced the mystery (what happened to Huey, Dewey, and Louie's mom) in episode 1 and since then we've only had one other episode referencing that mystery. It's like they just dropped it off the face of the earth. I also wish they had more episodes surrounding actual adventures. But I really like Donald and Scrooge's characters in this series. And Webby.

So I mean, I wouldn't call Ducktales a Gravity Falls yet but yeah...it has potential.

Just waiting for another golden show to come up :p

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Post  Lee Mon Jul 16, 2018 11:08 pm

I think the only show that I followed and had a lot of potential was the resurrection of Samurai Jack. I kind of feel like they phoned it in on the last episode though. Speaking of great shows, it's been a while since I last watched Avatar and I just found it on some channel and it was the season 2 finale. I forgot how great of a cliffhanger that was.

I can't say much on DuckTales. I heard they kept Donald in the show/script a lot more and that is great. I feel like Webby seems too similar to other characters like Mabel from Gravity Falls. I don't get why the crazy spaz always takes the spotlight. It's like the only female lead that they seem to want to use mileage out of.
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Post  Loyal Subject Mon Jul 16, 2018 11:20 pm

I mean technically a lot of the characters in Ducktales are like characters in Gravity Falls. Scrooge McDuck is like the two grunkles combined, Launchpad is not the sharpest tool in the shed like Soos, etc.
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Post  Lee Sat Jul 21, 2018 3:31 pm

I mean you can say any character is like anyone if you really try to. Not that I'm knocking your statement completely, but Launchpad is pretty much exactly as he is supposed to be. He didn't get rewritten like the other casts (Webby) who didn't have any character whatsoever. Launchpad was the comedic relief who managed to crash whatever he was driving all the time. I mean sure Soos is the lovable oaf of the group, but every show has someone like that.

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Post  Loyal Subject Sun Jul 22, 2018 8:09 pm

That's true. Or, at least, I'll take your word for it because I've only seen a few episodes of the old Ducktales.
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