I might be one of the few zutara shippers here that is not a fan of natla zutara or just natla in general. Katara and zuko feel like watered down versions of themselves. When you remove katara’s anger and her motherly nature, you’re removing core parts of her character; things that make katara, katara. I believe it’s because they got rid of sokka’s sexism and aang’s goofy/childish personality. There’s nobody she needs to be motherly or angry towards anymore. I don’t like how they treat these traits as flaws that aren’t suitable for the mature approach natla is going for but they’re not flaws. They’re what make characters and character dynamics compelling to the audience. The real flaw is making ka endgame without proper development. natla could’ve fixed this from the cartoon if they wanted to while making ka endgame which im 99% sure they’re gonna do or at least imply, but it doesn’t seem like they’re doing much for ka either. Unless they’re going for an open ending which is the best option at this point.
And something about natla s2 zuko just doesn’t feel like b2 zuko to me. Especially in the catacombs scene. I think it might be the extra dialogue. He felt more quiet and introspective towards the end of atla b2. Zuko stealing from the pregnant lady doesn’t feel like something he’d do no matter the context. And zukos dadko moment where he teaches the earth kingdom boy how to use dual swords in zuko alone is gone too. it was one of my favorite scenes of the cartoon. Momtara and dadko was such good dynamic from the cartoon, they really felt like the 2 responsible parents of the gaang who got along better and understood each other more than the rest of them. Even before zuko became part of the gaang, their characterization and the narratives pushed the 2 together and so far natla isn’t giving me that same feeling. The mix of bad writing, poor direction, cutting out plots, fewer episodes and bad acting and line delivery in some scenes make natla not as enjoyable for me.
And I know most zutara shippers are just taking the bait and enjoying the zk scenes but personally if it’s not done well I don’t want it ðŸ˜
