Okay, so, first episode. A lot to look at. Iām gonna start with the fact that for a show from the 2000ā²s, ATLA has a very low key ending theme (at least for the first episode, it could pull an SU and evolve). Iām sure thatās a bold choice for a reason. Something subtle, but with a nice beat. Nothing to write home about yet but weāll see how it ultimately fits.
SO! First episode. Honestly Iām not feeling one way or another about it. Thatās typical for a first episode, though. It crammed a lot of information into it but at the same time didnāt really say much of anything. There sure were an awful lot of plot conveniences for a first episode, but until I know how the rest of the series plays out I canāt really say for sure whether thatās a good or a bad thing.
I had previously believed that -bending was an innate ability of the people of each tribe, but that doesnāt appear to be the case. I donāt know the typical ratio of -benders to general population but thus far either the only Waterbenders in the Water Tribe are either the men + Katara or just Katara. I canāt wait to find out more about who gets to be a -bender and who doesnāt!
Uncle Mako is my favourite until The Boulder shows up. He genuinely surprised me, not only in how he reacted to Zuko yelling at him, but also by telling me a bit about how he views Firebending. Whereas I had always assumed it was purely a ābe powerful, make fireā kind of power, the way Uncle Mako explains it makes it sound like itās more about having control of oneās self. I discussed that a bit in the post itself, so I wonāt go too far into detail here, suffice to say I bet most Firebenders are more of the "Power is Powerā type while Uncle Mako is the āControl is Powerā type and heās the one thatās gonna end up being correct.
So! Letās talk about the colour thing I mentioned earlier.
Aang is friendly, sunny colours. This lines up for what I know about Airbenders. Theyāre fun! Theyāre friends! They like animals! The Water Tribe, however, is clad in blue. Theyāre standoffish to outsiders from what we can see so far, and Sokka in particular is pretty cold toward Aang and his entire existence. Katara is an outlier, since sheās very friendly and warm to Aang and immediately embraces him. This makes perfect sense, since theyāre gonna get married. She takes him into her world and connects with him in a meaningful way. Iād have liked to see her with one accessory in a sunnier colour to emphasize this, but maybe weāll get it when they change clothes after leaving the South Pole. (A side note; WHY ISNāT AANG COLD? Iām assuming itās Airbending shenanigans keeping the old air away) The clothing metaphor is a little flat though when you remember that theyāre kind of just wearing the colours of their element. Though I have something to say about that when we actually meet the Earthbenders, too, since theyāre in greens and tans and not just browns and greys. I have too little information about that at the time being, but weāll try to circle back to it.
War! War has been raging apparently ever since the Fire Nation attacked the Air Nomads. Itās a century long war and you can feel it taking its toll even when weāve only seen a small part of it. Katara, as warm as she is, is nervous about leaving her home and she briefly talks about herself as if sheās not a child anymore. This could be nothing, but it could be something huge. It could be because of the added responsibilities she has as one of the few remaining members of her tribe left behind as the others go off to war. She also appears to be the only Waterbender currently in the village, as we learn that Sokka is not one. Sheās learning on her own, and that has to be a huge shift. Her and Sokka, still children, canāt really let themselves be children. They have to be strong for the younger and older generations.
I also got the impression that the Southern Water Tribe and the Northern Water Tribe probably donāt see each other because thereās no methods of flying without the Airbenders and their boats were very primitive compared to the Fire Nationās war ships. The Fire Nation is probably controlling the worldās oceans and thatās a big problem for any kind of economy. Iām sure weāll get more information on that. The Fire Nation in general seems more advanced than the others, and I donāt know for certain if thatās because the other nations are fine that way or if this is a matter of war suppression. Either could be plausible. Iāll just have to wait around and see.
It was a little shocking that they havenāt left the Water Tribe yet, as usually stories like this get their journeys going in the first episode, but it seems there will probably be a bit of horrible tragedy to go through first as Zukoās war ship heads for the small village.
Overall itās not bad. Itās nothing too amazing, either, but it wasnāt so bad I wouldnāt want to keep going. Iām somewhat interested in seeing answers to some of these questions. The whole process took about 3 hours for a 23 minute episode, though, so I might try to limit doing these so I donāt go crazy, lol.
Hope yāall enjoyed, and I hope to hear from some people about how they feel about my liveblog! No spoilers in the askbox please. :3