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[Daikun]

It's time.

[Daikun]

Jesus! Seven Havens just premiered and we're already pelted with more news.

News bit #1: Books 3 and 4 confirmed.

News bit #2: Another new series, Avatar Kuruk: Wave of Chaos, is in development. It's a prequel that will take place three generations before Aang.
Character art here.

[RacattackForce]

Just finished watching the first batch of episodes.

Having our new Avatars be nine-year-olds was a decision I wasn't entirely sure about versus the pre-teen that was Aang and the teenager that was Korra. But it works really well as a way to avoid a prolonged and forced trusting process regarding Jae believing that Pavi isn't some sort of demonic entity bent on destroying the world like Korra supposedly did. Plus, the babies are cute: Pavi and Nisha have some nice moments in episodes 2 and 3, and overall they manage to sell Pavi as an awkward, lonely kid without going too overboard with it and it's fun to have Nisha be a bit of a brat. On some level, it feels like Pavi is Aang-coded and Nisha be Korra-coded, which I don't mind at all. The supporting cast is serviceable for now, I buy into this re-introduction to the Avatar world post-apocalypse, and I'm invested enough in the plot hooks they've set up regarding the twins' past, the current obviously Vaatu-related threat, and the mysterious masked group teased at the end of Ep 3 that I'm down to return for the second batch next week.

On the topic of the show's presentation, it would have been wild if the animation quality was on the level of the film we recently got, so I don't begrudge that aspect of the show. Though I will say that the art style has a bit more in common with the Dreamworks Animation shows we got the previous decade (good Lord, how time flies) like Voltron and She-Ra than it does ATLA or Korra, if that makes any sense? There's just something about the look that feels a bit softer in terms character design and color palette; I don't hate it, since its the sort of thing that's almost recursive given how those shows took deep inspiration from ATLA themselves, but its something that I couldn't help but notice (partly because Marquis has been bringing it up whenever discussion shifted to this show's pre-release material). Music is interesting. Don't know how to feel about it yet. Classic leitmotifs are accounted for, but there's... I don't feel like putting the episode back on at the moment to double-check because its past 2am and I need to sleep, but I want say they're inserting synths into the mix now? I feel mixed on that given how the universe has mostly taken a technological back-step from where Korra was, so having the soundtrack incorporate synth elements doesn't quite mesh in the same way it did with Korra occasionally incorporating elements of swing and jazz.

[Dr. Insomniac]

Saw the first episode yesterday morning and the next two just now, and biggest thing that struck me was the soundtrack. It's very Stranger Things, which I guess shouldn't be surprising on a metalevel since that show was also a big genre throwback made by two randos starring a bald kid with weird powers that became a huge sensation among teens, but distracting nonetheless. Not to mention the Voltron and She=Ra vibes of it all. Because like Rac said, it's hard not to notice the way this show borrows from other 2010s cartoons. And it's not like ATLA didn't have that either, it'd be absurd to act like that didn't borrow from various anime, but now Seven Havens is borrowing from shows the older Avatar installments influenced either on an overt or subconscious level. And I'm not sure if that's for the better.

Show itself, it's all right. Animation and overall production values are nowhere near the Aang movie earlier this year, and honestly worse than Legend of Korra, but it got a little better by the third episode. The twin Avatar thing is interesting and I was worried for a second because I almost thought "Oh, it's gonna be Acolyte, really?", but the dynamic's cute. Not really feeling the Bending Brigade though. Outside of how their Power Rangers aesthetic clashes with the post-apocalyptic world, the characters feel a bit too sophomoric where even the kids seem more emotionally mature than them. And it's obvious Karthik's a twist villain, given how overly welcoming he is of recruiting an Avatar to his group that conscripts and registers benders into paramilitary service.

Another weird thing outside of the show, I did not see a single ad for it. And I can guess that's because I haven't watched Nick in years and I'm pretty adamant about adblockers, but I was little taken aback earlier this week when I found out there was a whole new Avatar series coming out in a few days. I almost figured that was Paramount fucking up the promotion, but then I found out they're giving Bryke 3 more seasons and a spinoff, so I don't know what the deal is there.

And forgot to mention it, but I saw the live-action version of Book 2 a while ago, and I've got most of the complaints everyone else has regarding the exposition and cutting up the source material with no rhythm in mind and taping it back together into hour-long episodes. The first season at least had the Shyamalan movie to point to so they could go "Hey, we're not as bad as that!", but this doesn't even have that excuse. Daniel Dae Kim's the one guy putting in any effort, his version of Ozai's the one gem in a mess that has nothing real to offer other than watered-down versions of a TV show I watched 20 years ago.

[Dr. Insomniac]

You know, I get Avatar's for kids, believing otherwise is pretty delusional, but the first episode of this batch had so many chibi scenes that it threw me off. Because there is kind of a tonal issue here, with how they're playing up how this is a post-apocalyptic Avatar world with only seven actual cities left, and then they have a wacky food fight despite how limited supplies are. Then in the same episode, we get an attempted political assassination quashed by Karthik choking the assailant out. Like I get ATLA also had its cake and ate it too in this regard, it's not like that show wasn't goofy one minute and then somber the next either, but it's still hard to get a read on this series. Because we're halfway into this season and it almost feels like less has been explored so far than in its predecessors' first six episodes. Pavi and Nisha have a fun dynamic, but everyone else? They just sorta exist. Can't complain about any of them, but it's hard to really care about the Bending Brigade so far. They're still too Power Rangers for my liking.

And something I wanted to mention last week was contrasting how the production team are faring compared to others when trying to survive in a streaming world. Since the TV environment now is so different than it was back when Legend of Korra ended, in ways that impacted their field of expertise more than any other genre since TV-Y7 action cartoons are out of the loop now. TV aimed at the demographic ATLA and LOK appealed is just gone now with nothing to fill that void other than internet shorts, and I know it's been a struggle for long-time creators figuring out how to make their way in a changing landscape. Because we've seen Timm and Weisman try to avoid that by just making cartoons for older audiences like Caped Crusader and YJ, only to peter out since there's a very stark contrast between making a cartoon for kids and one for adults, even when it seems like there isn't. While Avatar's just staying in its lane instead of delivering a TV-MA sequel or something. Which isn't a bad thing, but it's odd.

And I don't want to sound meta and go "Isn't it funny the show's about the last holdouts of humanity when Avatar itself is one of the last holdouts of its genre?" since despite how action-adventure cartoons aimed at the middle school crowd are barren, it's not like action cartoons in general are gone since one of the biggest TV shows these days is Invincible. But it's still interesting to stew on, since remember what the TV atmosphere was like when ATLA was new in 2005. When YouTube was in its infancy, Saturday morning cartoons on local networks were still a dominant way to watch TV, and channels like Nick and CN still mattered. And I don't want to wax nostalgic there since I remember 2005-era Nick being kinda shitty outside of ATLA, yet that was at least a concentrated demographic aim there. While Seven Havens premieres on a streaming service where I cannot even tell you what the main demographic is besides "Guys who love Taylor Sheridan".

[RacattackForce]

I really enjoyed the newest batch of episodes, but as I dwell on them a day later, I've been trying to think more on why the Faceless in ASH seem to function better to me better than the Equalists in LOK. So to "stream of consciousness"-out my thoughts, it isn't as though Seven Havens doesn't have clear deficits in painting a full picture of the societal issue that it wants to address (military conscription sucks) that I feel could have used slightly tighter writing or just more time to cook, in the same way I view the Equalists and the depiction of non-bender discrimination/oppression. Ultimately, I think it's mixture of how Korra's worldbuilding so strongly pushes up against that of ATLA, and how the Faceless aren't the major storyline of the season?

Everyone who dislikes or was disappointed by LOK have made the same complaint regarding the first season that its hard to believe that non-bender oppression is a thing. Not that it isn't believable. A work with a system like the Avatar Legends universe where some people are born with the ability to magically manipulate the world around them and others aren't easily lends itself to the idea that one of these groups would be discriminated against in some way. And in the decade since, Byrke and the other creatives behind the series have done their best through the comics, books, and even the recent Avatar Aang movie to establish that this sort of thing had always existed in the background of the world. But LOK was coming off a 61-episode animated series where "Sokka's Master" is the only episode that immediately comes to mind that flirted with the idea that a non-bender would be treated as lesser (and even then, it revolves around Sokka's personal insecurities), so LOK just showing us that that Triple Triads are a thing didn't feel like enough to help returning viewer really internalize this as a wider problem. Meanwhile, even if the downsides aren't necessarily hammered home as hard as I'd like, ASH's Bending Brigade problem is a wholly new element in a world that is removed enough from the one depicted in ATLA and LOK that I don't find myself trying to make any real "gotcha!" points or overthink anything. I can just see kids getting separated from their parents, who are told its a great honor to give up their offspring to the greater cause of protecting Ellora... which, now that I'm typing it out, actually parallels really nicely with

Spoiler

Karthik's horror at the idea of giving up Nisha in episode 8 to other sects of the White Lotus to train.

[close]

As for storyline, the Faceless aren't the big problem that needs to be addressed. Hell, depending on what happens in the next batch of episodes, we probably won't see them again until we inevitably address the whole "Republic Forest" thing in Book 2. The Faceless are just one of a few side plots weaved around an A-plot about the spooky diamond. So my overall enjoyment of the season doesn't firmly rely on the Faceless stuff hitting every note perfectly, since there's enough else to chew on. It isn't just "Equalists and love triangle" (okay and trash, respectively), it's "scary fear spirit/chakra thing, The Faceless, Pavi's gotta find out who killed her dad (she's gotta fight, but it hurts so bad), and the world's reaction to the Avatar's return" (all of which range from good-to-great).

...Also, the leader of the Faceless has their daddy issues actually tie-in far more grounded way to what they're doing in "my dad was conscripted into the military and he died on the battlefield, so I want to make sure no one else has give their life serving the government if they don't want to" (on top of not even necessarily wanting to overthrow the government, so much as just splinter off to create a new community) versus Amon's "my dad was abusive, thus benders just shouldn't exist and Imma get rid of ALL of them." Which isn't necessarily a bad thing in and of itself, but I don't want to ramble about how I feel LOK handled its exploration of political extremism at 12am, so I'm cutting myself off here.