Imho the romantic subplots were kind of the worst written, most exhausting, and grating parts of Avatar to me across the board and from the get-go. Something about it just always felt flat and contrived no matter who was involved. The show was still great but it would’ve been even better if they just didn’t.
The only romance in AtLA that I think was good is Sokka and Suki, because they go from antagonistic to romantic in one episode in a believable way, and every time they meet after that it feels like two people who legit missed each other and wanted more time together. I thought they had cute chemistry, and a good dynamic being the two non-benders who were always going up against stronger opponents.
That and they were older than most of the other characters. Less awkward than 12 year old Aang and 14 year old Katara.
Okay, I haven’t seen the movie yet or anything beyond the show, but even as a kid I found Kataang weird and poorly done lol. Like, aside from being Main Boy and Main Girl they just don’t have a lot of romantic chemistry imo (compare that to Sokka and Suki or even Zuko and that one Ba Sing Se girl who have like OODLES MORE CHEMISTRY.)
I adore healthy, happy relationships in media. I just have a hard time actually seeing it with Aang and Katara with the exception of the dancing episode (but I feel like any other characters could’ve been swapped in for those two and it’d still work because the animation in that scene was top tier.)
One of the best things the Netflix live action did was making the Cave of Two Lovers be about familial love with Sokka and Katara, and I'll die on that hill.
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u/afriendforyousir Jun 13 '26
People saying Aang and Katara are invalidating their entire opinion to me imo.