In theory, it should be an exciting time to be a fan of Avatar: The Last Airbender. The beloved Nickelodeon martial arts series has a gorgeous new movie, a pretty good (if flawed) fighting game, and a brand new animated series called Avatar: Seven Havens coming later this year. However, now that we’ve seen the first trailer for Seven Havens, fans are a bit split on the third animated series in the franchise.
Seven Havens follows Pavi, an earthbender who is the next Avatar after Korra, capable of manipulating earth, air, water, and fire. She lives in a post-apocalyptic era, where the Avatar is known as a destroyer of worlds instead of a savior. What did Korra do that could have possibly led to this? We’ll find out in October when the series comes to Paramount+. There is currently a bit of conflicting information about how the series will roll out on the streaming service, with some sources claiming all 26 episodes will premiere at once on October 9, but official Paramount channels don’t indicate a simultaneous release.
The reaction to the first trailer has been mixed. The premise of an Avatar series in which Korra could have gone down in history as a villain, merited or not, is a compelling mystery to draw in fans who are attached to the Legend of Korra series. However, there’s been a fair bit of criticism directed at Seven Haven’s animation, which some claim looks “cheap” or lacking in polish, shading, and depth.
Direct comparisons to The Last Airbender and Legend of Korra don’t do the new show any favors. Though it has its moments that look great, a lot of the animation is a bit flat and not quite as dynamic as that of its predecessors.
“It looks much more like an American children’s cartoon than the anime-inspired highly detailed style that Korra and ATLA went for,” a fan writes on Reddit. “Also, the frame rate is much lower. There’s less frames generally, and in the first shot of her riding the big cat thing you can see it’s just the same animation on loop. My guess would be that this series has a significantly lower budget than Korra and possibly ATLA as well.”
Not everyone is as critical of the artstyle, however. Though, some reactions may be more informed by how shoddy some other shows have looked as of late.
“Not much here, but I like the look,” a fan said on ResetEra. “Animation is quite pretty. I swear, every time a new animated TV show is announced, it’s one more piece of evidence to point to that Invincible doesn’t need to look as incredibly ugly as it does”
The story implications of Seven Havens have Korra fans and defenders running around like it’s a full-time job. I expect there’s something far deeper going on here than the previous Avatar being some kind of deathbringer, and even if the animation is getting criticism, the trailer has at least done enough to draw in those who were invested in the series’ existing characters without it feeling solely like a nostalgia play. Maybe the narrative will carry the show if the animation can’t. It is a bit of a bummer to see this drop-off in animation quality right after experiencing the stunning visuals of Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender, though. The sequel movie is coming to Paramount+ on July 25, and it’s pretty good.