[Early Access] Avatar - 2x15 Tales of Ba Sing Se - Group Reaction

Little soldier boy Comes marching home Brave soldier boy Comes marching home

Lalisa Truong

I did not notice the voice change, and I was...12 I think? They took something like 8 months off, though, so I'd forgotten a lot of how Mako sounded by the time the new voice actor came in.

Jill S.

yall gonna be saying this aint a kids show for almost every episode lol

Taylor Smithpeters

I'm late to the party with this video, but I just wanna say that I think writing notes during the episode to guide the discussion worked so well. So many things were brought up and discussed within the group that I think otherwise would have been forgotten. Great reaction!

Rachel MacDavid

I know it's only animation but the writing and voice acting has me so invested in the story that I tear up every time I watch Uncle Iroh singing to the memory of his son. Knowing that we are hearing the voice of an esteemed actor, Mako, that was taken by cancer adds that little extra gut punch but I re-watch it anyway because it's so good.

T Steven

Greg Baldwin also took over the role of Aku in Season 4 of Samurai Jack and the recent Season 5. Mako played the role amazingly in the first 3 seasons of that series.

The Normies

Never mind, I just double checked and the voice actor that replaces Mako is Greg Baldwin, not his brother. But he def replaced him after Mako had finished filming season 1 and 2

Athena Santiago

Mako finished recording season 2 before he died. All you hear in this season, minus maybe a couple of scenes, is all recorded by Mako. However, Mako's brother is the voice actor for Iroh in Season 3. You will truly hear the changes in Season 3, but so far, specifically this episode and most of season 2, is in fact Mako.

Athena Santiago

This is the beginning of the binge. Binge ends at end of book 2

Jonathan baez

Have they now run out of their binged footage?

jayjay2961

Been waiting for this reaction since you guys started book 2! When I was a kid I thought Mako was Iroh's son and never really realised the voice change until I did research on the show when I was about 14 or 15. When I first watched this show, it would be on Nickelodeon and I sometimes would miss an episode cause they only showed it at a specific time so I would have to fill in the blanks here and there. Only when Book 3 was out did I discover that the episodes could be torrented and from there I started to watch the show chronologically. Now I'm 21 and I've recently rewatched the whole show cause of you guys and really truly appreciate how woke and amazing this show is. So thanks Normies for reminding me of this amazing amazing cartoon that raised a generation of woke kids! Bet you there is gonna be lots of tears for the next episode!

Sheikh Ashmaan

Mako was such a great voice actor and actor for the several films he starred in. I'll always remember him as the original Iroh and Aku. As well as the wizard from the Conan movies lol.

Spachetti

Oh I wanted to add that this was one of my favorite reactions too, whose idea was it to cut in that meme clip of the guys screaming with a cutout of Sokka's head during the haiku battle? That was brilliant, I laughed so hard at that.

Lego The Office

When I first saw this I knew Mako had died because I was already a super obsessed Avatar fan by this point. Still am. :) I lucked upon AtLA when it premiered and was initially intrigued watching the opening credits because I thought the artwork was beautifully done. After I saw the first episode and realized how great the animation and writing was, I was hooked. Everyone I introduced the show to initially laughed at me, but quickly fell in love with it like I did. Mako died after the first half of Season 2 aired (after "The Desert"), the show was on summer hiatus during that time, and at first we were all in mourning because we were worried about Appa. But a little while after the episode aired, Mako passed away from cancer and when fans found out there was some serious mourning. People were also worried what was going to happen to Iroh because he was so loved, a lot of people theorized that they were going to rewrite the series to kill off Iroh. But Bryan and Mike (the creators) reassured the fans that Mako had recorded most of the dialogue for Season 2 (like someone else here said, about 99% of it) and his protege Greg Baldwin, would take over the role and there would be no change to Iroh's storyline. They also announced they would pay tribute to Mako's death in an episode that was set to air when the show returned from hiatus, which ended up being "The Tales of Ba Sing Se". When the switch really happened I noticed and it was sad, but Greg Baldwin did an excellent job and really honored his mentor's work. I am really happy the Cozy 4 finally got to see this episode, it is one of my favorites. :)

Lego The Office

i guess thats where they got the name for Mako in Legends of Korra

Noooo so sad ;_;

Lovisa Morin

I only recently found out that Iroh had 2 different voice actors, when i was younger i thought that "Mako" was the name of Iroh's son.

Lovisa Morin

It's not just you, a lot of people consider this their favorite episode :) It's for sure one of my favs.

fork

When I first saw this I knew mako had died but I didn't notice a change in his voice until way later in the show

Rich Cassou

When I was a kid I had no concept of voice actors for some reason, even though I watched a lot of cartoons and anime. So I didn't notice the switch in voice actors but I do remember seeing the 'In memory of Mako' and I knew someone working on the show must have died.

Alisha Brayboy

Yeah I thought Mako was Iroh's son when i was a kid.

Phonic Reassignment

What an awesome episode! Nahid trying to get seen as Zuko and getting shut down instantly was hilarious LOL 😂 their reaction to momos tale was great lol

Leis

Guys, it'd break your heart to know what the picture of Iroh's son says in Japanese. It reads 'To General Iroh: See you after we win the War. Your loyal son Lu Ten." (please let me know if that wet your eyes, if they weren't already)

drmalik22

10 years old. I thought Mako was Iroh's son. Even though i noticed the voice change, only my second time rewatching it did I realize Mako was the voice actor.

As a kid I never noticed the change and I remember thinking that Mako was Iroh's son and that he had two names

Isaiah

I had no idea about Mako. I just thought it was in honor of Iroh's son.

When i watched this as a kid Iroh's story was sad and i assumed someone dies who was working on the series but i didnt knw it was Iroh's voice over. The next episode explains appa's foot print really wanna see ur reactions to dat its gonna its such a good episode

Lol idk why I said that when it was only a vacation for like 2 characters. I think every character committed a charitable act for another like Micky said! (Momo - Panthercats, Aang - Zoo animals, Katara - Toph, Iroh - Zuko, Iroh - Baby, Iroh - Everyone)

The Normies

I wonder how many more times Nahid will say that 😹 - Rana

The Normies

Yassss ! - Rana

The Normies

Thank you for watching us cozy four 😊- Rana

The Normies

I loved the tales ! Especially Momos😊 - Rana

The Normies

This episode gave me major feels :)- Rana

The Normies

No thank you !😻 - Rana

The Normies

#notakidsshow

tee_saw

I always really liked Sokka's segment, even if it's silly. It's perfect for his character. Sokka is a person who is exceptionally quick witted and creative. He's able to pop in randomly on a haiku club, adapt, and instantly beat a master at her own game. Don't think that could have happened with any other character.

Jazzie

Jin is Ba Sing Bae

3rd Eye Phreak

ALSO you guys NEVER mentioned in the discussion what this episode's actual purpose was.. Yous were so close in saying it, then you said "Vacation time" (like tf? lol) XD But it was CHARACTER GROWTH!!

Sam Kemp

Interesting as a kid i didn't even notice lol

Jonathan baez

The Discussion at end was fantastic! You remembered so many little details, maybe because of the Notebook, so keep it up! :) Its funny how you guys kept thinking Zuko's Tale was a trap, Because everything has been so against him lately you immediately think anything that might be a positive change for him is actually bad, haha!

Sam Kemp

Thank you for posting this! Loved the Avatar episode and loved your reactions and subsequent discussion.

Leorion

you kinda mixed up the names in the beginning :p

Abg

Contrary to popular belief, the show creators have said that Iroh's story arc both in book 2 and book 3 was never altered as a result of Mako's passing. Any episodes Iroh was absent for, such as the Zuko Alone block of episodes, was how the creators planned it to be. Also, as other commenters have mentioned, Mako had completed recording all of his lines for all of book 2, save for just a few lines, prior to his passing. So, the vast majority of Iroh's dialogue in this episode and in the rest of book two is indeed still Mako's voice.

icymathratios

Hey ba sing lames. The amazing Mako Iwamatsu finished 99% of his lines for Book 2. There was some lines in this episode done by Greg Baldwin, Mako's understudy, and perhaps a couple more throughout the season.... Greg fully takes over in Book 3. I never noticed the voice change as a kid, nor did I realize who we had lost... Though he is no longer with us in the physical plane, his kindness, love, and wisdom has not left this world. His spirit lives on forever in our hearts, and through this amazing show. Always ready to share his loving advice, to people of all ages, for generations to come, as everyone's Uncle Iroh.

Keep It Zen

At the time that this episode came out (at least in Australia, which came out a lot later than USA) I was 11/12 and never noticed the voice change and never knew who Mako was until many years later when I decided to look him up. Rip Mako.

Leaves from the vine Falling so slow Like fragile, tiny shells Drifting in the foam

Ruff Overlord

I know its not really shown what exactly Aang was doing before his whole zoo adventure, but I like to believe he was on the lookout for Appa. I mean, he ended up in a zoo so what else would he be doing but be looking for Appa? :) I love how even Momo, a non-talking character, also gets a tale. One of the other reasons why I love this show so much is the effort and dedication to even the non-talking characters. Seeing as you already watched all of S2, I'm sure you know what I mean with the next episode. Such a fantastic and even emotional episode for a character that doesn't talk. "Leaves from the vines" kills me every time! You'd literally see that song take on a different meaning at the beginning and at the end. At the beginning, Iroh happily sang that song in order to cheer up a crying little boy and at the end, he tearfully sang that song again to honor his dead son on his birthday. Just fuck me in the feels! If you also like to know, the writing on the top left-hand corner of Iroh's picture of his son roughly translates to "To General Iroh: See you after we win the War. Your loyal son Lu Ten". Makes me wonder if one of the reasons he likes helping others so much is because he couldn't help his son? :( I didn't know Mako passed away during the show's run, but I did notice a slight change in his voice when I watched S3. I didn't really think anything of it until I rewatched "Tales of Ba Sing Se" again. That was when I actually looked up who Mako was and I was honestly just crushed that he passed away without me even realizing it. I know the whole Avatar staff said that Mako was like a real life Uncle Iroh to them and I just found that amazing, because everyone honestly needs an Uncle Iroh in their lives. I learned so much as a kid from Iroh and to this day, I still hold a lot of his lessons and wisdom close to my heart. Which is also why I'm so glad to see that even after a decade, Iroh continues to influence and be so important to so many people.

Lalisa Truong

As far as I know, because the episodes would't have been recorded in order, Mako managed to record all but a few lines for season 2 before his death. This episode is still definitely voiced by Mako. Season 3 has a different voice actor though, and I remember finding that really hard to adjust to as a kid.

Catrin

Tear up every time. Damn

BiFrost Francois

Kinda spoilery

Jackie

Lu ten's letter translated: General Iroh, We'll meet after victory. Your loyal son, Lu Ten Apparently Iroh went to the spirit world to see his son :(

Jackie

It's an innocent joke. Don't take it too literal. :)

This is one of my favorite episodes and I had been eagerly awaiting this reaction since you began season 2! The Tale of Iroh gets to me every time at the end. I always got the impression that the spot he was at was somehow linked to his sons death like maybe where he died or something because whEn Iroh was dreaming about his son he was kneeling under a very similar spot vowing to see his son again. Very touching scene and great tribute to Mako. Thanks for great reactions.

Rich Cassou

"their cycles are finally in sync" I have heard this joke 26373838 times whenever any man starts talking about women characters. It's 2017 guys. Pls just stick the ba sing se puns? Sry I luv u

Poof

When this episode came out I was like 11 and I didn't notice a difference with irohs voice. And I had no idea mako was irohs voice actor either

Oscar Giron

Sorry if you guys feel pressured by our constant complaining, but we just really love Avatar and you guy's reactions to them, which is the reason why we all became Patrons in the first place. I know you guys are doing the best you can, but consistency goes a long way towards fans, especially for a paid service. Thank you guys and keep doing a great job :)

Jay M

Ayy that BlindWave shout out

THANK YOU SO MUCH

Unique

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Unique

Late ass upload! Thank you for at uploading this sad episode!

Soccernicholas6

So many animals! Looking forward to see what y'all think of them all!!!

Kya Wither