Kataang vs Zutara
| Ship War | |
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| ShipWar: | Kataang vs Zutara |
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| Fandom: | Avatar: The Last Airbender |
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Kataang vs Zutara is a Ship War in the fandom of animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender, between shippers of two Katara pairings: Kataang (Katara/Aang) and Zutara (Katara/Zuko).
Kataang is generally considered to be the "winner" of the ship war, since it became canon in the series finale and their relationship was further explored in post-canon stories and The Legend of Korra. This has not stopped Zutara's popularity, though, or the fans who still wish or believe it should have been the canon pair. The Zutara fandom is by some considered to be the fanpreferred couple, various voice actors have even stated a preference towards Zutara[1]. And the popularity of the ship has even spun an event called "Zutara week" an annual event that has remained active for decades devoted to the ship[2]
History
Zutara shippers developed into two camps: those who were simply passionate about their OTP and those who insisted it become canon. The "cave scene" in "Crossroads of Destiny" was an infamous moment in the shipping war. As well as the entirety of the episode "The Southern raiders".
ATLA Finale
The finale saw Zuko getting back together with Mai and closed out with a romantic kiss between Aang and Katara, initiated by the latter. Zutara fans were livid. Some even tried to claim that everyone on the staff except Bryan and Mike shipped Zutara in order to validate their insistence that their ship should have won, though many of them failed to provide proper context or evidence.
Immediately after the initial run of the show, there were a number of rumors that appeared concerning the canonical validity of Zutara. One suggested that the show would be getting a fourth season, and that this mysterious fourth season would have Zuko and Katara getting together. Another rumor posited that head writer Aaron Ehasz was the one to write this fourth season, and that he had intended for Zutara to happen all along— the evidence for which was an informal interview that was spread by word-of-mouth through the fandom. Eventually, the theory that head writer Aaron Ehasz shipped Zutara was proven false, [3]
I would first caution anyone that unfortunately there are some "fake interviews" with me out there that spread some false infoAaron Ehasz, Reddit AMA [1]
However, there is also a lot of conflicting information. Ehasz confirmed that he was approached by Nickelodeon about his ideas for a fourth season and that he discussed this issue with co-creators Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino to the point where he thought it would end up being produced. He states such plans were eventually scrapped when the co-creators became occupied with assisting M. Night Shyamalan to produce 'The Last Airbender' live action movie.[4] The co-creators themselves, however, deny a fourth season was ever even discussed.[5]
Another point of contention is that the Avatar Extras state "Zuko was originally going to be the love interest for Katara" and "The writers and creators toyed with the idea of Zuko and Katara falling in love". While the co-creators deny that Zutara was ever considered, writers John O'Bryan and Joshua Hamilton have both stated in separate interviews that the writer's room fought over whether Katara should end up with Zuko or Aang.[6][7] Shyamalan has also stated that during the production of Book Three: Fire, the co-creators were still undecided, "At that time they hadn't even decided where things were going to end, even like who Katara was going to end up with."[8]
Several memeber from the main cast was also favoruably positioned towards Zutara[9] [10]. Including Mae Whitman and Dante Basco, the voice actresses of Katara and Zuko.[11]
LOK
When The Legend of Korra was announced in 2010, it was revealed that Aang and Katara had stayed together and had three children, one of whom was revealed in the first trailer. This angered Zutara fans who had hoped the canon pair would break up somewhere along the line, freeing Katara for Zuko.
Resurgence
During 2020, “Avatar: The Last Airbender” was put on the streaming platform Netflix. This caused the fandom to experience what it has called the atla renaissance, a period where an influx of new fans flooded in, reinvigorating old ships and reigniting old tensions.
Meta
- Get in losers we're stanning Zutara (It's BACK!) - A two hour indepth analysis regarding why Zutara is narratively superior.
- Hi, I'm slightly new to the ATLA fandom... - A point by point description of the worst of Zutara fandom, complete with links.
- What’s the issue with zutara?
Results of the Conflict
In 2020, Netflix began airing the series, re-igniting the shipping war.
In 2021, it was announced that Katara in the upcoming live-action adaptation would be aged up to 16 with Aang still being 12,[12] causing Zutara fans to hope their ship would be canon. [13]
Kataang shippers have become far more aggressive in their defense of their ship, due to Zutara fans who they believe to willfully misinterpret the characters and the show. [14] [15]
Links
References
- ^ https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/FanPreferredCouple/WesternAnimation
- ^ https://zutaraweek.tumblr.com/
- ^ let it be known that 2018 was the year zutara died
- ^ https://gizmodo.com/avatar-the-last-airbenders-writer-says-a-possible-seas-1833776084
- ^ https://www.polygon.com/animation-cartoons/2020/8/31/21405084/legend-of-korra-netflix-bryan-konietzko-michael-dimartino-interview-avatar
- ^ https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-avatar-braving-the-elemen-83488502/episode/meet-the-writer-with-john-obryan-85919549/
- ^ https://podtail.com/en/podcast/avatar-braving-the-elements/secret-tunnel-with-joshua-hamilton-and-jeremy-zuck/
- ^ https://www.lastairbenderfans.com/index.php?start_from=&ucat=8&subaction=showfull&id=1269959997&archive=1272555212&
- ^ https://screenrant.com/avatar-last-airbender-jack-de-sena-zukka-ship-response/
- ^ https://imgur.com/a/HvhgHX9
- ^ https://zutaras-where-its-at.tumblr.com/post/619718788405985280
- ^ Avatar: The Last Airbender Netflix Series Reportedly Lands New Showrunner
- ^ ATLA ENDING WITH KATARA AND ZUKO KISSING THIS TIME
- ^ Aang was infatuated with Katara, not in love with her [Dead link]
- ^ where was all this caring for katara's arc