Avatar The Last Airbender
Names are powerful things. Sometimes, whether it be TV shows, movies, books, etc. its enough to make you think that the article in question must be ridiculous if the name is silly. I rejected Buffy The Vampire Slayer for the entire time it was on television because of the name. With a name like "Avatar The Last Airbender" I imagined something similar. Why I assumed this when I was so wrong about Buffy, I don't know, but there you go. A friend of mine has an arrow tattoo on his hand/forearm in relation to this show. Then Fritters posted about reaching the end of the series, and I figured if two people whose taste I trust are into this thing, its time to check it out.
I'm glad I did. The show is an American anime. You wouldn't think such a thing was possible without being derivative, but they totally pull it off. It is primarily a children's show but the characters are so heartfelt and sincere and the themes are mature enough that any adult could easily also take interest. Assuming you like action oriented shows anyway. :)
For those of you who have never seen it.. the show is based in a martial arts world where some people are gifted with special abilities that allow them to manipulate one of the four elements: air, fire, water and earth. There is also an Avatar who can learn to control all four. Similar to Buffy, when the Avatar dies another takes their place.. or more accurately here, the avatar is constantly reincarnated. Usually the four element nations would peacefully coexist but then the leader of the Fire Nation decides his way is the best and he's going to conquer everyone else. To further complicate things the Avatar manages to get himself frozen in the artic for 100 yrs allowing the Fire Nation to pretty much get their way. The show begins as two kids from the southern water tribe find the frozen avatar and free him. He must learn to master all the elements and defeat the Fire Lord, but the Fire Lord's exiled son is out to stop him in order to redeem himself.
I was surprised to see just how much of this show is Zuko's story as well as Aang's. In a way, Zuko is the richest character.. he's certainly the one who grows and changes the most. He and Uncle Iroh are my favorite characters of the whole series. Which is not to put down Aang, Sakka, Katara, or Toff.. nearly all of the characters in this show are strong, and few are one dimensional.. even background characters like Mai learn and grow over the course of the series.
The one thing that made me mad about this series is that we don't get an answer as to where Zuko's mother is and how she is currently doing. I thought for sure Iroh was going to show up with her at some point before the final battle. Maybe they are saving that for a stand alone movie? Regardless it drove me nuts.
When I first started watching the show I wasn't sure if I would get into it, the first few episodes seemed a little too much on the kiddy side. By the second disc I was hooked, and then one day I found myself brought to tears over this show ("Tales of Bah Sing Se" Iroh's story, was the first time). The end was also pretty thought provoking. It's something how I sort of just expect people to kill off the bad guy in stories like this, to the point that I was downright annoyed with Aang for awhile there.. "stop whining and just kill him! Look at you! You're not even trying to fight back right now!"
Hehe.
But it is a good message, a better one to teach children, I suppose. Not that you can effectively stop an evil person similarly in real life, beyond putting them in jail forever.
Spoilers will probably be all over the comments too. For those of you who have seen it, let's discuss! :)
I'm glad I did. The show is an American anime. You wouldn't think such a thing was possible without being derivative, but they totally pull it off. It is primarily a children's show but the characters are so heartfelt and sincere and the themes are mature enough that any adult could easily also take interest. Assuming you like action oriented shows anyway. :)
For those of you who have never seen it.. the show is based in a martial arts world where some people are gifted with special abilities that allow them to manipulate one of the four elements: air, fire, water and earth. There is also an Avatar who can learn to control all four. Similar to Buffy, when the Avatar dies another takes their place.. or more accurately here, the avatar is constantly reincarnated. Usually the four element nations would peacefully coexist but then the leader of the Fire Nation decides his way is the best and he's going to conquer everyone else. To further complicate things the Avatar manages to get himself frozen in the artic for 100 yrs allowing the Fire Nation to pretty much get their way. The show begins as two kids from the southern water tribe find the frozen avatar and free him. He must learn to master all the elements and defeat the Fire Lord, but the Fire Lord's exiled son is out to stop him in order to redeem himself.
I was surprised to see just how much of this show is Zuko's story as well as Aang's. In a way, Zuko is the richest character.. he's certainly the one who grows and changes the most. He and Uncle Iroh are my favorite characters of the whole series. Which is not to put down Aang, Sakka, Katara, or Toff.. nearly all of the characters in this show are strong, and few are one dimensional.. even background characters like Mai learn and grow over the course of the series.
The one thing that made me mad about this series is that we don't get an answer as to where Zuko's mother is and how she is currently doing. I thought for sure Iroh was going to show up with her at some point before the final battle. Maybe they are saving that for a stand alone movie? Regardless it drove me nuts.
When I first started watching the show I wasn't sure if I would get into it, the first few episodes seemed a little too much on the kiddy side. By the second disc I was hooked, and then one day I found myself brought to tears over this show ("Tales of Bah Sing Se" Iroh's story, was the first time). The end was also pretty thought provoking. It's something how I sort of just expect people to kill off the bad guy in stories like this, to the point that I was downright annoyed with Aang for awhile there.. "stop whining and just kill him! Look at you! You're not even trying to fight back right now!"
Hehe.
But it is a good message, a better one to teach children, I suppose. Not that you can effectively stop an evil person similarly in real life, beyond putting them in jail forever.
Spoilers will probably be all over the comments too. For those of you who have seen it, let's discuss! :)