I barely know anything about Avatar, and I don't know Doctor Who at all, but I'm just adding my two cents to say that I agree with you about the parent/older sibling/mentor vibes. It's very much a do not want for me, since it creates a situation where one character is more "powerful" than another character, at least on a mental/emotional level. I can deal with it easier when they are at least somewhat closer to an age I see as consenting, but unless the character in question is Xenosaga's Junior, who is technically 40+ years old, then no, no snogging twelve-year-olds for me. XD
It's very much a do not want for me, since it creates a situation where one character is more "powerful" than another character, at least on a mental/emotional level.
Yeah, you've pretty much nailed the problem there. See also: blatant seme/uke relationships, or anything with a particularly large age gap. There's the odd exception, but it's pretty rare.
I often really like mentor/student relationships, just not in a way I ever want to see sexualised. But clearly there are people who see it completely the opposite way, considering the popularity of teacher/student ships you see in fandoms like Naruto and Harry Potter. Each to their own I guess, but I've never felt the appeal.
Yeah. Agreed on the seme/uke stuff. I can handle large age gaps if it's clearly set in a fantasy world, where it's not unusual to encounter species/characters that reach 400 years and older, but age generally becomes an issue for me when a fandom involves teenagers, especially preteens.
I like mentor/student relationships, too. I can handle if they're sexualized (though really, I'm not keen on it), but they would bother me a lot less if the people involved were of a somewhat consenting age.
Overall, I really enjoyed Avatar and still think it is one of the best kid shows we've got. But yeah, that Katara/Aang kiss compleatly squicked me out. Katara has always been too much of a mother figure to Aang for me to ever feel comfortable shipping them. (Also its compleatly unrealistic that a 12-year old with no kissing experiance and a 14-year old with minimal kissing experance could kiss like that)
I really loved the scene where he was talking to his past selves, esspecilly Kiyoshi.
And it's weird how the Ember Island Players episode even went so far to demonstrate that the writers know the relationship makes more sense as a sisterly kind of thing, yet still they're so determined to make it more than that. (I guess you could argue that it's also unrealistic for a 12-year-old boy to be saving the world like that, but the saving the world part was far less disturbing.)
It was a great scene, wasn't it? *Everyone* is telling Aang that killing the Fire Lord is as justifiable as killing is ever going to get. Was a bit much to expect he'd actually take them up on that advice though, I guess.
Yeah, last week - and then hardly anyone showed up at PenCafe for us to talk to about it. ^^; It was a pretty quiet week.
A gazing-into-the-sunset ending would have made me so much happier, though with all the kissing there'd already been by then it was more than we had much hope for. The idea of a 12-year-old that fixated on kissing is not a comfortable image. -_-
And I thought that the fight scenes were too blasty blasty and not enough martial artsy, but I haven't seen that opinion from anyone else so maybe its just me.
I don't think it crossed my mind at the time, but I can see what you mean. Between the whole comet power-up for the Fire Lord and Aang absolutely having to use all four elements as much as possible, all that blasty stuff was pretty much inevitable though. I wasn't particularly wowed by the fight scenes at the end personally, but that's probably more because the rest of the series had already set the bar so high for fight animation that there was nowhere new to go.
i agree with the whole kataang kiss. squick for me, since i never really shipped the pairing in the first place (zukoxmai, though i don't really ship them as much as i do pairings in other series).
aside from avatar, i haven't watched american cartoons in a very long time. i start feeling like i'm losing a braincell with every minute i keep watching them. O_o
though i don't know about now, since the shows we get here are usually months late from when they premiered in the us.
I was never very involved in any of the Avatar ships myself. The characters are all so young and there's so much more important stuff going on that my cynical side keeps saying "eh, they'll be over each other within a year anyway." But from all the responses here, it's starting to feel like the only people who ever thought Katara/Aang was a good idea from the start were the producers.
Avatar is definitely the exception rather than the rule where American cartoons are concerned, but considering how massively successful it's been, I'd be very surprised if other producers weren't sitting up and taking notice.
i've noticed a LOT of martial arts cartoons pop up on tv recently, though they all look like spoofs. i don't know if they're any good, since i only see them while my brother and sister watch tv.
AVATAR!♥ I agree with the Katara/Aang thing; I think the ending could have done without that. I am mostly incredibly pleased with Zuko and his redemption, though, because imo it was done so well and I was so happy for him and Iroh in the finale.
The third season has a special place in my heart because:Aang randomly growing hair! Fire Nation brats go to the beach! Sokka and Zuko adventures!
And really, I was impressed by how fast even the epic fight scenes were. The last battle was done in one episode, duuuude. *was weaneed to Dragonball*
Y'know, personally I would've been happier if they'd left out a lot of the season three stuff and let Zuko's redemption go straight to the conclusion it was building towards all through season two. I do get where they were coming from, what with giving him everything he'd ever wanted to show him how little it was always worth, but to get there the ending of season two just seemed to come out of the blue and throw out so much development. All through season two Zuko's becoming a nicer guy and Azula's trying to kill him, then suddenly right at the end (after she's even had him imprisoned!) she turns around and says she wants his help and he leaps on the chance! I don't even know which part got to me more - the idea she'd reverse her opinion of his usefulness so suddenly without one throwaway line worth of lead up, or the idea he'd trust her again after everything he'd been through
( ... )
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Yeah, you've pretty much nailed the problem there. See also: blatant seme/uke relationships, or anything with a particularly large age gap. There's the odd exception, but it's pretty rare.
I often really like mentor/student relationships, just not in a way I ever want to see sexualised. But clearly there are people who see it completely the opposite way, considering the popularity of teacher/student ships you see in fandoms like Naruto and Harry Potter. Each to their own I guess, but I've never felt the appeal.
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I like mentor/student relationships, too. I can handle if they're sexualized (though really, I'm not keen on it), but they would bother me a lot less if the people involved were of a somewhat consenting age.
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I really loved the scene where he was talking to his past selves, esspecilly Kiyoshi.
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It was a great scene, wasn't it? *Everyone* is telling Aang that killing the Fire Lord is as justifiable as killing is ever going to get. Was a bit much to expect he'd actually take them up on that advice though, I guess.
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A gazing-into-the-sunset ending would have made me so much happier, though with all the kissing there'd already been by then it was more than we had much hope for. The idea of a 12-year-old that fixated on kissing is not a comfortable image. -_-
And I thought that the fight scenes were too blasty blasty and not enough martial artsy, but I haven't seen that opinion from anyone else so maybe its just me.
I don't think it crossed my mind at the time, but I can see what you mean. Between the whole comet power-up for the Fire Lord and Aang absolutely having to use all four elements as much as possible, all that blasty stuff was pretty much inevitable though. I wasn't particularly wowed by the fight scenes at the end personally, but that's probably more because the rest of the series had already set the bar so high for fight animation that there was nowhere new to go.
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aside from avatar, i haven't watched american cartoons in a very long time. i start feeling like i'm losing a braincell with every minute i keep watching them. O_o
though i don't know about now, since the shows we get here are usually months late from when they premiered in the us.
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Avatar is definitely the exception rather than the rule where American cartoons are concerned, but considering how massively successful it's been, I'd be very surprised if other producers weren't sitting up and taking notice.
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The third season has a special place in my heart because:Aang randomly growing hair! Fire Nation brats go to the beach! Sokka and Zuko adventures!
And really, I was impressed by how fast even the epic fight scenes were. The last battle was done in one episode, duuuude. *was weaneed to Dragonball*
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Aha, it may have been two episodes. I was marathoning the last few ones, so I probably didn't notice. XD
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