I have to preface this by saying that my brother Adam told me about this show over a year ago. He said how amazing it was and that I had to watch it immediately and how much I’d love it. Of course I meant to watch it at some point but I never got around to it. Then he told me again when he was here this summer. You have to watch it! So I added it to my Netflix queue, but I’m so behind on Netflix because of all the Buffy the Vampire Slayer I’ve been watching, that I once again never got around to it. Finally, Adam got it from Missy and the girls for his birthday, so he immediately mailed me the first two seasons. Now that I’m watching it everyone is coming out of the woodwork to tell me what an amazing series this is.
And I have to say, this is the best animated show I’ve ever seen. And that’s saying a lot coming from me because I am but a humble fanboy servant to the awesomeness of the G1 Transformer series, but I have to face the facts and admit that it’s the best animated show around. For those of you unfamiliar with the show, it’s an American made show (aired on Nickelodeon) heavily influenced on Japanese anime. It’s about a world where there are four nations: Earth Kingdom, Fire Nation, Water Tribe, and Air Nomads, and each nation has Benders (like Jedi) who can control the element of their nation. But every generation a new Avatar is born in one of the nations who can control all four elements, and their responsibility is to keep the world in balance. But the last Avatar went missing, and during that time, the Fire Nation started a war and is trying to take control of the world. When the Avatar is found, he’s just a young airbender named Aang, and now he’s traveling the world with his friends trying to learn the power of the other elements so he can defeat the Fire Lord and bring balance back to the world.
That’s the plot in a nutshell, and I’m telling you that because I want you to know how epic the story is because this show is for anyone (like me) who is a fan of television shows or movies with enormous scopes like Battlestar Galactica, Lord of the Rings, and Star Wars. There’s an ongoing storyline that is unlike anything I’ve seen in an animated show. Transformers had a slight continuity towards it, but it all pretty much went to hell for the movie just so they could sell more toys, and the series itself never drew to a conclusion. But one of my favorite parts of the show is just how epic it all is, and how much thought must have went into creating a rich history. One of my favorite aspects of this is when Aang speaks with the spirits of the previous Avatars (who are essentially him since he is a reincarnation of them) and even turns into them for brief moments in battle. There’s nothing quite like seeing the smoke clear and there stands Avatar Roku ready to kick some Fire Nation ass, which might have been the most powerful moment for me in Season 1.
Speaking of kicking ass, the fight and action scenes are also the best I’ve seen in animation. There was this one scene where they’re all riding on Appa (a six-legged Buffalo, for the uninformed) and they’re trying to get passed a Fire Nation blockade and they have to dodge all these fireballs that are being shot at them. I tried to find a youtube clip to show you guys just how amazing it was because I can hardly describe its awesomeness, but Avatar clips are hard to come by on youtube. Damn copyrights. So you’ll just have to take my word for it. Or better yet, start watching the series yourself! The one on one fight scenes are also really well done. They’re long enough to be extremely engaging, but no two fights are the same. They’re always switching things up and constantly outdoing themselves. I was surprised to find myself enjoying Katara’s (a young waterbender, and Aang’s love interest) fight scenes the most out of any of the one on one fight scenes, especially in the final two episodes of Season 1. I loved the slow build up of her learning her powers and it just made for an amazing climactic battle.
Oh, and did I mention how funny and clever the show is? Because it’s really funny and clever too. You’re almost certain of a few laugh out loud moments every episode. I especially love the continuing bits of humor such as the cabbage vendor and every time (seriously, that’s not one word yet?) Sokka tries to tell a joke and no one laughs and you just hear a cough in the background.
So have I gushed about the show enough yet? Are you gonna start watching it? Listen, you read my blog, you know what kind of shows I like, so you have to know my word means something. And if the thought of me enjoying Catwoman is putting an inkling of doubt in your head, take Adam’s word for it. He doesn’t disappoint. This isn’t just some children’s cartoon show. Heck, I don’t even know that kids can understand half the stuff that’s going on. It’s more than that. A lot more. So if you haven’t seen it, just put the first disc on your Netflix queue. It has 4 half hour episodes on it, and I promise you you’ll be hooked. And if not, it’s only 90 minutes (without the commercials) out of your life. I started Season 2 last night, and it looks like it could get even better, so I’m really excited to see where the series takes me. And now if only M. Night Shyamalan doesn’t mess it up, the live action movie could be just as incredible.
Nickelodeon?? Isn’t that station for KIDS???
*puts on Hannah Montana*
I was actually flipping channels last weekend and the first two eps happened to be on so I gave it a shot. It’s really good…I’m almost done with Book 1 now. I’m still sort of amazed that it’s American made…never thought an American anime could be this good.
I sent you this on Twitter but I’m not sure if you saw it: http://www.racebending.com/v2/about/
So I’m already turned off to the movie.
I was already with some comments about some of my favorite moments from the show, but you haven’t seen them yet! I’ll refrain, but will tell you that it keeps getting better.
I will say that Katara’s fight scene at the end of season one was fantastic!
I still haven’t watched Veronica Mars, Pushing Daisies, Torchwood, etc. I’m never gonna catch up!
I’m glad to hear you got into Avatar!
My boyfriend and I started watching it last year and finished through it pretty quickly. I can’t wait to hear what you’ll think of Book 2 (my favorite!!) when you’re done.
I told you it was great!!!! But from Enrico’s first comment you can see why its so hard to get people to believe and actually give it a chance. Especially now that I am a parent of young kids, people just assume that my brain is too full of Dora and Sesame Street and wouldn’t recognize good television anymore.
Enrico: Yes, Nickelodeon is for kids but for the record, Hannah Montana is on the Disney Channel.
I’m not really much of an anime fan, don’t dislike it but never really got into it. Now that I’ve added Glee to a TV show I MUST watch I’m overwhelmed with 3 shows a week and we never seem to watch movies. Glad you enjoyed it though, I think any live action with suck big-time, that’s just the way it works, I think it’s a law or something.
I haven’t heard of this Avatar thing. I mostly watch Nat. Geo. and PBS.
And sometimes I watch Cops. Oh, that reminds me, this one time the cops were in a foot chase with this skinny, blond, shirtless redneck with a mullet. And when they tackled him and pulled him to his feet, you could Totally see the top inch of his ass crack!! I Know!, they usually blur out the good stuff, but they didn’t this time. It was sooo Hot!
OK, gotta go fire up the Nova and go get me some brewskies. See Ya!
Avatar isn’t really true anime, but is definitely influenced by it. One of these days, I have to try to convince Craig to watch “Death Note”. I may have to try to convince Tam now too. “Death Note is some gooooood anime.
Craig, it’s so cute when you gush about TV shows.
This actually sounds like something I might like. As soon as I get a TV I will have to consider checking this out.
Oz: I did see that. Sorry I never responded initially. I’m always hesitant to label something racist, but it’s definitely a bit odd. Regardless of the actual ethnicities, it looks like they picked the fairest people possible for Sokka and Katara who are much darker on the show, while they went darker for Prince Zuko, who is very fair on the show. Very strange indeed.
Avatar is pretty awesome. You are in for an epic ride, the series finale and final battle are epic O_O!
@John : I think Death Note is overrated but it isn’t the worst. I like XXXholic better.
@Javi: That is fair about Death Note. I know the fans can be a bit, “rabid” and they seem to be all about the slash and subtext. I really did enjoy it though.
I also loved Neon Genesis Evangellion, but the story isn’t as tight as I would like. I haven’t seen XXXholic, but I may have to check it out now.
Can’t wait to hear what you think of the rest of the series, Toph is totally my favorite character and you will get to meet her soon.
John: I really liked Neon Genesis Evangelion; I thought there was some good potential for the story line going into the series finale, but the ending was a total cop-out. Although, I haven’t seen the movie so I don’t know if they did any better with that one.
M.Nico: I totally agree! The story was really good until the last episode where I feel it fell horribly on its face. I’ve seen the two movies, which did help tie up the story a little, but it is still very vague.
I’ve read that the production company faced serious financial constraints toward the end of the series, which may explain some of the problem.
I know they rebooted the series and have made a few new movies, but I haven’t seen any of them.
Oh and Toph is totally my favorite character from Avatar!
Appa reminds me of Totoro.
The live-action movie of Death Note is pretty great, too.
This review gave me goosebumps! Okay, I’ve already seen the series in its entirety about 4 times but it makes me want to see it AGAIN.
I SWEAR I listed Avatar as a must watch at least a year ago but do I ever get credit… noooo. Just the fuzzy end of the lollipop for me.
@Craig: Well originally, Zuko was supposed to be played by Jesse McCartney, who couldn’t be any whiter. But he dropped out due to scheduling conflicts, so they cast Dev Patel (most likely in response to all the complaints of whitewashing).
I don’t know that I’d label it racist, but casting white actors to play Asian characters is yellowface, by definition. Not that that’s anything new in Hollywood or anything. I just think it’s really fucked up. I don’t get why blackface is totally acceptable but yellowface is okay.
Oh my god, please tell my boyfriend to watch it. I love this show! I’m an animator and I’ve seen and worked on a lot of cool shows but this one is THE BEST!
Has anyone played the free Avatar game on the Nick site called Avatar: Legends of the Arena. It actually freezes up my gaming computer but works perfectly well on my friend’s normal laptop. Just thought I’d throw this out there for anyone actually wanting to create a bender.
http://www.nick.com/avatarlegends/
I completely agree, Avatar is one of the best animated shows I’ve ever watched. They did an awesome job with all three seasons. The characters and story just continue to get better. I think one of the reasons is that they actually planned to finish the story, instead of just going on and on then losing momentum and direction. Watching the complete series is like reading a good book or series of books. You know it ends, but it’s total enjoyment getting there. By the way, the final scenes of season 3 do not disappoint!
Avatar gets even better in the next two seasons.