Avatar: The Last Airbender (TV Show Review)

All right, so now that I'm done with my new anime reviews, I decided to do reviews for Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend Of Korra. I always like Avatar in the pieces I saw of it when I was younger, but it wasn't until October of last year that I decided I wanted to really get into it, so I found that the whole series was on Netflix and I watched all three seasons. And, I'm so glad I did because it made me respect the series a lot more than I remembered. My brother has been a fan of the series for so long and a whole lot longer than me, but I remember liking the parts I saw when I was younger quite a bit. But a few months ago, I watched the whole series from beginning to end. Like I said in my paintings post of some of the characters, one of the things I love most about it is that it's American made, but it's supposed to be like an anime. You can tell from the look of the animation and the storytelling that it's clearly taking inspiration from anime but it's not and it's all American made, which is something I really love about it. And not just from America, but Nickelodeon of all places, which is awesome. All right, so the story is based in this world where there are these four nations are based on the four elements, Earth, Air, Fire and Water. And there's a power that people can learn called "Bending", where people can control any of those elements as well. However, the world is currently at war with the Fire Nation who are trying to take control of the whole world. And, one day, a girl and boy from the Water tribe, Katara and Sokka, are out and find a boy named Aang who's the Avatar, the person who can master all four elements and can bring peace to the world. The problem is that Aang is a kid who's been inside ice for a hundred years and now is the only airbender left in the whole world. So it's now up to the three of them to get Aang to master all the elements and stop the Fire Nation, all while being hunted by the Fire Nation, especially Zuko, the prince of the Fire Nation hoping to capture Aang and bring him back to his father to regain his honour. So, like everyone else, what I love the most about the show is its story and characters and the way the story is told. For one, there's a lot of backstory behind the plot with the whole world being plunged in a hundred year war along with Aang being a person who was missing all that time because of him running away. As well as backstories for all these other characters as well. And the world and teachings of everything about it is also really fascinating. And the progression of the story as we're going with these character is a lot of fun. Not just because the characters themselves are a lot of fun, but the journey itself and exploring the world is all great to see. Something else I'm honestly surprised to be in this is that it does show some pretty scary things about war and all those things. Not as much as anime like Fullmetal Alchemist or something, obviously with it being aimed at kids and being made by Nickelodeon, but it still does that really well. The animation is also some of the best American made animation I've ever seen with it clearly taking inspiration from Japanese animation and the story is really well paced and well structured that I'm never bored when watching it. As I said before, Aang is my favourite character because of how likeable he is and how much fun he is as well as having a fun and happy personality but still being mature and responsible when he needs to be. But the rest like Zuko, Sokka, Katara and Toph are all amazing characters too. The voice acting is also all perfect. Zach Tyler as Aang, Dante Basco as Zuko, Jack De Sena as Sokka, Mae Whitman as Katara. All of them and all the rest are amazing. And either Sokka or Toph are the funniest character for me. Plus, not only are the characters fun and likeable, but they're also interesting and feel like real people, and I really have to commend the writers for doing an amazing job with each of them. And while some of these characters may seem familiar to other characters like Zuko being a bit like Vegeta, all of them are done so well that they feel like their own creations and they're so well written and interesting in their own right that you don't notice because you're so interested in them. So much so that when character moments do happen, like Zuko joining Team Avatar, it feels so satisfying and epic in its own way and it's amazing to watch his interactions with the other characters afterwards too. You also feel sorry for a lot of these characters. Like when Aang finds out about the other Airbenders or when we learn about his and Zuko's pasts or with Katara and Sokka with their parents or with Iroh and when we find out about his son. And it's interesting to find out the ways of the world too like how we watch the characters learn how to do different bending. It's cool and fun and interesting to hear it. It's made even cooler when we even see new bending being introduced like when Toph invented Metal Bending. I also love how even though this is technically a kid's show, it's still got things that adults could respect just as much and does its adult messages in a way that kids could understand and think about. I love it when shows like this treats kids like they're smart and feels like they could take something out of all this. And the backstories of each thing is interesting to watch like how the war began or how the cycle of the Avatar works and all that. I was surprised and fascinated to watch all of this and know how this world functions. And, along with other similarities this shares with anime, it does have some really hateable villains. The most obvious is Azula, but there's others as well like Long Feng and a lot of the others from the Fire Nation. And I like the different story turning points. Yes, there're episodes that might feel episodic like every TV show, but, like the best anime as well, the best parts come from when the characters discover new things and they gain more knowledge that could help them or that changes the story is some way. I think the best example is after Book 2 when we go into Book 3 after it looks like Azula killed Aang and the Fire Nation have taken the Earth Kingdom. The action scenes are also just amazing. They actually had real people perform moves so they could model the characters when they do bending and it really helps this a lot. A lot of them are really creative, cool and enjoyable to watch. I'd say my favourite is Aang's final fight against Ozai. Not only is it the fight that the whole series was building up to since the beginning, but it also delivered with it being really fun to watch and having some amazing moments.

And, speaking of Ozai, he wasn't seen at all for the longest time. Before we first saw him, he was being built up so much that he was felt as a true threat by just hearing about him. And, when it came time for us to finally see him, he didn't disappoint. The show also does an amazing job with connecting these storylines so well that when there's a big and epic moment, it feels earned and really satisfying. A lot of these moments are when characters from different parts of the series meet each other or when we see that some already knew each other. The interactions with the characters is also a good example of that. I especially love Bumi's interactions with most of the others. He's really funny and has a lot of great moments. Him along with the other members of the White Lotus are also cool to watch towards the end. Now, I feel like it's impossible to talk about this show without talking about its one infamous element and that's the "Great Divide" episode. This has been talked about so much because of how bad it is with the fact that it doesn't have anything to do with the story and is just watching a whole bunch of people arguing for about twenty minutes. Yeah, that's all that episode is about until the end. I mean, this episode was hated so much that the creators made fun of it later on. But aside from that, the rest of the episodes all have some amazing aspect to them. I would also say that another big similarity this show has with anime is having a transformation for its protagonist. That being the Avatar State when Aang gains huge power and control over the elements, but while mainly being shown during angry moments and when in extreme sorrow and pain. But then his use of it in the final fight with Ozai shows how much he can do with it. And really, there's just so much in this show that proves that this story was being handled by capable and genius TV show creators and writers. And the series as a whole has been talked about so much and has so many fans that I'm so glad that I got into it properly last year. Again, I know I've said it a lot, but I love how this was made by Nickelodeon and is an American property that's clearly inspired by anime. Along with SpongeBob Squarepants, this is probably my favourite Nickelodeon TV show. Though, unlike SpongeBob, this series actually knew when to stop. I mean, I love SpongeBob, I really do, but this series is pretty much almost perfect from beginning to end and is exactly what a TV show should be. And yeah, in all honesty, this series just has everything that makes a TV show amazing and perfect to watch. I don't think I even need to tell ya to go see this. You either already have or this has given you the idea to already. But, yeah, I'm so glad I watched the full series when I did and became a bigger fan. I love this series so much and it's amazing. And so, yeah, that's my review of Avatar: The Last Airbender. And so, everyone, thank you all for reading and please comment down below to tell me what you think.