Hello readers! Today we have a ✨special✨ post. It’s a collab between Eshaan and Patrick. Our links are down at the bottom of the post, if you wanna check out some awesome blog posts. Today we’ll be talking about why you should watch one of the best shows of all time: Avatar: The Last Airbender.
A common misconception is that Avatar is anime. It really isn’t. Avatar is a show with animation based on Japanese anime, but it isn’t really anime itself, the reason being that it’s not actually Japanese. If you like awesome and beautifully animated battles using the four basic elements (fire, air, water, and earth) in incredible accord with IRL martial arts styles, and no blood or gore, this show is for you.
Now we’re going to give an introduction to one of our favorite childhood shows, and we’re still children, so that means something. The story opens with Katara, the only waterbender in her Southern Water Tribe and therefore a water bending novice (she couldn’t summon large amount of water), and Sokka, Katara’s brother and a Southern Water Tribe warrior who has no bending abilities, only his trusty boomerang and his fighting skills. The two go ice fishing, but Sokka starts insulting Katara and Katara gets so mad, she waterbends out a giant iceberg. Katara and Sokka realize that inside the iceberg are a boy and some sort of giant creature. They go investigate, but the ice suddenly cracks, revealing a bald little boy with glowing blue eyes in front of an insanely large hairy furry …thing. The boy suddenly wakes up and (now without glowy eyes) sneezes himself 10 feet into the air, and then comes back down safe and sound. Katara and Sokka realize that he’s an airbender, which is basically a type of bender that nobody’s seen in 100 years, due to the Air Temple genocide by the evil Fire Nation. Aang starts running and playing around like nothing has happened, even though he’s been stuck in the ice for 100 years! Once he realizes what happens he sets out on a journey with Katara and Sokka, so he can master all four elements, he only needs to learn three elements since he has mastered air already.
The recurring antagonists are a disgraced Fire Nation prince named Zuko and his tea-loving funny uncle, Iroh, which you’ll learn more about later if you watch the show like we’ve been suggesting. They both attempt to capture the Avatar for Zuko’s father, the Fire Lord Ozai, who is the main antagonist. And guess who’s the Avatar: THAT’S RIGHT IT’S AANG HE’S THE AVATAR MAN.
The avatar is basically a person who can use every basic bending type, I know it’s kinda OP. There can be only one Avatar in the world at one. I know what you’re thinking, what happens when the Avatar DIES. Well a new one is basically born a few seconds later. I don’t how it happens and how they choose the next Avatar, but then again it is what it is. However, if the Avatar dies while in the Avatar State, this incredibly powerful mega form of the Avatar, then the cycle breaks. I really don’t want to know how they know this, but I guess they just know by cartoon logic.
There’s a pattern of who’s the Avatar, so for example if the Avatar was a firebender from the Fire Nation, then the next Avatar would be an airbender who is an Air Nomad, and then the next would be a waterbender from one of the Water Tribes (there are two at the two poles) and then finally an earthbender from the Earth Kingdom and then the cycle repeats and repeats and repeats, you get it.
However, Aang is the last airbender, as said in the title of the show. I mean, other than Appa, the flying bison. Flying bison were the first airbenders.
Before we do our reviews of the show, I’d like to stress one point: I am absolutely sure that at some point in the comments, somebody would ask, “Have you heard about the movie?” And I would end up having a stress-induced seizure, falling to the floor, and twitching and screaming there for about 20 minutes, give or take. So before I have a seizure, I want to take a pre-emptive FAQ and just explain the movies.
There are two possible responses about the movies: The first is about “Way of Water”, the Disney sequel to a completely different movie, which is basically Pocahontas with blue aliens.
The second is about the “Avatar: The Last Airbender” movie, which was a Hollywood disaster. I mean, jeez. Wow. That movie… that movie was horrible.
Eshaan’s Review
This show is amazing and it will always be one of my favorites. I’ve already watched it TWICE and I’m only 11. It has so much action and no blood or gore. All the characters on team Avatar are amazing.The show is really funny and can get serious sometimes. They have some villains you want to see more of like Iroh, Zuko, etc. but I won’t talk about them anymore since I don’t want to spoil the show. You can watch it on many available streaming services like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Paramount, Apple TV, and more. You could watch this show at any time of your life, a child or adult. Aang goes on many side quests and there are many funny characters you meet, ranging from animals to non-benders and allies to villains. A few of the funniest are Sokka, Toph, Momo, Iroh, and many more and don’t forget about the cabbage man. Anyways the show has amazing graphics and characters. One of my favorite things about this show are the different bending elements. Like Patrick I’ve practiced all of the bending types, mostly only right after I watched the show for the first time. For Earth Bending I’d pretty much just stand in different stances and move my hands around in the air powerfully. For Fire Bending I’d get a little looser and move a little while still punching the air and occasionally kick. For Water Bending I’d get really loose and move around, I would be the water. Finally for air I’d be completely loose and move around kicking and punching the air softly.
Patrick’s Review
I LOVE THIS SHOW. The animation is incredible, the show is hilarious, the plot is fun but doesn’t diverge too much from the overall story, the redemption arcs are incredible, the voice acting is top-notch, the characters are masterfully written… INCREDIBLE. I want to stress the power of the animation: it’s one thing to draw a stick figure and say “WELP! I’M DONE!” and another thing to create a character that the audience will love, support, and occasionally burn offerings too. It’s not just getting the audience to love a hero, though: sometimes, you can create a memorable, incredible, quotable villain who can become a show’s best character and leave the audience wanting to just skip ahead to the next episode with that villain in it. And Avatar did just that, with villains like Zuko, Iroh, Mai, Ty Lee, Azula, and even… well, saying his name right now would be spoilers, but I can say that he drove the audience quite mad (winka winka)(for actual viewers of the show, remember “lettuce leaf” and it’ll come to you).
The gags are great, like the ever-present Cabbage Merchant, who took the vegetable business through perseverance of strength and leaf of cabbage (cart). And let’s not forget Momo. Won’t say too much about him now, but you can tell that something funny is about to happen when he shows up. The show also incorporated some real life martial arts techniques, choosing a different style for each kind of bending. Sometimes, at night, I practice bending in my room. I’ve got earthbending down already:
Avatar also has several spinoffs, like the comics, the prequel novels, and the sequel series, the Legend of Korra, about the next Avatar after Aang. All of these (with the possible exception of Korra) were great world-building additions to the continuity, with even more vibrant characters like Rangi, Kyoshi, Yangchen, Yun, Sneers, Smellerbee, Ursa, the Cabbage Merchant, and so many more.
All in all, Avatar is a great show. Not just great. Amazing. Astounding. Incredible. Breathtaking. Life changing. I will Google more adjectives later, but for now, I’m just going to say an Aang quote from the very beginning of the show:
To be a bender, you have to let go of fear.
-Avatar Aang, The Boy in the Iceberg, Avatar: The Last Airbender
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