Back-In-Black
Banned
Okay, my younger brother has been bothering me for a LONG time to watch Avatar: The Last Airbender and I finally blazed through the show this week. And, while I enjoyed it I don't get the GOAT praise that he and a lot of other people have for it. I thought it was a fairly decent kids show with some good characterization but it still had plenty of flaws and didn't really rise above most other "anime" (yes, I know it's a western show), even other kid animated shows. I think in a sea of anime and kids shows that don't actually either have a plot or ending in sight, Avatar seems unique. The goal is clear from the start, bring balance to the elements by defeating The Fire Lord. By the end of the series this is accomplished and doesn't feel sudden and rushed. But, actually adhering to a plot structure is not enough for me to label it as the GOAT.
Let's start with the positives:
The Characters
Avatar has a rich cast of characters that, for the most part, are thoroughly explored and developed. Aang and Zuko get the lion's share of development with Zuko having the larger arc moving from villain to respected ally and eventually ruler. But, Katara, Sokka, and Toph to a lesser extent are all equally developed. Toph, unfortunately, gets left a little hanging by the end. In fact, we never see her confront or reunite with her parents, meanwhile Sokka and Katara get to reunite, lose, and then reunite with their dad like three times. Still, she is a great later term addition to the cast.
The supporting cast are also mostly all great from Iroh and Azula to the Kimoshi Warriors and even Appa. The great thing about the supporting cast is that they usually are not forgotten, a character like Suki could very well have disappeared forever after her initial episode. But, the show makes it a habit of resolving the stories of most anyone semi-important they come across in their adventures. Iroh was naturally my favorite supporting character, though I also enjoyed Azula, a pure sociopath. The show makes it painfully clear that Azula is not right, that she is in fact a sociopath. This is especially seen in that one flashback episode in which she basically mocks their mother's "death." However, as a kids show, it tended to back off at times from her sociopathy to almost make her human for an episode which was weird to me.
The World
I won't spend too much time on this aspect as it is fairly straight forward. The show really does an amazing job crafting a believable world with supporting, wonderful lore. The way each nation looks and their corresponding culture is great. And, their creature design is equally imaginative and hilarious.
Now with the negatives:
The Plot
Unfortunately, I found the actual plot of the series to be quite poor and fairly standard. It's basically a DBZ power up show. Aang has to learn all the elements to become more powerful to defeat the Fire Lord. The series slowly moves along this path, often with too much filler episodes of no relevance, and culminates in a lackluster, unimaginative finale. The finale was particularly awful for me because it completely ignores the shows strength, the characters.
The entire show we are told that Aang must confront the Fire Lord, meanwhile Ozai himself is mostly absent for the majority of the show. Thus, when the finale comes along we have no real attachment or tension about this fight because we've barely ever seen Ozai as opposed to Azula or Zuko. Honestly, I expected Azula to be the final fight with her overthrowing her father to become the new Fire Lord and reign even greater terror on the world. But, Ozai's lack of build up is just one bad aspect about the entire finale.
Basically, nothing about the finale focuses on the characters. Nobody really learn anything. Nobody really struggles. No one really plays upon their strengths built up over the series. There just aren't any real character arcs happening just action. Aang, because it's a kids show, refuses to kill Ozai so we get a prolonged DBZ fight until he Deus Ex Machina's Ozai and removes his bending powers which he learned from a magical Lion Turtle before the fight. Sakka, Toph, and Suki just make explosions on an airship. And, Zuko just fight Azula with Katara but nothing about these actions sequences utilizes these characters in a way that contributes to their arcs. Sakka doesn't use his brain to overcome some insurmountable problem possibly with his father looking on. You know becoming the leader he was always meant to be. Toph doesn't reconcile with her parents who finally see her as more than a fragile blind girl. Suki is just there. Zuko just fights Azula again for like the upteenth time with his fire powers. And, when he goes down Katara just uses her regular waterbending powers to defeat Azula. No blood bending. No freeing and/or teaming up with Mai and Ty Lee to use Azula's terrified subjects against her. Nothing. It's all just action, action until everyone is defeated, Aang does Deus Ex, and then everyone gets a happy ending with no one dying or suffering any ill fate. It's a real unimaginative, and character shallow finale.
And, ultimately it is reminiscent of my larger problem with the series. Like a lot of good anime, Avatar is propelled by a few great episodes (Shakras, Zuko Alone) but for the most part is surrounded with mediocrity that neither contributes much to the overall plot or adds much character depth. When I compare it to another similar kids show, The Clone Wars, it's clear to me which is the better show. Clone Wars focused on the characters til the very end, with a conclusion focused entirely on them as opposed to some big plot battle.
Let's start with the positives:
The Characters
Avatar has a rich cast of characters that, for the most part, are thoroughly explored and developed. Aang and Zuko get the lion's share of development with Zuko having the larger arc moving from villain to respected ally and eventually ruler. But, Katara, Sokka, and Toph to a lesser extent are all equally developed. Toph, unfortunately, gets left a little hanging by the end. In fact, we never see her confront or reunite with her parents, meanwhile Sokka and Katara get to reunite, lose, and then reunite with their dad like three times. Still, she is a great later term addition to the cast.
The supporting cast are also mostly all great from Iroh and Azula to the Kimoshi Warriors and even Appa. The great thing about the supporting cast is that they usually are not forgotten, a character like Suki could very well have disappeared forever after her initial episode. But, the show makes it a habit of resolving the stories of most anyone semi-important they come across in their adventures. Iroh was naturally my favorite supporting character, though I also enjoyed Azula, a pure sociopath. The show makes it painfully clear that Azula is not right, that she is in fact a sociopath. This is especially seen in that one flashback episode in which she basically mocks their mother's "death." However, as a kids show, it tended to back off at times from her sociopathy to almost make her human for an episode which was weird to me.
The World
I won't spend too much time on this aspect as it is fairly straight forward. The show really does an amazing job crafting a believable world with supporting, wonderful lore. The way each nation looks and their corresponding culture is great. And, their creature design is equally imaginative and hilarious.
Now with the negatives:
The Plot
Unfortunately, I found the actual plot of the series to be quite poor and fairly standard. It's basically a DBZ power up show. Aang has to learn all the elements to become more powerful to defeat the Fire Lord. The series slowly moves along this path, often with too much filler episodes of no relevance, and culminates in a lackluster, unimaginative finale. The finale was particularly awful for me because it completely ignores the shows strength, the characters.
The entire show we are told that Aang must confront the Fire Lord, meanwhile Ozai himself is mostly absent for the majority of the show. Thus, when the finale comes along we have no real attachment or tension about this fight because we've barely ever seen Ozai as opposed to Azula or Zuko. Honestly, I expected Azula to be the final fight with her overthrowing her father to become the new Fire Lord and reign even greater terror on the world. But, Ozai's lack of build up is just one bad aspect about the entire finale.
Basically, nothing about the finale focuses on the characters. Nobody really learn anything. Nobody really struggles. No one really plays upon their strengths built up over the series. There just aren't any real character arcs happening just action. Aang, because it's a kids show, refuses to kill Ozai so we get a prolonged DBZ fight until he Deus Ex Machina's Ozai and removes his bending powers which he learned from a magical Lion Turtle before the fight. Sakka, Toph, and Suki just make explosions on an airship. And, Zuko just fight Azula with Katara but nothing about these actions sequences utilizes these characters in a way that contributes to their arcs. Sakka doesn't use his brain to overcome some insurmountable problem possibly with his father looking on. You know becoming the leader he was always meant to be. Toph doesn't reconcile with her parents who finally see her as more than a fragile blind girl. Suki is just there. Zuko just fights Azula again for like the upteenth time with his fire powers. And, when he goes down Katara just uses her regular waterbending powers to defeat Azula. No blood bending. No freeing and/or teaming up with Mai and Ty Lee to use Azula's terrified subjects against her. Nothing. It's all just action, action until everyone is defeated, Aang does Deus Ex, and then everyone gets a happy ending with no one dying or suffering any ill fate. It's a real unimaginative, and character shallow finale.
And, ultimately it is reminiscent of my larger problem with the series. Like a lot of good anime, Avatar is propelled by a few great episodes (Shakras, Zuko Alone) but for the most part is surrounded with mediocrity that neither contributes much to the overall plot or adds much character depth. When I compare it to another similar kids show, The Clone Wars, it's clear to me which is the better show. Clone Wars focused on the characters til the very end, with a conclusion focused entirely on them as opposed to some big plot battle.
