-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
What's the best cartoon after Avatar The Last Airbender?
- Thread starter Khalifa Jayy
- Start date
- Status
Scrolling down I thought this was Ed, Edd 'n' Eddy
so add Ed, Edd, 'n' Eddy to the list of awesome
I usually have my TV on for noise and I just leave Cartoon Network on all day because it's about the only channel that doesn't piss me off. I used to have to find something else or turn off the TV if Annoying Orange or Uncle Grandpa came on, but AO hasn't been playing recently and Uncle Grandpa... isn't terrible.
Give Adventure Time a real chance.
AlimNassor
Banned
Star wars: Clone Wars, is god-tier. It's just so fucking awesome. Its what happens when the creators tell the censors to go to hell. What kid show allows people to be brutally killed and tortured, innocent people getting massacred, lots of death and violence? Clone Wars.
Avatar was a kid show trying to be adult, but, everything about it was so toned down. No deaths, people using non-lethal attacks in a fucking war, etc. Korra wasn't much better. The whole series attempted to be more "adult" by using mature themes, but, most of them time did them as half assed as possible.
Avatar was a kid show trying to be adult, but, everything about it was so toned down. No deaths, people using non-lethal attacks in a fucking war, etc. Korra wasn't much better. The whole series attempted to be more "adult" by using mature themes, but, most of them time did them as half assed as possible.
I mean, cuz come on...
I don't know why I'm so turned on right now. This show, man. This show.
Don't forget they had a completely different earthbending style based on the Southern Praying Mantis Kung Fu style for Toph, because she was self-taught.
Forgot about Gravity Falls. That's a good pick. Regular Show is pretty cool too.
Korra still sucks though. Obviously not the worse cartoon ever, with stuff like Johnny Test around. But it's not good, and absolutely doesn't deserve to be mentioned in a discussion about "best cartoons".
Korra still sucks though. Obviously not the worse cartoon ever, with stuff like Johnny Test around. But it's not good, and absolutely doesn't deserve to be mentioned in a discussion about "best cartoons".
Maybe not the best, but I still love it.
Great characters, great animation (the facial motions still look good), great voice-acting. It had a variety of episodes and balanced comedy well with the serious parts. Season 2 is just one solid block of amazing. If you can get over the typical Transformers merchandise angle and the weird pacing, it's a winner. Beast Machines is also enjoyable, but it lacks the charm of the first.
I still need to watch Reboot. :-(
Great characters, great animation (the facial motions still look good), great voice-acting. It had a variety of episodes and balanced comedy well with the serious parts. Season 2 is just one solid block of amazing. If you can get over the typical Transformers merchandise angle and the weird pacing, it's a winner. Beast Machines is also enjoyable, but it lacks the charm of the first.
I still need to watch Reboot. :-(
Gravity Falls is fantastic. I was expecting something a bit cute and funny and I got a whole lot more out of it.
Avatar was great because the cast of characters and their growth together. The main plot wasn't entirely unique but it had an incredible mythology (even if some of it was iffy). So no, it wasn't perfect by any means. But the overall package was amazing. I actually got into Avatar a couple years after it was over. And man it really had a profound impact on me. I never expected that the show I was watching in early season 1 would turn into such an epic.
I don't know if it's the best cartoon ever as OP states, but it's certainly at the top. So much so that I consider it one of my favorite shows even next to dramas. It's something I'll revisit many times in my life.
And yeah, the Legend of Korra is a mess. I liked Season 1, despite most of the negative criticism. It had issues, but I liked it as it's own thing, even if it didn't live up to ATLA. I didn't need it to. But Korra season 2 was generally awful. At least 55% of it was so fundamentally broken from a writing perspective.
Read the comics after ATLA. Some of it is good stuff. Also I love Azula.
I don't know if it's the best cartoon ever as OP states, but it's certainly at the top. So much so that I consider it one of my favorite shows even next to dramas. It's something I'll revisit many times in my life.
And yeah, the Legend of Korra is a mess. I liked Season 1, despite most of the negative criticism. It had issues, but I liked it as it's own thing, even if it didn't live up to ATLA. I didn't need it to. But Korra season 2 was generally awful. At least 55% of it was so fundamentally broken from a writing perspective.
Read the comics after ATLA. Some of it is good stuff. Also I love Azula.
Zantetsuken
Member
Excellent list
MisterGrey3000
Member
Cartoon Network hasn't been too good to poor Genndy.
Samurai Jack, and Sym-Bionic Titan deserved much better.
enigmatic_alex44
Whenever a game uses "middleware," I expect mediocrity. Just see how poor TLOU looks.
the 26 episode series of Escaflowne is spectacular and still one of my top faves.
CoffeeJanitor
Member
That show is so overrated...It would be fantastic yeah, if I was 13. Its definitely not the masterpiece for all ages people make it out to be.
Khalifa Jayy
Banned
Hot damn, I completely forgot that she was self taught. Now that makes sense. Christ, the attention to detail here is astounding.
Disagree. I saw this when I was older and loved it. Outside the first half of season 1 it's not that kiddyish.
Prophet Steve
Member
Personally I have really enjoyed Tron: Legacy and Green Lantern: The Animated Series. I have checked out too few of the more comedic shows but I have seen parts of Adventure Time and Regular Show and enjoy both of them.
Symbionic-Titan was great too, but I think a bit less than those other shows. It got better as the show went on I think, but by the time it got great it had to stop.
Symbionic-Titan was great too, but I think a bit less than those other shows. It got better as the show went on I think, but by the time it got great it had to stop.
Twilight Gap
Member
Not a traditional cartoon, but TRON Uprising's production value is in a league of its own.
I think the difference is that if you go back and watch season 1 of A:TLA, it still holds up as well-written for the most part. It's not as in-your-face dramatic and awesome as what comes afterwards, but episodes like The Storm are incredibly well done. Even at that point, the Aang and Zuko have more depth than anything from Korra's first season.
Tyrant Rave
Banned
Wakfu was really good.
Sorry, I can't agree that TLA is the best cartoon. Seasons 1 and 2 were great (for the most part), but season season 3 took a massive nosedive.
Shows that are better than TLA:
- Justice League/Unlimited
- Batman: TAS
- Superman: TAS
- Gargoyles
- Young Justice
- Static Shock
I know there's some that I'm forgetting.
Season 1 was pretty damn horrible though.
Season 1 was pretty great, and had a fantastic finale.
Shows that are better than TLA:
- Justice League/Unlimited
- Batman: TAS
- Superman: TAS
- Gargoyles
- Young Justice
- Static Shock
I know there's some that I'm forgetting.
Season 1 was pretty damn horrible though.
Season 1 was pretty great, and had a fantastic finale.
Hence why I said "for the most part." I think another thing that works in TLA's favor is that it's longer, so episodes like the Great Divide or Bato of the Water Tribe don't stand out so much. They are also episodes that aren't very important to the plot and overall character arcs. Meanwhile, the issues with Korra tend to be those that are directly tied to those things.
Transformers, Thundercats, Gi Joe, TMNT, He-Man, Silverhawks, Doug, Bobby's World, Fat Albert, Toxic Crusaders and those X-men and Spiderman 90's shows. All of these were infinitely better than that air bending thing you named.
Actually I never watched The Last Airbender so I have no idea if that's true.
The Last Airbender is actually really, really good. It's not perfect, but it's definitely a top ten all-time cartoon show.
I was surprised. First I saw of it was a DVD on a shelf somewhere, where it looked like some lame anime ripoff or something.
Scarecrow
Member
Wakfu recently had a kickstarter funded and will be dubbed in English in the near future. I highly recommend it if you like Avatar.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Zuh0Xaw9xA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Zuh0Xaw9xA
This is the impression I've always gotten as well. I'd check it out though if there was a convenient way to watch them all. Don't believe it's on Netflix is it?
The stylized character designs kept me away from this. It's so hideous to watch.
You can watch all of it on Amazon Prime. It's well worth your time.
Also, I don't think it's "anime" at all. The only parallels is that it deals with Eastern themes (but to me, almost never feels Japanese) and the character models have big eyes. To me, it was clearly a Western endeavor.
It used to be, but it's on Amazon Prime now.
Extra Sauce
Member
My Top 5 in no particular order:
The Venture Bros
Adventure Time
Rick and Morty
Batman: The Animated Series
Futurama
The Venture Bros
Adventure Time
Rick and Morty
Batman: The Animated Series
Futurama
It's hard to find good Western animated shows that have run to completion (not canceled too soon) on par with Avatar. The Bruce Timm DC shows are the only ones that come to mind at the moment.
DC Combo: Batman TAS, Batman Beyond, Superman TAS, Justice League, JLU.
(It's so funny how people go on about MCU's consistency and interconnected heroes but these shows did it a decade earlier, and they did it well).
DC Combo: Batman TAS, Batman Beyond, Superman TAS, Justice League, JLU.
(It's so funny how people go on about MCU's consistency and interconnected heroes but these shows did it a decade earlier, and they did it well).
Lee Chaolan
Member
Yeah, loved Avatar TLAB.
Haven't been able to get into Korra sadly. =/
Adventure Time is my pick though.
Haven't been able to get into Korra sadly. =/
Adventure Time is my pick though.
CharminUltra
Member
I will watch this show eventually, but the damn art style turns me off big time.
MidnightCowboy
Member
The art is one of the best parts :/ What don't you like about it?
CharminUltra
Member
The fakenime look of it. Not that it will matter if the story is great in which case I'm sure I will get over it eventually.
Yeah, I thought it was pretty good. The art direction isn't stylized, and the character designs and animation are all realistic.
edit:
Eh..... just watch it. It didn't really come across as "fakenime" to me. To me, it looked more like it had been inspired by it more than it was trying to capture that look. It's actually really well done.
The Grim Heaper
Member
Clarence is pretty funny and interesting. It's a new show on Cartoon Network that I didn't think I'd enjoy during the first few minutes of the pilot, but it got really good. It's in the middle of the first season now and it's probably up there on my favorite cartoons list, next to Rick and Morty.
The premise is extremely simple but the execution and timing are both spot-on. It's about an elementary school boy who is optimistic about any and everything... and that's it.
The premise is extremely simple but the execution and timing are both spot-on. It's about an elementary school boy who is optimistic about any and everything... and that's it.
I want more :/
Kotetsu534
Member
TLA has made every other animated series I've seen appear mediocre by comparison, but Batman: TAS likely holds up best. But the quality of characterisation, character development, animation, directing, music, pacing (esp. end of S1 and S2), meaningful episodes devoted to characters other than the protagonists, the wit of the writing, put it on its own level. I don't Korra half as compelling, and I don't think it's too bad. I've rewatched it mutliple times over the years (and introduced others to it with little interest in animation) and while it clear has its imperfections, I've only grown in my admiration. One of a kind in the west.
DragonKnight
Member
Disagree with everything you said. But opinions and all that.
Twilight Gap
Member
I felt the same about Tron uprising at first. Their legs are most of their body mass after all.
But both shows don't let it detract from the main portions. TCW especially improves as it goes along, but its held back by poor dialog and some weak (or silly) story arcs, which is why I didn't mention it. Otherwise, at least on the animation front, it is one of the best to come out of the west market.
Like I said, I had the same reaction at first before I watched it.
Watch it anyway. The animation is fantastic.
Think my favorite is Regular Show. Haven't watched it in forever though.
I've slowly been chipping away at this. I liked season 1, but I find myself bored with season 2 so far(Skrull Arc). Would you say it gets better?
I've slowly been chipping away at this. I liked season 1, but I find myself bored with season 2 so far(Skrull Arc). Would you say it gets better?
TangerineCloud
Banned
I totally get where you're coming from. Before I watched the show, I felt the same way. However, while at first glance it may seem like the product of the cynical anime-pandering that animation studios and comic publishers were doing in the early 00s, Avatar actually does a remarkable job of setting itself apart visually from all of the other "Americanime"-style media of that era. It has its own strong, cohesive art direction that exists independently from the fakenime look. It's not really the type of art direction that you can appreciate from screenshots and clips alone; rather, you kind of soak it in as you move through the series and see it all come together.
In the artbook for the show, the lead art-guy/co-showrunner (his official title escapes me), Bryan Konietzko, is very much aware of the fact that he is an "outsider" when it comes to the anime/manga art-style, and at one point, he explicitly states that he's not very good at emulating it. And honestly, if you look at shots from the series, that's not exactly hard to see. It's clear that the safest and most inoffensive (maybe even boring) style was chosen for the series. But as you watch Avatar and see the art style in context, you kind of realize that that's the point; the plainness and relative nondescriptness of the style allows the art direction to take center stage. Avatar doesn't expect to get anywhere on the strength of its art style, nor does it attempt to (though that's not to say it should be completely forgiven for looking generic). The fact that it looks like anime is almost irrelevant. It doesn't try to *be* anime; it doesn't try to *be* Japanese; it doesn't fetishize this art style in order to appeal to some rapidly-growing contingent of consumers. It simply uses it to convey the art direction; it uses it as a means to an end.
(or maybe I'm just full of shit and have Stockholm-Syndromed myself into apologizing for Avatar's art. lol)
Though seriously, I think you'll manage to look past it or come to like it. I was a gigantic weeaboo when I first watched Avatar and came in wanting to hate it so much because it was American, but it ended up stealing my heart. Hopefully you'll have a similar experience.
- Status
Similar threads
- Locked