"Water. Earth. Fire. Air. Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony. Then, everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked. Only the Avatar, master of all four elements, could stop them. But when the world needed him most, he vanished. A hundred years passed, and my brother and I discovered the new Avatar: an Airbender named Aang. And although his Airbending skills are great, he has a lot to learn before he's ready to save anyone. But I believe, Aang can save the world."
This quote, taken from Avatar's title sequence, gives you a very basic idea of Avatar's premise: Aang must stop the war with the Fire Nation that has raged for 100 years and restore balance to the world. Before he can do that, though, he must master all four elements so that he has a chance of defeating Firelord Ozai, the leader of the Fire Nation. There's a twist, though: early on in the series, it is revealed that the very same comet that Firelord Sozin used to ignite the war 100 years earlier will pass by again by summer's end. This comet will endow all Firebenders with extraordinary power, which will give them the ability to end the war once and for all, and not even the Avatar will restore balance.
Of course, for those who haven't watched the series, all these terms I'm throwing out there might be confusing; so before I begin the actual review, I'll give an overview of the Avatar universe. The world is divided into four nations: the Air Nomads, the Earth Kingdom, the Water Tribes, and the Fire Nation. Within each of these nations, a large number of the individuals have the ability to manipulate their respective element: an ability known as "bending".
The Avatar is the spirit of the planet incarnated into mortal form. When an Avatar dies, he or she is reincarnated into the next nation in the cycle (Water, Earth, Fire, Air). Unlike the other benders, though, the Avatar alone has the ability to bend all four elements.
100 years ago, just before the start of the war with the Fire Nation, it was revealed to Aang that he was the Avatar at a mere twelve years of age, when it was the norm to wait until the Avatar was sixteen. Scared, confused, and with the Air Nomads' decision to separate him from his guardian, Monk Gyatso, Aang flees the Southern Air Temple with his flying bison, Appa, and gets caught in a storm. With his life threatened, Aang enters the Avatar State, a condition that he enters whenever he is under severe physical or emotional stress. In this state, all the experience of all the past Avatars are passed on to him. Acting on instinct alone, Aang freezes himself in a block of ice to prevent himself from drowning, living in suspended animation for the next 100 years.
Ironically enough, it was this decision to run away that saved Aang; when the war began, the Fire Nation's first move was to exterminate all the Airbenders. The genocide was a success, except for one last Airbender, the one they were looking for all along: the Avatar, frozen in a block of ice beneath the sea near the Southern Water Tribe.
By now, conditions are critical; the Southern Water Tribe has been raided to the point that it is essentially defenseless, the Northern Water Tribe is continually on the defensive, and the Earth Kingdom is the last bastion of hope against the Fire Nation, and even it is beginning to fall.
100 years later, Katara, a Waterbender, and her brother Sokka accidentally discover Aang on a fishing trip when their canoe is destroyed. Katara saves him from the iceberg with her powerful (though untrained) Waterbending skills, and it isn't long before they figure out that this boy in the iceberg is an Airbender.
Meanwhile, Prince Zuko, the Firelord's son and heir to the throne, hunts the Avatar. Two years ago, he was banished from the Fire Nation, with only one way to regain his honor: capture the Avatar, so that the Fire Nation's victory will be assured. His only companions are his Uncle Iroh, who accompanied him when he was banished, and his unimportant crew of the ship he uses. His mission is considered to be a fool's errand, since the Avatar had disappeared and never been seen again 100 years ago. But, against all odds, Zuko manages to find him, and so begins the chase across the globe.
The plot may seem somewhat standard; it's essentially your basic "defeat the evil overlord before he becomes unstoppable!" story. However, all the twists that happen along the way are enough to keep things interesting.
The characters, though, are what really keep the plot from descending into genericness. While I'm certain that plenty of other shows have had characters with the ability to control the elements, few shows have had this level of depth with their characters. Aang, for example, is your typical fun-loving, optimistic hero, who must come to terms with the fact that it is his duty to save the world - even if the means of doing so goes against everything he's ever been taught. The character who has the most development, though, is the bitter, angry Prince Zuko. It's not just his personality that changes throughout the series; it's his goals, his ideals, and everything that he stands for. He is, without a doubt, the epitome of character development done right.
Where the show really shines, though, are the fight scenes. The creators of the show could have just had the benders wave their hands randomly throughout the air and have the elements fly around. However, they took it a step forward and made all of the bending styles based off of a type of martial arts. This, combined with some absolutely amazing animation, makes for some of the best battle sequences I have ever seen. From the very beginning, they're impressive enough, but as the series goes on, they get better and better, culminating in two absolutely breathtaking battles during the series finale.
Even when the show has a serious plot and brutal battles, it has some great comedy, to boot. Most of it comes from Sokka (also known as the Comic Relief Character), but each of the characters have their fair share of humorous moments. I personally don't think the series becomes "laugh-out-loud" funny until about halfway through the second season, but you may smirk a few times before then.
But, when it comes right down to it, as interesting as the story is, as well-choreographed as the fight scenes are, as risque as the show can be at times, Avatar is a kids' show. The series is aired on Nickelodeon, after all. There are absolutely no on-screen deaths, and the killing blows for the few characters that do die are always obscured in some way. In addition to this, some of the humor can be downright immature. I'll let this quote from episode 2-10 (The Library) do the talking:
Professor Zei: "Look at those beautiful buttresses!" Aang & Sokka: "LOLOLOLOLOL BUTT"
...Yeah.
This doesn't stop the show from being surprisingly adult at times, both with the themes and with...other things (particularly in episode 3-05, The Fanservice - I mean, The Beach, but also seen in episode 3-16, The Southern Raiders, when it is implied that Sokka and his romantic interest were about to have sex), but it IS first and foremost a kids' show. Keep that in mind.
One last thing I must comment on is the main villain: Firelord Ozai. As much as I like a pure evil villain at times, Ozai has quite literally no personality, not to mention limited screentime. You don't even see his face until the first episode of the last season. After this, he only has two more appearances: for one scene in the eleventh episode, and then in the finale (for obvious reasons). As much as I understand the reason why he isn't seen much, it gets to the point that his daughter, the psychotic Azula, feels like the main villain more than he does.
But as many complaints I could say about the main villain, and about the nature of the show, it doesn't change the fact that Avatar: The Last Airbender is genuinely enjoyable to watch. Between the characters, the battles, and the comedic value of the show, I can easily say that it's the best TV series I have ever seen. Many of us heard our grandparents reminiscing about the cartoons of their time. Well, I'm telling you this right here and now: seventy years from now, I'll be reminiscing about Avatar: The Last Airbender.
(particularly in episode 3-05, The Fanservice - I mean, The Beach, but also seen in episode 3-16, The Southern Raiders, when it is implied that Sokka and his romantic interest were about to have sex)
WTF. Implied sex in a Y7 show on Nick? That's actually kinda brave for them, in a perverted way. I'd like to see the clip of that scene.
(particularly in episode 3-05, The Fanservice - I mean, The Beach, but also seen in episode 3-16, The Southern Raiders, when it is implied that Sokka and his romantic interest were about to have sex)
WTF. Implied sex in a Y7 show on Nick? That's actually kinda brave for them, in a perverted way. I'd like to see the clip of that scene.
(particularly in episode 3-05, The Fanservice - I mean, The Beach, but also seen in episode 3-16, The Southern Raiders, when it is implied that Sokka and his romantic interest were about to have sex)
WTF. Implied sex in a Y7 show on Nick? That's actually kinda brave for them, in a perverted way. I'd like to see the clip of that scene.
(particularly in episode 3-05, The Fanservice - I mean, The Beach, but also seen in episode 3-16, The Southern Raiders, when it is implied that Sokka and his romantic interest were about to have sex)
WTF. Implied sex in a Y7 show on Nick? That's actually kinda brave for them, in a perverted way. I'd like to see the clip of that scene.
I think the thing about the 'implied' scenes is that people of different ages can see romantic scenes different ways. If my youngest brother hadn't gorged himself on Resident Evil games and the Internet for the past while, he probably wouldn't have had a good enough idea of what sex is and seen it as a more Tom and Jerry esque thing, i.e. when Tom gets all gussied up and stuff for some random lady cat.
I still rofl'd at that scene though.
And I agree with you on the Ozai thing. I really thought he was gonna be Aang's old friend, Kuzon, or something. But he didn't look all that different from Zuko or anything; why keep his face hidden? He did need more involvement.
This was an amazing review. It sums up the whole show, which I have been a fan of since the start, and I love. You can get the entire series from iTunes, for only $90 which is an amazing deal for this epic show.
(Btw, my sister's best friend's uncle is the usual director of the show. He does some amazing work as well.)
OMG, I just found out that my sister's best friend (her dad is the director (i think) of the Boston Symphony) her uncle is Giancarlo Volpe, better known as the main director of Avatar! Oh, MAN I want to meet him sometime.
Oh, MAN I want to meet him sometime.