Avatar: The Last Airbende
Avatar: The Last Airbender can easily be considered a trail blazer, seamlessly blending animation and storytelling styles from around the world in a way very few shows had done before.
With the show’s follow up Legend of Korra due to hit the UK arm of Nickelodeon in the autumn, now is the ideal time to delve head first into the animation that’s gathered a massive fan base, both young and old, since it’s airing in 2005.
It may be a cartoon that aired on Nickelodeon, but Avatar: The Last Airbender isn’t just a kid’s show. It’s an everyone show. Far deeper than it has any right to be, Airbender mixed the spiritual and introspective aspects of traditional Japanese amine with the fun and laughter of the American cartoon format to create a truly family show that’ll be more appreciated by those old enough to have points on a drivers licence.
The show takes place in a fictional world where certain people have the ability to ‘bend’ elements and control them to their will. There are four nations then made, one for each of the four elements. Suddenly though, the aggressive Fire Nation decides it’s wants it all and invades the other nations with overwhelming force.
It’s up to The Avatar, a person who can control all four elements, to restore balance, but to everyone’s dismay, young boy tasked with the role Aang gets frozen in a block of ice for a century. Upon waking though, he teams up with new friends Katara and Sokka to try and defeat the evil Fire Nation before they truly subjugate the world.
Yes, before you say anything that is A LOT of plot for an opening episode. While the opening sell might be hideously complex, the actual show manages to make what could be a mess and tun it into something magnificent.
Spanning three series (or ‘books’ as the show likes to put it) the show follows the four protagonists as their quest sweeps from colossal battles at sea to joining a band of tree-living freedom fighters all while avoiding the attentions of the maniacal Firelord and his banished son Zuko, eager to win back his father’s favour whilst being escorted by his genial uncle Iroh.
While there is just the slightest bit of filler to a few of the episodes, the overall pace of the show is fantastic. Despite its length, Airbender strikes a wonderful balance between taking it’s time and yet never feeling like’s it’s dragging its feet at all. Even episodes simply showing training or the crew relaxing are more than entertaining.
When the show decides to ramp up the pressure, it really takes off. The action is well directed and extremely dramatic, the powers of the characters making for amazing visual displays of elements flying at each other.
The show’s just too funny not to endear itself to you too. Sokka, and Iroh are almost stand-up comedians in the show. Iroh has his ridiculous platitudes and good natured playfulness and Sokka’s constant sarcasm and terrible puns are always a delight.
It’s this comedic streak that makes the show so utterly enjoyable. When the going gets too tough, Sokka’s usually there with a joke. It makes it so that when he doesn’t start cracking wise, you know Team Avatar is in really deep trouble.
It’s all made possible by the brilliant characters. Enormously endearing, the kids at the show’s heart are all a pleasure to be around, even when they simply act like children.
Sokka steals the show though, an everyman caught up in the battle of near on superheroes with nothing but his wits, friends and skill to survive on. Part time antagonist Zuko is a wonderfully complex character too, undergoing a massive character swing from opening to last episode, swinging between sides like a pendulum.
It also helps the show that it has a fantastic villain, as Firelord Ozai is a truly terrifying nemesis, a ruthless and tyrannical leader. His assassins don’t pull any punches either, with his daughter Azula doing her sadistic best to make the Avatar’s life hell.
The show’s a fantastic whole, even greater than the sum of its excellent parts. It was also an instant critical and ratings hit, with the show attracting both rave reviews and an average audience of over 3 million viewers.
It even attracted film maker M. Night Shyamalan enough to get him to put his money where his mouth was and make a feature film adaptation of the show. The results, instead of giving the show’s fantastic story and characters a new, bigger audience, simply left a foul taste in the mouth of both fans and general cinema audiences.
Don’t let the film dissuade you. It was garbage, a garbled mess and pretty terrible in all respects .
The TV show’s pure gold though, and easily one of the best animations to have graced TV in the last decade and will enrapture anyone with any love for sweeping epic tales of heroism.
You can buy the complete collection of Avatar: The Last Airbender right here.
FemaleFirst Cameron Smith
Tagged in TV Hidden Gems