Avatar: The Last Airbender

In a war-torn world of elemental magic, a young boy reawakens to undertake a dangerous mystic quest to fulfill his destiny as the Avatar, and bring peace to the world.

Source: Avatar: The Last Airbender IMDb

About

Avatar: The Last Airbender or Avatar: The Legend of Aang is an american animated television series that aired on Nickelodeon running from February 2005 to July 2008.

Thoughts

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.

One undeniable proof about the shows success is the phrase above. Almost everyone have memorized or at least have heard the following lines before. That is why Avatar is still considered by many to be one of the greatest animated tv show of all time despite it airing over a decade ago.

But what is Avatar: The Last Airbender all about?

In the world of Avatar, human civilization is divided into four nations, Water, Earth, Fire and Air. Within these nations, some people have an innate ability that can manipulate and control their respective nations element and they are commonly called as Benders. One chosen someone has the ability to manipulate all four elements and that someone has the tedious task of maintaining peace and harmony among the four nations, and is called the Avatar.

All started to get messy when Fire Lord Sozin (ruler of the Fire Nation) decided to expand his influence and start conquering other nations. As expected, he was stopped by the Avatar at that time, Avatar Roku. However after Roku's death, the Avatar status has to be passed on again to another chosen someone, together with the cycle of elements, it will passed on to a child born in the Air nation. Having known this, Fire Lord Sozin then attacked and killed all the people in the Air nation.

Luckily, the current Avatar named Aang was out in the Air nation at that time because he was trying to escape from his Avatar responsibilities. As he was riding his flying bison, he was caught in a deadly storm. With his life in danger, he subconsciously entered into his Avatar state and encased himself in an iceberg within suspended animation for over a century.

The main story starts when two young teenagers from the Water Tribe find Aang. The two immediately saved and freed him from all the ice. Through them, Aang learns about the current happenings and what occurred during the 100 years he was in a suspended state. The trio then set out on a journey to find suitable and powerful benders to teach Aang master all the four elements and finally bring peace and balance to the world.

Personal Thoughts

Avatar: The Last Airbender is probably the only Western animated television series I loved so far. Everything about this show is just pure perfection, most notably its pacing. With only 20 episodes per season, one would think that they would rush everything on it but no. It was done so amazingly well that everything just flows smoothly. Every new character and concept is introduced one at a time. Nothing seems to be rushed and it also does not feel that it's progressing slowly.

Avatar: The Last Airbender also has one of the best character development in a television series I have ever seen. If you had finished watching all the episodes, you can really tell how many of the characters have grown and changed over the course of the episodes. Even, opposing characters like Prince Zukos development was just beyond perfection. For an animated series, I have never expected Avatar: The Last Airbender to be this well written.

What made me watch Avatar: The Last Airbender though was not it's animation or it's storyline. Because let's be honest, the animation is just simplistic. What made me watch was it's fluid martial arts battle scenes. The first time I watched an episode on it on television, I was very amazed at the characters movement (bending). The hand movement, the fluidity of it, it was just very captivating to watch.

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