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Reviewed by ekt
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Ah, animation. I've always loved it and always will. There's a special place in my heart for anime, but I don't really discriminate: I'm perfectly capable of loving animation no matter its country of origin. Of course, there's been quite a trend in recent years for American cartoons to be heavily influenced by Japanese anime. Sometimes it works pretty well, sometimes not. I may not be the best judge; I like alot of stuff that most people my age or older (and actually sometimes people half my age) think is just for kids. But that doesn't mean I like all animation. Even I think some stuff sucks, and some is just okay. But I'm always anxious to check out anything new when I get a chance, sometimes with great anticipation and other times with caution, mild indifference, concern, or even trepidation. But always, a desire to see what it will be like.
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DVDs of Volume 1,
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Volume 4 will be released on July 18, and can be pre-ordered from amazon.com now. You can also pre-order Volume 5 or the complete Five-Volume Set, both of which will be released on September 19.
As I write this after having just seen the first season finale, in December 2005, it's hard to look back with any certainty on just what my expectations were over a year ago, for the then-upcoming Nickelodeon series Avatar: The Last Airbender. (It was supposed to debut in November 2004, but the premiere was delayed till February 2005.) I couldn't find much info on it at the time, but what little promotional material I had seen made it obvious it would be anime-influenced. Now, Nick has never been my favorite network for cartoons. The only one of their toons I could say I loved was Invader Zim. Others ranged from dislike to disinterest to vague appreciation (though I have since come to fairly well like "Danny Phantom" and "My Life as a Teenage Robot"- the latter of which is, moreso than Avatar, quite anime-influenced). Certainly, most of their toons have always been aimed at kids, in a way that even I, with my eternally youthful heart, couldn't penetrate to find much interest in. Others, though childish, are famously hip for adults to like, too *coughSpongeBobcoughFairlyOddParentscoughcough*... but even so, my interest in such shows has been limited. The idea of a Nicktoon with an anime influence, well... given my love of anime, such shows always seem promising, yet also always make me a bit nervous, and it being a Nick show, even moreso. So, I was definitely looking forward to seeing it, and I hoped I'd like it, but... like I said, I can't quite remember now, after the better part of a year spent getting familiar with the show... I'm pretty sure I was braced for disappointment. Given the knowledge that I've watched the whole season rather than giving up after a few episodes, not to mention the fact that I'm bothering to write a review of the series, you might deduce that I ended up liking it. Well, you're not wrong. But you're not altogether right, either. The fact is, in the course of the past year, I have come to unabashedly adore this show. Of course, I know people who hate it (these, however, are mostly people with a chip on their shoulder about anime to begin with), as well as people who love it. I can tell you both groups include teenagers as well as young adults, and personally I don't see any reason at all for it not to be appreciated by people of any age, from little kids to grandparents. I can't say how you'll feel about it, but I desperately hope I can convince you to give it a chance if you've never seen it. If you don't like it, I won't hold it against you, but I won't apologize for wasting your time either. If you do like it... I'm always glad to have turned a person on to something new that they may enjoy. So... you're welcome. So, what's it all about? Well, first of all I should mention that it turns out not to be quite as anime-influenced as I'd thought. Anime obviously is an influence, yes, but it's more influenced by various elements of traditional Chinese culture, religion, and mythology. Even the four different bending skills which are at the heart of the series (more on this later), were each designed with their own basis in a specific real-world martial arts discipline... I should also say it's a fantasy show; more specifically, I suppose you could call it wuxia. (If you're unfamiliar with the term, it's an ancient Chinese genre of martial arts literature, which in modern times has come to include films, such as "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," "Hero," and "House of Flying Daggers." It has also heavily influenced such science fiction as "Star Wars" and "The Matrix." It has even been parodied in martial arts comedies such as "Shaolin Soccer" and "Kung Fu Hustle." It's also fairly common in anime, video games, and RPGs.) Another important aspect of the series, which has been a central element of countless works of fiction, involves the four elements: fire, air, water, and earth. (Yes, some stories throw in a fifth element, be it metal, spirit, void, or whatever. This one has just the classic four.) And I must say, this is perhaps the best utilization of these elements as a plot device that I think I've seen, in animated or live-action shows/movies. It is set in a world much like ours, but also rather different. Its level of technical development I would say is for the most part roughly equivalent to the late 1800s in our world, though really there is a mix of elements that to me seems to range from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance to the Industrial Revolution. But that might just be me. In any event, there are several ways you can definitely tell it's not exactly our world (not to say it's necessarily another planet or something, just... not our world). One of the most interesting differences is the abundance of creatures not to be found in our world; some are quite similar to familiar animals, others very strange indeed. But they're all totally cool. And then there are the people. The world is divided into four cultural/geopolitical groups: the Water Tribes, the Earth Kingdom, the Fire Nation, and the Air Nomads. Some people in each group are born with the ability to "bend" (that is, to manipulate, and in the case of firebenders, seemingly create) their people's native element, though this natural ability takes a great deal of training. (It is an interesting and entirely apt counterpoint that firebenders draw strength from the sun, while waterbenders draw strength from the moon. Not sure about airbenders and earthbenders, though.) Bending is useful in various ways, from utilitarian, to playful, to artistic. Mostly, though, it's used for battle. However a bender is using his or her element, it's a sight to see. Especially the battles. Anyway, of all the benders in the world, only one, known as the Avatar, can master all four elements. The Avatar is reborn into each generation, in a continuing cycle: Water, Earth, Fire, Air. He keeps the peace between the four groups. He will have no conscious memory of his past lives, so must relearn each bending skill, in the order of the cycle. 112 years before the start of the series, Avatar Roku (of the Fire Nation) died, and the next Avatar was born into the Air Nomads. Normally, the monks who raised and taught him would have informed him of his identity as the Avatar when he turned 16. However, they chose to tell the new Avatar the truth when he was only 12, because they feared the Fire Nation wanted to start a war to take over the world, and they wanted to speed up his training, to prevent this. But Aang, though an exceptionally gifted airbender, was basically just a fun-loving kid at the time, and didn't want to be the Avatar. And so... he disappeared. Fire Lord Sozen took advantage of an approaching comet to launch a devastating attack, and the Fire Nation apparently wiped out all the Air Nomads (knowing the next Avatar would be among them, and not wanting him to rise to oppose them). The series begins 100 years later, when a 14-year-old waterbender named Katara and her 15-year-old brother Sokka find Aang, who has been frozen in an iceberg near the South Pole all this time, and has no knowledge of the war that's been ensuing in his absence. They free him, but they're surprised to find he's an airbender, since they've all been gone for a hundred years. They also free his giant, six-legged, beaver-tailed flying bison, Appa, who was frozen with him. It isn't long before Katara and Sokka discover that not only is Aang an airbender, he's also the Avatar. When he learns the Fire Nation is getting very close to finally completing their war of absolute global conquest, he has no choice but to face his destiny, and try to put an end to the war. But first, he has three elements to master. The series is to be comprised of three seasons (called Books), each with 20 episodes (chapters). We can assume that at the start of the first season, Aang is already essentially a master airbender, which is why there will only be three Books. Book One is "Water," the next element in the cycle after air; Book Two will be "Earth," and Book Three, "Fire." ...Unfortunately, Katara and Sokka's tribe is very small. All the men, including their father, left two years ago to fight the Fire Nation, and so far have not returned. (Their mother had been killed several years earlier, in a Fire Nation raid.) All that remain are women, the elderly, and children (of whom Sokka is the oldest; he prides himself on being his tribe's "greatest warrior," but no one really takes him seriously). There is no one there who can train Aang as a waterbender, nor is there anyone to train Katara, whose own skills at this point are minimal. So Aang will travel with Katara and Sokka (and Appa as their transport) to the North Pole, to find a waterbending master for the two of them. Early in their journey they are joined by a cute little winged-lemur they meet at the Southern Air Temple, where Aang grew up. He names it Momo. Along the way they will have many adventures, and we also sometimes see flashbacks to Aang's life 100 years ago, including both play and training with his guardian, a master airbender named Monk Gyatso, as well as other people he knew back then. By the time they reach the Northern Water Tribe at the end of Book One, both Katara and Aang will have already improved their waterbending skills impressively, but of course they'll still require a master to further train them. And they're not the only ones whose skills improve along the journey. While Sokka starts out as little more than comic relief- a sarcastic and arrogant buffoon who's always complaining about just about everything- he becomes a better warrior, and his skills at tracking and other things also become apparent, as do traits that, really, were always there: intelligence, courage, loyalty, and family bonds, to name a few. Not that he ever stops being sarcastic and funny... In fact, most of the characters on this show are pretty funny. The humor is generally fairly simple, but no less clever and amusing for its simplicity. I can't stress enough how terribly funny I find this show. Of course, in the course of their travels they meet many interesting (and often amusing) people, some of whom will become friends, and some enemies. The chief among these enemies is a 16-year-old firebender named Prince Zuko, whose father, Fire Lord Ozai, had banished him from the Fire Nation two years earlier. His only hope of ever returning home lay in capturing the Avatar. But since no one had seen the Avatar in a hundred years, nor expected to, this was never a real promise. However, when Zuko learned of the Avatar's return, it gave him hope, and he would be dogged in his pursuit of Aang and his companions. (We eventually learn just why he was banished, and why he is always in such a foul temper. A great part of all of this has to do with how he received his very prominent facial scar, but his reasons, while related, go much deeper than that...) Zuko is accompanied by his uncle, General Iroh, who is himself a master firebender. While he is a great and well-respected warrior (albeit famous for one of his losses in the war), Iroh is now much more mellow, contemplative, and amusing, and seems more interested in drinking ginseng tea, playing Pai Sho, shopping for a great bargain, or organizing ship's Music Night, than in hunting for the Avatar. Still, he is a wise counsel to and good influence on his nephew, but nevertheless can't keep Zuko's single-minded determination or temper entirely in check. Meanwhile, Zuko and Iroh aren't the only ones hunting the Avatar. While they have but a small ship & crew, when news of the Avatar's return becomes common knowledge, other Fire Nation soldiers will seek to capture him. Chief among these is Commander Zhao (later promoted to Admiral), who is even more hot-tempered than Zuko, and far less honorable. He also commands far greater resources than does the exiled prince, of course. The two of them will often be at odds in their respective attempts to capture Aang, and will end up fighting each other on more than one occasion. However, dodging his various pursuers isn't Aang's only concern. At one point he enters the spirit world (which apparently Iroh has also done at some point in the past). Here Aang meets his former incarnation, Avatar Roku. Roku informs him that while learning each element normally takes years, Aang must master all four by the end of the Summer, when Sozen's Comet will return, giving the Fire Nation enough strength to win the war once and for all. Book One concludes with a thrilling three-sided conflict at the North Pole, the various results of which set the stage for Book Two in a way that will, if you're anything like me, leave you desperately anxious for the next season to begin... Well. I want to say I think this show is sweet and innocent, but never naive; simple, yet simultaneously complex. Very cute, and funny, and often silly, but it can also be very serious, with some deep themes, and interesting, complex characters, relationships, and backstories. Aang still loves to have fun, and can still be childish, but he's also maturing- as evidenced by his unspoken crush on Katara, his deep and abiding guilt over not having been there for his people a hundred years ago, and his determination to make a difference in the present. And Zuko is just a whole bag full of daddy issues. Really, there aren't any one-note characters here (at least none of any real importance, though I am a fan of the cabbage merchant...) I just find it all very clever and beautiful and charming and fun and touching and endearing and cool. Of course, fiction has always had a greater ability to affect my emotions than does real life, so maybe it's just me, but this show can move me to tears of both joy and sorrow. But hey, I can say the same about "It's a Wonderful Life," no matter how many times I watch it, so... I dunno. Anyway, I truly love these characters, the writing, the whole story, the animation, the acting, the humor, the incredibly cool battles, the attention to detail, the characters' facial expressions and body language, the whole world that's been created here... everything. But as I've said several times already, it may just be me. And, you know, all the people at the Avatar forums I go to. And all the countless Avatar sites out there that I don't go to. Still, I really do hope you'll like it, too.... Oh, and by the way, the acting... yeah, I think they got some pretty good voice talent for this show. Iroh is voiced by Mako, who's certainly had a long and distiguished career, though I know him best as the voice of Aku in "Samurai Jack," one of my other favorite animated shows ever. Katara is voiced by Mae Whitman, best known to me as the title character of the series "State of Grace," and also as George-Michael's girlfriend, Ann, in "Arrested Development." Zuko is voiced by Dante Basco, who I mainly remember as Rufio in the movie "Hook." The other lead actors aren't as familiar to me, though I think they all do a great job, as do the guest stars, some of whom are of course familiar from other things. The one who chiefly comes to mind is Rene Auberjonois, who was in two different episodes, each time playing a different character. Other familiar names include George Takei, Mark Hamill, and Jon Polito, to name a few. Not to mention all those whose names are less familiar to me than is some of their other work. If you're looking for more information on the show, well, there may not have been alot out there before the series started, but now there's a ton of it. The only Avatar fansite I ever look at myself is Distant Horizon, and it's a damn good one, so I highly recommend you check it out. But if you want even more, its link section could certainly direct you to plenty of other sites. I would also definitely suggest you check out the show's entry at Wikipedia, the best encyclopedia on the Internet (and probably the known Universe). Book One, Volume 1 is already out on DVD, with Vol. 2 due March 28 and Vol. 3 on May 30. But there will be two more volumes from the first season after that, and I don't doubt they'll release a full season set after releasing all five volumes individually. I could be wrong, but I'm at least going to wait and find out.
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