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Avatar: The Last Airbender


Blarghagh

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Wow. I just watched the whole series (so far), and I have to say I was caught off-guard by how good this series is.

 

It's like these American writers took all the stuff about shows like Naruto and Bleach that is good and left out the bad, threw in a good dose of mythology from a whole bunch of cultures, added some fantasy ala 'The Neverending Story', took a bunch of cues from Hayao Miyazaki and made it into the best story they could possibly think of for a children's show, then proceded to hand it over to an anime studio with an American budget.

 

I wish they made shows like this when I was a kid. It's really good. Especially for it's demographic. I probably wouldn't be as impressed if it was for an older audience, but any children's show that can have an epic war and something as creepy as the 'face stealer' from the season finale in it has my vote.

 

It's very well-written, with mostly three-dimensional characters (One of the villains, Zuko, is pretty one-dimensional before the second season develops him more) and a compelling story. Plus; it has the edge on manga-adapted anime by having self-contained conflicts and storylines with a climax in almost every episode (yet the writers are good enough to not let these overshadow the main story).

 

Anyone else follow this?

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Yeah, that's how I felt originally too, "what, americans writing anime? the world has gone insane!"

 

Like I said, this show really took me by surprise. I only watched it because a friend of mine (who is, in fact, asian) recommended it to me. I'm glad he did.

 

It definately beats out all asian anime for that demographic, like Naruto and Bleach and *shudders* Yu-Gi-Oh.

Edited by TrueNeutral
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It's better than the usual 'hey, watch me throw energy balls at you! NNNNNGH!'.

 

Besides, "let me throw wind at you" never bothered anyone when Captain Planet did it. :ermm:

 

Another thing that surprised me is that I expected it to be all kiddy-fied. Some parts are actually pretty intense and deal with fairly adult themes (such as abandonment and child abuse).

 

spirit-koh.jpg

 

That does not look like something from an american kiddy show.

Edited by TrueNeutral
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Dammit. That's odd.

 

Anyway, the picture is of a creature that appeared in the season finale. It's called 'The Face Stealer' and it's basically a giant talking centipede who lives in a dark place and, well, steals peoples faces. I can't really describe it.

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I don't really follow the show, but wheneve rI have flipped through channels, and it has been on, I usually leave it on just for a few minutes to see it, and then end up watching the whole episode, because it does hold my interest.

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One billion b-balls dribbling simultaneously throughout the galaxy. One trillion b-balls being slam dunked through a hoop throughout the galaxy. I can feel every single b-ball that has ever existed at my fingertips. I can feel their collective knowledge channeling through my viens. Every jumpshot, every rebound and three-pointer, every layup, dunk, and free throw. I am there.

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That's because nobody over fourteen likes DBZ.

 

But this isn't just 'throwing wind' at people. All four elemental 'bender' (basically, they can manipulate their element) fighting styles are modeled after actual martial art styles. The water-benders, for example, are based on Tai-chi. They're martial arts moves extended by an element, basically.

 

Pixies, it seems to me that it is generally more rewarding as a whole instead of episode per episode. When you watch one episode, you generally only get the self-contained conflict of that particular episode. When watched in the right order you can follow the story of the war and how it affects the characters, which definately overshadows the smaller conflicts.

 

Also, it's pretty funny at times. This is a welcome relief from anime shows like Naruto whose humor repetoire consists generally of sexism and fart jokes.

Edited by TrueNeutral
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I'm sorry to say that I'm not. I only get the dutch version of Nickelodeon, and the dutch dub is so horrible that instead I just downloaded it. I am hoping to get a DVD soon.

 

Also, I more meant it in the way that people who like DBZ outgrow it when they turn fourteen, not that everyone under fourteen likes DBZ.

Edited by TrueNeutral
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I'm sorry to say that I'm not. I only get the dutch version of Nickelodeon, and the dutch dub is so horrible that instead I just downloaded it. I am hoping to get a DVD soon.

 

Also, I more meant it in the way that people who like DBZ outgrow it when they turn fourteen, not that everyone under fourteen likes DBZ.

 

I like DBZ.

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But, well, you're Hades.

 

Ha I just finished watching this series yesterday. I'm surprised at how much I like it. Definitely going to pick up the DVDs.

 

I finished yesterday too. I can't wait for the next one. To compensate for the mid-season break, it'll be a double ep!

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I'm sorry to say that I'm not. I only get the dutch version of Nickelodeon, and the dutch dub is so horrible that instead I just downloaded it. I am hoping to get a DVD soon.

 

Also, I more meant it in the way that people who like DBZ outgrow it when they turn fourteen, not that everyone under fourteen likes DBZ.

 

I like DBZ.

 

You like tall, muscular, asian men throwing there balls of energy at each other?

 

Oh, right.

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Not many of those men were Asian. If I remember correctly, at the start of DBZ none of the major players were human anymore. That really bothered me. It went from mythologically influenced (Dragon Ball mirrors Journey To The West in many ways) to lame science fiction.

Edited by TrueNeutral
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I finished yesterday too. I can't wait for the next one. To compensate for the mid-season break, it'll be a double ep!

Hi5. I'm looking forward to them finishing the season. I caught the last two episode premiere just flipping around and then it wasn't even ****ing on anymore. Not the best way to introduce myself to the series. :)

 

Did you know that the guy who voices Uncle Iroh in the English version died recently?

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