Avatar The Last Airbender (Anime or....?) - Part 1

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This is a continuation thread, the old thread is [split]232062[/split]

 

[sandwraith]

It's tough to classify Nick's latest craze, the Asian-inspired Avatar The Last Airbender with its unique blend of beautiful fluid animation, excellent script, well-developed characters and action-packed sequences. Avatar seems to break the mold of most American cartoons in recent years by inculcating the animation style of its Japanese counterparts yet somehow remaining true to its emphasis on storyline first rather that Japan's priority on eye-pleasing art with its campy love triangles, risque comedy and somewhat over-bloodied action sequences which can drag on four three or four episodes (i.e: Naruto, Dragon Ball). Personally I find that Avatar is a successful marriage between the two styles especially since its written by two Non-Asian Americans and is animated in South Korea. What do you guys think of the show?

 

[Lord]

Didn't know there were so many who thought this was anime, i mean, it was made in American, so that should give you a clue what it really is.

I think it's boring.

I hope you know what you missed npw

As compared to....?

So far I enjoy the characters of the story, having >ahem< downloaded the entire Book 1 and latest episodes from Book 2. A lot of my friends compare Avatar to Naruto. There are some similarities in terms of the ages of the two main characters but personally I like Avatar better because its just one of those shows that you feel at ease with. The best part is that it isn't draggy, it ain't a 200+ series with no end in sight yet through excellent writing, you get an idea of the cultures and societies that make up the world of Avatar.

I never thought it should be compared to Naruto, it does have elements of a shonen and those precede Naruto by years, then again at the time Naruto was probably the most famous anime in the USA, so i can see where the comparisons came from.

But it's also very different, while Naruto has to follow a manga and to insert filler in order to give a healthy gap between the chapters and the episodes, Avatar could do whatever it wanted anytime, and the fillers would therefore be able to be part of the story instead of just filling time.

And the creators of Avatar had the entire plot in their minds from the very inception, while Naruto keeps dragging and due to the lack of planing there's a clear drop in quality. It also doesn't help that one of the few good things it had with a loser main character were now made void with the revelation that he's also a chosen one, a cliché that has been done to death that Avatar: The Last Airbender was able to use in a different and interesting way.

By the way, 2nd thread incoming.

 

[Drakepool]

What the, how come so little votes for Zuko?

 

[Loki882]

Anime specifically refers to JAPANESE animation, so Avatar would not be Anime. However, it is influenced by Anime. Also, Zuko is my favorite character by far. I love complex and flawed characters. My favorite Legend of Korra character is Asami, she's awesome.

 

[Lord]

Anime specifically refers to JAPANESE animation, so Avatar would not be Anime. However, it is influenced by Anime. Also, Zuko is my favorite character by far. I love complex and flawed characters. My favorite Legend of Korra character is Asami, she's awesome.

That's not an answer to me right? Because i was agreeing with that notion.

 

[Loki882]

That's not an answer to me right? Because i was agreeing with that notion.

No, it was a general response to the thread as a whole.

 

[Loki882]

It's tough to classify Nick's latest craze, the Asian-inspired Avatar The Last Airbender with its unique blend of beautiful fluid animation, excellent script, well-developed characters and action-packed sequences. Avatar seems to break the mold of most American cartoons in recent years by inculcating the animation style of its Japanese counterparts yet somehow remaining true to its emphasis on storyline first rather that Japan's priority on eye-pleasing art with its campy love triangles, risque comedy and somewhat over-bloodied action sequences which can drag on four three or four episodes (i.e: Naruto, Dragon Ball). Personally I find that Avatar is a successful marriage between the two styles especially since its written by two Non-Asian Americans and is animated in South Korea. What do you guys think of the show?

If you honestly think that that's all anime is like, then you haven't seen nearly enough of it. Anime covers every type of genre, topic, situation, etc under the sun. You're describing a small section of it. Heck, Miyazaki films are anime and they fit none of those statements. Watch something like Monster, or Princess Mononoke, or Serial Experiments Lain, and then get back to me.

 

[BlackMagicWolf]

I think the Escapist did something about this topic. They said that it's not an anime for many reasons not the least of which is that the writers weren't Japanese (I thought that was funny) but then they broke down what it was and what it wasn't.

I watched a lot of animes in my past, some I still hold very dear to me, TLA and LOK aren't animes.

 

[TheLastBlade]

I don't see why people would consider ATLA and LOK animes. For all we know, a lot of people could be comparing them to god awful anime that they would consider good.

Obviously, I don't consider them anime for a few reasons. Though, I can definitely see a lot of influence for them.

 

[Lord]

If you honestly think that that's all anime is like, then you haven't seen nearly enough of it. Anime covers every type of genre, topic, situation, etc under the sun. You're describing a small section of it. Heck, Miyazaki films are anime and they fit none of those statements. Watch something like Monster, or Princess Mononoke, or Serial Experiments Lain, and then get back to me.

Couldn't have said it better. But i think the notion many have of anime is that of the elements we usually atribute to Shonens, Avatar: The Last Airbender does indeed have some shonen elements, and Miyazaki elements too, expecially in the end of season 1.

 

[Loki882]

Not to mention that the spirits that are appearing in LOK season 2 seem very Miyazaki-ish.

 

[sandwraith]

Wow, someone resurrected this thread?

In my defense, as Avatar was coming out the Anime being churned out was a strong concentration of what I said in the 1st post. I'm no stranger to good quality anime like the Rurouni Kenshin series, Seirei no Moribito, Wolf's Rain and so forth. But like in Anime a show like Avatar comes out so infrequently that it stands out only to be overrun by Slice-of-Life/Ecchi shows that come out by the dozen.

I have my anime guilty pleasures of course. The whole Hyouka series was a beautifully animated series about a gifted but incredibly lazy student and his crush on a girl who always seems curious in the most mundane of mysteries. And my new weird fix by the same studio, Free! whose entire concept just brings a smile to my face as fanservicey shots are reversed.

That said, at the time Avatar was breaking new ground and it a little hard to classify, maybe purposefully so.

 

[Lord]

Not to mention that the spirits that are appearing in LOK season 2 seem very Miyazaki-ish.

Yeah, i hope they do some interesting stuff with that. Aparently the water spirit from the end of Book 1 of the last airbender was inspired on Miyazaki films.

 

[Loki882]

Yes, that Koizilla is something that could have easily appeared in Nausicca or Princess Mononoke.

 

[godisawesome]

Hey guys, this may seem a bit weird, but if you happen to be a fan of both Wrestling and Avatar: The Last Airbender, or a mark for Mick Foley and the Rock, would you mind downloading a podcast and voting in a poll to try and compell my podcasting partner to watch "The Blind Bandit," so I can record him realizing Mick is voicing "The Boulder" and put it on YouTube? I don't necessarily *need* you to listen to the podcast, just download it, but, well, if you do download it, you should listen to it.

And yes, the poll is a bit facetious in its options (no, yes, and hell yes) but I think it's worth it to watch his brain melt as he get pro-wrestling in Avatar.

Podcast: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/franchisewars/id1286433288?mt=2&i=414761418

Online Poll:https://www.opinionstage.com/polls/should-the-condor-do-a-reaction-video-to-the-blind-bandit

Admittedly, this is partially so I can make him watch Season Two and Three, since I think they're quality increases enough over Season One that he'll get hooked, but I think that's a worthy cause, don't you?

 

[Karelia]

Bought the complete series on blu ray after rewatching it on my dvd set a couple of weeks ago. Still my favorite cartoon. Rewatched Korra aw well, which I enjoyed, but TLA is just better to me.

 

[godisawesome]

I did a short video on YouTube describing how in Season One, both Zuko and Zhao proved that a) they weren't you're average Staurday Morning Cartoon villains, and b) better villains equals a better show:

http://https://youtu.be/aBDg3bc5lWk

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

 

[Sithborg]

I don't understand why. They want to remake their own work? Now, I understand wanting to redeem Avatar live action after the movie we shall not name. But what is the point of the a new series going over the old material again.

If they get the type of fight choreography as Into the Badlands, that may be a good convincing argument for me.

 

[OtherwiseKnownAs]

I’m already paying for Netflix so it’s not like I’m not going to watch it, but it does seem like a real “who asked for this?” scenario.

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

I don't get it either.

I'd rather a cartoon set way after Korra.

 

[Lencho01]

Well, I've always thought they'd try to give it a go again. But, I didn't think it'd be this soon nor as a TV show. I'm excited.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

I love Avatar, love it. Korra would probably be a better idea for a live action adaptation at this point, but I really hope this works and it doesn't come off as a cheap adaptation that didn't need to exist. Like what about it being live action will make it better then the original show? If it is a worse adaptation, that adds nothing significant, what is the point? Why not continue the story instead?

 

[liesse00]

I always thought this could be adapted into live action in a good way, but the creators needed to be directly involved. Now they are, so I'm excited.