I don’t want to come off as a complete nerd, but hey; let’s face facts.
Have a lot of other people picked up on this show? It sounds silly, but this cartoon on Nickelodeon is about the coolest stinkin’ thing of the form a many years.
This week it seems to be wrapping up at the end of the third - and maybe last - season. I’ve been watching avidly since I acccidently caught it one day and I’m never less than impressed.
For those who don’t know - In a psudo-asian fantasy world, there are four nations, each specializing in a form of “bending” whereby the people can control a certain element. After centuries of peace brought about by the wisdom of a single person, the Avatar (who is the only one capable of controlling all four elements), the nation of fire suddenly strikes out and pretty much conquers all the world. The last Avatar vanished when he was needed most and pops back up a century later in the form of a kid who has no idea what’s in store for him or what the world is like now.
With a few friends who have suffered immesurably during the long war, he sets out to learn what he has to and set the world back to balance.
… Frankly, the detail with which the world and conventions, powers and history and the characters are built are astonishing. The animation is also top-notch. It’s anime without being over-the-top - sort of easy-to-look-at Western style with the amazing action and effects sequences one expects of the latter.
It’s filled with deep coming-of-age plots, mysticism, the meaning of good and evil, doing the right thing, sacrifice, redemption and balancing industry with nature.
There’s a huge list of characters, all of which are fully developed and have their own backgrounds and goals. They all have trials to get through and choices to make - and most, but not all, of them are teenagers.
It’s just such a damned impressive and heartfelt show, I was wondering who else out there appreciates it and why.
